Lin Qionghua turned her head and saw her second aunt chatting with several other women about the gossip.
She tugged on Zhao Cuilan’s arm and asked in a low voice, “Second Aunt, did the groom really run away?”
Zhao Cuilan was a notorious gossip who loved nothing more than spreading rumors. Seeing that Lin Qionghua was interested, she didn’t find it inappropriate to discuss the matter with a child and spilled everything like beans from a bamboo tube. “Of course it’s true. You weren’t here just now; your second uncle followed the wedding procession to pick up the bride, but the groom ran off halfway. They say he didn’t like Wang Suling.”
Wang Suling was the bride. Zhou Dayong had met her through a matchmaking introduction, and after dating for half a year, the Zhou family approached the Wang family to propose, offering a substantial amount of gifts.
“Does he have someone else?” Lin Qionghua asked with certainty.
“He definitely does.” Old Woman Fang slapped her thigh. “Last year, I heard Dayong arguing with his father, saying he had a partner, but the girl’s family wanted a bride price of ten thousand yuan, and Zhou Qiang wouldn’t agree.”
No one could agree to that. Around here, the bride price usually wasn’t high—about two thousand yuan—and it would stay with the bride’s family and not be brought back. The other side had asked for five times that amount. Zhou Qiang was a cheapskate; he would never spend money like that on something he considered “unjust.”
Lin Qionghua understood. “So, in order not to let his money go to waste, he sent his younger son to pick up the bride?”
According to local custom, if the groom calls off the wedding, the gifts received by the bride’s side are not returned. If the bride calls it off, all gifts are returned. Since the eldest son was calling it off, Zhou Qiang was far too stingy to let his investment go down the drain.
Zhao Cuilan slapped her hand. “What else could it be! It has to be that. And he’s not even ashamed of himself.”
Dayong and Wang Suling had been partners, yet Zhou Qiang was making the younger son marry her. What kind of situation was this!
Old Woman Fang glanced at the intersection and lowered her voice. “I suspect the wedding procession was arguing at the Wang house, which is why they missed the auspicious hour.”
This wasn’t a blind marriage anymore; the bride wasn’t blind either. How could she not notice the groom had been swapped? Could they really swallow such an insult?
Zhao Cuilan thought missing the auspicious hour was the least of their worries. “I’m just afraid they won’t even be able to bring the bride back—now that would be embarrassing.”
She asked mysteriously, “Tell me, if they can’t bring the bride back, can we get our gift money back?”
Everyone was left speechless. They had already eaten the banquet; did she expect a refund? What kind of daydream was she having!
The others stopped talking to Zhao Cuilan, fearing that if the Zhou family found out, they might think they were cut from the same cloth as her.
Qingqing asked Lin Qionghua, “Do you think they’ll be able to bring the bride?”
Lin Qionghua nodded. “They will!”
In her previous life, the wedding had proceeded as scheduled. She had been a mischievous child and arrived late to the banquet, so by the time she arrived, the bride was already there.
In fact, she wasn’t wrong. Almost the moment she sat down, the horns of the wedding procession sounded again. The villagers all rushed to see the bride.
Qingqing didn’t quite understand. “Why would the bride agree to the wedding? Doesn’t she feel awkward?”
If Lin Qionghua were actually an eight-year-old child, she wouldn’t understand either, but with an adult’s soul, she could guess a thing or two. “Matchmaking is primarily about meeting the right conditions; there isn’t much romance involved. Dayong and Xiaoyong look quite similar, so marrying either one is just a way of getting through life. Besides, now that the Zhou family is getting demolition money, many girls are fighting to marry into their family. She’s swallowing this bitter pill, and Grandpa Zhou will definitely subsidize their branch of the family later.”
Qingqing clearly couldn’t accept that. People have feelings; how could they change a groom so casually?
Lin Qionghua didn’t dwell on it and ate the food with relish. Qingqing’s father’s cooking was truly excellent; she hadn’t had such authentic hometown dishes in a long time.
Seeing that Qingqing wasn’t eating, she picked up a piece and put it on her plate. “Eat up, okay?”
Qingqing had no appetite, but seeing her friend enjoy it so much, she helped pick food for her.
The bride arrived, and someone changed the “Zhou Dayong” written on the door poster to “Zhou Xiaoyong.” Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion. The villagers watched with their mouths agape, the whispers never ceasing.
The Zhou family, however, turned a deaf ear to it all.
By the time Lin Qionghua’s belly was round and full and she had finished signing the gift book, she returned home.
When she arrived, her parents were already back, but they weren’t showing the excitement of having just bought a homestead; instead, they both looked crestfallen.
Lin Qionghua asked and learned that the owner had already heard the news about the Dalin Village demolition and had callously raised the price of the homestead to seven thousand.
Lin Weishen felt the family was being dishonest and refused to agree. They argued back and forth, and a few sentences in, they actually started shouting at each other.
Song Lanfang felt her husband was too hot-tempered. “So it’s two thousand more, just let it be. I think that house is quite good. Once the demolition money comes through, others will definitely scramble for properties, and the prices will certainly rise. If you go back to buy it then and it’s already been sold to someone else, the loss will outweigh the gain.”
Lin Weishen was still very angry, feeling the family was unethical.
Lin Qionghua pressed further, “Dad, can we move our household registration (hukou) there?”
Lin Weishen sighed. “I asked. Moving the hukou is really troublesome. The Village Committee has to hold a meeting, and at least two-thirds of the villagers must agree. But many people in the village have gone away for work and aren’t at home. It’s hard to get done.”
Song Lanfang also felt it was too much of a hassle. “It’s too exhausting just for a hukou. It’s not worth it.”
If it were a household registration for Shanghai or Beijing, it would be worth the trouble. For Plum Blossom Village, it wasn’t.
Seeing them backing down, Lin Qionghua stamped her foot. “Dad, don’t forget, if you become a villager there, you get three mu of land. If you lease land, you have to pay rent, but if you have your own land, you only pay agricultural tax. That could save a lot of money.”
Lin Weishen felt his daughter made sense. “All right then. I’ll talk to the Village Committee representatives first, then wait until the New Year when all the migrant workers come back, and have them sign the papers.”
Expecting people to come back just to sign a paper wouldn’t work, and Lin Weishen didn’t plan on that. Doing it during the New Year, however, wouldn’t be difficult.
Lin Qionghua nodded. Waiting a few months was fine; regardless, the Plum Blossom Village demolition would take three years, so there was no rush.
After discussing the business, Lin Qionghua told them about the small drama at the Zhou wedding.
Lin Weishen was curious. “Their family is getting demolition money; what would the bride’s side have to be unhappy about?”
Song Lanfang hit the nail on the head. “I’m afraid it wasn’t the bride’s side that was unhappy; it was the groom’s. Did they get money and let it go to their heads, looking down on the bride’s family’s conditions?”
Lin Qionghua laughed and recounted how Dayong had run away and Xiaoyong had married the bride.
Lin Weishen wasn’t the least bit surprised. “Uncle Zhou is the stingiest person. He couldn’t bear to let his money go to waste, which is why he came up with this idea. If they weren’t getting demolition money, the bride’s family would never have agreed. They would have felt disgraced, but since they are getting the money, the bride’s family didn’t want to miss out on such a good marriage, so they accepted it.”
Lin Qionghua nodded. “I heard Grandpa Zhou promised to give Uncle Xiaoyong five thousand yuan in private spending money.”
The Zhou family hadn’t split the family assets yet. The power to manage the household was all in Zhou Qiang’s hands. He promised to give his younger son five thousand yuan as compensation so the “wealth wouldn’t flow into outsiders’ fields.” It was no wonder the Wang family agreed to the marriage.
Song Lanfang felt the Zhou family was going to provide endless entertainment. “We’ll have plenty of fun to watch.”
She didn’t quite understand Uncle Zhou’s thinking, pulling such a stunt just to save a bit of money. If the eldest son ended up having an affair with his younger sister-in-law, the Zhou family would be even more disgraced.
Lin Qionghua didn’t want to discuss the Zhou family anymore and asked her parents excitedly, “I went to the market with Uncle to sell ice pops today. Guess how much I made?”
“How many crates did you take?” Lin Weishen asked.
Lin Qionghua raised her chin proudly, showing off to her parents. “Not many, just four crates. One stayed in the village for Aunt to sell. We took three to town. Uncle and I set up stalls at either end of the street, and it was all sold out in two hours. Business was incredibly good.”
Lin Weishen didn’t quite believe it. “How much did the city management charge you for the stall fee?”
“One mao.” Lin Qionghua waved her hands. “It’s not much. Just the price of one ice pop.”
Lin Weishen fell silent.
Lin Qionghua shared her business strategy with them. “There are ice pops for sale on the street, but they are all in shops. We were out on the street—especially Uncle; he pushed his bicycle and shouted, and people at the market saw him and bought them directly.”
Lin Weishen nodded. “You have no competition selling ice pops. Once others learn, it won’t be so easy to make that money.”
Lin Qionghua didn’t deny it. “We are small-scale resellers; we don’t make much anyway. If we had a special skill, that would be a different story.”
Song Lanfang found it fascinating and pinched her daughter’s little cheek. “You little clever ghost, you even know how to use the phrase ‘that’s a different story.’ Not bad, quite cultured.”
Lin Qionghua smiled sweetly. “Dad, why don’t you make some food, and I’ll wholesale it from you? I’ll go set up a stall with Uncle?”
Lin Weishen frowned. “What kind of food do you want to sell?”
Lin Qionghua had already thought it out. “We still have to sell ice pops; we can’t carry too much stuff. How about cold noodles (liangfen)? You prepare the sauce for us, and we can just cut it up and mix it on the spot.”
That was simple, and Lin Weishen agreed instantly. “No problem.”
He couldn’t help but add, “If the business is good, I’ll sell them too. Qingqing’s dad is the village chef and makes two or three hundred yuan each time. It’s much better than growing vegetables.”
He had thought about setting up a stall before, but his experience selling vegetables had made him timid. Now that he saw his daughter could make money selling ice pops, he was truly tempted.
Seeing her father take the bait, Lin Qionghua’s smile deepened. “Dad, if you want to sell, don’t just sell cold noodles. You could sell cold dishes (liangcai). If you prepare the sauces and mix them on the spot, with your culinary skills, there’ll be no problem at all.”
Lin Weishen had learned his culinary skills from Qingqing’s grandfather, and at the time, he had promised the old man he wouldn’t steal the village chef’s business from Qingqing’s father. Setting up a stall in town wouldn’t be breaking his promise.
Lin Weishen thought it over and agreed. There were many types of cold dishes, and business would only be better.
The father and daughter shook hands as a vow, and Song Lanfang was amused by their ambitious expressions.
The next day, Lin Qionghua didn’t go sell ice pops because the village was distributing the first installment of the demolition money. Her uncle was also in the first group of people to sign; he had to stay to sign the papers and collect the money.