Traveling back to 1952, starting a comeback from a relief station

Adults don't take children's words seriously.

Let alone every day, even during the Chinese New Year, no family would dare to be so extravagant, serving several meat dishes in one meal. How could they possibly make a living like that?

Aunt Qin poked her daughter's forehead in an annoyed tone:

"You want to eat this every day? What a pipe dream!"

"Even if your sister moves to the city later, she won't have the blessing of eating meat every meal. But life in the city is always better than in the countryside."

Qin Jingru blinked her big eyes, her gaze full of longing:

"I want to live a good life like my sister!"

Qin Huairu's sister-in-law teased her with a smile:

"Wow, our Jingru has ambition!"

"But your sister was only able to move to the city after she married your brother-in-law."

Unexpectedly, Qin Jingru tilted her head, blinked her bright, watery eyes, and blurted out:

"Then, I'll become my brother-in-law's concubine!"

Qin Jingru's words caused a burst of laughter among the adults, and no one thought they were anything shocking.

These days, every family has many children.

They're all raised in a very rough manner.

I've never been particular about keeping things from children when I speak.

It had only been a few years since the founding of the People's Republic of China. Many of the wealthy families or former landlords had taken concubines, and people were used to it.

Even in the village today, there are still quite a few men who have several wives.

Although the new law has been promulgated, it's not right to forcibly separate couples who have already started living together.

Qin Jingru often heard adults talk about these things, so she just casually said that.

This only drew more laughter.

Seeing that the adults didn't take it seriously at all, she could only stuff meat into her mouth angrily and simply stopped talking to them.

After lunch, we rested for a while.

Qin Huairu went back to her room and changed into the new clothes that Wang Anping had brought.

The rest of the Qin family were busy helping the couple pack their things. Wang Anping took out twenty yuan and handed it to Qin's mother as a betrothal gift.

Qin Huairu saw this and a hint of heartache flashed in her eyes.

I couldn't help but mutter to myself:

"Too many."

"There's no need to give so much."

Qin's mother looked at her daughter speechlessly.

She didn't really care how much the bride price was, since Wang Anping was known for his generosity.

The things he brought back this time are worth a lot of money, and besides, he has no other family members; from now on, they will all be one family.

She knew her daughter was thrifty and good at managing money, but she hadn't even left her parents' home yet, and she was already acting like she owned the place. What kind of talk was that?

She really wanted to say that she still had some reservations about the marriage, and asked her daughter to rethink her words.

However, they still refunded fifteen yuan.

Five yuan was left as a bride price.

"Anping, we're all family from now on, no need to be so polite. We have everything we need, you two just need to live your lives well."

"When Huairu gets pregnant and is about to give birth, I will come to the city to help you take care of the child."

The Qin family has never been one to be greedy for small gains.

They were being very polite.

They can't pretend to be stupid either.

In Qin's mother's opinion, her daughter was already marrying above her station by marrying a son-in-law like Wang Anping.

Her family must not hold her back.

Besides, it's not a big deal that the eldest son is married now, but the youngest son is talented and is sixteen years old now. If we can get along well with the son-in-law, we might be able to ask him to put in a good effort and help the youngest son find a way to make a living in the city.

Wang Anping didn't think that much about it.

Although she has traveled to this era, she still carries the thoughts of the future generation deep in her heart.

He only bought some things and gave five yuan as a betrothal gift, which was less than a month's salary for him, yet he was able to marry such a beautiful and obedient wife as Qin Huairu, who was both capable and considerate.

He felt like he had hit the jackpot.

Not only did Qin's mother have this idea, but Qin's second uncle's family also had similar plans.

With both of my sons already in their teens, it's going to be difficult for them to go to junior high school. Will they all end up as farmers?

Seeing how successful her nephew-in-law was, how could she not be tempted?

So while Qin Huairu's parents were packing, Uncle Qin secretly went home and came back carrying quite a few things:

Air-dried mushrooms, dried green beans from last year, frozen tofu from the winter, as well as wind-dried chicken, wild rabbit, and two jars full of rice wine.

In addition, there were the things prepared by Qin Huairu's parents.

When Wang Anping arrived, he only had two bags, but when he left, he stuffed four bags full, including four chickens from his own farm.

Seeing this, Wang Anping quickly pretended to decline:

"Oh, you're too kind."

"Mom and Dad, you don't need to bring the chickens, you can keep them and raise them yourselves."

"Second Uncle, keep these eggs for Jingru. She's still growing and needs extra nutrition."

Uncle Qin and his wife insisted on stuffing it in:

"Don't mention it. A little girl like you can't eat that much. Take it back and eat it slowly. We still have chickens at home. We can raise more in the spring."

When they left, the Qin family carried the bag all the way to the village entrance where they were waiting for the bus.

Wang Anping was not allowed to get involved at all.

This made him a little embarrassed, and he muttered to himself:

This was even more ruthless than the Japanese invading a village; they practically packed up and took away most of the two families' stock.

Speechless all the way.

Wang Anping retrieved the bicycle that was parked nearby and securely tied the four bags to the bicycle.

As a result, Qin Huairu could only sit on the crossbar in front of the car.

It wasn't time to leave work yet, so Wang Anping thought he should go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get his marriage certificate first, otherwise it would be the weekend tomorrow and he would have to wait until next Monday.

The procedures didn't take much effort to complete, and I left the Civil Affairs Bureau.

Clutching the bright red marriage certificate, Qin Huairu felt completely relieved, her eyes crinkling into slits with laughter.

From now on, she will be Anping's rightful wife.

I was so happy.

On the way back to the courtyard house.

Qin Huairu's smile gradually faded, and a sudden worry crept into her heart.

She remembered that the Jia family and Wang Anping lived in the same courtyard. Anping had said that Jia Dongxu's mother was an unreasonable person.

It would be so embarrassing if the people in the courtyard found out about what happened to me.

What if that old lady comes to make a scene?

The more I think about it, the more nervous I get.

Qin Huairu's palms started to sweat.

Wang Anping seemed to see through Qin Huairu's thoughts and said:

"Don't worry about the Jia family."

"But you need to be careful around the people in the compound. Let me tell you about the situation."

"I live in the front yard. Next door is the Yan family. Yan Bugui is a primary school teacher. He's not a bad person, but he likes to take advantage of others. There's also a family surnamed Ma who runs a barber shop. They're quite honest."

"The Jia family, the Yi Zhonghai family, and the He Daqing family all live in the central courtyard..."

along the way.

Wang Anping explained the general situation of the courtyard to Qin Huairu.

Then he added:

"The courtyard house is different from the countryside."

"With people crammed together in one courtyard, it's inevitable that there will be some friction. Each family is wary of the other, and most don't want their neighbors to be better off than themselves."

"I've already subdued Yan Bugui in the front yard; he won't dare to mess with us."

"However, we should still keep a low profile."

"From now on, even when we eat meat, we have to close the door, otherwise someone will definitely be watching us from behind the door and gossiping about us later."

Qin Huairu wholeheartedly agreed.

I kept all those words in my heart.