1952: Walking through Nantongluo Alley

After washing up, Chen Xiao was ready to say goodbye and leave, but the kind-hearted Zhang Cuilan invited him to stay for breakfast.

At the dinner table, Chen Xiao and Qin Tieniu were talking about wedding matters.

"Uncle, I plan to come over and marry Qin Huairu next week. I will get everything ready in the next few days."

"I, Chen Xiao, may not be from a wealthy family, but I will make sure this wedding is grand and glorious. I'll send over a few plates of firecrackers, a bridal sedan, and suonas in advance. Everything is essential."

Getting married is a major event that only happens once in a lifetime, so it must be a grand celebration. Anyway, there is a large sum of money left by parents whom I have never met, which is enough for me to spend.

Qin Tieniu nodded repeatedly after listening, while Zhang Cuilan couldn't stop smiling.

"Chen Xiao, there's no need to make such a big deal. You two will still be living together in the future, so you should save money."

"You've already given our family a ten-yuan betrothal gift, which is the highest in this area. I've never even heard of a ten-yuan betrothal gift. How about this? We'll pay for the suona player. There's a suona player in the next village who's a relative of ours, so maybe we can save a lot of money."

Seeing Zhang Cuilan say this, Chen Xiao did not refuse.

"Then let's do this for now."

After dinner, Chen Xiao rode his bicycle to say goodbye to Qin Huairu and her family, then rode towards the city.

As soon as I walked into the alley of the courtyard, I met the third uncle Yan Bugui again.

At this time, Yan Bugui was cracking melon seeds and humming a little tune. It was obvious that he was happy about something.

"Uncle, have you encountered anything happy?"

"It's Chen Xiao. Didn't you know? There will be a big happy event in our compound soon." Seeing that it was Chen Xiao, Yan Bugui explained.

"Do you know Jia Dongxu from our compound?"

Chen Xiao nodded.

"I know. What happened to Jia Dongxu?"

Yan Bugui smiled, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, and pointed inside the yard and said.

"Jia Dongxu is getting married. He just bought a new sewing machine and just brought it in. He also gave me the melon seeds."

"Oh? Jia Dongxu is getting married?" Chen Xiao became interested.

He had already intercepted half of Qin Huairu, and was at Qin Huairu's house just like yesterday.

What kind of marriage is Jia Dongxu getting? Besides Qin Huairu, who else could be interested in him?

Is it possible?

Chen Xiao thought of something, then turned his bicycle around and walked straight out of the alley.

"Third Uncle, I have something else to do, so I won't tell you anymore."

"Something? What could be more serious than free food and drinks?"

Yan Bugui was muttering to himself while cracking melon seeds.

At this time, he had just finished eating the melon seeds in his hand, and then he clapped his hands.

"I'll stop talking. I have to go in and get some sunflower seeds. Otherwise, there will be no such shop after this one."

At this time, the front door of the Jia family was crowded with people. They had heard early in the morning that Jia Dongxu was going to get married and even bought a sewing machine.

"Sister-in-law, your family is the first one in our compound to buy a sewing machine." The speaker was an old man named Yi Zhonghai. At this time, he was not as old as in the original drama, and still looked like a middle-aged man.

"I've wanted to buy a sewing machine for a long time, but unfortunately my old man won't let me." The second aunt glanced at the second uncle's Liu Haizhong with a complaining look.

Liu Haizhong is in his prime, and his temper is even more violent than in the drama. He took off his shoes and prepared to hit the second aunt.

"What do you want a sewing machine for, you damn bitch?"

"Hey... Second Uncle, if you have something to say, please talk it over nicely. Don't use violence! Damao Shazhu, you two should hurry up and pull Second Uncle away."

The person who was speaking at this time was Xu Damao's father, who did not appear in the play. After he finished speaking, he covered his mouth and started coughing violently. It looked like he would not live for many years.

Sha Zhu and Xu Damao looked at each other, neither of them dared to step forward to stop the fight.

"Hey. Stop hitting me, stop hitting me. What are you doing? Today is Dongxu's wedding day."

Jia Zhang said with a forced smile, then directly grabbed Liu Haizhong's collar and pulled him so hard that he almost fell down.

"Damn it, who, who pulled me!" Liu Haizhong was furious and was about to use the sole of his shoe to hit the person who pulled him, but when he saw it was Jia Zhang, he suddenly wilted.

If you were to say who Liu Haizhong was most afraid of in the compound, it would be none other than Jia Zhang. He didn't dare to provoke this crazy woman, as she would always sit on the ground and summon ghosts.

"Sister-in-law, why are you pulling me?"

"What do you think?" Jia Zhang looked at Liu Haizhong viciously and spoke word by word.

"Hehe." Liu Haizhong scratched his head, then looked at Jia Dongxu and asked.

"Dongxu, who's your wife's family? When are you planning to get married? Tell everyone quickly."

Jia Dongxu first straightened his collar, then spread some melon seeds around for everyone before he spoke.

"It's Qin Huairu from Qinjia Village outside the city. She plans to find a matchmaker today and propose marriage. As for when to get married, I plan to do it next week."

Everyone sighed.

Jia Dongxu is quite quick. Although he is not good-looking, he is quite efficient in marrying a wife.

Then Jia Dongxu continued.

"My wife is so beautiful. There are few people prettier than her in the whole city." After saying this, Jia Dongxu raised his head proudly, showing his intention to show off.

After these words were spoken, the scene suddenly became silent.

I thought he was marrying a girl from some family, but it turned out to be a girl from the countryside. What's the point of being pretty? Does being pretty mean you can get a job and a city hukou?

At this time, an old woman with a cane came slowly. Before she arrived, her voice could be heard.

"It turns out she's a country girl."

Everyone looked back and found out that it was the deaf old lady who had arrived, so they all made way for her.

Jia Dongxu's face suddenly darkened.

When Jia Zhang saw that it was the deaf old lady coming, she pointed at her and shouted.

"What's wrong with being from the countryside? If you have the guts, find Sha Zhu a wife from the countryside! Don't you advertise in the compound every day that you love Sha Zhu and his siblings the most in our compound? Why don't you find him a wife?"

Sha Zhu looked at the deaf old lady expectantly, hoping to hear what he wanted to hear.

pity.

"Shazhu is still young. He finally got a job as an apprentice in the kitchen of a steel mill. He should focus on his work. There is no rush to get married in two years." The deaf old lady said calmly.

"Haha, you're going to get Shazhu a wife in two years? I think Shazhu won't be able to find a wife when you're old." Jia Zhang said sarcastically.

"You..." The deaf old lady excitedly poked the ground with her crutch.

Seeing the situation getting out of control, Yi Zhonghai cleared his throat and stood up.

"Stop talking, what are you guys doing arguing about at your age?"

Yi Zhonghai's words still carried some weight in the compound. After he said this, Jia Zhang and the deaf old lady fell silent.

Yi Zhonghai looked at Sha Zhu. "Sha Zhu, why don't you help the deaf old lady back home?"

"Got it, uncle."

After Sha Zhu and the deaf old lady left, Yi Zhonghai continued to point and talk.

"Second uncle, third uncle, please help Dongxu carry the sewing machine into the house."

Yan Bugui carefully put the melon seeds into his pocket, then reluctantly stood up with Liu Haizhong.

While lifting the sewing machine, Yan Bugui muttered something under his breath.

"It's so comfortable to be a master... just like the landlords of the past..."

"Third uncle, please keep your voice down..." Liu Haizhong said, then glanced at Yi Zhonghai coldly.

……

"Aunt Wang, Aunt Wang, are you home? I'm Chen Xiao!"

Chen Xiao parked his bicycle in front of a house and walked up to knock on the door.