A woman in her 70s marries a rough-looking man; her plump wife is too delicate and alluring.

Suddenly, a commotion arose at the entrance of the courtyard.

She looked in the direction of the sound and saw four people standing at the door.

He Weiye, Liu Aiyun, He Xidi, and He Yaozu.

Four people stood at the gate of the courtyard.

He Weiye was wearing a slightly worn Zhongshan suit, while Liu Aiyun changed into clean clothes.

He Xidi followed behind with his head down, while He Yaozu was munching on a piece of candy, his eyes darting around.

He Zhaoyang was stunned, still holding the bowl of sugar in his hand, forgetting to put it down.

She walked over, looked at the four people at the door, and spoke after several seconds.

"What are you doing here?"

He Weiye stood at the door, his hands in his pockets, glancing at the tables set up in the yard.

She glanced again at He Zhaoyang's maroon wedding attire, then cleared her throat.

"Your father can't come to your wedding?"

Liu Aiyun chimed in from the side, her voice neither too loud nor too soft.

"You didn't even tell your family about the wedding ceremony; we only found out from the villagers."

She took a step forward, her gaze lingering on He Zhaoyang for a moment.

"This dress is beautiful. Wear it later and let me take it home. You don't need to prepare any more clothes for your wedding."

He Zhaoyang looked at Liu Aiyun, as if she hadn't heard what she said. After two seconds, she finally spoke.

"What did you say?"

Liu Aiyun took another step forward and reached out to touch He Zhaoyang's sleeve.

"I said this dress looks good. After you wear it, show it to Xi. She can wear it to her wedding."

He Zhaoyang took half a step back, causing Liu Aiyun's hand to miss its target.

Liu Aiyun looked around awkwardly, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that no one was watching.

He Zhaoyang looked at Liu Aiyun.

"I made this dress for myself; I won't lend it out."

Liu Aiyun's smile hadn't completely faded when she heard He Zhaoyang say such things, and she was furious.

"What do you mean by 'ourselves'? 'Loan out'? We're all one family."

He Zhaoyang rolled his eyes at them, "I'm not family with you guys."

He Weiye's expression was also not good. "Zhao Di, no, Zhao Yang, we are family after all. If you are bullied at your parents' home, you will still have to ask your younger brother Yao Zu for support."

After saying that, she pushed He Yaozu forward, and He Yaozu glanced at her disdainfully.

"Give me candy! I just saw those kids having milk candy, I want some too!"

After saying that, she added, "Otherwise, if you get bullied at your in-laws' house in the future, I won't take care of you."

He Zhaoyang was so angry she laughed. Was she being bullied at her parents' home or her husband's home?

People around had noticed this, and the surrounding voices quieted down.

Most people were pointing and whispering as they looked at the He family members.

He Xidi tugged at Liu Aiyun's sleeve, signaling her to look around. Only then did Liu Aiyun realize that everyone was looking at them.

She quickly stepped forward with a smile, "Zhaoyang, your brother was just joking. You're his own sister, who else would he support if not you, right?"

Li Xuanxue noticed this as well and quickly pulled He Zhaoyang behind her, saying, "It's still early. Since you're here, you're guests. Please find a place to sit."

He Weiye glanced at Li Xuanxue.

"Okay, let's go in and sit down."

He pulled Liu Aiyun along and stepped into the yard.

Liu Aiyun was pulled and stumbled, but followed him inside.

He Xidi pulled He Yaozu inside.

Li Xuanxue then turned around and looked at He Zhaoyang, "Are you alright?"

He Zhaoyang shook his head.

"It's alright, sister-in-law."

"Then you should go inside and rest for a while." Li Xuanxue breathed a sigh of relief and quickly went to do other things.

He Zhaoyang looked at He Weiye and the other three. They sat down next to the table where the money was being collected without any politeness, just sitting there with their eyes fixed on the money on the table.

He Yaozu started eating the peanuts on the table.

He Xidi, while being scolded by Liu Aiyun, stuffed all the candy and melon seeds on the table into his pockets.

He Zhaoyang sneered. "How impolite! You're not going to do any work at all."

He Zhaoyang rested for a while and looked out the window to see who had come.

More and more people gathered in the courtyard. Besides the villagers, she didn't recognize many of them; they were probably friends and relatives from the Sheng family's side.

Until she saw Xie Fei and Li Nan.

He Zhaoyang opened the window and waved to them, and they went straight inside.

"Why are you all here?"

Li Nan said happily, "Platoon Leader Sheng informed us that you were going to have a wedding ceremony, so we came."

Xie Fei's eyes were practically glued to He Zhaoyang. "You look so good in this outfit."

He Zhaoyang smiled and said, "I made these myself. If you like them, I can make a few for you too, but you'll have to prepare the fabric yourself."

Sheffield nodded. "No problem."

Li Nan excitedly grabbed her hand and shook it, "That's great!"

He Zhaoyang is already at the Sheng family's house, so there's no need for him to go to fetch the bride.

Sheng Yuze took He Zhaoyang's hand and led him into the courtyard.

The emcee began the ceremony.

The emcee, Director Liu from the village commune, cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Today is the day for Comrade Sheng Yuze and Comrade He Zhaoyang to hold their belated wedding ceremony. We advocate diligence and thrift, oppose extravagance and waste, break with the old and establish the new, and have a modern wedding."

The courtyard fell silent.

Director Liu nodded and then asked the officiant to speak. The officiant was the village party secretary.

"You two must work diligently, help each other, and persevere; your lives will only get better and better."

After saying that, he stepped aside.

Director Liu: "The newcomers bow to each other."

Director Liu continued speaking from the stage.

The newlyweds bowed to the elders present to express their gratitude.

He Zhaoyang and Sheng Yuze turned around and bowed to Qin Meng, Sheng Huaimin and Old Madam Sheng, who were sitting below the stage.

Qin Meng and Sheng Huaimin sat together, smiling and nodding.

Grandma Sheng sat next to them, her eyes crinkling with laughter.

"The ceremony is complete!" Director Liu's voice echoed in the courtyard.

A burst of clapping and cheers rang out in the courtyard.

Just as Director Liu finished saying the ceremony was complete, the sounds of pots and pans clattering came from the kitchen, and Sheng Kaiyuan came over with his men to serve the dishes.

Qin Meng stood at the kitchen door and shouted to the crowd.

"Please sit down! The feast will begin shortly!"

The crowd began to surge toward the table.

Qin Meng waved to He Zhaoyang and the others.

"Sit down!"

The dishes started to be served.

A heaping pile of cucumber salad. Next came a plate of braised pork. Then came stewed pork with glass noodles, scrambled eggs, stewed tofu, and a large bowl of pork bone soup.

"Wow, as expected of the Sheng family, they really know how to spend big."

"Exactly, this is the first time I've ever had such a lavish meal at a wedding."

He Zhaoyang and Sheng Yuze had been starving for a long time and had just taken a few bites when Qin Meng handed them two cups, saying, "It's about time to go and offer toasts."

The two of them each picked up a bowl of wine. Qin Meng added another sentence.

"You don't need to actually drink it, just touch it to your lips, so you don't get really drunk."

He Zhaoyang nodded and started at the main table with Sheng Yuze.

The village party secretary and several elders sat at the first table, and the two of them raised their glasses together.

He Zhaoyang spoke first.

"Uncle, thank you for coming today. Let's raise a glass to you."

The village party secretary stood up with a smile, raised his bowl, and clinked it against theirs.

"Alright, alright, you all have a good time."

The three of them each took a sip. He Zhaoyang only touched his lips to the water, and Sheng Yuze didn't drink much either.

At this moment, He Weiye nudged Liu Aiyun while eating, saying, "Look at the good daughter you raised, she didn't even toast us with the first cup."