For twenty years, she lived at home, involved in only household chores, never mingled in family financial matters, much less knew where money was stashed.
This place was only revealed to her in her last life when her younger brother stole money to please his girlfriend, and her mother summoned her to fill the financial gap.
In her previous life, when she married into the Li Family, her mother demanded a dowry of 300 yuan, claiming that the poor conditions of the Li Family made it necessary to ask for more, to provide her with some leverage for the future.
It was supposed to be her leverage, but not a single cent reached her hands. Instead, the 300 yuan dowry became a source of nagging from her mother-in-law after she got married.
Li Guangyuan was foolishly filial, totally dedicated to the idea that his mother had not had it easy raising him, and the dowry dispute only made him more pious towards his mother.
Whenever his mother lost her temper, made sarcastic remarks, or hurled covert insults, Li Guangyuan not only refrained from stopping her but also insisted that she respect her elders.
Pushed to the brink once, she ran back to her family hoping to get the money back, only to hear her mother say that the money was saved for her brother’s wedding, and a married daughter is like spilled water – not to come back without necessity.
She was turned away without even a drink of water.
Reborn, no matter how the Qin Family might have felt, she would not let her mother get a hold of the money again.
Without hesitation, she collected the money into her space, folded the now-empty cloth bag and placed it back, then meticulously restored everything to its original state, and moved the kang cabinet back in place.
Before leaving the room, she also pocketed all the candy from the tea tray.
The Lin Family valued appearances; although frugal on a day-to-day basis, they went all out for special occasions, providing cigarettes and fruit candies, albeit in limited amounts.
Back in her room, she gave most of the candy to Sun Lanlan.
Sun Lanlan unwrapped a piece of candy, put it in her mouth, and then unwrapped another for Lin Chuxia.
“You never know what Qin Yang looks like. Actually, Li Guangyuan isn’t too bad. They say clothes make the man and a saddle makes the horse—today, he’s dressed in new clothes and shoes and looks quite smart.”
She didn’t have the heart to say that anyone who could make Lin Jiayi jilt her wedding was probably not as good-looking as Li Guangyuan. Otherwise, a working man would certainly be better than a farmer, wouldn’t he?
Word is that Qin Yang is already twenty-five or twenty-six but still without a partner, he must be exceptionally ugly.
As they chatted, tractor noises announced its arrival, halting at the front gate of the Lin Family.
Sun Lanlan abruptly stood up, her face turning pale, when she saw people entering through the glass.
“Qin… Why has the Qin Family come so early? What do we do, Chuxia? Your parents haven’t returned yet, how… how should we handle this…”
She was frantically pacing, looking worriedly at Lin Chuxia.
“Should I go and call my parents and my elder brother and sister-in-law over?” Someone had to do the hosting.
The Sun Family and the Lin Family were only village acquaintances, and the Sun Family’s duty ended with the dowry contribution yesterday.
Today’s visitors were close relatives of the Lin Family. Seeing Mr. Lin and Mother Lin gone with the eldest daughter to the Li Family, everyone had gone back to their own homes.
“It’s too late,” Lin Chuxia calmly checked her belongings, “Lanlan, my parents probably won’t be back until noon. Go tell them that in the absence of the elders, I’ll follow the pre-arranged schedule and go with them.”
“Me… go tell them?”
Lin Chuxia nodded. “Lanlan, whether I have a grand wedding depends on you now.”
Sun Lanlan understood by now; if everything had been agreed upon with both families, could the Qin Family have come to fetch the bride at this time?
It’s quite possible that Lin Jiayi and those partial parents of the Lin Family, who never took their younger daughter seriously, forgot to arrange things.
If they could arrange a switch in marriage, what else couldn’t they do?
Her eyes filled with resolve, “Alright, I’ll go greet the guests for you,” she resolved, for the sake of her sister’s happiness.
Lin Chuxia watched her leave the room, then picked up the red gauze scarf beside her and draped it over her head.
In the earlier years when the Four Olds were destroyed, there were hardly any wedding ceremonies, let alone wearing red veils.
In the last couple of years, with more openness, the tradition of brides wearing red veils had picked up again. But referring to it as a red veil was a bit of a stretch; it was just a piece of red tulle that still allowed one to vaguely see through.
It hadn’t been long before Sun Lanlan led the people inside, then briskly grabbed Lin Chuxia’s arm with a grip that was not only strong but also trembling slightly.
Lin Chuxia knew that no matter what, Sun Lanlan was still an unmarried girl, and how could she not be nervous in such a setting?
But she didn’t want to make a fuss. As long as she could clearly explain things, it would be okay.
What she didn’t see was that at this moment, Sun Lanlan was indeed trembling slightly… with excitement.
Her sister’s husband, that Qin Yang, was just too handsome, wasn’t he?
He was streets ahead of Li Guangyuan, especially with that appearance, that temperament. Her sister had truly hit the jackpot this time.
By now, Lin Chuxia had already seen through the hazy veil the people who entered the room, the one leading them with a big red flower on his chest must be today’s groom, Qin Yang.
He must be over 1.8 meters tall, standing out from the crowd of the wedding procession like a crane among chickens.
In those days, it was rare to see a man so tall.
She stood up and pointed to something behind her, and Sun Lanlan promptly instructed the wedding procession to take those items; they all needed to be brought along.
A clear voice sounded, “Why don’t we wait for the bride’s parents to come back before leaving?”
Although Qin Yang had always worked out of town, he was not ignorant to the point of not understanding this matter. Taking away the bride when her parents weren’t home, wouldn’t it be somewhat inappropriate?
He indeed knew that Lin Family had two daughters getting married today, but he didn’t expect that he would encounter such a situation upon arriving at the Lin Family’s home.
“No need,” Lin Chuxia replied calmly, “My mom and the others might stay at my elder sister’s home for a while longer. They let us know we should go ahead without waiting for them, to avoid missing the auspicious time.”
Qin Yang nodded. In fact, the girl beside the bride had already told him these things outside, and he was just reconfirming. He thought, which woman wouldn’t want her family to watch her get married? Since the bride had no objections, he wasn’t going to dawdle any longer.
“Alright, then let’s go.”
His brothers from behind had already helped with the dowry, and Sun Lanlan supported Lin Chuxia, following beside Qin Yang as they left the house.
The Qin Family came in a tractor to pick up the bride; in those times, personal cars were non-existent, and to have a tractor for a wedding procession in the village was already quite impressive.
After the dowry was loaded onto the vehicle, Qin Yang got onto the tractor first. Lin Chuxia, unfazed, said her goodbyes to Sun Lanlan, grabbed onto the side of the tractor, and climbed up by herself.
Just as Qin Yang extended his hand upon boarding the tractor…
He twisted his fingers uneasily and said to the brother driving in front, “Xiao Wu, let’s go.”
The tractor chugged away, and only then did the villagers who were watching from afar come closer.
“Lanlan, is Lin Family’s second daughter just going to leave with them? Guangshan and his wife haven’t come back yet, have they?”
Lin Chuxia’s father’s full name was Lin Guangshan.
Sun Lanlan saw the coming person’s face full of gossip and inwardly rolled her eyes, “The Qin Family has come to escort the bride. If Chuxia doesn’t go with them, what is she supposed to do? Uncle Lin and Aunt Lin went to the Li Family, they can’t just let the groom wait at home, right? Aunt Liu, does that seem appropriate to you?”
After thinking it over, Aunt Liu felt the same. Second Aunt Lin snorted, “What would waiting do? Seeking to marry is all about waiting a little longer. If they can’t even wait, what kind of bride are they taking?”
Second Aunt Lin spoke sensibly. “I remember next month your son Lin Tao is getting married, right? Hopefully, the Lin Family’s second brother has the patience to wait until after noon to pick up the bride for dinner.”
In the village customs, weddings were held early in the morning, and the whole village would have a feast at noon after the bride was escorted back. Only those remarrying would pick up the bride in the afternoon for an evening meal.