1980: I have a spiritual spring

Chapter 23 Chance Encounter
Qiao Erhe was certainly familiar with Xu Cuihua.

In her previous life, Xu Cuihua also married into Qiaojiawan. For decades, she worked diligently to support her husband and raise her children. Whether it was farming, doing housework, or making clothes and shoes, she was skilled in everything and was recognized as a virtuous wife and loving mother in the village.

In this life, if his elder brother can marry her and make her their sister-in-law, Qiao Erhe is certain that his elder brother will never have the same bad temper as in his previous life, and there will be fewer arguments between the brothers, allowing them to truly live in harmony.

As someone who has been through it all, Qiao Erhe naturally understands that whether a family is harmonious or not depends 99% on the woman in the family.

For example, discord between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law can disrupt the peace of the whole family, and discord between sisters-in-law can create rifts between brothers, and in severe cases, it is not impossible for them to become enemies.

Therefore, there are folk sayings such as "A virtuous wife brings prosperity to three generations" and "Marrying an unvirtuous wife ruins three generations."

Qiao Erhe naturally wanted to snatch this ready-made virtuous wife and loving mother from his elder brother.

Originally, Qiao Erhe wasn't in such a hurry. He planned to wait until his own hens started laying eggs and he had some capital before bringing up the matter. In any case, according to the development trajectory of his previous life, Xu Cuihua's marriage to their Qiaojiawan would be the year after next.

But now Aunt Ying from the village has taken a liking to their family's potential and is preparing to introduce her niece to her older brother. So Qiao Erhe has no choice but to bring this matter forward, lest his older brother actually meet Aunt Ying's niece and then take a liking to her, which would be troublesome.

After all, whether Aunt Ying's niece is the type of virtuous wife and loving mother is completely unknown. Why not choose the known answer and instead gamble on an answer that is not sure if it is right or wrong? Isn't that crazy?
Therefore, Qiao Erhe casually made up an excuse to introduce Xu Cuihua to his elder brother.

Qiao Dajiang looked at his second brother with a blank expression, clearly not expecting that his younger brother would also have the idea of ​​finding him a wife. Thinking that his second brother had been quite reliable lately, he nodded and agreed: "In that case, second brother, you can help inquire and see if this is true. However, I still say the same thing: whether such a good girl would even be interested in me is another question."

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "Brother, you haven't forgotten, have you? I told you before that next year our family will become the richest family in the entire Hongshan Brigade, and if things go smoothly, it's not impossible for us to become the richest family in the entire commune."

In short, you can pick any girl from these surrounding villages; you'll be fine with no problem.

Qiao Dajiang certainly wouldn't forget what his second brother had said, but he was a little hesitant to believe it could actually come true. However, as his family's business improved, he became more confident than before, so he nodded and said, "Then let's wait until you've found out the details before we talk about it!"

Upon hearing this, Huang Hongmei frowned and said, "Boss, do you mean you don't want to meet Aunt Ying's niece from her maternal family?"

Qiao Erhe chimed in, "Don't rush to meet Aunt Ying's niece. If you think she's a good match, Fatty, you can ask someone to quietly inquire about her reputation in the village and see if she's really as good as Aunt Ying says."

"We can let our eldest brother choose after we've found out everything."

Hearing this, Huang Hongmei thought it made sense and nodded, saying, "Alright, I'll ask someone to help me find out later."

Qiao Erhe laughed and said, "Then it's settled. I'll go to Xujiatai tomorrow to inquire and see if Xu Cuihua is really that good."

……

The next day.

After having breakfast (again, this means eating breakfast), Qiao Erhe went to Xujiatai to inquire about news.

Of course, the so-called "gathering information" was just an excuse Qiao Erhe made to appease his mother and older brother. Qiao Erhe, with his memories of his past life, knew better than anyone what Xu Cuihua's reputation was in the village, whether she was the type of virtuous wife and loving mother. He didn't need to go to the trouble of asking around. So, Qiao Erhe simply used the pretext of gathering information to go sightseeing at the Dingxiang Temple (also called Dingxiang Ancient Temple) in the Dingxiang Brigade.

This temple not only has a very long history, but most importantly, it has an ancient ginkgo tree that is over 1,700 years old, 28 meters tall, with a girth of 5.4 meters and a canopy area of ​​over 600 square meters. It is revered as the King of Trees in Jingzhou in later generations.

According to relevant experts, this ginkgo tree was planted during the Eastern Jin Dynasty and ranks among the top seven ancient ginkgo trees in China. Today, the ginkgo tree is still robust and lush, and can still produce nearly 100 kilograms of ginkgo (white fruit) every year, making it a rare treasure.

As a local, Qiao Erhe had seen this ginkgo tree countless times in his previous life. He wasn't particularly curious, but since he was already there, he might as well take a look.

In later generations, there was a saying that made a lot of sense: tourism is about going to see places that other people are tired of, even if you're tired of being in those places yourself. No matter how amazing this ancient ginkgo tree is, it's nothing special to locals who are already tired of seeing it.

The Dingxiang Ancient Temple was first built in the Jin Dynasty and expanded in the Tang Dynasty. It gradually fell into disrepair at the end of the Qing Dynasty and was eventually destroyed during the Japanese invasion of China. It was not until 1992 that the temple was rebuilt.

Then in 2010, with the help of fundraising and raising more than 5000 million yuan from various sources, a total of twelve halls, pavilions and towers, including the Mahavira Hall, the Heavenly King Hall, the Arhat Hall, the Bell Tower, and the Drum Tower, were built. This ancient temple with a long history regained its glory and had even more prosperous incense offerings than before.

Today, the temple no longer exists, leaving only some ruins.

Qiao Erhe didn't care about this. He hadn't come for the temple in the first place, but to see the magnificent Jingzhou Tree King.

Standing before this ancient tree with a history of over 1,700 years, Qiao Erhe couldn't help but feel a sense of awe. Compared to many animals, human lifespan is already considered long, but compared to the lifespan of this plant, the difference is enormous.

After all, this is an ancient tree planted during the Eastern Jin Dynasty. During its growth, it has experienced the Northern and Southern Dynasties, as well as the Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing Dynasties and modern times. Just thinking about such a long period of time is breathtaking.

"Auntie, is this the ancient ginkgo tree you mentioned?"

Just as Qiao Erhe was feeling sentimental about the age of the ancient ginkgo tree, a very pleasant voice suddenly came from behind him.

Qiao Erhe turned around and saw a young woman, around twenty years old, walking towards the ancient ginkgo tree arm in arm with a middle-aged woman.

The girl was wearing a red long dress paired with white leather shoes, and it was obvious at a glance that she was from the city. Not only was she dressed beautifully, but she was also very beautiful. Even though Qiao Erhe had been bombarded with beautiful women in short videos, he was still taken aback when he saw this girl, which shows just how beautiful she was.

It was a natural beauty, completely different from the beauties of later generations who relied on makeup.

The moment their eyes met, Qiao Erhe couldn't help but feel a flutter in his heart.

……

P.S.: Dear readers, it's Monday today. The new book rankings have been updated. If you have any monthly tickets, please support us. Thank you so much.

(End of this chapter)