Lin Jingwan’s eyes sparkled brightly as she stared intensely at Li Zhaoye.
“Li Zhaoye, why don’t we get married today?”
“Pfft!”
Li Zhaoye sprayed out all the water he had just taken into his mouth.
His dark eyes were filled with astonishment. “What did you say?”
“I said we should have the wedding today.”
She pointed at the fish and wild rabbit on the ground. “Look, we have chicken, fish, and game meat. We can steam some mantou too. That’s enough ingredients for a simple wedding banquet.
“People in the countryside don’t pay much attention to complicated wedding customs these days. We don’t need a wedding dress or a red veil.
“You can go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some wedding candies and red paper. We’ll pay our respects to the Great Leader, and that’ll count as completing the ceremony.”
Li Zhaoye fell silent, his deep eyes fixed heavily on her face.
Did this woman even know what she was talking about?
Was she really going to marry him just to save money on a few dishes?
A wedding was supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime event. Was she really planning to handle it so casually?
Was she simply too reluctant to spend money, or was she worried that he might refuse to marry her?
His feelings were complicated. This woman was bold and did whatever she pleased!
Most importantly, once she made up her mind about something, she never hesitated or dragged her feet. Her ability to put her plans into action was astonishing.
After a brief silence, Li Zhaoye finally said, “My marriage approval hasn’t come through yet!”
“Oh, that’s nothing.”
Lin Jingwan leaned forward slightly, narrowing the distance between them. She still felt that they needed to settle their marriage as soon as possible.
Only when something good was safely in her own bowl could she feel at ease!
Lin Jingwan’s gaze casually swept over the man’s neck, her eyes growing deep and serious.
“In our village, plenty of people hold the wedding banquet first and complete the paperwork afterward.
“Besides… since I’m leaving with you like this, it’ll be much more convenient for us to have husband-and-wife status on the way. My younger brother and sister will already be calling you brother-in-law… Unless you don’t want to marry me anymore?
“Don’t forget, you wrote me a guarantee letter!”
Li Zhaoye couldn’t shake the feeling that if he dared shake his head and refuse today, this slightly wild woman would chop him across the neck and tie him up to force him into marriage!
He took a deep breath and comforted himself. This woman never abandoned something once she had decided to do it halfway through.
And he happened to need a woman like that.
Besides, they had already slept together, so he…
He might as well agree!
“Fine. As long as you don’t regret it.”
The moment he gave in, Lin Jingwan’s eyes curved into a bright smile.
“Deal! You go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy everything we need. I’ll take care of things at home.
“I’ll also go find some people to lend a hand!”
“Okay!”
The two quickly divided up the work. After gulping down a cup of water, Li Zhaoye left.
Watching the man’s tall, decisive figure disappear, Lin Jingwan’s lips curled into a bold, triumphant smile.
What was a wedding? Not important!
What did the ceremony look like? She didn’t care!
To her, the most important thing was that the man was hers!
Inside the house, Hanhan and Xiao Luoluo were still standing there in a daze. Their clear eyes were wide with astonishment.
Seeing the two little ones frozen in place, Lin Jingwan lightly tapped each of them on the forehead.
“Snap out of it!”
“Sis, you’re getting married today!”
“Mm! We’re doing it today! Your brother-in-law has good prospects and earns a salary. He’s a pretty good helper. We absolutely can’t let him get away!
“I’ll go out and arrange the wedding banquet later. You two stay home.
“Remember, you don’t need to do any work. Just take good care of yourselves.
“If you get bored, you can go play with your friends and say a proper goodbye while you’re at it. Tomorrow, our whole family will be leaving Dalaoba Village.
“Oh, right. Take the candy we have left from yesterday and share it with your friends.”
“Okay, Sister!”
After settling her younger siblings, Lin Jingwan wasted no time and headed straight for the village chief’s house.
At that moment, the village chief’s wife, Zhao Dafen, was sitting with her head lowered, completely focused on cutting fabric and sewing new clothes.
The previous night, she had worked through the night to arrange a marriage for her niece, Zhao Chunhua, with a man from the neighboring village.
Chunhua had failed to climb into his bed, disappeared for an entire night, and was carried back early the next morning by another man. If word of this got out, her reputation would be ruined!
Although Gao Jinniu had brought her back without saying anything, Zhao Dafen knew that man was extremely cunning. He might threaten them with this matter later.
And since he was also an old bachelor, she felt that Chunhua absolutely had to get married!
The sooner, the better!
“Is Auntie home?”
Hearing Lin Jingwan’s voice, Zhao Dafen’s heart suddenly tightened. In her panic, the needle pierced straight through her fingertip, drawing blood.
She licked her finger and cursed inwardly:
What does this jinx want now?
The things Lin Jingwan had done over the past two days had frightened her badly!
“Wanwan is here. Come in!” Although she was deeply unwilling, she couldn’t simply shut the door and refuse to see her.
Lin Jingwan entered the house and got straight to the point.
“Auntie, I came here today because I wanted to ask you for a favor.”
“Tell me first. What is it?” Zhao Dafen asked warily.
“Li Zhaoye and I are planning to have our wedding today. We’re going to set up several tables for a banquet, but we don’t have enough people. I wanted to trouble you with helping me organize everything.”
Zhao Dafen stared at her in surprise.
“You’re getting married today?” That fast?
“Mm, today! I like him, and it was love at first sight for both of us!”
Zhao Dafen: “…”
Why does this girl sound so shameless?
Li Zhaoye had such excellent prospects. Could it be that he had somehow ended up with Lin Jingwan after that incident the other day?
Lin Jingwan continued, “My Li Zhaoye has already gone to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy everything we need.
“And I won’t let you help for nothing. Please find five nimble, capable aunties to come over and help me. I’ll pay each of them one yuan for their work.”
At these words, Zhao Dafen’s eyes lit up.
Who cared how the two of them had ended up together?
In those days, one yuan was no small amount it was worth about two days’ worth of work points for an adult! And on top of that, the people who helped out would get a bowl of food at the end!
She immediately agreed. “Leave the wedding banquet to me! I guarantee I’ll arrange everything properly.”
“I knew you were the most reliable, Auntie.” Lin Jingwan curved her lips into a smile. “I still have two fish and two wild rabbits at home. Bring them all over to make dishes. And those five fat chickens in the yard at Lin Laosan’s house slaughter all of them to serve the guests.”
Zhao Dafen sucked in a breath.
Chicken, fish, and wild rabbits everything was covered. This kind of wedding banquet was already considered top-tier in the village.
“As for the other vegetables, just pick them all from Lin Laosan’s yard. As for the tables, chairs, and benches, please help me borrow them from the neighbors. Also, please steam ten batches of plain-flour steamed buns.”
“Ten batches? And all of them made with white flour? Can you really eat that many?”
“It’s fine. I’ll take the extra buns with me and use them after I leave Dalaoba Village.”
“Alright! I’ll take care of all these little details. Don’t worry!”
With so many good ingredients, they must have all been obtained by Comrade Li. Although Zhao Dafen was somewhat disappointed that things hadn’t worked out between her daughter Chunhua and Lin Jingwan, thinking about it now, that Comrade Li always had such a chilly air about him, while Lin Jingwan was extremely shrewd. Her Chunhua really didn’t have what it took to tame either of them.
Her old man was always saying that those who understood the times were the wise ones. Now, she actually thought the two of them made quite a good match.
Lin Jingwan had no idea what was going through her mind. Her gaze fell on the red new dress on the table, which was almost finished.
She had to admit that Zhao Dafen was quite skilled at sewing. The stitches were even, and the cut was neat and well-shaped.
“Auntie, who is this red dress for?”
“My niece. I’m saving it for her to wear when she gets married.
“It’ll be finished soon. I only have a few buttons left to sew on.”
Lin Jingwan’s heart stirred. She happened to be in need of a new dress.
“Auntie, would you sell this dress to me?” As she spoke, she took five yuan out of her pocket. “I’ll wear it for my wedding today. It’s festive! Here’s five yuan. What do you think?”
Lin Jingwan had never been stingy.
She loved good food and money, but she always took things through proper means.
If someone put in the effort to work for her, she naturally wouldn’t be miserly. Just like hiring someone to cook for her, she didn’t mind paying a little extra!
“Alright!” Zhao Dafen gritted her teeth. At worst, she could stay up late and make another set. Five yuan was enough to buy the fabric needed to make two more sets of underwear.
“Then thank you, Auntie! I have some other things to take care of first. Later, just bring everyone directly to my house!”
“Okay!”
After settling everything, Lin Jingwan went straight to the neighboring Tuanjie Village.
There was still a debt she needed to collect.
Back then, Old Madam Lin had sold her off as the betrothal gift for Lin Dayong and Lin Daqiang!!
The first thing Lin Jingwan did after entering the village was to look for the village chief of Tuanjie Village.
She directly produced a written certificate stamped with a bright-red official seal!
Lin Jingwan was impatient by nature, but she had her own principles when it came to doing things always leave a record, and always have solid evidence.
When the police publicly took Old Madam Lin and the others away the previous day, she had asked Li Zhaoye to obtain a certificate for her, just in case she needed it.
And now, it had come in handy.
She got straight to the point with the village chief of Tuanjie Village.
“Village Chief, everyone in the Lin family’s third branch has been implicated in criminal cases, and they’ve already been arrested. That one hundred yuan betrothal payment they took back then was, to put it bluntly, money they got from selling me.
“Now they’re facing multiple charges, and with all their sentences combined, they may not even get out of prison for ten years. Do you really think there’s any need to keep this engagement?”
The village chief was no fool.
Most of the villagers in Tuanjie Village were related to one another in some way, and nobody wanted to have someone serving time in prison as an in-law.
So Lin Jingwan didn’t need to waste another word. After reading the certificate, the village chief had already made up his mind.
He immediately sent someone to summon the family whose son had been engaged to her.
The return of the betrothal gifts was settled quickly. From start to finish, the entire matter took less than half an hour and was handled cleanly.
As a result, Lin Jingwan returned with not only the 100 yuan, but also two packets of brown sugar, two bundles of dried noodles, and two bolts of floral-patterned fabric.
She could truly say that this trip had been incredibly fruitful.