Chapter 5 Proposal
"Hey, fry some eggs, one for Zhuangzhuang and one for Xiaowan."
Meng's mother, Li Lanxiang, walked out of the kitchen, wearing a gray apron and holding a cooking spatula with two golden fried eggs stacked on top. In order to prevent them from falling, Meng's mother even used chopsticks to hold them down.
In the Meng family's yard, the family sat around a large round table. Grandma Meng sat at the top seat, with Meng's father, Meng Aiguo, on her left. There was an empty seat next to her, which was reserved for Meng's mother.
Sitting on the right is Meng Yanchun, the eldest son of the Meng family, and his daughter-in-law Dong Hanyun. Further down is their three-year-old son, Meng Zhuangzhuang.
Meng Wanqiu was between her mother and nephew, drinking a bowl of fragrant pheasant soup. Because she was silly when she was a child, her family members were used to taking care of her first, so Meng Wanqiu was not scolded for eating first.
"Mom, why don't you make wine lees sweet-boiled eggs for Xiao Wan? She likes to eat that." The speaker was the eldest sister-in-law Dong Hanyun. She has always doted on Meng Wanqiu, even more than her own son.
Meng Mu washed her hands before sitting down and drying them on her apron. "She said that children can't eat wine lees, and it would be troublesome to make it twice, so she just made fried eggs."
After hearing this, Dong Hanyun glared at her son, then said to Meng's mother, "It's okay, I'll do it next time."
Meng Zhuangzhuang sat on a specially made long-legged chair. Seeing his mother glaring at him, he opened his big, innocent eyes and looked at his father in confusion, "Dad, why is Mom glaring at me?"
Meng Yanchun patted his head perfunctorily and glanced at his wife. "It's okay, your mother likes you."
His wife has had a good relationship with his sister for a long time. Sometimes he even suspects that his wife married him because Xiaowan is his sister.
"Okay, let's eat!" After everyone was seated, Grandma Meng spoke and everyone started eating.
There is no rule of not talking at the Meng family dinner table. They are very interested in all kinds of gossip happening in the village.
"Hey, Dad, do you know about Pei Zhiqing's incident?" Meng Yanchun first picked up a piece of chicken for his grandmother, then picked up a piece for his parents, wife, sister, and son, and then picked up a piece for himself.
Their family conditions are considered good in the village. His father is a veteran and receives a subsidy every month. His grandmother also has a pension as an old teacher and can eat meat once a month.
But each person only had two or three mouthfuls of meat, and the rest was gone. But ever since Meng Wanqiu recovered, she would sneak out a few times a month, and each time she would bring back some wild food.
Wild rabbits, pheasants and so on. Although she was scolded by her grandmother every time, in order to ensure that her family had enough to eat, Meng Wanqiu always had the courage to admit her mistakes and never repented.
At the same time, the family was not surprised by Meng Wanqiu's skills. This was all thanks to Grandma Meng. No one knew what she said to them, but they all imagined it on their own.
"I know. It's Pei Zhiqing's bad luck. It was already a foregone conclusion, but I don't know what He Zhiqing did, and it turned out to be him." Meng Aiguo shook his head and felt very sympathetic towards Pei Xingzhi.
"Hey, that's different from what the villagers said!" Meng Yanchun continued.
"Fool, who is Jiang He? How could he give himself a handle for his daughter's private affairs?" Meng Aiguo rolled his eyes at his son, thinking that he was tall but not smart.
"Hehe, is that so?" Meng Yanchun touched his head, feeling a little embarrassed.
Meng Wanqiu laughed at him with chicken in her mouth. Seeing his aunt laughing, Zhuangzhuang, as Meng Wanqiu's little tail, ate until his mouth was full of oil and started laughing too.
Dong Hanyun rolled her eyes at her husband and turned to talk to Meng's father and mother about Meng Wanqiu's marriage.
"Mom and Dad, how's the marriage proposal my aunt suggested to Xiaowan last time? Is it reliable?"
After hearing this, Meng's father and mother suddenly became depressed. After a while, Meng's mother frowned and said depressedly, "Don't mention it. Your father and I went to see that family, that family."
"That family's son is a fool." Father Meng added coldly.
The family they visited this time almost pissed off Mr. Meng to death. The family had deliberately kept it a secret from him and his wife, dressing their son up nicely. But as soon as he saw him, Mr. Meng knew something was wrong.
But he didn't say it out loud, but in his heart he had already given up the idea of marrying into this family. After reluctantly finishing a meal, the family said they wanted to set a wedding date. Meng's father politely disagreed, but the other party got angry and said that they were willing to marry his silly daughter because they thought highly of his family.
Tell Mr. Meng not to have too high standards, otherwise no one will want her when she becomes an old maid.
At that time, the two families almost got into a fight. Later, it was the local village party secretary who knew Meng's father and persuaded the family to give up.
But after this incident, Meng's father and mother were still disgusted, and they also became dissatisfied with the child's aunt. What kind of person did she find? Is she the child's biological aunt?
Pushing the child into the fire pit? If you don’t know, you would think it’s some cruel stepmother.
After hearing what Mr. Meng said, Dong Hanyun was so angry that she cursed several times and wanted to call Meng Yanchun to cause trouble for that family, but was stopped by Grandma Meng.
"Okay, what are you making a fuss about? If it doesn't work, just look for someone else. If you leave, we will be in the wrong." Grandma Meng sighed and comforted Dong Hanyun, who was shaking with anger.
"Oh, oh, sister-in-law, don't be angry, don't be angry. Anger will give you wrinkles." Meng Wanqiu put down the dishes and chopsticks, leaned over and hugged one of Dong Hanyun's arms, acting coquettishly while comforting her emotions.
"Okay, don't be angry. Our Xiaowan is so good, and good days are still ahead."
"That's right. At worst, I can just keep supporting my sister. It's not like our family can't afford it."
Meng Wanqiu looked at her family with a smile that made her eyes invisible. The baby fat on her face was soft and plump. Dong Hanyun felt jealous, but she managed to hold herself back.
"That's right, it's okay, I can take it easy." Meng Wanqiu said with a smile.
But the family members were very sad and thought that Meng Wanqiu was trying to comfort them. Everyone knew how much she wanted to go out and play after she woke up, but as for the old Taoist's words, the family members would rather believe it than not.
Their family cannot afford the possibility of losing Meng Wanqiu.
Seeing the heartache on her family's faces, Meng Wanqiu felt helpless and couldn't believe that she could really let it go.
Although she longed for freedom, now that she had a family who loved and cared for her, freedom didn't seem that important. Besides, she wasn't locked up at home; she would often go to the mountains to play, but she rarely saw outsiders.
Bang bang——
"Who's here now?"
“Pei Zhiqing!!”
Half an hour had passed since Meng Yanchun's exclamation. Meng Wanqiu, Dong Hanyun and Meng Yanchun, who was holding his son, sat at the dinner table looking at each other. Grandma Meng, Meng's father and mother, and Pei Xingzhi were talking in the inner room with the door closed tightly.
"Xiao Wan, you know Pei Zhiqing?" Otherwise, why would Pei Xingzhi look at Meng Wanqiu as soon as he came in, and Meng Wanqiu looked surprised, asking "Why are you here?"
Faced with the questions from her elder sister-in-law Dong Hanyun, Meng Wanqiu looked left and right but didn't dare to look at her. If it was her elder brother Meng Yanchun, she could have fooled him and gotten away with it, but her elder sister-in-law was always smart and extremely sensitive about her affairs, so it was almost impossible for her to fool him.
But Meng Wanqiu didn't want to say it. After all, it was a bit too bold for her, an unmarried girl, to meet a man without telling her family.
Meng Wanqiu still held onto her past life's thinking. Although she grew up within the organization and wasn't bound by secular rules, she understood these principles. She was bold, but she didn't want others to know, lest they say her family didn't know how to educate their daughter.
Seeing Meng Wanqiu's evasive eyes, Dong Hanyun raised her hand and flicked her head, saying unhappily: "Forget it this time, but there can't be a next time." Xiao Wan is a girl, what if she meets a bad guy.
Meng Wanqiu nodded obediently.
Meng Yanchun looked at the interaction between his wife and sister, totally confused as to what they were talking about.
"No, I don't agree!"
Suddenly, Meng's father's voice was heard from inside the house, but it was suppressed the next second.
The people outside immediately rushed to the door like dogs seeing a bone, with their butts sticking out and their ears pressed against the door, like a stack of people, with Zhuangzhuang at the bottom, followed by Meng Wanqiu, Dong Hanyun, and Meng Yanchun.
"Hmph, I don't agree. Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. You're planning to marry Wanqiu just to take advantage of the Meng family." Meng Aiguo frowned and looked coldly at Pei Xingzhi in front of him.
"Yes, I don't deny that I wanted to use the Meng family, but my decision to marry Meng Wanqiu was one I had carefully considered. Uncle, I know your concerns. You're simply worried that I will treat Meng Wanqiu badly after marriage, and that she will dislike and abandon her in the future."
Pei Xingzhi was not ashamed or angry because Meng's father exposed his true thoughts. Instead, he acknowledged his purpose.
"Please rest assured that none of the above will happen. Although I, Pei Xingzhi, cannot be called a good person, I understand basic morals and etiquette, and I also understand the meaning of responsibility. I will never do anything that betrays my trust."
Pei Xingzhi stood straight, his thin and tall body looked very weak in front of the tall and strong Meng's father, but at this time his expression was serious, without revealing the gentleness he had pretended in the past, and he faced the Meng family with a completely true attitude.
Before coming, Pei Xingzhi thought carefully about whether he should face the Meng family with a fake side or with his true self. A fake warmth might be more effective, but he chose the truth.
Because he was facing the most ordinary and real pair of parents, who cared about their daughter and worried about her life-long affairs every day.
Faced with such parents, Pei Xingzhi did not want to deceive them and just wanted to face everything honestly.
Pei Xingzhi's words softened the expressions of the two women present. If Pei Xingzhi had been secretive and lied about liking their Xiao Wan, they would have looked down on him.
Now that Pei Xingzhi had honestly expressed his true thoughts, the Meng family began to seriously consider his marriage with Meng Wanqiu.
As parents, one can imagine how heartbroken Meng Aiguo and Li Lanxiang felt watching their daughter being locked up at home for almost a decade.
When Meng Wanqiu was stupid, the whole family was busy and had no time to take care of her. They were worried that she would be bullied or kidnapped outside, so they had to lock her up at home.
Everything was fine later, but because of what the Taoist priest said, no one dared to let Meng Wanqiu go out and see anyone, so she stayed at home for a few more years.
Now Pei Xingzhi does not despise Meng Wanqiu for her previous stupidity, and he has promised them that he will not do anything treacherous, which basically meets their requirements for choosing a son-in-law.
As for whether his promise would keep its promise, the Meng family didn't care. After all, in this day and age, there were many people who abandoned their wives and children, and who could guarantee that they would remain unchanged for a lifetime? But they were willing to believe Pei Xingzhi.
Furthermore, Pei Xingzhi himself was handsome, tall, and well-educated. Such conditions far exceeded their expectations.
So, there is nothing to hesitate about.
It seems that some people would ask, isn’t the most important thing the relationship between two young people? How can they be together without love?
Love or not is what the Meng family cares least about; character is what matters most. People of their generation were arranged by their parents and matchmakers, and many even got married without ever meeting each other.
As for feelings, they will naturally develop after living together after marriage.
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