15
During dinner, Lu Guoguo ate very slowly. By the time everyone else had finished, she still had half a bowl of rice left. Lu Zaiyang, having finished, didn’t leave the table either. He sat with his arms crossed, calmly watching the person eating as slowly as a turtle across from him.
Sun Zhaodi immediately saw what was happening. Last time, it was Zaiyang who had annoyed Guoguo; this time, it was Guoguo who had annoyed Zaiyang. She gave Lu Laoba a look, signaling him not to get involved. The two of them left the table and sat in another corner of the main room, quietly talking about amusing things that happened while working.
Lu Guoguo held her bowl. “Stop staring at me. If you’re still hungry, go to the kitchen and cook some noodles.”
“Hurry up and eat.”
Lu Zaiyang tapped the table.
Lu Guoguo sighed, knowing she couldn’t drag it out any longer, and simply sped up, finishing her meal. These days, without refrigerators, they cooked just enough for each meal.
Cooking at home was mostly done by Lu Guoguo and her mother, while washing dishes was the responsibility of Lu Laoba and his son.
When Lu Zaiyang finished cleaning up and came to Lu Guoguo’s side, urging her with a look, Lu Guoguo furrowed her brow and got up. “We still need the oil lamp in the main room.”
“The house doesn’t have just one oil lamp,” Lu Zaiyang took out the oil lamp used in the kitchen from behind him and handed it to her. “Hurry up.”
Lu Guoguo glanced at the dark courtyard entrance. “Then you stand right here and wait for me. In case something happens, you can come to my rescue.”
Late at night, what if she stepped on a snake?
“Hah.”
Hearing that, Lu Guoguo rolled her eyes, picked up the oil lamp, and headed toward the tree where she was supposed to meet Cuihua.
Lu Zaiyang crossed his arms and leaned against the courtyard gate, his gaze fixed on the moving spot of light.
Lu Guoguo reached the tree, holding the oil lamp in one hand and using the other to shield the wick from the night wind.
After waiting about ten minutes, Cuihua arrived.
Seeing that the person waiting wasn’t the one she wanted to meet, Cuihua wasn’t surprised. She just stood not far away, looking at Lu Guoguo for a moment, then turned and went back.
Lu Guoguo, who hadn’t heard a single word, sighed.
Cuihua hadn’t spoken, but she had cried.
Returning to the courtyard gate, Lu Guoguo gave Lu Zaiyang several glances.
Lu Zaiyang didn’t let her off. “Will you dare to agree to random things for me next time?”
“… I won’t.”
Lu Guoguo stood before Lu Zaiyang like a primary school student, speaking softly.
Satisfied, Lu Zaiyang turned and went into the main room.
Behind his back, Lu Guoguo stuck out her tongue.
Wild boar!
Cuihua suddenly became quiet. Whether during work or when encountering Lu Guoguo, she no longer picked fights as she used to, which made Lu Guoguo feel a bit unsettled.
Early April, an aunt brought a young man past Lu Guoguo’s house, asking for a bowl of water.
It was drizzling that day, so the Lu family was all at home.
Hearing the request for water, Sun Zhaodi didn’t immediately invite them in. Instead, she looked at them suspiciously. “You look unfamiliar. Which production team are you from?”
“To be honest with you, we’re here to ‘walk the kin’ (visit a potential spouse’s family),” the aunt smiled at Sun Zhaodi. “We wanted to ask you about something first.”
“‘Walk the kin’? Are they here to be a live-in son-in-law?”
Lu Guoguo, hearing this, asked Lu Zaiyang, who was weaving straw sandals beside her.
Lu Zaiyang’s mouth twitched. “‘Walking the kin’ means looking at a potential marriage partner, usually referring to the man visiting the woman’s family. If things look promising, the two families arrange the marriage. Where did you hear that ‘walking the kin’ means becoming a live-in son-in-law?”
Lu Guoguo, having made a blunder, remained unabashed. “I’ve never ‘walked the kin’ before!”
Lu Laoba made a surprised sound and looked at Lu Zaiyang. “Zaiyang, I actually forgot to tell you. Your aunt went to the market the day before yesterday, right? She ran into your Seventh Aunt, who said there’s a good girl in their production team. She wanted you to go ‘walk the kin’ and take a look.”
“No,” Lu Zaiyang refused without thinking.
Meanwhile, Sun Zhaodi had brought the two people into the main room. Lu Guoguo got up to pour two bowls of boiled and cooled water for them.
“Thank you,” the young man took the bowl, glanced up at Lu Guoguo a few times, only to have his view blocked by Lu Zaiyang, who had noticed.
The young man met Lu Zaiyang’s dark expression and quickly lowered his head to drink.
This big brother is fierce.
Lu Guoguo, completely unaware, sat there curiously listening to Sun Zhaodi, her husband, and the aunt talk. The aunt said which production team they were from and who had introduced them. However, she was unsure and wanted to inquire about the girl’s family’s temperament and such.
“Which family are you planning to ‘walk the kin’ with?” Sun Zhaodi asked.
“The head of the household is Lu Nenghuo,” the aunt replied with a smile.
Lu Nenghuo? That was Third Uncle, wasn’t it?
Lu Guoguo sat up straighter. Ever since Third Uncle came to their house to inquire about that matter, she had learned from Lu Zaiyang about the tragic situation of Third Uncle’s eldest daughter. Later, while working, she had seen his younger daughter. She was delicate and pretty, but too thin and very quiet.
So, these two were here to see Third Uncle’s younger daughter, Chuncao.
Born in spring and a daughter, much to the disappointment of the father who longed for a son, she was named Chuncao.
Sun Zhaodi also instinctively looked at Lu Laoba. Lu Laoba frowned slightly, sizing up the young man. His appearance was decent, and he sat properly. Though a trace of youthfulness lingered between his brows, he seemed like a good young fellow.
“How old are you this year?” he asked.
The young man answered honestly, “Nineteen.”
Only nineteen? He looked around twenty-five.
Lu Guoguo was surprised and glanced at him a couple more times. Lu Zaiyang, noticing this, glared at her. Lu Guoguo also felt her behavior was impolite and quickly averted her gaze.
Sun Zhaodi and her husband straightforwardly praised Chuncao. As for Lu Laoba’s character, when marrying off his first daughter, this aunt had already heard about him. She was interested in Chuncao; the father’s behavior wasn’t her primary concern.
After the mother and son left, Lu Zaiyang took advantage of Sun Zhaodi and the others being distracted and pulled Lu Guoguo aside. “Why were you staring at him?”
“I thought he was at least twenty-five, but he’s only nineteen,” Lu Guoguo said, full of surprise.
Lu Zaiyang rolled his eyes and turned to go back into the main room.
Lu Guoguo scratched her head. What’s up with this wild boar now?
Never mind, today’s task wasn’t finished yet!
She chased after him and grabbed Lu Zaiyang’s sleeve. “Brother, weave me a pair of straw sandals. The ones I make are too loose; I can’t wear them properly.”
“If you don’t know how to weave them, then learn.”
“But I think the straw sandals you weave are the best in the whole world. Just make me a pair! Please, brother.”
“……”
Lu Zaiyang looked at Lu Guoguo, who was acting coquettishly towards him, with an indescribable expression.
Worried her coquettish act might not work, Lu Guoguo narrowed her eyes and changed tactics. “If you don’t weave them for me, I’ll have Uncle force you to weave them for me! Make a pair for me every day, for a whole year! Until your hands tremble from weaving!”
Apart from being more responsive to soft tactics than hard ones, Lu Zaiyang also deeply respected Lu Laoba. He basically listened to him on everything except going to look at potential marriage partners.
Lu Zaiyang clicked his tongue. “Now that’s more like your true nature.”
However, compared to her previous personality, Lu Zaiyang felt the current Lu Guoguo had improved a lot.
“So, you agree?”
Lu Guoguo seized the chance to make her request. “On my sandals, right on the instep, I want a bow!”
Yes, the task required Lu Zaiyang to weave a pair of straw sandals, but the sandals had to have a bow.
“What kind of bow?”
“Like this,” Lu Guoguo quickly pulled out a piece of dried grass and deftly tied a bow. “When you weave it, you have to shape the loops. Mine is a simple version; you have to make a more delicate one for me. Then my straw sandals will be the prettiest in the whole production team!”
Lu Zaiyang glared at the simple bow without speaking.
Lu Guoguo coughed lightly. For many boys, tying a bow seemed to tie up their fingers. “Cuihua’s older brother knows how to tie bows. Brother, you’re not saying you can’t, are you?”
“Just wait.”
Watching Lu Zaiyang sit there studying how to weave a bow, Lu Guoguo, feeling her provocation had succeeded, smugly walked out with her hands behind her back.
The task reward was three jin of pork belly!!
Lately, by completing tasks, she had saved up four yuan and eight mao. In her space, besides the unused sanitary pads, she also had three anti-inflammatory pills, three fever-reducing pills, and two 200-gram packets of white sugar.
Lu Zaiyang studied for three days. On the morning of the fourth day, he produced a pair of straw sandals with bows.
Lu Guoguo put them on as soon as she got them. The task completion notification put her in an excellent mood, and her mouth became as sweet as honey, praising Lu Zaiyang lavishly.
“Quite pretty,” Sun Zhaodi also praised, then added, “Perfect timing. Today is your Third Aunt’s sixty-fifth birthday. You two should go offer your congratulations.”
“Go on. Young people should visit relatives more,” Lu Laoba looked at Lu Zaiyang, his words carrying a hidden meaning.
Lu Guoguo, who didn’t really want to go out, was just about to say her brother could go alone when today’s task panel popped up.
[Today’s Task: Wear the bow-adorned straw sandals and go with Lu Zaiyang to Third Aunt’s birthday celebration. Get ten people to praise the sandals.]
[Task Reward: Two meat coupons for two jin each, one sugar coupon for half a jin.]
This reward was quite substantial. Lu Guoguo immediately nodded. “Alright. Brother, let’s go after breakfast.”
Lu Zaiyang had originally wanted Lu Laoba and his wife to go, but seeing her looking so eager, he didn’t say anything.
While helping with breakfast, Lu Guoguo was still thinking about how to “bring home” the three jin of pork belly she had just obtained.
After breakfast, just as they were about to leave, Sun Zhaodi took out five mao and also gave them a bamboo basket containing six eggs and some dried vegetables.
This was the birthday gift, a standard, moderate offering.
Then, Sun Zhaodi gave each of them two mao more. “Use this to buy some snacks.”
Lu Zaiyang felt awkward accepting it.
Lu Guoguo, however, wasn’t shy. Wasn’t this an opportunity? She took her own money, then shoved Lu Zaiyang’s portion into his hand. “Alright, let’s go then.”
“Okay. It’s fine if you come back a bit late,” Lu Laoba said.
Lu Zaiyang was pulled out the door by Lu Guoguo.
“Here, take it,” Lu Zaiyang handed his two mao to Lu Guoguo.
“Thank you, brother.”
Not taking money offered was for fools.
Lu Guoguo happily accepted it.
“Should we ask Second Uncle’s family if anyone’s going?”
“No need,” Lu Zaiyang shook his head. “That would seem too eager. It’s not good.”
“That’s true,” Lu Guoguo was actually a bit nervous, after all, it was her first time going out with the male lead.
But through their interactions these past days, she had realized that as long as she didn’t do anything stupid, the male lead was actually a pretty good older brother.
As they passed Cuihua’s house, they happened to see several people entering. Lu Guoguo glanced sideways a couple of times.
Walking the mountain paths from their production team to Third Aunt’s house took about two and a half hours.
Along the way, the two didn’t talk much, mainly focusing on walking.
When they arrived at Third Aunt’s house, Lu Guoguo obediently followed behind Lu Zaiyang, greeting people as he did.
Third Aunt’s younger cousin remembered the last time her cousin came, he had brought her candy, which this unfamiliar older cousin had given.
So, the younger cousin enthusiastically came over and took Lu Guoguo’s hand. “Cousin, I’m Wen Mei.”
Third Aunt’s husband’s surname was Wen.
Lu Guoguo gave her a gentle smile. “My name is Lu Guoguo.”
“Sister Guoguo,” Wen Mei had quite a few female cousins, so she addressed her that way.
Seeing them standing together whispering, Third Aunt said softly to Lu Zaiyang, “She’s a good kid.”
“Not bad,” Lu Zaiyang nodded.
Then he heard Wen Mei’s surprised voice. “Sister Guoguo, you said these straw sandals were woven by Zaiyang Cousin for you?”
“Yes! Aren’t they pretty!”
Lu Guoguo lifted her foot to show her.
“Pretty! Zaiyang Brother is really skilled!”
That was one compliment.
Lu Guoguo’s smile widened. Third Aunt also came over, so Lu Guoguo asked, “Third Aunt, what do you think? Aren’t the straw sandals my brother made pretty?”
“Pretty, very pretty.”
“Auntie, aren’t the straw sandals my brother made pretty?”
“Really nice.”
“Third Uncle, look at the straw sandals my brother made. Aren’t they very pretty?”
“Oh? Didn’t expect Zaiyang to have this skill. They’re nice.”
Lu Zaiyang: ……
**