Chapter 1184: Chapter 1184: Busy
Qu Xiaoli was grinning from ear to ear; she had been hoping for her son to get married during this vacation, otherwise, she didn’t know when he could come back again.
Li Manjiang opened the envelope and pulled out a letter with a seal and a signature from the chief.
"Manjiang, make sure you don’t make any mistakes."
Li Manjiang felt a bit embarrassed; his mom really didn’t have much faith in him.
"I’ll draft it first, then let Meng Lin take a look."
Wang Menglin raised an eyebrow, "Do you know the application format?"
Li Manjiang nodded, "I know, I’ve seen it." He originally wanted to say he had written it once before but never got the chance to submit it.
Wang Menglin smiled, knowing not to point it out.
Li Manjiang returned to his room, found some paper and a pen, and began writing.
Honestly, this application is pretty straightforward.
After finishing, he handed it to Wang Menglin.
"Looks good. Write it carefully."
Neither of them trusted themselves. However, Li Manjiang was indeed obedient and wrote carefully and slowly.
"Meng Lin, once your uncle returns, have him stamp it quickly. Tomorrow morning, you go to the county; we’ll hold the wedding the day after tomorrow."
Li Manjiang and Wang Menglin both agreed.
When Li Yungui returned, Qu Xiaoli informed him of the good news, and he promptly wrote the letter of introduction, stamped it, and handed it to Wang Menglin.
"You two stay here, I’m off to find Old Yang to set the date. We haven’t got any meat yet. How about five large roosters and ten pounds of eggs?"
"Alright. I’ll immediately soak some beans to make tofu and bean curd.
Manjiang, tomorrow in the county, go straight to your uncle’s place and tell him the day after tomorrow is the big day."
The old couple bustled off in opposite directions.
Li Manjiang looked at Wang Menglin, "Tomorrow morning at five-thirty, we’ll cycle to the town and then take the bus to the county."
"Alright, I’ll wait for you at home. I’ll head back first."
Li Yungui went to find Old Yang, "Old Yang, I’ll need you to buy some meat tomorrow. Tomorrow, Manjiang and Wang Zhiqing will go to sort out the paperwork; the day after tomorrow, we’ll hold the wedding, and it’s only twelve days before Manjiang leaves."
No matter how far a son travels, a mother always worries, especially when her son’s profession is so dangerous.
"No problem, anything else needed?"
"There are chickens and eggs in the village. I’ll go fishing tonight; we should catch some fish as well. Just need the meat."
"Alright, I still have a sack of seaweed at home; Village Chief Li can take it back."
Qu Xiaoli busily soaked the beans, then started making dinner, feeling a bit excited as her son would have a wife tomorrow.
The Tao Family brothers and sisters returned, and dinner was ready.
"Cousin, cousin, this afternoon, Li Manjiang got his stamped application. We’ve set tomorrow for handling the paperwork, the day after tomorrow for the village wedding feast."
"Ah, my cousin will soon belong to someone else."
Tao YanZhen chuckled, "Brother, you’re getting anxious?"
"Isn’t it obvious? You getting married and me starting a family, it’s all great."
After dinner, Li Yungui and Li Manjiang went to inform the village elders of the joyous news.
In less than an hour, the entire Li Family Village heard the news, and of course, the Zhiqing point knew too.
Pan Xiaoying felt very downhearted. All the good men seemed taken.
All her discontent vanished, thinking of Yan Shuping. She felt quite extreme—since it’s like this, she won’t search anymore. Whatever happens, happens.
The Zhiqing discussed whether or not to offer gifts. Ultimately, they all agreed, as it was the village chief’s joyous occasion.
At dinner, the Wei Family discussed and decided each family would give ten yuan. While not much, for a rural area, too much could be inappropriate.
"It’s fine, tomorrow Xiao Li and I will visit, and send over two lengths of fabric. The small floral print from last time would make nice curtains."
"Xinyu, isn’t it too thin?" Zhao Xiaoli asked.
Jiang Xinyu thought for a moment, "You’re right; I’ll have a look later and see if there’s anything suitable."
Li Yungui went out to call three people to go fishing in the middle of the night, needing the fish the day after tomorrow, preparing tonight was essential, but there was no guarantee they’d catch any.
Several women who had good relationships with Qu Xiaoli proactively visited the Li Family to discuss the menu.
"Tomorrow, Mr. Yang will get the meat, we’ll stew the chicken first. If we catch fish today, we’ll stew that too."
"Xiao Li, we don’t have enough tables. How will you present the fish?"
"We’ll see how much we catch. No matter what, there must be a whole fish on the bride’s table, the rest we’ll cut into chunks, one bowl per table."
"Sounds good."
"Xiao Li, I still have red paper at home; I’ll ask my mother-in-law to cut out the festive characters for you."
"That’s right, if you hadn’t mentioned it, I would have forgotten about this."
The group reached an agreement and left, knowing tomorrow was a busy day. Tonight, the rooms could be set up; Changhe was already heating the fireplace for the eldest son’s new room. Tomorrow, furniture would need to be arranged, still missing curtains and door curtains, which needed to be organized.
Just as they were about to shut the door, they saw flashlight beams from afar.
Wei Kaiyun and Old Yang came over with Xinyu.
The two men were holding fabric.
"Teacher Jiang."
"Sis, we’ve come to congratulate you."
"Thank you, Teacher Jiang, please come in quickly."
The four entered, "Sis, this is our gift for you, don’t mind."
Qu Xiaoli smiled and nodded, "Then I won’t be polite. I was worrying about not having suitable fabric for curtains and door curtains."
Li Xue came in with the door curtain, greeting the four.
"Xue, you know the measurements already, work on making the curtains and door curtains tonight."
"Sure, this fabric is just right for curtains and door curtains."
The young girl embraced the two lengths of fabric and left.
Jiang Xinyu and Zhao Xiaoli each took out ten yuan, "Sis, this is a little token from us. You mustn’t refuse; for such joyous occasions, refusing isn’t appropriate."
"Alright, I won’t refuse."
Li Manjiang also entered, hearing Wei Kaiyun and Old Yang’s voices.
"Manjiang, I’ll be going to the city tomorrow; why don’t you come with me?" Old Yang suggested.
"Thank you, Master Yang, I’ll go together tomorrow."
Old Yang nodded. Helping others helps oneself.
The four were about to bid farewell, knowing the family was busy.
As soon as they reached the yard, they heard the sound of a tractor chugging; Qu Xiaoli was ecstatic—her nephews were back.
"Master Yang, let’s take the tractor tomorrow; my uncle has a sewing machine there."
Old Yang nodded. Not taking them would be even more convenient.
The four bade farewell and left; the two in the house hadn’t yet started their antics—two Demon Kings, Ah Bao wasn’t like this before.
Eight young lads drove the tractor straight to the brigade office and then headed home. They had been away for over fifty days and were all very homesick.
