Chapter 24 A Piece of Meat
“Fine,” Liu Zhixia stared directly at him, “Since you like playing the hero and rescuing the damsel in distress, then we’ll go after you. Lu Huaiyuan, in front of so many people, make yourself clear: is this piece of meat an apology gift or a dowry?”
With so many people staring at him, Lu Huaiyuan broke out in a cold sweat. But he had no way out and could only grit his teeth and endure: "Of course it's the bride price! Your Liu family is so poor, marrying into my family is a blessing. I'm giving you a piece of meat as a dowry, you're getting a bargain!"
"You bastard, what did you say!" Zhang Xiuying raised her knife in anger.
Liu Zhixia grabbed her mother's arm and continued to ask calmly, "Since it's a marriage, both sets of parents should be present. My parents are here, so why isn't the brigade leader here?"
She turned to Liu Xuejun: "Go and invite the brigade leader here."
Then she leaned close to his ear and whispered quickly, "Don't mention pork."
Liu Xuejun immediately understood.
Upon hearing that he was to be called "father," Lu Huaiyuan panicked and rushed forward to grab Liu Xuejun, saying, "Why are you calling me 'father'? It's my own marriage, and I'll make my own decisions!"
Liu Xuejun raised his fist at him, and he instinctively withdrew his hand.
Watching Liu Xuejun run away, Lu Huaiyuan could only glare at Liu Zhixia and say, "Did you have to make such a big deal out of this?"
"Marriage is a major life event; it requires the consent of parents and the words of a matchmaker, neither of which can be omitted," Liu Zhixia said calmly.
Hearing this, Gu Mansheng smiled smugly. She tugged at Lu Huaiyuan and whispered, "It's done."
"What do you mean, 'accomplish'?" Lu Huaiyuan was covered in sweat. "She's clearly here to cause trouble!"
"Are you stupid!" Gu Mansheng glared at him. "She called so many people here to force you to admit you want to marry her. Now she's called your father too, isn't that just to finalize the marriage?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Huaiyuan suddenly realized what was going on and immediately became smug: "I knew it! As long as I coax her a little, she still wants to marry me."
But then he was faced with another problem: "But this was done behind my father's back. What if he comes?"
His original plan was to trick Shen Hongmei into accepting the betrothal gifts, then spread rumors to force the Liu family to go to their home and beg him to marry Liu Zhixia for the sake of Liu Zhixia's reputation.
Unexpectedly, Liu Zhixia, who was determined to marry him, took the initiative to make a big fuss about this matter.
Gu Mansheng said with a hint of sourness, "Your father can't wait for you to get married. As long as the bride isn't me, he'll definitely be happy. Why don't you just tell him you want to marry her?"
Lu Huaiyuan was so anxious that he almost grabbed Gu Mansheng's hand in front of everyone.
Lu Huaiyuan lowered his voice tenderly, "You know, you're the only one in my heart."
Liu Zhixia coldly watched the two whispering and pulling at each other in the corner.
Do these two think the public is stupid?
Even without any overtly intimate actions, their furtive behavior had already drawn whispers and gossip among the crowd about their relationship.
"Lu Huaiyuan and Gu Zhiqing...could they really be having an affair?"
"Really? Didn't he just propose marriage to the Liu family?"
Just as everyone was wondering, Liu Xuejun returned with Captain Lu Jianping.
When Lu Jianping saw the crowd gathered in front of his house, his scalp tingled. Then, seeing his son and Gu Mansheng kissing and cuddling in a corner, his mind went completely blank!
He rushed to his son in three strides and slapped him hard across the face!
"You little beast! I've poured my heart and soul into nurturing you so you could have a future. And you actually want to ruin your future for this woman? All those years of schooling, what a waste!"
"I'm the first person to object to your marriage!"
"If you insist on marrying her, fine, then get out of the Lu family!"
Lu Huaiyuan was stunned by the beating, but he retorted with his neck stiff: "Father, in your eyes, am I not even good enough for her?"
"Not good enough for her?" Lu Jianping was furious. "Anyone in the village could be better than her! Unless I'm dead, this is not going to happen!"
Liu Shouren couldn't stand it anymore: "Captain Lu, what do you mean by that? Don't think that just because your son has been to school for a few days, he's superior to us farmers!"
"My Lu family are poor peasants with impeccable revolutionary credentials. When we marry, we must find a wife who has a good class background and knows how to manage a household!" Lu Jianping roared.
“That’s right!” Li Xuemei, who had just returned from outside, heard about her son’s situation and struggled to squeeze through the crowd. “As long as my husband and I are still alive, she won’t be allowed to enter our house!”
The onlookers were stunned, feeling that the curses from the Lu couple... didn't seem to refer to Liu Zhixia.
Liu Xuejun winked at Liu Zhixia, clearly embellishing the story along the way.
At this moment, Liu Shouren became furious: "Why do you look down on me like this..."
Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Xiuying covered his mouth.
Zhang Xiuying's eyes also held a smile; she knew things were about to get interesting.
Li Xuemei angrily pointed at Gu Mansheng, who was standing next to Lu Huaiyuan, and cursed, "You little vixen, you've been flirting with my son before, it must be this bitch who seduced my son!"
"If you ask me, this shameless woman should be kicked out of our brigade!"
Gu Mansheng turned pale upon hearing this.
Lu Huaiyuan's mind was buzzing. Realizing that his parents had misunderstood, he hurriedly explained, "Dad, Mom, you've misunderstood!"
"What misunderstanding!" Lu Jianping interrupted him directly, "You secretly took some eggs from home and gave them to her the other day, do you really think I didn't know? Someone at the educated youth settlement reported it to me! What a coincidence that we just bought some eggs and a few went missing, and she brought some eggs back from outside?"
Li Xuemei pulled her son close, her heart aching. "Son, women with such bad class backgrounds will only harm you. If you really want to get married, I'll go to the city and find you a good girl, okay?"
"What!" Shen Hongmei rushed forward in surprise and grabbed Lu Huaiyuan. "If you two are having an affair, why do you insist on marrying my little sister?"
The people around finally realized what was happening.
A female educated youth exclaimed in surprise: "So the eggs that Gu Qingqing brought back were a gift from Lu Huaiyuan? He likes Gu Qingqing, but he dislikes her because of her class background, so he wants to marry Comrade Liu, who has a better class background, as soon as possible? What does Comrade Liu look like in their eyes?"
Liu Zhixia forced out a few tears, her voice filled with grievance and helplessness: "Didn't they just say that they think my family is poor? The fact that they're willing to exchange a piece of meat for me to go to their family is already a great favor to them."
Her words only fueled the murmurs around her.
Upon hearing the words "a piece of meat" and "changing wives," Lu Jianping and Li Xuemei's expressions immediately changed, sensing that something was wrong.
Li Xuemei looked at everyone in confusion: "What meat? What does this have to do with Liu Zhixia?"
Before anyone could answer, she strode up to Liu Zhixia with her hands on her hips, looking down on her with disdain, and said, "Didn't you look down on my Huaiyuan before? What, now that the soldier's gone, you're coming back crying and begging my son to marry you? Have you no shame?"
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