Chapter 26: The Engagement Dinner

“Dad, how did it go? Did Song’s engagement dinner get canceled?” Liu Shuanggui asked as soon as he got home.

“Canceled? What are you talking about? Don’t mention this to me again.” This was the first time Liu Shuanggui had lost his temper in front of her.

As you can imagine, Liu Xiaomei started to make a fuss again.

However, no matter how much trouble Liu Shuanggui’s family caused, Song’s engagement dinner went on merrily.

Song Jian Guo’s entire family came, including his eldest daughter and son-in-law who had married in the city and rushed back.

Dinner was prepared by Wu Shen and Song’s mother. They had two tables, one for the men and one for the women.

“Xiaoxiao, next time you beat up Chen Fengya, call me. I’ve been annoyed by her for a long time.” The speaker was Wu Shen’s eldest daughter-in-law, Bu Yulan, who was five months pregnant with her second child.

“You’re about to be a mother of two, can you act like one?” Wu Shen gave her daughter-in-law a piece of food.

“That kind of person deserves a beating. They won’t learn their lesson otherwise.” Song Xiaoqian, the eldest daughter, agreed.

After saying that, the two sisters-in-law looked at each other, making Wu Shen give each of them a piece of food.

“Xiaoxiao, eat your food.” Knowing that Tang Xiaoxiao didn’t eat fatty meat, Song’s mother always gave her lean meat.

“Thank you, Auntie.”

“Your aunt is amazing. Wow, she beat the old witch so badly she couldn’t get up.” Shi Tou waved his little fist beside her.

“Shh.” Bu Yulan gestured to her son.

Wu Shen gave her daughter-in-law a glare. Needless to say, the “old witch” must have come from her mouth.

“None of the Liu family are good people.” Song Xiaolan concluded.

Song Xiaolan didn’t say this without reason. Even Liu Fugui and Chen Fengya’s five married daughters would come back to their mother’s house every month. There was no other reason, they were all sending money and grain from their in-laws to their mother’s house.

“I don’t know how their husbands can stand it.” Wu Shen shook her head.

“When they were looking for them, they were just looking for someone honest, weren’t they?” Song’s mother smiled. That was someone else’s business.

Wu Shen helped Song’s mother clean up before going back. When she left, she gave Tang Xiaoxiao a red envelope.

She said it was a village custom. At Song Jingzhi’s suggestion, she accepted it.

After Song Jian Guo’s family left, Tang Xiaoxiao helped Song Jingzhi back to his room.

“Were you tired today?” she asked. He had been back from the hospital and hadn’t sat in a wheelchair all day.

“No, I was very happy today.” He smiled at her.

She helped him sit down on the bed, her eyes filled with affection as she looked at him. “Song Jingzhi.”

“Hmm?” He looked up.

She winked at him. “Where am I going to sleep tonight?”

Song Jingzhi looked at her fair and beautiful face, his Adam’s apple bobbed involuntarily, and then he couldn’t help but blush. “Xiaoxiao, not now. I haven’t told your parents yet. We have to get married first.”

“Pfft.” Tang Xiaoxiao laughed. “Song Jingzhi, what are you thinking? I’m just teasing you.” She poked his shoulder.

“Go lie down on the bed, I’ll massage your legs.” She had seen on TV before that people with leg injuries should massage their legs frequently during rehabilitation.

“No, no need.” Song Jingzhi quickly refused. How could he let Xiaoxiao massage his legs?

“Come on, hurry up. I won’t be able to do it for long, I have to go back to the educated youth point.” Tang Xiaoxiao said with a hint of command in her voice.

Seeing her serious expression, he had no choice but to lie down on the bed obediently.

Tang Xiaoxiao, following the way she had seen on TV, gently massaged his calves.

It was still summer, and his pants were thin. Song Jingzhi could clearly feel the warmth of her palm.

“Don’t tense up so much, I can’t press down.” Tang Xiaoxiao said. His calves were already hard to press because of the muscles.

“Oh, oh, okay.” Song Jingzhi closed his eyes and slowly relaxed his lower body. If Tang Xiaoxiao had paid attention, she would have seen that his fists were clenched tightly.

For Tang Xiaoxiao, who had lived to be eighty years old, these massages were nothing in the future. After all, she had had nurses do them for her.

After twenty minutes, she stopped.

“Okay, we’ll continue tomorrow.”

“Tom, tomorrow?” Song Jingzhi looked up at her. Didn’t she know what it felt like to have her heart’s desire massage her legs?

“Yeah, every day until you’re fully recovered.” She didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. It was just his calves, not somewhere else.

Song Jingzhi’s thin lips were tightly pursed. Should he say not to massage anymore? He was about to explode.

Before he had a chance to speak, Tang Xiaoxiao looked at the sky outside. “I have to go back.”

“Okay, I’ll walk you back.” Song Jingzhi quickly sat up, wanting to see her off.

“No need. I just massaged you, you lie down and rest.” Tang Xiaoxiao pushed him back down and went out of the room.

She said goodbye to Song’s father and mother and went back to the educated youth point.

Song Jingzhi’s leg was already able to walk, so Song’s father moved back to the old couple’s room.

After Tang Xiaoxiao returned to the educated youth point, she washed up and started writing a letter to her parents.

In the letter, she wrote in detail about her original purpose for coming to Hunan Province to work in the countryside, her current relationship with Song Jingzhi, and the Song family’s character.

Knowing her parents’ character, she had never married in her previous life, and they had accepted it. She felt she should be honest with them.

Soon, she received a letter from home. Tang’s mother wrote in the letter that she had thought of it when she changed her address to Hunan Province and confirmed which village she was going to.

Actually, she had already asked her brother to inquire about Song Jingzhi’s family and character. Her family was very relieved. They were mainly worried about Song’s parents’ character.

Now, seeing her daughter’s letter, they were relieved and said they would take some time with Tang’s father to go to Hunan Province to see her.

During this time, Song Jingzhi would insist on walking in the yard every day, and Tang Xiaoxiao would also insist on massaging his legs every day.

Now, every morning, he would accompany her to the mountain to collect pigweed, and in the afternoon, he would still read to her.

“Let’s go to the commune tomorrow and make a call to report our marriage.” He put down the book in his hand and looked at her across from him.

She sat up straight and looked at him, a smile on her lips. “Captain Song, why are you suddenly in such a hurry?”

“I want to marry you as soon as possible.” Song Jingzhi said seriously.

She reached out her small hand and took his big hand, her fingers tracing circles in his palm, her voice trailing off. “Oh~”

“Don’t move.” He held her hand tightly, a little helpless.

Ever since she started massaging his legs and discovered that he would clench his fists, she would often do little things to tease him.

Now, he no longer blushed, but they hadn’t reported their marriage yet, so every time, he could only hold her hand, preventing her from teasing him further.

“You should say, ‘Don’t be so naughty.'” Her eyes sent out a flirtatious glance. “So, holding my hand will control me?”

“Don’t.” He covered her eyes with his other hand. He was a normal man, after all, and the girl in front of him was the one he loved. Wasn’t she afraid that he wouldn’t be able to resist her teasing?

“Take your hand away.”

“Promise me you won’t look at me like that first.”

“Take your hand away first.”

“Promise me first.”

“Take your hand away first.”

“You…” In the end, Song Jingzhi was defeated and took his hand away first.