Countdown to Awakening

"Sister-in-law, I wonder if the person you are thinking of is the same as me?"

The sister-in-law smiled slightly, and Jiang Shuilian's wife immediately understood what she meant.

"Let me be frank. Isn't Ah Xiu from the village fifteen or sixteen years old? Teacher Li is only twenty-two or twenty-three at most, so there's not much difference between the two of them. Why not introduce Ah Xiu to him? I don't believe any man can dislike a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl... let alone Teacher Li who has never married." The eldest sister-in-law chuckled.

"If you ask me, Widow Zhang is better. She's twenty-seven or twenty-eight, married once, and knows how to win a man's heart. This little girl is only fifteen or sixteen, she doesn't know anything..."

Jiang Shuilian's sister-in-law shook her head, strongly disagreeing with the idea of ​​a brother-in-law's wife. "How could you do that? How could you introduce a divorced woman to Teacher Li? She's a widow, so unlucky... Do you know how many people dislike her? And you still dare to introduce her to Teacher Li?"

Jiang Shuilian's wife quickly corrected herself, "That's right, it's my fault. How could we introduce such an unlucky woman like Widow Zhang to Teacher Li? He would prefer someone younger."

After discussing it, the two stood up and told the plan to the Jiang Shuilian brothers.

"Oh, wife, your idea is really good. My brother and I didn't think of it. You're really smart... How about this? Let's go to Teacher Li tomorrow morning and tell him about it. I guarantee he'll be delighted!"

"Although Ah Xiu's figure isn't as good as Sun Pandi's, she is at least fertile. And if she marries Teacher Li, she will be marrying above her station. Teacher Li needs a cultured and handsome man. If Ah Xiu marries him, she will wake up laughing in her dreams..." Jiang Shuilian's eldest brother couldn't help but chuckle.

Afterwards, they told the plan to other people in the same village, and everyone thought it was a very good idea.

So the next morning, the villagers and Jiang Shuilian went to the door of Li Weimin's dormitory.

Seeing that the villagers were very enthusiastic and brought some eggs and local specialties, Li Weimin thought they were here to thank him for not running away.

Just as he was about to take the gifts from the villagers, they told him the shocking news.

The first one to speak was Jiang Shuilian's eldest brother: "Teacher Li, you have been teaching in our village for so many years, but your marriage has never been on the agenda. We feel really guilty about this. So we are here to introduce you to a wife, I guarantee you will like her... hehehe..."

Li Weiming, who was confused, felt a little grateful for this. It was true that he had never talked about his marriage, and it was rare that these villagers still remembered it.

Li Weiming said, "I, Li, would like to thank you all so much. I wonder what kind of girl you would like to introduce to me? Aren't all the girls in the village who are about my age married? Could it be someone from another village?"

Li Weiming actually liked this village. The villagers were simple and unpretentious, and they even remembered his important event. If he could get married here and marry an educated wife, he really could stay in the village and teach with her for the rest of his life.

But he really wanted to go, and he had no idea who would be the candidate... It seemed that there was no one in the village class who was around his age...

Jiang Shuilian's wife said, "Oh, there's no one else. You've seen this little girl, Ah Xiu from the village. She's a very well-behaved child. She was picked up by Erya's aunt and will be getting married in two years. So why not plan it in advance? You're not married yet, and she's about to get married too. We're a perfect match."

After hearing this, Li Weiming felt like he was struck by lightning...

"Who? Who are you talking about? Ah Xiu from the village is only 16 years old now? How can she be a good match for me? I'm already old, if I marry her, I'll be a beast! You can't do that! If you want to introduce her to someone, you have to find someone around my age!"

Jiang Shuilian's sister-in-law continued to speak, "What's there to be unmatched about? What about you two? Isn't there just a six-year age difference? There are many couples in this village with a six-year age difference, and there are even couples with a difference of more than ten years. Why can't they get married? If you think it's not appropriate, then you can get the marriage certificate when you're old enough. It's the same as marrying the person first and having the wedding banquet. This is a popular custom in our village. Since you plan to stay in the village to teach for the rest of your life, you shouldn't adapt to the local customs. Besides, what's wrong with this girl Ha Xiu? How can you not like her?"

Li Weiming was about to collapse at this time.

"Sister-in-law, that's not the case. She's not even 20 yet, how can she marry me? I can't do that! It's worse than an animal! How can I, a nearly 24-year-old, marry a 16-year-old? If you want to introduce someone, pick someone who's 22 or 23."

The villagers all felt that what he said was wrong.

"Teacher Li, you should stop being picky. What's so bad about Ah Xiu? You'll get married sooner or later anyway. By then, you'll have a wife and children, and it'll be great for you to teach here, right?"

Other villagers also echoed.

"That's enough. I won't marry her! I didn't expect you to be this crazy... How could you possibly imagine asking a 23-year-old to marry a 16-year-old?"

Li Weimin thought about the time when he asked Sun Pandi to marry Ma Hui, and he suddenly felt a chill down his spine...

How can people be so bad?

How can an 18-year-old girl marry a 40-year-old man? Although it didn't happen, it did happen...

"You can't choose, right? We've already decided. We'll go to Axiu's house and talk about it later. That family is planning to marry off their daughter anyway, so if you marry, we can still raise the money for the bride price. Wouldn't you save some money on the bride price too?"

"Everyone, be quiet. I know you're afraid I'll abandon the students and run away. I swear, I will never do such a thing. I'm the only teacher left in the village, and I can't bear to leave. Those students love to learn, and I'm happy to teach them."

Li Weiming coughed and continued, "I'm very happy that you remember my life events, but I will never marry a 16-year-old girl. If I really marry her, I, Li, will be ridiculed to death in this life! Everyone, don't worry about my lifelong events, and don't worry that I will run away. I definitely won't run away! If I run away, I will not die a good death! If I run away, my parents in Youcheng will not die a good death either!"

After hearing these two oaths, the villagers were obviously much more relieved.

"Everyone, please don't worry about my lifelong affairs. If the time comes, I will find a way myself. I have seen that Ah Xiu is a good girl. I hope you will not bring us up again."