All the heavens begin with the love in the courtyard.

"Okay, from today onwards, we're family. Xiaohui, just focus on your university studies. Leave everything at home to me, your brother-in-law. Also, if you encounter any difficulties in life, feel free to come to me. Just remember, your brother-in-law is your strongest support! Hahaha! Come on, let's all have a drink together!"

Lei Dongbao's generous words finally made Song Yunhui realize that having a brother-in-law was a blessing, and the sadness in his heart subsided somewhat. However, seeing his sister's face beaming with happiness, Song Yunhui felt a pang of unease. Why did he feel so useless?

Everyone enjoyed the meal. Lei Dongbao's cooking skills won over Song Yunping's family. Song Yunhui, however, looked somewhat awkward, as if from this day forward, his sister no longer belonged to him alone.

But today he ate the most, his mouth never stopped moving. Song's father also ate with his mouth full of oil. He and Lei Dongbao drank and toasted each other for more than an hour. One bottle of wine was not enough, so they had a second bottle. They drank it all before they stopped. When they got off the table, they were swaying and could not stand steadily. He was obviously very happy today!

Lei Dongbao's calling out "Mom and Dad" today meant he had finally gained the family's approval. After dinner, he sat in a chair, lost in thought, warming himself by the fire. He had drunk a bit too much and was feeling a little dizzy and flushed, but he was extremely happy inside.

After Song Yunping finished cleaning up the dishes, she took out a washcloth, poured a basin of warm water, and helped Lei Dongbao wash his face. Only then did she continue her work, satisfied.

Father Song had already gone to bed and was fast asleep. Mother Song had gone to feed the rabbits. Song Yunhui went to the toilet and when he returned home, he saw Lei Dongbao sitting on a chair warming himself by the fire. He then looked at Song Yunping, who was busy beside him. Finally, he mustered up his courage, walked up to Lei Dongbao, and said softly.

Let's talk!

After saying that, he turned and walked towards the door. Lei Dongbao shook his head, smiled, stood up, and followed him out. Song Yunping quickly ran over and whispered something to him.

"Dongbao, speak to Xiaohui nicely, don't say anything too harsh!"

Lei Dongbao nodded, blushed, looked around, and seeing that no one was around, quickly kissed Song Yunping on the lips. Song Yunping's face turned rosy, and she punched him a few times with her little fists before running away shyly.

Lei Dongbao chuckled. It's so good to have a wife, especially a beautiful one. He shook his slightly dizzy head, turned around, and followed Song Yunhui's back as they left the house.

The two arrived outside the courtyard one after the other and stopped by a path in a farmland. Song Yunhui looked expressionlessly at the green trees and sky in the distant mountain stream, his small face showing a trace of sorrow similar to his father's.

Lei Dongbao stood side by side with him, looking at the green hills and clear waters in the distance. Suddenly, he felt an urge to urinate. Ignoring Song Yunhui, who was pretending to be deep in thought, he unbuckled his belt, took out his penis, and started to urinate. The urine flowed straight down, and the hot air rose from the field.

Lei Dongbao's actions startled Song Yunhui. He glanced back at Lei Dongbao's large bird, his expression changed instantly, and he quickly took several steps back before stopping, muttering a few curses under his breath. One could vaguely hear, "Indecent, indecent!"

Afterwards, Lei Dongbao shuddered, then refreshed himself as he fastened his belt, chuckled, and asked Song Yunhui.

"Xiao Hui, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Song Yunhui's face hadn't returned to normal yet. He glanced at him with some disdain and said angrily.

"Lei Dongbao, I don't care who you are, but you've decided to marry my sister. I hope you'll treat her well in the future and not let her suffer. You're easygoing and don't care about details, while my sister is the kind of person who appears strong on the outside but is very sensitive on the inside. Even if she suffers, she won't say anything. I hope you'll never let my sister suffer and will treat her well. Can you promise me that?"

Lei Dongbao did not answer Song Yunhui's question, but quietly looked at Song Yunhui. He watched as Song Yunhui went from speaking angrily to pleading with some emotion. His face was humble, as if he were a younger brother begging Lei Dongbao to take good care of his older sister in the future.

Lei Dongbao sighed deeply. The bond between Song Yunping and Song Yunhui, siblings, was something outsiders could hardly understand.

Lei Dongbao took a deep breath, stepped forward, and walked up to Song Yunhui. He spoke in a very serious tone.

"Xiaohui, I promise you, I will only love Song Yunping in this life. I will never let her suffer any injustice, and I will make sure she lives a good life. We will have children together, and our family will live a very happy life in the future!"

After listening to Lei Dongbao's words, Song Yunhui's excitement finally subsided. Looking at the seriousness on Lei Dongbao's face, he nodded solemnly. This was a promise from one man to another.

After saying what was on his mind, Song Yunhui looked much more relaxed. He turned around, looked into the distance, and finally spoke slowly.

“Brother Lei, if your Xiaolei Village encounters any problems that you can’t solve in the future, you can write to me. I can give you some advice. I’m a college student, after all, and my experience is definitely better than yours, a farmer!”

Lei Dongbao chuckled and patted Song Yunhui on the shoulder.

"Okay, I'll definitely ask you for advice if I have any questions in the future. My brother-in-law is my own brother, so why not use him?"

Song Yunhui glanced at Lei Dongbao and shook his head helplessly. The two began to chat about some trivial matters of life. Lei Dongbao also asked Song Yunhui about his life at university and some difficulties he was facing.

Song Yunhui is a very independent person. He feels that he is not having any difficulties in his life at the moment. Besides, there are some things he doesn't want to talk to his brother-in-law, whom he doesn't know very well. Although he has already accepted Lei Dongbao as his brother-in-law, he still has doubts about Lei Dongbao's abilities.

Lei Dongbao's image in his mind was currently conflicted: a deputy secretary of a rural production brigade who could speak English and was a good cook; and perhaps he possessed other undiscovered talents.

In short, Lei Dongbao is now a contradiction in Song Yunhui's eyes. He needs to observe this brother-in-law more before he can truly open his heart to him.

Lei Dongbao wasn't in a hurry. The two chatted casually about some everyday matters before heading back. With Lei Dongbao's promise, Song Yunhui was no longer as wary of him as before. He stopped putting on that grumpy face and returned to his old-fashioned, bookish look.

Seeing that things were almost done in the afternoon, Lei Dongbao prepared to find an excuse to go back. Before leaving, he quietly pulled Song Yunping aside and assured her that he would arrange for a matchmaker to come and propose marriage as soon as possible to establish their relationship.

Song Yunping nodded happily, no longer hesitant, and took the initiative to see Lei Dongbao off for a long time before reluctantly saying goodbye. Looking at Lei Dongbao's majestic back, a blush quietly appeared on Song Yunping's face. At this moment, the girl's eyes were filled with Lei Dongbao's image!

Chapter 12: An Unexpected Encounter with Yang Xun

Lei Dongbao took action as soon as he returned home on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, and the date was set for the tenth day. Besides, it was not shameful for Lei Dongbao to be a matchmaker, as he was quite famous now.

Now that Lei Dongbao has become the deputy secretary, Xiao Lei Village has started large-scale construction projects, which has attracted the attention of several surrounding brigades. At Xiao Lei Village's brick factory, people are constantly coming and going to haul bricks into the village, and the third brick kiln is already under construction.

Besides the brick factory, it's Xiao Lei's Angora rabbit farming that's really attracting everyone's attention. After all, taking out a loan of 10,000 yuan to raise so many Angora rabbits is quite a show-off for Xiao Lei. Many people are waiting to see what happens, since Xiao Lei's loan still needs to be repaid.

Lei Dongbao didn't care about what others thought. He continued to organize women to learn breeding techniques every week. He also organized some young girls with a good education into a supervisory group to help them learn. The learning progress was fast. In addition to providing technical guidance, he also had to go door-to-door every day to check if the farmers were slacking off or doing anything else.

These rabbits are very precious, and Lei Dongbao will not tolerate any mistakes from anyone. Besides, these rabbits are not given away for free. If any of them die or other accidents occur, they will be compensated at the original price. All of this is in accordance with the signed agreement.

Because it wasn't free, the Lei family wasn't very enthusiastic about raising the first batch of rabbits. Many villagers even blamed Lei Dongbao for wasting money behind his back. Of course, they didn't dare say these things to Lei Dongbao's face.

In addition to raising Angora rabbits, Lei Dongbao also set up a construction team. There were simply too many young people in the village. Everyone saw that the brick factory was making money and wanted to join. However, the brick factory already had enough people (thirty people), so Lei Dongbao had to think of other ways.

The construction team was managed by his childhood friend Shi Hongwei. Whenever someone in the surrounding villages or towns wanted to build a house, he would organize people to go and contract the project. They could provide both labor and materials, or they could just pay for the labor.

And you know what? The construction team from Xiao Lei's family is very popular in the neighborhood because of its fair prices and the fact that the young people are efficient. It can also solve the employment problem for dozens of young people. In addition to wages, at the end of the first month, they handed over more than 400 yuan in net profit to the team.

Lei Dongbao wasn't particularly interested in these small-scale industries, but he didn't object to the young people pursuing them. He only guided the general direction, leaving the rest to the young people to handle themselves. Aside from inspecting a few industries to ensure there were no problems, his main focus was on marrying Song Yunping.

Lei Dongbao is currently considering the true path to wealth for Xiao Lei family. In his view, whether it's a brick factory, a construction team, or even Angora rabbit farming, none of these are suitable for Xiao Lei family's long-term development; they can only serve as short-term capital accumulation.

In reality, he wouldn't accumulate much money. This year is 79, which is considered the first year of reform and opening up. In Lei Dongbao's view, if he were to do something, he should do something that makes big money. He really looked down on this kind of small, low-paying industry.

So he really wasn't focused on that right now. On the tenth day of the first lunar month, he took the matchmaker to Song Yunping's house, and that was how they officially settled their relationship.

The reason for choosing this day was that Song Yunhui was going to school the next day, and he wanted to see his sister and Lei Dongbao get engaged in person. Lei Dongbao naturally fulfilled his brother-in-law's wish, and after the engagement, he even kissed Song Yunping in front of him. On Song Yunhui's face, one could vaguely see a blessing through gritted teeth.

After finalizing the bride price and other details, the matchmaker and Song's father discussed it and decided to choose a date to hold the wedding.

Originally, March 28th was chosen because it was an auspicious date, but Song Yunping refused. She asked if May 1st could be chosen so that her younger brother, Song Yunhui, could also come back from his holiday to attend her wedding.

Lei Dongbao immediately decided to get married on May 1st. The matchmaker looked at the date and thought it was acceptable. And so, the wedding date for the two was set.

The next day, Lei Dongbao personally rode his bicycle to take his brother-in-law to the county to catch a bus. On the way, Song Yunhui told him a lot of his innermost thoughts, starting from his childhood, then talking about his family's class background, and finally about Song Yunping. He talked on and on without stopping.

Song Yunhui always felt guilty towards Song Yunping, because it was because of his sister's care that he was able to get to where he is today. Therefore, Song Yunhui once again begged Lei Dongbao to help him and take good care of his sister.

Lei Dongbao readily agreed. He could feel the affection between the siblings, and he could also sense the affection in Song Yunhui's eyes. Song Yunping was the best sister in the world.

After dropping Song Yunhui off at the bus station, before they even boarded the bus, the two unexpectedly ran into an acquaintance—at least for now, Song Yunhui's acquaintance.

The two saw Yang Xun carrying baskets, his thin body squeezing in and out of the station. He always had a smile on his face, regardless of whether anyone bought anything. With his thin stature and smiling face, most people wouldn't be angry when they saw that smile, and would more or less patronize his business.

When Song Yunhui saw Yang Xun, he was also taken aback and quickly called out to him. When Yang Xun saw Song Yunhui, his smile became even brighter, and he quickly called out to Brother Hui, carrying baskets and squeezing over.

When Song Yunhui learned that Yang Xun was selling steamed buns from baskets, he frowned and said in a somewhat serious tone.

"Yang Xun, what are you doing selling steamed buns? Do you know that's speculation and profiteering?"

With a grin, Yang Xun quickly put down his load, took out a piece of brown paper from the side, and deftly lifted the white cloth covering the basket. He took out four steamed buns, packed them up, and said...

"Brother Xiaohui, I understand what you're saying. I've already been caught once, but I said a lot of nice things to them, and they took my steamed buns because I'm young. I only had to work for free for a couple of days. Brother Xiaohui, are you going to school? Here, take this and eat it on the way!"

Song Yunhui listened to Yang Xun's words with a stern face. He looked at the steamed bun that Yang Xun handed him, hesitated for a moment, then took it and quickly said thank you. Lei Dongbao, who was standing next to him, smiled and took out a few cents from his pocket and stuffed them into Yang Xun's hand.

Yang Xun was stunned when he saw Lei Dongbao give him money; he clearly didn't recognize Lei Dongbao.

Song Yunhui quickly introduced him, and after learning that Lei Dongbao was Song Yunhui's brother-in-law, Yang Xun became even more obsequious, immediately calling him "Big Brother" in the same manner, while trying to return the money in his hand, but Lei Dongbao stopped him.

The group stopped at a secluded spot and chatted casually. Song Yunhui inquired about Yang Xun's family situation, and Yang Xun told him everything. Song Yunhui then reminded Yang Xun to write to him if anything happened, and Yang Xun nodded with a smile. The smile on Yang Xun's face always seemed so bright.

Regarding Yang Xun selling steamed buns, Song Yunhui didn't say anything more, because he quickly realized that the reason Yang Xun dropped out of school to sell steamed buns was simply because his family couldn't make ends meet. He knew Yang Xun's family situation better than anyone else.

Moreover, there was another reason why Song Yunhui did not continue to persuade him: he had been reading a certain newspaper every day during his university years, which reported on the reform and opening up, which had already begun to be piloted in Shenzhen.

The government has already been subtly encouraging economic development. With Song Yunhui's insight, he can already guess some trends. Perhaps in the future, the country will open up the development of the private economy. At that time, small business owners like Yang Xun who go from street to street will have more confidence.

This was also the first time Lei Dongbao and Yang Xun met. Yang Xun was a man who knew how to use connections to climb the social ladder. Through Song Yunhui's relationship, he quickly started calling Lei Dongbao "Big Brother" repeatedly.

Yang Xun's little brain was quick. Upon hearing the name Lei Dongbao, he immediately knew who it was. After all, the Lei family had been making headlines recently, and he, who spent years traveling the streets and alleys, had naturally heard about it. In case he ever needed their help in the future, wouldn't it be better to build a good relationship now?

Lei Dongbao simply smiled and offered Yang Xun a few words of encouragement. It wasn't until the car arrived and Song Yunhui was put on the bus that Lei Dongbao said goodbye to Yang Xun. Yang Xun was very good at handling things and stuffed two steamed buns into Lei Dongbao's stomach. Lei Dongbao accepted them with a smile and, under Yang Xun's watchful gaze, rode his bicycle towards Xiao Lei's house.

Yang Xun, a thin man, stood on the side of the road, still smiling, bowing and waving goodbye to Lei Dongbao.

Lei Dongbao rode a long way before letting out a deep sigh. In Yang Xun, he only saw humility and heartache. At such a young age, he went from street to street selling steamed buns, always bowing and smiling at everyone. Humility was ingrained in his bones. Only Yang Xun himself knew how much heartache and tears were hidden under that smile.

Back home, Lei Dongbao got busy again. After the wedding was set, Song Yunping completely regarded Xiaolei Village as her second home. Every few days, she would go to Xiaolei Village to guide the women on Angora rabbit breeding. Lei Dongbao felt sorry for her and would pick her up and drop her off regardless of the weather.

Their relationship quickly heated up, and except for the final step, Lei Dongbao handled almost all other intimate acts. The psychological pleasure made Lei Dongbao even more eager to marry Song Yunping as soon as possible.

Song Yunping's personality is like this: strong on the outside, soft on the inside. Once she makes up her mind about something, she is stubborn. She already knows that she is about to marry Lei Dongbao, but the two are not married yet, so she is unwilling to give in on the last step.

However, in order to take care of Lei Dongbao's feelings, Song Yunping tried her best to meet his requests as long as they were not too excessive.

Lei Dongbao was already very content. Every few days they would kiss and hold hands. This kind of life, like that of a couple in love, made him feel that time passed quickly.

Before we knew it, it was the end of April. Several projects in the village were progressing smoothly. The third brick kiln of the brick factory had also started producing bricks. Now, the brick factory could earn nearly a thousand yuan a month, and the construction team's income was also rising.

Lei Dongbao didn't care much about the money he earned, since it belonged to the collective. He only got the title. The most important thing was that he solved the employment problem for more than a hundred bachelors in the village. This was the most crucial point. Recently, many matchmakers from the surrounding area have come to his door. After all, Xiao Lei Village looks like it has a very good development prospect.

Raising Angora rabbits is also going smoothly. Lei Dongbao has focused on this for the past few months, so for the time being, things are developing well. Lei Dongbao recently invited the technicians from the county's animal husbandry station because many rabbits have already gone into heat. Going into heat is good, because they can have baby rabbits, and rabbits can reproduce, which will help the Lei family get rich.

With his wedding date fast approaching, Lei Dongbao's heart began to stir with restlessness, much like the weather.

Chapter 13: Lei Dongbao Gets Married

The news of Lei Dongbao's upcoming marriage was a major event for the Xiaolei family, and almost the entire family mobilized.

To prepare for the wedding, Lei Dongbao borrowed tractors from several nearby brigades and mobilized all the women and children in the village to clean their homes thoroughly in the coming days.

In the past six months, quite a few old bachelors have gotten married before Lei Dongbao. In everyone's eyes, these old bachelors were able to get married thanks to Secretary Lei Dongbao.

Over the past six months, everyone in Xiaolei Village has their own opinion on what changes have occurred. Although they haven't all become wealthy yet, their lives are at least much better than in the previous dreary years.

On May 1st, Lei Dongbao, dressed in a brand-new Zhongshan suit with a small red flower on his chest, led more than a hundred young people from the village, driving tractors and riding bicycles, to Song Yunping's house to pick her up.

Song Yunhui's house was also very lively today. The Song family had started preparing for Song Yunping's wedding half a month in advance, and the house was cleaned spotless, just waiting for the son-in-law to arrive.

Song Yunhui was most concerned about his sister's wedding. He hoped that his sister would have a grand and glorious wedding, so that everyone around could see that the Song family's daughter was getting married in a spectacular way.

The issue of family background was a lifelong source of pain for the parents, so Song Yunhui wrote more than one letter to the local county government over the past six months to report the problem. Finally, with the help of Lei Dongbao, the Song family's background was officially removed in March.

With their hats removed, the Song family could finally hold their heads high. To give his sister a grand wedding and to fulfill his parents' wishes, Song Yunhui invited all the relatives to his sister's wedding.

Years ago, these relatives had all cut off contact because of their family background. Song Yunhui notified them for two reasons. First, his parents had always wanted to keep in touch with their relatives, but because of their family background, they had never dared to contact them over the years.

Secondly, Song Yunhui also had some plans in mind. Not only had his family's status been lifted, but he was also a graduate of a prestigious university, and his sister was married well. He wanted all of that. He wanted to make those relatives who used to look down on his family pay attention and see that his Song family had achieved great things!

Song Yunhui was young and impetuous, and the actions of his relatives over the years inevitably left him with resentment. He took advantage of his sister's wedding to finally vent his resentment.

When Lei Dongbao arrived at the Song family's house, he found it surrounded by people. Then, Song Yunhui introduced him to all of them, including his aunts, uncles, and other relatives.