CHAPTER 244: CHAPTER 244: I’M GETTING MARRIED

Lin Xiang described Beijing life passionately and how difficult it was, and the aunts went from being envious and jealous at first, to eventually turning around to comfort Lin Xiang.

"Big cities may look good everywhere, but it’s not easy to live well. Take food, for example, we at least have our own plots in the countryside, and though in winter there’s no vegetables, in spring and summer there’s more than enough to eat! Can city folks manage that?"

"Certainly not!" Lin Xiang replied, "There are no private plots in the city, you have to buy everything you want to eat, and it’s expensive to buy anything in Beijing. Just like pork, it’s only seven or eight cents a pound here, but at least a yuan per pound in Beijing!"

"That expensive, huh? Do you need meat tickets to buy meat in Beijing?"

"How can you not? The control is even stricter!"

The aunts exchanged their thoughts with each other and all expressed that no matter how good the outside world was, it couldn’t be better than their own home.

"Sister Niu, what are you back for this time?"

"To get my admission letter." Lin Xiang flashed a smile, "With the admission letter, I can go to university."

The aunts praised Lin Xiang together, "Is Sister Niu the first university student of our Li Hua Team?"

"Indeed! Last year we had many smart youths in our village take the entrance exam, but none of them passed! But I’ve heard that besides Sister Niu, there’s another smartie from Li Hua Team who has passed the university entrance exam this time. Do you know who it is?"

Aunt Qian leaned back, crossing her legs, and said smugly, "Who else could it be? It must be Smartie Liu, Liu Pei! Hey Sister Niu, now that Smartie Liu has passed the university entrance exam and your brother has joined the army, then the two of them..."

Aunt Qian intentionally left her words unfinished, leaving plenty of room for imagination.

Lin Xiang quickly said, "Aunt Qian, you can’t just say anything you want! My brother and Smartie Liu have nothing to do with each other. If this gets spread around, and it affects Smartie Liu’s chances of finding a partner, it wouldn’t be good!"

"Yes, yes, yes, your brother is in Beijing serving in the army, and you’re going to university in Beijing, so in the future, both of you will stay in Beijing. Then your mom..."

The topic finally shifted to Mrs. Lin.

Lin Xiang deliberately made a worried face, "Speaking of this, I’m anxious; my mom insists on returning from Beijing. I’ve told her that as a young girl going to a strange place, unfamiliar with everything, I need family by my side; otherwise, what if I get tricked? After much persuasion, my mom finally agreed to stay and accompany me for a while."

"Does your mom have a place to stay in Beijing?"

"There are private houses for rent outside our school, with a monthly rent of ten plus yuan! Half of my brother’s allowance is used to pay rent and cover living expenses. But there’s no choice; my mom is worried about me being alone in Beijing, and I’m also worried about her returning alone. I’ll see how things go after I get familiar with the environment and have her come back."

Most villagers were like this; though they were grateful to Lin Xiang, the jealousy rooted deeply inside would flare up. Lin Xiang had to talk about the hardships of life in Beijing; otherwise, these aunts might gossip behind her back.

After chatting with the aunts for a while, Lin Xiang headed home.

Since moving to town, Lin Xiang rarely came back, and the gate of her home was locked, but because it hadn’t been lived in for a long time, the furniture had accumulated a layer of dust.

Lin Xiang didn’t clean up; she walked around various rooms to ensure there were no problems, then prepared to head to Aunt Ge’s house.

Just as she locked the door, Yang Lihua ran over panting heavily.

She leaned against the wall, breathing heavily and intermittently asked, "Sister Niu, are you leaving again?"

"Yeah. I have to hurry back to town; my Fifth Aunt asked me to stay at her place first."

"When are you going back to Beijing? I mean, do you have time the next couple of days?"

"You have good news to tell me?" Lin Xiang teased Yang Lihua, "Have you and Chen Qiqiang settled things?"

Before moving to town, Yang Lihua and her mother came to Lin Xiang, hoping she could gather some information about someone at the cotton spinning factory; it was a potential match for Yang Lihua.

Lin Xiang personally asked Secretary Hu, who certified that Chen Qiqiang was a good man, and he and Yang Lihua had compatible personalities, thus settling their engagement.

Yang Lihua nodded, "The day after tomorrow is the wedding, and tomorrow is my family’s farewell feast. I’ve been torn over whether or not to tell you."

"You’re my friend, such a significant event as my wedding—I was worried you’d be upset if I didn’t tell you. But you’re in Beijing, and if you had to travel back and forth because of me, I’d feel bad. Luckily, you happened to come back, so I decided to formally inform you."

Yang Lihua blinked at Lin Xiang, eyes full of anticipation, "Lin Xiang, you’ll come, right?"

Lin Xiang smiled and nodded, "Of course. I’ve even brought you a gift, but since I was in a hurry today, I didn’t bring it with me; I’ll give it to you when I come back the day after tomorrow."

Yang Lihua, relieved after Lin Xiang’s affirmation, replied, "Then hurry back to town; otherwise, as it gets darker, it won’t be safe on the road."

"Alright, see you the day after tomorrow then."

When Lin Xiang rushed back to town, Fifth Uncle and the others hadn’t packed up the stall yet.

Lin Xiang parked her bicycle, collected the note she left for Fifth Uncle, and walked to the stall.

The barbecue stall was in the same spot as when she left, with Aunt Ge’s sweet shop on the left and the spicy noodle stall on the right.

At this time, business was good. Fifth Uncle, Fifth Aunt, and Chunya were all busy. Dong Sheng’s ice pop business was doing well, too; by just past eight, there was only a thin layer left at the bottom of the cooler.

He tried to help at the barbecue stall several times, but as soon as he approached, someone would come to buy ice pops. Helplessly, Dong Sheng could only sit obediently and watch over his ice pop stall.

Lin Xiang didn’t watch the excitement; she stepped forward to help Fifth Uncle.

"We don’t need your help, go and rest on the side. Dong Sheng, give your Sister Niu an ice pop."

"Alright, sis, I’ll get you an ice cream; do you prefer milk or chocolate flavor?"

"I’ll have the milk flavor."

Lin Xiang, with an ice cream in her mouth, since Fifth Uncle had refused her help, could only sit beside Dong Sheng and observe the crowd.

At 9:10, Fifth Uncle and Fifth Aunt had sold out all the vegetables prepared for grilling, and the group only then packed up and returned home.

Aunt Ge still had some sweet water left. At the end, she simply stopped selling and saved it for Lin Xiang.

Back at the Ge Family’s house, Fifth Aunt cooked a bowl of spicy noodles for Lin Xiang, "You probably can’t get this flavor outside, right?"

"Don’t even mention it, I really miss it." Lin Xiang ate spicy noodles, drank Aunt Ge’s sweet water, and occasionally chatted with Fifth Uncle and Fifth Aunt.