Time quickly passed, and soon it was two days later—the day Xu Xi was to be married.
Xu Xi had changed into the bright red polyester dress that Mother Xu had specially bought for her from the supply and marketing cooperative. With her dark skin, the red made her appear even darker.
She was someone who cared about her appearance and was tempted to give up on this dress, but it was Mother Xu’s heartfelt gift.
As Mother Xu applied blush to her cheeks, she spoke earnestly, “Xixi, after you’re married, you need to rein in your temper. It’s fine to teach your in-laws a lesson, but just don’t beat anyone to death.”
“Our two villages are close by. If your in-laws bully you, come back right away and tell me and your brothers, understand?”
Listening to her mother’s words, Xu Xi glanced at her reflection in the mirror—her face was painted like a monkey’s bottom.
She twitched the corner of her mouth. “Mom, can I skip the makeup?”
Mother Xu replied, “How can that be? Everyone wears makeup for weddings. I don’t want your in-laws to look down on you.”
Xu Xi: “…”
She could already imagine how many people would burst out laughing when she walked out with this makeup.
Just then, Xu Xi’s three brothers entered the room.
Seeing their younger sister being dressed up by Mother Xu, their eyes lit up, and they praised her sincerely, “Little sister, you look so beautiful today.”
“Isn’t that right? Our little sister is the bride today. No other girl can compare to how pretty our little sister looks.”
“Let’s escort our little sister to the neighboring village later. We’ll boost her confidence and warn the people there not to even think about bullying her.”
Xu Xi realized how much they truly cared for the original host—they could even praise her appearance with makeup like this.
In truth, Mother Xu and her three brothers were good people. It was just that they had often listened to the original host’s instigations, acting like bullies in the village, picking fights and causing trouble. This time, they had even stirred up a major disaster.
Namely, drugging Zhou Yue.
Xu Xi pursed her lips and said, “Mom, brothers, when the right opportunity comes, let’s go and confess to Zhou Yue and apologize. We shouldn’t have drugged him and set him up.”
She didn’t want to see Mother Xu and her brothers face Zhou Yue’s revenge and end up in a tragic situation.
Mother Xu and the three Xu brothers exchanged glances, looking puzzled.
Why had Xixi suddenly become so kind-hearted? In the past, she would point, and they would strike, never once considering apologizing to anyone.
How had she changed so much after just one night with Zhou Yue? It was as if she were a different person.
But they still instinctively obeyed Xu Xi and chimed in, “Alright, we’ll talk about it later. If you want us to apologize, we’ll go apologize.”
Xu Xi was satisfied.
Just then, the eldest brother’s son, Gou Dan, rushed in excitedly and shouted, “The groom is here!”
Hearing this, Mother Xu quickly pulled Xu Xi up and straightened her dress.
“Alright, come with me. No matter what others say in the future, just live your life well with Zhou Yue.”
Xu Xi nodded obediently.
At this moment, her feelings were also a bit complicated. As someone who had been single her whole life, she was actually going to marry a man in this world.
Mother Xu led Xu Xi outside, with the three Xu brothers following closely behind.
In the Xu family courtyard, Zhou Yue had just parked his bicycle. He was wearing a crisp military uniform, without even a festive red flower pinned to his chest, let alone any betrothal gifts.
His face was as dark as charcoal, making him look less like someone coming to fetch his bride and more like someone heading into battle.
Behind him were three young men who had come to fetch the bride, among them Zhang Tianfu, who was filled with regret. If only he hadn’t egged Zhou Yue on to drink a few cups with him, this disaster might never have happened.
The Xu family took one look at their gloomy expressions and immediately darkened their own faces.
Xu Xi followed Mother Xu out, and the moment the three young men saw her, their expressions couldn’t hide their disdain.
“Xu Xi, why is your face as red as a monkey’s bottom? Anyone who didn’t know better would think you were off to perform in an opera.”
“Already ugly to begin with, and now you’re trying to copy others by wearing makeup! Wipe it off quickly, or people on the road will see you and make Zhou Yue a laughingstock!”
Listening to their mockery, the Xu family could no longer hold back their anger and stepped forward, ready to fight.
“Our Xu family hasn’t even said anything about you yet—coming to fetch the bride without even a single red flower! You clearly don’t take our little sister seriously.”
“Look at your sour faces, not a single smile in sight. Our daughter is more than a match for your Zhou Yue!”
“Exactly! Our little sister looks so beautiful today, and you’re just talking nonsense!”
Zhang Tianfu retorted angrily, “Who’d want to marry Xu Xi anyway? If you hadn’t drugged Zhou Yue and forced the situation, he’d never have looked twice at her!”
Just as the two sides were about to come to blows, Zhou Yue frowned slightly and spoke coldly, “Enough, stop arguing!”
His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried an undeniable authority that instantly silenced the clamor in the courtyard.
Zhou Yue’s expression was grim as he walked straight up to Xu Xi.
He looked down at her, noticing how she had dressed herself up like a giant red envelope today, with rough skin and heavy blush on her cheeks—it was almost unbearable to look at.
But he still had to respect the bridal fetching ritual, so he extended his hand to her symbolically, his tone indifferent.
“Let’s go.”
Xu Xi could clearly sense his disdain, but she understood.
She wasn’t confident about her appearance either these days. Back in her time, she had been the campus belle of the Capital Academy of Fine Arts, with admirers lining up from the school gate all the way to her dormitory.
But in this era, she was being called dark and ugly.
Feeling a bit aggrieved, Xu Xi placed her hand in his rough palm.
Zhou Yue keenly sensed that she seemed upset, his frown deepening.
Didn’t she drug and scheme to marry him? What was she pretending to be upset about now?
The thought of the drugging incident made Zhou Yue’s expression turn even colder.
Xu Xi climbed onto the back seat of Zhou Yue’s bicycle and glanced back at Mother Xu and her three brothers.
Mother Xu couldn’t bear to see her go and turned away, crying.
As for the three Xu brothers, they wanted to follow their sister to the neighboring village to see what was happening, but they were on foot—how could they keep up with those on bicycles?
On the way to the neighboring village, Xu Xi endured plenty of sarcastic remarks from passing villagers.
“Zhou Yue actually married her? Oh my, the Xu family really has some tricks up their sleeves!”
“If I ended up with such a dark and ugly wife, I’d rather find a brick and knock myself out!”
Xu Xi frowned slightly, sitting on the back seat and clutching Zhou Yue’s clothes, quickly spitting in their direction.
“You think you’re worthy of marrying me? Keep dreaming!”
At least Zhou Yue had looks and a good figure, and he was the battalion commander of the island military base. Marrying him wasn’t exactly a loss.
The few troublemakers were instantly enraged, but since Xu Xi was now Zhou Yue’s wife, they didn’t dare do anything.
Zhang Tianfu said with undisguised disdain, “They’re not wrong, you know.”
Xu Xi, a woman who was both dark and ugly, full of wicked schemes—he wouldn’t want her even if she were given to him. He looked up again at Zhou Yue.
Ah, he could only let his good brother suffer.
In less than half an hour, they arrived at the Zhou family home in the neighboring village.
When the villagers heard that Zhou Yue had taken a wife, they all rushed to the village entrance to watch the excitement.
Xu Xi felt like a monkey being gawked at by the crowd. After finally pushing through the throng and reaching the Zhou household, she could finally sense a bit of the festive atmosphere of a wedding.