Lin's mother looked down on Liu Pianran utterly, because she disliked the fact that Liu's family was from out of town and couldn't offer any help to the brigade.
But Liu Pianran had achieved her goal, and with plans in mind to leave the countryside with Lin Haodong, she paid little attention to Lin's mother's expression.
Seeing that she was in a good mood, Lin's mother, who felt she had been taken advantage of, became dissatisfied.
The waiter ordered noodles, and Lin Haodong quickly got up. His mother's face immediately darkened, and she grabbed her son, saying, "A man's hands are for great things, how can you let him do this kind of work? Go and serve the noodles."
Liu Pianran was somewhat displeased, but in front of Lin Haodong, she suppressed her anger and responded sweetly.
Turning to get noodles from the kitchen, she unexpectedly saw Ji Xia with two girls and even smiled at Ji Xia.
As he returned with the noodles, he heard his mother scolding him with a stern face: "...Just like a mule, if you don't hit or scold her, she'll cause trouble. You have to give her a good beating..."
Lin Haodong caught a glimpse of Liu Pianran out of the corner of his eye, instinctively coughed twice, and quickly stood up, extending his hand: "Give it to me, are you tired of carrying it?"
When Lin's mother saw Lin Haodong fawning over Liu Pianran, her face immediately darkened.
This little vixen is indeed better at seducing men than the Ji family girl; she needs to be properly trained.
Looking at the three bowls of vegetarian noodles, all of the same portion size, her expression darkened even further.
Ji Xia and the other two ate all three dishes clean, even scraping the meat juice off the plates, until they were stuffed.
As Liu Hongju slowly walked out of the restaurant, supporting her back, she deliberately passed by Lin's mother and Lin Haodong.
She glanced at the vegetarian noodles in their bowls, then looked Liu Pianran over and chuckled softly.
"My God, Lin, is this your new wife? She's really beautiful! No wonder you wanted to call off the engagement!"
Lin Haodong glanced around subconsciously and saw that the diners around him were all looking over with different expressions.
Then he saw that Ji Xia and another woman had already left without looking back, and his face was even more gloomy.
Seeing his unpleasant expression, Liu Hongju felt even happier.
She smiled and looked at the vegetarian noodles they were eating, her face full of astonishment: "Really? You're newlyweds today, and you're only eating a bowl of vegetarian noodles? There's not even a hint of meat in them?"
"You should have said so earlier. If I had known you were eating such vegetarian food, I would have brought over the gravy from our chicken and braised pork to add some meat flavor to your meal."
It wasn't very harmful, but it was extremely insulting. Lin Haodong's face turned ashen with rage, and he hissed at Liu Hongju, "Get out—"
"Tch, who are you? You think you can just tell me to get lost? What are you? A penniless wretch."
Liu Hongju chuckled a few times, rubbed her stomach, sighed, and walked away: "I'm so full. The chicken and braised pork at the restaurant were so delicious that I can't even walk anymore."
Liu Hongju walked away triumphantly, while Lin Haodong turned back with a livid face.
Lin's mother glared angrily at Liu Pianran: "Seeing your own man being insulted, you didn't even try to speak up for him?"
Liu Pianran glanced at Lin Haodong with slightly reddened eyes and whispered, "Mother, let's eat quickly and go. It will be difficult to get back to the brigade if it gets dark."
Lin Haodong was also very uncomfortable with the stares and whispers around him, and urged everyone to finish eating quickly and leave.
Seeing that her son had completely sided with Liu Pianran, Lin's mother felt even more resentful.
After leaving the restaurant, Ji Xia said goodbye to her two colleagues and slowly pushed her bicycle home.
Ji Xia and her second brother Ji Xiangjun both work in the city, and it was difficult to arrange accommodation, so Ji Xiangjun bought a small house with a yard in Jiuqu Lane in the old street.
The house wasn't big, and its location was neither too far nor too close to the supply and marketing cooperative. It was quite convenient, as it provided a place for Secretary Ji or Ji Zhijun to stay when they occasionally came to the city.
However, after pushing her bicycle around twice, Ji Xia realized she was lost.
I lived there for seven or eight years in my previous life, so I should be quite familiar with it.
In fact, even in her past life, she had wandered into these winding alleys several times and spent a lot of time finding them again.
Later, the area was demolished and leveled, and a well-planned residential area was built. After several decades, Ji Xia had almost forgotten all the directional signs.
After circling around two or three times, and seeing that it was getting dark, Ji Xia was still clueless and was sweating profusely when she heard a heavenly voice behind her.
"Ah Xia, where are you going?"
Is that Chen Jing's voice? Ji Xia turned around with a mixture of surprise and delight: "Chen Jing, you're still here? Where are you going?"
Chen Jing walked up to her carrying a bamboo basket, wiped the sweat from his face sheepishly, and said, "I brought some things with me. I'll be going out for a bit tonight, you see—"
Just as I was about to tentatively ask about the house, Ji Xia warmly invited, "Have you decided where to stay yet? If not, you can stay at my place for the night."
Chen Jing could actually find a place to stay in the city; he also had several trusted underlings there!
But when Ji Xia invited him to her house without any hesitation, he still felt a surge of excitement.
Was she going to accept him? He grinned and agreed, "Okay, I'll shamelessly stay for half a night."
Ji Xia looked delighted; she could finally go home safely.
A few minutes later, Ji Xia returned to the front of her house in the city.
The house is an old one-story bungalow with a small courtyard of thirty or forty square meters. There is also an old well in the courtyard. Because of this well, Ji Xiangjun paid an extra 150 yuan when he bought the house.
The house is square, with a main room in the middle and two additional rooms on either side, one of which has been converted into a bathroom.
The kitchen is on one side of the courtyard, next to the woodshed, while two tall ginkgo trees are planted next to the well on the other side.
Every autumn and winter, fallen leaves swirl in the air like golden butterflies fluttering in the air, a scene as beautiful as a poem or a painting.
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