The woman said with difficulty, "Village chief, it's not that we don't want the cadres to stay, it's just that we don't even have enough food to eat!"
This woman is Xia Liuer, Zhang Ruyi's adoptive mother.
Zhang Dehui snapped at Xia Liuer, "Shut up!"
The village chief cleared his throat: "You don't need to worry about the food. Cadre Su is here to stay with us, and she's bringing a subsidy! She'll be here for a week, and she'll give your family 50 cents a day for food!"
"Five cents a day?" Xia Liuer's eyes lit up immediately. "Then...then we'd have to eat meat every meal!"
Su Ruyi said gently, "Auntie, I'll just eat whatever you eat at home. There's no need to cook special meals for me. I came down here to conduct an investigation, not to eat meat."
Xia Liuer's eyes darted around, and a smile spread across her face—this was a deal that could only make her money!
With his small frame, even if Su ate his fill all day, he would only spend a penny or two on food!
I earn three cents a day!
Seven days, and that's two yuan!
Thinking of this, Xia Liuer's voice softened considerably: "As long as Cadre Su doesn't mind our simple meals, there will definitely be plenty to eat and drink! Cadre Su, I know you city folks are particular, and my family is one of the cleanest families in the village!"
The Zhang family's courtyard was indeed clean and tidy.
At this moment, a thin, dark-skinned girl of about fourteen or fifteen years old lifted the curtain from another room and looked at everyone.
Xia Liuer hurriedly waved: "Ruyi, come here!"
That girl was Zhang Ruyi.
The resemblance between her eyebrows and eyes to Qi Yaqin is different from that of Xia Tianxiu, but they are more similar.
Almost instantly, Su Ruyi was certain that she was the real Qiao Tianyue.
When Zhang Ruyi heard her mother call her, she lowered her head but walked over confidently and asked, "Mom, what's wrong?"
Xia Liuer pulled Zhang Ruyi aside and said to Su Ruyi, "Look at my girl, she's so cute and clean! She works at the grain station! She changes her clothes every two or three days! Her kang (heated brick bed) is also big, Cadre Su, would it be alright if you shared a room with her?"
Su Ruyi was naturally delighted and nodded, "I will follow Auntie's arrangements."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Ruyi awkwardly wiped her hands on her clothes and took the bundle from Su Ruyi's shoulder: "Cadre Su, come with me."
Su Ruyi turned to the village chief and said, "Village Chief Zhang, thank you. I'll settle in first, and then go to the educated youth compound tomorrow to find out more about the situation."
"Hey! I'll have the person in charge of the educated youth settlement come to see you directly tomorrow!" Seeing that the arrangements were in place, the village chief didn't linger. He gave Zhang Dehui a few more instructions and then left.
Zhang Dehui excitedly wiped his hands on his clothes, rinsed a porcelain bowl repeatedly, poured a cup of hot water with sugar, stirred the sugar with a chopstick until it dissolved, and handed it to Su Ruyi: "Cadre Su, don't worry, if there's anything you need my cooperation with, I, Old Zhang, will absolutely not hesitate!"
"Thank you, Uncle Zhang." Su Ruyi took the sugar water, drank it all in one gulp, and then followed Zhang Ruyi to her room.
It's clear that the Zhang family treats their daughter very well; she even has her own room.
This is a south-facing wing room. The room is not large, but it is neatly arranged.
What is particularly striking is that on the kang table is a large red quilt cover that is only half-embroidered, with embroidery circles still wrapped around it.
Upon seeing this, Su Ruyi's heart skipped a beat.
She asked, seemingly casually, "Comrade Zhang, this isn't your dowry, is it?"
Zhang Ruyi blushed crimson with embarrassment: "...Um, I've already...got engaged."
Su Ruyi raised an eyebrow: "Oh, how old are you? How come you're already engaged?"
Zhang Ruyi's face showed obvious worry, and her eyebrows furrowed: "There's no way, my mom can't bear to part with me... I'm only 15, but my brother is already 18. He has to get married soon, he can't wait any longer."
Su Ruyi frowned and said, "Your brother is getting married, so he should get married first. Why do you have to get married too?"
Zhang Ruyi lowered her head: "My family is very poor... I am the younger sister, and I am to be married off to my brother. My family is poor, but they still managed to support me through junior high school so that I could get a job at the grain station in town. However, my sister-in-law has her eye on my job at the grain station, and I have already prepared to give it to her. Now I am focusing on preparing my dowry."
I see!
"Whose family did you choose?" Su Ruyi picked up the embroidered circle and examined the pattern inside.
It features some very traditional patterns, such as mandarin ducks, lotus leaves, and lotus flowers, with very fine stitches.
"Sigh, I think... they probably don't come from a good family." Zhang Ruyi said, as her subordinates quickly tidied up the things on the kang table.
Then he took out a spare set of bedding from the cabinet and said a little embarrassedly, "The things are a bit old, but they are clean. Cadre Su, please use them without worry."
Su Ruyi thanked her and continued to ask, "Why wasn't it arranged with a good family?"
Zhang Ruyi sighed and picked up the embroidery circlet:
"Originally... my parents arranged for me to marry into a family in our village, someone they knew well. The man was my brother's classmate, and I was willing to do so."
But... a matchmaker came three days ago.
She said a family in another village had taken a liking to me and had promised me a high dowry.
Three hundred yuan!
My mom...refused to accept the offer from a family in our village...
They arranged a marriage for me with a family from another village.
"Oh, which village is the family you've been assigned to?" Su Ruyi asked casually while helping Zhang Ruyi.
“It’s from Dujiazui Village,” Zhang Ruyi said, then sighed.
Su Ruyi quickly searched her memory—"Dujiazui," this place didn't seem to be among the more than three hundred villages in the suburbs of Beijing, she had no recollection of it at all.
Su Ruyi pressed further, "Is it far from here?"
Zhang Ruyi nodded, her eyes welling up with tears: "It's in western Inner Mongolia... more than a thousand miles away from our village."
"Oh, why did you marry so far away?" Su Ruyi was very surprised.
Zhang Ruyi seemed resigned to her fate, her hands moving swiftly with needle and thread, never stopping:
"That family said they had seen me when they were visiting relatives, and that they took a liking to me right away."
The matchmaker said they were willing to give a bride price of 300!
In our village... no girl has ever received such a high dowry before.
With this money, not only will my brother be able to marry his sister-in-law in a grand and dignified manner...
The house... can be renovated now.
Su Ruyi's nerves immediately tensed up.
Why did this matchmaker, who came three days ago, want to marry Zhang Ruyi off to such a faraway place?
Could it be... related to Summer Show?
Could it be... that she has already found Zhang Ruyi before I have?
Otherwise... why would they marry her off to such a remote place?!
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