country bumpkin

Chapter 201 Build Up

In winter mornings, everyone likes to stay in bed longer. Even though the stove was already lit inside, Yunya still didn't want to get out of bed.

She lay in bed, her eyes open, staring at the dark, cobweb-covered roof beams above her.

Mu Shuyun was outside feeding the pigs, while Yunya was thinking about when her grandmother's small, dark house would be rebuilt into a new, large red-brick and tile house.

Look at my second uncle's new house, it's clean and bright, a stark contrast to the old mud-brick house.

Yunya was lying in bed, lost in thought, when she heard someone calling her from outside. Listening closely, she realized it was Caixia.

Caixia called out to Yunya as she ran, and within minutes she was at the bedside. Seeing Yunya still lying in bed, Caixia smiled for a long time.

Then Caixia reached out and pulled back Yunya's blanket, "Get up quickly, there's a movie showing in the village today."

Yunya immediately perked up and quickly got dressed. The two ran into the yard, greeted Mu Shuyun, and then ran towards the transformer room in the center of the village.

Along the way, many of our companions were also heading in the same direction, and everyone's faces were beaming with excitement.

Upon arriving at the center of the village, several young men were setting up a screen, with a projector on a nearby table.

Yunya and Caixia found a spot near the front and stood there, waiting for the movie to start.

The staff member said, "The movie won't be showing until tonight, so please go home and have dinner first, and come back later."

Caixia thought for a moment and said, "Yunya, go home and get two stools first, let's reserve a spot. I'll keep watch here."

Yunya quickly ran home, grabbed two small stools, and ran back. When she returned to the center of the village, there were already many small stools and small benches laid out there.

Caixia saw her and called out, "Yunya, come over here." Yunya ran over and asked her, "Why did you change places? Wasn't the old place good enough?"

Caixia said, "The original spot was too close to the speakers, and it was too loud when the movie was playing. The current spot is just right; we can hear it and see it clearly."

Yunya said affirmatively, "Yes, this place is quite suitable." Yunya then asked, "Caixia, what day is it today? Why are they showing a movie?"

Caixia said, "When Kong Jinbao from our village got married, they specially hired someone to show a movie."

Yun Ya opened her mouth wide, as if she had misheard. She stammered, "Jin... Jin... Jinbao is getting married!"

Caixia looked at her noncommittally, "What's wrong? Don't you believe me?"

Yunya stared blankly at Caixia for a while before asking, "Isn't Jinbao mentally challenged? Who would want to marry him?"

Caixia said, "You don't know this. This autumn, Kong Jinbao got engaged to Wei Xiu from our village. Getting married now is already very late."

Yunya was puzzled again, "How can you say it's slow? It's all within a year, how can it be slow?"

Caixia said, "Because Weixiu was already heavily pregnant when they got engaged. If they don't get married this year, they'll have to hold the wedding and baby shower together next year."

Yunya was a little unable to accept it. This idiot got married so quickly, and he even brought along someone like this.

She could only praise Kong Jinbao for becoming a father so early after getting married late: Kong Jinbao is truly amazing!

Yunya and Caixia put down their stools and walked home for dinner. On the way, Yunya asked about Weixiu again.

Caixia also liked to gossip, so she told everyone she knew about Weixiu.

It turned out that during the autumn harvest, Wei Xiu often didn't go home at night after finishing her work during the day. Her stepmother, Jiang Xian'e, also went to work in the fields with her, and when she came back tired, she would fall asleep immediately. There was no one in the family who cared about Wei Xiu's affairs.

As soon as it got dark, Wei Xiu would go to Jin Bao's house for dinner, and after dinner, he would stay overnight and live with Jin Bao.

After living there for about a month, Liu Fangxiang noticed that Wei Xiu had gained some weight. Her gait had also changed, and she often felt nauseous and wanted to vomit.

She thought Wei Xiu was pregnant with Jin Bao's child, and overjoyed, she secretly took Wei Xiu to the town hospital.

After confirming her pregnancy through examination, Liu Fangxiang rushed home and personally went to the Zeng family to propose marriage and get engaged.

At first, Jiang Xian'e was stubborn and refused to agree no matter what. She said she wanted to keep her granddaughter to exchange for a high dowry and sell her for money.

Liu Fangxiang revealed that Wei Xiu and her son Jinbao were already in a relationship, and said that if they asked for less dowry, their two families would agree to the marriage.

Jiang Xian'e was unwilling; she was still hoping to sell it for a higher price! She immediately asked for 2000 yuan. Liu Fangxiang lost patience and directly took out Wei Xiu's pregnancy test report.

He slammed his hand on the table and threatened, "Wei Xiu's stepmother, do you see this clearly? Wei Xiu is pregnant. You don't care about her reputation, but you do care about her innocence! If the whole village knows that she's no longer a virgin, how much money can you sell her for? Nobody will want her anymore."

Jiang Xian'e felt dizzy and almost collapsed. She was heartbroken about losing her money; this was a huge loss.

There was no other way, so Jiang Xian'e had to compromise, but she still demanded a bride price. After some haggling, she finally got 1000 yuan.

Liu Fangxiang bargained for her 600 yuan, and Jiang Xian'e didn't argue much. As long as her family was willing to marry Wei Xiu, that was fine. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to sell her and would be stuck with her, and they would have to support her.

And so, Wei Xiu and Jin Bao hastily arranged their marriage.

Upon hearing this, Yun Ya exclaimed, "Wow, Jinbao is really amazing! Jinbao's mother is quite something too."

While gossiping, Caixia secretly told Yunya a huge secret (to them).

Caixia whispered in her ear, "You know what? My mom heard that Jinbao got engaged and she cried secretly several times. I saw her cry every time."

Yun Ya was shocked again. There were so many unexpected events this year, leaving her completely overwhelmed.

Yunya asked, "Does your mother like Jinbao?" Caixia replied confidently, "That must be it, otherwise why would she be secretly crying? She's heartbroken."

Yunya looked at her and lowered her voice, saying, "Does your grandma know?"

Caixia said, "I don't know. How can you tell Grandma about something like this? You have to keep it a secret too, okay?"

Yun Ya nodded: "Okay, I'll keep it a secret."

The two returned home, ate dinner, did some homework, and then waited to go see a movie that evening.

At noon, the two of them went to tell Xiang Hong and Liu Yanzi that they had arranged to go to the movies together that evening. Xiang Hong and Liu Yanzi also brought small stools and went to the center of the village to reserve a spot.

As darkness fell, the movie finally began. The group found their seats and sat down. The moment the screen lit up, the surroundings fell silent.

Yunya watched the movie intently, her thoughts gradually drawn into the story. She imagined how wonderful it would be if she were the main character in the movie, able to go to many places and experience all sorts of exciting things.

After the movie ended, several girls walked back, each holding one person's arm, carrying small stools and folding stools in their other hands.

The group discussed the movie's plot along the way, while Yun Ya, who had been thinking about Kong Jinbao and Kong Chunhua, temporarily put those thoughts aside and was now filled with the joy of watching the movie.