Chapter 12 "Criminal Record"
As the leading family in Haishi, the Yan family held a grand wedding for Yan Songyu. Although some things were not explicitly stated, they were all understood. The Yan family was not marrying off their daughter, but rather taking in a son-in-law. This was the best way Yan Binghua could think of to protect Yan Songyu when she was determined to marry Jiang Chengli.
"The groom is handsome and refined, and the bride is gentle and beautiful; they are a perfect match!"
As Yan Songyu walked towards Jiang Chengli, arm in arm with Yan Binghua, she heard the praise from the audience. Whether it was genuine or just flattery, she was very happy!
The wedding was romantic and grand, with guests coming to offer their congratulations in a joyous atmosphere. Only Feng Yu pretended to be happy and got completely drunk.
Although Yan Songyu had mentally prepared herself before returning to her hometown of Liangcheng with Jiang Chengli, the terrible road conditions still dampened her expectations for her hometown, Xiaoxigou. For the first time in her life, she experienced motion sickness, and Yan Songyu was completely dejected.
The car could only go as far as the village entrance. As soon as they got out of the car, they were surrounded by a group of people, young and old, speaking in a dialect she couldn't understand, as if they were watching a peculiar spectacle. If she hadn't known that they meant no harm, she would have been scared away by the scene and turned around and left.
After exchanging pleasantries with them in their local dialect, Jiang Chengli put his arm around her and led her home. Yan Songyu asked curiously, "What did they say?"
Jiang Chengli chuckled, "They praised your beauty, saying I'm lucky! They said we're a perfect match, a match made in heaven!"
Yan Songyu forced a pale smile, "You have good taste!"
She looked around. The environment was quite nice, the scenery was beautiful, and the air was fresh. The overlapping green mountains seemed to be from a different dimension from the high-rise buildings of the city.
The villagers in the mountains live scattered, mostly in detached houses. The group of people gathered at the village entrance were said to have come specifically to see her, because Jiang Chengli was a golden phoenix that flew out of Xiaoxigou and was about to marry a rich young lady from Shanghai. They probably wanted to see if she had an extra eye.
Indeed, her identity has been publicized by Jiang Chengli's family to the point that everyone knows it.
Yan Songyu was initially worried that Jiang Chengli would be unhappy, but he came over to comfort her instead, saying, "Being able to marry you is the greatest blessing in my life. You don't mind that I'm so poor, so how could I be unhappy because of your privileged background? I was wrong before, you don't have to accommodate me."
Yan Songyu smiled broadly upon hearing this, "I like you so much!"
Jiang Chengli pursed his lips slightly, released her hand, and unconsciously clenched his other hand behind his back. "We've arrived."
The house in front of her was quite dilapidated, but the yard was relatively clean. She could vaguely hear voices coming from inside the house. The mud walls showed obvious signs of wind and rain erosion. The roof was half mud tiles and half thatched. There was a bee buzzing around a hole in the wooden door frame, which made Yan Songyu a little curious. Don't bees live in beehives?
After a brief moment of surprise, Yan Songyu straightened her clothes, took Jiang Chengli's hand that she had just let go of, and showed her brightest smile, "Quickly cheer me on!"
Jiang Chengli immediately loosened his fist, chuckled softly, and grasped her delicate, soft hand in return, "Okay."
"Dad, Mom, I've brought Xiaoyu back."
As Jiang Chengli shouted, a group of people rushed out. Eleven people of all ages were dressed in new clothes, their eyes filled with curiosity and amazement.
"It's good that you're back." Aunt Jiang stepped forward to pull Yan Songyu, but then, afraid that Yan Songyu would find it offensive, she wiped her hands on her clothes. "Is this Xiaoyu? Come in and rest, you must be tired from your journey."
Upon seeing this, Yan Songyu took the initiative to hold Jiang Ma's hand and said, "Hello, Auntie, I'm Xiaoyu."
Jiang Ma was flattered, and the others looked at Yan Songyu with even more kindness. However, the unevenness behind the threshold almost embarrassed Yan Songyu, but fortunately Jiang Chengli had been watching her and pulled her back in time, saying, "Be careful!"
Yan Songyu breathed a sigh of relief after entering their room. "Thank goodness you're here!" Otherwise, she would definitely be the first new bride to trip and fall as soon as she entered the room.
"My family's circumstances... I'm sorry I made you suffer." Jiang Chengli held her hand, feeling very apologetic.
Yan Songyu glared at him. "Why are you saying things like that again?"
"Okay, I was wrong." Jiang Chengli pressed him down to sit on the bed. "You rest first, and I'll go with my eldest brother and third brother to get the things from the car."
Yan Songyu nodded, watching the three brothers' backs disappear through the window. The eldest brother and the youngest brother seemed to be apologizing. She vaguely understood a few words, something like "money," "mud," and "illness."
Yan Songyu looked back at their "new house." She could tell that the newspapers on the wall were newly pasted, the furniture was all new, the thin blanket was very clean, and there was a warm, sunny smell. It was clear that this family had a good attitude towards their home.
Knock knock—
When Yan Songyu opened the door, she saw a round-faced little girl with two braids holding a cup of water, smiling shyly, "Second Aunt, have some water."
"Okay, thank you!" Yan Songyu quickly took it and touched her little braid. "How old are you? What's your name?"
"My name is Pearl, and I am 8 years old."
The little girl ran off as soon as she finished speaking.
After Yan Songyu realized what was happening, she couldn't help but laugh. Was she really that scary?
However—she suddenly had some doubts about Jiang Chengli's words. If he was not valued at home, was all this preparation just to please her? But she felt that the Jiang family members did not seem quite like the "vampires" he had described.
The summer night was unbearably hot and humid, with the croaking of frogs outside the window and the endless harassment of mosquitoes. Yan Songyu tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Jiang Chengli ran in and out to fetch water for her to wash up, and then used a large palm-leaf fan to fan her and drive away the mosquitoes, while he himself stayed up all night.
At that time, although Yan Songyu was content with just love, he couldn't help but feel fortunate that they only had to stay there for three days.
The wedding banquet was a lively affair with twenty tables set up. The whole village came to offer their blessings, and Jiang's relatives also came from afar to drink their wedding wine. Yan Songyu couldn't understand their dialect, so Jiang Chengli translated for her throughout the entire event.
Yan Songyu followed behind Jiang Chengli, calling out to people and offering toasts one by one. After a long time, her face was stiff from smiling, but she didn't remember many of the people.
The day after the wedding banquet, they were about to leave after breakfast, and Aunt Jiang got up early to make dumplings for them.
A crowd had gathered around the car at the village entrance. Jiang Chengli exchanged pleasantries with them for a while, and after getting into the car, he explained, "They heard we were leaving and came to see us off."
Yan Songyu smiled and waved goodbye to everyone, exclaiming, "They're so enthusiastic!"
"The countryside is just a bit more humane."
...
Not long after returning to Haishi, they welcomed their baby. The surprise was great, but the joy was even greater. The two then began to learn how to be parents, albeit with some stumbles. Jiang Chengli spent his days studying how to care for pregnant women and children, which gradually won Yan Binghua's approval.
How stupid!
That's incredibly stupid!
It's unbearable to look at!
Yan Songyu patted her head. Had she lost her mind? Why did she suddenly think of her previous "criminal record"?
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