“Alright, come inside and talk. Perfect timing—I’ll wash a few apples for you two to eat. Fresh fruits and vegetables are practically impossible to find on this island. By the way, where did you get these?”
Zhou Yuanzheng scratched his head awkwardly. “Yesterday, I went off the island on a mission. After we finished, I stopped by the city and happened to see some at the supply cooperative. I thought you might like them, so I bought a few.”
Wang-saozi looked at him with a mischievous smile. “It’s Xiao Shen who likes them, right? Hahaha. It’s hard to believe you still remembered Xiao Shen while you were out on a mission. If only my Lao Wang were half as thoughtful as you. Alright, you two sit and chat. I’m going out for a stroll.”
With that, Wang-saozi took the apples into the kitchen, quickly washed two of them, brought them out, and then hurried out the door.
Zhou Yuanzheng knew that Wang-saozi was being considerate of the two of them and had deliberately given them some privacy.
It seemed he would have to properly thank Wang-saozi for taking care of Shen Qingqing later. Shen Qingqing thought the same. She had truly caused their hostess quite a bit of trouble these past few days.
“By the way, why did you come today?”
Zhou Yuanzheng straightened his posture and took a neatly folded marriage application out of his pocket.
“Our marriage application has been approved. What do you think? Should we still get married on the date our families originally arranged?”
Shen Qingqing lowered her head. She had no idea what excuse to use to persuade him to postpone the wedding, so after carefully considering her words, she finally said, “Can we postpone our wedding by a few days?”
Zhou Yuanzheng was stunned, but he quickly replied, “Sure. You pick the date. Whenever it’s convenient for you is fine with me. Just decide on it ahead of time so I can request leave.”
His completely matter-of-fact response caught Shen Qingqing off guard.
Was it really that simple?
She hadn’t even explained why she wanted to postpone it, yet he had already agreed. Shen Qingqing looked up in surprise.
Seeing her puzzled expression, Zhou Yuanzheng explained, “We haven’t announced the wedding date to everyone yet, so there’s no reason we can’t postpone it. You must have your reasons. If you want to tell me, I’ll listen. If you don’t want to say, then you don’t have to. Either way, it’s fine.”
He paused, then gave a small smile.
“After all, the bride has to agree.”
His words touched Shen Qingqing deeply. She had thought she would have to spend a great deal of effort persuading him, but she hadn’t expected this man to be so considerate.
She nodded, and at that moment, she became a little more hopeful about their future life together.
“Alright. Then let’s see if there’s another suitable date this month.”
Zhou Yuanzheng took out an almanac and flipped through it. Then he pointed to a date toward the end of the month.
“I think this date looks good. It says it’s auspicious for marriage. What do you think?”
Although people weren’t allowed to engage in superstitious rituals or worship gods and spirits during this era, whenever it came to major happy occasions like building a house or getting married, everyone still habitually checked the almanac beforehand. It was an old custom everyone tacitly followed, so naturally no one said anything about it.
Shen Qingqing agreed as well.
“Alright, this date looks good.”
“Good. Then we’ll settle on this one. I’ll start preparing the wedding supplies.”
After saying that, he took another red cloth bundle from his pocket. It was bulging with something, though Shen Qingqing couldn’t tell what was inside. Zhou Yuanzheng simply handed it directly to her.
“These are the wages I’ve saved over the years, along with some ration and supply coupons I exchanged with others. I kept some money on me to buy things for the wedding. As for the rest, if there’s anything else you want to buy, just get it. Every so often, people on the island can leave and go into the city. If you don’t know how things work, ask Wang-saozi and have her accompany you. Or…”
Zhou Yuanzheng awkwardly rubbed his nose.
“Or you can tell me ahead of time. I can request leave and accompany you.”
Shen Qingqing looked up in surprise.
Zhou Yuanzheng was sitting upright with an extremely serious expression, but the tips of his ears were already bright red.
She couldn’t help finding it amusing.
Opening the cloth bundle, she found a thick stack of banknotes and ration coupons inside—cloth coupons, meat coupons, grain coupons, and even industrial goods coupons. There were far more than she had expected.
At the very bottom of the bundle was a passbook.
There was nearly two thousand yuan in it.
Shen Qingqing was stunned. She could hardly believe her eyes.
What? He actually had this much money?
One had to understand that workers in this era earned at most fifty or sixty yuan a month, while ordinary people generally earned only thirty or forty. And if a city household had only one wage earner, their salary was usually just enough to get by. They could barely save anything.
Yet Zhou Yuanzheng had more than two thousand yuan.
The shock on her face caught Zhou Yuanzheng’s attention. Mistaking it for suspicion, he hurriedly raised his hand and explained, “I saved all of this myself. Don’t misunderstand. The money is completely legitimate. I don’t have much to spend money on in the army. Besides my salary, I also receive mission allowances. I’ve been serving for seven or eight years, so I managed to save some.”
Shen Qingqing burst into silent laughter.
What was this fool thinking?
She was merely surprised. How could she possibly suspect that his money had come from some improper source? Did she look that stupid?
Afraid she still didn’t believe him, Zhou Yuanzheng continued explaining.
“My family doesn’t need my money, and there’s nowhere for me to spend it by myself. My salary wasn’t very high in the first few years, so I didn’t save much. But I was promoted to deputy regiment commander these past two years, wasn’t I? I now earn 113 yuan a month. After occasionally buying things for my family, this is what I have left. From now on, you can keep it for me.”
Shen Qingqing frowned.
“No, I can’t take your money. This is way too much.”
She tried to return everything, but Zhou Yuanzheng stopped her.
“We’re getting married soon. We’re family. I feel comfortable leaving the money with you. There will be things missing from the household, and I’ll have to trouble you to take care of them in the future. I’m a rough man and there are always things I’ll overlook. Keep it. I’ll leave all those matters to you from now on.”
Holding the money and coupons in her hands, Shen Qingqing suddenly felt a heavy sense of responsibility.
This was two thousand yuan!
Two thousand yuan in this era could absolutely be called a fortune.
How could Zhou Yuanzheng be so willing to hand that much money over to her?
He trusted her, but she didn’t even trust herself enough to keep track of so much money. She wouldn’t know where to hide the passbook!
But since he trusted her so completely, she didn’t want to reject his goodwill.
“Alright. Then I’ll definitely keep your money safe.”
A smile appeared in Zhou Yuanzheng’s eyes.
“It’s not my money. It’s our money…”
Shen Qingqing looked up and happened to meet his smiling eyes.
The man’s eyes were deep and bright, always looking at her with an unwavering gaze.
She suddenly felt her face grow warm and instinctively looked away.
In a voice as soft as a mosquito’s buzz, she replied,
“Alright. It’s our money…”
Meanwhile, Lu Yunshan and Shen Jiaojiao had also settled on their wedding date.
The date had been chosen by Lu Yunshan’s parents, just like in her previous life.
However, Shen Jiaojiao was afraid something might go wrong, so after arriving on the island, this was the first time she had sought Shen Qingqing out.
As luck would have it, Wang-saozi had something to do that day, so Shen Qingqing went to the meeting alone.
The two of them met by the seaside as they had arranged.
Shen Jiaojiao immediately asked anxiously,
“What happened? Have you and your man settled on a wedding date?”
Shen Qingqing stared into her eyes and calmly replied,
“Of course. Didn’t our families settle on an auspicious date back home?”
Shen Jiaojiao let out a sigh of relief.
“That’s good. That’s good…”
Before she could finish, Shen Qingqing continued,
“It’ll be five days after your wedding. Perfect. You and your brother-in-law can even come to our wedding banquet.”
“What?”
Shen Jiaojiao cried out in shock. Without even thinking, she blurted out,
“No!”
Shen Qingqing tilted her head and looked at her, a faintly mocking smile in her eyes.
“What do you mean, no?”
Suppressing the anger in her heart, Shen Jiaojiao said,
“Change your wedding date back. You’re not allowed to postpone the wedding.”
“Heh.”
Shen Qingqing sneered several times.
“Shen Jiaojiao, don’t you think you’re sticking your nose into other people’s business? I’m your older sister. You have no right to interfere in my affairs with your brother-in-law. Besides, I’m very curious—why are you so insistent that we change our wedding date back?”
Shen Jiaojiao was momentarily speechless.
“Anyway, you can’t.”
Afraid that she had spoken too harshly and would upset Shen Qingqing, she forced herself to calm down and gently persuaded her.
“That’s not what I meant. Didn’t our parents and their families decide on the wedding dates before we came to the island? You suddenly changing it now might upset Mom and Dad. Besides, the date they chose for us is such a good one. Sis, why do you insist on changing it?”
Shen Jiaojiao discreetly studied her expression, seemingly trying to detect something.
But Shen Qingqing merely replied calmly,
“It’s actually nothing. It’s just that the date Mom and Dad chose happens to fall during my period, so…”
Shen Qingqing lowered her head shyly.
“So I discussed it with your brother-in-law, and we decided to postpone it by a few days.”
“I see…”
Shen Jiaojiao murmured to herself.
She had thought Shen Qingqing had been reborn too.
Perhaps in her previous life, Shen Qingqing hadn’t changed the wedding date because Lu Yunshan had refused.
But that wouldn’t do!
Shen Jiaojiao’s eyes flickered several times. A malicious look filled her gaze as she stared at Shen Qingqing.
If Shen Qingqing changed the wedding date and the accident from her previous life didn’t happen, then what would become of her?
She had been a widow for so many years in her previous life and had suffered enough hardship.
Why should Shen Qingqing get to have such a good life?
In this life, Shen Qingqing had to become a widow too—and she had to taste all the contempt and humiliation Shen Jiaojiao herself had suffered in her previous life!