The night of the grand wedding

  A week after Jiang Yan left, due to some reasons, Du Yu and Chu Xia decided to move north ahead of schedule. The time was set four days later.

  At the beginning of summer, they discussed with Manman and considered that Jiang Yan was in Beijing. Manman had previously expressed her willingness to drift north. Anyway, this time Manman followed them to Beijing, even if it's just for a few months. Newly fallen-in-love couples easily get cold feet when doing long-distance relationships.

  Time was pressing, so Manman returned home that night and saw that her mother and Yuanyuan were not there. She immediately told Wen Shixuan about this matter.

  Wen Shixuan heard that she would be leaving in four days and couldn't bear to part with her: "Are you sure? The weather in the north is not as good as in the south."

  As a father, I'm afraid that my daughter will suffer more outside than at home. She's so thin and weak, I'm worried that her body can't take it. If she makes thorough preparations before leaving, won't that be better?

  "The weather is warm now, and it's just the beginning of summer, they are short-handed, I can help out. Mianmian sincerely wanted to help her friend with their startup, so she chose to go along with them. Usually, Chunxia doesn't bother her at all."

  Seeing his daughter's determination, Wen Shixuan didn't say another word: "Go. You leave first, I'll talk to your mom again."

  The father and daughter agreed to kill first and report later. After all, regarding the marriage proposal of Jin Ruowen, Xu Yuye had not given up, and every day at the dinner table, she would bring it up again. Wen Shixuan was also afraid that if Manman stayed at home any longer, she would eventually be forced to marry by Xu Yuye. As a father, he couldn't bear the thought of his daughter marrying a wealthy old man just to support her mother's family.

  Manman was worried about being caught, so when Yuanyuan wasn't home, she secretly packed only the most essential items to bring along. As for her savings, she brought them all, after working for several years, due to high household expenses, she had accumulated less than 10,000 yuan. Fortunately, Du Yu and Chuxia said they would cover her food, accommodation, and transportation costs, so when she arrived, she only needed to buy some daily necessities, and the expenses shouldn't be too great.

  Despite this, Wen Shi Xuan secretly handed her a bundle of cash on the eve of her departure, which shocked Man Man.

  "Dad?" Manman conservatively estimated that there were at least five thousand inside. This number made her heart skip a beat, and she knew the family's financial situation was not good, so she immediately wanted to return it to Wen Shixuan.

  "Dad secretly saved some money for you and Yuanyuan. One share for you, one share for Yuanyuan." Wen Shixuan wouldn't let her put it back, repeatedly reminding her, "If you're short of money when you get there, just give Dad a call. Dad will tighten his belt to send you the money."

  "Dad—" Mianmian's voice was choked with sobs, her heart silently vowing to make a fortune in Beijing no matter what and repay her father.

  Wen Shi Xuan sniffled, at this time as a father he had to be stronger than his daughter: "Although you and Chu Xia are like sisters, but after all, you're not family. Remember, if anything happens, you must call home. No matter how the people at home are, if you have something going on, they definitely won't ignore you."

  "I remember." Manman nodded repeatedly.

  "Wen Shixuan thought for a moment and said: 'Before you leave tomorrow, go say goodbye to your grandmother.'"

  Wen Shi Xuan is a filial son. Although he couldn't provide his mother with wealth and luxury, he didn't forget to teach his children to be obedient to the elderly.

  Promising with a full mouth, Manman sent her luggage to Chunxia's place the next morning and then went to grandma's house.

  Grandma Wen lives alone in the undeveloped Niutian Village on the outskirts of the city. This is the ancestral home of the Wen family. Every year during the Spring Festival, Manman would return to her hometown with the whole Wen family to have a reunion dinner with Grandma and listen to her father's stories about his childhood. What Wen Shixuan often told her was that when she was young, she was different from Yuanyuan, born in Grandma's house, and Grandma loved her very much, tying a Lingtong Baoyu on her neck to protect her for life.

  He has been wearing this jade pendant since birth, never leaving it for a moment, tied with a red string, and usually hidden inside his collar. His father also doesn't mention it in front of others, mainly because he's worried that his younger daughter Yuanyuan will see it and have an opinion.

  Pushing open the wooden gate, there is an old locust tree in the old courtyard. During Chinese New Year, the Wen family's reunion dinner would be set up under this tree if the weather was good. This spring, as the weather warmed up, the branches of the locust tree sprouted some green and tender buds, which looked particularly delightful.

  Grandma Wen sat alone on a small bench under the pagoda tree, picking and sorting wild vegetables in her hands.

  As for the personality of the old lady in the Wen family, she is lonely and eccentric. She doesn't like to move into the city and enjoy happiness with her children and grandchildren, but instead likes to guard this old house alone. Now that the old lady's body is still fine, living and eating alone is not a problem, so Wen Shixuan and his siblings don't force their mother to live with others.

  If it weren't for Father and that piece of jade, Mianmian felt she was no different from her sister, unable to like such a reclusive grandmother.

  "Grandma!" Mianmian called out warmly, putting down a bag of apples on the wooden table.

  Grandma Wen slowly lifted her head, looked at her slowly, then lowered her head again, without saying a word.

  The old lady's expression of not talking to anyone has been a memory for Mianmian since she was a child. Father said it was because Grandma had poor eyesight and hearing. When Mianmian touched the jade in her pocket, she believed that Father said Grandma always loved her dearly.

  She sat with the old lady for a long time, but Grandma Wen remained silent and unresponsive. Even though Manman was always polite and gentle to everyone, she couldn't bear it anymore and had to get up, saying awkwardly: "Grandma, I'm leaving this time."

  Grandma Wen remained silent.

  Manman took her small bag and walked out of the Wen family's old house. As she reached the door, she suddenly heard an elderly voice with a heavy nasal tone: "Dead girl!"

  This was probably the first sentence her grandmother had ever said to her. Unable to understand the meaning of her grandmother's words, Manman furrowed her brow. However, she did recall that both her mother and second aunt had privately complained about the old lady, saying that Grandma Wen was a typical patriarchal mother-in-law who looked down on women, so the two childless daughters-in-law were both despised by Grandma Wen.

  The preference for sons over daughters, Mianmian knew that in this place it was still a deeply ingrained idea among the older generation. She could only hope that her future father-in-law and mother-in-law would not be like Mrs. Wen.

  Then I thought of Jiang Yan. Probably because I was thinking of him, I felt that leaving home and going to a distant place didn't have the anxiety and loneliness of being in a foreign land. The beating in my heart was like a spark from the stars, as if seeing him would make it ignite instantly.

  Got on the train with Du Yu and three others in early summer, sent him a text message, don't know if he can receive it in the army. Since his last text message more than a week ago saying he returned to the team, there has been no news back.

  "When you arrive in Beijing, ask around to find out which unit he's in and go visit him at the unit." Chū Xiā helped her make up her mind.

  Man Man smiled: "What's the hurry? His ring is with me."

  Early summer rolled her eyes at her: "You're kidding me, I don't believe you're not anxious."

  She leaned her head against the car window, listening to the rumbling sound of the train in her ears. This time, the train was going to take her to his side, and a creeping smile spread to the corners of her eyes.