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

Both he and his maternal grandfather were scholars, but his grandfather appeared genuinely kind on the surface, while he was rather serious and only exchanged a few words. Lu Mingzhou could tell from this that his grandfather was probably not satisfied with him as his son-in-law.

Back when he wasn't yet a son-in-law, he had dinner at the Qiao family home with Qiao Yuanhe. At that time, Qiao's father admired him quite a bit!

Ugh……

Lunch went fairly well. After lunch, Qiao Wanqing chatted with her mother and grandmother while helping to tidy up the house. There wasn't much to tidy up, though. Although they had just moved in, the house was fully equipped with all the necessities. They had also used the things they brought from the Qiao family. The cabinets and such were probably bought by Qiao Yuanhe, and they were sufficient for now.

Lu Mingzhou accompanied Grandpa Xu and Father Qiao in the living room, mainly talking about the wedding. Listening to Lu Mingzhou's arrangements for the wedding, it was clear that he valued it and wasn't deliberately trying to wrong his daughter, which made Father Qiao's expression soften.

Not long after, Grandpa Xu called Qiao Wanqing and told her to get ready so she could go back with Lu Mingzhou immediately.

Lu Mingzhou hadn't expected Grandpa Xu to let him leave so soon. "Grandpa..."

Grandpa Xu waved his hand, "I've told you everything I needed to say. Just come here less often in the future and live your own lives."

"The situation is tense right now, so we should keep a low profile. I'm relieved that you younger generation are doing well. There's no need for family formalities. Minimize contact as much as possible. Your well-being is more important than anything else."

Grandpa Xu is a very rational person. Given the current tense situation, it's better for him to keep a low profile to avoid affecting the children's future.

Lu Mingzhou truly hadn't expected the Xu family to be able to do something like this.

Logically speaking, he naturally hoped that Qiao Wanqing would have less contact with the Xu family, but people have feelings, and he was reluctant to ask Qiao Wanqing to do so. However, he did not expect that it would be Xu's maternal grandfather who brought it up first.

"Grandpa, Wanwan is still your granddaughter after all. After so many years of relationship, she's bound to have some trouble adjusting. Bai Zhengxiong is dead, and things have calmed down at home. You don't need to worry about it too much."

Grandpa Xu smiled and said, "We were able to get out safely thanks to you. We are already very satisfied. I am also relieved that Wanwan can marry you. Just treat her well in the future. Everything else is more important for your future."

"This world probably won't last much longer."

Lu Mingzhou paused slightly. He had just talked about this topic with his grandfather. Sometimes, he really felt that the heads of powerful families who had weathered the ups and downs of turbulent times had a very keen eye. He had benefited a lot from chatting with his grandfather.

Qiao Yanshuo entered the house, looked at his beloved daughter, and sighed, "Daughter, Daddy is sorry!"

No matter what, he felt that he had dragged his daughter down. If she were the one, her wedding would never have been so simple.

Qiao Wanqing comforted him, "Dad, don't say that. The safety and well-being of our family is more important than anything else. Besides, I chose this person myself. It's already very commendable that he's willing to take risks to protect me in this critical moment. He's no less capable than anyone else among the younger generation."

But society is not a battle fought alone; it's always a family effort. Lu Mingzhou's family background is too poor, and he worries that his daughter will suffer in the future.

But since it was already a done deal, he couldn't say anything more.

"We just talked about the wedding. It's scheduled for the 6th of next month at a state-run restaurant. There will be about three tables for our two families' relatives and a few of his friends from Beichuan. The bride price is 2,000 yuan. He has already bought some wedding supplies, and he said he will buy some more when his parents come. The bride price will also be given to us by his parents when the two families meet. We will discuss any requests when the two families meet."

In this day and age, to receive such treatment when getting married is already considered very good.

However, in the eyes of these large families, it's really not enough. If she marries into a family of equal social standing, in today's environment, she might appear to be just about average on the surface to keep a low profile, but in private, it would be much more than that. Once their daughter gets married, she immediately falls far short of the girls in their former social circle.

Qiao Yanshuo had always known that Xu Yanran, the daughter of the Xu family, did not get along with her daughter. If she had known that her daughter's wedding only had this much, she would definitely have laughed at her daughter.

After hearing this, Xu Hui, the mother, and her grandmother also fell silent.

Qiao Wanqing was satisfied with everything. As for the difference in conditions between the two families, she was aware of it, but she had to make a choice. Relatively speaking, she would rather find someone who was willing to share her honor. She didn't know if Lu Mingzhou would change in the future, but at least for now, he was someone worth marrying.

The other two families aren't even worth marrying into right now, let alone in the future.

In fact, her confidence stemmed from her knowledge that in the coming decades, turning her life around would be easy, and acquiring wealth would not be difficult.

At least for her, it wasn't difficult.

In this situation, why should you compromise yourself for those few conditions?

Whether it's the Chen family or the Gao family, does that mean she'll be given wealth just because she marries into them? Doesn't she still have to please them and suffer some grievances to get what she wants?

She couldn't bear to suffer any injustice.

"Let's arrange it like this then. We'll discuss the details once his parents arrive. He's already bought quite a lot of things today, and the rest of the big items are all ready."

Qiao Wanqing told them about the things she bought today and the current home furnishings. She was already living quite well under the current circumstances.

Xu Hui's expression softened, and she nodded, saying, "Then let's do it this way!"

Xu Hui glanced at Qiao Yanshuo, took a small package out of the box and handed it to Qiao Wanqing, "This is the dowry your family has prepared for you. This is only part of it. The rest are written on slips of paper. You can check them yourself when you get back."

Xu Hui whispered some instructions to Qiao Wanqing before letting her go out to leave with Lu Mingzhou.

After greeting the elders, Lu Mingzhou led Qiao Wanqing away, a smile on his face the whole time. He stayed close to Qiao Wanqing, saying with a smile, "Grandpa likes me very much!"

Qiao Wanqing almost burst out laughing.

Is this guy drunk? He's kind of cute, actually. What did Grandpa say to him?

After saying that, Lu Mingzhou happily went to get his car.

Qiao Wanqing found it somewhat amusing; it seemed she had truly been fooled quite a bit by her grandfather!

He opened the car door, waved to his grandparents with a big smile on his face, and looked like a young poplar swaying in the wind in the sunlight, full of youthful energy!

You're so happy!

Qiao Wanqing smiled too.

When he got back to the family compound, it was only around 3 p.m. After unloading his luggage from the car, Lu Mingzhou also went to his dormitory and brought back some more luggage. This way, the things he left in the family compound would be enough for his daily needs.

They thought they finally had time to meet their neighbors, but just as they finished packing, it started raining again, and the rain got heavier and heavier. Helpless, the two of them could only stay at home.

Lu Mingzhou took two iron boxes out of the box and handed them to Qiao Wanqing.

"Open it and take a look," he said.