“Today is my eldest sister’s wedding. You can’t expect me to go to my brother-in-law’s house now, can you?” Song Baogen asked. “When I married you, the gifts my parents gave to your family and my dowry money came from my eldest sister’s salary and the money she saved from selling wild fruits and herbs over the years. Now that it’s my eldest sister’s wedding, you expect me to cause trouble at her wedding and embarrass her? Is that even human?”
Li Wenxiu felt a little guilty after hearing Song Baogen say that.
In the evening, she called Song Qiuxue in the provincial capital and told her about it, asking, "Was I too much?"
“It’s between my eldest sister and my second brother that my eldest sister helped him. It has nothing to do with you. My eldest sister has never helped you, so why should you pay for her dowry? Although it was my second brother who paid for it, since you married him, you also have a share of his money.”
Song Qiuxue's words of persuasion instantly lightened Li Wenxiu's mental burden.
“Wenxiu, you did all this for the baby in your belly and your little family. You didn’t go too far at all. It was my second brother who went too far. He took the money to buy my eldest sister’s dowry without even discussing it with you, disregarding you and your unborn child.”
After the call ended, Li Wenxiu's inner turmoil vanished, and she went home to pressure Song Baogen to come to her door to demand money.
-
Huojiabao Village.
Song Yinhua sat in the bridal chamber and heard the lively sounds of wedding banquets outside.
The bridal chamber was decorated with bright red double happiness symbols everywhere.
There were many festive fruits and snacks on the table in front of them.
Suddenly, the door was pushed open, and a drunkard staggered in, carrying a small white ceramic wine glass.
"Let me see the bride!"
"Tianba, don't you dare do anything reckless! If Jianguo finds out, he won't let you off the hook!"
"What are you saying? We brothers ignored Grandma's objections and came to his wedding to wish him a happy marriage. He should thank us! Make way, make way, I need to go in and meet the bride!"
Luo Tianba, his face flushed from drinking, staggered into the room. When he saw Song Yinhua sitting on the edge of the bed, he took the wine and went over to her.
"The bride is quite pretty..."
Song Yinhua raised her hand, signaling the other person not to come closer.
Luo Tianba looked Song Yinhua up and down along her arm. "She's quite ordinary-looking! Well, Jianguo's mother is a madwoman. She had sex with other men and got him. What girl would dare to marry a bastard like that..."
The sudden chill made Luo Tianba shiver.
Turning my head, I saw Huo Jianguo walk in.
"Jianguo, I've come to see your bride!" Luo Tianba said drunkenly, holding a glass of wine and trying to sit down next to Song Yinhua, but Huo Jianguo blocked him.
Some of the other brothers who followed were watching the show, while others secretly advised Luo Tianba not to act recklessly.
"Jianguo, what are you doing? I'm just here to toast the bride!"
“She won’t drink, so I’ll drink it for her.” Huo Jianguo’s voice was cold.
His temperament was naturally aloof and stern, and when he wasn't smiling, he exuded a dangerous and oppressive aura.
A vicious glint flashed in Luo Tianba's drunken expression; what he hated most was Huo Jianguo's imposing and aristocratic demeanor.
Those nearby quickly tried to smooth things over, saying that today was a joyous occasion and they shouldn't bring bad luck.
Huo Jianguo took the wine glass from Luo Tianba's hand and drank it all in one gulp.
"Alright, alright, Jianguo drank it for the bride." The others persuaded and pulled Luo Tianba out.
"The bride is so ugly, and she's so big and burly, I, Luo Tianba, wouldn't even look at her!"
Others echoed this sentiment.
Those who had just gone in saw the bride; she was very beautiful, though a bit too tall and robust, but definitely not as ugly as Luo Tianba had described.
They knew that Luo Tianba was just being a sour grapes.
Huo Jianguo looked at Song Yinhua and said, "He is my seventh uncle's son. I'll go out and entertain some guests first, and I'll be back to keep you company soon."
Song Yinhua nodded.
"If you're hungry, have some of the snacks on the table first," Huo Jianguo said before leaving.
There were only two tables outside, and they weren't full yet.
Old Mrs. Huo was unhappy with Huo Jianguo's marriage and refused to attend the wedding, nor did she allow her family members to attend.
However, some of the grandchildren did not listen to the old lady and brought their wives and children to the wedding banquet.
Xie Daguang also came.
After a few drinks, he started drinking and bragging with his other cousins.
It was almost midnight by the time the banquet ended.
Huo Jianguo turned off the courtyard gate light and tiptoed into the house.
The gas light bulb in the room suddenly turned on.
Huo Jianguo saw Song Yinhua sitting on the edge of the bed, "Still not asleep?"
"Can't sleep? The banquet's over?" Song Yinhua asked.
Huo Jianguo nodded.
Song Yinhua got up to fetch water for him to wash up.
“You’ve had a long day too, I’ll do it myself.” Huo Jianguo told Song Yinhua to rest, and after he went to fetch water to wash up, he stood outside the room for two minutes before mustering up his courage to go inside.
Both of them were very polite.
Huo Jianguo sat down next to Song Yinhua. "I... let's sleep."
Song Yinhua sensed the man's unease beside her and responded with a soft "Mm".
There were no sweet words, no beautiful promises.
Lights out.
In the darkness, tenderness shattered the coldness, blossoming into a passionate and beautiful scene...
-
The next day.
A hand gently poked Song Yinhua's face, and Song Yinhua slowly opened her eyes, only to find that she was alone on the bed.
I looked up unintentionally and met a pair of curious big eyes.
"It's you!" Song Yinhua remembered her.
The madwoman's hand, which had been poking her face, was still suspended in mid-air. Seeing that she was awake, she happily babbled, "Live...live..."
Song Yinhua realized that the madwoman thought she was dead.
"What about founding the nation?"
"Jianguo...Jianguo...Bao..." the madwoman mimicked Song Yinhua's words, "rice..."
Song Yinhua got dressed and got out of bed.
The aroma of porridge wafted from the kitchen.
"It smells good..." The madwoman sniffed, talking happily to Song Yinhua. She ran inside in a frenzy, "Baby... she's alive..."
Huo Jianguo turned his head, and his eyes met Song Yinhua's in the air.
The scene from that night flashed through their minds, and both of them felt a little embarrassed.
The madwoman opened her big, curious eyes, glancing at Song Yinhua one moment and then at her son the next.
While having breakfast, Huo Jianguo talked to Song Yinhua about his mentally ill mother.
“My mother was 21 years old when my father died. Some things happened that year, and that's how my mother became like this.”
Before their marriage, Song Yinhua had heard Huo Jianguo mention that he had a mentally ill mother.
“I was too young then. When I grew up and was able to take my mother to the county hospital, the doctor said it was too late. My mother’s intelligence would be stuck at the level of an infant, and she might be like that for the rest of her life.”
Huo Jianguo calmly recounted his mother's story.
“Perhaps this is a good thing.” Huo Jianguo took a towel and wiped the rice grains from the corner of his mother’s mouth, who had gone mad. “If she doesn’t remember anything, then she will also be free from worries and obsessions.”
Song Yinhua sensed there was a story behind this, but Huo Jianguo didn't say anything, and she didn't press him for details.
After breakfast, Song Yinhua returned to her new house at the foot of the mountain to check if the wheat seeds in the field had sprouted and to water the fruit tree seedlings.
Xie Daguang hurriedly put on his underwear, complaining, "Your older sister just married my cousin yesterday, why is she here so early today?"
"Stop saying so much, just hurry up and leave, don't let my older sister see you."
Xie Daguang grabbed the clothes and ran.
Song Yinhua went to the kitchen compartment to get farm tools, and the madwoman followed behind her, looking at everything with curiosity.
Xie Daguang seized the opportunity to run out of the yard and bumped into Huo Jianguo.
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