Chapter 23: My Xiaowan Didn’t Lose Out

Around 6:30 PM.

Cui Yulan, carrying a large bowl of noodle soup, strolled to the drying yard. By this time, quite a few people had already gathered.

The drying yard served as the meeting place for important matters, and as a place for people to relax and chat on ordinary days.

“Have you heard? Liu Xiaoling got married this afternoon, and she married Chen Jianbing,” said Aunt Jing, slurping up the remaining soup in her bowl. She’d almost choked on a piece of sweet potato.

Someone immediately asked, “Are you talking about the Chen Jianbing who broke off the engagement with Wen Wan yesterday?”

Aunt Jing, with an expression that clearly indicated the person had guessed correctly, nodded repeatedly, “Yes, that’s him. I heard he went to Liu’s family this morning to propose marriage and gave eighty-eight yuan as a betrothal gift.”

“Don’t spread rumors,” retorted the woman living diagonally opposite the Liu family. “I heard Liu Xiaoling’s grandmother say it was fifty yuan. I heard it myself this morning when I was using the toilet.”

Seeing the doubt in everyone’s eyes, Aunt Jing put down her bowl, neglecting her meal. “Chen Jianbing likes Liu Xiaoling, the extra thirty-eight yuan was given to Liu Xiaoling as a dowry.

And, he also gave the Liu family brown sugar, pork, biscuits, alcohol, and other things. It’s much more than what he gave to the Wen family during the engagement.”

As she spoke, she gestured with both hands, afraid that she hadn’t made herself clear enough and that people would doubt the accuracy of her information.

“Wen Wan is so unlucky. Her wedding was just days away, and now a good man has gone to someone else,” someone sighed regretfully.

Cui Yulan happened to hear this sentence and retorted loudly, “My Xiaowan didn’t lose out. She’s lucky to have escaped that pit of fire.”

“Cui Yulan, don’t be sour grapes because you can’t get them. It just means your Wen Wan doesn’t have the destiny to become a platoon leader’s wife,” Aunt Jing said, her face full of pity for Wen Wan.

Cui Yulan laughed angrily, “Chen Jianbing could make a mistake about saving someone, clearly showing he didn’t take my Xiaowan seriously. And he’s a grown man who didn’t object during the engagement but found excuses at the last minute. He’s a coward.

You say Chen Jianbing is good, I don’t think so. Women need to be discerning when choosing a husband, don’t just look at the surface glory.”

After listening, those who took it to heart agreed with Cui Yulan.

However, some jealous and disagreeable people also spoke up.

“Cui Yulan, what’s the use of saying all this? The fact is that your daughter’s engagement was broken off, and Liu Xiaoling got lucky,” Aunt Jing spread her hands and chuckled.

Noticing the few pieces of fatty meat floating in Cui Yulan’s large bowl of noodle soup, she couldn’t help but swallow her saliva.

“Oh, everyone, look, Cui Yulan’s food is probably better than the village chief’s,” Aunt Jing deliberately raised her voice. “Did you buy it with the forty yuan compensation from the Liu family?”

Seeing everyone looking over, Cui Yulan didn’t hesitate. She picked up her chopsticks and slurped a large mouthful, then deliberately picked up a large, oily piece of meat and stuffed it into her mouth.

The people around her watched, swallowing their saliva.

“Jing Chunhua, you made me forget the main thing,” Cui Yulan placed her bowl on the stone table and took out a handful of candy from her bag, giving each person one or two pieces.

After distributing the candy, she cleared her throat. “Let’s share in the good fortune. This is my Xiaowan’s wedding candy. This morning, Zhou Haoting came to my house with his family and a matchmaker to propose marriage, bringing two cans of malted milk, twenty pounds of pork, two pairs of pig trotters…”

Cui Yulan gave a concise yet detailed account of the event, briefly describing the process and elaborately listing the gifts from Zhou Haoting’s family.

“Congratulations… Yulan, your Xiaowan is so lucky…”

“I told you, Xiaowan is a high school graduate, beautiful, sensible, she’s sure to find a good husband.”

Everyone’s faces were filled with envy, some couldn’t hide their jealousy. How could the Wen family get all the good things?

Li Mei squeezed next to Cui Yulan and whispered, “Xiaowan found someone so quickly, why didn’t you tell me beforehand?”

“I was only called home by Xiaocao this morning, I haven’t had time. As soon as I had a moment, I hurried over to tell everyone,” Cui Yulan said, a little apologetically. She had forgotten to tell her old friend.

Li Mei rolled her eyes. “Don’t just show off. Have you found out what kind of person he is? Don’t rush into it and get Xiaowan into trouble.”

Nowadays, young people’s matchmaking involves matchmakers, and both parents need to investigate thoroughly. You can’t just listen to the matchmaker, their words can twist anything, making bad seem good, death seem life, even making a pile of shit smell like a special fragrance.

“Don’t worry, we’ve checked him out,” Cui Yulan put a piece of meat from her bowl into Li Mei’s bowl and whispered in her ear, “Zhou Haoting is the one who saved Xiaowan that day.”

Hearing the last sentence, Li Mei suddenly understood and nodded. That’s fine. She had also asked people to investigate Zhou Haoting. Except for being a little older than Xiaowan, he had no flaws.

After finishing her story, Cui Yulan lowered her head and ate the noodle soup in large mouthfuls. If she didn’t eat it quickly, it would get cold and lose its flavor.

Aunt Jing looked at the large pieces of sweet potato in her bowl, feeling a sense of blockage in her heart. She didn’t understand why everyone liked Wen Wan. Being pretty wasn’t enough to live on.

If Wen Wan heard this, she would proudly and sincerely tell Aunt Jing that being pretty could indeed help you live better. Everyone loves beauty, and being pretty does give you social advantages.

After Cui Yulan left, the others immediately started discussing and gossiping, finding some amusement in their idle time.

Even from afar, they could hear the group of people whispering behind them. Cui Yulan didn’t need to think to guess what they were saying.

The next morning, while it was still slightly bright, Zhou Haoting had already arrived at Wen Dafu’s house.

Cui Yulan, who was busy making breakfast in the kitchen, heard the sound of a car, looked out the door, confirmed it was Zhou Haoting, and hurried to open the door.

“Haoting, come in and sit.”

Then, she shouted into the house, “Wen Dafu, Haoting is here.”

Although she called out Wen Dafu’s name, she was actually reminding Wen Wan, who was still asleep.

Zhou Haoting lifted the lid of the basket in his hand, “Aunt Cui, I bought some fried dough sticks and sesame balls.” He had specially gone to town to buy them before leaving this morning.

“Haoting, you’re too polite,” Cui Yulan took the basket. She hadn’t eaten oily fried dough sticks for years.

Zhou Haoting glanced at the branches of the trees under the eaves, rolled up his sleeves, picked up a knife, and started chopping.

Hearing the shouts, Wen Wan, lying in bed, yawned, squinted, and groped for her clothes to put them on.