An Moxue packed her things and said to Wu Sicheng, "Let's go! I reckon everyone's either at work or out of school by now, so there shouldn't be many idle people in the village. We can walk more quietly."
Wu Sicheng chuckled: "Is it really necessary?"
An Moxue said, "It's really too much! You don't know how overly enthusiastic they are. I'm scared, mainly because they give you all the nice things they've painstakingly collected without hesitation. If you don't accept them, they'll get angry. If you do accept them, you can't bear it. Even if you accept their gifts and give them something in return, next time they'll definitely try to find a way to give you something even more precious. In my opinion, this isn't helping them; it's indirectly increasing their burden and preventing their lives from improving much. I'd rather just sneak away!"
Wu Sicheng said, "That's what you earned through your hard work."
An Moxue retorted, "Then how come it wasn't earned through their kindness? I'm not some saintly figure."
Wu Sicheng thought about it and realized it made sense. He locked the gate, got into the car, and said, "Let's go pick up Uncle Ma and Aunt Ma now."
An Moxue looked at her little courtyard with lingering affection, wondering when she would be able to come back for a short stay again.
The four people sat in the car, talking about the people and things in the village. Wu Sicheng was driving, and An Moxue and Aunt Ma were sitting in the back seat, talking to each other with their heads down.
When they were still some distance from the village entrance, he called out to An Moxue, "Moxue, look, the village entrance."
An Moxue looked up and saw many people standing at the village entrance. As she got closer, she could see that many of them were carrying baskets.
She suddenly realized something and said, "See, I told you! Let's stop in a bit!" Her words contained a hint of helplessness mixed with a secret pleasure, which she probably didn't even realize herself.
As the car drew closer, Wu Sicheng stopped it. Village officials, led by Village Chief Guo, stood outside.
An Moxue and the other three got out of the car. She said helplessly, "Uncle Guo, fellow villagers, I will come back. Everyone, please disperse! Don't delay your work."
At this moment, Village Chief Guo spoke up, somewhat angrily, saying, "How can that be the same? You're going back this time to get married. As your family, we have to do something to show our support. Otherwise, people will think you're a rootless duckweed, easily bullied. We have to let some people know that if you suffer after the wedding, we'll mobilize the whole village to fight back." As he spoke, he stared blatantly at Wu Sicheng.
"Yes, the village chief is right." Someone shouted from the crowd, and the crowd responded in unison, "Yes!" The voices were so loud that they could be heard from one end of the village to the other end of the mountain.
Then Wu Sicheng instantly felt everyone's eyes on him. He suspected that if he didn't say something today, he wouldn't be able to leave Anle Village.
He coughed lightly to distract himself, then slowly said, "Don't worry, folks, I will definitely treat Mo Xue well in the future."
Aunt Meihua asked, "How can we treat her well?" Her tone was aggressive, as if she meant that you had to do what she said, or she would hold you accountable if you didn't.
Wu Sicheng became more cautious and said, "I will give her all my salary. When I am at home, I will do all the housework, including laundry and cooking."
Aunt Meihua said, "I hope you keep your word. Also, you can't hit our Moxue girl." After saying that, she looked at her old friends beside her, "What do you think? Is there anything else you'd like to add?"
Aunt Guo muttered under her breath, "Are you sure he won't get beaten up by Mo Xue?"
Aunt Meihua was surprised, looking incredulous. "Isn't he a soldier or an officer? How come he can't beat Mo Xue, who isn't even a soldier?"
As soon as she said this, the aunties next to her looked at him suspiciously, their eyes full of uncertainty, which gave Wu Sicheng a bad feeling.
Aunt Guixiang said, "Won't that be too weak? Will it be able to protect Moxue if something happens?"
Da Kui's wife also said, "Isn't that a bit weak?"
Aunt Meihua, "is indeed not very sturdy, more like a pretty boy."
As their conversation became increasingly absurd, Village Chief Guo quickly stopped them, saying, "Enough nonsense, Mo Xue and the others still have to catch their train!"
The women stopped talking, but their scrutinizing gazes lingered.
Many curious eyes were still staring at him, making him feel unusually uncomfortable. He was on high alert, afraid of making a mistake.
Village Chief Guo handed over a brown paper bag, and Accountant Chen handed over an account book.
An Moxue didn't take it, and asked in confusion, "Uncle Guo, Uncle Chen, what is this?"
Village Chief Guo said with a smile, "This is the gift money and account book. Aren't you going back to Kyoto to get married? This is a small token of everyone's appreciation. It's not much, please accept it!"
An Moxue looked at the crowd. Some of them smiled at her, and some waved to her, all radiating the greatest goodwill and blessings.
Tears welled up in her eyes, and she bowed deeply to everyone present.
The first regret I had was leaving in such a hurry; I should have held a simple ceremony in the village and treated everyone to a meal.
She silently made a promise to herself, saying that she would definitely hold a wedding banquet next time she came back.
She stood up and took the brown paper bag and the ledger.
Before she could compose herself, Aunt Guo asked, "Old man, can we give you a gift now?"
As soon as she finished speaking, several aunties who were closest to her stuffed small bundles into her arms. When the people behind her saw that she couldn't hold them all, they stuffed them into Wu Sicheng's hands, and finally stuffed them into the car.
Without giving An Moxue and Wu Sicheng a chance to react, the person who delivered the goods ran away, not giving them any chance to back out.
Finally, only Village Chief Guo, Accountant Chen, and Aunt Guo remained at the village entrance; everyone else had left. The car was also crammed more than halfway full.
An Moxue looked at Old Ma for help, "Uncle Ma, what should we do?"
Old Ma said very firmly, "Take it, just this once, and don't do it again, okay? It's all blessings for you. We can't let the villagers' good intentions go to waste, can we? We can make up for it in other ways later."
"Okay." After Old Ma finished speaking, she had a plan in mind.
After spending some time at the village entrance, the group didn't say anything more and drove away. Even after driving a distance, they could still see Aunt Guo waving her arms, her eyes filled with reluctance.
An Moxue only looked away after the car had driven far away, rounded a bend, and disappeared from sight of the village entrance.
She said, "Uncle Ma, how about I donate money to build a school in the village? It will be for junior high school. Teachers from the city are unwilling to come, so I can provide a salary subsidy with double the benefits of city teachers. I'll find someone to negotiate the specifics, and you and Uncle Guo can help me supervise the process."
"good."
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