Chapter 9 Regret for the divorce
Mingzhu's words made Jiang Duo blush. His wheat-colored face was obviously coated with a layer of color. People in this era are more innocent. She held back her smile and asked again: "You should speak. If you don't want me, I won't delay you."
Jiang Duo had never met a girl who spoke so directly, and he was really uncomfortable.
But thinking of her passion and unrestrainedness in the cellar this afternoon, it seemed... not so surprising.
The two of them had done such intimate things, he must be responsible, he said hoarsely: "The marriage must be concluded!"
"Okay, since you still want me, I won't return the betrothal gift to you."
Jiang Duo nodded, and then calmly dealt with Mingzhu's fish.
The two returned to the kitchen together. Mingzhu did not rush to cook the fish, but mashed the soybeans that had been soaked for more than half an hour in a garlic mortar.
Jiang Duo was not good at cooking, and did not know why she wanted to mash the soybeans, but seeing her sitting in front of the pot with a strenuous look, he took the initiative to reach out his hand, "Let me do it."
Mingzhu shook her head, "No, can you make a fire? Help me make a fire and boil a pot of hot water, I don't have time to boil water."
She had never used a rural earthen pot and had no idea how to make a fire quickly, but she couldn't keep saying that she didn't know anything, otherwise even a fool could see that she had a problem.
Jiang Duo readily agreed, added water to the pot, took out a water pot on the side of the pot, filled it with well water, and stuffed it back into the small hole in the pot.
Mingzhu figured out the trick. It turns out that in the days when there were no kettles, people used this thing to boil water.
Jiang Duo went out and grabbed a handful of leaves and stuffed them into the pot as a starter. After lighting the starter with a match, he slowly put the firewood in and pulled the bellows on the side. The fire instantly became strong.
Mingzhu pounded the soybeans while learning carefully. It didn't seem that difficult to start a fire.
After the soybeans were pounded, she added some water to dilute it, and then scooped a large ladle of cornmeal from the flour jar, mixed half with hot water and the other half with soy milk, mixed them together, and put them aside for later use. While this
was going on, Jiang Duo poured the boiling water in the kettle into an old-fashioned green iron mesh kettle.
After cleaning the pot, Mingzhu smashed a few cloves of garlic, cut a few slices of ginger, and scooped out the little remaining lard in the enamel pot with an iron spoon. After adding hot oil to the pot and sautéing ginger, garlic, and dried chili peppers, she trotted to the small black porcelain pot in the corner of the yard, scooped a spoonful of homemade soybean paste and put it into the pot.
This afternoon, when she was cleaning the yard, she saw two small black pots in the shade. She thought they were empty, but she was surprised when she opened them.
One contained soybean paste, and the other contained pickled cabbage lumps.
Mingzhu put the fish into the pot, fried both sides, added a little vinegar to remove the fishy smell, and finally added a full bucket of water, then rolled the cornmeal into semicircles and stuck them to the pot wall. She closed
the pot lid, and it felt like fish stewed in an iron pot!
She pulled over a small stool by the dining table and sat next to Jiang Duo, waiting for the pot to start boiling.
The two of them sat there doing this, neither of them talking, which was somewhat awkward, so Mingzhu took the initiative to ask: "Have you discussed your marriage with your family? What if your family doesn't agree with you being with me?"
She didn't know where Jiang Duo was from or what his family situation was like, but she had read books and watched TV dramas before, and knew that many educated youth in this era got married in the countryside, and then the college entrance examination would be opened, and then the educated youth would return to their hometowns, and then it would be opened again... Many married educated youth would eventually choose to divorce in order to return to the city.
Jiang Duo was a rare militia sent from outside. Although he was different from the educated youth, his nature should be similar, and he would leave in the end.
She was not worried that Jiang Duo would divorce her for his future career. There was no love between them, and there was no point in maintaining such a marriage. It would be a good thing for Mingzhu to divorce after the policy was improved and go their separate ways.
If she still couldn't return to her own world at that time, she could use her advantage of "prophecy" to change her future destiny, take exams to study in college, continue her old profession, or do business.
In short, she could live a beautiful life alone! Jiang Duo said calmly: "I will decide my own marriage."
Even though he said so, Mingzhu felt that it was better to make some things clear in advance.
"I know this marriage... is caused by my fault. Don't worry, I'm not a stubborn person. If you regret it, you can ask me for a divorce, and I will definitely let you go."
Jiang Duo looked at the 18-year-old girl in front of him in surprise...
He didn't expect that she would say such a thing. Divorce is not a bright thing, especially for a woman, which means that she will be stabbed in the back at any time in the future.
But now she can say the word divorce so casually, could it be that
Jiang Duo thought of something and asked calmly: "Why did you do that to me this afternoon?"
Mingzhu didn't react and asked casually: "What kind of thing?"
After three seconds, both of them were silent.
Mingzhu swallowed her saliva, recalled the various things in the cellar, and her mouth was dry for no reason.
But...
in the original owner's memory, the person she was looking for was not Jiang Duo!
"This... is purely an accident. I didn't expect that you would end up drinking the sweet water." She didn't want to say too much and simply attributed everything to an accident.
As soon as she finished speaking, Jiang Duo remembered the scene when Mingzhu brought food to Xu Kai this morning, so -
she prepared the sweet water for Xu Kai!
The person she wanted was Xu Kai, but he accidentally drank the sweet water and ruined her good thing!
Jiang Duo's face sank at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the atmosphere around him fell into a silent low-pressure state.
In the final analysis, it was all a coincidence, but the two of them did that kind of thing. No matter what her original intention was, he must be responsible!
As for whether those bad rumors about Mingzhu are true or false, Jiang Duo can only observe slowly in the future.
Mingzhu didn't want to continue this difficult topic, and said, "After you get married, you can move in with me."
Jiang Duo is not from this village, so he can't build a house here, and he can't stay here for long.
Before he came, he was still considering the housing problem after marriage. Now that she said so, he couldn't refuse, but he would not live in this house for free.
"Okay, from now on, my wages, work points and various tickets will be given to you. In addition, I have a house in my hometown, and I will take you back when the things here are resolved."
Mingzhu listened to this and unconsciously thought, where is the hometown, what is the problem to be solved, and what is the purpose of going back?