In the ward, Aunt Fang had already figured out that Li Chengxi was the person Lin Tao was talking about. When Li Chengxi was here, she took several secret glances at him and became more and more satisfied.

The boy has a decent appearance, but his skin is a little darker. But why does a man need to be so white? Wouldn't that make him a gigolo?

He has an upright posture and a righteous look between his brows, which makes people feel at ease just by looking at him.

It's no wonder that their daughter, Tao, is a perfect match for him. They are a perfect match, really.

"Did you see it?" Aunt Fang looked at Lin Changhai.

Lin Changhai wondered: "What did you see?"

Aunt Fang showed an 'I knew it' expression and said helplessly: "A Tao has a date. I was planning to tell you today. I knew you would be happy to hear this, so I specially prepared a few more snacks for you. I didn't expect this to happen."

Lin Changhai didn't care about anything else, his mind was full of finding someone for Ah Tao.

He hurriedly asked, "Is Ah Tao dating someone? Who is that person?"

Aunt Fang smiled and said, "Who else could it be? It must be the young man who saved you. I know you men are usually careless and can't see anything. Just now in the ward, you two looked at each other, and I saw it at a glance."

Originally, Lin Changhai was still thinking that if the other party was not good enough, he would not feel comfortable handing his daughter over to the other party. However, when he heard Aunt Fang say it was Li Chengxi, he was satisfied.

Li Chengxi and Lin Tao went to ask the doctor about Lin Changhai's leg. The doctor said that fortunately there was no injury to the bones and muscles, but he still needed to rest for a few days. As for discharge, if there was no major problem, he could go home today, but he still had to change the dressing on time.

By the time Li Chengxi and Lin Tao returned to the ward and were about to confess to Lin Changhai, Lin Changhai had already known about it in advance.

He was extremely satisfied with Li Chengxi, his future son-in-law.

One of them is a retired Army veteran, and the other is a Navy veteran, but they can still talk about a lot of things under the sun.

On the way back, taking into account Lin Changhai's leg problem and the fact that a 28-inch truck could not seat so many people, Li Chengxi went to find Jiang Hongcai, borrowed a car from him, and drove them home himself.

Li Chengxi's driving skills are pretty good. The roads in the countryside are not that good, but he drives the car steadily.

However, the roads in the village were narrow and the car couldn't drive in at all. So Li Chengxi parked the car at the entrance of the village, and several people got out of the car. Li Chengxi and Lin Tao helped Lin Changhai walk.

The Lin family's house and Aunt Fang's house were not in the same direction. When they reached the fork in the road, Aunt Fang said she would go back first.

Lin Tao called her: "Aunt Fang, you've been busy for so long and you're hungry. Let's go to my house and eat something before going back."

Aunt Fang couldn't resist Lin Tao's persuasion and agreed.

After going back and forth like this, it was already past eight o'clock in the evening.

Country people usually don't have much entertainment, and they go to bed early to save on fuel. At this time, there is no other sound in Taohua Village except the croaking of frogs at night.

When they got home, Lin Tao lit the kerosene lamp, and with the help of Aunt Fang, they went to the kitchen to heat up the dishes they had cooked in the evening, and then they could eat.

Their house is not big, but Lin Tao keeps it clean.

Li Chengxi was not the kind of person who cared about these things. In the past, during wars, he could even sleep in the mud. This place was already very good.

Although he was born into a red family and his father had made great contributions in his early years and was now a leader, he did not suffer less because of this.

"Chengxi is from Shanghai, and I don't know if he can handle spicy food."

All the dishes at home were spiced with chili. Lin Changhai even added a small pile of chopped chili peppers on the side because he thought they were not spicy enough.

Li Chengxi said: "I was a soldier in Sichuan for many years, so I can eat spicy food."

"That's great. To be our Xiangcheng son-in-law, you have to be able to eat spicy food. Come and try it. The chopped chili peppers made by my Ah Tao are so delicious." When Lin Changhai heard that Li Chengxi could eat spicy food, he handed the chopped chili peppers to him like a treasure.

Li Chengxi took a piece of the soup with chopsticks and was about to eat it. Lin Tao quickly said, "Eat it with rice, otherwise it will be too spicy."

"It smells really good." Li Chengxi listened to Lin Tao and took a bite with rice.

Lin Tao smiled, feeling a sense of satisfaction from being affirmed.

They had a very enjoyable meal, and Lin Changhai and Aunt Fang were very satisfied with Li Chengxi.

However, no matter how satisfied she was, Lin Tao and Li Chengxi were not married yet. They were just boyfriend and girlfriend, so Li Chengxi definitely could not stay overnight.

After dinner, Li Chengxi suggested going back.

Lin Tao went to see him off. On the way, Li Chengxi joked, "The ugly son-in-law finally gets to meet his father-in-law."

Lin Tao said angrily, "Don't say that. My dad really likes you."

"What about you?"

After realizing what Li Chengxi said, Lin Tao lowered her eyes, not daring to look at him.

She grabbed the corner of her clothes with both hands, pursed her lips for a while, and then whispered, "I like it too."

Li Chengxi stood still, looking at Lin Tao in the moonlight, and said seriously: "I will tell my family and the army about our relationship as soon as possible. After the political review is passed, we will get married, okay?"

It sounds early to talk about getting married now, but Li Chengxi has to go back to the army first to deal with the political review and housing issues. There is still a long period of time in between for them.

Li Chengxi didn't think it was too early to say this at this time. He was the kind of person who would not change his mind easily once he made up his mind.

It was also to let Lin Tao understand that his being with her was based on the premise of marriage.

And Lin Tao too.

Lin Tao was silent for a moment and then nodded in agreement: "Okay."

Lin Tao sent him to the village entrance and watched Li Chengxi get on the car.

Lin Tao waved at him, but Li Chengxi was in no hurry to drive. Instead, he turned on the headlights to illuminate the road and waited for Lin Tao to go back first.

Lin Tao understood and walked towards home under the light.

She had read a romance novel before, in which the heroine said that love was romantic.

In fact, she still didn't quite understand what romance was, but at this moment, her heart was like a beam of light in the darkness, bright and warm.

************************

Lin Hui had a nightmare all night. In the dream, Lin Changhai died in an accident. Lin Changhai turned into a ghost and came to her to claim her life, wanting to strangle her to death.

When she woke up the next day, Lin Hui's eyes were dark and her face looked very bad.

Today is Lin Hui and Shen Guobin's wedding day. Although they agreed not to hold a grand ceremony, Shen Guobin will come to pick them up to have dinner at Shen's house later.

Zhang Hongying and Old Lady Lin got up early in the morning to pack up. Seeing that Lin Hui had not gotten up yet, they hurried to call her.

Lin Hui got up from the bed in a trance and forced herself to wash up. However, just as she walked to the yard to get some water to wash her face, she saw her second uncle coming out of the house with a cane.

"Ghost!" Lin Hui was so scared that she took a step back, stepped on chicken shit, and fell upside down.

The basin of water in his hand poured all over himself, and he became a drowned chicken.

Old Mrs. Lin and Zhang Hongying hurried over to help her up, muttering to herself, "You're getting married soon, why are you so careless? Are you hurt?"

Lin Hui woke up after the fall and realized that Lin Changhai was not dead and what she just saw was not a ghost.

Although she had no idea what was going on, the fear in her heart disappeared. Lin Hui went into the house cursing and changed her clothes that were stained with chicken shit.

She didn't want to be responsible for a death for no reason. She had a bad nightmare last night. She was relieved that Lin Changhai was not dead.

No matter who saved Lin Changhai, it would be fine as long as it wasn't her Shen Guobin.

She is destined to be the stepmother in this life, Lin Tao, don't even think about snatching her away!

Lin Hui was wearing a red dress, which she had prepared specially for her wedding day.

Red cloth was hard to buy those days, and the supply and marketing cooperative happened to have received some that day, enough to make two sets of clothes, and she snatched it all up.

She was wearing a red dress and trying to show off in front of Lin Tao, but Lin Tao just ignored her and didn't even raise her eyelids. She went to feed the chickens as usual and watered the vegetable seedlings in the yard.

Lin Hui hated to see Lin Tao like this. She always felt like she looked down on her.

But what's so great about Lin Tao? The guy she's dating is simply a gigolo. He even has to buy movie tickets for her. How can she do that!

Although Shen Guobin was not as handsome as that pretty boy, he was the battalion commander. She had specially inquired about him and found out that the battalion commander's salary seemed to be around a hundred yuan a month.

Her life will be much easier then.

The more Lin Hui thought about it, the happier she became, and she couldn't wait to join the army.

After a while, Zhou Meifang and Lin Qiang arrived. The couple had taken a special leave to attend the wedding.

Not long after they arrived, Shen Guobin came to pick them up in a ox cart.

Although their wedding was not a big one, the Lin family still prepared a dowry for Lin Hui. However, since Lin Hui was going to join the army, they did not prepare any big items for her, only small things.

Zhang Hongying also took out 200 yuan from the 380 yuan betrothal gift, intending to secretly give it to Lin Hui when the time comes.

To be honest, although Taohua Village is a rural area, people still attach great importance to major life events such as marriage. This is the first time I have seen someone like Lin Hui getting married without a wedding banquet and riding a ox cart to the man's house.

There were bound to be people in the village who came to watch the excitement and gossip, but when they heard that the Shen family had given a total of more than 200 yuan in betrothal gifts, they had nothing to say.

After a few days of getting along, Shen Guobin and Lin Hui have become more familiar with each other and no longer feel at a loss for words like they did at the beginning. After all, they are going to get married, even if his original intention was just to find someone to take care of the children.

Seeing Lin Hui's pale face, Shen Guobin asked, "Xiao Lin, why do you look so bad?"

Lin Hui lowered her head and pretended to be shy: "When I thought about our marriage today, I was nervous and happy. I didn't sleep well..."

Her approach seemed to work quite well on Shen Guobin, who nodded and said nothing more.

Seeing the eldest family on the ox cart, I couldn't help but ask, "Aren't Second Uncle and his family going?"

Lin Hui glanced into the yard and saw Lin Tao hanging clothes. She quickly blocked Shen Guobin's sight, fearing that Shen Guobin would see Lin Tao.

Lin Tao was originally prettier than her, and she didn't look very well today, so she was easily outdone.

She shook her head, "You don't know, my cousin is a very vindictive person. Recently, she has been against me because of my marrying you. She always finds trouble with me for no reason. Alas, I am the elder sister after all, so I can only give in to her. Sometimes I can't help but get angry when I think about it. You said that she doesn't want to marry and become a stepmother, and if I marry her, she will hate me. I really don't know what to do."

After saying this, he looked aggrieved.

After listening to Lin Hui's words, Shen Guobin's impression of Lin Tao became even worse.

He felt even more that he had made the right choice to marry Lin Hui. He didn't care about the coffin or anything like that, but if he married such a petty and mean woman, who knows what kind of mess would happen at home.

When we arrived at Shen's house, the meal was still being prepared.

Several relatives who were close to the Shen family came. When they saw the bride, Lin Hui, they all praised her, whether sincerely or not: "This new bride is so pretty. She looks so good with our Guo Bin."

Lin Hui was just feeling happy about these words when she heard another voice saying in a sinister tone, "A beautiful face doesn't necessarily mean a beautiful heart. Jiahao, Jiayi, if this person dares to treat you badly in the future, you must tell grandma and she will take care of the matter for you!"

The person who was speaking was Shen Guobin's ex-mother-in-law, Mrs. Huang. Her daughter Huang Shufen had been married into the Shen family for six or seven years and had three children. She died when she gave birth to the third child.

Now that Shen Guobin is getting married again, she hasn't slept well for several days.

On the one hand, she felt sorry for her youngest daughter, and on the other hand, she felt sorry for her grandchildren. Who knew whether they were living well under the care of their stepmother?

She came uninvited today just to give Lin Hui, the new daughter-in-law, a warning.

Shen Jiahao is over five years old this year. Although he is young, this child has been smart since he was young.

Just a few months after his mother died, someone tried to find a stepmother for them, but he ruined the plan.

It’s a pity that his father didn’t bring her with him the last time he went there, otherwise he would have ruined this marriage.

Shen Jiayi is just a glutton. If you give her something to eat, she will think this woman is good. His father is so eager to marry her.

Grandma was right, no stepmother is good. They didn't come out of her belly, she doesn't feel sorry for them, she just treats them as a burden.

When Old Lady Lin and Zhang Hongying heard this, they were furious and looked extremely unhappy.

Especially Mrs. Lin, she wanted to go up and beat Mrs. Huang up: "How can you talk like that? Is this how you usually teach your children? No wonder your daughter died early!"

"What did you say? I'll tear your mouth apart!" Old Mrs. Huang got furious.

"Tear my mouth? Come on, tear it off! You shameless thing, you are already my ex-mother-in-law, why are you joining in the fun of my daughter's wedding!"

"If you want to blame someone, just blame your daughter for having a bad fate. She died early. The man is my Ah Hui's, and the child is also my Ah Hui's. Why are you so angry that your face has turned green? No matter how angry I am, what I say is the truth!"

"I'll fight you!"