Chapter 6 You Have a Date

"Child marriage?" Lin Chuchu almost cried out in surprise. How could she not know about this? She had never heard of it before. From what this person said, it seemed that Lin Xiang, the daughter of my stepfather and his first daughter-in-law, had been engaged to someone as a child?

She was feeling upset and immediately frowned, preparing to sneer at the country people who came to the city to find a husband for their children without even taking a piss and looking in the mirror.

Lin Chuchu herself has not yet proposed marriage. She has high standards and is unwilling to marry a man with a bad family background. This has been delayed until now. Even if it is Lin Xiang who has always been bullied by her, she does not want Lin Xiang to embarrass the Lin family. Otherwise, if people tell others in the future that her sister married a man from the countryside, how embarrassing it would be.

However, she always felt that Lin Xiang had a hard temper these days, especially since she had just ignored her. That contemptuous look made Lin Chuchu feel uncomfortable.

She was originally going to ridicule and send the old lady away, but she changed her tone and said with a smile, "I am from the Lin family! Auntie, your son and Lin Xiang were engaged as children, right? She is my sister, so this engagement is of course valid! Where do you live? Lin Xiang must marry your son!"

When Lin Xiang gets married and lives in the countryside, suffering and working in the fields every day, she wants to see if Lin Xiang can still be so cool!

But her mother was determined to marry Lin Xiang to Sun Yaozu, so Lin Chuchu didn't dare to bring this old lady home, otherwise her mother would definitely send her away.

The old lady had unexpectedly asked for directions to the Lin family, and she quickly replied, "I sent you a letter of introduction, but I can only stay in the city for two days. I am currently staying at my distant relative's home at No. 31 Qingshui Lane."

"Okay, I'll bring Lin Xiang to see you tomorrow!"

......

Lin Chuchu was calculating in her mind. In the past, Lin Xiang was at least obedient and didn't dare to contradict her. But in the past few days, Lin Xiang had changed. Not only was she prettier, but she also had more thoughts. Lin Chuchu was unhappy and was determined to cause trouble for her. Most of the child marriages from the country were ugly and incompetent men. It would depend on what Lin Xiang would do then!

After dinner that night, Lin Xiang lay on the uncomfortable wooden bed, listening to Lin Chuchu tossing and turning behind a worn-out bed sheet. After a while, she actually pulled aside the bed curtain and leaned over to ask, "Hey, Lin Xiang, are you unwilling to marry Sun Yaozu?"

Lin Xiang didn't want to pay any attention to her. She closed her eyes and rested, feeling cool in this harsh environment with no air conditioning or fan.

"Lin Xiang, did you hear me talking to you?" Lin Chuchu lowered her voice deliberately, fearing that her parents would hear her.

"I didn't hear it. I fell asleep." Lin Xiang turned over and replied nonchalantly.

Lin Chuchu was so angry that she didn't know why Lin Xiang became like this. She sneered and dropped a bombshell: "Lin Xiang, don't dream of marrying Sun Yaozu. You should just marry your childhood sweetheart and go to the countryside..."

Hearing the word "child marriage", Lin Xiang turned over and looked at Lin Chuchu suspiciously. She had just heard Aunt Liu, a friend of her original mother, mention child marriage downstairs a few days ago. How did Lin Chuchu know about it, and she looked like she was enjoying the show.

She was silent for a moment, pretending not to care: "What kind of marriage partner is this? Don't talk nonsense."

"You don't know!" Lin Chuchu was even happier. Why would Lin Xiang marry the factory director's son? She could only marry a country girl. She quickly told the old lady about what she had asked this afternoon. "It's a pity that your grandfather arranged a marriage for you when you were a child. He arranged a country girl. When you marry her, you will still have to work in the fields to make a living."

The moonlight was flowing, as gentle as water, lingering around Lin Xiang who was lying on her side, making her fair cheeks look as rosy as jade, which made Lin Chuchu very angry. But it didn't matter. After a few months of digging for food in the fields, she would become haggard sooner or later!

"Even if there was a child marriage, it happened many years ago and the person can't be found." Lin Xiang was sure that Lin Chuchu knew something and provoked her again.

"Who said we can't find him?" Lin Chuchu said with a smug smile on her face. "Your childhood sweetheart's surname is He. His mother has come to our house and he is in the city. Come with me tomorrow. We in the Lin family must keep our promise and not go back on our word!"

The child marriage partner has come to your doorstep?

Lin Xiang was indeed a little surprised. After all, she didn't know the original body and had never seen it. Now thinking about it, Lin Xiang guessed that in the original book, Lin Chuchu should have met the mother of her childhood sweetheart, but simply sent her away, and the matter was never followed up.

But this time, Lin Chuchu didn't know what happened. Maybe she hated herself even more. She was so determined to make herself marry to the countryside that she actually took the initiative to arrange for herself to meet the mother of her childhood sweetheart?

It is not easy for people to rush here from the countryside, and since there is this opportunity, Lin Xiang decided to go and see him.

After all, she had been on several blind dates and didn't like any of them. What if the person she married was good enough?

——

The next day, after having lunch at the steel rolling mill, Lin Xiang refused to accept Lin Chuchu's offer to go with her to see the mother of her childhood sweetheart.

She could probably guess what Lin Chuchu was thinking, that she wanted to marry in the countryside, but because Qiu Aiying was trying every means to match her with Sun Yaozu, Lin Chuchu did not dare to tell Qiu Aiying about the child marriage.

"Give me the address, I'll go there when I'm free."

Lin Chuchu didn't expect Lin Xiang to be on guard against her. Of course she wanted to go and see the excitement, and even wanted to urge Lin Xiang to get married: "I'll take you there!"

"Forget it. Anyway, I have no interest in the child marriage partner. It's better to have less trouble than more." Lin Xiang glanced at her nonchalantly.

Lin Chuchu was almost mad, but she really couldn't do anything to Lin Xiang, so she could only tell her the address angrily: "She lives at No. 31 Qingshui Lane. This is the place your grandfather and mother arranged to marry. If you have any filial piety, you should go and see it!"

Wow, it’s a matter of moral kidnapping.

Lin Xiang sent Lin Chuchu away, thinking of the address and indeed preparing to go there, but the address seemed familiar. Isn't that the yard where the matchmaker Zhang Dama lives?

......

Aunt Zhang is a kind-hearted person. This morning, she heard that a distant relative had come to visit a neighbor in the courtyard, so she started chatting with her. Especially when she learned that this elder sister came to the city to look for a child marriage partner, she became even more gossipy.

"Can we find the marriage that was arranged more than ten years ago?" She asked curiously while pasting the paper boxes together.

Aunt He sat on a small stool nearby, also helping her relatives paste paper boxes, and replied, "I just wanted to ask. After all, it's an arranged marriage, so it's okay if the other party doesn't want to, but our family must be honest. If you really don't want an arranged marriage, just cancel it, so I can go back and arrange a marriage for my son."

Aunt Zhang thought this elder sister was quite open-minded, and her hands kept moving: "Did your son do this?"

"When I was in the army, it was far away." Aunt He had never been there either, and she said it was on some island.

She came here this time because she was worried that her son couldn't delay the marriage any longer at this age, but the child marriage that happened many years ago might be ignored for most people, but after all, the two families haven't been in contact for more than ten years. She is a person who values ​​her promises, so she still wants to ask the Lin family whether this child marriage is valid.

As she spoke, she took out the marriage certificate she had brought with her as a child and a photo her son had sent home three years ago: "I took these two things with me to the steel mill to look for the Lin family."

Aunt Zhang leaned over curiously. The name written on the yellowed and old marriage certificate was He Hongyuan. Hmm, it should be the man who was serving in the army. The other name, hey, why did it look familiar?

——Lin Xiang!

She is looking for a partner for Lin Xiang from the steel rolling mill. It seems that the partner is the childhood sweetheart of this eldest sister's son?

What a coincidence!

Looking at the photo again, Zhang's mother stared at He Hongyuan in it with wide eyes...

Lin Xiang hurried to Qingshui Lane during the lunch break. After entering the second courtyard, she saw Aunt Zhang pasting paper boxes under the eaves.

"Hey, Xiangxiang!" Seeing Lin Xiang was particularly excited, Aunt Zhang immediately stepped forward and said, "You have a childhood sweetheart, did you know that? His mother lives in my neighbor's house. I tell you, I just saw his photo, he is so handsome! He is simply the most handsome guy in Xifeng City, no one can compare to him!"

Lin Xiang: “…?”

I originally had some expectations for the person I was going to marry, but this time they are completely gone.

The handsome man that Aunt Zhang talks about is scary!

Is it too late to leave now?