Looking at the pretty face in the basin, Li Qingyun sighed.
There is no doubt that Li Zhaodi is a rare beautiful woman in the area, otherwise she would not have given birth to two such lovely children. The children look like their mother, and their eyes are like hers, big, bright and watery.
But unfortunately, she did not have a good family. She was the eldest, with two younger sisters and a younger brother. Her parents favored boys over girls, so they gave birth to three daughters before they had one son. They beat and scolded their daughters and treated them like slaves. Especially since she was the eldest, her life was even harder than her two younger sisters.
She originally thought that her life would get better after she got married when she was old enough, but her parents treated her like a commodity and offered her to the highest bidder in order to save a good fortune for her younger brother. Her family became a laughing stock in the surrounding area, and she became a commodity to be sold.
Finally, a family spent 300 yuan to marry her off to their stupid son.
Three hundred yuan, that was a price she would never dare to think about in her life. She wanted to cry but had no tears, she was heartbroken, and felt that there was no hope in her life anymore. In a fit of rage, she jumped into the river. When the cold river water poured into her throat, she regretted it. It was better to live a miserable life than to die.
The river was rushing fast and a group of people gathered on the river bank, but no one was willing to save her. Those who knew her family knew her family situation and were afraid of being blamed.
It happened that Gu Tingzhou was passing by the river on a family visit leave. As a soldier of the people, when he learned that someone had jumped into the river, he took off his coat without hesitation and jumped into the river to save her.
At that time, she was already very unconscious. She only knew that a tall and handsome man pulled her back from the brink of death. Gu Tingzhou also used the first aid knowledge he learned in the army to press on her to control the water.
Li Zhaodi had just woken up. The Li family members who rushed over after hearing the news accused Gu Tingzhou of ruining her reputation and demanded compensation. They probably wanted to extort money from him because he was wearing a military uniform.
As Li Zhaodi listened to their accusations, an idea popped up in her head and became more and more intense. She wanted to marry this soldier, not a fool.
So she cried and shouted that her reputation was ruined and that if she couldn't marry him, she would die. Then she stood up and tried to jump into the river.
Li's parents also realized that if they could get the same betrothal gift, it would be better to marry their daughter to a normal person. This way, they would not be criticized for selling their daughter, and they could still ask their daughter for money in the future. This soldier should be able to come up with a betrothal gift of 300 yuan, right?
Li's parents said that if they didn't come up with a set of rules, they would send a letter of complaint to Gu Tingzhou's workplace.
So, with the instigation of Li Zhaodi and the Li family, Gu Tingzhou accepted the marriage even though he was reluctant, because he was now in his rising period and could not have any stain on himself. Moreover, it was his parents who asked him to come back to see each other and prepare to settle the marriage issue, so he was not particularly opposed to it.
But when he went home and told Gu's parents, he was scolded. Everyone in the neighborhood knew that the parents were vampires and were saving money for their son with the betrothal gifts from their three daughters. It was said that the daughter who jumped into the river was given to a fool and the betrothal gift was set at 300 yuan.
Now I have become a fool.
Especially Gu's mother, she was very upset. She had long set her eyes on a girl who she thought was perfect in every way and planned to marry her to her eldest son, but now all the plans were ruined.
For the sake of their son's future, they had to accept the marriage no matter how difficult it was. They asked a matchmaker to propose marriage, but the Li family asked for a dowry of 300 yuan and said that their daughter was worth this price.
The two sides met and talked for an entire afternoon, and finally decided on a betrothal gift of two hundred yuan. In fact, Li's parents were unwilling to do so, as they believed that their daughter was not as important as real money.
Li Zhaodi promised them benefits, saying that after marriage, if she had anything good, she would give half to her parents' home. If they did not agree, she would kill herself and leave them penniless. Only then did the couple give in.
A few days later, they held a simple wedding banquet. Gu Tingzhou returned to the army to file a marriage report, and the two of them got married.
After Li Zhaodi arrived at the Gu family, she was very obedient at first. She knew that her in-laws had spent a lot of money to marry her, and her parents asked for so much dowry but didn't even prepare a decent set of clothes for her. It was her in-laws who bought her a set of clothes to wear on the wedding day.
Don't even think about the dowry. Other girls would at least bring two quilts and a few sets of clothes as dowry, but she only brought a few of her own old clothes. Her mother-in-law looked very unhappy at the time, and relatives and friends also laughed at her secretly.
Moreover, a betrothal gift of 200 yuan is unheard of in rural areas these days. The husband's family spent so much money but did not bring back a penny for their daughter to live on. Such a family is rare.
The marriage between the two families provided a lot of topics for discussion. Even many families with male children repeatedly warned their parents not to save people casually, otherwise they would be blamed for the rest of their lives.
Li Zhaodi was used to doing farm work in her parents' home, and she was good at taking care of everything at home and outside. So after she arrived at her husband's home, in order to please her parents-in-law, she acted diligent and capable, which made her parents-in-law feel less angry. After all, their son was a soldier and was away from home all year round. If he had a capable wife to manage the household and take care of the children, their son would feel at ease.
Not long after this, Li Zhaodi suddenly lost her appetite and vomited continuously. A checkup revealed that she was three months pregnant. She had always been treated like a slave in her parents' home, and her periods had always been irregular. She was also a new bride and didn't understand much about these things, so she didn't know the good news until three months later.
Gu's father and mother were very happy and quickly wrote a letter to their son to inform him of the good news. Li Zhaodi's treatment in the Gu family also increased rapidly.
The eldest grandson, the eldest son, the lifeblood of the old lady, Gu Tingzhou is the eldest son who takes care of his father and mother. He is also promising, earns a lot, and brings honor to his family. In this era, families with soldiers are very respected.
The only bad thing is that his marriage has been delayed again and again during his years in the army. His brother's two daughters are now three years old and one year old, but he still doesn't even have a partner.
That's why the old lady called him back to see her.
In modern times, twenty-five is the prime of youth. In the 1960s, people generally got engaged at sixteen and married at eighteen, and had children very early. Twenty-five was already considered an older young man.
After their eldest son was finally born, Gu's father and mother were so excited that they didn't sleep all night. They even killed an old hen to provide nutrition for Li Zhaodi. Because she had severe morning sickness, she even stopped working in the fields and was only allowed to do light work at home, such as cooking and cleaning.
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