The poor girl from the 1970s was forced to kiss by the damp educated youth.

Chen Zhi held the two sets of clothes in her arms, feeling like she was dreaming. Tomorrow she was going to marry Xi Lang?

Things were going far too smoothly, completely beyond her expectations.

"Sister Zhizhi, here's your water bucket." Chen Da called out to Chen Zhizhi as she was about to enter.

Chen Zhi paused, turned around and walked towards Chen Da. Xi Lang followed the Chen family into the house; they were going to discuss tomorrow's banquet.

Chen Zhi took a bucket and poured all the loaches, eels, and snails into Chen Da's bucket. "Here you go. Thank you for today."

Chen Da swallowed hard. "You're giving me all these fat loaches and eels?"

"Hmm." Rather than giving it to the Chen family, she'd rather give it to Chen Da; she'd be happy with that.

Chen Da grinned foolishly, "Then I won't be polite, thank you, Sister Zhizhi. I wish Sister Zhizhi and Xi Lang a long and happy marriage."

Chen Zhi smiled, a genuine joy emanating from her heart, "Thank you."

Xi Lang and the Chen family were in the main room, while Chen Zhi was in the courtyard washing her dirty clothes and two new outfits.

"Aren't you smug?" The thought of Chen Zhi stealing the spotlight today made her furious. Chen Zhi was almost going to become someone's stepmother, so why did Xi Lang have to come along?

With so many betrothal gifts, and the bride price reaching as high as one hundred yuan, what is she, the older sister, supposed to do?

In the nearby villages, which family would be willing to give up so much?

The half-pig alone posed a challenge for most families.

The thought that he was destined to be overshadowed by Chen Zhi made Chen Ye feel so frustrated that he wanted to curse.

Chen Zhi didn't even glance at Chen Ye; she was in a good mood and didn't want to argue with him.

"You're really something. Yesterday you were seducing Li Zhou'an, and today you've made Xi Lang so infatuated that he'd commit suicide for you. You vixen—"

Snapped!

Chen Zhi slapped her across the face, her expression blank. "Break down feudal superstitions, sister, you'd better watch your words."

"Chen Zhi, you dare hit me? I'll never forgive you!"

Chen Ye rolled up his sleeves and pounced on him.

Chen Zhi put down the clothes she was holding, grabbed Chen Ye's hands, and shoved him hard. Chen Ye stumbled back several steps, only stopping when he hit a stone pillar. Chen Ye's back went numb, and he looked at Chen Zhi in disbelief. When did Chen Zhi become so strong?

Chen Ye, refusing to believe it, rushed at Chen Zhi again to scratch her. Chen Zhi was relatively polite to her, only pushing her away, causing Chen Ye to fall several times. Chen Ye didn't even manage to touch Chen Zhi's body; she was completely overwhelmed.

Chen Ye's buttocks hurt, and her palms were chafed raw. She stared intently at her younger sister, who was a head taller than her, with red eyes.

"Have you grown taller again?" she asked.

Chen Zhi sneered, "You're only just realizing that?"

"So what if you're taller?" Chen Ye retorted.

"You're really something, aren't you? You can't even beat me anymore." Chen Ye used to hit her quite a few times.

Chen Ye gritted her teeth, "Don't be too smug. If Xi Lang has the chance to return to the city, you can expect to be abandoned by him."

Chen Zhi remained unfazed. "Then you don't need to worry about it."

When Chen Zhi finished hanging up the clothes, Xi Lang also came out. Xi Lang glanced at her indifferently and walked outside. Chen Zhi felt as if her heart had been squeezed by a large hand, and she ran after him.

Xi Lang picked up a bamboo basket from outside the house and walked ahead, with Chen Zhi following behind. The two of them walked together towards the educated youth settlement.

Back in front of Xi Lang's house, Chen Zhicai, like a child who had done something wrong, stammered an apology, "I'm sorry."

Xi Lang gave a faint "hmm" and went about his own business.

Chen Zhi stepped forward and tugged at his sleeve. "Are you angry?"

"Shouldn't I be angry?" Xi Lang retorted.

"It's not what you see." Chen Zhi looked a little awkward, and her ears turned slightly red.

Xi Lang glanced behind her and saw that Li Zhou'an and several other educated youths were walking this way. Upon hearing Chen Zhi's words, they stopped in their tracks.

"It's not what I thought, then what is it?" Xi Lang asked.

"My second cousin found someone, but the girl's family is asking for a dowry of fifty yuan, which my family can't afford, so they're planning to marry me off to my eldest sister's husband. He agreed and came to deliver the dowry today. I don't want to marry him, but I don't know if you'd be willing to marry me. You're from the city, and from Beijing at that; I'm afraid you'd look down on me, a country girl."

Chen Zhi paused for a moment, then continued, "I originally wanted to go directly to the educated youth settlement to ask you, but I ran into Li Zhou'an when I passed by the threshing ground. Li Zhou'an said you weren't home. I thought Li Zhou'an was also from the city, and his family seemed to be well-off. Since you two are in similar circumstances, I thought I'd ask him first to see if he would mind marrying a girl from the countryside."

Chen Zhi's voice grew softer and softer, and now not only her ears turned red, but her face did too.

Xi Lang sighed, looked at Li Zhou'an and the others behind him, and asked, "Did you hear that? It's a misunderstanding."

The educated youth looked at each other, then turned to the person in question, Li Zhou'an.

Li Zhou'an nodded, "Comrade Chen Zhi did go to the educated youth settlement yesterday, but I stopped her."

Chen Zhi breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Li Zhou'an's words. Xi Lang should believe her now, right?

"I'm sorry," Li Zhou'an apologized, "I should have been more proactive."

If he had expressed his feelings first, she wouldn't have needed to be so anxious or so cautious.

However, she was too young, so he originally planned to wait a little longer.

"Cough cough—"

Zhao Jinbao broke the slightly awkward atmosphere, "Xi Lang, we came to ask if you need any help with the banquet tomorrow?"

After saying this, Zhao Jinbao felt embarrassed.

The other educated youth who came with them were also a little embarrassed.

They used to exclude and isolate Xi Lang, even driving him out of the educated youth settlement. Now they're coming to his door on their own initiative. It's really shameless of them.

"I'm sorry for what happened before," Li Zhou'an apologized first.

Xi Lang chuckled softly, "You weren't here yet back then."

Zhao Jinbao: "I'm sorry."

The others also apologized, saying, "I'm sorry."

Xi Lang nodded and said, "I'll take it."

Zhao Jinbao: "Then tomorrow—"

"Come over first thing tomorrow morning and have breakfast here. Thanks."

"Oh, don't be shy, just do whatever you want, as long as you're fed."

Li Zhou'an and the others came over, said hello, and left, leaving Chen Zhi and Xi Lang alone in front of the house.

Chen Zhi: "When did you prepare all those things?"

Xi Lang: "Last night."

Chen Zhi's eyes widened. "You went to town last night?"

Xi Lang nodded.

"But weren't you angry yesterday—"

"I'm angry."

Therefore, I want to bring you closer to me, so that you can never leave again.

"You're preparing so much stuff, it's such a waste of money. They treat me badly, I can't bear to give it to them." Chen Zhi felt heartbroken just thinking about it.

"Not much." It was just a little something, nothing to mention. He just wanted to elevate her and tell the villagers how important Chen Zhi was to him.

"Do you still have any money to spend?" Chen Zhi asked.

"Yes," Xi Lang said. "Once you marry into our family, I'll give you the money to keep safe."

Chen Zhi waved her hand, "I don't want to manage the money, I'm afraid I'll lose it."

"We can always earn it back if we lose it," Xi Lang said nonchalantly.

Chen Zhi rolled her eyes. "Is money so easy to earn? Forget it, you spend money like water, I'll manage the household. Now, let's talk about tomorrow's groceries. You promised to send fish to my house tomorrow, where are the fish? We're going to catch them in the mountains—"

"Shh!"

Xi Lang stopped her, "Leave these things to me, you just focus on being a good bride."

Chen Zhi blushed instantly upon hearing the words "bride".

"It's noon, let me cook you lunch first." Xi Lang went to cook.

"Together."

After lunch, Chen Mu came over and told Chen Zhi to go home, saying that her family had something to tell her.

As soon as Chen Zhi left, Xi Lang went back to his room and put away the 1.2-meter-wide bed, replacing it with a 1.5-meter-wide one.

I never thought this house was small before, but now I realize it is indeed a bit small. There's no extra space on the left side of the house, but there's a small slope on the right, covered with rocks and weeds. If we dug up the slope, we could probably build two more houses.

Xi Lang carried two pounds of fruit candy towards the brigade office.

There were only two people in the office: the brigade secretary Chen Jun and the brigade leader Chen Renzheng. Two pounds of fruit candy was just enough to share.

Chen Jun and Chen Renzheng were both a little surprised to see Xi Lang. It had been two years since Xi Lang had taken the initiative to contact them.

After the incident with Widow Yu, both of them realized that Xi Lang was no ordinary person, and they couldn't help but feel a little more respect for him.

Both of them were taken aback when they heard Xi Lang's purpose for coming.

Chen Jun: "You're going to marry Chen Zhi?"

Why did they choose Chen Zhi, who has the worst reputation?

Xi Lang nodded, "We'll have the banquet tomorrow."

Chen Renzheng: "You're pretty fast."

Xi Lang: "If you see something you like, just buy it. I'm afraid someone else will try to take it from me."

Chen Renzheng's lips twitched. If it were anyone else, there would probably be people vying for them, but as for Chen Zhi, I'm afraid no one would dare to marry her.

Chen Jun looked at Chen Renzheng and asked, "How big is the small hill next to his house?"

Chen Jun: "I can't remember. Anyway, it's not far, let's go take a look."

The two returned with Xi Lang, bringing with them measuring tools, paper, and pen.

After the two measured it, the slope was 16 meters long and 10 meters wide, which was not large. It would not be illegal to allocate the whole of it to Xi Lang as a homestead.

Besides, it's just a piece of abandoned land; it's better to do Xi Lang a favor. That way, if we encounter something like that again in the future, we can ask him for help.

Xi Lang: "I plan to use the excavated soil to raise the level of my vegetable garden in front of my house."

Chen Ren was looking at the vegetable patch, then at the wasteland next to it, which was full of rocks. Could Xi Lang be planning to bury the rocks and clear the land to grow vegetables?

Chen Renzheng tentatively asked, "You know that each household can only have two mu (approximately 0.2 hectares) of vegetable garden, right?"

Xi Lang: "I know, I only have one point right now."

Chen Renzheng choked for a moment, "Just keep it in mind. If we are reported, we will handle it impartially."

Xi Lang: "No problem."

After dark, Xi Lang went to the black market again.

As soon as he arrived at the black market, Shi Xin personally came to greet him.

"I've agreed to what you asked me to do," Xi Lang said.

Shi Xin was overjoyed, "Brother, you're my brother now!"

A week ago, when Shi Xin was transporting goods through the mountains, he was possessed by a mountain spirit. The spirit tried to control his body, but Shi Xin's strong will prevented it from succeeding. However, he was also suffering. His body was visibly wasting away, and his energy was deteriorating day by day. He spent twenty out of twenty hours a day in a coma.

Just when he thought he was doomed, Xi Lang arrived.

Xi Lang dealt with the mountain spirit.

Xi Lang saved Shi Xin's life; he was Shi Xin's savior.