People in front of and behind him cheered and praised him endlessly.
Lin Haodong felt no joy at all.
Seeing all the men along the way staring intently at Liu Pianran's curvaceous figure, an inexplicable fire rose within him.
It was as if Liu Pianran had taken off her clothes and was being watched by a group of men.
The clothes were so form-fitting, perfectly accentuating his curves and slender waist, all of which infuriated him.
Ji Xia did it on purpose; she deliberately made the clothes so revealing, intentionally trying to embarrass him.
Lin Haodong forced a smile, but his eyes unconsciously lingered on Chen Jing.
Ji Xia did not return to the brigade for the banquet, but Chen Jing did.
But Chen Jing grinned and said something to his brothers with undisguised joy in his eyes, his whole body radiating happiness.
Lin Haodong knew that Chen Jing and Ji Xia were getting very close now.
Just two days ago, he personally witnessed Chen Jing riding his bicycle with a beaming smile, taking Ji Xia back to the commune.
I also saw that Chen's mother had been fawning over Ji's mother with a smile these past two days, and her attitude was very attentive.
Hearing that they were already planning to get engaged, and that Ji Xia got engaged to another man less than a month after the engagement was called off, Lin Haodong's anger intensified.
He had a feeling that his woman had been stolen away.
The countryside at dusk was very beautiful. A group of people escorted the stunningly beautiful bride to the Lin family home, amidst Lin Haodong's gloomy expression.
Six tables were set up in the Lin family's small courtyard for a banquet. Lin's mother and several other women were busy in the kitchen preparing for tonight's feast.
Sister-in-law Chen and two or three close female friends slowly picked vegetables, teasing each other in hushed tones.
The Lin family's banquet was too meager, with only six tables in total. Only some prominent and prosperous elders of the family had the opportunity to sit down.
Even so, all six dishes consisted of six dishes and one soup, with only one meat dish, which was taro with braised pork belly, featuring more taro than pork.
"...That's so shabby, especially considering it's the only college graduate in the whole brigade getting married—"
"Whose fault is it? Why not choose a perfectly good girl from the Ji family instead of marrying a vixen? If he had married Ji Xia, the banquet would have been arranged properly, not so shabby."
"Speaking of which, this Liu Zhiqing is really good at seducing people. Didn't you see what she was wearing? All the men in the brigade had their eyes on her."
"I'm afraid he'll be so enticed that Lin Haodong won't want to come back, and no one will even know if his mother dies at home..."
As soon as Lin's mother approached the kitchen, she heard the sympathetic words of several women, which amplified the panic in her heart.
In the kitchen, someone pulled Chen's sister-in-law aside and asked, "I heard that Ji and your brother-in-law are getting married soon? She just broke off her engagement, and your brother-in-law is already going after her?"
Sister-in-law Chen scoffed dismissively, "So what if the engagement is broken off? Does that mean no one else can propose to you? Let me tell you, I just heard the other day that Ji Xia is making extra money by making clothes at the supply and marketing cooperative. She's earned over a hundred yuan in ten days to half a month!"
"What? Earning an extra hundred or two? How did she do that?"
"Making clothes is profitable! I heard that someone even wanted to send her to university. You haven't heard? My brother-in-law is shrewd; if he doesn't get engaged soon, who knows how many suitors he'll have later!"
When Lin's mother heard the news, she was so angry that her heart ached suffocated.
To afford this banquet, his family had to humbly borrow money from all sides, managing to borrow only ten yuan.
That enchanting daughter-in-law only knew how to spend money and didn't care at all about the Lin family's predicament.
Ji Xia, however, could easily make a couple hundred yuan by making just a few sets of clothes, earning more money than the God of Wealth. Her son even pushed the God of Wealth away for a cunning and enchanting educated youth.
Two days ago, her son told her that he was worried about leaving Liu Pianran in the countryside and planned to take her back to school and rent a house near the school.
She's the only old woman left in the house. If she falls ill at home, her body will probably rot and no one will know.
After listening quietly for a while with a gloomy face, Lin's mother didn't care how the banquet would end, and went back to her room clutching her chest.
The festivities continued into the evening. Lin Haodong forced a smile and led his wife to toast everyone, only to find that his mother was not at the table. He then learned that his mother's heart condition had relapsed.
After returning to his room and comforting his mother, feeding her her medicine, Lin Haodong and Liu Pianran politely saw off a group of villagers.
Despite her exhaustion, Liu Pianran didn't bother to clean up the mess. With a charming smile, she pulled Lin Haodong back to their room.
Lin Haodong was wondering how to coax his wife to clean up the mess when he saw Liu Pianran take out a box of beef jerky, a few crispy meat pies, and half a pot of honey water from her bag, and give him a charming smile.
"Are you hungry? I knew you hadn't eaten much, so I saved this for you to eat together. Honey water will help with your hangover."
Seeing his wife's gentle and attentive demeanor, and her beautiful, lively eyes that resembled those of a wildcat, Lin Haodong felt a surge of passion and pulled her to sit on the edge of the bed.
Outside the door, Lin's mother heard no more sounds coming from outside and thought that the outsiders had finally left.
She knew there would be more trouble after the guests left, so she didn't leave the room and quietly waited for them to finish cleaning up.
However, after waiting quietly for most of the hour, they did not hear the sound of their daughter-in-law clearing the table outside.
Unable to contain herself any longer, Lin's mother finally came out of the room.
The courtyard gate was tightly closed, and the tables remained as they were, with bowls and plates scattered haphazardly on them, and the ground was littered with trash.
Lin's mother felt dizzy and her face turned ashen. Was this woman meant to be kept for her to deal with? What kind of wife did her son marry?
Staring at the messy yard for a long time, I listened intently, only to hear disturbing sounds coming from my son's room.
Just like a fairy, her house is a mess, she never thinks about cleaning it, all she does is drag her man into fights.
Lin's mother thought of the gossip of a group of village women: how could someone so good at seducing men have made her go back to school with her son? She had raised this son for nothing.
I probably won't have the chance to live to see my son take care of me in my old age.
Standing in front of the house, gazing at the yard for a long time, she finally made up her mind, filled a basin with cold water, and returned to her room.
In the countryside at the end of August, the evenings were already a bit chilly, and only strong, able-bodied men dared to take cold showers at night.
Despite being born weak and suffering from heart disease, Lin's mother gritted her teeth and rubbed cold water on her chest twice. She immediately felt a suffocating sensation in her chest and could barely catch her breath.
Before midnight, Lin's mother forced herself to bump into her son's room, patted it twice with all her might, and then fainted in front of the door.
Lin Haodong and Liu Pianran finally lay down, exhausted. In his drowsy state, he heard a faint knock on the door.
Liu Pianran was still muttering that he had misheard, but Lin Haodong knew his mother's health, so he forced himself to get up and open the door despite his exhaustion.
When Lin Haodong opened the door and saw his mother lying unconscious in front of it, he was so frightened that his hands and feet went weak.
They knocked on Captain Chen's door that very night, and the couple borrowed an oxcart to take Lin's mother to the commune hospital.
After emergency treatment and intravenous infusion, Lin Haodong sat down opposite the doctor in the examination room, completely exhausted.
While writing the prescription, the doctor muttered, "Try to let her rest as much as possible, don't let her work too hard. Luckily you have the habit of keeping medicine on hand, keep a little extra of that medicine in case of emergency... Go pay the bill!"
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