“Why are they arguing again?”
As soon as Ji Xiangtian entered the yard, he saw his mother sitting there drinking tea, her eyes fixed on the Gu family’s house ahead. It was clear she was there to watch the drama unfold.
This struck Ji Xiangtian as novel. In his memory, his mother had always been busy at the hospital. She rarely had the leisure to sit at home, drink tea, and people-watch.
Ji’s mother said, “Who knows? It seems the mother of that young Commander Gu’s girlfriend came by. I heard she waited nearly two hours by the main gate until Commander Gu returned from his mission. Only then did he bring her into the family quarters.”
Such a persistent act had already spread throughout their family compound.
Ji’s mother had only just gotten off work not long ago and had heard about the matter after coming home.
“Never mind other people. You went to deliver gifts to your girlfriend’s house today. So, did they give you a hard time?”
Ji’s mother’s motivation for leaving work early had been to come home and find out how her son’s gift delivery went. Now that her son had finally found a girl he liked, she was terrified this dull boy would mess things up and lose her.
As soon as his mother asked about Yun Su, Ji Xiangtian relaxed completely, his face radiating a blissful happiness.
“Very smoothly. Her family is very easy to get along with. I even met her grandfather and grandmother today…”
In any case, compared to the Gu family up ahead, Ji Xiangtian felt that the girlfriend he had found was the absolute best in the world.
——
Over at the Gu household, there was indeed a commotion.
Gu Zhengrong hadn’t expected that just because he went out on a mission, he would return to find Yun Feng’s mother waiting for him at the main gate.
After hastily handing over his mission, without even resting, Gu Zhengrong quickly brought Yun Feng’s mother into his home. Only after asking did he find out what had happened.
Gu Zhengrong had never imagined that his mother, who in his memory spoke and acted with such propriety, would actually go to Yun Feng’s village to propose taking her as a goddaughter.
What on earth was this all about!
Among the female comrades he had interacted with recently, Yun Feng was the kindest and most tactful.
He knew his own situation well. Gu Zhengrong had never believed he could marry a woman with particularly good prospects. After all, his family circumstances were indeed not great. Although he was a regiment commander, he had earned that rank through bloody battles on the battlefield. With no family background to support him, the path upward was not easy.
Moreover, he had a widowed mother with no father to support the family. He had no brothers, only two younger sisters who had not yet reached adulthood.
In the future, supporting his widowed mother and preparing dowries for his two younger sisters were his responsibilities.
To top it off, he had also adopted the orphaned child of a fallen comrade, and he sent a fixed amount of money each month to support the families of other fallen comrades.
After all these miscellaneous expenses, his monthly salary and allowances were gone. Occasionally, he even had to borrow money from others to get by.
With circumstances like his, finding a good match was exceptionally difficult.
The female comrade introduced by the deputy chief of staff’s wife—Gu Zhengrong had actually inquired about her background. She was a pampered daughter from a good family, but she truly wasn’t suited for a family like his. If he actually married her, he would only be ruining her.
Comrade Yun Feng, on the other hand, was different.
——
She had grown up in a family that favored sons over daughters. As the eldest sister, she had to shoulder many burdens at home. Yun Feng had endured all of this, proving she was a very capable female comrade.
Moreover, she had loved helping others in the brigade with their work since she was young. Someone so willing to help others would surely understand his actions in adopting a comrade’s orphan and supporting other comrades’ families.
Home was his harbor for rest. Gu Zhengrong hoped his future wife could handle these matters well and get along peacefully with his mother and two younger sisters.
To achieve this, only someone as capable and kind as Comrade Yun Feng would do.
When Comrade Yun Feng had asked him to date her the other day, Gu Zhengrong had already told her all of these considerations.
And Comrade Yun Feng had indeed magnanimously said she could accept them. She had even expressed great appreciation for his honesty in revealing his family’s shortcomings.
It was after this frank and open conversation that Gu Zhengrong had agreed to date Comrade Yun Feng.
After recounting the process of how he came to agree to the relationship to his mother and two younger sisters in full detail, the household, which had been in an uproar all afternoon, finally quieted down.
——
“So you’re just going to sell yourself short like this and marry some fishing village girl?”
Gu mother looked at her son’s unshaven face and bloodshot eyes, her heart full of pity.
Her son looked like this because he had gone out on a mission without any rest. Coming back to talk about all this with her would surely exhaust him even more. Gu mother felt great sympathy for her son, and since his analysis made a lot of sense, she found herself unable to refute him.
“Mom, I don’t feel short-changed. I think Comrade Yun Feng is the one who drew the short straw. If we do get married in the future, please treat her well. She really is a good comrade—otherwise, she wouldn’t have risked being crushed by firewood to save you. I asked around in her village. She’s been doing housework since she was young—not just in her own home, but she even goes to her uncle’s house to help. She’s very capable. The villagers all speak highly of her. She is the most suitable match for our family’s situation.”
As he said this, Gu Zhengrong’s expression was very normal, his tone very even. He even called over the orphaned child he had adopted and ruffled the child’s hair.
Faced with such a composed son, Gu mother fell silent. Her son was just like his late father. Once he had spoken to this extent, he would not change his mind.
Gu mother let out a deep sigh. “Fine. If you want to marry someone like that, I can’t convince you otherwise. Then I won’t interfere with you anymore.”
Hearing this, Gu Zhengrong breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Mom. In time, you’ll see that I didn’t make a mistake. Comrade Yun Feng is indeed very suitable for our family.”
…
Yun Feng, who was deemed very suitable for Gu Zhengrong, was feeling rather pleased with herself at this moment.
Just as she had expected, her mother had found Comrade Gu at the military compound.
“The Gu family’s house was allocated by the military—a proper brick-and-tile house. It’s just a bit small, only three rooms.”
“Commander Gu already said that today’s proposal to take you as a goddaughter was a misunderstanding. His mother didn’t mean it that way.”
“Commander Gu assured me that he’ll come find Yun Feng when he’s on leave.”
Liu Zhaodi returned home from the military compound at nearly eight in the evening. Having not eaten dinner or had a sip of water, she wasn’t tired at all.
The moment she stepped inside, her mouth didn’t stop running. She went on and on about how wonderful the military compound was, how reliable Commander Gu was, and how sharp-tongued that old Gu woman was.
In short, the gist was: Commander Gu promised he wouldn’t break up with Yun Feng and would marry her in the future.
This was tremendous news!
Grandma Yun saw how smug her second daughter-in-law was and looked at her eldest granddaughter Yun Feng’s satisfied expression. She sighed. “That family’s mother dislikes Yun Feng so much. After you marry into that family, you won’t have a good life. Commander Gu is often away on missions. Most of the time, Yun Feng will be living with that kind of mother-in-law…”
After saying her piece, Grandma Yun suggested that Yun Feng would be better off breaking things off.
Grandpa Yun nodded in agreement. He had lived through the old society and seen all sorts of things. That Commander Gu’s mother who came to the house today was clearly not an easy person to deal with. A capable girl like Yun Feng could easily find a match. There was no need to marry into that family and suffer at that woman’s hands.
Unfortunately, the two elders’ good intentions went unanswered.
Liu Zhaodi continued showing off how wonderful the military compound was. Yun Feng listened with a bashful expression. Her second son put on the air of a good father, letting Yun Feng’s wishes guide everything.
The other granddaughters didn’t agree, but their opposition came not from concern for Yun Feng but from jealousy that she had found such a good match.
This family…
Grandpa Yun sighed and once again regretted spending his youth away from home earning money instead of properly raising his children. He had four children, and not one of them was worry-free. Only the third son was somewhat decent.
He stood up and pulled his wife along to the third son’s house across the way. When it came to the second son’s family affairs, out of sight, out of mind!
——
Yun Su was about to go to bed when she hadn’t expected her grandparents to come over and unload their troubles. Then she got to hear the whole saga of Liu Zhaodi staking out Gu Zhengrong.
Now that was perseverance!
Needless to say, Liu Zhaodi wouldn’t have come up with such an idea on her own. The one who sent her was surely Yun Feng.
This showed just how desperate Yun Feng was to be with Gu Zhengrong.
Yun Su found her obsession a bit hard to understand. After all, although Yun Feng’s family conditions weren’t good, her personal prospects were quite decent by local standards. Yet she was fixated on Gu Zhengrong.
She could only chalk it up to the influence of the original story.
“Mom, Dad, don’t worry. Su Su’s boyfriend is a good one. Today he came bearing lots of gifts, which he said his mother personally prepared. That family are all educated people. They won’t engage in any crooked schemes.”
Yun Su’s mother heard her in-laws’ concerns and knew exactly what they were worried about.
After her in-laws had finished venting, Yun Su’s mother asked her eldest son to escort the old couple back across the way. Then she said to her daughter, “Tomorrow, why don’t you go to the town supply and marketing cooperative and buy some good fabric? Mom will make you a new outfit. Xiao Ji came today with lots of gifts. It’s possible his mother will invite you over soon.”
“An invitation to their home? Isn’t that a bit fast?”
Yun Su’s mother heard this childish remark and laughed. “Fast? It’s not like I’m saying you should get married tomorrow after just meeting today. Where we come from, a man and woman get to know each other, date for a while, and if they’re compatible, they marry sooner rather than later. Otherwise, the gossip never stops…”
Yun Su really hadn’t thought that far ahead. She had considered a future with Ji Xiangtian, but she hadn’t expected meeting the parents to happen so soon.
“You’re not worried about being mistreated when you go to their place, are you?”
Yun Su’s mother found her daughter quite adorable.
“From what we’ve seen these past two days, your father and I both think Xiao Ji is a good one. The parents of such a good person usually aren’t too bad either. Meeting them sooner is better. When you buy a pig, you check the pen. What his parents are like will tell you a lot about what he’s like. Going there yourself and experiencing it firsthand will be more accurate than getting a hundred people to ask around for you.”
——
Lying in bed, Yun Su reflected on her mother’s words and found them quite reasonable.
If parents are morally corrupt, their children will likely follow suit. Wasn’t Yun Feng’s family across the way a living example?
Her Second Uncle had a good reputation outside, and Yun Feng had followed his example, also having a good reputation outside.
But their own family knew the truth. That Second Uncle was all talk and no action.
Yun Feng did take action, but she never lifted a finger without some benefit. She was particularly good at putting on a show.
Thinking this way, Yun Su stopped worrying about going to Ji Xiangtian’s house.
Although he hadn’t invited her yet, according to her mother, that day wouldn’t be too far off.
——
The next morning, after breakfast, Yun Su hopped on the oxcart.
There were especially many people taking the oxcart today. The brigade had only two oxcarts, and in the end, both were packed full. Those who arrived late had to walk to town on their own two feet.
“Aunt Mao, why are there so many people today?”
Usually, aside from market days, not many people went to town. Everyone had to work—they didn’t have time to run to town every day.
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