Shen Yu was responsible for taking Grandpa Xu and Grandma Xu to Linshui Village. They were both over 70 years old, so they certainly couldn't drive too fast. Meng Tao told Shen Yu that if there was a traffic jam on the road, like Shen Yu's situation that day, and it was dark when they arrived in Mengzhou, then they shouldn't rush to continue their journey. They could just stay at their home in Xingzi Lane in Mengzhou for one night and go to Linshui Village the next day. This way, the elderly wouldn't have to work too hard.

Shen Yu agreed with a smile. He took a set of keys with him when he left Mengzhou that day, which would come in handy.

After finishing the call, Meng Tao came out and pushed her bicycle to the side of the road. A tractor rumbled past in front of her. There were several people sitting on the bed, holding a square wooden frame. The edge of the wooden frame was decorated with big red paper cut into tassels. On the frame were piled new washbasins, new iron buckets, thermoses and many pairs of new cloth shoes, all with big red double happiness characters on them. Among them, a pile of colorful new quilts was particularly eye-catching... This was a wedding, a dowry.

Meng Tao was concentrating on looking at the dowry when someone in the car waved at her and shouted, "Sister Taohua!"

Meng Tao took a closer look and found that this was Jinniu’s friend, Ma Liuzi from Naliang Commune.

So he waved to him as a greeting.

Ma Liuzi jumped directly out of the car.

Meng Tao: “…”

Fortunately, the tractor was moving slowly, otherwise it would have been a disaster if it had fallen.

Ma Liuzi ran up to Meng Tao and asked with a smile, "Sister Taohua, are you here to buy something? Meng Laosan...um, is your brother Jinniu feeling better?"

Meng Tao replied: "I came to the supply and marketing cooperative to see that Brother Jinniu is much better. Brother Ma Liu can go and visit him when he is free. He is really thinking about you guys."

"We miss him too. We will definitely go to see him when we have time." Ma Liuzi said happily.

"Brother Ma Liu is here for a wedding banquet today? Is he your relative?"

"Yes, my cousin from my aunt's family married into your commune. Her husband's family is over on that street. His last name is Huang, and his name is Huang Rongyao. Do you know him?"

“I don’t know him.”

Meng Tao smiled and said, "People on the street generally have good family conditions."

"It's OK. There are only two brothers in the family. We have two houses on the street, and we have divided them. My cousin's husband's father works at the food supply station. He is a temporary worker now. He can take his father's job in the future. I like this condition. Otherwise, why would she be willing to marry so far away?"

After chatting for a while, Meng Tao asked, "Brother Ma Liu, can I ask you for a favor?"

"Just say it, no need to be polite."

"After the wedding, when you return to Liuzhuang, help me find that old man Meng and tell him... Well, don't make excuses, just say that Meng Taohua is getting engaged on the twelfth day of the first lunar month. For the sake of my grandfather Meng Shengli, please invite this elder to come to the table and meet the elders of the man's family. I will only invite him from the old Meng family, and no one else. If he wants to come, then come. If he doesn't want to come, then forget it!"

Ma Liuzi was amused by her last words: "Okay, I will definitely pass on the message to you. Sister Taohua is getting engaged? Congratulations to her!"

Meng Tao smiled and thanked them: "Those who came that day were all elders, so I won't call the peers for now. You can come another day and we can have a drink together."

"Understood, understood. Let's go see Jinniu someday and ask Taohua for a glass of wedding wine while we're at it!"

"no problem."

As they were talking, the tractor carrying the dowry turned a corner and disappeared. Ma Liuzi, who was in charge of moving the dowry, hurriedly said something to Meng Tao and ran to chase the tractor.

There is no electricity in the village, so we have to buy kerosene every once in a while, and we have to buy it with kerosene coupons. Other people's half-pound of kerosene coupons can be used sparingly and last for a long time, but Meng Tao can't.

It was her habit to light the lamp with the wick turned brightly. It wasn't because her eyesight was bad, she just wanted that effect. The dim, ghost-like light made her uncomfortable. So her family was very fuel-intensive. The specified fuel coupons were not enough. Shen Yu gave her a bunch of coupons, but there were no fuel coupons. She exchanged them with people on the black market.

After leaving the supply and marketing cooperative, I went straight back to the village.

At this time, on the road from the provincial capital to Mengzhou, a jeep was driving steadily, and the driver was Meng Zhehan.

He had just finished a phone call with Shen Yu last night and learned that Shen Yu and Taohua were about to get engaged. After a little consideration, he started packing his luggage and left the provincial capital early this morning without telling Shen Yu in advance, intending to call him when he arrived.

Even if he couldn't recognize his biological sister, Taohua was still Meng Zhehan's adopted sister. When his sister got engaged, his brother should come in advance to make preparations. How could he go with Shen Yu? That didn't make sense.

The weather was good and there were no unexpected situations on the road, so the driving was smooth. Meng Zhehan arrived at Yanchong Commune at around five o'clock in the afternoon. The post office had already closed by then, so he went directly to Zhang Guoqing's house. Uncle Zhang Guoqing worked in the commune, so he took Meng Zhehan to his office to call Shen Yu.

Shen Yu received a call from Meng Zhehan and laughed angrily: "I guessed it, didn't I? Sure enough, you ran over first. You are really good."

Meng Zhehan: "What are you guessing? If I hadn't called you, you would have thought I was still in the provincial capital."

"That's right. If Meng Shaoan hadn't come, I would have really thought so."

Meng Zhehan was stunned: "What did you say? My second uncle is here? Is he looking for you or me?"

"He dared to look for me? Of course he was looking for you. He went to your school but found nothing, so he came to my dad to reminisce about the past. In fact, he wanted to inquire about your whereabouts.

My dad didn't want to pay attention to him, but at this critical juncture, he didn't want him to notice anything and cause unnecessary trouble, so my dad put down his work and took him to a restaurant in the city to drink, hoping that he would leave quickly tomorrow and not let him ruin the festive day.

I want to ask you, Meng Zhehan: You returned to the provincial capital yesterday, and Meng Shaoan followed you here today. What did you say to him?"

Meng Zhehan was silent for a few seconds and exhaled: "Yes, I said, I will go to him on New Year's Eve, in front of his family, and say everything I should say. I believe you can understand my intention."

Shen Yu: "If he finds Taohua, have you considered Taohua's feelings? Taohua doesn't want to see him and doesn't want anyone to know about this."

"He can't find it, at least not from me. After you marry Taohua, she will have to move around the capital. It's up to you what happens then. Unless you ask her to dress up as an XJ girl every day and cover her face with a veil."

Shen Yu: “…”

What kind of good friend is this? Is the friendship of more than 20 years all fake?!

What he said was the truth. If the wedding was held in Beijing, the Meng and Xu families were old friends, so Mr. Meng would definitely be a guest of honor. According to Meng Zhehan, Taohua looked about 70% similar to the late Mrs. Meng, so it was impossible for Mr. Meng and the Meng family not to see the difference.

But so what? If Taohua doesn't admit it, just pretend it never happened.

(End of this chapter)