The day after returning to the county town, Xingxing and Ruru went out shopping together. When they passed a noodle shop, they happened to run into the village chief's wife and her two daughters.
Zhao Xiu was the first to recognize them. They almost passed each other by. Zhao Xiu called out uncertainly, "Xingxing, Ruru, is that you?"
Upon hearing this, the two girls turned around and looked. Zhao Xiu recognized their faces and immediately clapped her hands, "Oh my, I knew they looked alike, it really is you two!"
“Aunt Zhao Xiu,” Xingxing recognized her at a glance and happily stepped forward, “This is Sister Qiuqiu and Chunchun. Oh my, what a coincidence! What brings you to the county town?”
Chen Yueru was also very happy to see them. "Aunt Zhao Xiu, when did you arrive? We almost missed each other. Luckily, you recognized us first."
"In the blink of an eye, you two have grown into beautiful young women. I almost didn't recognize you. If you hadn't looked so much the same, I really wouldn't have recognized you either," Zhao Xiu said, holding Xingxing's hand with some excitement. "You've grown up so much. When you were little, you were so cute and adorable. Now you're even more beautiful."
"Then what about me, Auntie? You can't favor one over the other, you have to praise me too." Chen Yueru pouted, pretending to be displeased.
"You little rascal, you really have a sharp tongue. You've been pretty since you were little, and you've only gotten more beautiful as you've grown up. You're absolutely gorgeous, no need for praise." Zhao Xiu's compliments flowed effortlessly, making everyone laugh.
Seeing Qiuqiu's shy and bashful demeanor, her blushing cheeks, and her gentle and virtuous appearance, Xingxing's heart stirred. She glanced at the jewelry shop in front of her and casually asked, "Auntie, are you looking to buy jewelry?"
Zhao Xiu treated them like family and lowered her voice, saying, "In two months, Qiuqiu will be getting married, so naturally she needs to buy some jewelry to wear."
I had heard Zhao Guihua say that Qiuqiu got engaged two years ago, but the man's family had an elder who passed away and they had to observe three years of mourning, so it was delayed until now. Qiuqiu is already a grown woman and still hasn't gotten married.
Unexpectedly, I learned today that she will be getting married in a few months. When Xingxing was a child, she didn't get along well with other children in Yegou Village, but she got along well with the three children of the village chief.
Although she later left Yegou Village and hadn't seen Qiuqiu and her siblings for many years, the bond they shared as children remained. Xingxing was very happy for Qiuqiu and immediately offered to help them choose jewelry.
Without much thought, Zhao Xiu and her two daughters went into the jewelry shop together. The village chief's family had been doing quite well in recent years. Dongsheng had passed the preliminary examination for the imperial examination, but failed the county-level examination last year. However, he was still young and had good aptitude, so they believed he would pass the examination sooner or later.
Last year, the village chief sold his old house in town and bought a new two-courtyard house so that his whole family could live there. Although the village chief's family was relatively well-off, they were not particularly wealthy.
When buying jewelry for Qiuqiu, all the pieces were silver: a pair of silver bracelets, a pair of silver earrings, and a silver hairpin. This was already quite impressive for a farming family. If a family was not well-off, they would be lucky to have a silver hairpin or a silver bracelet.
Xingxing and Ruru exchanged a quick glance. Then, Chen Yueru bought a pair of gold earrings, while Xingxing bought a silver hairpin and a gold hairpin.
After leaving the noodle shop, Xingxing led Zhao Xiu and her two daughters home. "We'll have lunch at my house. My parents and brother are all here. Aunt Zhao Xiu, Sister Qiuqiu, Chunchun, please don't refuse. We're not strangers."
Zhao Xiu smiled and said, "I won't refuse. Your parents went to the prefectural city last year and haven't returned to the village since. They didn't even come back for the New Year, and no one sent a message back. We were worried for a while."
When Zhou Laoda and his wife are not in the village, Jingjing and Tangguo take care of the household affairs. The orchard is also always managed by a regular person, so there are no problems. The village chief also helps to look after it from time to time.
Two of the three female guards stayed in the village to help out, Xiao Xiao went to the prefectural city to stay by Chen Yuting's side to protect him, and Jing Jing was too cold-hearted and didn't like staying in the bustling, crowded place of the prefectural city; she preferred to stay in the village.
Candy was always thinking about the orchard and the granary in the cave.
"Auntie, when my parents were gone, I was so grateful for the care you and the village chief took." Xingxing said sincerely.
“We were just saying we’re not outsiders, so isn’t it only right that we help each other out?” Zhao Xiu waved her hand, indicating that she had nothing to boast about. “Besides, your village chief and I helped you, and your parents didn’t treat us badly either; they paid us wages.”
"You deserved that wage. Oh well, let's not talk about it anymore. Let's go. We cooked a lot of food at home today. Luckily you came, otherwise we definitely wouldn't have been able to finish it all," Xingxing said playfully, half-jokingly.
When Zhao Xiu and her two daughters arrived, Zhao Guihua was overjoyed. She pulled Zhao Xiu into the house to whisper to her. The two hadn't seen each other for more than half a year, and now that they were finally together, they had so much to talk about.
Qiuqiu is getting married soon. She has always been calm and composed since she was a child. As she has grown older, she has become even quieter. She followed Zhao Xiu and Zhao Guihua into the house and sat down without saying a word.
Chun Chun, on the other hand, was a little reserved at first, but later found that Xingxing was still the same as before and treated her very well, so she started circling around Xingxing.
Xingxing led her into the house and gave Chun Chun the silver hairpin she had bought earlier. Chun Chun was a year older than her and had turned 18 last year.
Nowadays, people usually get married when they reach the age of marriage, but the village chief and his wife are not in a hurry to marry off their daughter. They want to keep her by their side for a couple more years. It's not like they can't afford to raise her. Once she gets married, she won't be as free as when she was a young girl. There will be a lot of things to do in her husband's family, and she will have to work hard.
“Chun Chun, this silver hairpin is for you. We haven’t seen each other in a long time. When I left Yegou Village, I promised to come back to see you often, but I didn’t keep my promise. Consider this silver hairpin my apology.” Xingxing stuffed the silver hairpin into her hand, insisting that she accept it.
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