1979: My fiancée is a goddess

"pat..."

The two stepped over the high threshold and entered Jiang Cuilan's home.

The view suddenly darkened, but a conspicuous beam of light descended from not far ahead.

Cheng Kaiyan looked up and saw that it was a square courtyard of moderate size.

The dust and impurities in the air swirled slowly in the beam of light, creating a somewhat ethereal scene.

"call……"

Cheng Kaiyan took a deep breath and felt that the air was quite fresh and clean. After all, it was in a small mountain village after the rain, so it was impossible for it to be fresh.

The air was filled with the unpleasant smell of rotten, moldy wood.

This is probably something that all log cabins cannot avoid.

Thinking of this, Cheng Kaiyan then looked at the pillars, walls, beams, and other structures supporting the wooden house.

As expected, they all showed varying degrees of decay and insect damage.

"Auntie, how old is this house?"

He looked curiously at the beautiful woman standing to the side, arms crossed and expressionless.

"This house has been here as long as I can remember. It must have been purchased after my uncle got married. It's probably almost forty years old. The fact that it's still habitable now is a testament to the high cost and quality of the house when it was built."

Jiang Ting's gaze swept around the room, and a hint of nostalgia and melancholy flashed in her dark, indifferent eyes.

So many years have passed in the blink of an eye, and she herself is almost thirty-four years old.

However, the room was still furnished exactly as it had been when the two sisters left, with no major changes.

On that threshold, which doesn't seem very high now, she often sat with a small bowl in her arms as a child, eating while waiting for her relatives to return.

In the pond beneath that courtyard, there used to grow several blue lotuses. She fell in while trying to pick the flowers and even swallowed some water.

In winter, she and her sister would gather a large stack of corncobs and burn the firewood on the wooden frame placed between the main beams to keep warm.

Even if she doesn't want to admit it, this now dark and dilapidated house holds some of her precious childhood memories.

Even though this memory contains more pain and gloom than joy and happiness.

But it still shines with dazzling brilliance.

Perhaps because she brought Cheng Kaiyan back with her this time, Jiang Ting didn't feel much resistance or discomfort towards these fleeting memories.

It's like a patient whose wound has healed touching their newly grown flesh; aside from a strange feeling, there's nothing else.

Thinking of this, Jiang Ting suddenly realized something that made her feel both happy and excited. She silently gazed at Cheng Kaiyan's profile in the dim light and murmured to herself:

"So he was my medicine after all. He's already cured me without me even realizing it..."

……

The two walked to the courtyard, where the view became much clearer and brighter.

Jiang Ting began to tell Cheng Kaiyan about her childhood in a very natural tone, recounting each event in detail.

When she recounted how she accidentally fell into the pond while trying to pick lotus flowers to use as a headdress, she saw Cheng Kaiyan's expression, which was half amused and half pitying, and a faint smile unconsciously appeared on her own face.

Like a blooming camellia, it is cool yet carries the youthful vitality of budding life.

She has such a beautiful smile; it's like I've stepped back into my teenage years.

Cheng Kaiyan stared blankly, a thought suddenly flashing through her mind. When she came to her senses, she saw the beautiful woman looking at her with a half-smile.

He chuckled and remarked, "Back then, children didn't have as many toys as children do now. A girl's pretty flower was enough to make many girls her age envious. Times have changed, with reform and opening up..."

"Pfft..."

Hearing this, Jiang Ting chuckled, rolled her dark, slightly cold eyes at him, and teased him playfully, "What age are you? Don't say such old-fashioned things next time."

"Ah? Really?"

Cheng Kaiyan belatedly realized that she had actually said such a thing.

It's like saying how great your generation's conditions are, or how great our generation's conditions were—that's all outdated.

"hehe!"

The two exchanged a smile, everything understood without a word.

Cheng Kaiyan felt her heart burning under Jiang Ting's gaze, and looked away to calm herself down.

“Hey...look, the floor in the house is paved with bluestone.”

Sweeping his hand across the flat ground, he then realized that the house, nestled in a small mountain village, was not on solid loess, but rather on a layer of light blue stone bricks.

The square stone bricks are uniform in size and laid out neatly and tightly, making them both harmonious and unique in this wooden house.

In this day and age, there probably won't be another person who would do this.

"You just realized? It turns out that both my family and my uncle's family were quite wealthy. Although we weren't labeled as landlords or capitalists, we were still..."

Jiang Ting paused for a moment, then continued, "I remember when we were little, we were short of money, so we sold a few bricks to others. Ten bricks for one yuan. You see, there's a lot missing in that corner of the wall. We filled it in with pebbles that we picked up by the river when we were kids."

The two chatted in a harmonious and relaxed atmosphere. Unconsciously, they didn't realize that the physical and emotional distance between them had become closer and more intimate.

Their heights are not much different, but the aunt is quite tall, standing at 1.75 meters.

Therefore, when they stand side by side, they look exceptionally well-matched.

"You two look so well-matched! No wonder the village secretary mistook you for a married couple. It's so good to have you back..."

The kitchen doorway behind me.

Wearing an apron and holding a spatula, Jiang Cuilan leaned against the door frame, watching the two people chatting and looking around in the main room, and smiled to herself.

Ever since what happened that night, which led to her younger sister running away from home and falling seriously ill in the mountains, Jiang Cuilan has felt guilty and has never been able to say the apology.

Therefore, the fact that Jiang Ting, the younger sister, was willing to come into the family means that there might be a possibility of reconciliation between the two sisters, or rather, a possibility of easing tensions.

Even if it was just a possibility, Jiang Cuilan was overjoyed and delighted.

"The food will be heated up soon. Please sit for a while, or go to the room and call the child."

Jiang Cuilan called out to them and then turned and went into the kitchen, probably because she was afraid of seeing Jiang Ting's cold face.

Jiang Cuilan's house has a nice layout, with three rooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a storage room, all arranged in a U-shape.

Cheng Kaiyan and Jiang Ting stood next to two adjacent rooms.

Cheng Kaiyan noticed that Jiang Ting was looking somewhat absent-mindedly at a room on the outside. He guessed that it must be the room where his aunt and Aunt Wan lived when they were young.

"Auntie, shall we go inside and take a look?"

"Ah."

Jiang Ting nodded and, under Cheng Kaiyan's slightly encouraging gaze, pushed open the door.

The room was very simple, with just a bed, a table, and a few large boxes for storing clothes.

Two children were lying on the bed. A four- or five-year-old boy was fast asleep, wrapped in a blanket, while the other, probably not even a year old, was also fast asleep, swaddled in a swaddle.

There was a little girl sitting at the table, about ten years old, wearing a clean, tidy, faded short-sleeved shirt. She was sitting upright on the stool, holding a pencil and doing her homework.

The sudden arrival of Cheng Kaiyan and Jiang Ting made the little girl turn her head curiously and ask in a clear voice, "Who are you?"

"we are……"

Cheng Kaiyan thought for a moment and then smiled and said, "We are your family's relatives."

"relative?"

After hesitating for a moment, the little girl politely greeted, "Hello, brother and auntie."

"Hey!"

Cheng Kaiyan chuckled and responded, then glanced at her aunt.

A palpable calm and indifference, even a hint of unease.

Perhaps the little girl called him "Auntie"? Especially in front of him.

Cheng Kaiyan almost laughed. She walked up to the little girl, took a handful of candy from her pocket, and handed it to her. "Here, have some candy!"

These were the snacks I brought back from yesterday's hike to replenish my energy and sugar levels; I didn't finish them.

"Thank you, brother! Wow! So many candies, and White Rabbit candies too!"

The little girl's eyes lit up immediately. She lifted her clothes to gather up all the candy and said happily.

The calm demeanor she displayed just now, which was beyond her years, suddenly became much more lively and energetic.

"What's your name? My name is Jiang Yi, I'm ten years old. My mother's name is Jiang Cuilan, my father's name is Yang Shaozhuang and he's in the army, my younger brother's name is Jiang Feng, and I also have an uncle..."

The little girl, whether it was because of the candy or because Cheng Kaiyan was so handsome, rattled off the names of the whole family in one breath, revealing all their information.

"Haha, that's so cute. But you can't say that to strangers, or bad people will take advantage of you."

Cheng Kaiyan smiled, patted her head, and praised her.

"Silly girl!"

Jiang Ting responded with a cold and indifferent evaluation.

Who are you! You're not welcome here!

Upon hearing this, the little girl looked up and glared angrily at her aunt, Jiang Ting, but dared not meet her cold eyes and expressionless face.

These words seemed to trigger a key phrase, making Auntie's whole demeanor turn cold.

"Alright, alright, it's time to eat. Wake up your little brother."

Cheng Kaiyan smoothed things over and pulled her aunt out the door.

At this moment, four or five dishes and several bowls of thin white porridge were already placed on the small table in the main room.

The dishes consisted mostly of seasonal vegetables and wild mountain greens. The only meat dish was a small plate of stir-fried cured pork, glistening with oil and sliced ​​translucent.

"Sit down and eat. You two have been hungry and cold all night, you must be starving. Eat first, I'll go check on the children and the elderly."

Jiang Cuilan warmly invited them to sit down and then went inside.

"Mom, who is that cold-faced auntie?"

As soon as she entered the house, the little girl complained pitifully, "She called me a stupid girl."

"Silly girl! That's your aunt! Your mother grew up with her!"

Jiang Cuilan touched her daughter's face and said reproachfully, "She only scolds you because she likes you. She wouldn't bother with most people, so why would she scold you?"

"Really?" "Of course it's true! Let's go eat."

……

"Mom, Ting is back."

In the room filled with the smell of medicine, Jiang Cuilan woke up her sleeping mother.

"She finally decided to come back? Why didn't she come to see me? Does she still hate this old woman?"

With Jiang Cuilan's support, the old man sat up on the bed and said, half sarcastically and half wistfully.

"She's proud... Anyway, we were both at fault in that matter..."

"If she won't see me, then she won't see me... Just give her back the comb."

"You still have it?"

"Even though it's broken and she doesn't want it anymore, it's still... it's still the only thing her mother left her..."

"Um……"

……

Jiang Cuilan brought a bowl of porridge into the room, and when she came out, she had some extra things in her pocket.

She stood at the doorway, her fingers tracing the wooden comb, quietly looking at the small dining table.

Jiang Ting, Cheng Kaiyan, their daughter and son were sitting and eating. The two adults didn't touch the cured meat, but instead put some on the two children's plates.

"A-Ting probably won't want it, so Cheng Kaiyan should give it to her instead."

Having made up her mind, she smiled and walked over, squeezing in to sit down and eat.

After finishing breakfast, Cheng Kaiyan and Jiang Ting prepared to leave.

"Sit a little longer!"

Jiang Cuilan hurriedly tried to persuade her to stay.

"I'll go get the bicycle, Xiao Yan, wait here for a bit."

Jiang Ting turned and left, saying she was going to see the village secretary.

"Ugh……"

Jiang Cuilan watched the beautiful woman's departing figure and sighed deeply, feeling both helpless and sad.

"Aunt Cuilan, we won't stay any longer. We've been out for two days and haven't even gone back yet. Aunt Wan and the others must be worried."

Cheng Kaiyan explained with a smile.

My aunt's behavior was indeed cold, but one shouldn't apologize without first understanding the suffering of others.

There must be some conflict or rift between my aunt and Jiang Cuilan's family.

"That makes sense. Go back home as soon as possible to let your family know you're safe and sound, so they don't worry anymore."

Jiang Cuilan nodded, and as she spoke, she took out a white handkerchief from her pocket and handed it to Cheng Kaiyan: "This is A-Ting's thing. It has been with me for many years. I am not comfortable giving it to her. You know the reason. I hope you can help pass it on."

"Ah."

Cheng Kaiyan nodded and asked, "Can I open it and take a look?"

"Ah."

Cheng Kaiyan opened the handkerchief, inside which was a wooden comb that had been broken in two.

The wooden comb is quite heavy and feels smooth and lustrous to the touch.

Its color is a deep purple-black-red, and upon close inspection, you can see tiny, scattered golden hair-like patterns between the wood grains.

If you get close, you can smell a faint, delicate sandalwood fragrance.

It's truly remarkable that the scent can still be smelled after all these years.

"This comb is made of sandalwood, right? There are even prayer scriptures engraved on the teeth. How could it have broken? This is very precious."

Cheng Kaiyan asked in surprise.

The Ming Dynasty book "Tianshui Bingshan Lu" records that Yan Song, the chief minister during the Jiajing reign, once accepted 132 sandalwood combs, equivalent to 100,000 taels of silver.

A single comb can be worth thousands of taels of silver, which shows how precious it is.

"..."

Jiang Cuilan was silent for a moment, then finally looked up into Cheng Kaiyan's eyes and said with a wry smile, "It's a long story, but it's really my fault..."

This comb is the only keepsake left to A-Ting by her mother. A-Ting often sleeps with the comb in her arms, treating it like a treasure and not allowing anyone to touch or use it.

We were only seven or eight years old then, and we didn't understand anything. We didn't know that this was a keepsake left to us by Aunt Shuixin. We were so surprised to see how much she treasured it, and how beautiful and precious it was.

Driven by curiosity, I secretly took it out to play with and comb my hair while she was out.

However, my companions called me to go out and play, so I forgot to put it back for her.

When A-Ting came back in the evening and couldn't find him, she searched everywhere and made a scene...

Then I realized I'd forgotten to put it back. Giving it to her was awkward, but not giving it to her was also awkward…

The mother was also very upset because A-Ting was rummaging through drawers and cupboards everywhere. She scolded her a few times, saying that a broken comb wasn't worth anything, and that it was just gone...

A-Ting immediately confronted her mother.

Seeing things escalating, I panicked and had no choice but to take out the comb and give it to her..."

"As a result, A-Ting mistook me for a thief, so I had to say that I was just curious and used it to comb my hair..."

"Then my aunt said something like, 'I don't want the things you've used,' right?"

After listening silently, Cheng Kaiyan added some timely supplementary information.

"That's roughly the gist of it. Then my mother got really angry and said some really nasty things. A-Ting left the house on the spot, and my mother was so angry that she smashed the comb in half..."

That night, A-Ting went out, but her mother was in a bad mood and didn't pay attention, thinking that A-Ting would come back on her own when the time came.

But when it was nine or ten o'clock at night, A-Ting still hadn't returned, which terrified everyone. They searched for her frantically everywhere.

She was only seven or eight years old, and she had nothing on her and hadn't eaten.

They searched the whole village, and then someone said they thought they saw her go into the mountains…

Jiang Cuilan lowered her head slightly, her expression a mixture of regret and complexity as she explained the events.

"I understand. I will pass it on to my aunt. So many years have passed, let's look forward."

Cheng Kaiyan nodded gently and softly advised Jiang Cuilan.

He gripped the broken comb in his hand, already knowing what gift to give his aunt.

"Maybe, but I know what kind of person A-Ting is."

Jiang Cuilan gave a bitter smile.

After the two finished talking, the sound of a bicycle jingling came from not far away, and Jiang Ting returned pushing her bicycle.

When she reached her, Jiang Cuilan looked at her cold face, took a deep breath, and said in a low voice, "I'm sorry, A-Ting."

Without waiting for Jiang Ting's reaction, she turned around and went back into the house.

Jiang Ting stood quietly in place, watching the woman's departing figure with a calm and indifferent expression.

Cheng Kaiyan remained silent, simply keeping her company.

After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Ting turned to look at him, calmly extending her hand and asking, "Do you have any money on you?"

"Only one hundred yuan..."

Cheng Kaiyan took out her wallet from her pocket, kept the change, and handed over the rest.

"enough."

Jiang Ting walked into the house at a leisurely pace, and then walked out at a leisurely pace, instructing, "Let's go, let's go back early, Xiaoli and the others must be worried."

Cheng Kaiyan nodded with relief; it seemed her aunt was about to recover.

He got on his bike, patted the back seat, and said with a smile, "Get on, let's go home."

A slender hand encircled her waist, her soft, graceful body pressed against hers, and a rich, cool fragrance wafted over...

Cheng Kaiyan stepped on the pedal and sped away.

The thin morning sunlight fell on the damp country lanes.

The two figures gradually grew longer.

After a morning of cycling and driving, the two finally arrived home at 1 p.m.

"Kaiyan and her aunt are back!"

We were so worried!

At the door, Xiaoli and Aunt Wan were very worried when they saw the two people who looked travel-worn.

Especially after hearing that the two spent the night in the deep mountains because of the rain.

Fortunately, nothing serious happened.

The following days were much more leisurely, during which I would go out shopping with the female colleagues.

They would also go swimming, walking, and fishing by the river from time to time, and visit famous scenic spots in Harbin.

The only regret is that at his mother-in-law's house, he can only tease his wife, but he can't eat her, which makes him very angry.

In addition, there's his aunt. This trip to the ancestral temple brought the two of them closer, but neither of them lost control because of it. They both tacitly maintained a distance and sense of propriety.

Time flies, and it's the 26th.

Cheng Kaiyan and the others should return to the capital soon, as school is about to start.

Sister Qingshui from southern Xinjiang sent a letter saying she'll be coming by train on the 1st.

Therefore, at 6:00 AM on the 28th.

Under the reluctant gazes of Aunt Wan, Uncle Liu, and his sister-in-law.

Cheng Kaiyan, carrying large and small bags, boarded the train back to Beijing with Liu Xiaoli and Jiang Ting.

The new semester is about to begin. (End of Chapter)