Rebirth begins with an arranged marriage

"Why don't you try it yourself?"

Tang Zhengjin and Wang Lanhua, a married couple, looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Why bother trying? What's your idea?"

"Never mind what my solution is, just let me try," Tang Huaiyi said. "If I can't think of a solution, we can always talk about it later. Don't you all agree?"

"That won't do... This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We agreed to take you there tomorrow. If you don't go, this deal is off." Tang Zhengjin shook his head. "Besides, they've chosen you. If you don't become their second son-in-law, their eldest daughter won't marry your brother."

Tang Huaiyi then noticed another detail about the marriage exchange.

The woman's family has their eye on me.

Whose house is this? They have good taste...

"Dad, who has taken a liking to me? Do I know them?"

"How come you don't know her? She's your classmate Li Xiujuan," Tang Zhengjin said. "Her family can't afford to send her to school anymore, and both of her daughters are getting married. Her father said he's going to find someone to arrange a marriage for her, so he can find a son-in-law to live with his family in their old age and see them off when they die."

"Li Xiujuan said that if we had to go through the marriage exchange, we should find someone we knew, which is why she chose you."

Li Xiujuan?

Tang Huaiyi paused for a moment, thought carefully, and compared it with his memory, and a slightly thin, always timid girl with big eyes came to mind.

Tang Huaiyi and Li Xiujuan were indeed classmates in their first and second years of high school.

The two of them ate the worst food in the school cafeteria, just plain boiled water and coarse grain buns, and they never bought vegetables.

At this time, students would order their meals in advance. Every noon, the class committee and the students on duty would go to the cafeteria to pick up the meals for the whole class and eat at the designated cement board.

Most students ate and chatted happily at this time. Those from well-off families had steamed buns and vegetables, while those from poorer families ate coarse grain buns and pickled vegetables. Only two students in the whole class, Tang Huaiyi and Li Xiujuan, didn't even have pickled vegetables and just swallowed coarse grain buns with water.

It's not that there aren't people poorer than them, but most families as poor as theirs wouldn't send their children to high school. The two of them were like two fish that slipped through the net and managed to squeeze into the class at Shiqiaohe High School.

During their two years of high school, when they relied on plain boiled water, and sometimes even cold water, to eat coarse grain buns, Tang Huaiyi and Li Xiujuan rarely spoke to each other. They would silently walk to the back of the class at mealtimes, collect the last coarse grain buns for the whole class, and then find a place to eat them separately.

But their eyes met, and they knew each other was there.

Tang Huaiyi clearly remembered that every time their eyes met, Li Xiujuan looked as sensitive and uneasy as a frightened rabbit.

"Oh, it was her."

Coming back to his senses, Tang Huaiyi said something.

Li Xiujuan probably had no other choice; with marriage on the horizon, she could only find someone she vaguely knew...

"Yes, it's her. Go to her house, her older sister and your brother are there," Tang Zhengjin said. "You two don't need to go to school tomorrow, I'll take you to Lijia Gou to meet your father-in-law."

"Once your matter is settled, your older brother's marriage can also be settled."

But let's get back to the original topic.

Tang Huaiyi said earnestly again, "Father, if I can find a way to support myself and pay for my own schooling, can we not arrange this marriage?"

"Then what do you want your brother to do?" Tang Zhengjin asked.

Tang Huaiyi looked at his elder brother, Tang Huairen, whose head was lowered again, and he remained silent.

"When I get to college, I'll help my older brother find someone better in the city, okay?" Tang Huaiyi said again.

Tang Zhengjin glanced at him, exhaled a puff of smoke, shook his head, and stood up: "Erwa, you have ambitions that are too high, but how could a farming family like ours have such abilities?"

"Come with me to Lijia Gou tomorrow. Let's stop thinking about all this nonsense."

I'm numb...

Tang Huaiyi was truly a little numb.

He proposed to reduce the burden on his family as much as possible and to find a way to get into university to change the family's future. His father, Tang Zhengjin, did not believe it at all and was resigned to his fate and stubbornly believed that farmers could turn their lives around.

After all the hard work to get to senior year of high school... why not give it another try?

"Father, if that's how you put it, then I'll think of something myself."

No sooner had Tang Huaiyi finished speaking than Tang Zhengjin was about to explode: "What plan are you thinking of? Erwa, don't you dare mess around with this!"

"We've already arranged to go to the Li family's house tomorrow. If we don't go, what will the whole village think of us?"

"I can't just stop going to school," Tang Huaiyi said firmly. "I'll figure out my own way out!"

"You dare—"

Tang Zhengjin went to get the broom again, and Tang Huaiyi's grandmother quickly stepped forward and blocked Tang Huaiyi's way: "Eldest son, don't be in a hurry, talk to Erwa slowly."

At this moment, Grandpa spoke up again: "Huaiyi, your father also felt that the family could no longer allow you to get married, so he thought of taking this opportunity to arrange a marriage exchange."

"Don't rush into this matter; and boss, don't rush either."

Whether this marriage exchange will work out depends on tomorrow's meeting. If it doesn't work out, it wouldn't be bad to let Huaiyi try his ideas.

Tang Zhengjin stopped talking and put down the broom: "I understand, Dad."

"And Huaiyi, whether he goes to school or not, whether he gets married or not, we'll talk about that the day after tomorrow. You definitely have to go to Lijia Gou tomorrow." Grandpa's voice was hoarse, which was unique to the elderly. "Otherwise, if our family doesn't keep its word on such an important matter, then we'll be seen as shameless by everyone in the surrounding villages, and people will look down on us for our weddings and funerals in the future."

"Regardless of whether things go well or not, you have to go and meet with the Li family."

Tang Huaiyi nodded as he listened to his grandfather's words.

The countryside at that time was completely different from the empty, abandoned countryside decades later; the countryside was a complete and conservative little society, with a strong old-fashioned atmosphere, where face was of paramount importance and words could kill.

In any case, this family raised Tang Huaiyi to adulthood and helped him finish his second year of high school. He couldn't possibly ruin the whole family's reputation with other people's gossip and turn them into a place for people to talk about.

With the help of his grandparents, Tang Huaiyi's conflict with his parents over schooling and the arranged marriage finally came to a temporary end.

As darkness fell and the electricity was still out, everyone went back to their rooms to rest.

Tang Huaiyi shared a room with his eldest brother Tang Huairen and his third brother Tang Huaili. The three brothers shared a slightly larger bed and a smaller bed, both of which allowed them to barely stretch their legs.

After entering the house, the eldest brother remained silent.

The third brother couldn't help but ask, "Second brother, what does your wife look like? Is she pretty?"

Tang Huaiyi immediately kicked him to the side of the big bed in a huff, and lay down on the small bed himself: "What's with the talk of good-looking or bad-looking? She's not my wife. I still have to go to school."

"Oh, why are we out of money?" the third brother asked again.

"How am I supposed to know that?"

As they were talking, the eldest brother, who hadn't spoken until now, finally spoke up: "I know."

"Do you know? Where did the money go?" the third brother asked suspiciously.

The eldest brother said, "It's been lent to our maternal grandparents and our third uncle."

"Our family is so poor, why are we still lending money out?"

The third brother was very surprised.

Tang Huaiyi was also surprised—although it is said that "relatives are especially close at this time, and even if the bones are broken, they are still connected by tendons," it is still wrong to lend money out like this and act like a big spender.

After saying that, the older brother didn't say anything more and went to bed in silence.

The third brother muttered a few words, and seeing that no one responded, he also lay down on the outside of the big bed to rest.

After a while, Tang Huaiyi saw that his eldest brother and third brother had fallen asleep, so he got up from his small bed, opened the door, and went out.

He stood quietly at the doorway for a moment, then a jet-black crow swooped down from the sky, its claws resting on his shoulders, a piece of something in its beak.

Tang Huaiyi reached out and took it, and seeing that it was a shard of glass, he couldn't help but laugh and returned it to the crow.

Crow, you still have a long way to go.

I was on the verge of being kicked out of the house, so I was counting on you to help change my life.

The crow obediently remained silent, perching affectionately on his shoulder before finally spreading its wings to fly away.

Before the crow left, Tang Huaiyi whispered his instructions, emphasizing what he had said before: "Don't touch things that have owners; only pick up things that nobody wants."

"Also, if you really can't find anything tomorrow, bring me some food first."

"Don't bring rats or bugs, I don't eat those."