For the next few days, Dalin Village remained peaceful. Lin Qionghua didn’t get to witness any arguments; even though Wang Caixia knew her husband was keeping a mistress, she said nothing.
Lin Qionghua muttered to herself, Could Dad have been right? Does Wang Caixia know about Dong Liang’s infidelity but still can’t bear to divorce? Is she just pretending not to know?
She didn’t get to see a big fight between Wang Caixia and Dong Liang, but she did wait for Zhou Dayong’s wedding.
Early in the morning, Zhou Dayong went to every house to shout invitations for everyone to attend the wedding banquet.
Lin Weisen had already finished building the kitchen at his place in Meihua Village and had laid the concrete floor; all that was left was to occasionally water it for curing. From today on, he would stay at home, waiting for the concrete to set completely before moving.
Hearing about the banquet, Lin Weisen was curious, “Is he marrying that ‘ten-thousand-yuan household’ girl?”
In their region, the dowry wasn’t usually that high, and this was the first time they’d heard of someone asking for a ten-thousand-yuan dowry. Lin Weisen couldn’t remember her name, so he just referred to her as the “ten-thousand-yuan household girl.”
Song Lanfang poked him, “Be careful someone hears you.”
She nodded, “Dayong even ran away from a previous engagement for this girl and knelt at the door to beg. Zhou Qiang gave each of his two sons fifty thousand yuan, which effectively divided the family assets. Since he’s happy and Zhou Qiang isn’t complaining, don’t be a busybody and make people dislike you.”
Lin Weisen was just making idle talk, “So, who from our family is going?”
They weren’t relatives of the Zhou family; in the village, only one person per household went to the banquet.
Song Lanfang wanted to keep her figure and didn’t care, “Go after you finish cooking. Daughter and I will eat at home.”
Lin Weisen glanced outside, “Not letting Qionghua go? She looks like she’s craving it.”
“She’s not going. You’re the chef; if she wants to eat something, you can make it for her.” Song Lanfang felt her daughter was too young to eat much, and it would be a waste for her to go to the banquet.
Lin Weisen called out to the outside.
Lin Qionghua came in, “Dad, tomorrow is market day, don’t forget to make the starch jelly.”
Lin Weisen nodded, “Starting tomorrow, I’ll go set up the stall with you. I’ll make some additional cold dishes, too.”
Lin Qionghua’s eyes lit up. Her father had finally taken the bait, and she nodded vigorously, “Alright!”
Lin Qionghua took a basket to pick vegetables in the field. When Lin Weisen arrived at the banquet and sat down, Gu De came over.
Lin Weisen asked him, “How is your mother after her surgery at the hospital?”
Gu De was the youngest son of the Gu family and wasn’t married yet. His older brothers were already married, and his older sisters had all married off. For the sake of his mother’s illness, Gu De had gone to work out of town. He had returned a while ago after hearing that their hometown was being relocated.
He had just returned from the hospital yesterday, “The surgery was a success. She just needs to stay in the hospital for a few more days to stabilize before she can be discharged.”
Lin Weisen sighed in admiration, “Your mother really hit a good time; what a coincidence. Meeting the relocation just in time saved her life. If a person is lucky, even the King of Hell can’t stop them.”
The Gu brothers were considered filial; when their mother got sick, they all chipped in money, and even the married sisters did their part. However, the surgery was too expensive, exceeding their capabilities. Now, with the relocation money, the difficult problem had been solved easily.
Gu De smiled until his eyes crinkled, “Yes. This is the reward for being a good person. My mother has accumulated a lot of merit in this life.”
Her good character was famous; every daughter-in-law praised her for being a great mother-in-law.
Lin Weisen nodded, “Your mother survived a great disaster; she is destined for blessings.”
Gu De chatted with him for a while and asked where he planned to move.
Lin Weisen told him about buying a house in Meihua Village. Gu De also needed to buy a house in another village. Although houses in the town were cheap, there was no land to farm, and he was sure his mother wouldn’t be used to living there. He asked about the property prices.
Lin Weisen told Gu De the price and sighed, “It wasn’t this expensive before. Now that our village is being relocated, the price of homestead land in other villages has risen too.”
“That’s normal.” Lin Weisen told him to hurry if he wanted to buy land, otherwise, once everyone rushed to buy, the price would go even higher.
Gu De nodded, “I’ll go discuss it with my mother.”
While they were eating, the wedding procession brought the bride back. Lin Qionghua had finished picking vegetables and was standing at the doorstep when she saw the bride arriving in a truck.
In the blink of an eye, the procession had moved a dozen meters away.
Qingqing hadn’t caught it in time and ran over to ask, “Did you see the bride? Is she pretty?”
Lin Qionghua had seen her clearly. Mainly because the bride hadn’t sat in a Santana car but in the back of a motorized tricycle, making her easy to spot. She nodded, “Pretty. Extremely pretty.”
Qingqing’s small mouth formed an “O” shape, “No wonder Uncle Dayong would rather call off his previous engagement to marry her. This is what they call a hero being defeated by a beauty.”
Lin Qionghua was amused by her, “How does Uncle Dayong qualify as a hero? You watch too many TV dramas, don’t you?”
Qingqing giggled and ran off like a gust of wind.
Lin Qionghua returned home. Song Lanfang was standing at the door and, seeing her daughter, asked, “Has the bride arrived?”
“Yes! She’s very pretty.” Lin Qionghua thought that twenty years from now, in the internet age, she couldn’t be sure if the woman could become a celebrity—after all, fame relied on luck—but the bride definitely had the looks of a beauty influencer.
Song Lanfang was even more curious. She told her daughter to stay and watch the house while she ran off to see the bride.
Half an hour later, Song Lanfang returned, agreeing with her daughter’s praise, “The bride is indeed pretty. No wonder Dayong was always thinking about her and was willing to spend ten thousand yuan on the dowry.”
She went into the room to get fabric to make hair accessories.
She had bought quite a few accessories on her trip to the county town yesterday. Since her daughter and husband would be setting up a stall tomorrow, she could make some to test the waters at the market.
Lin Qionghua sat by and watched. It had to be said, her mother was fast and had great taste; the hair clips she made were both delicate and sturdy.
Seeing her daughter staring, Song Lanfang smiled, “Do you want one? Take it.”
Lin Qionghua shook her head, “Mom, can you do my hair more beautifully tomorrow? That way I can be a living advertisement.”
Since she was pretty, with her promoting them, the hair flowers would surely sell better.
Song Lanfang agreed without hesitation, “No problem.”
She made a dozen hair clips, but Lin Weisen still hadn’t returned to cook. Song Lanfang sent her daughter to call him, “Your dad is probably chatting with someone and forgot the time. Go quickly and bring him back to cook. He’s full, but we haven’t eaten yet.”
Lin Qionghua nodded vigorously and darted out of the yard in two or three steps.
She ran to the Zhou family house and searched three times, but couldn’t find her father. Instead, she met Qingqing, who told her that her father was at Dong Liang’s door.
Lin Qionghua frowned, assuming her father was associating with Dong Liang again. She stomped her feet in anxiety, How come I never noticed he was so kind-hearted?
If he could forgive something like this, did Dad value Dong Liang more than Mom?
Qingqing scratched her head, “How is your dad kind-hearted? When the couple was fighting inside, he was outside with his teeth baring in a grin. Uncle Dong Liang was so furious that he chased us all out, making me miss the good show.”
Lin Qionghua was stunned for a moment before realizing that Wang Caixia and Dong Liang were arguing.
Arguing is good! Let’s see if Dong Liang still dares to show off!
Lin Qionghua was afraid of missing the show, so she didn’t even wait to hear the rest of Qingqing’s words and slid away. Seeing this, Qingqing followed behind.
Lin Qionghua ran without stopping until she reached Dong Liang’s house, where she saw a dozen people huddled at the crack of the door, peering inside. The crack was too narrow, and there were too many people pushing and shoving, yet no one was willing to leave.
The oldest person there was Lin Weisen; the others were just children.
It was one thing for the kids to cause a ruckus, but for an adult to do this was truly unseemly. Passing villagers couldn’t help but twitch their mouths.
Lin Qionghua ran over, but couldn’t see anything, so she tapped her father’s back, “Dad? How is it?”
Seeing his daughter, Lin Weisen hurriedly stepped back, and other children immediately filled his spot.
“They’re arguing inside. Wang Caixia found out about Dong Liang keeping a mistress. This Dong Liang is truly trash. Wang Caixia has worked hard and lived frugally all these years, and only a few days after the relocation money arrived, he dares to keep a mistress!” Lin Weisen was at a crucial part and didn’t want to leave, so he picked his daughter up and set her on his shoulders, telling her to provide live commentary.
Lin Weisen stood for a while, swaying back and forth. Lin Qionghua told her father to stand under a tree, and she held onto it for stability.
Lin Weisen did as he was told, urging her, “Well? What’s happening?”
Lin Qionghua could see them arguing in the main room through the courtyard wall, but the sound was intermittent and not very clear. She said uncertainly, “It looks like they are getting a divorce.”
Lin Weisen almost fell over, “Really? How do you know?”
Lin Qionghua guessed it because Wang Caixia was settling accounts with Dong Liang.
“That can’t be, right? Is Wang Caixia really willing to divorce? If she divorces, how will she manage raising two children alone?” Lin Weisen thought his daughter might have guessed wrong, “People like to bring up old scores when they argue; your mother is the same. It doesn’t necessarily mean divorce.”
Lin Qionghua looked down at her father and reminded him, “Dad, watch out, or I’ll tell Mom.”
Lin Weisen hurriedly changed his tune, “When your mom brings up old scores, it’s about reasoning, unlike other women.”
Lin Qionghua twitched her mouth, “You say everything both ways, don’t you?”
She looked up at the courtyard and urged anxiously, “Dad, hurry, hurry, hurry, put me down.”
“What’s wrong? Are you tired?” Lin Weisen put her down.
Before Lin Qionghua could pull him to escape, the gate opened from the inside. Seeing Lin Weisen, Dong Liang’s face darkened, and he walked out without a word, followed by Wang Caixia.
The two children watched their parents leave one after the other in a daze and chased after them, calling out, but their parents drove them back, not allowing them to follow.
Qingqing had been standing outside, but since she was short, she couldn’t squeeze in and hadn’t seen the situation inside. She stepped forward and asked Dabao, “Where are your parents going?”
Dabao still had tears on his face; his parents had been shouting so loudly that he and his younger brother were terrified and crying.
Dabao sniffled and said gloomily, “They are getting a divorce.”
Lin Weisen had just been about to leave, but hearing this, he turned back, “Divorce? Really?”
Xiaobao cried along with him, “Really!”
Lin Weisen opened his mouth and poked his head out to look at the direction the couple had left in. It was indeed the direction of the Civil Affairs Bureau. Could they really be getting a divorce?!