The two of them walked out of the dormitory at the same time, looked at each other, Chai Jianmin rolled his eyes and walked out quickly.
Ever since Xu Laidie accepted ten kilograms of cornmeal from Chen Dazhui, he has been beaten in the face by Xu Laidie. He hated Cheng Qiao, but now he hates Xu Laidie even more.
"Tsk, what are you showing off for? You're just a stingy bastard and a piece of trash who can never achieve anything great."
Xu Laidi also rolled his eyes and muttered angrily.
When Qian Longkun and his friends came back with firewood, the table at the educated youth site was already filled with food, including a large bowl of pork dumplings with some aged vinegar on the side.
There was also a big bowl of chicken stewed with mushrooms. The mushrooms were picked with great effort by Xiaoqin and Xiaoping and then carefully dried. There were also braised cabbage with vinegar, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and stir-fried beans with peppers.
"Wow, why is today's dinner so sumptuous? I really want to drink two bottles of wine."
Zhao Xiaobao said exaggeratedly, Qian Longkun nodded with a smile, Cheng Qiao is getting married tomorrow, there should be wine to drink, and just when everyone was about to start eating, Cheng Qiao ran to the door of the educated youth point, as if waiting for someone.
"Hey, is Li Huan coming?"
"No, they are getting married tomorrow, how can they still meet each other?"
"Who is Cheng Qiao waiting for?"
"Cheng Qiao~"
A cheerful female voice appeared, and Qian Longkun smiled. It turned out to be his sister. No wonder she told him mysteriously that she had a secret when he met her last time.
"Sister Longxin, it's better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early. We were just about to start eating when you came."
"Great! I've been craving meat lately. Don't tell me you didn't prepare any meat tonight."
"Haha, just come in and take a look and you'll know."
"Cheng Qiao, let me introduce you to Zhao Xiaobei, Zhao Xiaobao's younger sister. She was born on the same day as you."
"Cheng Qiao, I'm Zhao Xiaobei, so I'll call you Qiaoqiao."
"Okay Zhao Xiaobei, then I'll call you Beibei."
Zhao Xiaobao shook his head, knowing that wherever Longxin was, Xiaobei would be there, just like he would be there wherever Longkun was. He quietly went to prepare the money for the meal, as there would be two more people attending the banquet tomorrow.
But when Zhao Xiaobao saw Zhao Xiaobei's expression, he felt inexplicably nervous. His sister looked wrong today. What went wrong
Qian Longxin winked at Qian Longkun and told them to talk about it after dinner. Everyone sat down together and prepared to eat. No matter what, eating was the most important thing.
After dinner, Zhao Xiaobao and Qian Longkun, the two pairs of siblings, went out for a walk. When they came back, the faces of the four of them looked very ugly.
It was completely dark when Li Huan drove a bullock cart to the gate of the educated youth site. He and Shouhou brought back Cheng Qiao's betrothal gifts and dowry.
There were also various boxes and cages made by Uncle Niu on the ox cart, all painted with fiery red paint. Of course, this paint was also obtained by Li Huan with great difficulty.
Everyone looked at the large and small packages piled in the yard of the educated youth site with admiration in their eyes. Zhang Yuefang even kept touching each package with her hands, imagining that when she gets married in the future, she would have such a large dowry.
"Why are you all standing there like an idiot? Why don't you help to organize the things?"
The caring elder sister is caring. Seeing everyone standing there stupidly, she started to roar. Zhang Yuefang nodded repeatedly. She raised her hand and said that she would be the supervisor to prevent people from stealing things in the chaos.
After hearing this, Xu Laidi, who had been ready to make a move, felt so angry that she wanted to bite off a piece of Zhang Yuefang's flesh. Just now, she went to the village chief to borrow food, but the village chief didn't even show up. It seemed that she could only go to build a reservoir the day after tomorrow.
With Zhang Yuefang as the supervisor, the girls felt at ease helping Cheng Qiao put things in order, and at the same time satisfying their curiosity about how much dowry Cheng Qiao had.
Uncle Niu helped Cheng Qiao pack two large boxes. One box was filled with brand new bedding and clothes, and the other box was filled with betrothal gifts and Cheng Qiao's own rations such as rice, flour, and oil.
Xiaofang touched the soft quilt enviously. With such a thick quilt, she would definitely not be cold in winter.
There were also two other small boxes, each containing some daily necessities, pots and pans, and some clothes, shoes and socks that Cheng Qiao usually wore, all neatly stacked.
There were also large and small bathtubs and wooden basins for washing feet, face and bath. Cheng Qiao had also put some red dates, peanuts, melon seeds and candies in several small wooden basins, which would be distributed to everyone along the way tomorrow.
"Cheng Qiao, with so much dowry, will people gossip about it?"
Zhang Yuefang asked, and when she saw Cheng Qiao looking over, she pointed towards Xu Laidi. Han Chunmei smiled and shook her head:
"No, one box is the betrothal gift, one box is the dowry, and the small box contains Cheng Qiao's personal belongings. There is nothing wrong with it. There is no problem."
Zhang Yuefang glanced triumphantly at Xu Laidi who was still sulking, locked all the boxes, strung the keys together with a red hairband, and hung it around Cheng Qiao's neck.
Qian Longxin and Zhao Xiaobei knew at a glance that this woman and Cheng Qiao didn't get along, so they stayed away from Xu Laidi. However, with two more girls sleeping together tonight, Xu Laidi had difficulty even turning over all night.
In October in the Northeast, the temperature had dropped to 7 or 8 degrees. Cheng Qiao wore a thin jacket, a bright red khaki coverlet made by Han Chunmei, black woolen trousers, and a pair of black leather shoes as she walked out of the dormitory.
Jiang Guangrong placed the clean bicycle in the middle of the yard. Several male educated youth used red cloth strips obtained from somewhere to tie a dragonfly knot on the front of the bicycle.
Han Chunmei smiled and shook her head. She urged Chen Qiao to wash up while she took off the dragonfly knot and tied a fat bow again. Jiang Guangrong nodded, and it looked pleasing to the eye.
There was a crackling sound of firecrackers outside. Needless to say, Li Huan had come to pick up the bride. Xiaoqin hurriedly pushed Cheng Qiao, who had just finished washing up, onto a stool and took out a comb to help Cheng Qiao comb her hair.
Two red ribbons were tied at the end of the thick black braids, hanging quietly beside the cheeks. A slight blush appeared on the fair face, the eyes were like water apricots, the lips were red without any makeup, and the eyebrows were green without any drawing.
"Cheng Qiao, how can you be so beautiful? Why don't you marry me? I will definitely raise you to be plump and white."
Qian Longxin made a slick joke and everyone burst into laughter. Cheng Qiao's face turned even redder. Even Chai Jianmin, who hated Cheng Qiao, lowered his head and fantasized that his future wife would be as pure and beautiful as her.
The door of the educated youth center was completely opened, and Aunt Wang brought a group of old women to move the dowry. When they saw two small boxes and two large boxes, as well as the bathtub and wooden basin, they were stunned.
Aunt Wang walked over and tried the weight of the box to make sure it was absolutely full. Only then did she boldly open the lid. Everyone who saw it gasped.