The day before their wedding, Wang Ying and Xu Shuang went to the commune.
It was her first time to go to her own brigade commune. Two people shared a bicycle and rode all the way to the office of Shengli Commune.
After this trip, Wang Ying finally understood what poverty meant.
In the same commune, the seventh brigade had a relatively good life, but in the other one or two brigades, you could see skinny members just by riding a bicycle past.
Some children found the bicycles interesting and got on to run after them, exposing their buttocks while running.
Seeing this, Wang Ying was extremely grateful. The captain and the secretary of their brigade were both good people with quick minds. They had led the brigade to enclose an area on the mountain and plant some fruit trees early on. Although they did not earn much, it was still much better than other brigades.
Xu Shuang took Wang Ying on horseback to the commune, found the commune office and said they wanted to register for marriage.
Both of them had letters of introduction, so they went smoothly when they arrived. Xu Shuang even gave candy to the person who was doing the work, and the other party was so happy that he said a few auspicious words.
Wang Ying walked out of the door in a daze, and only then did she realize that she had obtained the marriage certificate with someone.
It is called a marriage certificate, but in fact it is just a piece of paper with a stamp on it. You take it home and put it in a shell yourself, so that it looks like a marriage certificate.
Perhaps because they had obtained the marriage certificate, Xu Shuang dared to hold Wang Ying's hand in the street. Both of them felt their palms sweating.
Wang Ying was the first to break the silence: "Why don't we take a picture?"
I had forgotten about this. I didn't take photos before going into the city the last few times. How could I not keep a souvenir of such an important moment in my life
If they wanted to take pictures, they had to go to the county town. There was no place to take pictures in the commune, so Xu Shuang made a quick decision: "Let's go!"
It's not even afternoon yet, so there's still time to go into the city.
The two of them rode their bicycles again and prepared to go to the county town.
After arriving at the county town, the two went to a photo studio to take pictures.
There was only one photo studio in the entire county. Xu Shuang and Wang Ying pushed the door and went in, scaring the people inside.
"Comrade, we have already said that our store is for taking photos for everyone, not for making small assets..."
The gloomy old man inside had a sad face and spoke a lot. Halfway through his speech, he realized that the person who came in was a young couple.
"Hello comrade, we want to take a photo."
The old man breathed a sigh of relief: "Take a photo, OK, come in and sit down."
"Wedding photos, huh?"
Wang Ying hummed awkwardly.
The old man quickly adjusted the camera. Seeing that both of them looked neat and tidy, and that they were wearing new clothes, he suddenly thought, "Comrade, would you mind taking two demonstration photos for me? I won't hang them outside, I'll hang them in the store. I won't charge you for the photos this time, but I'll also take care of the photos of your childbirth later."
Xu Shuang was a little wary: "What are you doing?"
Seeing that the other party had misunderstood, the old man quickly explained: "The demonstration photos I hung here were all the same old ones, all of which were little dolls and young girls wearing lace, and some old photos of people wearing wedding dresses... Recently, people have been saying that I am a hedonist and I charge money for taking photos, which is exploiting the working people. I thought I would trouble you to take two simple wedding photos for me so that I can hang them up as demonstration photos."
The old man had a lot of grievances to complain about. He originally got this job taking photos for people and he did a good job, but who could have expected that the world has changed so much now. Those photos that looked fashionable were no longer posed, and he almost ruined them all.
Xu Shuang and Wang Ying looked at each other. Xu Shuang felt that it was not necessary. Two yuan for a photo was expensive, but he could afford it, so it was not worth it to try to get a bargain.
Wang Ying said simply: "I'm sorry, please come back and see if anyone is willing."
She was also unwilling to put her photos in photo studios for people to refer to.
The old man's wish was not fulfilled and he could only take wedding photos for the two with a disappointed look on his face.
Before leaving, Wang Ying couldn't help but give him a suggestion: "If you want to change this impression, why don't you go and ask a few state-owned factories and say you want to take photos for them for free, like a group wedding or a photo of a successful person in the factory. You can take the photos and put them in the store. Isn't that better than asking us to take the photos for you?"
The old man was originally stuck in a rut, but he didn't think of this. Yes! Not every factory in the county has a camera. He came up and took two photos for free. Isn't this better than hiring someone to take wedding photos
"Girl, you have a really good brain!"
He will go to the factory to ask tomorrow!
I think so. In the past, he only took pictures for customers. In the future, why not take more pictures of the factory? Anyway, it’s not that the camera can’t be moved out.
After taking the photos, the two of them strolled around the county town for a while.
Xu Shuang had a unique idea and took Wang Ying to the black market.
Wang Ying: "…Why did you bring me here?"
Isn’t this the place where people were arrested in the speculation office before
Xu Shuang made a gesture to Wang Ying and quietly took Wang Ying into the alley.
This alley, which serves as a black market, is an old residential area in the county town. It is not far from the home of Xu Shuang's master Chen Dong. In the alley across the road, after twists and turns for a while, Xu Shuang finally found an old house.
Wang Ying:!!!
The house is a tiled house with a wall outside and a courtyard inside. It looks very dilapidated, but people can still be heard coming and going inside.
Xu Shuang took Wang Ying to find a house whose main door was opposite to the other houses. There was only one room in the house, which looked quite shabby, with a large brass lock hanging on the door.
Xu Shuang took out the key and opened the door, explaining to Wang Ying: "This is my master's house. It was too dilapidated to be donated. The roof is broken."
But it's just right to use it as a place to stay, and no one pays attention to the people coming and going.
Because the roof was in bad condition, Xu Shuang didn't dare to put any valuables in the room. There was only a simple bedding and a box on the other side.
Xu Shuang opened the box and saw that it was half full of leather.
Xu Shuang: "I brought some dried rabbit meat to the city. Some were sold on the black market, and some were sent to my senior brother and master. I kept the remaining skins here."
The money Xu Shuang was able to save could not be earned by relying solely on his salary. Whatever Xu Shuang caught in the mountains, he would take it to the city to exchange for money.
"But I've done very little since last year, and the county is now checking more strictly."
Xu Shuang felt a little regretful: "I was planning to sell these skins when I had enough, but now it's hard to sell them."
Leather is the most eye-catching material, but few people dare to wear it outside now.
Xu Shuang picked out the rabbit skins and took out a dozen that looked good. She put them in her arms and said, "Let's go. Go back and ask mom to make you a mattress or coat. You don't have to wear it outside, but it's fine to wear it at home."
After walking out of the door, Xu Shuang fastened the big brass lock. Wang Ying then realized belatedly that this was Xu Shuang telling her something
I guess Xu Shuang must have kept this base in the county well hidden, so now he has told me everything...
Xu Shuang: "I'll make you a key later."
The two of them walked all the way back to the brigade. Xu Shuang sent Wang Ying home, but she was not in a hurry to leave.
Holding hands for a long time, he finally said: "Wait for me to pick you up tomorrow."
Wang Ying blushed: "Yeah."
Wang Ying woke up early in the morning on the 26th. Since there was no one from her family to support her, Old Lady Xu found several young wives to come and help Wang Ying.
Wang Ying put on the newly made cotton-padded jacket. Old Mrs. Xu knew that young girls all liked to look pretty, so she made a slightly thinner jacket for her. It was warm and did not make her look fat. She wore a red plaid shirt on the outside and a brand new pair of navy blue pants underneath.
This outfit may seem quite rustic later, but at that time it was considered very fashionable.
The sisters-in-law who came to help were all envious. Wang Ying was surrounded by them. She pursed her lips with red paper and drew her eyebrows with burnt matchsticks. One of the older women insisted on sprinkling some flour on her, but Wang Ying strongly refused.
With her hair braided into two pigtails hanging behind her head, Wang Ying spent the rest of the time sitting in the bedroom waiting for Xu Shuang to come and pick her up.
Xu Shuang was not in a hurry, but Old Lady Xu secretly told him that although the four olds were being destroyed and feudal superstitions were not allowed, she still asked someone in a formal manner and said that it would be best to pick up the bride at around ten o'clock in the morning.
In fact, this time is not much different from the weddings of other families in the brigade, but Old Mrs. Xu just thinks that it is just right to wait until that time.
So Xu Shuang basically tossed and turned in the middle of the night before falling asleep, and woke up very early in the morning, but both sides could only count the time to catch the late market.
There were more people on Xu Shuang's side. Old Mrs. Su had a loud voice, commanding her sons to do this and that, and she made her three sons run around like crazy.
Xu Shuang's master Chen Dong arrived last night and is now busy at the stove.
A young man with single eyelids beside Xu Shuang yelled, "Uncle Master! Don't use chili peppers. Look how many kids are here today. Who would want to eat so many chili peppers?!"
Xu Shuang frowned deeply at the mixture of these weird dialects.
Chen Dong poked his head out of the kitchen and said, "Get lost! You said you were here to help, but look at how your cooking skills have deteriorated! It's not enough to make me angry!"
One of Xu Shuang's senior brothers, a single-eyed young man named Liu Duo, felt very aggrieved: "This is also my fault. You are all in the restaurant, and I am in the cafeteria. How can it be the same?"
After Liu Duo finished speaking, he came close to Xu Shuang and said, "Brother, don't you think so? Look at your master. He is really not considerate of others at all. No wonder you have a wife, but he doesn't."
Chen Dong yelled in the kitchen: "I heard you, come here and chop the chop!"
Liu Duo was reluctant to go. He wanted to go with Xu Shuang to pick up the bride.
Xu Shuang kicked the man into the kitchen and did not forget to take off Liu Duo's watch.
Seeing that the time on the watch reached ten o'clock, Xu Shuang stood up immediately.
It’s finally time!
A group of people followed Xu Shuang and walked towards Wang Ying's house.
A group of people marched to the door of Wang Ying's house, and they could hear harsh shouting and cursing from a distance.
"You little bitch, you stole my family's money, but you dressed yourself up in all kinds of fancy clothes. God must be blind to let someone like you suffer! You usually pretend to be a decent person, but you are full of evil intentions!"
"You're still dating Xu Shuang! He used to be your brother-in-law! Do you have any shame?"
…
Li Chunjuan sat in front of Wang Ying's house, slapping the ground and cursing, while Wang Yongshun stood silently at the door of Wang Ying's house, clearly looking for trouble.
Li Chunjuan caught a glimpse of Xu Shuang coming with people from the corner of her eye, and she felt even more excited as if they had an audience.
"Oh my, come and have a look, this is my brother-in-law, he hooked up with my sister-in-law and kicked my poor daughter..."
Li Chunjuan acted recklessly and without any image. She even turned the incident that Wang Lingling had caused some time ago into a distorted account of right and wrong, and pointedly intended to disrupt the marriage of Wang Ying and Xu Shuang.
Li Chunjuan glared at the closed door of Wang Ying's house with pride. Who cares what happens to her? She is going to nail her to death today anyway. It's just that Wang Ying and Xu Shuang have been in love with each other for a long time!
Wang Yongshun pinched his pipe, coughed, and waited for Xu Shuang to come over to discuss terms.
He lost eighty yuan, so it’s not too much for Xu Shuang to give him a hundred as compensation, right
If you don’t give it to him, he will not be able to get married today!
Even so, Wang Yongshun still felt at a loss as he lost eighty yuan!
If he hadn't lost it, if he asked Xu Shuang for another hundred today, his savings would have reached two hundred and eighty again!
Wang Yongshun has now made up his mind that he doesn't care about face anymore, he only wants money.
As long as he has money, he doesn't care about staying in this crappy countryside!
Seeing this scene, Xu Shuang didn't even blink. He said a few words to his cousins and continued to lead the team forward as usual.
Xu Shuang's cousins are all tall and strong, and when they stand outside, they look like a wall.
Wang Yongshun thought to himself that something was wrong. Before he could run, someone grabbed his arm and then two big men held him on both sides.
The other one said, "Hey, isn't this our sister-in-law's uncle? He's here to see our sister-in-law off. You're so polite."
The other said, "My sister-in-law is so lucky to have such a dear uncle. Come on, uncle, let us help you bring out the gifts you prepared for your sister-in-law, and we will have a good meal at the table later!"
Two big men lifted Wang Yongshun up, and another big man "helped" Li Chunjuan up from the ground.
The three people were clamoring and were about to go in to move things. Before Xu Shuang even got there, the three of them had already taken her back to Wang Yongshun's house.
The door slammed shut, and even Li Chunjuan's cursing could hardly be heard.
Xu Shuang remained calm and knocked on Wang Ying's door.
After a while, Wang Ying's voice came from inside the door: "Who is it?"
Xu Shuang's expression softened immediately: "It's me."
Wang Ying thought it was her uncle and his wife, and was about to open the door to deal with them, but she didn't expect it was Xu Shuang who came.
A clever sister-in-law quickly chased Wang Ying back into the house and started to call on the others to block the door together.
After blocking the door, they shouted a few more times before letting the people in.
The two men bowed to the Chairman's statue and changed their words to Old Lady Xu, which was considered a courtesy.
In a normal marriage, the bride's dowry should be carried to the groom's side. But Xu Shuang was nominally marrying into the family, so the furniture and other things had been delivered long ago. The two of them only needed to go to Xu's house for a wedding banquet, and the wedding would be complete.
A group of people surrounded Xu Shuang and Wang Ying and went to Xu's house for dinner.
Next door to Wang Ying's house, Wang Yongshun and his wife were so angry that their eyes turned black when they heard the laughter outside.
Xu Shuang's three cousins came in but didn't leave. The three of them locked the door and seemed to have stayed there and not want to leave!
Li Chunjuan kept cursing, but Xu Shuang's cousin didn't do anything and just watched her curse.
Li Chunjuan couldn't curse anymore.
Her kind of tirade requires a response from the other party.
No matter if she was embarrassed or furious, as long as there was a response, she would keep scolding in different ways.
But Xu Shuang's cousin was not supportive at all. It seemed that the purpose of these three people coming was to prevent the two of them from going out, and they didn't care about anything else.
Li Chunjuan was tired of scolding, and Wang Yongshun also stopped and dared not speak.
One of Xu Shuang's cousins scratched his head: "How are we going to eat later?"
Second cousin: "I think I should ask someone to deliver it. I want to eat at the banquet."
The third cousin: "These two guys are so annoying, let's beat them up. If they can't get up, can't we leave?"
Wang Yongshun was terrified and said tactfully, "My dear relatives, I am Wang Ying's uncle! Let's talk it out."
What if he really gets beaten
These three guys look tall and strong, and it must hurt a lot when they beat someone up.
One of Xu Shuang's cousins sneered, "You two are interesting. You're causing trouble at someone's wedding. Don't be afraid of getting beaten if you dare to cause trouble like this."
Marriage is a big deal. There are often quarrels between families in the village, but I have never seen anyone go to someone's house to make trouble during a wedding. If someone dares to do this, it means he is planning to make a mortal enemy.
Fighting is nothing. In other brigades, neighbors would tear down each other's houses when they got angry. In the early years, some families kept guns at home, and when they got angry, they didn't care about anything.
Wang Yongshun's forehead was covered with beads of sweat. "I won't dare to do that anymore. We must behave ourselves today."
Xu Shuang's second cousin: "It's useless to say this. The three of us are responsible for watching you today."
Xu Shuang had finally gotten married, and she couldn't let such a bad relative ruin the atmosphere.
Under normal circumstances, they would have had a quarrel, but today was special, wasn't it? It would be better to lock him up and not let him out.
Wang Yongshun and Li Chunjuan used both soft and hard tactics, but the three big men remained motionless and just stood at the door without calling anyone to go anywhere.
Li Chunjuan felt very aggrieved: "So Wang Ying stole our 80 yuan and we're just letting it go? She spent all these days buying quilts and wearing new clothes, and we let her spend our 80 yuan like this?! I don't accept it, if you want to lock me up, I'll lock you up, and I'll go find someone to complain tomorrow!"
Li Chunjuan really cared about money. She herself had never had much money in these years. The most she had ever received was a 100-yuan betrothal gift for her eldest daughter's wedding. But before she could even get any of it, she asked Wang Yongshun to take it away, saying that he was in charge of the money.
Eighty yuan! Li Chunjuan's heart ached.
Yaozong spends five or six yuan a month on his work, and when he comes home, he has to spend two or three yuan to buy a chicken and some rice or noodles. Eighty yuan is enough for Yaozong to eat a lot of food!
Xu Shuang's cousins looked at each other, not understanding each other: "My brother bought all my sister-in-law's things. What does it have to do with you?"
Xu Shuang didn't regret spending money, and her three cousins were all shocked. This wasn't marrying a wife, even marrying a fairy wouldn't cost that much.
However, considering that this was the first time Xu Shuang fell in love with a girl in so many years, the cousins didn't say anything.
"My second aunt has already said that if my sister-in-law is willing to marry, she cannot be asked to pay a penny. You should think it through before you speak. Also, my sister-in-law has a skill, and you can't accuse her of being a thief."
Although Xu Shuang's cousins felt that Xu Shuang spent too much money on marrying a wife, they also had a good impression of Wang Ying.
This girl is well educated, good-looking, and can treat illnesses. My cousin should marry into the family, and pay as much as he can, as he will have to live in the girl's house in the future.
When they heard Li Chunjuan and her husband say that Wang Ying stole money, several people found it hard to believe.
Li Chunjuan jumped up and down: "Where can my family's money go? We are the only two of us taking care of our son Yaozong. The closest person is Wang Ying. Who else could it be but her!"
The cousin scratched his head: "Then it can't be your son?"
Before Li Chunjuan could say anything, Wang Yongshun asserted, "Impossible!"
His son knew the family's financial situation, so why did he steal? The money was for him to use when he went to the city. If he stole it, would he be able to go to the city
My son is not stupid, he definitely won’t do that!
My cousin sneered, "You said you didn't steal, so you didn't steal. If you want to push the blame on others, you should first clean up your own house. Where's your son? Why isn't he home?"
Wang Yongshun's face was gloomy: "He goes to school in town... My son won't steal. I give him five yuan a month. He doesn't need money, so why would he steal?"
Li Chunjuan also chimed in: "Wang Ying stole it! I will sue her tomorrow!"
In terms of force, the three cousins could hang someone up and beat him with a hammer, but when it came to stealing money, none of them could do anything. The couple insisted that it was Wang Ying who stole it.
"It must be Wang Ying, otherwise I would have taken her head off and used it as a chamber pot..."
Suddenly someone ran in from outside: "Hey, Yongshun, are you home? I've been looking for you everywhere! Hurry up, go to the town and check. They said that your Yaozong was beaten up at school and his money was robbed. Fortunately, a passerby bravely took back all your Yaozong's money and sent him to the county hospital."
The cousin suddenly realized: "Did you tell me how much money Wang Yaozong was robbed of?"
The man patted his chest and said, "It's quite a lot. The brave people sent the robbers to the police station. They said it was a large amount, more than 800 yuan! Look at you, Yongshun, you can't give so much money to your child no matter how much you spoil him. It will attract attention."
Cousin, Li Chunjuan, Wang Yongshun: …
The biggest cousin: "Ah, you said over 80, right?"
He looked at Li Chunjuan with pity: "How pitiful! You have been living with a urinal on your head."
Li Chunjuan: …