CHAPTER 379: CHAPTER 379: XU JINGJING GETS MARRIED

New Year’s Eve had just passed, and time seemed to fly by.

Xu Jingjing was to marry on the sixth day after the New Year. Xu Xiuxiu had brought Song Yuanhuan and the children back to her parents’ home on the second day of the New Year to help out. Mr. Xu, being a man, had little experience with weddings. Previously, Mrs. Xu had handled the household matters, and he had grown accustomed to having someone else arrange everything. Although Xu Jingjing did not plan to have a lavish wedding banquet, the family still had to host a departure drink for their daughter’s wedding.

So, Xu Xiuxiu was very busy. She had no time to rest at all; she left the children in Xu Jingjing’s room for the bride-to-be to look after, then she personally took care of the purchasing, banquet arrangements, helpers from the clan, and supervising the cooking chefs, all out of fear that any mishap might occur.

Xu Qingqing, too, arrived on the second day of the New Year with her man and two children to help out because she got along well with Xu Jingjing. Xu Qingqing had also spent some effort on adding to Xu Jingjing’s wedding trousseau. Although it couldn’t compare to Xu Xiuxiu’s large color TV, she had still managed to order a set of wooden furniture made from the best timber in their hometown. For the countryside, this was definitely a generous gesture.

However, because she had just had her second child, the little one was only a few months old and could hardly be away from someone’s care, except when sleeping. Therefore, Xu Qingqing’s return to her maternal home did not actually add much help—it was more like she came to share in the festivities. Of course, one might also say she came to help with the children, as Xu Xiuxiu could not bear to see Xu Jingjing, the bride-to-be, have to struggle with childcare duties.

Xu Fangfang also knew about Xu Xiuxiu’s upcoming marriage. Perhaps because of her past actions, she did not come forward with solicitous offers of help, and her contribution to the trousseau was merely tokenistic. She only showed her face occasionally these days, and Xu Xiuxiu, who did not expect much from Xu Fangfang, was satisfied that she kept a distance, thus maintaining peace between them.

Still, Xu Fangfang inevitably felt a bit awkward because every time she visited, she brought Doudou with her. She seemed to want Doudou to play with her younger siblings, but Doudou, being older than Cheng Guang and Cai Tou, clearly did not fit in with them. After a few visits, Xu Fangfang seemed to give up on the idea of fostering close bonds among the children.

As the new bride, Xu Jingjing’s role was mainly to stay busy with her own matters inside the house. Rural weddings could be exhausting for the bride, and Xu Xiuxiu, having no experience in these matters, did not advocate for the cumbersome traditions, such as requiring Xu Jingjing to make thousand-layer sole shoes or tailor a traditional, rustic apron.

Xu Jingjing had actually made quite a few of these traditional bridal items, but Xu Xiuxiu had forcefully thrown them away. After all, they reminded her of Song scumbag, which was a painful thought. Moreover, Wei Jiaqiang was the only person in his household, and the Wei Family did not have in-laws or other relatives to make such demands. The two had little regard for rural customs, so many details were simplified through discussion, and now Xu Jingjing simply needed to wait at home for the departure.

Although much was simplified, Wei Jiaqiang took the wedding very seriously. Despite appearing honest and simple on ordinary days, he used all his life savings to welcome Xu Jingjing into his home, determined not to let Xu Jingjing feel any less. For this, Xu Xiuxiu’s approval of her brother-in-law, Wei Jiaqiang, grew even more.

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Actually, when Xu Jingjing’s wedding was announced, Xu Xiuxiu had been worried that the awful mother from that scumbag’s family in Song Family Village would come and cause trouble. But to Xu Xiuxiu’s surprise, she didn’t show up, which was a relief, and the wedding went smoothly.

After Xu Jingjing’s wedding, Xu Xiuxiu and her sisters got together to discuss their father’s situation. Xu Xiuxiu wanted Mr. Xu to go and live with Xu Jingjing and her husband in Z City, but he refused. In Mr. Xu’s own words, he was a member of the village committee and was accustomed to the flora and fauna of Xu Village. Besides, he was still in good health and capable of taking care of himself. If he went to live in Z City at his age, he would have to reach out to his children for living expenses, which he saw as a typical way of burdening them.

Unwilling to leave and not wanting to give up his village committee job, he chose to continue living at home, just as before. Faced with Mr. Xu’s refusal again, Xu Xiuxiu felt helpless and followed their previously discussed plan, trying to get Xu Fangfang to take care of their father as much as possible.

Moreover, Xu Qingqing was no longer pregnant like before, so if there was anything Xu Fangfang couldn’t handle, Xu Qingqing was still there. Xu Xiuxiu and Xu Jingjing were not reassured by Xu Fangfang and the others, but they would leave it to Mr. Xu and Xu Qingqing to decide what to do.

However, after Xu Jingjing’s wedding, on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, Xu Xiuxiu planned to pack up and return to Z City, but then a sad accident occurred. The old revolutionary hero, Second Grandpa, had survived the New Year, yet he could not resist the fact of aging and passed away peacefully on the night of the eighth, at the age of eighty-three.

Song Yuanhuan, as a descendant, wore mourning attire for him. Since Second Grandpa had no close relatives left, the funeral was not grand but still solemn.

After Second Grandpa’s funeral, it was already the 15th day of the Lunar New Year, the Lantern Festival. After discussing with his spouse, and since they had already delayed their plans, they decided to stay at home for the Lantern Festival before heading to Z City. By then, Song Yuanhuan’s vacation from the military academy was also over.

Aside from inspecting her work and arranging for Song Yuanhuan’s education in Z City, Xu Xiuxiu also had another important matter to attend to, which was to participate in the Z City Entrepreneurs’ Annual Meeting.

The Entrepreneurs’ Annual Meeting in Z City was a grand affair, attended by leaders of enterprises in F Province and major taxpayers. It was said that city leaders would give speeches and commendations at the meeting. Of course, the small matter of commendation was one thing, but the essence of the annual meeting was to establish networks. Xu Xiuxiu, as a businesswoman, even in her previous life, knew well the subtleties of such annual meetings and cocktail parties.

In her past life, she had known about the Entrepreneurs’ Annual Meeting in Z City, but at that time, she was not qualified to participate in such government-valued meetings. Although Sichuan Pavilion was now quite large in scale, last year it was just a small restaurant with two branches, and it was not unusual not to be invited to such an event. Now, with the opening of Tangshui City Resort, Xu Xiuxiu had moved up in class by no small measure. Before the New Year, she received an invitation to the event and planned to take it seriously, which meant she had to return to Z City.

Taking three children back to Z City, Xu Xiuxiu’s responsibilities were numerous. Moreover, since she didn’t drive, if Song Yuanhuan took the car back to Imperial City, that would leave Xu Xiuxiu to finish her Z City itinerary and then go to Imperial City with three children on her own. The trip from Z City to Imperial City was long and tiring, and he couldn’t bear the thought of it, so Song Yuanhuan just had to ask for a few days off from the military academy and the family would spend a few days in Z City together.