However, Zhong Xiaolan waited until after 2 p.m. but Zhou Jiadong still hadn't arrived.
Her heart sank lower and lower. No, she couldn't wait any longer; she had to go see him again.
Zhong Xiaolan returned to Xiaoxi Village to find Zhou Jiadong.
"Is anyone home? Jia Dong? Are you home?" The Zhou family's gate wasn't locked, and Zhong Xiaolan breathed a slight sigh of relief. She wiped the thin layer of sweat from her forehead, gently pushed open the gate, and peeked inside.
Zhou Jiadong was pressing chili powder in the main room when he heard Zhong Xiaolan's voice and hurriedly went out.
"Xiao Lan, what brings you here..."
"Jiadong..." Upon seeing Zhou Jiadong, Zhong Xiaolan's eyes reddened, and she hurried inside.
"Xiao Lan, don't come in. Let's talk at the door." Zhou Jiadong was the only one at home at the moment. He felt a little uncomfortable when he saw Zhong Xiaolan come in, afraid that someone outside would see them and spread some unpleasant rumors. He immediately walked over with his cane.
Zhong Xiaolan paused, clearly noticing that Zhou Jiadong wasn't as enthusiastic towards her as before.
The two stood at the courtyard gate, which Zhou Jiadong had deliberately left open. "Xiao Lan, I'm sorry, my family really can't afford a thousand yuan as a bride price..."
"I know, I know my parents were being unreasonable, I don't blame you, Jia Dong."
As Zhong Xiaolan spoke, she suddenly grabbed Zhou Jiadong's hand and lowered her voice, saying, "Jiadong, let's go to Dongguan Province. In the past two years, many people have gone to Dongguan Province to work. I heard that you can easily earn four or five hundred yuan a month in a factory there. How about we go to Dongguan Province to work together?"
This was her last resort; she really didn't want to marry a strange, older man who was only after her beauty.
She didn't want to be treated like a commodity, without dignity, and "sold" by her father to an old man as a tool for sexual gratification.
She couldn't bear the thought of living that kind of life for the rest of her life.
The reason she insisted on marrying Zhou Jiadong was that, among all the men she had met, Zhou Jiadong was the only one who cared most about her feelings, respected her the most, and listened to her the most.
Other men would look at her with an uncomfortable gaze the first time they met, but Zhou Jiadong was different. He was so shy when he first met her that he didn't dare to look at her at all.
He was three years younger than her. He was handsome and very innocent. She could tell at a glance that this was his first time interacting with a girl.
She was the one who initiated the conversation the day they met, and she still remembers how shy he looked, his ears turning red.
Later, she took the initiative to ask him to meet again. As they got to know each other better, she was pleasantly surprised to find that he was exactly the kind of man she was looking for: indecisive, not talkative, not very macho, and very obedient to his wife.
What she liked most was that when she was with him, whatever she said went, and he always put her feelings first.
So she didn't care at all that he was from the countryside or that his family was poor. She only cared whether she could control him, be in charge of the household, and have the final say on everything.
She didn't want to be like her mother, having to listen to her father in everything, living at his mercy every day, and having no say in anything at home.
She had watched her mother live such a stifling and powerless life since she could remember, and she felt suffocated.
So when she was very young, she thought that when she grew up, she would definitely find a man who was soft-hearted, the kind of man who was afraid of his wife, loved his wife, listened to his wife in everything, and put his wife first in everything.
Zhou Jiadong is exactly the kind of man she's looking for.
Zhou Jiadong was naturally unaware of Zhong Xiaolan's thoughts. He was stunned when she said she wanted to go to Dongguan Province to work. "You want me to elope with you?"
Isn't this exactly what eloping means?
Zhong Xiaolan looked at Zhou Jiadong nervously, "What's wrong, Jiadong? Are you unwilling? Or are you worried about not having enough money for the trip? You don't need to worry, I have money here. I have more than two hundred yuan. We can take the train. I've inquired, and the train ticket from the city's train station to Dongguan Province is only thirty-five yuan. Once we get there, we can find a factory that provides room and board. As long as we work there for two months, we'll have a salary."
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