Chapter 153: Wang Xuanying’s Wedding

Chapter 153: Wang Xuanying's Wedding

At Wang Yongshun's house, red couplets adorned the door, and Liu Xiaomei, who usually wore a stoic expression, now showed a rare hint of joy.

Su An helped Wang Xuanying braid her hair into two plaits and tied them with red silk ribbons.

Wang Xuanying, already beautiful, now carried the shyness of a bride, adding a touch of charm to her appearance.

Liu Xiaomei entered from outside and nodded at Su An as a form of greeting.

She gazed at her daughter with reluctance, opened her mouth, and softly said, "Xuanying, I've asked around, and everyone says the Liu family is honest and kind. After you marry, live well. Hongmin is a good man. After marriage, you won't be alone anymore. You and Hongmin should support and understand each other. My Xuanying has grown up and is leaving me now. I hope my daughter and her husband will love each other and live a prosperous life."

It was rare for Liu Xiaomei to say so much, and Wang Xuanying's eyes immediately welled up with tears. She turned and hugged her thin mother.

"Mom, I know. Don't worry, I'll be happy. You must take care of yourself at home. The fields..."

She wanted to tell her mother not to work so hard, but considering the family's situation, it was almost impossible. Her father couldn't work, and her younger brother was still studying.

"Mom, if there's any work in the fields, send me a message. The Liu family's village isn't far. I'll bring Hongmin to come back and help. Don't overwork yourself."

Liu Xiaomei patted Wang Xuanying's shoulder, "Silly child, you're not even married yet, and you're already thinking about the work at home. After you marry, your priority should be your husband's family. Don't worry about home. I'm here. You and Hongmin living well is what matters most."

"Let me see if the groom's party has arrived," Liu Xiaomei said, not waiting for Wang Xuanying to respond, and turned to leave. She was afraid she'd cry if she stayed any longer.

Wang Xuanying watched her mother's hurried steps, and tears rolled down her cheeks.

"An An, do you know? In poor families like ours, many daughters are kept at home to work and don't marry until they're 25 or 26."

"I'm only 19."

"Mom was afraid the good ones would be taken, and with Chen Dong always bothering me, she was afraid she couldn't protect me, so she hurried to marry me off."

"Jianyong is still studying, and Dad can't work in the fields. Mom will have it even harder in the future."

"An An, I only found out last night when I was chatting with Mom that she had a fight with Aunt Maochun before. When she was washing clothes by the river, everyone was gossiping about Aunt Maochun. Someone asked Mom, and she just went along with what they said. Later, Aunt Maochun hit her. Aunt Maochun didn't dare to confront others, so she took it out on Mom. Mom won the fight, but Aunt Maochun's husband slapped her into the ditch when he came home from work."

"When she returned, Dad saw her soaking wet at the door, and in his panic, he fell and hit his head on the ground, causing a lump. Grandma saw it and scolded her a bit. Mom said she was utterly exhausted, both mentally and physically. After that, she had no strength left to speak."

"She said she didn't have any issues with relatives; she just didn't want others to come to our house, nor did she want to go to others' houses. She just wanted to be alone and do nothing. She said she was too tired, didn't want to get up every day. Her energy was spent on farming, on work, on heavy housework. She was so tired, too tired to speak, too tired to smile."

"I used to blame her for not having a pleasant expression for anyone. I saw Dad carefully watching her expression. I saw Grandma, Uncle, and Aunt trying to be warm while she was cold. I always blamed her, wondering why it was so hard for her to just smile or say a few pleasantries. Why was she so unwilling to do it, making everything so awkward?"

"An An, I only now realize that she had no energy left to deal with what, for us, are normal social niceties."

Su An felt a heaviness in her heart, "Don't cry. You know, none of us blame her. We all know how hard it's been for her. All these years, she's taken good care of you and Jianyong. Uncle has always been clean and tidy. We all see it."

Life is no paradise; everyone has their own burdens. In the countryside, families with few or no male members are often bullied, which is why most people favor sons over daughters.

"Aunt is just too stubborn. Don't we still have Uncle and Grandma at home?"

Wang Xuanying shook her head, "I told her that too, but Mom said Uncle already has his own family and children. Our family isn't his responsibility."

"She said our family is already like this; why drag Uncle's family down into the mud with us?"

"Uncle's family has to take care of Grandma, Auntie is not in good health, Xiuyun and Jianrong are still young, and Uncle is the only laborer in the house..."

Wang Xuanying wiped her tears, "An An, why wasn't I born a boy? If I were a boy, it would be better. Mom raised me all these years, and now I have to go and take care of someone else's parents."

Su An frowned, "Don't think like that. You just said the Liu family's village is so close. You can come back anytime. If you ride a bike, it's only half an hour."

"Since you feel your aunt has had a tough life, you should live well with Liu Hongmin and take good care of her in the future!"

"Hey, An An~"

Ren San poked his head through the door and called out to Su An.

Noticing his constant winks, Su An stepped outside.

Someone as noticeable as him couldn't stay hidden at home forever, so Wang Xiaocui casually made an excuse, telling outsiders that Ren San was Su An's neighbor from the city who came here to visit relatives and was staying at their house for a while.

Su An looked at Ren San and asked, "What is it?"

Ren San ducked his head, "That, the shoulder pole used for the load, I saw someone take it to the back, and after a while, they put it back. The guy kept glancing around, like he was scared someone might catch him."

Despite being poor, Liu Xiaomei managed to make a quilt for her daughter, and then her younger uncle and Wang Xiaocui also added some things. Jian Yong was supposed to personally carry these items to Liu Family Cave later.

Su An trailed Ren San to the door, grabbed the shoulder pole with the red ribbon, and inspected it. It was a bamboo split in the middle, made into a new shoulder pole with half a bamboo tube.

Moving the red ribbon tied in the middle to look, it was actually sawed halfway through.

If you were to carry a load with this, it wouldn't go far before the pole would break.

"Who the hell did this?"

Su An snatched the shoulder pole and hurried inside to find her uncle, who knew how to craft baskets and shoulder poles. This must have been his work.

"Uncle Yongshun, did you make this shoulder pole?"

Wang Yongshun nodded, "Yes, I made it."

Su An said, "This bamboo should yield two shoulder poles, right? Where's the other one?"

Wang Yongshun was a bit puzzled but still said, "The other one's still unfinished, it's behind the door."

"Can it be used?"

"It's usable, just not fully polished yet."

Su An nodded, "As long as it can be used," then she went behind the door to fetch the new shoulder pole and untied the red ribbon from this pole to retie it on the new one.

As soon as she finished tying it, firecrackers started going off outside.

"The wedding procession has arrived~"