At the entrance of Qin Family Village, two villagers were on guard duty. Seeing Zhou Junfeng pushing a bicycle with a sack strapped to the back carrier, they took him for a relative visiting from out of town and lowered their guard. Mainly, Zhou Junfeng was exceptionally handsome and didn't look like a bad person at all.
"Young man, what brings you to our Qin Family Village?" one of the villagers asked.
Zhou Junfeng smiled, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and handed them to the two villagers. "Well, elder brothers, it's like this. I'm a neighbor of Qin Huairu. I heard she has a cousin named Qin Jingru who is exceptionally pretty, so I thought I'd drop by to take a look. If we hit it off, we can discuss betrothal straight away."
The two villagers completely let down their guard at this. One of them beamed with joy. "Young man, I am Qin Jingru's father! Our Jingru doesn't have a partner yet. I consent to this match!"
Zhou Junfeng was stunned. Just like that? He hadn't even started jangling his money pouch yet, nor had he shown off his solid credentials—and he already had consent? Perhaps he was simply blessed with natural charisma.
Qin Tianfu hurriedly pulled Zhou Junfeng and his son toward the village, chatting along the way to feel out the situation. He soon learned about the Zhou Family's background: apart from lacking parents to lean on, everything else was top-notch.
Upon hearing that Zhou Junfeng was a university student, Qin Tianfu laughed even louder. What a capable prospective son-in-law! From now on, he could finally walk around the village with his head held high.
"Uncle Tianfu, I brought a few bottles of liquor and some meat. At noon, the two of us will have a proper drink together."
"You brought liquor and meat? My boy, you should have just come as you are—why bring all these things? You're wasting your money."
Qin Tianfu's eyes lit up at these words. Beside him, Qin Jianjun kept chiming in, calling him "brother-in-law" this and "brother-in-law" that. The three of them had met less than half a day ago, yet they were already as close as family.
"Jianjun, go ask for leave at the production team first, and have your Uncle Da and Uncle Er come over for lunch as well."
While Qin Tianfu sent Qin Jianjun off to the production team, half the village found out within no time that an eligible university-student son-in-law had arrived at the Qin household. Their ancestral graves must be smoking with auspicious vapor! A girl from Qin Family Village had snagged a golden-turtle son-in-law who was a university graduate and owned several houses in the city.
Qin Tianfu's voice grew louder and louder, audible from miles away—a walking loudspeaker.
"Cuihua! Your university-student son-in-law is here! Hurry up and come out!"
Li Cuihua was startled by Qin Tianfu's booming voice. A university-student son-in-law? She understood every single word on its own, but put together, they made no sense at all.
"Old man, what nonsense are you spouting?"
"This is Xiaojun, Huairu's neighbor. He just graduated from university and came specifically to meet our Jingru."
Li Cuihua finally understood and hurried to welcome the guest inside. Once inside, Zhou Junfeng saw an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old girl cooking by the stove. She was about one meter sixty-five tall, with a fair complexion and bright, expressive eyes. She was pure, sweet, and the exact type of girl he used to like in his past life, reminiscent of Huo Siyan.
Although Qin Jingru was cooking, she was multitasking. She had long since overheard the conversation outside, learning that this man was her cousin's neighbor, that he had come to meet her for a potential match, and that he was even a university student. Qin Jingru had always envied her cousin Qin Huairu for marrying into the city. She had originally planned to go to the city after the New Year to ask her cousin to introduce her to someone, but she never expected her prospective partner to be this outstanding—a hundred times better than her cousin's family.
While cooking, Qin Jingru cast shy, sideways glances at Zhou Junfeng. Standing at one meter eighty, he possessed the rugged, masculine look that elders of this era loved, bearing a resemblance to Zhang Hanyu. Qin Jingru was beyond satisfied.
"Uncle Tianfu, Aunt Cuihua, I still have some meat and liquor on my bike. Help me bring it in, and let's cook it all up to add some dishes for lunch today."
Zhou Junfeng had brought some pork, mutton, and a few bottles of liquor.
Qin Tianfu asked in surprise, "We're cooking all of it? There's so much food, we won't be able to finish it!"
Zhou Junfeng looked a bit sheepish, then immediately pulled out a hundred-yuan bill he had prepared in advance, saying that this counted as the official betrothal and that he wanted to take Qin Jingru away with him this afternoon.
Qin Tianfu hadn't expected his son-in-law to be in such a rush, but he hesitated for less than a second before immediately agreeing. Such a wonderful son-in-law couldn't be allowed to fly away!
"Cuihua, go call your parents, along with your eldest and second brothers, and bring Xiaojun over so everyone can get acquainted."
Meanwhile, several of Qin Jingru's younger female cousins heard that she had landed a great catch and came running over to the Qin household. Aside from exchanging a few words with Zhou Junfeng when he first arrived, Qin Jingru and he were now completely surrounded by the villagers.
"Sister Jingru, don't forget about me once you're in the city! In a couple of years, introduce me to a city boy too—preferably someone from the same courtyard as you, so we can be together every day. You're my favorite!" Qin Yunru said, tugging at Qin Jingru's sleeve and acting spoiled.
"Sister Jingru, I want a city man too! I'm much prettier than Yunru; city folk wouldn't give her the time of day," Qin Qianru scoffed.
"Who are you calling ugly? If city folk wouldn't give me the time of day, would they look at you instead?" Qin Yunru snapped, instantly displeased, and started bickering with Qin Qianru.
"Alright, alright, stop fighting, you two. City boys aren't that easy to find. Nobody in Qin Family Village has married into the city for all these years except for Sister Huairu. Your brother-in-law took one look at me and set his heart on me, so I reluctantly agreed."
"In all these years in Qin Family Village, let alone a university student, not even a vocational school graduate has ever shown up. My family has four houses and plenty of savings. It's only because of my good fortune that I get a match this great."
"Your brother-in-law said that an eldest sister-in-law is like a mother. Once I cross that threshold, I'll be the one keeping the family money. I'll be the one calling the shots, and he'll listen to me in everything. Even if I sleep in until noon and do nothing at all, he won't utter a single complaint."
Qin Jingru spun yarn after yarn of tall tales; since she wouldn't see them often once she went to the city, she had to brag to her heart's content.
Qin Yunru: "..."
Qin Qianru: "..."
Back in the courtyard, Li Cuihua led a group of people into the house. Qin Tianfu said to the dazed Zhou Junfeng, "These are all relatives from our Qin family. There are three brothers in our family—this is your Uncle Da, this is your Uncle Er, and this is Jingru's eldest maternal uncle, this is her second maternal uncle..."
"Your family's son-in-law is truly generous! A betrothal gift of one hundred yuan—our whole household doesn't even have a hundred to our name. Huairu only got ten yuan! Jingru has stepped right into a golden nest. Remind this girl not to be lazy once she gets over there, serve her man well, and give birth to a child early so her position will be secure. That way, she can also help out her natal family if anything comes up," Li Cuihua's mother whispered.
"Ma, I know all this. If this girl steps out of line, I'll tell her husband to beat her. She's marrying into such a good household—does she expect to fly to the heavens if she doesn't cherish it?"
Li Cuihua was the center of attention today; without a doubt, she would be the talk of Qin Family Village for the next decade.
"The son-in-law even brought fruit! Go wash some fruit to serve the guests. Where on earth has that dead girl Jingru run off to?"
Li Cuihua searched all around and finally found Qin Jingru. Seeing that Qin Jingru was still busy bragging, Li Cuihua said with displeasure, "You dead girl, all you know how to do is slack off! If your man finds out you're loafing around here and decides he doesn't want you anymore, see where you go to cry your eyes out."
At these words, Qin Jingru panicked. Li Cuihua glanced at her and warned, "There are plenty of people in the village today, and some are still sniffing around asking about the son-in-law. If someone messes this up for you, you won't even have a place to cry."
Hearing that, Qin Jingru stopped bragging, dropped her melon seeds, and scurried off. She busied herself running back and forth, then went to wash the fruit to serve the guests.
Before long, Qin Jingru brought the dishes out and served them. Qin Tianfu chimed in, "Jingru, stop running around. Sit next to Xiaojun."
Qin Jingru shyly sat down beside Zhou Junfeng, poured him a cup of liquor, and piled his bowl with food.
"Xiaojun, I've already been to the village chief to get the introduction letter. You two can register your marriage this very afternoon."
"Uncle Tianfu, this trip was a bit rushed, but I won't wrong Jingru. Next month, when things are a bit less busy, you and Aunt Cuihua should come over to the Courtyard."
"Son-in-law, how much does a university student earn in a month?" Uncle Da asked.
"I just graduated from university. Because I was dealing with my late father's affairs, I haven't reported for duty yet. I've been assigned to the technical department of the Rolling Mill and will report the day after tomorrow. I'll make at least sixty or seventy yuan, plus some allowances."
"Right, my father passed away in the line of duty, so there is also a work quota left behind. I plan to let Jingru go to work as well."
Everyone present gasped. Good heavens! What kind of celestial son-in-law was this? The Old Qin Family's ancestral graves really were smoking! This was a God of Wealth delivering himself to their door. Li Cuihua could barely breathe as she calculated that no matter what, this son-in-law must not be allowed to slip away—there wasn't another condition this good within a radius of ten miles.