Chapter 53

Chapter 53

The next day, Shen Moer went to work at the school. As soon as she entered the office, Shen Lingling generously gave her two oranges, then casually but subtly boasted, "My aunt introduced me to a suitor. We met and felt quite compatible, so we've decided to get engaged. He's a textile factory technician, and these oranges are from him."

The oranges looked good. Shen Moer took them and directly gave one to Cheng Tao, who was pretending to prepare for class but was actually watching the scene unfold. Cheng Tao quickly waved his hand, saying, "Teacher Shen Lingling gave me some yesterday."

Shen Moer tossed the orange into his hand, "That was yesterday's."

As she split the orange in half with her hands, Shen Moer ate and said, "Hmm, it's quite sweet."

Shen Lingling didn't expect this reaction. She glanced at Shen Moer and reiterated, "My partner is a textile factory technician. His family seems to know someone in the kiln factory's propaganda department, Director Xu."

Shen Moer raised an eyebrow slightly, understanding. It seemed Shen Lingling knew about her previous meeting with Zhang Junliang. No wonder, when she and Fu Mingze confirmed their relationship, others gossiped behind their backs, but Shen Lingling said something like "love is free, and feelings shouldn't be measured by money." She probably had already or was preparing to meet Zhang Junliang at that time.

Shen Moer sincerely wished her, "Then I wish you a lifetime of happiness together."

Shen Lingling: "..."

It felt like hitting a soft spot.

When Shen Lingling and Zhang Junliang met, their respective elders accompanied them. Shen Lingling was accompanied by her aunt, Shen Xianghong, while Zhang Junliang was accompanied by his mother. At that time, Zhang Junliang openly mentioned that he had met Shen Moer before, and then his mother directly said their family didn't fancy Shen Moer.

Zhang Junliang looked hesitant at that moment, and Shen Lingling guessed that as a cultured and refined person, he might feel embarrassed to say so bluntly that their family didn't fancy Shen Moer.

Shen Lingling never considered the possibility that Shen Moer didn't fancy Zhang Junliang. After all, Zhang Junliang was good-looking, had a gentle personality, and was a textile factory technician. With such conditions, he could easily find a state-owned factory worker, and it wasn't impossible for him to find a female cadre.

To be honest, Shen Lingling felt that finding such a partner was a bit of a reach for her.

But Zhang Junliang said he didn't care about the woman's job or social status; he cared more about her character and personality. He liked her gentleness and kindness.

Shen Lingling gave Shen Moer a couple of glances, thinking that Shen Moer might be putting on a brave face. After all, a textile factory technician didn't fancy her, and she ended up with a poor educated youth. Such an embarrassing thing, she probably didn't want anyone to know, right?

Shen Moer ignored Shen Lingling, took out two small packs of pastries she brought back from the provincial capital, and gave them to Cheng Tao and Shen Lingling. Then she discussed the provincial competition with Cheng Tao.

Upon hearing that hundreds of students from across the province were participating, Cheng Tao comforted Shen Moer, "Winning two city-level awards is already a nice surprise. Whether we win at the provincial level or not doesn't matter, but of course, winning would be an extra surprise."

Cheng Tao meant well, probably afraid that the intense competition might lead to disappointment if they didn't win. Shen Moer smiled, "Yes, I know."

She went with the goal of broadening her horizons. Given that Mao Mao and Zhou Zhaodi had only been learning for a few months, it was normal not to win at the provincial level. Shen Moer had a good attitude and didn't insist on winning.

Moreover, the provincial organizers had hinted that even those who made it to the finals would receive at least an honorable mention.

Winning an honorable mention would probably make Mao Mao and Zhou Zhaodi very happy, as children don't understand the value of awards.

As long as it didn't dampen their enthusiasm for learning, Shen Moer thought it was fine.

Cheng Tao also inquired about when she and Fu Mingze would hold their wedding banquet. As a colleague and an educated youth, he would definitely attend the wedding. Shen Moer shared their plans.

All the while, Shen Lingling pretended to prepare for class while eavesdropping. Whenever Shen Moer looked over, she pretended to be busy.

After school in the morning, Shen Moer saw Zhou Zhaodi and called her over to ask about her situation after returning home.

"She didn't hit me, just scolded me a little. Last time, the brigade leader came to our house and told my grandfather that if there were any more beatings or scoldings, they would deduct work points from our family. So she doesn't hit me anymore, but she still scolds. But scolding doesn't bother me; it's not like I'll lose a piece of flesh. Doing more work is fine too, as long as I can still go to school and draw. I'm happy to do more work."

Zhou Zhaodi's eyes lit up as she said, "Teacher Shen, if I study and draw hard, I'll have a good life in the future, right?"

Shen Moer patted her head and nodded in agreement, "Yes, you absolutely will."

Zhou Zhaodi's face lit up with joy.

The teacher and her student chatted for a while, and by the time they left the school gate, the school was already empty. Kids get hungry fast, and before school was even out, they were already whining about being hungry. As soon as the bell rang, they all bolted out of there.

Shen Moer walked Zhou Zhaodi home first. As they approached a fork in the road not far from Zhou Zhaodi's house, Zhou suddenly yanked her into a hidden corner.

Zhou Zhaodi whispered breathlessly, "Teacher Shen, it's Teacher Shen Lingling!"

Shen Moer was puzzled, "Hmm?"

Zhou Zhaodi added, "And Zhang, the educated youth group leader."

It took Shen Moer a moment to realize who "Zhang, the educated youth group leader" was.

It seemed Zhang Zhiqiang had a bit of a power trip. As the leader of the educated youth group, his main role was to act as a go-between, but he often emphasized his position as the group leader. Even the grade-schoolers knew about it.

Shen Moer quietly peeked out and saw, not far ahead under a pomelo tree, Shen Lingling and Zhang Zhiqiang facing off. Zhang's face was beet red with anger, clearly very agitated.

"...We didn't establish a relationship, but I thought there was an understanding between us. I've done so much for you, given you so many things. I've been pursuing you, and you never refused. I thought you were just testing me for a while longer. How could you, how could you do this?!" Zhang Zhiqiang's voice was on the verge of cracking.

"No, Comrade Zhang, you once praised me as kind, brave, and having an iron will, and I also thought you were kind and generous. We are commune members and educated youths from the same brigade, comrades in the revolutionary struggle, I don't deny that. You helped me, gave me things, I thought it was out of comradely affection, and I reciprocated. How can you claim there was an understanding about a relationship? That's impossible, my family would never allow me to be with an educated youth," Shen Lingling said softly but firmly.

"You, you, you... what you gave in return..."

Zhang Zhiqiang stammered for a while. He had given Shen Lingling hair ties, handkerchiefs, candies, and even pastries. Shen Lingling had indeed reciprocated once, with two cucumbers from her family's garden, which were incomparable in value. But Zhang, being too proud, couldn't bring himself to say what she had given back.

After stuttering for a while, he finally blurted out, "What do you mean your family won't allow you to be with an educated youth? That's prejudice!"

After a moment of thought, he asked with a glimmer of hope, "Comrade Lingling, is it your family forcing you? They won't allow you to be with an educated youth, so they're forcing you to be with that textile mill worker?"

Shen Lingling said softly, "Comrade Zhang, as you said, my partner is from the textile mill, and he's not just an ordinary worker, he's a skilled worker. As a comrade, you should be happy for me finding such an excellent partner."

Zhang Zhiqiang: "..."

After a long silence, he suddenly snapped and yelled, "No, I won't!" He then turned and ran away.

Shen Lingling watched him run off, then muttered, "What a lunatic," and walked away in the opposite direction.

Seeing Shen Lingling also walk away, Zhou Zhaodi suddenly sighed deeply and said, "Poor Group Leader Zhang."

Shen Moer: "..."

You little elementary school student, not only did you sneak a peek at this mess, but you're also commenting on it?

"I've always said Zhang Zhiqiang was being presumptuous. Tsk tsk tsk, getting shot down and losing face, it's too tragic," Wang Qiutong suddenly emerged from behind a broken jar at the corner across the street, happily running up to Shen Moer, "Moer, you're back, great!"

Shen Moer was curious, "How did you come out from there?"

Wang Qiutong chuckled and whispered, "Since the news came out the evening before yesterday, Zhang Zhiqiang's face has been very grim. These past two days, he's been a ticking time bomb. I guessed he would confront Shen Lingling. Earlier, I saw him marching toward the school, so I quietly followed."

Wang Qiutong glanced at Zhou Zhaodi, who was looking up at her curiously, and shushed, "Keep it a secret for me, okay?"

Zhou Zhaodi covered her mouth with her hands and nodded with a smile.

Wang Qiutong took two candies from her pocket and stuffed them into Zhou Zhaodi's pocket, "Good girl."

Seeing Wang Qiutong's face full of satisfaction from witnessing the drama, Shen Moer really wanted to remind her: You're really asking for trouble. If this were in Great Liang, you'd probably be pushing up daisies by now.

But in the end, Shen Moer just said, "Let's go, we'll take Zhaodi home first. I brought some pastries from the provincial city, you can come with me to get them."

Wang Qiutong was thrilled. "Moer, you're the best!"

With the wedding banquet coming up, Shen Shaoyuan postponed the originally scheduled date for moving into the new house and decided to set it on the same day as Shen Moer's wedding, making it a double celebration.

Before that, the family still needed to prepare many things.

Originally, they hadn't planned to make a new bed, intending to maintain an image of poverty by moving the old bed they were using. But since it was a wedding, a new bed was definitely necessary. If they were making one bed, they might as well make two, so they ended up making two beds.

Shen Shaoyuan wanted to make a dressing table for his daughter, but constrained by their "poverty" and the current situation, a dressing table, seen as impractical and somewhat bourgeois, was out of the question. Instead, they made a more practical chest of drawers.

In addition, they made an Eight Immortals table for dining, long benches, stools, a kitchen cabinet, and some smaller items like a basin stand for holding washbasins and hanging towels. All these quickly exhausted their allocated wood quota and even left them owing some to the brigade.

However, the advantage was that under the pretext of the wedding, they managed to furnish all the necessary furniture at once.

For a wedding, it's common to tighten the belt and scrape together resources for furniture.

Then there were the daily necessities: quilts, quilt covers, washbasins, thermos bottles, bowls and chopsticks, towels, toothbrushes, soap... a jumble of small, everyday items. Most of these were prepared by Fu Mingze. Before Shen Moer could buy them, he had already delivered them, saying he had borrowed some money and coupons from Zheng Jiamin and Brother Bao.

When Shen Moer tried to give him money, he refused, insisting he would find a way to repay it. Seeing he was adamant, Shen Moer had to drop it. After all, once married, they would share the debts.

While busily preparing the dowry, Shen Moer also found time to embroider a piece, again a peony pattern, the style Cao Fei liked most, this time a complete picture. After finishing it, Shen Moer found time to send it out.

Juggling work, embroidery, and dowry preparations, Shen Moer was swamped.

Fu Mingze was also quite busy. Those odds and ends were a hassle to gather, and he was also working in the fields and helping the village with experimental plots.

So, even though they were in the same village, Shen Moer hardly saw Fu Mingze during this period. Their meetings were brief, just a quick exchange of words before they each went about their own tasks.

Compared to Shen Moer's careful and frugal preparations, trying not to attract attention, Shen Lingling's preparations were much more showy.

Almost every time the Zhang family sent something over, they made a big production out of it, letting the whole village know.

Since Zhang Junliang's family was cramped for space, the two families agreed that after the wedding, Zhang Junliang and Shen Lingling would live in Yangliu Brigade.

Shen Lingling currently lived in half a brick-tiled house, and this half would still be "loaned" to the young couple.

Shen Laoer and his wife were shrewd people. Naturally, they wouldn't give away half a brick-tiled house for free when their daughter married. They called it a loan, but it was really a rental, charging the young couple ten yuan a year in rent.

Of course, besides the rent, the couple believed that having a skilled worker son-in-law living with them would bring other benefits.

Sharing meals, when the son-in-law bought some good food, surely they would get a share too? Living in their house, seeing each other every day, the son-in-law would have to chip in during holidays, right?

A skilled worker, earning several dozen yuan a month, how could the young couple spend it all? Even a little extra would mean a lot to rural folks.

Since the young couple would live in Yangliu Brigade, some of the Zhang family's furniture and household items were gradually moved into Shen Lingling's house.

Actually, there weren't many big items to speak of. Shen Lingling's house already had a bed, a desk, chairs, and a chest. The Zhang family sent over a chest of drawers, two rattan boxes, a thermos, a spittoon, and such.

Oh, and the crown jewel, a nearly new radio.

Zhang Junliang had a bicycle. When he and Shen Lingling got engaged, he gave her a watch, and with this radio, they had two of the "three rounds and one sound"—a bicycle, a watch, and a radio.

Even if not new, Shen Laoer and his wife were beaming with pride.

What village girl had so much when she got married? Take Shen Moer for example, their family had a second-hand bike, but Shen Laoqi bought it himself.

As for Fu Mingze, that poor guy, even buying a few towels supposedly left him in the red. Expecting him to buy the "three rounds and one sound"? Maybe in the next life!

Besides, Shen Laoer and his wife had a hidden agenda.

Shen Lingling and her husband couldn't possibly stay in Yangliu Village forever. Once Zhang Junliang gets allocated a house, they'll definitely move out. When they move to the new house, they wouldn't likely take all that stuff with them, and most of it would likely end up with the Shen family.

So, the Shen Laoer family didn't see any problem with having a factory worker son-in-law and their daughter living at home. On the contrary, they were quite delighted about it.

As for what the Zhang family actually thought, they didn't consider it at all.

Time flew by, and Shen Moer spent her eighteenth birthday amidst her busy schedule.

There was no grand celebration, just a dinner with Fu Mingze and her parents. Shen Shaoyuan fried a perfectly round egg, like a full moon, while Fu Mingze cooked a bowl of longevity noodles.

Every year before, Shen Shaoyuan had personally cooked the longevity noodles, but starting from this time, he just stood by the stove, directing him, handing over the task of cooking the longevity noodles to Fu Mingze.

After her birthday, Shen Moer reached the legal marriage age.

Bright and early, Fu Mingze showed up at the door of the Shen family's small courtyard. Shen Shaoyuan opened the door with a dark face, glaring at him: "Why are you here so early?"

Fu Mingze smiled warmly like a spring breeze: "We're going to register for the marriage certificate today. Going early brings good luck."

Shen Shaoyuan: "..."

Although he was about to become a proper son-in-law, this smooth-talker was really getting on his nerves!