Chapter 254: Lu Donglin’s Blind Date
Zhang Hongying was worried: "I'm already 20. If I don't find a partner soon, I'll be old. If I get older, it will be even harder to find one."
Wen Wan disagreed. "You can't just settle for it. You have to find someone who understands you. Marriage is a big deal. You have to understand each other well and feel it's a good match. Chun'e has a high school diploma and has been promoted at the factory. She's doing really well. Finding a good partner would be the icing on the cake. If you're not careful and meet someone bad who's after her job and her money, that would be really troublesome."
What she said made sense, and Zhang Hongying felt that it was really true. Her daughter had to be good-looking and have a diploma, so naturally she had to choose a good one.
"Then Chun'e will take care of him slowly. He has to be shown to Donglin first. He's not young anymore, and he's so restless that it's really troublesome. I can't control him anymore. I have to find a wife to take care of him."
Wen Wan: - What are you thinking? If parents couldn’t take care of your child well when they were little, then the daughter-in-law can do it well?
Zhang Hongying was very concerned about finding a partner for Lu Donglin. She cast a wide net and soon found a girl from a family that she thought was suitable.
When Lu Donglin learned that his family was looking for a partner for him, he jumped three feet high: "Are you kidding me? How old am I and you're already looking for a partner for me?"
Zhang Hongying was furious when she saw his reaction: "How old are you? You're already eighteen, and you think you're still very young! In the past, you were already fifteen or sixteen and had to shoulder the burden of supporting the whole family. It's only in the last few years that life has been better and you don't have to worry about anything. You're eighteen and you still act like you're three years old! Half of the year is already over, and after the Chinese New Year you'll be nineteen. First, find out which family has a suitable girl, and then go around and you'll be twenty in a flash, just in time to get the marriage certificate. How can it be too early?"
Lu Donglin held the bowl and shoveled rice into his mouth, ignoring her completely.
After finishing his meal, he dropped his bowl and ran away.
Looking for a partner? That’s not possible. He is only eighteen, not twenty-eight.
Unless he meets someone like his sister-in-law, he will get married without hesitation.
But that's impossible!
So, why would you be so depressed that you would find someone to nag you in your ear all day long?
Zhang Hongying was extremely worried and complained to Lu Mingjiang, "I'm always worried. He's already 18, but he still acts like a child. I tell him about his girlfriend, but he doesn't listen at all. Apart from eating during the day and sleeping at night, he's completely invisible. He even avoids me when I go to work in the fields. Who am I doing this for? I'm worrying so much that I've become a plague."
Lu Mingjiang sighed. He had no idea what was going on in that bastard's head all day long. He was eighteen years old, hanging out with all those grown men on the team, talking about anything, no matter what. It was not like he didn't understand. Wasn't he curious? Wasn't he thinking? Was there something wrong with him?
After thinking it over for a long time, he said, "Maybe it's not time for him to wake up yet? When Dongping was his age, you were very impatient to worry about his partner. Now look at how much trouble he was going through when he saw someone he liked."
Zhang Hongying sighed: "That's because he fell in love with the girl's face. If Wanwan hadn't gone to the countryside, he wouldn't have met such a pretty girl. How could he be willing? He was just lucky. It's impossible for Donglin to be like him! I'm not partial to either of them and it's unfair. The two brothers didn't go to school. They can only read a few words and can barely do some accounting. But Donglin is really far behind Dongping. Now he hasn't got married and is living with us. Sooner or later, when he gets married, we will have to live our own lives. He is just muddling along without any prospects. It's hard to say whether he can make a living. You say that we, as parents, don't worry about him, find a stable person who can make a living, and let him do whatever he wants. Wouldn't that ruin the family?"
Lu Mingjiang was so sleepy that his speech was a little incoherent. "Go to sleep, go to sleep. This isn't something you can just do if you think about it. I'll talk to him later. Anyway, if there really is someone suitable, we should meet them. What if he falls in love with them at first sight?"
Lu Mingjiang is never vague about what he promised his daughter-in-law, especially when it concerns his son.
The next day when he was working in the field, he took the opportunity to call Lu Donglin.
"Your mother told me yesterday that she asked someone to find you a girl. She's pretty and hardworking. Let's make an appointment for you and your mother to go and see her. We'll decide whether you like her or not after we see her."
"No!" Lu Donglin said only these two words.
Lu Mingjiang snorted, his hands moving non-stop. The weeds in the potato field kept falling under his hoe. "I'm just telling you a thing, not asking for your consent. This isn't a one-time deal. If you like someone, that's great. If you don't like someone, then that's fine. You can't just ignore them forever. What if there's someone you like and you miss out? Think about it, isn't it a pity?"
Lu Donglin didn't want to date at all, but it couldn't be denied that what he said made sense.
The Lu family is considered to be relatively well-off and well-off in Lujiazui and even in Xihe Brigade.
Not to mention that Lu Minghai's family had a college graduate who worked in the county government, and that the eldest son and his wife were both in the city, let's just talk about Lu Mingjiang's family. The eldest son, Lu Dongping, was an officer in the armed forces department, and the eldest daughter-in-law taught junior high school in the commune. Both husband and wife were paid by the government, and the daughter was a worker in the city. As for this youngest, although he didn't have much education, the Lu brothers and sisters were really good-looking and down-to-earth. Lu Donglin was a bit naughty, but he never cheated at work. For this reason, his reputation was much better than his brother Lu Dongping's when he was in the production team.
Therefore, whether it is the girl or the son of Lu Mingjiang's family who spread the word that they want to find a partner, it is still easy to find one.
Especially Lu Chun'e, there are too many people who like her, but unfortunately Zhang Hongying doesn't plan to find her here.
The girl found for Lu Donglin was from Wangjialiang, Xihe Brigade, another was near the commune, and another was from the deep mountains of Maoerling. Her situation was similar to Hu Qingqing's. She had too many children and a heavy burden at home, so she planned to exchange the girl for some food so that she could find a wife for her son.
Of course, there are even more outrageous ones. Some people want to exchange their own daughter for the daughter of the Lu family, let their own daughter marry into the Lu family, and then take Lu Chun'e back to their own son.
This kind of thing is called exchange marriage in rural areas, and it is not uncommon, but Zhang Hongying is still very angry. Is it because her daughter cannot get married or her son is ugly and cannot find a wife, so he needs to be exchanged with someone else?
Lu Donglin began his search for a date after the wheat harvest, and by the end of August, when leisure time was about to end, Zhang Hongying had led him through five or six dates. These days, unlike the old society or even the period immediately after liberation, blind marriages were no longer fashionable. For a lifelong event, both men and women had to meet each other. Unless they were a woman they couldn't afford to support, they would give her away for food and money, even if she was missing a limb. Or if their families were so poor that they couldn't even dream of a wife, they would take any woman who could sleep well, bear children, and carry on the family line.
Lu Mingjiang's family is well-off, and Lu Donglin is good-looking, so naturally he has to choose one.
It's not that blatant. The two families just need to contact each other and make an appointment, pretending to visit each other and meet at someone else's house so that they can see each other clearly. That's all.
To be honest, there are quite a few people who like Lu Donglin, but the key is that there is no one Lu Donglin likes.
Either they complain that people are too short or too thin, or they complain that people are too dark or have pockmarks on their faces. In short, they are always picky.
Zhang Hongying really liked the best one. She had a round face and round eyes. Her smile was a bit like Wenwan's, and she had a pair of dimples on both sides of her mouth. She was a very pretty girl. She knew the bad habits of these men and just liked pretty faces. This one was really pretty. When she got home, she looked at Lu Donglin with anticipation: "How is it? Will this work out?"
Lu Donglin looked at her, pursed his lips and shook his head slightly.
Zhang Hongying was so angry that she almost jumped up: "Lu Donglin, what do you mean, this is your lifelong event, who are you trying to fool with this perfunctory attitude? Tall, short, fat, thin, small eyes, big mouth, what else can't you do? Take a look at yourself in the piss, how capable are you to be so picky? I tell you, don't be too picky. In the end, you are the only one left. What else do you want to find? What's wrong with this girl? Wang Jialiang, she is close to us. I even asked your sister Chunmei to inquire about her. Her family conditions are not good. She is so pretty. What's wrong with you that you don't like her?"
Lu Donglin sighed, "She's okay looking, but I think she might not know how to live a decent life. Look at her hair, it's all messed up like a chicken coop. I think there are nits all over it. What kind of girl would be like that? How can she live if she's so slovenly? And don't even think about bringing her home and teaching her a lesson. I'm looking for a wife, not a daughter."
Zhang Hongying was furious. She picked up a broom and hit him with it. "You're the only one who's so picky. If you have the guts, find me a fairy!"
Lu Donglin ran a long way away, keeping a safe distance from her before saying, "Look, look, I told you I didn't want to see you, but you insisted. It's up to you. And you insisted on letting me see you. Is this for me or for you? Can't I express my opinion?"
Zhang Hongying was extremely angry. She had spent a long time looking for a wife for Lu Dongping but failed. Now it was her younger sister's turn, but she failed too. She felt very upset.
In other people's families, whatever their parents say is what goes on, and their parents have the final say in their lifelong affairs. But in her case, having given birth to two troublesome children, things are always the other way around.
The family went through the off-season and the busy season in this way, quarreling over trivial matters. In a blink of an eye, it was the end of October 1977. The peaceful little mountain village was suddenly blown away by the news that the college entrance examination was resumed.
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