Xu Qianjiao reached out and held his hand, "Please take care of me."
The two looked at each other, and everything was said without words.
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The sun slowly sank to the west, dyeing the sky orange-red. The clouds became colorful under the sunset, some like golden wheat fields, some like flaming red maple leaves, and some like purple grapes. It was a beautiful sight.
The earth, illuminated by the afterglow, took on a warm golden hue. The distant mountains, outlined by the setting sun, became even more majestic, like silhouettes in an oil painting. The breeze rustled across the lakes and rivers, creating shimmering waves that were as picturesque as poetry.
Xu Qianjiao and Cheng Jiawen walked side by side, slowly walking down the mountain towards home. Along the way, they were both silent, as if they were the only two people left in the world.
When they reached the foot of the mountain, the two of them tacitly kept their distance, one in front and one behind, and Cheng Jiawen silently walked behind to send Xu Qianjiao home.
It's dinnertime. The aroma of food fills the air throughout the village, as every household bustles with preparations. Under the setting sun, the village becomes especially warm and inviting, like a large family. In this beautiful evening, time seems to stand still, and everything becomes peaceful and beautiful. People find solace in this moment, feeling the beauty and happiness of life.
Xu Qianjiao walked towards home step by step with a faint smile on her lips.
As they were getting ready to go home, Xu Qianjiao suddenly turned around, waved to Cheng Jiawen, and slowly mouthed to him, "I'm here, go back quickly."
Cheng Jiawen looked at her mouth shape carefully, recognized her words, then waved at her, and watched her enter before turning and leaving.
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When he got home, the Cheng family was already having dinner. As usual, they didn't leave any food for him. He laughed at himself, turned around and walked back to his room without even looking at the people eating in the yard.
After they finished eating, Cheng Jiawen walked to Cheng's father and mother's room and knocked on the door gently.
Cheng's mother came over and opened the door. Seeing it was him, she asked unhappily, "What's the matter?"
Cheng Jiawen looked ruffian and said lightly: "I want to marry Xu Qianjiao."
He said it calmly, not realizing how shocking his words were. Mother Cheng frowned at him and said without a second thought, "Impossible! I can't let you marry her."
"Why?" Cheng Jiawen suppressed his anger and asked calmly.
Cheng's mother looked disgusted. "She's so lazy. What's the point of marrying her? She can't carry anything, can't lift anything with her hands, and can't do any work. What's the point of having a pretty face?"
Cheng Jiawen was so angry that he laughed, "I'm marrying a wife, not looking for a nanny."
Cheng's mother was furious at his words. She clutched her chest, looking breathless. "You, you unfilial son, who wouldn't look for a capable wife? You're so lazy, yet you still find such a lazy wife. Do you want the two of you to starve to death together?"
Cheng Jiawen said nonchalantly, "I won't starve to death, don't I still have you guys here? If all else fails, I can still get some food at Xu Qianjiao's house."
"You, you..." Hearing his shameless answer, Cheng's mother was so angry that she rolled her eyes. It turned out that this brat was not satisfied with just living off the family, and after getting married, he wanted to bring his wife along to live off the family, and even wanted to live off the wife's parents' family. How could he give birth to such a son?
Hearing the noise, Cheng's father came out of the room and just heard Cheng Jiawen's shameless words. He was so angry that he picked up the broom and hit him hard, "I'll beat you to death, you stinky boy, you are so shameless, you really bring shame to my Cheng family."
Cheng Jiawen quickly dodged and said loudly: "I don't care. If you agree to marry me, I will marry you anyway. Remember to prepare your things and go to the Xu family to propose marriage."
After saying that, he hurried back to the room. Father Cheng stood there with a broom in his hand, sighing, "What a misfortune for our family~"
The couple returned to their room and sat on the bed. Mother Cheng was furious. "Anyway, I will never agree to him marrying Xu Qianjiao. She has such a small body, what can she do? What's the point of marrying someone who only eats and does nothing?"
"Is it any use if you disagree? When has that ungrateful guy ever listened to us?" Father Cheng said with a sigh.
"You have to listen to it whether you want to or not. I'm thinking of him marrying a capable wife who can help with housework, so that our family can save more money. Goudan is about to go to junior high school, and there will definitely be a lot of money to spend by then." Cheng's mother said with a calculating look on her face.
Father Cheng lit his water pipe and took a puff. "Yeah, but that ungrateful guy isn't as easy to coax as his second brother. There's no way he'll listen to us."
Mother Cheng smiled cunningly, "It doesn't matter. When the time comes, we will tell him that if he wants to marry Xu Qianjiao, he can do so. He has to pay 200 kilograms of grain to the family every year. We will see if he still wants to marry her."
"Well, this is good. This way he will remember our kindness and we can get real benefits. Then we can find a reason to separate them and save more food at home. We have many sons anyway, and he has never been close to us. There is no point in forcing him to stay at home." Father Cheng added.
"Okay, that's it." Mother Cheng nodded, indicating that she understood.
The couple lay in bed and discussed Cheng Jiawen's plan to get married. Gradually, their voices became quieter and quieter...
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As the night deepened, everything around became even quieter. Only the moonlight, tiptoeing, afraid of causing any noise, crept into the room from the window, silently illuminating the person lying in bed.
Cheng Jiawen lay on the bed, thinking about everything that happened today, with a faint smile on his lips, but when he thought of his mother, the corner of his mouth was suppressed again, "It seems that if he wants to marry Jiaojiao, his mother still has to think of a way."
He lay in bed, thinking over and over again about the conditions his mother had given him. How could he get them to agree to the marriage? The more he thought about it, the more energetic he became.
When it was midnight, he quietly put on his clothes, put on a sack, climbed over the wall from the backyard and ran straight to the mountain. Today's prey had not been processed yet, so he had to deliver the goods to the fat man in the middle of the night, otherwise the prey would not be fresh after the time and would not be able to be sold at a high price.
At night, a black figure flashed by the mountainside. The sound of the wind covered his voice, and the darkness covered his figure. He did this over and over again.
When he got to the mountain, he put the prey in a sack, took out a chicken and a rabbit, and hid them in the grass nearby. He said these were the gifts he had agreed to give to the Xu family, and he would find a chance to deliver them to them tomorrow morning.
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