Because they hadn’t officially registered their marriage yet, Qin Zhoucheng insisted on not sleeping on the heated brick bed (kang). Instead, he set up a wooden board in the room and laid a mattress on it to sleep there. How could anyone rest well like that? Lin Su decided that when they went to the county town, she would not only buy some fabric, but also some new cotton so she could sew two proper quilts for him.
Early the next morning, just as the sky was beginning to brighten, the rooster in the yard started crowing. This kind of schedule was very hard for Lin Su to get used to. Still half-asleep on the kang, she was dazed when she suddenly smelled food coming from outside.
Qin Zhoucheng poked his head in from the doorway while brushing his teeth. “You awake? Breakfast is ready. Get up and eat.”
Lin Su didn’t dare sleep in any longer and forced herself to get up. She discovered that this hardworking man had already made porridge again—still cornmeal porridge. Lin Su, as usual, didn’t eat much.
“Today we’re going to the county. We can’t walk there. It’s better to borrow a bicycle,” she said.
Qin Zhoucheng nodded. “Let’s borrow one from the village party secretary. He’s so eager to arrange our marriage—he’ll definitely agree for the sake of his goal. Are you coming with me?”
“I want to go to Aunt Liu’s house first.”
“What for?”
“She’s helped me a lot before. I want to give her a thank-you gift. And I also need her help with making money.”
Qin Zhoucheng didn’t ask further. “Alright. Once I borrow the bicycle, I’ll come pick you up.”
Lin Su didn’t notice that their conversation already sounded exactly like a real married couple.
She packed a small bundle and carefully put all her money and tickets with her, afraid that Old Madam Sun would sneak in and steal things while they were gone.
She used to stay up late designing, so she wasn’t used to waking up this early. The rooster was still crowing in the yard when Lin Su, annoyed, kicked the chicken coop door.
“Keep crowing, keep crowing—if you wake me up again before dawn, I’ll stew you and eat you!”
Pfft—Qin Zhoucheng couldn’t hold back a laugh.
Since arriving in Yu Family Village, he had laughed more in these two days than in the entire previous year. Even though he came here on a mission, he didn’t feel as heavy and grim as before.
Aunt Liu lived directly across from Yu Minghai’s house. As Lin Su passed by, she glanced over and saw Old Madam Sun at home, but Yu Xiuli was not around.
Aunt Liu clicked her tongue. “She went to the county town. That university guy took his sister with him to buy gifts for his city girlfriend. Shameless. Xiao Lin, are you really going to marry that Xiao Qin?”
There was nothing villagers enjoyed more than gossip after work.
Lin Su didn’t want to talk about it, so she quickly pulled out a child’s outfit from her bundle.
“Auntie, thank you for speaking up for me yesterday. I made a little outfit for Xiao Dong. Please see if it fits.”
“You made clothes? Xiao Lin, you know how to sew?”
It was made from leftover fabric scraps—a white short-sleeved shirt with blue trim on the collar and sleeves, a matching blue pocket, and even a little cartoon cat face sewn onto one side with embroidered eyes and mouth. The shorts were blue overalls. In this era, it was extremely stylish for children.
Even though Lin Su had long since stopped designing personally in her previous life, she still supervised many haute couture dresses herself. Her sewing skills hadn’t faded, so making a child’s outfit was effortless.
Aunt Liu kept touching it, unable to put it down. The stitching was fine and clean with no loose threads. Most importantly, this style couldn’t even be found in city department stores.
In their village, most people made clothes at home. Buying ready-made garments was something reserved for New Year. Yet no one could make anything this refined.
“It’s just a small outfit. Children’s clothes are simple. I can also make women’s and men’s clothes, and even fashionable city-style dresses. If Auntie thinks Xiao Dong likes it, please help spread the word. When more people come to me for clothes, I’ll make outfits for you, your daughter-in-law, and your son too.”
“Really?” Aunt Liu’s face lit up with surprise.
“I’ll be relying on this skill to earn a living. After all, living in the Yu family has ruined my health, and I even fell into the water. I can’t earn work points for a while. But people still need to eat, right?” Lin Su pretended to wipe away tears.
Aunt Liu felt sorry for her. “Aren’t you already married to Xiao Qin? At least now you’ve got a man to protect you. It’s better than being alone.”
“Xiao Lin! Come out! There’s a man looking for you!” Aunt Liu’s daughter-in-law, Xu Ermei, rushed in excitedly, full of gossip. “He’s not from our village. I heard you got divorced—is he your new boyfriend? He looks even more handsome than that university guy from the Yu family!”
Yesterday, most young men and women were working in the production team and hadn’t seen him in person. Today, seeing Qin Zhoucheng made them all excited.
As soon as Lin Su stepped out of the courtyard, she saw Qin Zhoucheng already sitting on a bicycle, one long leg supporting him on the ground. Even in a simple dark-blue military uniform, he looked like a model walking out of an old magazine.
His appearance instantly attracted the attention of many young women in the village.
Today was a rest day, so they weren’t working in the fields. No wonder everyone had come out to look at him.
This man seemed to radiate light the moment he appeared, making everyone else in Yu Family Village look dull in comparison.
He tapped the back seat. “Get on. We’re going to the county.”
Lin Su blushed slightly and slowly walked over, sitting on the back seat.
Her hands rested lightly on the edge of the seat, not daring to hold his waist. Qin Zhoucheng raised an eyebrow but didn’t force her, pedaling off with her.
This made the young women watching even more envious.
“If I married such a handsome man and divorced that university guy, it would still be worth it. Xiao Lin is really lucky.”
“Xiao Lin has always had a hard life. In the Yu family, she was treated like an animal, just used for labor.”
“What hard life? She first married a university student, and now she’s with such a handsome man. How is that suffering? I think she’ll have a rough time in the future. A man that good-looking—can he really stay with her for long?”
“Exactly. With such a handsome man, you have to watch him carefully.”
Some unmarried girls even started having new thoughts.
Aunt Liu couldn’t stand it anymore and snapped, “Watch your words! This marriage was arranged by the village party secretary. If anything goes wrong, you won’t be able to take responsibility!”