Chapter 16 Selection of Date

When Lin Qiao was about to put the passbook away, he opened it and took a look.

After just one glance, she closed it again in disbelief, wondering if her eyes were blurry.

More than eight thousand?

There are more than 8,000!

Ma Rongliang was so generous in wanting to marry her, but he was only prepared to pay a thousand...

I spent over a hundred dollars on a bicycle, over four hundred dollars on a 12-inch black-and-white TV, and the remaining four hundred dollars was enough for a watch and to clean up the new house and prepare for the wedding banquet.

When it came to Ji Duo, he increased the amount for her nearly ten times. Is this man so good at saving money?

But thinking that he would do business in the future and make a fortune by seizing business opportunities, and that interest rates were very high these days, often starting at 10%, she calmed down again.

After putting the things away, I returned to the front yard and found the hot meal already on the table.

Fresh seasonal sprouts in spring, refreshing and delicious stir-fried shrimps. Mr. Ji had just been discharged from the hospital, so Aunt Zhang specially prepared a bowl of light and appetizing dumpling soup for him.

The old man looked at the steamed pork with rice flour in front of Lin Qiao and Ji Duo, then looked at the green leaves in front of himself. He wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing.

Xu Li pretended not to notice and pulled out the chair next to Ji Duo for Lin Qiao, "Are you hungry?

In the past, Lin Qiao always sat next to Xu Li. When they changed seats, Aunt Zhang, who was helping to serve the rice, immediately felt something different and glanced at Lin Qiao secretly.

Lin Qiao thanked him as usual and sat down. "I'm not too hungry. I ate a lot this morning."

She was like this before, always outgoing and confident. Even when she first came, she never felt uneasy.

This made Xu Li feel comfortable. "Now that it has been decided, when are you going to get it done?"

Got it done? What?

Aunt Zhang glanced at Lin Qiao again, and fearing that her expression would be too obvious, she hurried back to the kitchen.

She thought that Lin Qiao had come to seek refuge with the Ji family. When someone outside spread the rumor, she helped to explain it. She didn't expect it to be true.

Now that the matter has been decided, there is no need to worry about others knowing it.

Lin Qiao thought for a moment and said, "As soon as possible."

She had neither a household registration nor a house in Yandu, so she had to live in Ji's house all the time. It would be better for her to get married early and have a place of her own.

However, there is another person involved in this matter. Lin Qiao turned and looked at Ji Duo beside him.

Before she could speak, the man said calmly, "I have no opinion."

"Then I'll go get the calendar." Xu Li obviously wanted to settle this matter quickly to avoid unnecessary trouble. She put down her chopsticks and stood up before finishing her meal.

"May 1st, let's do it," said Mr. Ji. "It's easy to take a leave. There are still more than ten days left, so there's enough time."

"Then let's have the wedding on May 1st. The weather will be neither too hot nor too cold, which is perfect for the wedding."

Seeing that Lin Qiao and Ji Duo had no objections, Xu Li remembered something else, "By the way, Lao Er, are you still living in the dormitory?"

Officers above the battalion level can bring their families with them, and Ji Duo's level is high enough. But he has always been single, so he gave the opportunity to get a room to the people below him. He lives in the dormitory, and has to share the bathroom and toilet with others.

Now that he is getting married, he can't let Lin Qiao still live in Ji's house, right?

Ji Duo knew what his mother meant, "I will file a report and apply for a separate room when I get back."

"Then if you are free in the afternoon, go to the mall with Qiaoqiao. Buy everything you need, such as a TV, a refrigerator, a washing machine, and a rice cooker. Your father and I will pay for it. If you don't have enough industrial coupons, I have some here..."

"Let's do it another day." Ji Duo suddenly put down his bowl and looked at his watch. "I have something to do this afternoon."

Something, something again, something every time...

Ask him to accompany his future daughter-in-law to buy something and he will be busy!

The old man was not very happy. Xu Li thought that he had finally figured it out since he knew to hand in the passbook, but she didn't expect him to be so disappointing.

But Ji Duo's timing was good. As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Fang had already driven over. Xu Li had no choice but to help her son make up for it. "Then Qiao Qiao, I'll go with you. He's a big man, I'm afraid he won't buy it."

Lin Qiao didn't care. "I'm not in a hurry. It doesn't matter who buys it."

After all, the two of them are in a cooperative relationship based on exchange of interests, and Ji Duo probably feels unhappy about it.

Unexpectedly, the man came back soon after he left and put a few notebooks next to Lin Qiao, "Take these and write things down."

He put on his military cap and strode out. Soon, the sound of a car driving away was heard outside the yard.

Lin Qiao flipped through them and found a few blank notebooks. She probably used them to take notes when she saw that she was going to read a book.

From this point of view, although the man is reluctant, once he makes up his mind, he will still take care of her. The two of them will have to face each other day and night for the next few years. There will definitely be no love, but they can respect each other, so life won't be too bad.

Seeing Ji Duo giving Lin Qiao a note, Xu Li also remembered the books placed at the door of Lin Qiao's room, "I see you got a few sets of high school textbooks."

"Well, it's been almost a year since I graduated, and I was just flipping through it when I had nothing to do, in case I forgot."

Thinking of what Aunt Zhang said before, Xu Li nodded thoughtfully, "He's not going. I'll go out with you after dinner."

Ji Duo was not here, and the house had not yet been applied for. Xu Li did not

Instead of taking Lin Qiao to buy those big items, he went to a familiar tailor shop.

The tailor must be an old hand. Although he is quite old and his eyesight is not very good, his hands are very steady when cutting. Moreover, his shop not only has clothes, pants and coats commonly seen on the street, but also two cheongsams hanging on the hangers near the back.

Xu Li smiled and looked at it for a while, "Are you doing this again now?"

"How can I do that? It would look good only if it was embroidered. I don't have the eye for that now." The tailor cut the fabric and put down the scissors. "I just saw that with the reform and opening up, people are wearing more styles of clothes, so I wanted to show off my family's wealth that I have accumulated for hundreds of years."

The wind blows slowly in small places. There hasn't been much change in my hometown, but here in Yandu, the streets are full of Hong Kong clothes.

Bragi, which was popular in the 1950s but disappeared in that decade, has made a comeback. Before the weather gets hot, the malls already have them. Because they are all ready-made clothes, they don't require a ticket, but the price is much higher.

"Make two sets of clothes for my future daughter-in-law to wear at the wedding."

Xu Li smiled and pushed Lin Qiao to the front, pointing to the braid that the tailor had just finished making, "Make two of these too, but don't rush, make the wedding one first."

"Oh, your second son is finally getting married?" The old tailor laughed.

Xu Li also showed some relief, "That's right, I'm almost thirty, and the iron tree is finally blooming."

The atmosphere in the store was harmonious. The mother and daughter who had just entered the store paused for a moment before coming up to greet them: "Congratulations, Aunt Xu."

The voice of "Auntie Xu" sounded familiar. Lin Qiao looked in the direction of the voice and found that it was a woman in her forties, dressed quite fashionably. Of course, this was not the point. The point was that there was a beautiful young girl following behind the woman, Song Jing, whom Lin Qiao had met once in the hospital.

Facing the newcomers, Xu Li was obviously not as relaxed as when she was talking to the tailor just now, "You guys are here to make clothes too."

"Isn't Xiao Jing going to do an internship? Make two shirts for her."

The woman smiled and pointed at Song Jing behind her. After Song Jing finished asking, she looked at Lin Qiao again, "Where did you find this daughter-in-law? I searched all over Yandu, but couldn't find such a beautiful girl. No wonder your second son has never found one. You have a good eye."

These words praised both Lin Qiao and Xu Li, showing how good he was at dealing with people.

And how could she be sure that Lin Qiao was not found by Ji Duo himself, but by Xu Li?

Xu Li smiled and said nothing. The visitor was not embarrassed at all. She introduced her daughter to Lin Qiao, "I see that you two are about the same age, so you should be able to get along well. Xiao Jing's father and Ji Jun are childhood friends, and they are both trustworthy. If you want to go anywhere, just look for her."

This Song Jing was also a wonderful person. She just smiled and nodded obediently. It was hard to tell that she had seen Lin Qiao in the hospital before, and in that situation.

She was well-behaved, but Lin Qiao was even more well-behaved. After all, Xu Li was there, so it was not her turn as a younger generation to step forward.

Xu Li obviously did not agree to the other party's plan. After measuring the size and deciding the time to pick up the clothes, she took Lin Qiao away.

After watching the two walk away, Song's mother lowered her voice and asked Song Jing, "Did you see that guy in the hospital?"

Without being pointed out, Song Jing knew who she was talking about. "It's her, but she's dressed much better than she did back then."

"Of course, I'm going to marry into the Ji family, how can it be bad?"

Song's mother lowered her voice even lower, "I didn't expect that she and Ji Duo would really be together. If Minshu knew, I don't know how angry she would be."

Ye Minshu was indeed very angry and confirmed it several times on the phone before she dared to believe it.

"I really don't understand what our old man and old lady are thinking. She's just a girl from the country, but they treat her like a treasure. It's not enough to betroth her to Xiaoze, and now they're betrothing her to the second son. Are there no other girls in the world?"

"Wouldn't it be better to give her to your second son? Then you don't have to worry about her marrying Ozawa."

"What's the point of marrying her to the second child? She's a little girl who's not even 20 years old, and I'll have to call her my younger sister in the future."

Ye Minshu felt uncomfortable just thinking about it, let alone saying it out loud, "The old man and old lady can also arrange the person who was engaged to Xiaoze as a child for the second child. Not to mention that they are not of the same generation at all, don't the old couple feel embarrassed?"

The more she thought about it, the more she felt something was wrong. "The old couple favored the second son so much. He said he wouldn't find a partner if he didn't. I kindly introduced him to someone, but he turned his face away. Why did they let the second son marry her this time? And he actually agreed?"

This caught her completely off guard and she had no idea how to tell Ji Jun.

Last time, Ji Jun almost attacked her, and she had a hard time calming Ji Jun down. If Ji Jun knew that she had made such a stupid move, and Ji Duo was really forced to marry Lin Qiao, who knows how he would react.

Ye Minshu rubbed her forehead with a headache, "Our Ji Jun is about to get off work, I won't tell you for now."

She hadn't figured out how to tell Ji Jun yet, but Ji Ze knew the news first.

Ji Ze made an appointment to have dinner with a childhood friend who grew up in the same compound. When he arrived, most of the people were already there, playing with two pieces of ancient Hetian jade.

In recent years, some people have been rehabilitated, and the belongings that were collected in the early years have also begun to be returned to individuals. Although some damage is inevitable, some old things that are well preserved are still taken out and sold on the market, but the price is not high, and not many people play with them.

When they saw Ji Ze, someone asked him to come over and watch together. He smiled and waved his hands, "I don't know anything about these." He pulled his coat and sat down aside.

The Ji family is not from here. They have achieved what they have today thanks to the old man's courage and fighting spirit. He really doesn't understand what these Eight Banners descendants are doing.

Grandpa Ji was very strict with his children. He sent all his grandchildren to the army. Even if they didn't have any future, they had no chance to play.

His childhood friends also knew about this and didn't force him. "I heard you're going to have a baby?"

"Whose little aunt, sister, or sister has taken a fancy to my uncle again?"

Ji Ze raised his eyebrows and smiled with a bit of cynicism, "Let me make it clear first, if any of you have the ability, go and talk to him yourself. I dare not get involved in this matter."

"Don't say you don't dare. We don't dare either. I'm talking about the one your family arranged for your uncle."

Although Ji Duo is only a few years older than those present, he has never been able to play with them.

It's not because he is the elder, but mainly because he is too busy, which makes them seem a little unfocused. Also, someone had bad intentions and tried to lead Ji Ze astray, but he gave him a good beating, and everyone was afraid of him afterwards.

Seeing that Ji Ze hadn't reacted yet, the friends were surprised, "You don't know yet, do you?"

Ji Ze really doesn’t know.

But for some reason, the first person he thought of was his own mother, and he always felt uneasy.

He asked a few of his childhood friends about it, and his heart sank when he heard those rumors, but he still didn't give up, "Do you all believe this?"

"Someone saw Grandma Ji taking people to make clothes, saying she was going to wear them at her wedding. How could it be false?"

The childhood friend answered confidently and bumped his shoulder. "I heard that he lived in your house. You must have seen him before. How could you not know him?"

Ji Ze could hardly keep his calm smile on his face. He had to finish his meal to avoid arousing suspicion. He didn't say much during the whole meal. As soon as he finished eating, he found an excuse to leave and went straight to Ji's house.

He really didn't expect that his mother would promise him well but end up causing such a big trouble.

I never thought that when the news got out, my grandparents would actually let my uncle marry her and help him clean up this mess...

Ji Ze's face was burning with anger all the way. He went straight to the main house and said, "Grandpa and grandma, you..."

Before she could finish her words, she met the man's cold and stern gaze.

He was startled, then he realized that not only Master Ji and Xu Li, but Ji Duo and Lin Qiao were also in the living room.

Because of his action, everyone looked over. The childhood sweetheart whom he had only met once was sitting next to his uncle. On the coffee table in front of the two of them were some wedding items such as sheets and pillowcases.

His throat choked, and Ji Duo had already stood up, "I have something to talk to Xiaoze about."

Her eyes fell on him calmly, "Since you are here, let's talk in my room."