Chapter 36 The Temptation of One Dollar
Chen Fangyang reached out and pinched her cheek. "What did you say? Say it again?"
Shen Xuewei cried out, "Grandma, my second uncle is bullying me!"
Grandma Xi reached out and pulled Chen Fangyang away from her clothes, saying helplessly:
"Alright, you're a grown man now, you're not allowed to bully Weiwei!"
She led the way out, followed by Shen Xuewei and Chen Fangyang, who were making a lot of noise.
Finally, tempted by one yuan, Shen Xuewei managed to say the word Chen Fangyang wanted to hear.
"So handsome, you're the most handsome!"
Chen Fangyang smirked as Shen Xuewei snatched the one yuan from his hand, and he reached out to brush his hair aside.
"You have good taste."
The family hosting the banquet was the cousin's family of Grandma Xi.
Today, my maternal uncle's son is getting married and we're having a wedding banquet.
That was a place even more mountainous than Xiaoli Village.
Shen Xuewei and the others were not the first to arrive.
When they arrived, tables had already been set up on both sides of the spacious front door of their maternal uncle's house, and some tables were already occupied.
Grandma Xi gave her great-uncle Xi a red envelope, chatted with him for a while, and then found a seat that was not yet occupied and invited the two of them to sit down.
When she saw some acquaintances arrive, she told the two of them to stay there, and then she went up to greet them.
I don't know what they talked about; sometimes they laughed out loud, sometimes they complained.
Presumably after inquiring about Grandma Xi's family situation, Grandma Xi turned slightly and pointed to the two people sitting in the seats.
Six or seven older women looked over at the same time, and Shen Xuewei and Chen Fangyang felt a chill run down their spines and became quite reserved. They gave the women an awkward smile.
The people chatted and laughed, drawing their attention away, and the two of them quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Chen Fangyang muttered, "It's not so easy to make a living by eating at banquets..."
Shen Xuewei, standing to the side, nodded in deep agreement.
you do not say……
Grandma Xi chatted for a long time before finally parting ways with the other women and sitting back down next to the two of them.
She looked at Chen Fangyang with a happy expression, "Ayang, an aunt just said she'd introduce you to someone. The girl is only twenty, I heard she just graduated high school, and works in the county. Maybe you two can meet up sometime..."
Chen Fangyang's smile froze. "Mom, there's no need to rush me into another blind date. Have you forgotten about the last one?"
Mentioning the last incident, Grandma Xi's smile faded slightly, and she cursed, "Pah, don't mention that last time. In short, I will absolutely not help Wang Chunju's family in the future!"
She paused for a moment, afraid that Chen Fangyang might still be traumatized by what happened last time.
Her tone softened a bit, "Ah Yang, don't worry, your aunt isn't that unreliable. The person she recommends can't be wrong!"
Seeing her insistence, Chen Fangyang shrugged, "Fine, I'll listen to you then. But if it doesn't work out, you're not allowed to introduce me to anyone else."
"No, this might work, but you can't deliberately sabotage it."
Grandma Xi knew her son's temperament and was wary.
Chen Fangyang merely raised his eyebrows slightly and remained silent, as if he had agreed.
He wasn't actually keen on blind dates, but his maternal grandparents were both eager to have a grandson.
He has self-awareness.
Given the Chen family's situation and his own, any girl who marries into this family will be considered extremely unlucky.
The table gradually filled up with people. Grandma Xi didn't recognize the other two families at Shen Xuewei's table.
After she got married, apart from her own family, she only occasionally kept in touch with her cousin, with whom she had a good relationship in the past, and gradually stopped recognizing other relatives.
She simply smiled politely at them and waited quietly for it to begin.
The bride and groom slowly approached at the end of the path.
The bride was dressed in red, with obvious makeup on her face, and her hair was styled in an updo with a flower on it.
On this joyous day, she smiled, but there was a hint of sadness in her smile, and she would occasionally dodge the groom's hand.
Amidst the cheers and jeers of the crowd, the two entered the main room.
First, they bowed to their parents, who were sitting at the head of the table, and then the couple bowed to each other.
After the two exchanged vows, the banquet officially began.
Although it was in the mountains, the banquet was complete with chicken, duck, fish and meat, with about ten dishes served on each table.
As everyone was eating, the bride and groom came from table to table to offer toasts.
When the toast was served to Shen Xuewei's table, she glanced at the bride.
As if sensing her gaze, the bride, who had only taken a small sip of wine, looked up and forced a smile at her.
After the two finished toasting, they moved on to the next table.
Shen Xuewei looked at the bride's red back. Red was festive, but the back view was somewhat desolate.
After they had eaten their fill, the host distributed plastic bags to them at each table.
If guests cannot finish the dishes served at the banquet, they can pack them up in plastic bags and take them home.
This has become a local tradition.
Grandma Xi and the other two families divided the plastic bags equally. After asking the others and confirming that everyone was full, they divided the dishes on the table into three portions, with each family taking one portion.
Looking at the leftover bones, Shen Xuewei thought of Dahuang, who had just given birth.
She took a plastic bag from her grandmother and put the bones in it.
Back home, she pulled the dog bowl out from under Big Yellow's mouth and poured the bones she had brought into it.
When the dog bowl was taken away, Da Huang initially protested.
When he saw how many more bones were back in the dog bowl under his mouth, he was clearly stunned for a moment.
Then she whimpered at Shen Xuewei in a coquettish manner.
Chen Fangyang, who was passing by, glanced at it and said with a hint of jealousy, "You're so good to Dahuang, but I've never seen you treat your second uncle this well?"
Shen Xuewei stretched out her hand, "Yes, it's my fault. Last time I helped you wash your clothes, I forgot to collect the money. Quickly give me back the money you owe me!"
Chen Fangyang feigned ignorance, "What money? Where did the money come from? I don't know, I don't know anything."
Afraid that Shen Xuewei would bring it up again, he didn't look back and rushed upstairs in a few steps.
On Sunday afternoon, it was time to go back to school. As usual, Grandpa Chen took Shen Xuewei and Wu Yuhong to school.
By mid-December, the school planned to hold a New Year's Eve party before New Year's Day, which required students from each class to perform.
At this point, performing on stage would simply mean singing or reciting poetry.
Class 2 of Grade 4 also had to prepare a performance, so Teacher Yan entrusted this task to the class's arts and culture representative.
The arts and culture representative was full of confidence and vowed to make the performance of Class 2, Grade 4, amazing everyone at the New Year's Eve party.
She selected a few classmates to sing.
In the blink of an eye, I saw Shen Xuewei sitting upright in her seat doing her homework, and my eyes lit up.
"Weiwei, can you sing?"
Shen Xuewei paused, her pen still in her hand. She looked up at her blankly. "You should... be able to sing, right? Minghui, why are you asking this?"
What for? Of course, we want her to go on stage and be the face of the group because she looks so cute!
She said, "Sing a couple of lines for me."
Shen Xuewei hesitated for a moment, then opened her mouth and hummed two lines of a children's song she had heard a few days ago.
After singing two lines, she looked at Minghui expectantly, "How was my singing?"
She didn't really want to perform on stage, but with so many people on stage together, singing a couple of lines wouldn't hurt.
After hearing those two lines sung by her, Minghui's face scrunched up and she remained silent for a while.
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