Chapter 24

Li Jian had dark skin, regular features, thick eyebrows and big eyes. He was 1.82 meters tall, taller than the average southern man, and he was considered good-looking.

However, at this moment, Li Jian’s disgust was evident on his face, without any attempt to hide it. The hardships he had endured over the past two or three years had made him look very decadent, even a little sleazy, not as good-looking as before.

As the saying goes, “As the face is, so is the heart.” The most important thing about a person is their spirit, their energy. Li Jian was now being tormented by life. Even though his figure and features weren’t bad, he wasn’t a good match anymore.

Zhan Hongyan didn’t think so. Even though Li Jian had two sons and a sickly sister to support, she considered herself to be the protagonist of a reborn heroine script. She knew the plot of the future, so a little hardship now didn’t matter. As long as she was happy later, that was all that mattered.

“What are you thinking about? The loudspeaker just said that Commander Sheng is going back to the army today. You should go find him while he’s still here. Tell Commander Sheng that you’ve changed your mind, you still want to marry him.”

Seeing that Zhan Hongyan hadn’t said anything for a long time, Li Jian’s voice was cold, and the expression on his face became even more disgusted.

He was probably afraid that Zhan Hongyan wasn’t very smart, she didn’t seem as sharp as Zhan Xinyue.

Having lived two lifetimes and seen countless men, Zhan Hongyan could understand Li Jian’s expression. She knew that he was extremely reluctant to marry her.

At this moment, Zhan Hongyan was also very unhappy. Li Jian wasn’t even one-tenth as handsome as Sheng Tunan. He was inferior in every way. If it weren’t for the money, she wouldn’t have chosen Li Jian even if she were blind.

“I want money, not face. Dignity is worthless. I just want to be tied to the future tycoon.”

Zhan Hongyan closed her eyes, clenched her fist, and hypnotized herself. She took a deep breath, opened her eyes, and with a flattering smile, she said softly,

“Brother Li, that’s not what I meant. I just think we should make our wedding a little more lively, it’s good for your face too.”

“But I just realized, face is worthless. It’s more important for the two of us to live our lives well. Brother Li, I know you’ll be a hundred times, a thousand times stronger than Sheng Tunan in the future. I don’t like him, I only want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Zhan Hongyan’s fake smile was so stiff that her face was starting to cramp. After she was reborn, she had also considered not relying on men and starting her own business, but she had perfectly inherited Chen Ju Xiang’s laziness. She would only go to work when Zhan Ai Guo urged her to, and she would dawdle all day, earning at most six work points.

Let alone the early stages of starting a business, when you have to get up early and stay up late, working almost day and night.

She would leave this kind of hard work to Li Jian. She, Zhan Hongyan, was born to enjoy life, and living off the fruits of others’ labor was her dream.

“Humph, I hope you’re telling the truth.” Li Jian rolled his eyes at Zhan Hongyan.

“Absolutely true. Brother Li, look, we should get our marriage certificate before it gets too hot. Then we’ll invite the cadres and friends and family from the brigade to have a meal. I want to move in and take care of Jin Yan and Shen Xing. I have a connection with the two children, I like them at first sight.”

Zhan Hongyan continued to flatter him. She was afraid that the duck in her hands would fly away, and she just wanted to get a marriage certificate with Li Jian as soon as possible to seal the deal.

“Did you agree to the 50 yuan dowry?” Li Jian asked. He definitely had to invite the cadres. If Zhan Hongyan brought 50 yuan, he would take some of it to buy meat.

“Give it.” Zhan Hongyan gritted her teeth.

Li Jian, “I have to go back and discuss it with my sister.”

Since Li Jian’s parents passed away, Liu Ru Yan had been the one making decisions about everything in the family.

“That’s right. With my in-laws gone, marriage is a big decision that should be discussed with my sister.”

Zhan Hongyan smiled, her eyes narrowed, her face was thick as brass. She naturally called Li Jian’s parents “in-laws” before she even moved in.

It wasn’t easy to be reborn. She would cling to the Li family no matter what.

Once she moved in, she would win over the two children and then kick Liu Ru Yan out.

That elder sister was seemingly gentle and weak, but she was actually very cunning. She didn’t seem like a good person at all!

“You’re smart!” Li Jian wasn’t very clever, he couldn’t see that Zhan Hongyan was saying one thing but thinking another.

He couldn’t even guess that Zhan Hongyan was plotting against his child bride, who had given birth to his two sons.

“Work hard. I can’t control you at your mother’s house, but after you marry me, you can’t be lazy at work. You must finish ten work points every day. I see that Xinyue always does ten.”

Li Jian warned her, again expressing his dissatisfaction that Zhan Hongyan wasn’t as diligent as Zhan Xinyue.

“Okay, okay, I’ll listen to Brother Li.” Zhan Hongyan’s fake smile was about to collapse. She pinched her palm, trying to maintain a virtuous image.

Li Jian still looked at Zhan Hongyan with dissatisfaction and went back to work.

Three out of four people in the family couldn’t work, he was under a lot of pressure. He also wanted to marry Zhan Hongyan as soon as possible, hoping that after she married him, she would be as diligent as Zhan Xinyue.

Zhan Xinyue, who was still at the brigade headquarters, didn’t know that Li Jian was thinking about her. She was sitting under the old tree, enjoying the shade, and Sheng Tunan continued talking to Secretary Liu.

“Secretary Liu, there’s one more thing.”

“Tell me, if I can help, I will. If I can’t, I’ll find a way to help!”

Secretary Liu said happily. In the whole ten miles, no, in the whole Zhishi County, only Chang Hong Village had produced a battalion commander. As the secretary, he also had some face.

Every time he went to the commune for a meeting, Chang Hong Village, because it had produced a meritorious Sheng Tunan, and because its production was also doing well, it would be rated as an advanced production brigade.

Secretary Liu knew that Sheng Tunan was responsible for a large part of this. This year, the production in the neighboring Niushi Village was higher than in Chang Hong Village, but because the brigade didn’t have a military officer, and there was also a thief, they weren’t rated as an advanced production brigade.

“According to army regulations, the family members of battalion commanders and above can all accompany the army and live in the military family compound. After I come back, I’ll take Xinyue to the army. She won’t need the brigade to distribute grain to her at the end of this year, so for this month…”

Secretary Liu understood this time. Before Sheng Tunan finished speaking, he waved his hand, “No need to work. Comrade Zhan, you can just stay at Sheng’s house and take care of Grandma this month, waiting for Commander Sheng to come back and take you to join the army.”

Sheng Tunan, “Thank you, Secretary Liu.”

Zhan Xinyue also said, “Thank you.”

Secretary Liu smiled, “You’re welcome. I’m also happy to see that you two young lovers are getting along so well. Commander Sheng is promising, and Comrade Zhan is hardworking and diligent. You’ll definitely have a happy life together in the future.”

“Go back now. Say goodbye to Grandma, then go back to the army quickly. Be careful driving on the road.”

“Okay.” Sheng Tunan nodded and drove home with Zhan Xinyue.

“Thank you, Commander Sheng.” As soon as they got in the car, Zhan Xinyue expressed her gratitude.

She would rather spend her time on something more worthwhile than doing repetitive labor, such as going to the mountains to collect herbs or find honey.

But in the 1970s, how could a young person who was not sick or disabled not work?

Sheng Tunan didn’t know that she wanted to go to the mountains. He must have gone to the brigade headquarters to talk to Secretary Liu because he didn’t want her to work hard, he felt sorry for her.

“Xinyue, we’re going to get married soon, no need to be so polite.”

When Sheng Tunan spoke to Zhan Xinyue, his voice was always warm and clear.

“Besides, with our relationship, don’t call me Commander Sheng. You can be more intimate. I think a two-word address is fine.”