Qiao Qiqi felt a warm feeling in her heart; this sense of being valued made her very happy.

Upon hearing Wang Guihua say that she still needed to go to town, she immediately waved her hand and said, "Mom, this is enough, there's no need to buy any more. Look at what's on the ground, Qin Huai and I bought it in town yesterday, it'll last us a long time."

Wang Guihua merely glanced at it indifferently and said, "Qin Huai bought it for you, and I bought it for you. How can they be the same? Besides, that brat doesn't know how to buy things. He probably won't be able to buy everything."

Qiao Qiqi quickly said, "We bought everything! We bought everything we needed! It cost over sixty yuan in total. Look, especially the food, we bought so much. If we don't eat it soon, it will spoil."

As she spoke, Qiao Qiqi saw the apple on the ground, picked it up immediately, and stuffed it into Wang Guihua's hand.

"Mom, this apple is delicious, please try it."

Wang Guihua looked at the delightful apple in her hand, but immediately stuffed it back into Qiao Qiqi's hand, saying, "Mother won't eat it, you keep it for yourself."

"Qin Huai and I have already eaten, this is for you."

The two were struggling when Qin Huai suddenly walked in, looked at Wang Guihua and said, "The wedding can be held after the autumn harvest, and the things can be bought after the harvest. There's no need to buy them for now."

After the autumn harvest, every household will receive grain and two months' wages. If he makes a few more trips up the mountain at night, he can earn enough money to buy things for his wedding without his parents having to pay.

Wang Guihua also thought about distributing grain and money during the autumn harvest.

Of course, the most important thing is... she's really strapped for cash right now, but things will be a bit easier by then.

"Okay, then we'll wait until after the autumn harvest to buy them."

Wang Guihua placed the apple on the kang (a heated brick bed), then took out an old white handkerchief from her pocket and unfolded it in front of Qiao Qiqi.

“Here’s 80 yuan. I know that in the village, people usually give 100 yuan as a bride price when they get married, but… my husband and I don’t have that much right now. But don’t worry, Mom will definitely make it up to you after the autumn harvest.”

Qiao Qiqi looked at the banknotes, which were almost all small change, and realized that this must be the life savings that Qin Huai's parents had accumulated over their entire lives. How could she dare to accept it?

"Mother, I don't want to!"

She looked to Qin Huai for help, hoping he could persuade Wang Guihua to take it back.

Unexpectedly, he said, "You can keep it since it's from your mother."

Qiao Qiqi opened her eyes wide in surprise, "How could you..."

Qin Huai was also helpless. He glanced at Wang Guihua, frowned, and said, "If you don't accept it, my mother will feel that she has wronged you, and she won't be able to sleep well from now on. So, you should just take it!"

What could Qiao Qiqi do when she encountered such an honest person? She could only grit her teeth and accept the money.

But in her heart, she was thinking that she would definitely spend twice as much of this money on her parents in the future.

Seeing that Qiao Qiqi had finally given up, Wang Guihua immediately smiled and said, "Alright, since I'm not going to town today, I'll go back to work."

Qiao Qiqi stood up: "Mother, won't you sit for a while longer?"

"No, no, I won't sit down. I'll come see you again when I have time." Wang Guihua pressed Qiao Qiqi down onto the kang (a heated brick bed), then turned to look at Qin Huai. "You can rest in the room. Qin Huai can take me there."

"Alright, Mother, please walk carefully."

Qiao Qiqi realized that Wang Guihua seemed to have something to say to Qin Huai, so she didn't insist any further.

Sure enough, soon the voices of the two could be heard in the courtyard.

Although her voice was lowered, Qiao Qiqi could still vaguely hear Wang Guihua say, "Don't let people think we don't value her... Be good to Qiqi and make her do more work."

When Qin Huai returned to the house after Wang Guihua left, Qiao Qiqi was packing up the things Wang Guihua had brought.

Seeing him return, Qiao Qiqi looked up and asked, "What did Mother say to you?"

Qin Huai glanced at her.

His lips moved, but he didn't speak.

His hesitant manner caught Qiao Qiqi's eye, and her eyes suddenly flashed. She smiled and asked:

"Okay, then let me ask you a different question. I just remembered that before we went to town yesterday, didn't you say you gave me all the money from home? Why did you still have money to buy me popsicles later? Were you hiding money from me?"

!

Qin Huai's eyes widened suddenly.

Seeing that Qiao Qiqi was actually settling scores later, she suddenly asked about this.

His face immediately flushed red as he reached into his pocket and pulled out three cents.

"I... I only have this much. It's what I usually keep in my pocket for backup. I forgot to give it to you before I went to town yesterday."

Seeing that he was so nervous that he was stuttering, Qiao Qiqi couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Seeing how easily this man blushed when startled, Qiao Qiqi almost burst out laughing.

But after laughing enough, she stared at the man with a meaningful look and said, "You can keep taking it. I like it when you buy me little things from time to time and give me little surprises."

I thought that since I had spoken so ambiguously, Qin Huai would definitely blush and be speechless, given his personality.

To Qiao Qiqi's surprise, he actually nodded and said, "Okay."

Qiao Qiqi looked up in surprise.

Their eyes met.

Qin Huai seemed to realize something at that moment, and her earlobes suddenly turned red. "I... I have to go to work. You don't need to cook lunch. I'll cook when I get back."

Qiao Qiqi watched him turn and flee in panic, and suddenly shouted.

"Come home with me tonight, and I'll tell my dad about us getting our marriage certificate!"

Qin Huai paused, then nodded. "Okay."

Watching him stride away, Qiao Qiqi didn't linger. She went to the backyard, grabbed a basket, and went out as well.

It was the time when everyone was heading to work, and the villagers were all heading to the fields, except for Qiao Qiqi, who was going to the bus stop at the village entrance, in the opposite direction from them.

"Hey, isn't this Team Leader Qiao's daughter? What are you doing carrying that basket? Didn't you never work in the fields before? Does getting married mean you have to start working in the fields now?"

The first person to meet Qiao Qiqi, Aunt Zhao, started chatting with her.

But what he said stunned Qiao Qiqi.

"Who told you I got married?"

Although she wanted to tell the whole village the news, she was too tired from coming back from town yesterday, and it was also the first day of her period, so she had back pain and hadn't had time to distribute the wedding candies she bought.

I reckon it couldn't have been Lin Chunying who told this, but Wang Guihua doesn't seem like the type to tell anyone either.

Qiao Qiqi was wondering who had told the tale when she heard Aunt Li, who was with Aunt Zhao, say with a smile, "What, you're trying to hide it from us? When you went to town with the Qin boy yesterday, didn't you tell Aunt Wu at the east end of the village that you were going to get your marriage certificate with the Qin boy?"

"Aunt Wu didn't get back from town until dark last night. As soon as she got back, she told us about it. Now almost everyone in the village knows."