Chapter 6: Marriage
The door was tightly closed, but it couldn't stop the crying of the woman inside.
Li Cuihua was furious: "Zhao Mei, how dare you cry? Wasn't it you who taught that girl?"
Wang Minzhi interrupted, "Mom, I mentioned this to you last night when we were having dinner. Since Xiaomei and Ma Qijun have done something like that, we should just find a matchmaker to help Xiaomei get married."
Ye Xiaolin spoke the loudest: "That's right, how can I face people when I go out in the future? You don't know what people say about me. They say that in previous years, Ma Qijun came to our house to look for Ye Xiaomei. If we don't get it done quickly, I'm afraid I'll be pregnant now."
Zhao Min sat on the millstone and sobbed, "But...but Ma Qijun is a cripple, and you can't push my child into the fire pit."
Ye Xiaomei's hand, which had been suspended in the air, finally dropped. She pushed the door open, walked silently to her mother, and stuffed the two pieces of cloth between her armpits into her mother's arms:
"Mom, don't cry. This is cloth. Keep it for you and Xiaoya to buy two new clothes. Also, this is Xiaoya's tuition."
Zhao Mei's tearful eyes lit up, then quickly dimmed. Even though she had the money in her hand, her mood was not much better.
Wang Minzhi stared at the two pieces of cloth, wondering where this damn girl got the money to buy such high-quality Dacron cloth.
Ye Xiaomei turned around and looked at her grandmother and said softly, "Okay, as long as Brother Ma is willing to marry me, I am willing to take care of him for the rest of his life."
As soon as these words were spoken, the yard fell silent.
Wang Dajiao, a neighbor who was carrying a hoe at the door, stepped forward suddenly and stretched his neck to look into the yard.
The news spread quickly throughout the entire Meihua Village that day.
At night, Ye Xiaomei slept so soundly for the first time.
She had made up her mind that rather than suffer humiliation along with her mother, it would be better for her to marry him. It didn't matter who a woman married in her lifetime. What's more, she found that Ma Qijun was a gentleman. She had... flirted with him like that, but he hadn't done anything to her.
Thinking of this, Ye Xiaomei blushed in her quilt.
And if she gets sick one day and climbs into her husband's bed, no one will say anything.
"What?" Ma's mother Wang Lan stood inside her home's low wall, holding a rice spoon in her hand and talking to the villagers passing by:
"You mean Ye Xiaomei who said she was willing to take care of my son?"
"Isn't it? What happened last evening has spread all over the west end of the village, but..."
Li Sixi looked around, stretched his neck and whispered:
"Even if there is a girl willing to take care of your son, you have to think it through. Putting aside a hundred other things, just the fact that that girl dared to seduce your future brother-in-law, you won't be able to prevent her if you marry her."
Wang Lan's face fell when she heard this: "Don't worry about this matter, just take care of your good daughter-in-law first."
Wang Lan trusted her son the most and had questioned him about the matter three days ago.
Her son said that it was Ye Xiaolin who was the one who played the drums. Wang Lan didn't believe it at first. After all, in her impression, Ye Xiaolin was a well-behaved, sensible, sweet-spoken and capable girl.
But thinking back, Wang Lan knew her son had a promising future after receiving the transfer notice two years ago.
It was during those two years that Ye Xiaolin, under the pretext of being Ma Qijun's schoolmate, frequently visited her home, either helping her sweep the floor or cooking for her. Sometimes she even gave her some fruit, and people thought she was a good girl.
Looking back now, isn’t it because they think that Qijun has a bright future?
It has been more than a month since Ye Xiaolin received the news of the disabled soldiers from the army and brought his son back, but he has never come once. Isn't it obvious?
"You really don't know what's good for you." Seeing that she didn't appreciate it, Li Sixi left angrily.
Wang Lan turned around and smiled, then remembered that there was porridge cooking in the kitchen. Oh no! She quickly ran in.
Wang Lan told Ma Qijun about this in the afternoon.
At that time, Ma Qijun stood there in a daze, with an expressionless face for a full five minutes.
"What are you daydreaming about?" Wang Lan pushed her son in the wheelchair.
"Did you hear what I just said? I said that if I get old and die, I definitely won't be able to take care of you for the rest of your life, but the girl has said she's willing to take care of you."
Ma Qijun came back to his senses then: "Did Ye Xiaomei say this herself?" Or did the villagers think the joke was not funny enough and spread it with extra spice?
"I heard that she said it herself. Mom plans to go and find out about this girl's character this afternoon. It's rare that someone is willing to take care of you. Mom can't just let it go."
Wang Lan untied her apron and prepared to go and inquire in person.
After asking around, there was absolutely no one who said no.
Basically everyone praised Ye Xiaomei, saying that she was capable, smart, and could learn anything. She was also filial and had never spoken loudly to her elders. She learned how to cook and wash clothes at the age of four or five, and she never missed a day of farm work.
When mentioning what happened a few days ago, everyone thought that Ye Xiaomei was pretending to be sensible and well-behaved.
In the early morning, Ye Xiaomei put on a bra with a wide elastic band and put it on her body. She felt much lighter than wrapping herself in a bed sheet.
After washing the clothes and hanging them up, I took the hoe and went to the fields.
Li Cuihua behind him urged, "Look at how late it is now. Can't you wash your clothes at night after work? Won't they be done in the morning? And you don't have to buy new clothes."
Ye Xiaomei ignored him, just responded and quickened her pace to go to the field to help her mother.
As soon as I opened the door, I saw an old lady standing at the door with shining eyes and a big smile on her face, holding a net bag full of cans of all sizes.
"You are..." Ye Xiaomei instantly saw that there was another person in the wheelchair behind the old lady.
Ma Qijun? Ye Xiaomei was so frightened that the hoe on her shoulder almost fell off. She took two steps back subconsciously:
"Auntie Wang, please sit inside."
Yesterday afternoon I heard that Ma's mother came to the west end of the village to inquire about her. My own mother also told me about this matter, so I'm afraid it's almost true.
But before Ye Xiaomei married Ma Qijun, she still had to keep her distance.
"Okay, okay, okay." Wang Lan was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling. Look how pretty this girl is. She is said to be a country girl, but I have never seen one with such fair skin.
And look at that waist. Wow, that must be a body that can bear children.
"Aren't you going to work yet? Do you want to tire your mother to death?" Wang Minzhi in the east room was combing her hair while scolding Ye Xiaomei. She turned around and shouted at the room with a smile:
"Xiao Lin, aren't you going to collect cloth to make clothes? Hurry up, the sun will be too strong and you will be too hot." There is nothing to be proud of. This time, I must buy better cloth than Zhao Mei's.
Ye Xiaomei had long been accustomed to the ways of her aunt and her family, so she ignored them, opened the door and let Wang Lan in:
"Grandma, there are guests."
Li Cuiying then walked out of the main hall. Seeing that it was the mother of the Ma family from the east of the village, she greeted her with a smile:
"Hey, distinguished guest, please come in and sit down. Xiaomei will go and pour tea. Forget it, Xiaomei, go to the field and call your mother back. Xiaolin, don't rush to gather today. Get up and pour tea for the guests."
When Wang Minzhi saw who was coming, she went into the house happily and urged Xiaolin to go. Now that she had come to the house, it was almost certain that the dead girl had married.
"I've wanted to come here for a long time, but I was blind before and couldn't tell which way your door was facing." Wang Lan deliberately raised her voice towards the east room.
She was really blind. She thought Ye Xiaolin was a good girl and insisted on marrying her to her son. Who knew she was an ungrateful person?
Ye Xiaomei just walked out of the door and saw Ma Qijun staring at the doorstep of her house with his eyes almost glaring at her.
"Let me push you." Ye Xiaomei was a little embarrassed. She quickly took a few bricks and put them on the ground, then went around Ma Qijun and pushed him.
A body fragrance that belonged only to Ma Qijun was like the steam from a boiling pot, flowing from his back straight into Ye Xiaomei's nostrils.
In the gap between a few breaths, Ye Xiaomei's face flushed and her hands suddenly became weak. The wheelchair had just climbed up the brick edge when it rolled back and hit Ye Xiaomei's arms.
Ma Qijun suddenly felt something soft and fragrant hitting the back of his head and turned around in shock.
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