Blind Date

Although Qian Xiaoyun recovered quickly and was not opposed to blind dates and marriage, Ye Min felt that she needed to be given some time to recover, so she did not rush to arrange a blind date for her.

But Ye Min is not in a hurry, but someone else is.

The one who was anxious was not anyone else but Ding Yang. In Meng Cheng's words, he fell in love with Qian Xiaoyun at first sight.

But after he went back and thought about their first meeting, he felt that his performance was not very good. Although he was enthusiastic, he did not know how to control himself and seemed too anxious, which seemed to scare the girl.

So after he returned, he did not rashly come to the Meng family to see Qian Xiaoyun again. Instead, after learning from Meng Cheng that Ye Min intended to introduce her to someone, he urged his best friend to speak well of him in front of his wife, hoping to secure a blind date opportunity for himself.

Ding Yang was originally Ye Min's first choice, so after Meng Cheng put on airs for two days and enjoyed the flattery of his friends, he readily agreed.

When he returned home in the evening, Meng Cheng mentioned this matter to his wife when they were alone with Ye Min.

Ye Min was not surprised to learn that Ding Yang wanted to date Qian Xiaoyun. She was not blind and could see where Ding Yang's enthusiasm came from on the day his friend first arrived at the army.

But she didn't expect Ding Yang to be so proactive. After all, when he asked her to introduce someone to him, he was actually quite calm. He would be willing to meet if there was an option, and he wouldn't be in a hurry if there wasn't one.

Ye Min thought that after falling in love with Qian Xiaoyun at first sight, Ding Yang would hesitate for a while before taking action.

However, birds of a feather flock together. When Meng Cheng went on a blind date with her, he was quite proactive and confirmed his relationship on the day they met. They met before the New Year and got their marriage certificate after the New Year.

She agreed to the marriage because her stepmother had set her sights on her work and wanted to send her to the countryside, but Meng Cheng had no external pressure. Even though her vacation was short and she was in a hurry to return to the army, and a correspondence of three to five months was nothing, she proposed to her in a swift and violent manner.

And based on her usual understanding of Ding Yang, he is indeed not a shy person. He was single before because he didn't want to look for someone, but now that he has the idea, he comes to her for help, completely at his own will.

On the other hand, although Ding Yang was the first choice, considering that Qian Xiaoyun could not stand any more setbacks, Ye Min repeatedly asked Meng Cheng: "Does Ding Yang know about Xiaoyun's situation? Can he accept it?"

Meng Cheng said: "I told him that he was filled with righteous indignation and felt sorry for Comrade Qian."

Ye Min was quite satisfied with his answer, but did not immediately agree to arrange a meeting between the two. Instead, she said, "I want to talk to Ding Yang first."

"OK."

Meng Cheng doesn't like to procrastinate, so the next afternoon when he went to the health center to pick up Ye Min after get off work, someone followed him.

Because he was afraid that Ye Min might not feel calm enough, when he appeared in front of her that day, Ding Yang did not smile as usual. His expression was very serious when he spoke, and he looked very solemn.

Although Ye Min thought it was unnecessary, as they had known each other for a long time, she already knew what kind of person he was. But thinking about it, Ding Yangren was not stupid, and he might not be unable to see through all this, but he still insisted on doing so, just because he valued the blind date with Qian Xiaoyun, and it also showed his sincerity.

Therefore, Ye Min did not tease Ding Yang, but simply told Ding Yang about Qian Xiaoyun's situation without any omissions or exaggeration.

After finishing speaking, Ye Min raised her hand to stop Ding Yang who was eager to express his opinion, and said: "Meng Cheng has told me your attitude, but I still want to make it clear to you. Xiaoyun has had a hard time these years. Teacher Qi's matter has had a great impact on her. It was not until recently that she regained her spirits with my encouragement. So if she decides to start a new relationship, I hope the other party is sincere and persistent. She can't bear to be abandoned again. Do you understand what I mean?"

"I understand!" Ding Yang answered without hesitation, "I also swear to you, if I can be with Comrade Qian, no matter what happens in the future, I will not give up on her! If I break my promise, I will die without a burial place in the future."

Although the country has been cracking down on feudal superstition in recent years, it is impossible to completely eliminate something that has lasted for thousands of years. When it comes to swearing, most people are still cautious and rarely make such a poisonous oath.

Of course, Ye Min believed Ding Yang not because of the oath he made, nor because she was familiar with his character, but more because the barrage said that Ding Yang did not become bad after he became rich.

People change, and it is especially easy for them to go from good to bad, but Ding Yang didn't change much in the original novel.

When he was young, he had no confidence in marriage due to family reasons. He finally mustered up the courage to get married, but was betrayed by his wife in middle age. For many years after that, he did not remarry, nor did he have a messy girlfriend, play with women's feelings, and remained single.

It was because he was single that Ye Min tried to match him up with Qian Xiaoyun, otherwise it would be too unfair to the wife he would marry later.

So after Ding Yang swore, Ye Min felt that she had nothing to complain about and agreed to go back and ask Qian Xiaoyun for his opinion.

…

Qian Xiaoyun still remembers Ding Yang.

Because she remembered, when she learned that Ye Min wanted to bring them together, she couldn't help but be surprised: "Comrade Ding, Comrade Ding? How could you think, think..." Then we introduced ourselves.

Qian Xiaoyun was too embarrassed to say the second half of the sentence, and his cheeks were hot when he lowered his head.

"There are many reasons. He is Meng Cheng's best friend and I trust his character. He is good-looking and tall, and he is a good match for you. He has a good personality and is outgoing, so you will never run out of things to talk about when you are together. Oh, and he is the deputy instructor of the battalion, and his rank is high enough to accompany the army. If you are successful with him, you can just apply to accompany the army, and the army can arrange a job for you, which is much better than finding someone whose rank is not high enough..."

Ye Min counted on her fingers the reasons why she introduced Ding Yang to Qian Xiaoyun: "The last point is that he fell in love with you at first sight."

Qian Xiaoyun's eyes flickered: "Does he...know about me?"

"Meng Cheng told him that he didn't think you were wrong, and he swore to me that no matter what happened in the future, he would never give up on you."

Ye Min had just listed so many of Ding Yang's advantages, but none of them could move Qian Xiaoyun as much as this sentence. She softened her attitude, but was still a little hesitant: "He has such good conditions, why would he choose me?"

"Is he good?" Qian Xiaoyun asked without waiting for an answer. "He is not as tall as Meng Cheng, not as handsome as Meng Cheng, and was not promoted to deputy battalion commander as early as Meng Cheng. He is also one year older than Meng Cheng. Look at the two of us. You have a technical secondary school education, and I have only graduated from junior high school. Meng Cheng can like me, so why can't Ding Yang like you?"

Qian Xiaoyun was helpless: "How can you calculate like that?"

"Then how should it be calculated?"

"You and Meng Cheng are childhood sweethearts. You have known each other since childhood, and you are better than me."

"Ahem, Meng Cheng and I barely spoke to each other when we were little. If we are considered childhood sweethearts, then we each have too many childhood sweethearts."

Ye Min paused for a moment before saying, "Does the Jiang family have a bad class background? But what kind of people are they? Is Teacher Chen, who taught us in junior high school, a bad person? But he was still labeled as a stinking ninth class. There are inevitably bad people among the working class, and those who are labeled as stinking ninth class may also be good people, so I think class background is quite hypocritical. Besides, although your family is not so noble, it is not a capitalist family, and it does not affect your life, so why should you care so much?"

Seeing that she was still hesitating, Ye Min continued, "And I didn't hide anything about your situation from Ding Yang. He doesn't care about your background. Don't look at him acting a bit strange when we first met. He's actually a good person. If he hadn't seen too many quarrels between his brother and sister-in-law, he wouldn't be single now."

"What do you mean?"

Ye Min was instantly excited. The most fearful thing between men and women is the lack of curiosity. On the contrary, as long as curiosity is generated, interest may arise, and then the possibility of further development may arise.

Ye Min told Ding Yang the reason why he was still single, and continued, "He asked me to help introduce him to someone, and then I received your letter. Isn't that a coincidence? And the day you came, Meng Cheng and I had no intention of arranging a meeting for you two, but he suddenly came to my house and stayed until we came back. Aren't you two destined to be together?"

Qian Xiaoyun thought it was a coincidence, and the vague figure in his mind gradually became clearer.

Ye Min and Qian Xiaoyun have known each other for more than ten years. From her expression, she knew that her attitude had softened. She struck while the iron was hot and said, "Then this Sunday, I'll have Ding Yang come to your house to meet you?"

Qian Xiaoyun exclaimed: "Sunday? That doesn't mean it's only two days away?"

"You've only been in the army for a month, so the sooner you meet someone, the better. This way, you'll have plenty of time to date and discuss marriage. If you don't think the person is right for you after meeting him/her, I'll have time to introduce you to someone else, right?"

Originally, Ye Min wanted to wait until Qian Xiaoyun had completely let it go before talking about this matter, but after thinking about it carefully, she realized that she had been hesitating because of past events and really needed a push.

Anyway, judging from her attitude, she probably doesn't dislike Ding Yang in her heart, and she might even have some good feelings towards him. If they can get it done sooner, she can be completely relieved.

Sure enough, after hearing what Ye Min said, Qian Xiaoyun stopped objecting and said vaguely: "Well... okay."

…

Ding Yang took this blind date very seriously, and wore his newly issued military uniform for the occasion, ironing it before going out. His uniform was straight and straight, without even a wrinkle. His leather shoes were also new, polished to a high shine.

He didn't put anything on his face. The vanishing cream was too fragrant and Qian Xiaoyun didn't like it, so he put it on before going to bed last night, for fear that his skin would be too dry and rough when he woke up in the morning.

His beard was clean shaved, and he couldn't hide the smile on his face. His exposed teeth were neat and white, adding a bit of sunshine and handsomeness to him.

Qian Xiaoyun also dressed up carefully. She was wearing a light blue dress with a bow-tie collar. The pure white color added a touch of gentleness to her.

Her hair was not done in a very special way, it was tied into two braids and fell down in front of her chest, the braids were the same color as her skirt, also light blue. She had no bangs on her face, revealing her full forehead, willow-like eyebrows, camel-like nose, bright eyes, and a smile on the corners of her lips.

Ding Yang was stunned when he saw her. He forgot the doorstep and almost fell when he entered the house.

Meng Cheng couldn't help coughing twice to remind his friend to be more careful. Ding Yang was also a little embarrassed. After he stood up, he wanted to raise his head, but when he raised his hand, he touched the military cap, which made him even more embarrassed.

Qian Xiaoyun didn't think there was anything wrong with him, and even couldn't help but smile.

Seeing her smile, Ding Yang felt relieved and couldn't help laughing as well, saying, "I'm a little nervous, sorry."

Although he said that, he didn't look nervous when he spoke, so Qian Xiaoyun looked at him again.

Seeing this, Ye Min felt that there was something interesting going on. She smiled and said, "You have met before. Do you still remember each other's names?"

"I remember." Ding Yang answered immediately, looking at Qian Xiaoyun and said, "Comrade Xiao Qian."

Qian Xiaoyun also said: "Comrade Ding."

"Since you remember everything, I won't repeat it. I've also told you about your situations separately, so I won't repeat it here."

Ye Min said two more words without repeating them. She realized that she didn't seem to have anything to do today. She paused and said, "That's it. If you each have anything you want to ask, go and talk. Meng Cheng and I are going to the vegetable market. We haven't bought any vegetables yet."

After finding an excuse, Ye Min got up and went to the master bedroom, took out the money and tickets from the closet, and came out and said, "You guys go back to chatting, don't get too lost in it. An An is still at home, remember to help take care of her."

Qian Xiaoyun blushed and was too embarrassed to even raise his head. Ding Yang was thick-skinned and said with a smile: "Don't worry, we will definitely take good care of An An."

In order to make room for the two of them, Ye Min agreed and hurriedly took care of Meng Cheng and his son.

Meng Cheng was easy to talk to. He immediately understood what his wife meant and stood up to walk out. Meng Zheng was not so sensible. He leaned against the door and stared at the two people in the main room with shining eyes. If he was given a handful of melon seeds, he would definitely start cracking them immediately. He didn't notice his mother's hint at all.

Ye Min had no choice but to walk over and grab Meng Zheng by the collar, saying, "Let's go buy groceries together."

Who would have thought that Meng Zheng would throw his head away and say, "I don't want to! I want to see how my godmother and Uncle Ding get along!"

Upon hearing this, Ding Yang started coughing, and Qian Xiaoyun blushed from his face to his neck. You could hear a pin drop in the main room.

In order to prevent the situation from becoming more awkward, Ye Min quickly covered Meng Zheng's mouth as he was about to speak wildly: "What's so good about you, little kid? Come buy some groceries with me and your dad!" She half-dragged and half-pulled him out the door.

Because he was dragged out, Meng Zheng looked very unhappy all the way to the vegetable market, and his mouth was almost pouted to the tip of his nose.

When they asked him what he wanted to eat at the food stand, he showed no interest in answering and was only concerned about when they would be back. This made Ye Min angry and amused. When they left the food stand, she asked, "Where did you learn that from?"

Meng Zheng's body froze, his eyes wandered, and he pretended to be stupid and asked, "What did you say?"

But Ye Min was not so easy to fool, and asked directly: "Where did you hear that about dating?"

"Just...listen to what they say."

"Who are they?"

Seeing his mother's serious expression, Meng Zheng was a little scared and said honestly: "It's Dongdong, Xiaomei and them."

Dongdong is Liang Juan’s youngest son Feng Qingdong, and Xiaomei’s surname is Lin. They live next door to Yang Mei’s house. They are both classmates of Meng Zheng. Because their homes are close and they are of similar age, they are usually very close.

Ye Min continued to ask: "Why did they suddenly tell you this?"

Meng Cheng even mentioned his friend's name, so he naturally had no intention of refusing to confess. He honestly said, "Last time we saw Teacher Wen with an uncle, Dongdong and Xiaomei said they were dating."

Teacher Wen is actually also a military wife, but her husband died two years ago.

Generally speaking, the household registration of military dependents follows the soldier. If the soldier retires and returns to his hometown, the wife's household registration will also be transferred back with her husband. The same is true when the soldier dies, usually they will be transferred back to their hometown.

But Teacher Wen's situation is special. She was a child bride, and there was no one left in her natal family. Her parents-in-law also passed away long ago, and the remaining relatives all wanted to take a piece of meat from this orphan and widow.

Teacher Wen knew that those so-called relatives were unreliable, so after her husband passed away, she asked for mercy from her superiors. The superiors also knew the situation of her family, so they made special arrangements to let her stay in the army and arranged her to be a teacher in the seedling class.

Teacher Wen is still young, and after she got over the pain of her husband's death, many people introduced her to potential partners. After the beginning of the new year, she started dating a widower in the army who also had children.

This matter was not a secret, and almost everyone in the compound knew about it, but Ye Min did not expect that their relationship would be met by these three-year-old kids. What's more important was that these little brats knew what they were doing!

Ye Min felt that she should say something.

What can I say? Are they not dating, or are they just kids and shouldn't say these things?

But she was at Meng Zheng's age, so how could she not know that saying these clichés was useless? Children are very curious, and the more powerful the adults are, the more curious they will be.

After thinking about it, Ye Min said, "It's fine if you just keep these things to yourself, but you can't tell everyone about it, right?"

Meng Zheng looked puzzled: "Why?"

"Because if you tell everyone, they will be embarrassed." Ye Min explained and then asked, "If my godmother and Uncle Ding are dating, will you be happy?"

Meng Zheng thought about it and asked after a while: "Will Uncle Ding become my godfather?"

"Not necessarily. If they get along well with each other and get married, he might become your godfather. If they don't feel suitable, then he won't. Do you want Uncle Ding to be your godfather?"

"I want to!" Meng Zheng frowned, "Why would they think it's inappropriate?"

"There could be many reasons why they feel inappropriate. For example, if you know they are dating someone, staring at them like you did just now could make them feel embarrassed and not be able to move forward. Do you understand?"

Meng Zheng didn’t quite understand. He felt that adults were so complicated!

But in the confusion, he vaguely grasped a clue - if he stared at his godmother and Uncle Ding, they would feel embarrassed and unable to get along well with him, and then Uncle Ding would no longer be his godfather?

Meng Zheng shook his head quickly: "I won't stare at them anymore."

"This kid is teachable!" Ye Min was satisfied, but she remembered something after a while, "It's enough for you to know about their relationship, but you can't spread it around, okay? My godmother will be embarrassed."

Meng Zheng nodded like a little chicken pecking at rice, and then asked again in the next second: "Can't you tell Dongdong and Xiaomei?"

Ye Min said without hesitation: "No! No one can tell!" Just kidding, his friends don't even know how to write the word "confidential". Once they know, the next step is that the whole family will hear about it.

"Okay," Meng Zheng covered his mouth, "I won't tell anyone!"

…

Qian Xiaoyun and Ding Yang had a pleasant chat. When Ye Min and the others returned, both of them had smiles on their faces, but one's smile was shallow, and the other's was more intense.

As it happened, Ding Yang stayed for lunch.

Generally, the dating will be arranged at the woman's home. Even if the two are very satisfied with each other, the man will at most stay for a meal that day and will not cook for himself.

But they were all young people and didn't care about so many rules. Ding Yang also wanted to show off his cooking skills, so he went to the kitchen to show off his cooking skills and cooked two dishes at noon.

Compared with Meng Cheng, Ding Yang's cooking skills can only be said to be average. The food is not burnt, but it doesn't look very good either. The taste is neither salty nor bland, but it's not very delicious either.

However, these days, there are too many men who believe that men should work outside and women should work inside, and who don't even help when their parents are in trouble. Ding Yang can cook, and she is far better than most men in the family compound.

Besides, practice makes perfect when it comes to cooking. As long as he is diligent and willing to do it, he will eventually master his cooking skills.

So all in all, the skill he showed at noon was a big plus.

After lunch, Ding Yang lingered until An An woke up and fell asleep again before going back. Dealing with a partner is like boiling a frog in warm water, one has to take it slow. If he keeps staying at the Meng family, he might end up making things worse, so it is necessary to keep a proper distance.

But he did not forget to fight for his own benefits, and let Qian Xiaoyun agree to send him out. Although he only sent him to the gate of the courtyard, he was already satisfied.

Although Ye Min hoped that the two of them could succeed, in order to get Qian Xiaoyun to agree to meet her, she said a lot of good things about Ding Yang to her friends. But she didn't want to interfere too much in her friend's life. Regardless of success or failure, she hoped that Qian Xiaoyun would follow his own heart when making a decision.

So after arranging a meeting between the two, Ye Min no longer cared about the matter.

Of course, since they lived under the same roof, she knew everything Qian Xiaoyun and Ding Yang were doing.

Although the two did not confirm their relationship on the day of their meeting, Ding Yang would come to Meng's house every other day for the next week, and even asked Qian Xiaoyun to go to the county to watch a movie on Sunday.

On the third Sunday, when the commune held a market, the two made another appointment to go to the market. It was also on this day that the two finally confirmed their relationship.

Knowing that the two were dating each other, Ye Min was very happy for them.

Ding Yang was also very happy for several days, and anyone could see how pleased he was. So within two days, the news that he and Qian Xiaoyun were together spread throughout the compound.

Qian Xiaoyun was a reserved person who didn't like to go out much. After learning about this, she felt even more embarrassed to go out. Ding Yang was the opposite. He finally found someone and wanted to make it known to everyone. He loved to hear people congratulating him.

But Ding Yang was only happy for a few days. It was not because there was a change in their relationship, but because Qian Xiaoyun's vacation was about to end and he was about to return to Jiangcheng.

Because the Jiang family in Jiangcheng is eyeing them covetously, and being separated from each other will easily affect their relationship, Ding Yang hopes to settle the marriage before Qian Xiaoyun leaves, get married as soon as possible, and bring her to the army.

But he was worried that he was acting too hastily and might scare Qian Xiaoyun, so before she left, Ding Yang specifically found Ye Min to ask for her opinion.

Ye Min didn't give him too much advice, just let him do what he wanted. If he wanted to settle down sooner, he could propose. If he felt that three to five months would be more appropriate, he could wait. As long as he thought it through, he would not regret it later.

After giving the advice, Ye Min did not immediately ask Ding Yang about her decision. It was not until Qian Xiaoyun came back from a date on her last Sunday in the army that Ye Min learned the result from her.

"He said he will apply for marriage tomorrow, and once the application is approved, he will go to Jiangcheng to meet my parents. We will then hold an engagement party in Jiangcheng and come to the army to get the marriage certificate."

At this time, they had to go to the Revolutionary Committee to get the marriage certificate. They were worried that the Jiang family would make trouble, so they decided to get the marriage certificate in the army. Anyway, the marriage certificate can be obtained at either party's place of residence, so it doesn't matter where you get it.

Ye Min was not surprised to hear this. She had always hoped that the two could be together, and seeing Qian Xiaoyun coming out of the shadow of the past and getting better little by little, she was very happy for her good friend.

On the day Qian Xiaoyun left, Ye Min took a special leave and took the jeep that Ding Yang had borrowed to go to the city with him to see his friend off.

Arriving at the train station, the three of them bought a sleeper ticket and two platform tickets. They walked to the platform with the tickets. In order to facilitate their conversation, Ye Min deliberately walked aside and did not return until the two of them finished talking.

But before the two of them said a few words, the train whirred into the train station. Before getting on the train, Qian Xiaoyun couldn't help but tears welled up in his eyes. He turned around and hugged Ye Min tightly: "I'm leaving."

Ye Min patted her thin back and said, "Have a safe trip. Remember to call me when you get to Jiangcheng to let me know you're safe. And remember to contact us if you have any problems after you settle down."

"Yes, I will."

"That's it. I'll wait for your good news in the army."

Qian Xiaoyun stopped crying, her cheeks slightly red, she glanced at Ding Yang without saying anything, picked up her luggage and said, "Be careful on your way back, drive slowly."

Ding Yang agreed, and Ye Min waved her hand, watching Qian Xiaoyun turn around and get on the car. His figure appeared and disappeared on the car window, and he walked all the way to the compartment where the parking space was. Then he stopped, stuck his head out and waved to them: "Goodbye!"