In the evening, the four of them chopped a cabbage, soaked some vermicelli, and steamed a pot of buns with the lard residue left over from boiling lard at noon. The buns were soft and fragrant, with juicy fillings.
Everyone was eating with their mouths full of oil. Shi Aihong ate three in a row before stopping, holding her stomach and saying, "No more, no more, I'm too full!"
Lin Zishan sighed contentedly, "Home is still the best! I don't even want to go to training anymore, let's end it quickly!"
After saying that, he seemed to remember something and continued to ask, "You must have dried a lot of persimmons recently, and you must have picked a lot of mountain products."
Zhang Pingping teased her with a smile, "Of course, the three of us each picked over 2,000 kilograms of persimmons.
Those nuts probably weigh several hundred kilograms and can fetch a lot of money! You missed out on hundreds of millions!"
Lin Zishan deliberately acted like she was wailing in pain, which made everyone laugh.
In the evening, Chu Jingqiu and Shi Aihong went to the cowshed together to deliver some buns, some food, rapeseed oil, and some daily necessities to Grandpa Wu and Uncle Ning. They also gave each of them a men's military coat.
On the way back, I saw Hu Mingyue and Yu Qingmin arguing at the gate of the educated youth site.
Hu Mingyue pointed at Yu Qingmin's nose and said, "No, not even a little bit less. This is the only way to show your family's sincerity."
Yu Qingmin said anxiously, "Mingyue, can't you be more understanding? This little money is borrowed, and the 'Three Turns and One Ring' also cost a lot of money. We really have no money left at home."
Hu Mingyue insisted, "I don't care. You must collect 1,000 yuan by tomorrow, otherwise our wedding will be cancelled."
Yu Qingmin said disappointedly: "How did you become like this? My cousin's wife has already made an agreement with you, and you added more money at the last minute. Where can we borrow money from now on?"
With the current betrothal gifts, my two sisters-in-law have already quarreled with my mother several times. If you add more money, our family really won’t be able to survive.
Besides, we have slept together before. If you don’t marry me, who else can you marry?
Even if you find another one, the dowry our family is giving you now is unique in the whole area. Think about it carefully!
My dad never said anything. He just said that if it doesn't work out, he won't care about us anymore. You can handle your future affairs on your own!"
When Hu Mingyue heard this, her attitude became less tough. She paused and immediately changed her tone.
She said in a coquettish voice: "Brother Qingmin, I was just joking with you. How can you change your mind about something we have already agreed on?
I'm just trying to piss you off on purpose to see if you really care about me. However, I have a condition: we don't want to have children within two years of marriage.
Didn’t you promise me before? You must keep your word, okay?
After saying that, she hugged Yu Qingmin's arm, swayed back and forth, and started to act coquettishly.
Yu Qingmin breathed a sigh of relief and quickly agreed, "Why not? You have the final say. But Mingyue, what if we get pregnant?"
Hu Mingyue leaned close to Yu Qingmin's ear and whispered a few words. Yu Qingmin nodded, and the two of them walked into the educated youth site hand in hand.
Chu Jingqiu and Shi Aihong walked out from the shadows. Shi Aihong whispered, "Hu Mingyue is so shameless. She promised someone a deal but then added on the money. How unkind!"
Chu Jingqiu sneered, "People like this are really cruel. To achieve their goals, they don't care about face or not.
She also said she doesn't want children for two years. She has no good intentions. She is just using Yu Qingmin as a stepping stone and might find an opportunity to kick him out.
Shi Aihong said sympathetically: "Yu Qingmin is too pitiful. He lost both his life and money, and had to waste several years of his youth.
If Hu Mingyue kicks him out, it will be hard to find a second marriage in this rural area."
Chu Jingqiu patted Shi Aihong on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry! She, like Sun Wukong, can never escape the palm of Shujie, like Tathagata Buddha."
It was already past eleven o'clock in the evening. The two returned to their respective rooms, took a shower and went to bed.
After breakfast the next day, Zhang Pingping began to dress up the girls. She braided fishbone braids for Shi Aihong and Lin Zishan, and braided a high braided ponytail for herself, making her look lively and pretty.
Chu Jingqiu was given a half-braided, half-loose hairstyle and wore a gray wool coat. She looked graceful and elegant, like a fairy who had fallen into the mortal world by mistake.
Shi Aihong exclaimed, "Jingqiu, you are so beautiful! No matter how Hu Mingyue dresses up, she can't even compare to you."
Zhang Pingping smiled and said, "This is exactly the effect we want. Today we went to get wedding candy, and everyone dressed up beautifully.
Let the villagers see that Yu Qingmin picked the ugliest one among the educated youths and asked for such a large dowry, outshining Hu Mingyue and letting her show off so much.
At around nine o'clock in the morning, Feng Sanju came to the educated youth site wearing new clothes and carrying two red bundles.
Hu Mingyue and Qin Yilan hurried out to greet them. Hu Mingyue had dressed up specially today, with two pigtails, light makeup, and a red checkered woolen coat. She looked much more energetic than usual.
Qin Yilan saw four people watching the excitement in the yard. Each one was more beautiful than the other, especially Chu Jingqiu, who was so beautiful that it was impossible to take your eyes off her.
She attracted the attention of all the male educated youth in the courtyard, especially Qiao Rucheng, who stared at Chu Jingqiu without blinking. Yue Wenbin also seemed to be unconsciously attracted to her.
Qin Yilan was so angry that her teeth were chattering. She cursed in her heart: "She looks like a foxy woman and dresses like this, just to seduce men!"
After Feng Sanju exchanged the things they had bought, she went back to the man’s house to have some fun.
Hu Mingyue took out a few packets of wedding candy from the red envelope, opened them and gave everyone a handful.
The female educated youth also opened another bundle and took a look. Inside were two sets of clothes and a watch.
Shi Aihong also took a special look at it. It was a brown woolen coat, a red cotton-padded jacket, and two pairs of black trousers. Judging from the workmanship, they must have cost a lot of money.
Wu Shuangshuang suggested going to Yu Qingmin's house to ask for wedding candy. Except for Hu Mingyue who could not go, almost everyone at the educated youth site went to watch the fun.
Yu Qingmin's house was very lively. The brothers of the Yu family and several of Yu Qingmin's aunts were all there. Yu Shujie also invited the village cadres to come.
Many villagers gathered in front of Yu's house and in the yard, most of them were children, all of whom came to ask for wedding candy.
Yu Qingmin's sisters-in-law and aunts from his family smiled and distributed wedding candies to the villagers.
Seeing the educated youth coming to ask for wedding candy, Yu Qinghong came out to receive a few of them. The educated youth were equivalent to Hu Mingyue's family members, so she gave each of them an extra handful of wedding candy.
Yu Qingmin was wearing a new blue suit and looked handsome. He was particularly happy today and specially invited the educated youth to have lunch at his home.
The educated youth knew that it was just a polite invitation and that it was against etiquette to have a meal there, so they politely declined.
At this time, Jiang Jiang's words came from Chu Jingqiu's ears, "Qiuqiu, I'm a little uneasy today. I always feel that something bad is going to happen, and now this feeling is getting stronger and stronger.
Go to the old Party Secretary immediately to get a letter of introduction and make preparations to return to Beijing."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
