“There was nothing impulsive about it. It was a decision I made after careful consideration.”
For now, the people in the brigade weren’t excluding the sent-down youths. After all, the few who had arrived recently were fairly well-mannered.
But who knew about the future? There were still seven or eight years to go. There would definitely be more batches of educated youths coming. It was impossible that every group would be trouble-free.
As for returning to the city—she didn’t quite dare to get too close to the Xiang family right now. After all, she was somewhat different from the original owner of this body.
As for finding someone to marry—she couldn’t handle serving others.
Xiang Wenhui still couldn’t accept it. Gritting her teeth, she asked angrily, “Sis, who is that man?”
If she found out who he was, she’d curse his ancestors for eighteen generations.
Xiang Wenshan blinked. “Uh… you know him. You’ve seen him before.
If he marries into our family, he’ll be living with us. What do you think?”
Xiang Wenhui racked her brain. She’d seen him before? Was he someone from this brigade? Was her sister marrying into the countryside?
Wait—was she bringing a countryside man in as a live-in husband?
Growing more agitated, she pressed, “Sis, who exactly is it? You still haven’t told me!”
“Don’t get worked up. It’s the person everyone in the brigade has been gossiping about lately.”
Understanding dawned instantly. Xiang Wenhui shuddered, her voice trembling. “Sis… you don’t mean Song Lao Wu, do you? He’s going to be my brother-in-law?”
Xiang Wenshan nodded. “Mm, it’s him.”
Xiang Wenhui felt her vision go dark. She fell backward onto the bed. “Oh my heavens, how is it him? Sis, what do you even see in him?”
Xiang Wenshan thought for a moment. “Probably his face.”
Xiang Wenhui sat up and scrutinized her sister’s face. “Sis, how can you be so shallow? What’s so good-looking about him? He’s skinny as a stick—one gust of wind and he’d blow away. How’s he supposed to protect you?”
“That’s exactly why he’s marrying into our family.”
Xiang Wenhui didn’t know how to persuade her sister anymore. She simply felt that Song Lao Wu wasn’t worthy of her.
In fact, in all her life, she’d never seen a single man good enough for her sister.
She pulled a long face. “Sis~”
“I’ve already thought it through. Carefully. Don’t worry.” Xiang Wenshan reached out and ruffled her hair.
Hearing that, Xiang Wenhui said no more.
“Fine. If you think he’s good, then okay. But I’m really curious—you two have never even spoken. How did you recruit him to marry in?”
“Love at first sight.”
Xiang Wenhui’s mouth fell open. What? She hadn’t misheard, right?
Today’s shocks were already more than enough. She needed time to process.
Love at first sight? Sure, Song Lao Wu had a decent face—but what else did he have?
She wanted to say more, but when she saw the steady look in her sister’s eyes, she swallowed her words. “Do Uncle and the others know?”
Xiang Wenshan shook her head. “No. I haven’t told them. Next time, maybe. If they knew the first time we came here, they’d worry themselves sick.”
Xiang Wenhui muttered softly, “Sis, at least you know that…”
“What?” Xiang Wenshan didn’t catch it.
“Nothing. If you like him, that’s what matters. It’s just… if this gets back home, a lot of people will scold you.”
“As long as we don’t say anything, no one will know. It’s so far away. If it does get back to them, we’ll deal with it then. One day at a time.”
Seeing how firm her sister was, Xiang Wenhui finally gave in.
Over the past few days, she’d heard plenty of gossip in the brigade. There were a few local hooligans around.
If her sister married someone from the brigade—even as a live-in husband—she’d count as half a local. Others would think twice before bullying them.
“Sis, when are you getting married?”
“After the house is built. It’s still early. And don’t tell anyone. Otherwise, we won’t have any peace at work these next few days.”
“Mm. I won’t. Don’t worry.”
After that, she lay down, staring at the ceiling beam, lost in thought.
Seeing her quiet, Xiang Wenshan lay down too. She closed her eyes to rest for a bit—and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.
In the blink of an eye, the house was finished.
There was a main hall, with a bedroom on each side. To the right of the entrance was a kitchen; to the left, a washroom and toilet. Every room had a door installed.
The courtyard wall was built half a meter taller than most others in the brigade. Typically, the walls were so low that someone 1.6 meters tall could stand on tiptoe and see straight into the neighbor’s yard.
Once the house was completed, Xiang Wenshan and Xiang Wenhui could hardly wait to move in.
But newly built houses needed a couple of days to air out and dry.
After it was finished, quite a few people gathered outside to take a look.
The brigade leader’s wife smiled. “Oh, Comrade Xiang, your house looks quite nice!”
Xiang Wenshan smiled back. “That’s all thanks to the brigade leader and the uncles and elder brothers in the brigade who helped.”
Hearing that, the brigade leader’s wife felt delighted.
Wang Cuihua asked, “Comrade Xiang, why did you build the wall so high? And why did you stick broken bowl shards on top?”
“Yeah, building it that high—afraid we’ll peek in?”
Xiang Wenshan hadn’t spoken yet when Xiang Wenhui answered first.
“Auntie, we built it high for safety. It’s just my sister and me living here—two weak women. We can’t help but be cautious.
We’ve heard from you all that there are occasional thieves around here. The broken shards are to keep them from climbing over the wall.”
Wang Cuihua nodded. “You girls are clever. Better to be cautious. When are you moving in? Need us to help?”
“No need, Auntie. We don’t have much stuff. Thank you for the offer.”
Seeing no one paying attention to her, Sun Pandi’s expression darkened. “Oh? So the educated youths are special, huh? Who else decorates their wall like that? ‘Preventing thieves’? Sounds more like you’re guarding against people from our production team.”
Xiang Wenhui rolled up her sleeves and planted her hands on her hips, ready to have a very “friendly” chat.
Before she could speak, the team leader’s wife cut in. “Enough, Sun Pandi. What nonsense are you talking about? They’re just two young girls thinking about safety. Why are you making such a fuss?”
Sun Pandi clicked her tongue but fell silent.
After everyone had taken a look, the crowd gradually dispersed. Quite a few left with envy in their eyes — building a house just like that, and the rooms were even spacious.
That was how it was in the production team. Whenever something happened at someone’s house, everyone would come over to take a look.
Even if they were in the middle of a meal, they’d carry their bowls over just to sneak a glance.