Traveling back to 1952, starting a comeback from a relief station

Back to the courtyard house.

It was already getting dark when they ran into Ma Tiezhu carrying his barber's tools back home.

The two met at the courtyard gate. Old Ma greeted Wang Anping, then his gaze fell on Qin Huairu, filled with surprise:

"Anping, is this your... boyfriend?"

He had heard his wife mention Wang Anping before, and now that he saw the two of them come back together, with the girl wearing new clothes, it was clear that things were settled.

Wang Anping smiled and nodded, saying:

"Yes, Uncle Ma, this is my girlfriend, Qin Huairu."

"Huai Ru, this is Uncle Ma from the front yard."

"Uncle Ma, I'm busy right now, but I'll bring you some wedding candy later."

Qin Huairu quickly greeted them softly:

"Hello, Uncle Ma."

Ma Tiezhu hurriedly replied:

Hello, hello!

He secretly marveled; those rascals, Sha Zhu and his friends, hadn't lied after all. Anping's wife was indeed very beautiful.

Just then, Old Ma's daughter, Erniu, heard the noise and ran out of the house.

He blinked his round eyes, glanced at Qin Huairu, then at Wang Anping, and immediately turned and ran into the house, shouting at the top of his lungs as he ran:

"Mom! Mom! Brother Wang brought his beautiful wife home!"

Wang Anping led Qin Huairu into the courtyard.

Aunt Ma came out of the house upon hearing the noise. When she saw Qin Huairu, her face was full of surprise. Yan Bugui and Yang Ruihua also came out after her.

In the entire courtyard, Yan Bugui and Wang Anping interacted the most.

He looked at Qin Huairu, whose face was flushed with embarrassment.

He asked, his face full of astonishment:

"Anping, who is this girl...?"

Wang Anping smiled and nodded, saying:

"You can see it all, this is my wife, we just got our marriage certificate."

"Alright, you guys keep chatting, I'll put my things down first."

There were several cloth bags tied to the back seat of the car.

He pushed the cart to his front door, propped it up, took out his keys, opened the door, and started unloading things into the house.

The people in the courtyard weren't very familiar with Wang Anping, so they were too embarrassed to come up and join in. Yan Bugui, however, didn't have that concern and followed him over, curiously examining the bulging bags.

"Anping, what's in the bag?"

As soon as I got closer, I heard a noise coming from one of the bags, accompanied by the clucking of a chicken.

Yan Bugui couldn't help but gasp in astonishment:

"Wow, you bought so many chickens?"

Wang Anping smiled and said:

"This wasn't bought."

"I went to Huai Ru's house today. These were all given to me by her parents and second uncle."

"Knowing that we, the young couple, are having a hard time making ends meet, they prepared some things for us, mostly inexpensive mountain products from the countryside."

They say it's worthless.

But when the items in the bag were taken out one by one, Yan Bugui's eyes widened in astonishment.

Four plump and healthy chickens, along with salted fish, cured meat, dried mushrooms, dried wild rabbit, and various dried vegetables... all of which are rare finds in the city.

Yan Bugui felt a pang of jealousy and clicked his tongue, saying:

"Good heavens, and you call this worthless?"

"These things would be worth a fortune in the city, and you brought back so many! It's like the Japanese invaders have stormed the village!"

"You're taking so much, doesn't Huai Ru's family have any objections?"

Qin Huairu quickly replied:

"No objection."

"My parents want to pack some more; it's really hard to carry them all."

"These are really nothing. The chickens are raised by us, the fish are caught in the river, the mushrooms are picked by my dad and my brothers in the mountains, and the dried vegetables are all homemade."

Wang Anping, seeing Yan Bugui's face contorted in a grimace, chuckled and said:

"There's nothing I can do about it, I'm just popular."

"I was initially hesitant to accept it, but Huai Ru's parents were so polite that they insisted on giving it to us."

Yan Bugui smacked his lips, his mouth full of sourness.

Then, out of curiosity, I asked:

"Tsk tsk, I didn't expect Huai Ru's family to treat you so well. By the way, how much was the bride price you gave them?"

These days, neighbors have virtually no right to privacy.

When a couple argues in the middle of the night, someone will squat by the wall to eavesdrop, and the next day they'll even go and argue with the couple.

I heard it clearly last night; you said your wife's words were wrong... and so on.

Yan Bugui didn't feel it was abrupt at all when he asked about the bride price.

Wang Anping said:

"I was originally going to give you twenty."

"But Huai Ru's mom returned fifteen yuan, which made me feel really bad."

Qin Huairu nodded in agreement.

"In our area, a bride price of five yuan is usually enough."

Yan Bugui felt his worldview had been turned upside down; how could the bride's family actually lower the bride price?

Thinking that his son Yan Jiecheng was already sixteen and would be getting married in a few years, he immediately made up his mind:

From now on, I'll have to find a daughter-in-law from the countryside!

The total dowry cost only five yuan, and the bicycle was for Wang Anping's own use.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the things he brought back may seem worthless; they're not cheap to buy in the city.

Others have to spend a lot of money to get married.

Wang Anping, that rascal, actually made so much money. I don't know how sweet-talking he is, he charmed that whole family and almost emptied their savings.

This was Qin Huairu's first time entering Wang Anping's home.

Looking at the two rooms that were neatly tidied up, I was extremely satisfied. As I tidied up, a smile was on my face, and I was overjoyed.

Just then, other neighbors in the courtyard heard the commotion and came over.

I stood at the hanging flower gate and peered into Wang Anping's house.

A couple of days ago, everyone heard that Wang Anping had a girlfriend, and that the girl was extremely beautiful. Everyone had been waiting to see what would happen.

Hearing that someone had arrived, they naturally gathered around immediately. Even the Jia family, who had a conflict with Wang Anping a few days ago, and Yi Zhonghai and his wife were mixed in with the crowd.

Wang Anping stood at the door carrying a cloth bag filled with wedding candy.

He pulled Qin Huairu aside and handed out candy to everyone one by one.

of course.

It's also for showing off.

Although he didn't want to get too involved with the people in the courtyard, he still had to give out wedding candies for good luck and to greet the neighbors.

When the others saw Qin Huairu standing with Wang Anping, their eyes lit up with surprise.

I had heard that the girl came from the countryside, but I never expected her to be so beautiful.

Although she came from the countryside, she had very fair skin and a well-proportioned figure.

If there were a competition to rank this flower or that flower these days, Qin Huairu would definitely be considered one of the most beautiful girls in the college.

Besides, having just received wedding candy, one feels obligated to offer compliments, and everyone's praises flow freely, such as "a perfect match" and "a perfect union," which makes one feel comfortable.

Sha Zhu, Xu Damao, and a few other young men also came.

Upon seeing Qin Huairu, he stared wide-eyed, thinking to himself: She's so beautiful!

I took a peek at the girl from afar that morning and immediately thought she was pretty.

Qin Huairu had changed into a new outfit and was wearing a pair of small leather shoes. She had a slender figure and a face so tender it looked like it could be pinched to release water. How could these young men not be envious?

Looking at Qin Huairu, whose face was flushed and who was standing next to Wang Anping, Jia Dongxu felt a sharp pain in his heart, as if it were being stabbed with needles.

So close!

He also has a wife now.

Why is God so unfair? Now I can only watch other people bring their wives into the family!