Courtyard Houses: Starting with the principle of hard work paying off

Chapter 108 The Foundation of the Sect
Both men and women like to compare.

And what women care about most is always their appearance.

Coming from a rural background, Qin Huairu knew that she couldn't compare to the girls in the city in terms of her own qualities. The only thing she could be proud of was her face.

Especially in recent years, many families have come to propose marriage to her, but her family has refused them all, which has given her more confidence.

When Qin Huairu went to the courtyard house to meet Jia Dongxu for a blind date, she met Li Hongmei.

Although Qin Huairu, being a woman herself, had to admit that Li Hongmei was beautiful, she still believed that she was just as good as her.

Li Hongmei's skin is better and whiter simply because she lives in the city, where she is not exposed to the wind and sun and does not have to work in the fields. Moreover, city people know how to dress and are more attractive.

If I had the same living conditions, I would definitely not be worse off than Li Hongmei, and might even be better off.

But just now...

Seeing Li Hongmei in her wedding dress, even though Qin Huairu was unwilling, she had to admit that she had lost completely.

Even as a woman, Li Hongmei couldn't help but want to take a second look at her.

She's beautiful, and her clothes look even better.

Qin Huairu couldn't help but wonder if she would look just as good as Li Hongmei if she wore the same wedding dress she had just worn.

Looking at what she was wearing, it was the best her family could offer for her wedding day.

Qin Huairu was very satisfied until she met Li Hongmei.

To say that I felt no resentment.

That is impossible.

However, what Qin Huairu cared about even more was Jia Dongxu's reaction.

He was completely infatuated with Li Hongmei, looking like a lecherous man, and had even forgotten about his own rightful bride.

Qin Huairu knew.

Jia Dongxu initially took a liking to Li Hongmei and wanted to date her, but she rejected him.

In other words, it was Li Hongmei who looked down on Jia Dongxu, which is why Jia Dongxu is only now approaching her.

Although Jia Dongxu had told her before that Xu Damao was not a good person and was deliberately speaking ill of their family, Qin Huairu was not stupid.

Even if there were some exaggerations in what Xu Damao said, most of it was true, and later his family secretly sent people to inquire about it.

The reason she agreed to the Jia family's marriage proposal was simply because she was attracted to their family's conditions.

Even if things aren't as good as before, given the Jia family's current circumstances, Qin Huairu is still considered to be marrying up.

This was the best option for her to marry into the city, bar none.

She didn't want to marry a cripple or an old man from the city.

I thought that Jia Dongxu's interest in Li Hongmei was a thing of the past, but judging from his current appearance, he is clearly still thinking about her.

Although Qin Huairu doesn't have much affection for Jia Dongxu right now, since she decided to marry into the Jia family, she has come to regard Jia Dongxu as her husband from the bottom of her heart.

Seeing him like this, how could Qin Huairu, as a woman, not feel heartbroken?

"Let's go, they've already left."

Watching Li Hongmei ride away on Zhao Weiguo's bicycle, a heartbroken Qin Huairu whispered a reminder to Jia Dongxu.

Jia Dongxu snapped out of his daze, glanced at Qin Huairu beside him, and immediately felt extremely embarrassed.

Lost my composure.

The key point is that it was done in front of Qin Huairu, the bride.

Qin Huairu must have seen what happened just now.

Fortunately, Qin Huairu didn't expose him, and didn't say another word, as if nothing had happened. Jia Dongxu breathed a sigh of relief.

Qin Huairu is a smart woman. She knows who she will rely on in the future, so she naturally won't embarrass Jia Dongxu at this time.

There are some things that, even if you know them, you should pretend you don't know and try not to keep them in your heart.

If this leaves a grudge in Jia Dongxu's heart, their married life will likely be unhappy.

Before getting married.

Qin's mother specially taught her many "ways" of being a wife, as well as her insights on how to get along with her mother-in-law.

Qin Huairu put it to use right away.

soon.

Amidst the sounds of firecrackers and children's laughter, Qin Huairu smiled, took Jia Dongxu's hand, and walked together into the courtyard.

"Here comes the bride!"

"quick!"

"Quick, set off firecrackers!"

"oh oh……"

"..."

……

the other side.

Li Hongbing and his entourage, leaving from here, with more than a dozen bicycles and two tricycles loaded with dowry, frequently attracted attention.

In particular, Zhao Weiguo and Li Hongmei, who were riding a bicycle together, attracted countless eyes with their handsome looks.

The journey to the Zhao family was undoubtedly a spectacular one.

As soon as we arrived at the courtyard house where the Zhao family lived, firecrackers went off. Zhao's parents, who had been informed in advance, also came to the gate with relatives and friends to greet us.

"Wow, is this the bride?"

"So beautiful!"

"Dad, when I grow up, I want to marry a bride as beautiful as this!"

"Shut up! You don't deserve such good fortune."

"You look down on people!" "You little brat, do you think girls this pretty are everywhere?"

"If Brother Weiguo can find it, I will definitely find it in the future too."

"Hahaha……"

"..."

Amidst joyful laughter and celebration, Li Hongmei, the bride, was ushered in, and the array of dowry items behind her drew gasps of admiration from the crowd.

It took more than a dozen people almost two or three trips to move all the dowry inside.

There was barely any room to step inside the Zhao family's house.

There were only two rooms, but they housed a total of six members of the Zhao family.

Besides Zhao's parents and Zhao Weiguo, Zhao Weiguo also has an older brother and sister-in-law, plus a younger sister.

Zhao Weiguo usually lives in the food factory's dormitory; otherwise, it would be even more difficult to live here.

Fortunately, Zhao Weiguo and Li Hongmei are getting married, and they will soon be able to apply for housing from the factory and move out directly.

For newlyweds, various work units provide preferential treatment in housing allocation policies, and this naturally includes their food factory.

Zhao Weiguo had already made the necessary arrangements, and the house would be ready as soon as the application was submitted, within the next day or two.

If Li Hongmei and the Zhao family were to be squeezed into these two houses and suffer mistreatment, no matter how good Zhao Weiguo was to Li Hongmei, Li Hongbing would not easily agree to the marriage.

It's not that Li Hongbing is materialistic, but basic living conditions are still necessary, especially since his own family is not much worse off.

The concept of marrying someone of equal social standing is applicable in any era.

In this day and age, blind dates also consider appearance and family background; there's no such thing as a free lunch.

It's just that the benefits of the times are greater.

"Wow~, who is this bride? Such a huge dowry, what a generous gesture!"

"They have both sewing machines and bicycles; the Zhao family is so lucky!"

"Like Weiguo, she also works at the food factory, and I heard she's the factory's most beautiful girl..."

"You wouldn't know this, would you? Her younger brother is an apprentice of Guo Youzhong, the head chef of Fengzeyuan Restaurant. The chef in charge of cooking today's meal was specially invited from Fengzeyuan by the new bride's brother."

"Fengzeyuan!"

There's a lot you don't know.

"You know Lou Bancheng, right? His younger brother was their family's savior..."

Which one is the bride's brother?

"Look, it's over there!"

"..."

Hearing the murmurs around him, including gossip about himself, Li Hongbing couldn't help but smile.

Everything I've done during this time has been worth it!

With Li Hongmei delivered along, Li Hongbing's mission of escorting the bride for the day was basically complete.

From now on, it all depends on the Zhao family's arrangements.

Li Hongbing did not let Liang Damin and his fellow apprentices leave.

As fellow members of the wedding party, they naturally had to stay and eat at the banquet before they could leave.

Their appearance today was actually unexpected by Li Hongbing, and the Zhao family had not made any prior preparations either.

However, when they arrived in the morning, Li Hongbing had already specifically asked someone to inform Zhao Weiguo to prepare some more ingredients and set up an extra table.

He had prepared such a generous dowry for Li Hongmei, and even the banquet was arranged with the help of his master, Guo Youzhong. If Zhao Weiguo and the Zhao family didn't even give them this much face, it would be rather unreasonable.

Not a moment later.

Guo Youzhong, who attended as an elder, arrived early.

A quick glance revealed Liang Damin and Sun Xinming, the apprentices, chatting with their junior brother Li Hongbing, and their laughter could be heard.

Seeing the harmonious scene between the fellow apprentices, Guo Youzhong was very happy.

Guo Youzhong did not tell Li Hongbing about inviting Liang Damin and the others over beforehand, but he made preparations in advance.

If the Zhao family or Li Hongbing were to keep Liang Damin and his group, they wouldn't have to worry about food at all; if they didn't have enough, they could simply "borrow" from Fengzeyuan.

Even if they hadn't left any food, Liang Damin and the others weren't people who needed a meal.

Helping my junior brother is only right and proper.

However, if that's the case, Guo Youzhong will be somewhat disappointed.

In fact, Guo Youzhong's purpose was very simple.

Take this opportunity to support Li Hongbing, his young apprentice, and let these fellow apprentices get to know each other.

"Master!"

"Master, you are here!"

"Master..."

"..."

When one of the fellow apprentices spotted Guo Youzhong, who had just arrived, the others followed suit, shouting like a volley of cannon fire.

Their commotion immediately attracted the attention of Zhao's relatives and neighbors in the courtyard, who all looked over in their direction.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out he really was an important person.

For most ordinary people, a renowned chef like Guo Youzhong at Fengzeyuan is not someone they can easily approach, if not out of reach.

Noticing the situation as well, Mr. Zhao, the host, immediately stepped forward respectfully.

"You must be Master Guo? Please come inside and have a seat..."

(End of this chapter)