In the blink of an eye, the day of the wedding banquet arrived. Early in the morning, the educated youth compound was already noisy and bustling. Li Baoling had been woken up long ago by the commotion and had no choice but to get up and wash. After all, today was her wedding day.
Even though it was a fake marriage, it was still her first time. Li Baoling couldn’t help feeling a little excited.
She soon realized that she wasn’t the only one excited—the people at the educated youth compound were as well. This was also their first time attending a wedding between one of the educated youths and a villager, and it felt novel to them.
Li Baoling then picked up the new clothes laid out by her bed. They were bright red, in the currently popular style, somewhat like a shirt. Lin Mingjuan had gone to great lengths to find the fabric, and it had been sewn in a rush.
Although red was a bit sensitive at the moment, wearing it for a wedding still carried a sense of ceremony and prestige.
The trousers were much more ordinary—dark blue—made from fabric Sun Zhaodi had treasured for a long time.
Looking at herself dressed like this, Li Baoling couldn’t help feeling grateful that she looked decent to begin with. Wearing it gave her a vintage vibe. She had braided her hair into a loose plait, draped casually over one side of her neck—vintage with a touch of forest style, an unexpected but successful mix.
Even so, people going in and out kept sneaking glances at her.
“Her clothes are really nice.”
“They’re even fitted at the waist—Li Baoling’s waist is so slim.”
“It’s not just the clothes. She’s pretty too. She hasn’t worked in the fields these past few days—her complexion is so fair.”
On a day like this, no one was looking to stir up trouble. On such a joyous occasion, who would dare cause a scene?
Even Zhang Lihua couldn’t help glancing over from time to time. It made the fact that Li Baoling was actually getting married feel more real. The image of the two of them carrying luggage and squeezing onto a train together felt like it had only happened yesterday.
It wasn’t just the female educated youths—every one of the male educated youths was stealing looks as well. They had always known Li Baoling was good-looking, but today she looked even more so.
Only one person looked unhappy: Shen Xiangyang. He hadn’t expected Li Baoling to actually dare to get married. Back when she announced she was dating Lin Mingyuan, Shen Xiangyang had harbored a secret thought—could she be doing it deliberately to provoke him?
But it turned out the two of them had really gone through with it.
May they be unhappy, unhappy, unhappy—on such a happy day, Shen Xiangyang silently cursed them in his heart.
Many people from the educated youth compound didn’t go to work that day. After all, it was the village head’s family hosting the banquet. They’d heard there would be both chicken and fish, and everyone planned to go eat. Of course, they would also contribute their share of the gift money.
Before the wedding party arrived, everyone sat inside chatting.
“Educated Youth Li, did your parents say anything about you getting married?” Zhao Jingjing asked curiously.
Li Baoling shook her head, thinking to herself that those people didn’t care whether she lived or died. “They didn’t say anything.”
Zhang Lihua opened her mouth but didn’t say anything in the end—she didn’t even know what she could say.
“You’re really impressive. You just decided to get married and did it.”
“Yeah, it feels like we haven’t been here that long.”
“You don’t understand. This is love you just can’t stop,” Li Baoling said with feigned profundity, giving herself goosebumps as soon as she finished speaking.
“Isn’t that right, Educated Youth Geng?”
Geng Jiajia was suddenly called out and immediately flushed with embarrassment. “I… I don’t really understand either.”
“Oh, right—didn’t you lend Shen Xiangyang any money, did you?” Li Baoling abruptly changed the subject.
Geng Jiajia immediately shook her head. “No. Educated Youth Shen said his family had sent money over, and he just needed it in an emergency.” At the time, she had offered to lend it to him, but he hadn’t wanted it. She took the opportunity now to clarify things for him.
Li Baoling, however, sneered. “Sent over? That was money he borrowed from me. What is there to spend money on here? He just didn’t want to give it back. If I hadn’t insisted, he definitely wouldn’t have repaid it.”
They were all far from home, girls about the same age as her. Li Baoling thought it was better to say a few more words so they could see Shen Xiangyang clearly. Even if they couldn’t see through him, at least they wouldn’t foolishly get taken in again—after all, this was the male lead.
“He…” Geng Jiajia wanted to argue, but when she thought about it, what Li Baoling said did make sense. Dozens of yuan—how could it all have been spent? Still, she believed Shen Xiangyang was a good person.
But she wasn’t clueless. On a day like today, how could she dare argue with Li Baoling?
The others, on the contrary, found Li Baoling’s words even more convincing—especially Bai Xiujuan. She was closest to Geng Jiajia and the most worried about her being deceived.
Knowing that opportunities to sit and chat with Li Baoling would only become rarer in the future, Bai Xiujuan couldn’t help asking, “Educated Youth Li, why were you suddenly so firm about demanding the money back from Educated Youth Shen back then?”
Her question was vague, but everyone present could tell what she was really asking—what exactly was wrong with Shen Xiangyang?
“Obviously because there’s something wrong with him,” Li Baoling said bluntly. “Think about it—he had just come down to the countryside and already dared to borrow so much money, and from a girl at that. I was foolish too, thinking we’d grown up together. But the more I thought about it, the more it felt off. And let me secretly tell you—Shen Xiangyang lives off women. He did the same before, borrowing money and things from quite a few girls. Don’t tell anyone else, though.” If it got out, Shen Xiangyang would accuse her of spreading rumors.
“That’s not true,” Zhang Lihua couldn’t help protesting. She’d known Shen Xiangyang for so long, and he had never asked her for anything.
“I saw it with my own eyes. If you didn’t see it, don’t talk nonsense. He didn’t ask you because you didn’t have it. Why did he ask me? Because I did.”
“And let me say this too—if a man truly likes you, he’ll definitely think about giving to you. Our Mingyuan is like that. He thinks of me whenever there’s something good. Otherwise, why would I have agreed to marry him so readily? A man like Shen Xiangyang only knows how to live off women.”
Li Baoling was completely unrestrained in what she said. That was how it was written in the novel anyway—without the support of those female comrades, Shen Xiangyang would have ended up stuck in some remote mountain corner long ago.
Now Zhang Lihua didn’t dare argue anymore, afraid that Shen Xiangyang really might have been asking others for money behind her back.
Being able to step on Shen Xiangyang one last time before leaving made Li Baoling even happier. She was about to continue when someone outside shouted, “The wedding party is here!”
The educated youth compound wasn’t Li Baoling’s home, and everyone was only acquaintances anyway, so no one made things difficult. Lin Mingyuan led a large group straight inside.
At Lin Mingyuan’s call of “Baoling,” Li Baoling didn’t put on airs. She stood up and went to open the door.
The moment the door opened, the two of them met each other’s gaze unexpectedly. As the saying went, even if it was a fake marriage, it was still both of their first times. Their hearts began pounding uncontrollably.
Who wouldn’t be excited when they were the protagonists of such an occasion?
“The bride is really beautiful,” Li Shitou said.
He had been working as a temporary laborer in the city a few days earlier, helping one of his brother’s coworkers. He had barely had time to drink any water after returning before being told that his buddy was getting married. How novel was that?
Lin Mingyuan had gotten married behind his back, and the bride was even a female educated youth. It was absolutely worth him rushing back early that morning!
Without even catching up on sleep, he had eagerly followed along to fetch the bride.
“Let’s go. I’ll take you home,” Lin Mingyuan said solemnly after steadying himself.
“Okay,” Li Baoling replied, looking straight into his eyes.
From this moment on, in this unfamiliar era, the two of them were completely bound together.
The bicycle Lin Mingyuan had ridden over was decorated with big red flowers. He rode in front with Li Baoling, followed by a crowd behind them. The entire way was lively and bustling, and there wasn’t a single person along the road who didn’t stop to watch.
“Setting everything else aside, the two of them look quite well-matched.”
“They really do. How did they grow up looking so good? Before, we were too busy disliking the Lin family’s fourth son.”
“Zhaodi can finally say she’s completed her task—her child is married.”
“Just wait. There’ll be plenty of excitement in the Lin family from now on.”
“Not just the Lin family—there’s never a peaceful moment in that whole area.”
Compared to the Lin household, the educated youth compound was nothing more than a small bustle. The Lin household was truly packed with people. The courtyard was filled with tables, and even that wasn’t enough—several rooms were pressed into use as well.
From early morning until now, Sun Zhaodi hadn’t even had a sip of water. Lin Mingjuan was the same—she had come over yesterday afternoon and hadn’t left even at night.
Between entertaining guests and keeping an eye on the cooking, the four women of the Lin family were run ragged.
Although there were frequent fights on ordinary days, the neighbors from the surrounding area were still seated together at one table. Sun Zhaodi had warned them all beforehand—if anyone dared cause trouble today, she wouldn’t show any mercy.
Even though Liu Heini and Liu Fengying disliked it intensely, they sat obediently, with plenty of people separating them.
Mei Yufen was the happiest person at the banquet. For no other reason than that she was always happy to see people get married—though the only slight regret was that she hadn’t been the one to arrange the match.
The unhappy one was Li Xiuli. Seeing her son grinning foolishly, happier than when she herself had gotten married, she couldn’t help thinking of her daughter still in the city. No matter what, she couldn’t bring herself to feel happy. If Yunxia came back and found out Lin Mingyuan had married, she would definitely make a scene.
But then she thought—now that Lin Mingyuan was married, Yunxia could finally give up completely. After that, she could find her a city son-in-law. Thinking about it that way, it wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
“What are you looking at?” Liu Fengying didn’t dare cause trouble and could only talk to her daughter instead.
She didn’t know what had gotten into Lin Xiaoshuang—she had actually come back home just to watch Lin Mingyuan get married.
“I’m just curious,” Lin Xiaoshuang said. “I wanted to see how a family with a son handles a wedding.”
That single sentence nearly gave Liu Fengying a heart attack. She knew it—this daughter had come back just to make her angry.
“Mom, you and Dad need to work yourselves to death too,” Lin Xiaoshuang said sarcastically. “Otherwise, when will little brother ever get married?”
“Enough with your sharp tongue,” Liu Fengying glared at her fiercely.
“I’m just worried, as his older sister.”
“If you’re worried, then put up some money instead of just talking.”
Lin Xiaoshuang pursed her lips. Money? Maybe in the next life.
Why did she start interacting with her natal family again? Was it out of longing for a bit of familial affection? Of course not. She was purely here to watch the show and make sarcastic remarks.
“Serves her right,” Liu Heini muttered as she watched. Someone like Liu Fengying deserved to have such an unfilial daughter.
At that thought, Liu Heini secretly twisted the flesh of the daughter-in-law beside her. If it weren’t for her, how could Liu Heini ever have ended up unable to hold her head high in front of that bitch Liu Fengying?
And the two getting married today—she’d better hope they never fell into her hands. She hadn’t forgotten what happened the day before yesterday, especially that little slut Li Baoling. They’d be dealing with each other plenty in the future.
Liu Ling lowered her head out of habit and said nothing, making Liu Heini even angrier. She twisted her again, thinking no one saw. In fact, Lin Hongyue, sitting nearby, had seen everything.
These mothers-in-law—every single one of them was rotten to the core!
And her own mother was still busy every day looking for her a “good” in-law family. Lin Hongyue watched her mother speak animatedly and curled her lips in disdain.
“The bride is here—come out and have a look!”
At that, the ones arguing stopped arguing, the ones twisting stopped twisting, and everyone stood up to look.