Chapter 43

Lu Che would usually never stop doing it, let alone after holding it in for a week. By the time he was done, Jiang Yao was so tired that she couldn't even lift her eyelids and slept straight away until the next day.

When she opened her eyes, Lu Che had already gone to the county town to buy meat to improve everyone's meals.

"I bought a pound of lean meat today. You can make more soup. In addition to feeding the two little ones, you and your mother can also drink some to replenish your body." Lu Che whispered, "I'm going to work. You can sleep for a while."

Jiang Yao was still in a daze. When she heard him say he was leaving, she came to her senses and pulled him aside to ask, "You haven't told me what the good news you said last night was."

"I thought you forgot." Lu Che laughed.

"There's no way I'd forget. I'm just afraid someone doesn't have good news and is lying to me on purpose." Jiang Yao snorted.

Lu Che listened, and the smile on his face turned rogue. "Since you know I was lying to you, you still foolishly fell for it. Does it mean that you, my wife, also want to do exercise with me?"

Jiang Yao, who was exposed, raised her fist in anger and tried to hit someone. Lu Che grabbed her powerless hand and held it in his hand. "I'm not lying to you. I've been promoted to team leader. Starting next month, my salary and allowance will increase."

"Really? That's great!" Jiang Yao happily sat up from the bed and praised generously, "Dad, you are awesome."

"It's okay. I've been working in the factory for almost a year. If I don't make some achievements, I'm afraid I won't have the chance to move up in the future." Lu Che said.

Jiang Yao: "You've been promoted in less than a year. You're already great. I don't think there are many people like you in your factory."

"Just me."

"..." Jiang Yao seriously suspected that someone was praising himself in a rhythmic manner.

"Wife." Lu Che suddenly hugged her in his arms, "I will continue to work hard and strive to reach the next level. When Changchang and Xiaolu are older, I will see if I can ask someone to arrange a job for you in the county."

"Assign a job to me? Is that possible?" Jiang Yao opened her eyes wide, her eyes full of disbelief.

"Of course it's possible. This is a relationship-based society. If you have connections, things will be easier." Lu Che said, "I've always known that you are smart and shouldn't be tied down by children and stay at home. You can have your own world."

Most people of this era believe that a woman is happiest when she can stay at home to take care of her husband and children and have no worries about food and clothing. She has obviously reached this state now, so many women in the production team envy and hate her. But her true thoughts are not like this. Others don't understand her, but her man understands her, and that's enough.

"Yeah." Jiang Yao nuzzled into his arms and said, "You don't have to rush. Let's take it step by step."

A few days later, it was Zhang Dong and Zhu Xia's wedding day.

After all, Zhang Dong was a worker at the electromechanical factory, and Aunt Tian's son and daughter-in-law also wanted to have a good relationship with him, so before Zhu Xia could figure out how to start the conversation, they had already taken the initiative to propose that she marry in the Tian family.

Marrying into the Tian family means you are half a member of the Tian family, and it will be easier to ask them for help in the future.

Of course Zhu Xia knew what they were thinking, but she pretended not to know. After all, Aunt Tian and Uncle Tian really took good care of her. If she became successful in the future, she would certainly help them if she could.

Zhang Dong brought a dozen workers from the electromechanical factory to pick up the bride. They all rode bicycles, and the wedding procession was quite impressive.

Zhu Xia's sister group was much smaller. They consisted of a few female educated youth who had gone to Qingyuan to work in the countryside. Including Jiang Yao, who was married, there were only four of them.

Lu Che had no interest in this kind of wedding-picking thing, but since Jiang Yao wanted to be a sister, he had no choice but to go with her and be a brother.

They said they were brothers, but in the end they became "sisters." Because the co-workers were all "werewolves," he was worried about Jiang Yao and stayed by her side all the time, so much so that he changed his camp and became a member of the bride's side.

The workers "hushed" Lu Che, saying he was henpecked and afraid of his wife. They said all kinds of teasing things, but he just didn't want to leave. In the end, the couple was pushed out of the Tian family by the workers, who told them to stay where they wanted and not to interfere with their commotion.

Jiang Yao wanted to watch the fun, which was a pity, but Lu Che was happy to be idle. There happened to be a small pond outside the Tian family, so he took her for a walk around the pond.

"Don't we go in and take a look? I think it's quite fun." Jiang Yao's voice was sweet, she was acting coquettishly without realizing it.

"What's so beautiful here? It's not as beautiful as this pond." Lu Che pointed at the pond and said, "Look at the water. It's very calm and beautiful."

Just as he finished speaking, with a "bang", a small stone jumped three times on the lake surface and sank into the water, creating ripples one after another.

This pebble obviously did not fall from the sky. They looked in the direction from which the pebble came and saw Zhao Pengfei standing on the shore.

He saw them as they saw him.

There was a short distance between them, no more than thirty meters in a straight line.

Holding her man's hand, Jiang Yao ran into the man she was madly infatuated with. Even though she didn't feel guilty, she felt there was no need to get close to him.

"Let's go back." Jiang Yao pulled Lu Che's hand and whispered.

"Why go back? Let's continue walking." Lu Che had no intention of retreating and continued to walk forward with Jiang Yao.

They were originally very close, and after a few steps they were in front of Zhao Pengfei, who was still performing the pebble triple jump.

Jiang Yao looked straight ahead, thinking that it would be fine as long as she passed Zhao Pengfei. Unexpectedly, Lu Che, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up, "Your physique is really not good. You say you're tired after walking a few steps. Forget it, I'll carry you."

"..." When did she say she was tired? Before Jiang Yao could understand his nonsense, he had already let go of her hand and stood in front of her, "Come up."

Even if she was slow to react, she knew why he was so sudden, he just wanted to show off in front of his old rival. At the critical moment, Boss Lu was indeed very childish, but she couldn't expose him in front of Zhao Pengfei, so she had to raise her hand to climb onto his shoulder, and the next moment, he easily carried her on his back.

Zhao Pengfei was not stupid, of course he knew Lu Che's intention, he just pretended they were invisible and continued to play with the pebbles without looking at them.

However, when they passed him, he couldn't help but call Jiang Yao, "Um...is the bride reception over? Is Jia Jia...coming out?"

"It should... not be over yet." Jiang Yao understood what he meant, and guessed that Zhao Pengfei and Du Yuejia were having a quarrel again.

Thinking back to when the five women were crowded in Zhu Xia's room just now, Du Yuejia didn't say much. She thought she was not familiar with them, so she didn't talk much. Now it seems that she was in a bad mood.

"Why don't you go find her? It's okay." Jiang Yao added.

"I'm not going." Zhao Pengfei said, "She will go to the wedding later, please take care of her."

"..." Jiang Yao didn't intend to meddle in other people's emotional affairs, let alone Zhao Pengfei, with whom she had an awkward relationship. She didn't try to persuade him anymore, but just said "hmm" and let Lu Che continue to move forward.

"Wife, I'm a little curious, why can you get along so peacefully with Zhao Pengfei?" Lu Che asked after they walked away.

"Why can't I get along with him?" Jiang Yao joked, "Should I deliberately show affection in front of him like you do?"

"..." Boss Lu was speechless after being exposed. He couldn't think of a way to refute for a long time, so he said, "I just don't like him and I just want to win in front of him. I know you want to say that I am childish again, but you don't need to say it, I said it myself."

Jiang Yao listened and laughed out loud, "It's childish, but I'm a little happy. You're like this just because you love me, right?" She hugged him tighter, "I can get along with him calmly because I no longer care about him. I just treat him as an ordinary friend. Isn't this how ordinary friends get along?"

"You do make sense." Lu Che no longer felt ashamed, but proud. He was no longer as hostile to Zhao Pengfei as before, and even felt "sympathetic" towards him. "He has been dating Du Yuejia for so long and hasn't married her yet. It's quite pitiful."

"..." Jiang Yao was so amused by his overflowing sympathy that she didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She said, "The situation is the opposite of what you think. It's not that Zhao Pengfei doesn't want to marry, but that he can't marry now."

"Isn't it said that his family is well-off? Du Yuejia also likes him, so can we still marry him?"

The stubborn Boss Lu didn't understand, so Jiang Yao had to explain it to him in detail.

After listening to the love-hate relationship between Zhao Pengfei and Du Yuejia, Lu Che's attitude changed 180 degrees. "Is Zhao Pengfei still a man? He has been dragging her down and not marrying her. He is delaying Du Yuejia. Wife, it's a good thing you stopped at the last minute, otherwise you would have been dragged down by him into being an old maid in a matter of minutes."

Jiang Yao actually wanted to say that if Zhao Pengfei's partner was her, his parents would not object but would urge them to get married every day. However, she had better not say such hurtful words.

"Yes, otherwise how could I find such a good man like you." Jiang Yao followed his words and flattered him as much as she could.

"Wife, look at what you said. Just say it in front of me. If you say it outside, others will laugh at you."

Jiang Yao looked at the corners of his lips that were raised but couldn't be suppressed no matter how hard he tried, and she was too lazy to see through him.

After they finished this circle, they went straight back to the Tian family.

By this time, the bride-picking ceremony was almost over. Zhang Dong had won the beauty and was ready to take Zhu Xia back to the county town.

Wen Qian, Zhou Qiong and Du Yuejia followed on their brothers' bicycles. Lu Che and Jiang Yao first went back to Lu's house, picked up the brother and sister, and then rode their bicycles to Zhang Dong's house.

Zhang Dong and Zhu Xia's wedding was held at noon. When Jiang Yao and her family of four finally arrived, Zhang's house was already packed with people inside and outside.

Zhang's mother had previously heard from Zhang Dong that a co-worker had given birth to a pair of twins, a boy and a girl. She had always wanted to let the twins roll in the new bed, hoping that the newlyweds would share in the good luck and also have a pair of twins.

She waited for a long time and finally saw a couple holding two children, a boy and a girl. She hurried over and asked, "Are you Zhang Dong's co-worker Lu Che who gave birth to twins? Oh my, these two little elves are so cute. Hurry and roll them around in the new bed for uncle and auntie, okay?"

"Auntie, this is no problem." Jiang Yao heard about this from Zhu Xia two days ago.

"Then please go in quickly."

Zhang's mother happily led the way for them and went straight to the new house.

It has to be said that although the Zhang family lives in the county town, their home is not very big. After their sons got married, they squeezed into this house, which seemed very cramped.

Lu Che was afraid that the siblings would be squeezed, so he held Chang Chang and walked in close to Jiang Yao. He was a big man, and he immediately protected the third daughter in his arms.

After finally getting to the new house, the room was so small that it was almost impossible for anyone to squeeze in.

A big bed, a wardrobe and a dressing table, these three things make it almost impossible to close the door.

Zhang Dong and Zhu Xia were sitting on the big bed. A woman was mumbling good things to them. When she saw the twins coming, she smiled so much that her eyes were wrinkled. "Hurry up and let the children roll around a few times, so that the bride and groom can also have twins next year."

The bed was scattered with peanuts, red dates and other foods with good meanings. The brother and sister were curious to see them and reached out to grab them.

Lu Che and Jiang Yao put them on the big bed. They were worried that they would grab food and put it in their mouths, so they kept watching them and picked them up as soon as they rolled off the bed.

Everyone was laughing so hard watching the brother and sister's "performance". Zhang's mother even took out two red envelopes from her pocket and gave one to each of them.

They liked the red color very much and reached out to grab it. Jiang Yao quickly stopped them, "Auntie, no need."

"This is a must." Zhang's mother stuffed the red envelope into Changchang and Xiaolu's hands and said, "It's a small red envelope, and the most important thing is that it has a good meaning. You must accept it."

"Thank you, auntie." Jiang Yao did not delay any longer. She took the red envelope and took the child out.

When they came out, the banquet was about to begin.

It is said that the youngest son is the favored one. As the youngest son of the Zhang family, Zhang Dong is indeed the most favored by Zhang's father and mother. It can be seen from the grand scale of today's banquet.

The Zhang family's place is small, so the banquet was set up directly in the alley outside, lined up in a row, and there were probably more than a dozen tables.

A dozen tables may not be many compared to weddings in later generations, but it is considered a grand wedding banquet in those days.

It was the first time for Changchang and Xiaolu to see so many people and such a lively scene. They were very excited. They kept talking and waving their little hands.

At this time, many guests had already taken their seats and were chatting while eating melon seeds.

Jiang Yao originally planned to sit at the same table with Zhou Qiong and the others, but Zhang Dong's "brothers" kept chasing after the three of them, so that their table was already "full".

She and Lu Che craned their necks to find a seat, and then they heard someone shout, "Lu Che, there's a seat here."

They followed the sound and forgot about the past, only to see that there were not many people at the table, just two middle-aged men, a middle-aged woman, and a young woman.

"Is this the leader of your factory?" Jiang Yao had already made some judgment based on their aura, and she asked Lu Che in a low voice.

"Yes, the one in black is Director Wu, and the one next to him is his wife Director Li, who is in charge of personnel in our factory. The one in green is Director Hu, and he was the one who recommended me to work in the mechanical and electrical factory." Lu Che gave a brief introduction.

Jiang Yao nodded and said, "Let's go over there."

"Okay." Lu Che responded, "Don't be nervous."

Jiang Yao smiled, "Why should I be nervous? He's your leader, not mine, so just don't be nervous."

Lu Che: “…”

The family of four walked to the table. Lu Che first introduced Jiang Yao to the leader. Jiang Yao politely called for help and then sat down.

"These are twins, boy and girl, they look so cute." Director Li saw the pink and tender skin of the brother and sister, and their big eyes were as beautiful as black grapes. He liked them very much and asked, "Can I hold them?"

"Of course." Jiang Yao handed the little deer to Director Li. Director Wu was also greedy and said to Lu Che, "Brother, let me hold it for a while."

Director Wu and Director Li are in their early 40s today. Although they are still young, they are already at the age of being grandparents in this era. They looked at the twins and drooled. They said, "It would be great if our family could have a pair of children like this."

"That's a little difficult, because your family has a tradition of having twins." Director Hu poured cold water on the side. After that, he said to the little girl next to Director Li who had been silent the whole time: "Huang Ying, you are old enough, you should solve your personal problems quickly and give birth to a baby for your aunt and uncle to satisfy their cravings."

Being called unexpectedly, Huang Ying's face immediately turned red. She lowered her head and whispered, "I'm still young!"

Director Li glanced back and forth between Huang Ying and Lu Che, sighed almost imperceptibly, and said, "Xiaoying, Director Hu is right. You are already 20 years old. It will be too late if you don't consider your personal problems now."

"I..." Huang Ying raised her head, glanced at Director Li timidly, then lowered her head and said nothing.

The urge to find a partner made the atmosphere a little awkward, but fortunately someone came to serve the food and the matter was resolved.

"Xiaolu, come here, mommy, it's time to feed Grandma Li." Jiang Yao reached out to hug Xiaolu, but Director Li didn't let go and said, "You and Lu Che can eat, Old Wu and I will help you take care of it first."

"How can this be so embarrassing?" Jiang Yao said.

"Don't be embarrassed. We haven't had grandchildren yet. Just satisfy our cravings." Director Li said with a smile.

Having said that, Jiang Yao agreed to their kindness.

The Zhang family was willing to spend a lot of money on this wedding banquet, and the dishes were very rich, including many meat dishes. Changchang and Xiaolu stared at the dishes with their big eyes, their mouths watering.

"Oh, Xiaolu wants to eat vegetables, right?" Director Li saw what Jiang Yao was thinking and asked, "Can you give her some?"

"Not yet, it's too small." Jiang Yao shook her head and said.

"How old are they?" Director Li asked.

Jiang Yao: “Just over six months.”

"Just over six months old." Director Li said in amazement, "You are really good at raising a child. He is already this big after only six months."

"It's OK." Jiang Yao said modestly, "These two kids have good appetites."

"You have a good appetite because you know how to take care of her." Director Li said, "I heard earlier that Lu Che's wife was an educated youth from the provincial capital and she was young. I thought you wouldn't be able to take care of a child, but I didn't expect you to take care of her so well. But then again, if you can be so strong, you must be willing to give food to your child."

"Of course I'd be willing to give up my own child."

Director Li was very interested in Jiang Yao's parenting experience, and they spent the entire meal talking about this topic.

Although there is a clash of parenting concepts between the older and younger generations, Director Li never takes advantage of his seniority and thinks that young people know nothing and should listen to the elderly.

As for the three men at the table, they were chatting about the new products they were going to research recently. Lu Che, the new team leader, was always able to give timely answers to the questions raised by Director Wu, and he really lived up to his title as team leader.

Although he was busy entertaining his superiors, he never forgot to pick up food for Jiang Yao. Whenever her bowl was almost empty, he would always refill it in time.

Halfway through the banquet, the brother and sister had a quarrel because they were hungry. Jiang Yao borrowed the Zhang family's woodshed and hid in to feed her baby, and Lu Che followed her in.

By the time they came out, the banquet was almost over.

Zhu Xia and Zhang Dong were seeing off the guests. When they saw them coming out, Zhu Xia said, "You two must not have eaten enough. I packed some for you. Go back and heat it up before eating. It's cold and the food is cold."

As soon as the words fell, Wen Qian handed over the food.

Jiang Yao took it and said to Zhu Xia and Zhang Dong: "Thank you!"

"You're welcome. If anyone wants to say thank you, it should be us. Thank you two for being the matchmakers." Zhang Dong said with a smile.

"You don't have to say thank you!" Jiang Yao said to Zhang Dong, "Zhu Xia is the godmother of our Changchang and Xiaolu. You have to treat her well in the future, otherwise the little guy will not agree."

"That's right. Not only the twins disagree, but we sisters also disagree." Wen Qian said, "Don't bully Zhu Xia because her parents are far away in the provincial capital. If you dare to bully her, we won't let you go."

Zhu Xia couldn't help but feel her eyes turn red as she listened, and the uneasiness in her heart was also soothed at this moment.

Zhang Dong hugged Zhu Xia and made a solemn promise to Jiang Yao and the others, "Don't worry, I will treat her well."

"You must do what you say."

"Of course." Zhang Dong said and then drove them away. "You guys go back first. We can talk another day. Don't disturb my wedding night, okay?"

"What are you talking about?" Zhu Xia glared at him in embarrassment.

Wen Qian and the other unmarried girls were embarrassed by the humiliation. On the contrary, the other workers who were about to send them back immediately scolded Zhang Dong, "What kind of wedding night are you having in broad daylight?"

Everyone made a fuss at the door for a while and then went back.

The brother and sister had already fallen asleep after eating. The temperature in early winter was not high, and it was even colder when riding a bicycle. Jiang Yao and Lu Che wrapped them up tightly before setting off for home.

When they returned to the Lu family, the children were still asleep, so the couple put them to bed first.

"Wife, are you hungry? How about I go heat up some food now?" Lu Che asked in a low voice.

"I'm not hungry. If you are, go and heat it up." Jiang Yao said.

"I'm not too hungry either, let's eat more tonight." Lu Che asked, "How about we take a nap?"

"Okay, but before you go to bed, I have a question for you."

"What's the problem?"

"Does Huang Ying like you?" Jiang Yao used a question, but her tone was affirmative.

"..." Lu Che was stunned for a moment, and quickly said: "Wife, how did you know? You have to believe me, I have nothing to do with her, I have never paid any attention to her."