Chapter 10.1

Although he was curious, Lu Chen didn’t ask her about it, especially since more and more guests were arriving. With his not-so-favorable reputation in the eyes of others, he chose to quietly retreat to the old, quiet house next door.

A wall separated the noisy wedding scene from the calm, still atmosphere of the old house.

Meanwhile, all of Meng Yinyin’s attention was fixed on the guests arriving at the door. She didn’t have the energy to worry about Lu Chen anymore. Occasionally, her eyes swept over the surroundings, but when she realized that she didn’t see the familiar figure of Lu Chen, she assumed he was busy elsewhere and didn’t think much about it.

However, as she watched more and more people enter Lu Dashan’s house, filling the courtyard, her expression shifted from nervous anticipation to disappointment.

Exactly, it was disappointment.

After looking at the guests who had arrived, she found that there wasn’t a single one who caught her eye.

There were plenty of young people, as after all, Lu Dashan had asked the brigade leader to announce this event during the meeting yesterday. Moreover, since a wedding was a joyful occasion, everyone was eager to come and share in the happiness, enjoying a good meal with delicious dishes.

So nearly the whole brigade, even some from the neighboring production team, showed up.

Unfortunately, as she scanned the crowd, not a single person appealed to her.

Either they were too short, or their figures weren’t good enough, or they didn’t fit her preferred type.

Although her goal was to find someone to settle down with, she was truly looking for someone to live with under one roof. If she didn’t find someone she was at least somewhat interested in, life would be terribly painful later on.

But after half the day had passed, she hadn’t found anyone she wanted to learn more about.

…

When Yu Xiaoyu found Meng Yinyin in the bustling courtyard, she saw her frowning, leaning her chin on her hand, looking quite dejected. Her mood was clearly not good.

Yu Xiaoyu sat down and, concerned, asked, “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Wasn’t she so excited this morning to come for the banquet? Why does she look so disappointed before even getting to the meal?

Could it be that the food at the Lu family’s banquet was really bad? No meat!?

Yu Xiaoyu’s face became serious at the thought—this would be a big issue!

But Meng Yinyin didn’t realize what Yu Xiaoyu was thinking. She merely glanced at her absentmindedly before sighing, “I just feel…” There aren’t many good-looking men here.

However, as the words reached her lips, she stopped herself and instead asked, “Forget it, Xiaoyu, I’ll ask you something. Since you’ve been at Nanjiao Brigade for so long, have you noticed any good-looking people around here?”

Good-looking people?

Yu Xiaoyu was a bit taken aback by the sudden question, staring at Meng Yinyin in confusion. After a moment, she answered, “You.”

Although it was undeniably true, Meng Yinyin’s mood lightened a little from Yu Xiaoyu’s response. She then pressed, “Apart from me, anyone else—man or woman, doesn’t matter!”

Ah?

Seeing that Meng Yinyin seemed eager for an answer, Yu Xiaoyu, though puzzled by the odd question, thought for a moment and then listed a few good-looking people she had seen in the brigade.

Unfortunately, none of the names she mentioned were familiar to Meng Yinyin, and they all turned out to be women.

Meng Yinyin grew impatient. What she was really hoping for were names of handsome men!

Just as she was about to speak up and give a hint, Yu Xiaoyu suddenly remembered something and said, “Oh right! I think I saw a really beautiful woman before. Though she’s married, she’s quite stunning.”

“She has two children but still looks young and pretty. Unfortunately, I heard her husband is in the military and is rarely home, so she’s raising the kids on her own. Life is tough for her.”

Unfortunately, Meng Yinyin couldn’t care less about this. Seeing that Yu Xiaoyu still didn’t get it, she asked bluntly, “What about men? Are there any handsome men?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Yu Xiaoyu froze, looking at Meng Yinyin in shock.

Meng Yinyin, now embarrassed by her stare, avoided her gaze and coughed lightly.

“Ahem, I’m just asking.”

Yu Xiaoyu quickly regained her composure, a knowing look on her face. She smiled and whispered, “Don’t be shy, we’re at that age. Wanting a partner is completely normal. When I was in school, I even had a crush on a male classmate!”

Yu Xiaoyu naively thought that Meng Yinyin had grown old, her girlish heart had awakened, and she wanted to fall in love.

Meng Yinyin: “….”

She gave Yu Xiaoyu a complicated glance, wondering if she would be heartbroken if she found out that Meng Yinyin was only trying to avoid labor by finding a partner.

“But as for good-looking men, it seems there really aren’t many here. You know how it is in the countryside. Life is tough for everyone. The men work in the fields all day, getting sunburned and tanned. It’s hard to find a fair-skinned, handsome man here.”

Yu Xiaoyu frowned, “In the entire Nanjiao Brigade, the only one I think looks good is Song Yue. The others are all too dark…”

Yu Xiaoyu preferred a more delicate, scholarly type of handsome, so she thought fair-skinned men were more attractive.

However, Meng Yinyin’s taste was completely different.

“I think darker-skinned men are also quite handsome!”

She couldn’t help but describe her personal idea of what “handsome” meant.

“I want someone who is tall, has long legs, is very strong, has muscles, and can hold me up with one hand. The skin doesn’t have to be too white, a little dark is fine. As for the face, of course it has to be handsome, with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a high nose bridge…”

As Meng Yinyin continued describing, Yu Xiaoyu’s expression suddenly became a little odd.

Because of Meng Yinyin’s description, Yu Xiaoyu instantly thought of someone, even feeling like the description matched that person’s appearance and build.

After a moment’s hesitation, Yu Xiaoyu couldn’t help but quietly speak up.

“Yinyin, I feel like the person you’re describing sounds a lot like someone I know…”

Meng Yinyin’s eyes lit up. “Who, who!”

Could it be that Yu Xiaoyu finally thought of someone who matched her taste?

After a moment of silence, Yu Xiaoyu firmly said two words.

“Lu, Chen.”

Meng Yinyin’s expression froze.

“Look, what you’re saying here, the first few requirements are easy to address. If we carefully look around, there are indeed quite a few young men in the brigade who meet your criteria—tall, strong, with muscular arms, and so on. But when it comes to the last one, someone with good looks, well, I think the only one who fits that description is Lu Chen…”

As she got to the end, Yu Xiaoyu’s voice became softer.

After all, in her impression, Lu Chen was still associated with words like “grim,” “scary,” and “hard to get along with.”

She wouldn’t even dare to make eye contact with such a man. If she hadn’t taken a risk and glanced at him the first time without knowing his background, she probably wouldn’t even know what he looked like now.

“But his personality, you can tell right away that he’s not easy to approach. So, I think we should forget about him.”

Yu Xiaoyu really didn’t want to see her good friend walking into a “trap.”

However, after hearing Yu Xiaoyu’s words, Meng Yinyin suddenly became serious and lost in thought.

Right, there was Lu Chen!

Lu Chen was handsome, and his appearance completely matched Meng Yinyin’s preferences. Although they had only interacted for two days, Meng Yinyin had already noticed that, despite his cold and intimidating exterior, Lu Chen was actually a kind-hearted person.

She had never considered Lu Chen before, mostly because she knew about his tragic background and automatically assumed he came from a poor family.

A family too poor was indeed out of Meng Yinyin’s consideration, as she had always been looking for a partner from a family with some financial stability, someone who could provide for her and not make her suffer.

But after seeing the surprisingly spacious yard at Lu Chen’s house this morning, and the dried meat he had given her, Meng Yinyin began to realize that his family’s situation might not be as bad as she had initially thought.

In fact, judging by his generosity in giving her the dried meat, it seemed that his family was much better off than she had imagined.

With a solid family background, land, and a house, not to mention his good looks and decent temper, Lu Chen seemed to have no flaws, aside from being a bit cold.

After thinking about Lu Chen’s various qualities, Meng Yinyin’s eyes suddenly brightened.

The next moment, she turned to Yu Xiaoyu and excitedly said, “Xiaoyu, thank you!”

Yu Xiaoyu: “???”

Thank her for what?

Yu Xiaoyu was confused for a moment before realizing.

She assumed Meng Yinyin was thanking her for advising her not to consider Lu Chen.

It seemed that Meng Yinyin had listened to her and had come to her senses.

“You’re welcome! After all, we’re friends,” Yu Xiaoyu said with a smile.

Since they were friends, she couldn’t just watch her go down the wrong path.

Both of them smiled. Meng Yinyin truly appreciated Yu Xiaoyu’s help. Without her pointing out Lu Chen, she might have unconsciously overlooked him.

Fortunately, Yu Xiaoyu had reminded her!

Now that Lu Chen was officially a candidate in her mind, Meng Yinyin’s mood improved. Just then, they heard that the groom’s party had arrived. After resolving her thoughts, she put them aside and followed Yu Xiaoyu to watch the wedding.

It must be said that this wedding really made Lu Dashan’s family proud.

The groom’s family was a worker’s family from the town. The groom’s party had gathered six bicycles. The groom rode at the front, with a seat specially left for the bride. Behind him, the other five bicycles each carried a gift wrapped in red cloth. While the contents were unknown, just the sight of the well-decorated bikes made it clear that they were giving gifts with pride.

The bride, greeted by cheers, walked out from her room. She wore her hair in two long braids, and a red flower on her head symbolized happiness. Her shy, demure appearance added a unique charm.

Meng Yinyin looked on, smiling along with the crowd to offer her blessings, but as she smiled, she also felt a twinge of sadness and regret.

If her family hadn’t fallen on hard times, her wedding might have been even more grand and lively. Her parents would have surely reserved the biggest banquet hall in the city, with plenty of tables to host their guests!

But now…

She had come to the Nanjiao Brigade, and in the entire brigade, Lu Dashan’s family was the richest. But she couldn’t marry into their family. So, if she were to marry someone from the Nanjiao Brigade, the scale of her wedding would likely not even compare to this one.

This was supposed to be the one and only wedding of her life. Who wouldn’t want it to be magnificent?

Meng Yinyin bit her lower lip in frustration.

But with her current situation, whether she could even survive was uncertain. How could she dare to expect a grand wedding now?

Ah, this was so hard.

Once the bride was taken by the groom, the couple thanked their families and exchanged a few simple formalities before getting on the bicycles and heading to the town.

Meng Yinyin then learned that the groom’s family had also organized a banquet in the town. Since both sides had different relatives and friends, and it was a workday, it wasn’t convenient for everyone to run back and forth, so they decided to hold separate receptions.

During the wedding procession, the groom had already completed all the formalities, and now he was taking the bride back to town. They would likely return in a few days for the bride’s return visit.

Seeing the groom’s wedding procession slowly leaving, everyone turned their gaze away.

Lu Dashan and Jiang Guihua have earned a lot of face today, and their mouths are almost grinning to the back of their heads.

After his daughter and new son-in-law left, Lu Dashan laughed out loud and asked everyone to start eating.

After watching the excitement, everyone stopped wasting time and immediately sat down at the table and started eating.

It was the first time for Meng Yinyin and Yu Xiaoyu to dine at a local member’s house. At their table, aside from the two Educated Youths, everyone else were local members. The two girls felt a little awkward, wondering whether they should greet the others at the table.

No one expected that this thought would suddenly disappear in the next second.

Before they had a chance to speak, the others picked up their chopsticks, and within a flash, the dish of meat was gone without a trace, leaving only two pieces of ginger behind.

Meng Yinyin: “…”

Yu Xiaoyu: “…”

That was the only meat dish on the table!

It only took a few bites for it to disappear!

They hadn’t even gotten a piece of meat yet!