“So that Hu Chunhua is still being held at the police station!”
“Have Old Hu and his wife done anything?”
“Not at all! The Yun family really is formidable.”
As soon as Yun Su walked into the drying ground, she overheard a few women muttering in the corner about the Hu family. None of these women had married into the Yun surname, so they spoke quite bluntly.
But when they saw Yun Su enter, their expressions turned somewhat sheepish.
“Aunts, working hard? Busy today?”
Yun Su greeted the women with a beaming smile, acting as if she hadn’t heard a thing.
They gave a few dry laughs: “Not busy, not busy…”
“Su girl, what brings you here?” The brigade captain was patrolling the drying ground and looked surprised to see Yun Su.
“Uncle, I just came to have a look. I wanted to ask if there are any openings on the weighing team?”
“There are, of course there are!” This job didn’t pay many work points, and it required being able to count, so there were always vacancies.
Hearing this, Yun Su was delighted.
She followed behind the brigade captain, asking about Hu Chunhua as they walked.
“I was actually planning to come by your place after dinner. The police sent word about the Hu family’s youngest girl—they’re keeping her locked up for half a month before releasing her.”
Hearing that Hu Chunhua would indeed be detained and punished, Yun Su felt the matter was settled enough.
The weighing team worked indoors. Since the space was filled with various dried seafood that had just been sun-dried and needed to be packaged and weighed, the smell of fish was particularly strong.
Yun Su was surprised to see Yun Feng inside, and she raised an eyebrow.
——
“Yun Su, are you here to start work? This job is tiring. If you get exhausted, make sure to tell me. I’ll give you a hand…”
As soon as Yun Feng spoke, the people around her remarked on what a wonderful sister she was. This cousin was even closer than a real sister.
But Yun Su just found it annoying. This person was always like this. She had searched through her memories and found that since childhood, Yun Feng had loved to put on a display of sisterly devotion in front of others. Of course, she didn’t just talk—she actually helped out. But Yun Su didn’t value that kind of help at all.
Wasn’t Yun Feng just using her as a tool to polish her own reputation?
“Big Sister, since we’re here to work, we shouldn’t slack off. Don’t say things like that anymore.”
Yun Su’s words were particularly firm, catching everyone who had been waiting to see a show off guard.
“Alright, alright, everyone get back to what you’re supposed to be doing.”
The brigade captain quieted the chatter and called Yun Su over to learn from the team leader.
Yun Su looked at the workbench, where a batch of dried squid was being packaged. She assisted the team leader as her apprentice.
“Su girl, I thought your mother was trying to find you a job? Why are you at the drying ground?”
Yun Su shook her head. “There are too few jobs available. It’s fine to earn some work points here first.”
The team leader didn’t ask further and began explaining the key points of packaging and weighing to Yun Su.
The work was truly simple, and Yun Su was able to get the hang of it without much trouble.
——
Everyone working inside was a woman. And when women get together, gossip flows freely. Yun Su listened with interest, finding it quite entertaining. But soon someone asked Liu Zhaodi why she had let Yun Feng work indoors today. Normally, Yun Feng worked outside in the drying ground, handling salted fish and laying them out to dry.
When Yun Su heard this, she looked over curiously. She saw her Second Aunt-in-law speaking with great animation: “Our family got lucky. Someone introduced a worker from Yangcheng to Feng girl. I hear his family has a relative working at the Friendship Store! And they’ve promised a three-hundred-yuan bride price.”
Everyone immediately understood. Although working outdoors earned more work points, it also meant being under the scorching sun. Since Yun Feng was about to be introduced to a potential match, keeping her indoors to protect her skin and make it a bit fairer would help catch the city worker’s eye.
With such good prospects, a capable girl like Yun Feng was a good match.
With that thought, quite a few people began congratulating Liu Zhaodi. After all, while Liu Zhaodi herself wasn’t well-liked, her husband and Yun Feng had excellent reputations in the brigade.
Yun Feng’s expression turned very unpleasant upon hearing this. She had clearly told her parents she didn’t want to go on a blind date with some Yangcheng worker. She wanted to marry Comrade Gu. Only a great hero like Comrade Gu was worthy of her lifelong commitment.
But she didn’t dare openly contradict her mother in public. The kerosene-water incident had already angered her mother enough. Yun Feng racked her brain, and when her gaze landed on Yun Su, she saw the other girl watching with an amused expression. This only made her angrier.
Damn it all! Why did she have to have a mother like this?
Yun Su noticed Yun Feng’s reluctance and half-expected her to speak up in protest. But the entire afternoon passed with Yun Feng acting completely diligent and never once voicing any objection to the blind date.
——
On the day of the blind date, Yun Su was woken early by the sound of her Second Aunt-in-law’s piercing laughter from across the way.
Quite a few neighbors had gathered to watch the excitement. After all, thanks to Second Aunt-in-law’s publicity over the past two days, everyone knew Yun Feng was having her blind date today. And the potential match was a well-connected worker.
“Will she be able to get into the Friendship Store and see the world if she marries him?”
Yun Ximei, the daughter of Aunt Lin next door, gazed enviously at Yun Feng, who was surrounded by people.
Yun Su thought that seemed unlikely. The Friendship Store was exclusively for foreign guests. You could only buy things there with foreign exchange certificates. Ordinary people probably couldn’t even get in. But she had heard that the Friendship Store sold imported goods and rare products reserved for export.
Yun Feng’s potential match was said to only have a relative working there. That was a pretty distant connection.
“They’re here… they’re here…”
Just as everyone was buzzing with discussion, a pack of half-grown boys came running over in a swarm, shouting at the top of their lungs that the guests had arrived.
Yun Su immediately turned to look and saw several figures on bicycles approaching from up the road. Among them were three women and one man. The man was clearly the “main character” of the day. The four soon parked their bikes in front of Yun Feng’s house.
Then, quite a few onlookers let out exclamations of surprise.
The reason was simple: the male lead today wasn’t much to look at.
Not to mention his height of only about 155 cm, his face was full of acne scars, giving it a lunar surface kind of look. Though he wore a fashionable white Dacron shirt, many people felt the urge to cover their eyes.
One by one, they sighed inwardly: No wonder a young man with such good prospects had come all the way to a fishing village to find a wife.
——
Yun Su was also a bit taken aback by his appearance. But after the initial surprise, she didn’t dwell on it. After all, if the man’s other qualities were genuine, he’d still be considered a good match in many villagers’ eyes.
At that moment, her attention was fixed on a middle-aged woman. This woman was none other than Comrade Chen Xiangye, the one who sold enamel basins at the supply and marketing cooperative.
Judging by her interaction with the male lead, the two were clearly relatives.
Just then, Yun Feng walked over, following behind her mother.
The two parties came face to face in Yun Feng’s yard. Immediately afterward, Yun Feng’s startled voice rang out, followed by Chen Xiangye’s furious shout: “It’s you!”
Not only them, but most of the onlookers who had heard about the supply cooperative incident quickly realized Chen Xiangye’s identity. They looked at Chen Xiangye, then at Yun Feng, and could only think what an unfortunate coincidence this was.
——
Liu Zhaodi had no idea what was happening. She was busy chatting warmly with Hehua’s mother, who was the wife of Dalin.
“I’m not just saying this about my daughter—she’s truly a fine-looking girl. She’s proficient in all kinds of household chores and kitchen work. Marry her, and your whole family, young and old, will be well taken care of.”
Dalin’s wife was more perceptive. She had already noticed Chen Xiangye’s very unpleasant expression.
The Chen family was a large, sprawling clan. Many of its members worked in the supply and marketing system. Though none were top leaders, people like that were considered big shots in the countryside!
“Hehe, Yun Feng’s mother. The things you say, hehe…”
“Hehe… I’m just hehe-ing, really…”
Chen Xiangye directly cut off Dalin’s wife: “I can’t believe you introduced such a match for my nephew. A fishing village girl is one thing, but this particular comrade? Her mouth is far too sharp. Our old Chen family couldn’t possibly want a daughter-in-law like this…”
The more the onlookers heard, the clearer the situation became. Among those who had come for the blind date was also the male lead’s mother. Hearing her sister-in-law’s words, she raised her head and tried to pull her son back home.
A girl who courted trouble like this—their family couldn’t afford that. Even if they wanted to marry a fishing village girl, with their family’s conditions, they could wave their hand and have a dozen show up.
“Hey, hey, hey, don’t go, don’t go! What’s going on here?”
Liu Zhaodi looked completely bewildered by the situation. How could it be that a perfectly fine blind date turned around and left before even setting foot inside the house? With so many relatives watching, their family would lose all face if this happened.
Hearing this, the other villagers chimed in, trying to mediate.
In the end, it was only because the male lead insisted that they finally entered the Yun family’s home.
“There’s bound to be plenty of drama in this affair.” Aunt Lin had somehow sidled up beside Yun Su, staring at the Yun family’s house with astonishment. Quite a few other onlookers followed them inside. This spectacle was simply too shocking.
Here was Yun Feng, who had just locked horns with someone at the supply cooperative, and now, at her blind date, the match’s paternal aunt turned out to be the very woman she had criticized.
Because it was so coincidental, the entire village had heard the story within half an hour.
——
“Unless your daughter comes to the supply cooperative entrance, kneels down, and serves me tea in apology, I will never agree to this marriage.”
Aunt Lin pulled Yun Su along to stand at the entrance of her Second Uncle’s yard and watch the commotion. Most people were doing the same. When they heard Chen Xiangye’s words, everyone marveled at how small the world was.
“Impossible. I did nothing wrong. I won’t apologize.” Seeing her blind date’s appearance and Chen Xiangye’s arrival, Yun Feng’s resolve hardened: she would rather die than marry into this family.
The matchmaker, Dalin’s wife, desperately tried to mediate between both sides, having little understanding of the underlying tensions.
“I gave her a harsh scolding yesterday. She’s young and inexperienced, and she truly made a mistake. Wouldn’t it be too unfair to the young people to break off the match over this? How about this—right now, here in front of our villagers, I’ll have Feng girl kneel, kowtow, pour tea, and apologize. Then we can put this behind us…”
Liu Zhaodi’s words shocked everyone present. Was this really a mother talking?
Chen Xiangye, however, broke into a smug smile after hearing this: “That… might not be impossible to consider…”
Yun Feng’s heart felt like it had sunk halfway into the ground. Forget kneeling and pouring tea to apologize—the man she was being set up with was not only short and squat but also extremely ugly. You couldn’t find anyone uglier than him in the entire village.
She was unwilling, so unwilling to spend her future with someone like that.
Seeing that Yun Feng remained silent, Liu Zhaodi pressed down hard on her shoulder, signaling her to speak up.
But at that moment, Yun Feng suddenly stood up, turned, and bolted out the door.
This unexpected development surprised everyone. Then a few people chased after her: “Quick, quick, stop her! Don’t let her do anything rash…”
Meanwhile, Yun Feng ran as fast as she could toward the brigade headquarters. Her father wasn’t home today, so she had to find one of the uncles in the clan to stand up for her. She absolutely must not…
Her mind was still churning with unfinished thoughts when suddenly a familiar figure appeared before Yun Feng’s eyes.
Behind her came the sound of people calling her name. Ahead of her was the object of her affection.
Her mind went blank. Yun Feng rushed forward and threw herself at him.
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