Back to my 1980s

Zhao Hua narrowed his eyes.

He suddenly remembered that in his previous life, shortly after his marriage, he had vaguely heard Song Xueping mention that a relative had caused trouble at their home before she got married.

From what she said, that relative wanted her to marry one of his cousins, but the Song family was not happy about it. So, relying on the fact that there were many brothers in the same family, they often came to cause trouble.

Song Zhiqiang, who was carrying meat nearby, shouted, "Zhou Zhengchang! What do you think you're doing!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Hua closed his eyes. It turned out that this person's name was Zhou Zhengchang.

At this moment, the matchmaker heard the commotion and rushed over to stand in front of Zhao Hua, muttering that they should talk things out. She didn't dare to do anything else, after all, he was from another village.

After Song Zhiqiang yelled, the young men who came with him toned down their expressions a little.

They originally just wanted to give him a warning, not to cause trouble. However, they didn't think Zhou Zhengchang's brother-in-law's actions were excessive; this was just the right amount of a warning.

A moment later, Zhao Hua slowly opened his eyes. He was here to get engaged, not to cause trouble. It wouldn't be difficult for him to curse a few words or throw a punch.

This guy in front of me doesn't eat as well as Zhao Hua, and he's not as tall as Zhao Hua. If I wanted to teach him a lesson, I could knock him down with one punch.

However, while it felt good to throw a punch, it also ruined half of today's engagement ceremony. Their relatives wouldn't care whether they were in the right or not; once a fight broke out, they would instinctively side with Zhou Zhengchang, whom they were more familiar with.

He took a deep breath, changed to a new pack of cigarettes, and laughed, "I came in such a hurry that I didn't prepare much. I'll give each of you a pack later." After saying that, he ignored Zhou Zhengchang in front of him and started to hand out cigarettes to the people next to him one by one.

The other person's purpose was different from Zhou Zhengchang's. The other person just wanted to give Zhao Hua a hard time and support his sister. Now that his purpose had been achieved, he didn't hold a grudge anymore and happily took the cigarette and tucked it behind his ear.

After the smoke cleared, only Zhou Zhengchang remained. Naturally, he couldn't show favoritism, so he offered Zhou Zhengchang a cigarette as well, just to keep the situation looking good.

Song Zhiqiang stood by, watching intently. Zhou Zhengchang glanced at Song Zhiqiang and disdainfully took the cigarette from Zhao Hua's hand.

He had just gotten his hands on it, lit it, took a puff, spat out some saliva, threw the cigarette on the ground, kicked it a few times, and turned to Zhao Hua, saying, "Where did you get this fake cigarette? What a lousy taste!"

Zhao Hua smiled and said, "I bought these from a distributor. A distributor wouldn't possibly have counterfeit cigarettes, would they?"

Seeing how weak Zhao Hua was, the Song family brothers looked at him with even more contempt.

It's normal. No matter how much money Zhao Hua can make, he's just so-so in their eyes. These days, apart from civil servants and workers, self-employed people are looked down upon. Besides, Zhao Hua is just a fisherman. Ever since they heard that Zhao Hua got a bicycle by catching fish, they've been holding a grudge.

Despite their anger, they didn't dare to neglect their business. If things got too out of hand, no one would stand up for them when their parents started yelling at them.

So after taking the cigarette, they stepped back a bit, making way for Zhao Hua. Only the man named Zhou Zhengchang remained still, and after exhaling the smoke from his mouth, he continued to block Zhao Hua's path.

Zhao Hua didn't want to argue with him. Ever since Song Zhiqiang saw him accept the cigarette, he carried the pork into the house, leaving only two large carp and some cigarettes and alcohol in the truck bed.

Zhao Hua picked up the carp, while the matchmaker took out the remaining tobacco and alcohol and followed. When everyone went inside, the tractor driver found a shady spot to park and rest.

After entering the house, he listened to the matchmaker's instructions on the way without saying a word, and placed the fish on the Eight Immortals table in front of the main room. The half-pig that Song Zhiqiang had carried in earlier was also placed on this table.

The room was now packed with people. Mr. and Mrs. Song were sitting in the main hall, and the matchmaker from the village whom they had met before was standing to the side.

The village matchmaker came up and whispered in Zhao Hua's ear, "Hand your uncle a cigarette and light it."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Hua wiped his hands, and seeing that the gifts were all arranged, he walked up to Mr. and Mrs. Song and said with a smile, "Uncle, Aunt."

He then took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to Song's father. After Song's father accepted it with a smile, Zhao Hua stepped forward and lit it for him.

Last night, my mother told me that since Song's parents are younger than his father, I can't call them that anymore; I have to call them "uncle" and "aunt" instead.

As Mr. Song accepted the cigarette, Aunt Zhao from Shuanghuai Village stepped forward with a smile and handed Zhao Hua's birth chart to Mrs. Song. Mrs. Song, also with a smile on her face, handed Song Xueping's birth chart to Aunt Zhao.

Zhao Hua stared at Song Xueping's birth chart, his breath caught in his throat, and a wave of relief washed over him, as if an electric shock had struck him. There was no particular reason for it; it was simply because the birth chart contained Song Xueping's birth information, and Zhao Hua felt a strong sense of familiarity upon seeing it.

Just as he was staring at the betrothal letter in the matchmaker's hand, Zhou Zhengchang suddenly darted out from the corner of the room. Zhao Hua glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and saw that his movements seemed to be heading straight for Aunt Zhao.

At this moment, Zhou Zhengchang seemed to lose his balance and crashed straight into Aunt Zhao. Zhao Hua immediately reached out and pulled Aunt Zhao to his side.

Zhou Zhengchang stopped abruptly, turned around, and casually picked up a thermos from the wall and shook it.

Everyone's eyes were focused on the birth chart in Song's mother's hand, and no one noticed Zhou Zhengchang's little trick.

At this moment, a woman who looked about five or six parts like Song's mother suddenly said, "Oh dear! This marriage was arranged really quickly. I didn't hear a word about it beforehand. It's good that I only found out after the books were changed."

"This is all so absurd. We don't even know what kind of person this young man is. What if we can't get along in the future? Wouldn't that be a disservice to our daughter? Young man, are you Zhao Hua? How much dowry are you planning to give?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Hua glanced at Song's mother, whose face had suddenly turned cold, and then at the Song family relatives whose smiles had frozen. He realized that this person must be Zhou Zhengchang's mother.

Before coming, he thought that both families had agreed to the marriage and that he was just going through the motions.

Unexpectedly, the Song family agreed, the Zhao family agreed, but Song Xueping's aunt was a little unhappy.

He could understand the reason. She wanted to match Song Xueping with her husband's cousin, but Zhao Hua had snatched the deal away, so she was unhappy and came here to cause trouble after receiving the news.

Zhao Hua glanced at the woman's clothes. There wasn't a single patch on them, and the colors of her clothes were brighter and more vibrant than those of the people around her, suggesting that she came from a well-off family.

He was a little unsure of this woman's position in the Song family. Given her good family background, if she was secretly helping the Song family, he really couldn't confront her directly.

If they really stand their ground, the Song family will be caught in the middle and in a difficult position. If they speak up for Zhao Hua, they will be labeled as ungrateful. If they speak up for this woman, they will lose face for their new son-in-law.