Flip the table and divide the family property! Take his wife and daughter into the mountains and eat

Zhao Shanhe's expression didn't change much, and he didn't even ask for the reason first.

"How many?"

Da Zhuang was clearly taken aback, as if he hadn't expected him to ask so directly.

"two thousand."

After saying that, he added, "I still have some left. I didn't borrow it all from you; it's just that I'm a little short."

Zhao Shanhe nodded.

"What's it for?"

This time, Dazhuang didn't go around in circles.

"Liu Mei told her parents about me."

Zhao Shanhe glanced at him.

Dazhuang continued, "Her parents didn't say they disagreed, they just wanted to meet me, ask about my family situation, and see what kind of person I really am."

"I figured, since the girl has already dared to ask her family for this, I can't just be clueless and not prepare anything."

As he spoke, his tone gradually calmed down.

"I want to tidy up the house. Repair what needs repairing, replace what needs replacing, and add some cabinets and bedding. I can't go to her house empty-handed for the first time."

Dazhuang looked at Zhao Shanhe and paused for a moment.

"Brother Shanhe".

"I want to marry Liu Mei."

Zhao Shanhe, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, didn't reply, but instead squinted and quietly observed Dazhuang through the swirling smoke.

Two thousand yuan, in those days, could build three bright, large tile-roofed houses at the entrance of Kaoshantun, enough for an ordinary farmer to toil in the fields for several years.

But Zhao Shanhe didn't even blink; instead, the breath he had been holding in finally settled.

He exhaled a pale blue smoke ring, tapping the ash lightly on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed): "I thought you'd gotten into a huge mess outside, but it turns out you're planning to become a groom."

A simple smile appeared on Da Zhuang's dark red face, and he rubbed his large hands together awkwardly on his thighs: "Brother Shanhe, I know this is not a small amount... I'm working for you now, and I earn a lot every month. I'll deduct this money from your earnings monthly, including principal and interest, and I will never shortchange you a penny."

"Bullshit."

Zhao Shanhe stubbed out his cigarette in the coarse porcelain ashtray, his voice so calm it was almost indistinct: "It's true that even close brothers should keep clear accounts, but bringing up interest with me, are you itching for a beating again?"

He leaned back slightly, staring directly at Dazhuang: "Liu Mei is a good girl, upright and capable. It's a bargain for you to be with a blockhead like you. She dared to ask for this despite the pressure from her family, so you should stand up straight."

"Two thousand yuan, I'll have Xiuer count it all for you first thing tomorrow morning."

Da Zhuang suddenly raised his head, his lips moved, his eyes instantly reddened, and his throat felt like it was stuffed with a wad of waterlogged cotton: "Brother Shanhe, I..."

"Don't thank me yet, let me finish what I have to say."

Zhao Shanhe took out another cigarette, tapped it lightly on the cigarette pack twice, but didn't light it right away.

"I'll lend you the money, two thousand or three thousand, it's not a big deal."

"But don't rush to build the house."

Dazhuang was taken aback: "Why?"

"You haven't even stepped inside their house yet, what's the rush?"

Zhao Shanhe looked up at him and said, "It's normal for Liu Mei's parents to want to see you and ask about the family situation. Any parent who has raised their daughter for twenty years would ask a few questions if she wanted to date someone."

"But do you know what they're really thinking now?"

Dazhuang shook his head.

"Liu Mei wasn't sure either. She said her mother asked very detailed questions, like where I was from, how many people were in my family, and what I did for a living."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Shanhe narrowed his eyes slightly.

"When do I ask you to go?"

"The day after tomorrow at noon."

"OK."

Zhao Shanhe put the cigarette in his mouth, struck a match to light it, and said in a very flat voice:

"I'll go with you."

Dazhuang suddenly raised his head.

"Brother Shanhe, are you going too?"

"What, not welcome?"

"No!" Dazhuang quickly shook his head. "I just... I'm going to see Liu Mei's parents, and I'm afraid they'll think you're coming with me..."

Zhao Shanhe chuckled, then glanced at him sideways while smoking:

"What are you afraid of?"

"Are you afraid that her parents won't approve of you, but will instead prefer me?"

Da Zhuang was stunned for a moment, then his dark red face turned even redder:

"Brother Shanhe, you're such a grown man, why are you still making fun of me!"

Zhao Shanhe smiled, took a drag of his cigarette, and his tone became more casual:

"Alright, it's settled then."

"I'll just sit here and support you. If anyone asks who I am, just say I'm your brother, here to help you get acquainted with the place."

"The rest is up to you to talk. Say what you need to say, don't lie, and don't show any weakness."

Da Zhuang responded emphatically, nodding vigorously. His expression was noticeably more reassured than before, and he even straightened his back a bit.

Zhao Shanhe looked him up and down, then suddenly asked:

What are you planning to wear the day after tomorrow?

"What should I wear?"

Dazhuang blinked, pointed to his thick cotton-padded coat covered in oil stains, then quickly corrected himself:

"I asked someone at the supply and marketing cooperative a couple of days ago to buy a piece of dark blue Dacron fabric. I rushed to have a tailor in the village make me a new jacket so I can wear it when I go on a blind date."

Zhao Shanhe frowned and scoffed without any politeness:

"Why are you wearing such a thin cotton jacket in this freezing weather? You're shivering from the cold, people will think you have epilepsy."

He flicked off his cigarette ash, his gaze sweeping over Da Zhuang's thick, sturdy frame, before making his decision:

"Save that coat for when it gets warmer. I'll call Ivanov later and ask him to bring two thick, neat Soviet black wool overcoats from the border trade station first thing tomorrow morning, along with two proper sheepskin hats. You're a big guy, you can carry off that stuff. For your first visit, you have to look like a tiger coming down from the mountain, all tough and upright, understand?"

"It can't be that bad, Brother Shanhe..."

Da Zhuang shrank back, his large, fan-like hands flailing on his knees, his honest face showing obvious unease.

"We're just having a proper blind date, not going to a county-level meeting."

"Liu Mei's parents are both retired cadres and doctors from the health center, respectable people. The family compound is full of intellectuals who carry scalpels and wear glasses. If I, a roughneck, were to wear a Soviet black woolen overcoat and a sheepskin hat and strut around, wouldn't the doctors and nurses in the family compound laugh at me behind my back, thinking I look like a nouveau riche who deals in mountain products? I... I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to pull off this look, and I wouldn't know where to put my hands and feet when I walk."

Zhao Shanhe tapped the cigarette ash against the edge of the rough porcelain jar, glancing sideways at it:

"What do you mean 'not that serious'? You don't know anything about taking the initiative."

He leaned back against the kang cabinet, his tone flat:

"Precisely because they are a cadre family from the old health center, and the elderly couple have been used to being respectable all their lives, you absolutely cannot dress like a peasant who just crawled out of the cornfield to make do! If you wear a thin, shabby cloth jacket and hunch over when you enter the family compound, the doctors and nurses in the corridors will look you up and down, and while they'll be polite to you, they'll secretly sigh for Liu Mei, thinking that the daughter of a respectable doctor has married a lowly laborer."

"If you walk in smartly, chest out and head held high, even if you're a roughneck, you'll look like a man of substance and presence. Who would dare look down on you?"

Da Zhuang's Adam's apple bobbed violently, and he opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but he found that every word Zhao Shanhe said made sense and was all for his and Liu Mei's long-term benefit.

He lowered his head, rubbed his face hard with both hands, his nose felt a little sore, and he replied in a muffled voice:

"Brother, I know you're doing this for my own good... Okay, I'll do whatever you say."

"Just listen to me."

Zhao Shanhe stubbed out his cigarette and looked at Dazhuang. "Are you full? If you are, go back and shave off the stubble on your face, and get your hair trimmed at the barbershop. Don't look like you haven't woken up yet by noon the day after tomorrow."