1970s: My childhood sweetheart ran away, and I turned around and married the wildest chief.

Miao Cuiying raised an eyebrow, understanding!

"When was your daughter-in-law born?"

"I'll tell you this in person when you get here. It's not convenient over the phone. Anyway, her family has connections with our military leaders. Don't brag about this back home. I'm only telling you this quietly because you're my mother. If anyone asks, just say she's a well-educated girl from a good family. I haven't gone into details yet, but you'll find out when you come to the wedding."

Upon hearing this, Miao Cuiying knew that this girl's family must be quite powerful, and she felt a little nervous. "They can talk to your leaders? Then... our family can't even come close. Even if I bring all my most capable relatives, we still can't compare to them! Your older brother is so far away, he probably won't be able to come back."

Lu Mingzhou laughed and said, "You don't need to be as good as him. Your son is good enough. Otherwise, he wouldn't have agreed to marry his precious daughter to me. Just don't be too poor."

……

Lu Mingzhou's phone call lasted half an hour, during which he rambled on and on. Just from his attitude, Miao Cuiying knew just how much her son valued this wedding.

"Alright, Mom knows. I'll make sure you make a good impression and won't lose face."

After hanging up the phone, Lu Mingzhou was still a little uneasy. Back in his car, he kept thinking about whether he had missed anything.

"Wanwan, I just called my parents and told them I got married. How about we hold the wedding at a state-run hotel? I'd like my parents to come over. I don't have much vacation time to go back home right now, so we can only have it here. Your parents are here too, so do you have any requests?"

Qiao Wanqing was somewhat surprised, "At a state-run restaurant?"

These days, weddings are usually held in the canteen of the workplace. Many military personnel get married in the groom's hometown. Those who don't go home just have a wedding in the canteen, and some don't even have a wedding ceremony, just have a meal at their own home.

It's not uncommon for state-run hotels to host weddings, but they are relatively rare, as they are quite expensive.

Lu Mingzhou nodded, "Yeah, these days you can't be extravagant. If someone of my rank holds a wedding in the army canteen, it's awkward if those leaders are invited but also awkward if they aren't. Besides, you're marrying me, and I don't know how many people of similar rank are jealous of me. I'm worried that those old guys might say something bad at the wedding that will affect our mood."

"How about we hold it at the state-run restaurant? There won't be many people, so let's keep it low-key. Just our relatives from both families will be there. We'll host the military reception as usual, okay?"

So, we'll have to hold two events. Neither of the two families are military personnel, so it's not good to have too many people attend at once. These days, weddings are very simple. If some military personnel get married and it's held in the canteen, there might not even be a banquet, just a ceremony.

However, when military officers get married, especially those of the rank of officers who have accompanied their spouses to the military, they usually hold a banquet in their family compound after getting married in their hometown. They rarely invite their superiors; it is usually their subordinates and a few close friends.

Lu Mingzhou was no exception.

When Lu Mingzhou saw that she didn't speak, he assumed that she thought the wedding was too simple. Such a rich young lady was used to grand occasions and probably wanted a grand wedding.

"Wanwan, do you think this is too simple? I'll try to make it bigger, okay? Although not many of my family members will come, I still have quite a few connections in Beichuan, and we need to maintain those connections. I'll contact the hotel, and I'll make sure it's a respectable event, okay?"

Qiao Wanqing snapped out of her reverie and smiled, "I'm not complaining. I'm just thinking that it's not good to be extravagant these days. Would it be too high-profile to hold the wedding at a state-run hotel? I was wondering if we could hold it at the Xu family's old house. It's a very large place, but it is, after all, the Xu family's house. Nowadays, people don't care much about these things and want everything to be simple. I can't make up my mind right now."

Lu Mingzhou glanced at her a few times, then fell silent.

He felt that the girl was frightened and was being overly cautious.

"We only get married once in a lifetime. Although we can't have a big celebration, we can't be too stingy either. Let's hold it at a state-run restaurant. No need for everyone to worry. We can just chat when we meet, and then everyone can go home after the ceremony."

"State-run restaurants have a wider variety of ingredients, and the banquets are more elaborate. Your relatives will be coming over, right? I have a house in the family compound, and my rank has reached that level. If I can't even afford to hold my wedding at a state-run restaurant and have to go to the Xu family's instead, I'm worried some relatives will laugh at you for being cheated by a poor guy!"

Qiao Wanqing: "..."

She couldn't help but laugh out loud.

However, it's quite possible.

At the very least, her cousin would definitely laugh at her, and if the Chen and Gao families found out, they would definitely laugh at her too. Perhaps those two families would even get so angry that they would deliberately come to her door to make fun of her.

"Then I'll do as you say and go to the state-run restaurant."

"Okay, I'll discuss the time with my parents later so I can call them and tell them."

The two discussed the wedding along the way, and the atmosphere was quite good. Qiao Wanqing had been secretly observing Lu Mingzhou's expression and could tell that he was indeed in a very good mood.

He spent nearly two thousand yuan on wedding supplies this time. There's also the wedding and a banquet at the family compound, which will cost a lot more money. He didn't seem unhappy at all; on the contrary, he was very excited throughout. Is he really rich or just because he had a very comfortable night last night?

"It should be both," Qiao Wanqing thought to herself.

People in this era have different consumption concepts than those in later generations. People nowadays only have a few major events in their lives, and they may spend their entire life savings on these events, so they are very generous when it comes to important matters.

Lu Mingzhou holds a high position and has served in the military for many years. He should have a considerable amount of savings. If his family is well-off, he shouldn't need to subsidize them too much. Thinking about it this way, he can indeed afford to spend this money.

Regardless of the era, the gap between ordinary people and the rich is always enormous. The more chaotic and backward the era, the greater the wealth gap. In ancient times, with such low productivity, those nobles and royalty could still live in luxury without engaging in any productive work. In modern times…

I heard that back in the 1980s, some people were driving Mercedes-Benzes and causing a ruckus in the capital! Others owned shops on several streets in the capital and had assets worth hundreds of millions!

During the Republican era, when famine was rampant, the assets of these three sisters were still in the hundreds of millions.

Lu Mingzhou is nothing special at all.

The two drove to the ancestral home of the Xu family.

The village is mostly inhabited by members of the Xu family. Later, some outsiders also migrated here, but the Xu family still makes up the majority. Many houses and roads were built with money from the Xu family.