Although it's the 1970s, the practice of exchanging birth charts during engagements is still preserved in rural areas. It's a rather solemn way of exchanging birth dates and times.
The parents brought gifts, exchanged birth dates and times, and the engagement ceremony was completed. It wasn't really that formal; it was just a ritual, a sense of destiny of handing oneself over to the other person.
When Yu Jiu and Xu Zijiang exchanged their birth certificates, they looked at each other with slightly upturned lips and lingering eyes. Their smiles seemed to float away, and even the onlookers at the door could feel their blissful affection.
"Getting engaged is wonderful! I want to get engaged too!"
This sweet atmosphere instantly ignited everyone's romantic fantasies! Ahhh, so sweet! I want to fall in love!
"I suggest you just start dreaming!"
In my dreams, I might be a great beauty myself, and then I could find a man as wonderful as the captain!
"Don't be so venomous!"
Everyone was chattering outside. After Yu Jiu and Xu Zijiang exchanged their betrothal gifts, the engagement was officially over for the day. Xu Zijiang and his wife Zhou Chunrong couldn't stay any longer, and the three of them left. Xu Zijiang glanced back at Yu Jiu, his sharp, hawk-like eyes surprisingly showing a hint of reluctance.
A surge of emotions was churning in his deep eyes. The moment he turned and stared at Yu Jiu, she blushed. Yu Jiu's porcelain-white face burned, as if it were being roasted over a fire.
After flirting with his wife with his eyes, Xu Zijiang swaggered away with Zhou Chunrong and his wife. "Hmph," he thought, "this person's got his stamp on her; the young educated youth is his from now on! No one can bully my wife, let alone snatch her away from me!"
As soon as Xu Zijiang and the other two left, the rest of the women educated youth swarmed in, filling the already small dormitory to the brim.
"Yu, congratulations on your engagement to the team leader! From now on, you two are engaged! You're even closer than just dating!"
"The wedding is just around the corner, hehehe, Yu Zhiqing, can we have some of this wedding candy? We want to share in the joy!"
"Yes, yes, I want to share in the joy!"
Yu Caihong and Zhang Yan joined in the commotion, saying they wanted to share in the joy. Yu Jiu patted her flushed cheeks to cool them down, then opened the bag of candy and generously gave everyone a handful.
"Of course, wedding candy is for everyone."
The remaining wine was distributed to everyone. Because there were too many people, it was impossible to give too much. Each person received about one or two pieces as a token, but that was already quite good. The male educated youths who were not allowed to enter the female educated youths' dormitory and the young men who were watching the commotion in the courtyard became anxious.
"Yu, what about us! Why do you only give candy to those young girls? Can't we grown men have some too? We want to share in the joy too! I want to get married too!"
"Hey, someone like you, how could you possibly get any joy from a single piece of candy? Even if Yu Zhiqing gave you that whole bag, it might not be enough. Take a piss and look at yourself!"
Everyone was joking and shoving each other, making quite a scene. Yu Jiu curled her lips, took out some candy to act as a peacemaker, and handed it out to everyone one by one.
"I treat everyone equally, and everyone who sees it gets a share. Once it's all gone, it's gone. I can't guarantee that eating my wedding candy will make you find a partner, but I'm not stingy when it comes to sharing in the joy. I can let you all have a share."
"That's right, that's right. Yu Zhiqing really knows how to talk. Look at her!"
Everyone couldn't help but flatter Yu Jiu, after all, she was about to become the captain's wife. The captain was a difficult person to talk to, so if they could say a few words to Yu Jiu and then have her whisper sweet nothings in the captain's ear, that would be amazing!
"No matter how good you are at talking, you're still the captain. What are you so arrogant about!"
Because of the captain's imposing presence, no one dared to make any lewd jokes or try to take advantage of Yu Jiu. At most, they would make a fuss or glance at him, but they didn't even dare to get close enough to look. Even the male educated youth Zhao En had completely given up. What was the use of liking someone if the captain still managed to steal her away?
It's all my fault for being too slow! If I hadn't been staring at Li Nannan and instead noticed Yu Jiu's beauty, Yu Jiu would be his wife now!
Zhao En was filled with regret and wished he could drown his sorrows in alcohol. He didn't go to ask for wedding candy and instead stayed alone in the male educated youth dormitory, silently grieving. But to be fair, even if Yu Jiu didn't like Xu Zijiang, it didn't necessarily mean she would. No matter how early he made his move, it wouldn't matter. First impressions and feelings are unpredictable.
Moreover, Xu Zijiang has the filter of having saved Yu Jiu in his past life, so he is essentially standing on the shoulders of giants to pursue his wife. Otherwise, Yu Jiu would have shown him what the hellish difficulty of pursuing someone is like in no time, haha.
The engagement between Yu Jiu and Xu Zijiang was a cause for celebration for most people. Over the next few days, people kept coming to Xu Zijiang's door with gifts—sometimes a few sweet potatoes, sometimes two eggs, sometimes a bunch of greens. They had nothing else to give, and these were their most precious possessions.
Yu Jiu and Xu Zijiang remembered the kindness of their neighboring teammates, but they didn't accept any gifts, believing that the sentiment was enough.
However, there is a little custom here: the couple cannot meet for the first three days after getting engaged. I don't know what this custom is, but it may correspond to the custom of the bride returning to her parents' home three days after the wedding.
I don't understand, but I'll just do it anyway.
Yu Jiu worked hard for many days but still couldn't make a set of clothes for Xu Zijiang. So on the day of their engagement, she gave Xu Zijiang a pair of shoes that she had made herself, and a pair of... big shorts.
Yes, that's right. Making clothes is too difficult. Yu Jiu didn't have the skills for the time being. After failing twice, she decided to take a different approach and find a shortcut: make Xu Zijiang a pair of big shorts. Big shorts are so easy to make! Just sew two pieces of fabric together. Simple and straightforward! That's why Yu Jiu was able to present them to him when they got engaged.
Yu Caihong and Zhang Yan knew about this at the time. Zhang Yan's lips twitched, and her words were filled with opposition.
"Are you sure you want to do this? You might as well not send it at all. Or how about I teach you how to sew? It's not difficult at all. You just need to cut it out and sew it together. What's so difficult about it? If you really can't do it, I'll sew it for you. You can then fix it yourself. That way, it'll count as something you made!"
The skillful Zhang Yan couldn't bear to see Yu Jiu so depraved, so she offered to help Yu Jiu make clothes for Xu Zijiang. This was how it was in ancient times for young ladies from wealthy families. Of course, the young lady wouldn't make her own wedding dress; the embroiderers would prepare it, and the young lady would sew a few stitches, and that would be considered a red veil and wedding dress she had made herself.
The same principle applies here; this is how clumsy brides-to-be do it.
However, Yu Jiu stood by her own principles and confidently refused Zhang Yan's help.
"No need, clothes are all the same, there's no such thing as high or low status. Who said we can only give shirts and pants? Underwear is for wearing too! This will do, I know how to make this!"
Besides, Xu Zijiang's underwear was so old it was unbearable to look at. This man had bought new clothes, but his underwear was still old, some even had holes. So Yu Jiu felt that her action was really practical and thoughtful!
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It's hard to judge, I wish her success! Yu Caihong had nothing to say, and silently expressed that she was shipping them. Ha, woman, so you've only seen the captain's big shorts so far! You said that your relationship was just a polite one and that there was absolutely no inappropriate behavior, tsk tsk tsk, it seems that you can't trust women's words, they're born liars!
So on the day of their engagement, Xu Zijiang received two pairs of very new underwear. He slept with these new underwear every night, using them to ease his longing during the three days they couldn't meet.
Then, on the fourth day, when they were able to meet, he lured Yu Jiu over and dirtied the two newly made pairs of underwear!
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