Chapter 4: Marriage Proposal

◎ The Importance of a Man’s Appearance! ◎

Just thinking about the words “honest and sincere” being used to describe Jiang Che made Wei Xuan want to laugh.

But aside from Wei Xuan, her three sisters-in-law were feeling rather uneasy. As women, how could fate treat them so differently?

Meanwhile, Wei Xuan’s three older brothers were simply happy for her.

Wei Xuan accepted their goodwill with a smile and urged everyone to start eating. “If we don’t eat now, the food will get cold. Dad, Mom, try the dishes I made and see if they suit your taste.”

Father Wei picked up his chopsticks first, and only then did the others take a piece for themselves. After tasting the food, they all gave their approval. Especially the little girl from Second Brother Wei’s family, who had just turned three—her eyes lit up as she ate, her cheeks puffing adorably as she chewed.

All in all, apart from Wei Xuan’s three sisters-in-law, who were a bit out of sorts, everyone else was quite satisfied with the meal.

With everything now openly discussed, the Wei family quietly began preparing Wei Xuan’s dowry in secret, making sure no outsiders caught wind of it.

At the same time, under Mother Wei’s eager anticipation, Jiang Che’s family finally arrived at the Dalianhua Production Team.

“This road is terrible! It’s so bumpy that I feel like I’m about to fall apart. Jiang Che, I’m asking you one last time—are you absolutely sure you want to marry a girl from here? Let me tell you, it’s not too late to back out now.”

Over the past few days, Mother Jiang had been thinking more and more about it, realizing she had agreed to her youngest son’s request far too hastily. Their families were completely mismatched—how would they ever get along under the same roof? And she couldn’t bear the thought of her youngest son moving out and living separately.

So even on the way there, she hadn’t given up on persuading Jiang Che.

Jiang Che might have been carefree and lacking ambition, but he cared a great deal about his reputation. If he backed out now after promising the girl, how would he ever live it down? So, Mother Jiang was doomed to be disappointed—there was no way she would get the answer she wanted.

Seeing that her son was determined to charge ahead no matter what, Mother Jiang huffed in frustration, turning her head away, deciding that if she couldn’t see it, she wouldn’t be bothered by it.

Aside from the Jiang family’s trio, Jiang Che’s aunt was also in the car, sitting in the front passenger seat. She had come along as the matchmaker.

Noticing that her sister-in-law was getting worked up by her nephew, she quickly changed the subject. “Jiang Che, are we almost there?”

Jiang Che had no idea where to go, so just like last time, the group headed to the brigade office and used the loudspeaker to call out again.

As soon as Wei Xuan heard the announcement, she knew it had to be Jiang Che. Wei Mother, who had been waiting anxiously, immediately asked, “Is it them?”

These past few days, Mother Wei had been on edge, even taking time off from work to stay home, worried that if they arrived suddenly, the family wouldn’t be prepared.

Wei Xuan quickly reassured her, “Mom, it should be them. I’ll go take a look. You just wait at home.”

Not wanting to waste time, Wei Xuan headed straight for the brigade office.

From a distance, she spotted a black car parked by the roadside.

The people in the car must have noticed her too, as the vehicle started moving in her direction.

When they got closer, Jiang Che opened the door and got out. “My parents and aunt are all here. Where’s your house? Lead the way.”

Wei Xuan politely greeted the people inside the car through the window before turning to lead them to her home.

Fortunately, it wasn’t far—just a few hundred meters away. At this time of day, most villagers were working in the fields, so the arrival of the car didn’t cause a commotion. After all, in this era, seeing a car in the countryside was still a rare sight.

Mother Wei stood at the door, waiting to welcome them. When she saw that they had even arrived by car, her eyes lit up with excitement.

At Wei Xuan’s introduction, Jiang Che stepped forward to greet her. “Hello, Auntie. I’m Jiang Che, Wei Xuan’s fiancé.”

“Oh, good, good! You’re very welcome,” Mother Wei responded, her gaze shifting to him. Seeing that he was tall and handsome, she was extremely satisfied.

Her smile widened as she asked, “Xiao Che, your parents came too, right?”

Just then, the car came to a complete stop, and Father Jiang and Mother Jiang stepped out. Hearing Mother Wei’s words, they quickly came forward to greet her.

“Sister-in-law, we troubled you by making you wait for us,” Father Jiang said politely.

“It’s no trouble at all! Come, come inside and sit down. The sun is scorching today.”

It was indeed a hot day, so Father Jiang and Mother Jiang didn’t stand on ceremony. They followed Mother Wei inside, but not before reminding Jiang Che to bring in the gifts from the car.

Once everyone was seated and served tea, Mother Wei apologized with a hint of embarrassment. “My husband is still working in the fields. He should be back soon. Factory Director Jiang, I’m afraid my hospitality has been lacking.”

Father Jiang waved it off with a smile. “No need for such formalities—just call me your younger brother. As for Brother Wei, he’s busy with production tasks. The fault is ours for coming at an inconvenient time. It’s all because of this son of mine.”

Father Jiang pointed at Jiang Che in mock annoyance as he spoke.

Mother Jiang sighed and followed up, “That’s right, sister-in-law. I told him that it’s the middle of the summer harvest, and you all must be busy. We could have waited until after the busy season to come, but this impatient brat just couldn’t wait even a single day. So, I had no choice but to bring his aunt along and come to propose.”

Jiang Che’s aunt had remained quiet until now, and Mother Wei hadn’t asked. But upon learning her identity, she quickly greeted her. “Oh, so you’re Jiang Che’s aunt! I was wondering why you looked so much like Jiang Laodi.”

Just as they were speaking, Father Wei returned home. Naturally, there was another round of introductions, and once both families started discussing the marriage arrangements, Wei Xuan and Jiang Che were sent outside.

Wei Xuan headed straight to the kitchen to prepare lunch, and Jiang Che followed behind her.

She was too busy to pay him any attention—there was a lot to do.

Feeling bored, Jiang Che tried to make conversation. “Wei Xuan, is there anything fun to do around here?”

Wei Xuan, still focused on cutting meat, replied without looking up, “No. This place is really remote, and with the summer heat, isn’t it better to just stay at home? Why would you even want to go out in this weather?”

The piece of meat she was cutting had been specially bought by Mother Wei the day before, just for the Jiang family’s visit.

Since meat spoils quickly in the summer and they didn’t know exactly when the Jiang family would arrive, they had salted it right after buying it and hung it in the well to keep it fresh for a few extra days.

It was only about two liang of meat, and Wei Xuan planned to use it to stir-fry some green beans.

Once her sisters-in-law returned, they would slaughter a chicken—then they’d have two meat dishes. She also planned to make scrambled eggs with chili, which could barely count as another meat dish.

The rest was easy: a spicy and sour shredded potato dish, stir-fried carrots, two cold appetizers, and a bowl of mung bean soup. That would be more than enough for a proper meal—definitely a generous spread by the current standards.

Jiang Che watched as Wei Xuan busied herself, looking very much like a virtuous and capable wife. He couldn’t help but feel a little surprised. “Wei Xuan, why do I feel like you’re different from before?”

Wei Xuan’s heart skipped a beat, and her hands momentarily paused while cutting the vegetables. She quickly collected herself and replied as naturally as possible, “What’s different? I’m still the same as before.”

Jiang Che circled around her, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Hmm, maybe I’m just overthinking it. You just seem… quieter than before.”

Hearing that, Wei Xuan finally relaxed a little. Keeping her tone casual, she said, “We’ve only met a few times before, and every time was rushed—we barely had time to talk. Of course, it’s going to feel different from how I am at home.”

Hearing her reasoning, Jiang Che found it made sense and dropped the topic.

But not long after, he suddenly leaned in close to Wei Xuan, smiling. “Doesn’t matter. We’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other slowly in the future.”

His sudden movement startled Wei Xuan, making her face flush halfway red. She instinctively stepped back, stammering, “Y-you—what are you doing? There are people outside. Don’t stand so close to me. It wouldn’t look good if someone saw.”

“Ah, getting shy now?” Jiang Che clicked his tongue. “Honestly, I think Auntie likes me quite a bit. I’m sure our marriage will be settled today.”

Wei Xuan, however, wasn’t as confident as he was. Although Jiang Che’s mother had been polite in her words, she wasn’t naïve—she could still tell whether someone genuinely liked her or not.

But she could understand. There was indeed a big gap between their families—Jiang Che’s family drove a car, while her family didn’t even own a bicycle.

Besides, she didn’t really care whether Jiang Che’s mother was truly willing or not. The fact that she had come today meant she couldn’t make decisions for Jiang Che. That was all that mattered.

Even if she did marry into their family in the future, she wouldn’t lower herself just to please Jiang Che’s mother. As long as they could maintain a surface-level peace, that would be enough. And judging by Jiang Che’s mother’s attitude today, that didn’t seem too difficult to achieve.

While she was lost in thought, her older brothers and sisters-in-law returned from the fields. This meal was mainly meant to showcase Wei Xuan’s cooking skills to Jiang Che’s family, so only her third sister-in-law stayed behind to help process the chicken, while the others went to the main hall to entertain the Jiang family.

Once the food was ready, the parents from both families had more or less finished their discussion. Wei Xuan asked Jiang Che to go inside and inform everyone that it was time to eat.

Wei Xuan’s three sisters-in-law came to the kitchen to help carry the dishes, all of them giving her knowing looks. The third sister-in-law even said outright, “Little sister, your fiancé is really fair-skinned—he looks even better than the young men in our village. You really have good taste.”

The eldest sister-in-law hadn’t expected the third sister-in-law to be so blunt. She quickly glanced outside to make sure no one was around before sighing in relief. Then, with a slightly stern tone, she said, “Third sister-in-law, you’d better not say things like that again. You don’t want to make a fool of yourself. Besides, when choosing a husband, it’s not about looks. What matters most is that he treats our little sister well.”

The third sister-in-law looked a bit embarrassed at being called out.

But the second sister-in-law had a different opinion. “Eldest sister-in-law, I don’t agree with you on that. Yes, treating our little sister well is important, but being good-looking is just as important. They’ll be spending every day together—if he’s an eyesore, how could she live with that? Just like when I chose my husband—I married him because he was better-looking than the others. If I had only looked at his family’s conditions, I wouldn’t have picked him.”

The eldest sister-in-law was left speechless by this argument. Seeing that the third sister-in-law was also nodding in agreement, she suddenly felt she shouldn’t have even bothered discussing the matter with the two of them.

Back then, the third brother had insisted on marrying his wife despite going against their mother’s wishes—wasn’t it because she was prettier than the girl their mother had chosen for him?

As for the second sister-in-law, she wasn’t making things up either. Her family had been well-off, so when it came time to find a match, it wasn’t hard to find someone with better conditions than the second brother. In the end, the reason she married him was because he had a good-looking face.

But the eldest sister-in-law had her own firm beliefs—she felt that a man’s looks were useless since a handsome face couldn’t fill an empty stomach. However, she didn’t want to keep arguing with her sisters-in-law, so she simply picked up a dish and headed outside. “Hurry up, the guests are still waiting.”

Reminded of this, the second and third sisters-in-law quickly got to work—one carrying dishes, the other fetching bowls and chopsticks.

Left alone in the kitchen, Wei Xuan sighed helplessly. No matter the era, there would always be people who prioritized looks!

When the table was finally filled with dishes, Jiang’s mother’s expression showed a trace of satisfaction.

At least this future daughter-in-law had some redeeming qualities—if nothing else, she wouldn’t have to worry about her youngest son going hungry in the future.