Chapter 17 : Liu Guangying, Director of the Women’s Federation

After lunch, Li Yue’e and Lu Xiaolan went to the commune supply and marketing cooperative and bought 2 kilograms of cake and 2 bottles of Daqu wine. When they saw apples, they bought another 2 kilograms.

A bottle of 60° Daqu liquor cost 2.39 yuan with a ticket, so 2 bottles cost 4.78 yuan, apples cost 48 yuan per pound, so 2 pounds cost 96 yuan; cakes cost 96 yuan per pound, so 2 pounds cost 1.92 yuan.

The shopping cost 7.66 yuan, which made Li Yue’e feel a bit of a sting. You see, Lu Xiaolan only earned 24 yuan a month at the commune supply and marketing cooperative, so spending almost one-third of her salary was significant.

Li Yue’e felt a headache coming on just thinking about having to pretend to be a grandson.

After Lu Xiaolan asked for leave, the mother and daughter went to the commune office building together and first went to find her brother-in-law Yang Jingming.

When Liu Guangying saw Yang Jingming coming with Li Yue’e and Lu Xiaolan, and Li Yue’e was holding something in her hands, her heart skipped a beat, but she still smiled.

“Hey, sister-in-law, why are you here?”

After Yang Jingming brought them here, he quickly slipped away. Anyway, he had only played the role of a matchmaker at the beginning, and now everything was between his mother-in-law and Director Liu.

“It’s like this, Director Liu, I’m really sorry, but I guess our meeting won’t be possible.” Li Yue’e said embarrassedly.

“Ah? Why? Does Changzheng have any other requirements?” Liu Guangying was shocked. Although she had a hunch, she thought there were other conditions to be negotiated. She didn’t expect it to be impossible to do right away.

“It’s like this. On the day he came back from the Long March, he saved a young educated youth. As a result, they fell in love and became lovers.” Li Yue’e explained, “Since both of them have partners, they naturally can’t see each other anymore.”

“Is there such a thing?” Liu Guangying breathed a sigh of relief.

“Well, sister-in-law, I’ll take care of this. What’s the name of that educated youth? I’ll ask her out for a talk. Saving people is a good deed, how can you use it to force a marriage? She’s just an educated youth, her ideological awareness is not good enough.”

“Director Liu, you misunderstood. There was no forced marriage. The two young people just fell in love with each other.”

Liu Guangying’s face immediately darkened. “Sister-in-law, this is really not kind of you. My niece specially asked for leave from the art troupe to come back, and my brother and his family have prepared the dowry. You suddenly say you don’t want to see each other anymore. What should they do? This is not breaking off the engagement.”

Liu Guangying was furious as she saw that the good, rich son-in-law who was about to be in her hands was now gone.

“Hey, Director Liu, you can’t say that. We agreed at the beginning to meet first. I told you clearly at the time that whether it can be successful depends on Changzheng’s opinion. I can’t make the decision. How can it be considered a regret of the engagement when they haven’t even met each other yet? You can’t put such an accusation on me.”

Li Yue’e immediately retorted. If this was a regret of the engagement, it would be a matter of conduct. Not to mention that the third brother was an officer, even if he were just an ordinary soldier, he couldn’t be accused.

“Besides, we haven’t even met yet, so whether it will be successful or not is another matter. Why are your brothers preparing to provide a dowry? Could it be that the girl has some hidden illness and is in a hurry to get married?” Li Yue’e was not someone to be trifled with.

Liu Guangying: …

Aren’t you just in a hurry to get married?

Her eldest niece Liu Ping is 22 years old this year, and her second niece Liu Mei is also 20 years old this year. But because Liu Ping is not married, Liu Mei has been dating for two years and has not yet gotten married.

This year, the man said that they would have to wait for one more year at most, otherwise they would separate and not drag down their son.

Liu Mei’s boyfriend was the son of the director of the county machinery factory. How could she lose such a good match? Liu Mei was crying out in despair, and her elder brother was so worried that his hair turned white.

Unfortunately, after Liu Ping passed the entrance exam to join the art troupe, she became very picky and didn’t like any of the candidates introduced by her family. She didn’t find a partner in the art troupe either and was still single at the age of 22.

Brother Liu had no choice but to give his eldest daughter an ultimatum, asking her to get married this year, or he would sever the father-daughter relationship.

Liu Ping finally opened up and said that she had fallen in love with an officer in the army. When Brother Liu asked for more details, he found out that the man was not only a deputy battalion-level officer but also from the Hongqi Commune in the same county.

Brother Liu was overjoyed. This was a match made in heaven! It didn’t matter if the other party didn’t express anything; in these times, a woman could take the initiative. It just so happened that his sister, Liu Guangying, worked in Hongqi Commune, so Brother Liu asked her to help make the connection.

Liu Guangying felt sorry for her elder brother, so she went to the man’s family with a flattering attitude, intending to directly discuss the marriage. But the man’s family did not agree, and only agreed to meet first.

Liu Guangying had originally thought that Liu Ping was very good both in appearance and work, so it should have been a sure thing, but unexpectedly, something unexpected happened.

“Sister-in-law, look at what you’re saying. How could the child have any hidden illness? It’s just that she’s busy with work in the army and doesn’t have much time. My brother and sister-in-law are anxious, so they prepared the dowry early. Your son is also in the army, and you know how busy they are with their work.” Liu Guangying didn’t dare to show a bad face.

Qingxi County is not big. If rumors spread that Liu Ping had a hidden illness and was eager to get married, then Liu Ping would never be able to find a good partner in Qingxi County again.

“They are busy with work, and so is my eldest son Changzheng. It has been delayed until now. His eldest brother has two children at his age, and I have also become worried about him.” Li Yue’e agreed.

As long as the other party didn’t cause trouble, Li Yue’e was still willing to lower her stance. After all, if things could be resolved amicably, who would want to fall out with them?

“Yes, children are a debt. My eldest brother has been worried sick about the two girls in the family.” Liu Guangying sighed deeply.

“It’s mainly about fate. We can’t control it. The two children fell in love with each other, and there’s nothing we can do. The chairman has said that marriage should be autonomous. As parents, we can’t arrange marriages. Don’t you agree?”

Liu Guangying choked. How could she say no? If she said no, wouldn’t it mean that her ideological awareness was not as good as that of a peasant woman?

“Of course, nowadays everyone is free to fall in love and marry independently. Since the children already have partners, this encounter doesn’t count.” Liu Guangying forced a smile. Her brother was afraid that he would be worried again.

“Then I’ll have to trouble Director Liu to pass on the message. I’m really sorry.” Li Yue’e pulled Lu Xiaolan up and prepared to leave.

“Hey, sister-in-law, take the things with you. We won’t take even a single needle or thread from the people.” Liu Guangying hurriedly stopped them.

“Oh, Director Liu, you misunderstood. I know your discipline, and my husband is also the brigade secretary. This is for Brother Liu. After all, it is our fault, so I have to trouble Director Liu to pass it on to him.” After saying that, Li Yue’e pulled Lu Xiaolan away.

Anyway, she bought two copies of everything, so they could divide it however they wanted.

After leaving the commune, Lu Xiaolan still felt a little dizzy.

“Is the problem so easily resolved?” Lu Xiaolan asked her mother.

“What else?” Li Yue’e was speechless.

The third brother is at the deputy battalion level, the same rank as the commune secretary. Liu Guangying, the director of the Women’s Federation, can’t do anything to the third brother.

Besides, meeting each other is something both parties are willing to do. It is normal for one party to no longer wish to continue.

They were just being polite, so they came with gifts to apologize. If they were a less courteous family, they would have simply asked the middleman to convey the message.