Chapter 73

Zhang Chaoyang’s childhood friends had a hearty lunch at Grandma Qian’s and learned that his wedding was in three days.

“Grandma, isn’t that too rushed?”

After seeing Yunlei and the others off, Zhang Chaoyang discussed the wedding date with his grandmother.

“There’s no way around it. I secretly found a master to calculate the dates, and this is the only suitable one for marriage in the near future. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“I’ll call Grandpa later. We need to go to Xu Di’s grandparents’ house tomorrow. You can tell my parents and Grandma.”

Zhang Chaoyang didn’t hold any resentment towards his parents, but he wasn’t close to them either.

“Okay, I’ll tell them, you don’t need to worry about it. On the wedding day, you go pick up the bride. Ride your bicycle and have Yunlei and the others accompany you.

The situation is a bit tense right now, so let’s keep a low profile. I’ve bought melon seeds, peanuts, and sugar cubes, as well as some fruit. When the people who come to see the bride off arrive, everyone can have a sweet treat.

We can’t do much about the banquet. We don’t have enough ration coupons. Everyone is doing it this way now.”

Grandma Qian couldn’t do anything. The situation was tense recently, and some people were causing trouble.

“Grandma, don’t blame yourself. It’s not anyone’s fault. We just need to follow the instructions, and we’ll be safe.”

Zhang Chaoyang planned to go find Xu Di later and tell her about the wedding date.

Actually, the wedding procedures, such as the exchange of gifts, needed to be relayed by the matchmaker.

Unfortunately, Aunt Wang was away on a business trip, and it was uncertain if she would be able to make it to their wedding.

In the afternoon, Xu Di learned that her wedding was set for three days later.

“Grandma secretly found someone to calculate the date, will you have time to make the curtains? If not, I’ll find someone to do it.”

“No, I have time. I’ll cut them out tonight and take leave tomorrow.

By the way, tomorrow we’ll go to my grandpa’s house. I need to let them know about my marriage.”

“Okay, I’ll go find you tomorrow. This is a military uniform that my childhood friend found. The women’s one is new. There’s also an old one for my little brother-in-law, but it’s a bit big.”

Zhang Chaoyang needed to appease his little brother-in-law so he could help them with the children later. He couldn’t help but smile.

“Okay, go inside quickly, it’s too cold outside.

By the way, the furniture is all in place and cleaned.”

Xu Di didn’t expect Comrade Zhang Chaoyang to be so thoughtful and to have everything done so well. She was in a good mood.

They didn’t say much, as there were many things to do, so they went their separate ways.

Xu Di first told her team leader about her wedding leave.

“Xu Di, our basic wedding leave is three days, and if it’s a late marriage, you get an extra seven days, but you don’t qualify for late marriage, so you only get three days of leave. When do you want to start taking it?”

Xu Di didn’t know about this rule. In the 1970s, they promoted late marriage and late childbirth, and she was considered a young marriage, so she only got three days of leave.

“Team Leader, I didn’t know about that. Let me calculate, the wedding is in three days.”

“Okay, Xiao Xu, I know you’re getting married into the military, which is tough. Why don’t you take a few days of personal leave? I’ll talk to the personnel department.”

Xu Di thought that taking personal leave was fine, otherwise it would be too rushed.

“Thank you, Sister Zhao, thank you, Sister Zhao.”

“It’s fine, marriage is a big event.”

After a while, the team leader came over.

“Xu Di, go to the personnel department and take four days of leave. That, plus the three days of wedding leave, will be a total of seven days.”

“Okay, I’ll go now, thank you, Team Leader.”

Xu Di calculated, seven days would be enough.

After successfully getting the leave, Xu Di started organizing her work.

In the evening, Xu Di told her family about her wedding leave, which made Xu’s eldest sister-in-law laugh out loud.

“Little sister-in-law, you can’t help it, who told you to rush into marriage?”

“Because I met the right person.”

Xu Di wasn’t afraid of her sister-in-law’s teasing. Zhang Chaoyang was the right person for her.

“You’re going to see your grandparents tomorrow, go early and come back early. The wedding date is set, and you haven’t prepared your things yet.”

“Yeah, I’ll make the curtains and our shirts when I get back tomorrow.”

Everything else was almost ready. The curtains were easy to make, but the white shirts were more troublesome.

Xu Di couldn’t find any white shirts she liked. They were all too big and loose, and they didn’t fit well.

The next day, Zhang Chaoyang came to pick up Xu Di.

“Xu Di, let’s go. Yunlei is driving us there. I can’t drive with my arm, and he’s not busy.”

Outside the family courtyard, Hao Yunlei was waiting in the unit’s jeep.

“Sister-in-law, I’m Hao Yunlei, Chaoyang’s childhood friend.”

Hao Yunlei saw Chaoyang and Xu Di come out and quickly got out of the car to greet them.

“Hello, thank you for coming.”

“No problem, Chaoyang and I grew up together, closer than brothers.”

Hao Yunlei was outgoing, the opposite of Zhang Chaoyang’s personality.

The three of them drove to Xu’s grandfather’s house quickly.

“Grandpa, Grandma, I’m back.”

“Xu Di is back, who is this?”

Xu’s second aunt was in the yard, puzzled as to why Xu Di was back in a jeep. Seeing another man made her even more confused.

Xu Di glanced at Zhang Chaoyang. Hao Yunlei said he wouldn’t get out of the car, he couldn’t steal the new son-in-law’s thunder.

“Second Aunt, this is my partner, Zhang Chaoyang.”

“Nice to meet you, Second Aunt!”

“Oh my, Mom, Mom, Xu Di brought her partner back, come out quickly.”

Xu’s second aunt was quiet, and it was rare to see her so excited.

“Whose partner?”

Grandma Xu came out of the house, she didn’t hear clearly.

“Xu Di’s partner, Xu Di brought her partner back.”

“Really, where is he?”

“Grandma, he’s here.”

Xu Di pulled Zhang Chaoyang and waved to her grandmother. The Xu family’s yard suddenly became lively, and Xu Di’s cousins came out too.

“Sister, you’re dating someone, what does he look like and what does he do?”

Xu Yong, the eldest cousin, rushed out first. He had a good relationship with his sister, they were a year and a half apart, and they grew up together.

Zhang Chaoyang was relatively calm, being scrutinized by a yard full of people, he didn’t panic.

“Okay, Xu Yong, go call your grandpa and your dad back.

Xu Di, bring him inside, it’s cold.”

Grandma spoke, and Xu Di and Zhang Chaoyang followed her into the house.

Xu’s second aunt went to the kitchen and made two cups of malted milk. This was from Xu Di.

“When did you start dating? Why didn’t you say anything during the New Year?”

“Grandma, Zhang Chaoyang is in the army out of town, he only came back after the sixth day of the Lunar New Year.

We’ve been corresponding all along, and after meeting, we felt we were a good match, so we decided to get married.

We already got our marriage certificate, and the wedding is in three days.”

As soon as Xu Di finished speaking, she received a slap from her grandmother.

“Ouch, Grandma, it hurts.”

“You know it hurts, huh? You little rascal, you’re so bold, you just married yourself off like that?”

“Grandma, isn’t Comrade Zhang Chaoyang excellent? If I didn’t hurry up and settle down, wouldn’t my grandson-in-law be gone?”

Xu Di joked with her grandmother, which earned her another two slaps.

“Grandma, Grandma, this is flesh!”

“You know it hurts, huh? You’re so talkative, blabbering nonsense.”

Since entering the house, Zhang Chaoyang had been a little stunned. The atmosphere at Xu Di’s house was completely different from his own.

“Did you get slapped?”

Grandpa Xu and Uncle Xu came in from outside, looking at Xu Di with amusement.

“Grandpa, you only came in after I got slapped.

Zhang Chaoyang, this is my grandpa and my second uncle.”

“Hello, Grandpa, hello, Second Uncle!”

Zhang Chaoyang quickly greeted them. He didn’t expect Xu Di to have such a good relationship with her grandparents and uncles and aunts.

“You little rascal, you’ve always been so headstrong. You made such a big decision about getting married on your own.”

“No, my parents agreed.”

“I know you. Your parents definitely didn’t know any earlier than I did.”

Grandpa Xu understood this granddaughter. She was usually smiling, but once she made up her mind, ten oxen couldn’t pull her back.

“Grandpa…”

Xu Di was exposed, and she felt a little embarrassed.

“Are you ready with everything?”

They got the certificate, and the wedding date was set. Grandma Xu was worried about whether they had prepared everything.

“Grandma, everything is ready. I can’t follow him, so I’ll live with Chaoyang’s grandmother.

The house is big, bigger than mine. The furniture is all from the department store, I chose the style.

The bicycle, watch, and sewing machine, I picked them out. Grandma has a TV and radio, so I didn’t ask for them.”

Xu Di knew that in the countryside, the most important things in marriage were character and conditions. She needed to reassure her grandparents.

After hearing Xu Di’s words and seeing Zhang Chaoyang, her grandparents didn’t say anything more.

“Xu Di, come here.”

Grandma Xu called Xu Di into the room, she had something for her.

“Take this, this is your dowry from Grandma.”

Grandma Xu took a cloth bag from the cupboard and handed it to Xu Di.

Xu Di opened it, and inside was a large gold bracelet, with red and green gems embedded in it.

“Grandma, is this real?”

Xu Di suddenly remembered the 9.9 yuan gold bracelets on a certain platform.

“It’s real. Your grandpa was a book boy in the landlord’s house, and the young master gave it to him.

There’s a smaller one, I’ll keep that for Xu Jia.”

“Grandma…”

Tears welled up in Xu Di’s eyes. She held Grandma’s hand and choked back a sob.

“Keep it well. This is something I hid away when you were little, intending to give it to you as a dowry when you got married.”

Grandma Xu patted her granddaughter’s hand. She was just a little bundle when she brought her back, and now she was getting married.

Xu Di and Zhang Chaoyang didn’t stay for dinner. They left the gifts they had prepared for their grandparents, and told them to come the day before the wedding. They got in the jeep and returned to the city.