When the end-of-work bell rang, Xu Guilan and Shen Jianjun hurried home to change their clothes.
Today they were going to formally propose marriage for their youngest son, so naturally they wanted to dress properly to show how much they valued Song Yunlan.
When they returned, they were already neatly dressed. Even Li Lanxiang had come over but Shen Zhiyan was still nowhere to be seen.
Xu Guilan grew increasingly anxious.
“That brat why hasn’t he come back yet? He’s really going to drive me crazy!”
She paced back and forth in the house. Seeing this, Shen Jianjun quickly comforted her.
“Don’t worry. Didn’t the third son say he took Song the educated youth to the commune? Maybe something delayed him. Let’s wait a bit longer.”
Li Lanxiang also chimed in.
“Exactly! Maybe Zhiyan will be back any minute now!”
Afraid that Xu Guilan would worry, Li Lanxiang had changed clothes after work and come straight through the back door to the Shen house, so she didn’t know about Shen Zhiyan going to find Niu Dazhi.
Just as she finished speaking, hurried footsteps came from the doorway.
All three of them looked over and saw Shen Zhiyan rushing in while pushing his bicycle.
Seeing him covered in sweat, Xu Guilan became even more annoyed.
“Now you know to rush? Why didn’t you come back earlier? Where have you been? Didn’t you just come back from the commune with Song the educated youth?!”
Shen Zhiyan nodded.
“No, I just stopped to talk to Uncle Niu for a bit. Don’t worry, I’ll change and we’ll leave right away.”
Naturally, he couldn’t reveal that he had tipped off Niu Dazhi about the earlier incident not even to his own family.
Hearing this, Xu Guilan stopped questioning further. But Li Lanxiang still felt a little embarrassed.
“That old man… honestly, he never picks the right time to talk and kept us waiting.”
Shen Jianjun chuckled.
“Sister-in-law, you’re being unfair. You know what kind of person my Old Niu brother is. Most likely it was the third son who went to find him for something.”
Just as he finished speaking, Shen Zhiyan came out of the room, already changed.
“Dad, Mom, Aunt Niu, I’m ready. Let’s go!”
Seeing that he was finally prepared, the group didn’t delay any further. The four of them picked up the gifts they had prepared earlier and headed straight to Song Yunlan’s courtyard.
By this time, many people in the brigade had already heard that the Shen family was going to propose marriage to the Song Zhiqing.
Now, seeing Xu Guilian and Shen Jianjun’s formal and serious arrangement, they were even more certain that it was true.
When Liang Bo and Bai Ruolian hurried back to the educated youth compound in panic, what they heard was that Shen Zhiyan and Song Yunlan were already engaged.
“I heard the Shen family gave a hundred yuan as betrothal gift. That’s really generous!” a female educated youth said in surprise.
“Exactly! When Old Zhao’s daughter got married, the betrothal gift was only thirty yuan,” another chimed in.
“Aunt Liu’s second daughter only got fifty!” someone else added.
A male educated youth nearby felt a little sour.
“Song the educated youth has money herself anyway. She probably doesn’t even care about that hundred yuan.”
He clicked his tongue and added regretfully, “Didn’t expect she’d end up taken by that Shen Zhiyan guy.”
Inside the room, Liang Bo who was frantically searching for documents heard this and felt an inexplicable sense of loss. But thinking of the brigade captain’s warning, he quickly sped up his movements.
Some people really don’t know how lucky they are, the male educated youth continued loudly, clearly trying to provoke him.
Before Liang Bo could respond, Bai Ruolian exploded first.
She rushed out of the room holding the documents.
“Li Dali! Stop being so sarcastic and gossiping all the time! You’re just jealous of Brother Liang!”
“Song the educated youth would rather marry Shen Zhiyan than look at you. If I were you, I’d reflect on yourself and see if it’s because you talk too much that people dislike you!”
Li Dali was furious.
“Bai Ruolian, what nonsense are you talking about?! Who’s jealous of Liang Bo? Everyone in the compound knows Song Yunlan gave him his opportunity!”
“You took her benefits and then turned around and bit the hand that fed you. And you ”
“You’re no better. Flattering Song the educated youth to get advantages while secretly trying to hook up with her fiancé.”
“With people like you, I’d like to see what kind of ending you’ll have. Become teachers? You’d only ruin students!”
Li Dali snorted dismissively. He had once had a bit of admiration for Song Yunlan, but he knew he was nowhere near good enough for a young lady from a military compound. He never acted on it.
More importantly, Song Yunlan had helped him before, so he was simply speaking up for her.
“You!”
Bai Ruolian was so angry she looked ready to scratch his face.
At that moment, Liang Bo walked out of the room.
“Ruolian, stop arguing. Justice is in people’s hearts. As long as we have a clear conscience, that’s enough.”
He wore a perfectly composed smile, looking utterly self-righteous.
He glanced at Li Dali and said calmly:
“By the way, I forgot to inform everyone I’m also getting married to Ruolian.”
“The past is the past. Between me and Song the educated youth, there was never enough fate. No one is to blame. And we don’t need outsiders pointing fingers.”
With that, he pulled Bai Ruolian out of the educated youth compound.
Everyone watched their departing figures in stunned silence. No one expected their engagement to progress so quickly.
In just two or three days, a once-promising pair of fiancés had both found completely different partners and were now preparing for marriage.
Truly, life changes faster than plans.
Team leader Zhang Jun stood up and patted Li Dali on the shoulder.
“Alright, it’s their personal business. Let’s not get involved. Everyone get back to work.”
With Zhang Jun smoothing things over, Li Dali didn’t feel too awkward anymore.
He just found it strange how quickly things were happening between Liang Bo and Bai Ruolian, suspecting there must be something fishy behind it.
Meanwhile, at Song Yunlan’s courtyard, Li Lanxiang acting as matchmaker stepped forward and knocked on the door.
Song Yunlan had already been waiting inside and quickly welcomed them in.
Seeing how poised, graceful, and proper she was, Xu Guilan became even more satisfied.
Such an outstanding young woman what a pity she was going to be “taken” by her unruly son.
With Li Lanxiang joining in, the two of them praised Song Yunlan endlessly, showering her with compliments.
Song Yunlan herself felt almost light-headed from all the praise.