Chapter 20: The Wedding Approaches

The brigade leader had granted Tang Xin several days off, and it was not without reason. Didn’t anyone notice that when Comrade Tang requested leave, she had serious business to attend to? She was about to settle the most important matter of her life, and, crucially, the other party involved was Li Sheng.

To be fair, aside from his less-than-ideal parents, Li Sheng was an outstanding young man. The brigade leader truly couldn’t bear to see him remain single forever. Besides, the night before, Li Sheng had already worked overtime to help Tang Xin complete her wheat harvesting tasks for the next few days. Given that, it didn’t matter if Tang Xin took time off.

As for Comrade Meng, she’d always relied on Comrade Lu to help her with her work. But these past two days, Comrade Lu had also been frequently asking for leave, so the brigade leader was certainly not going to approve any more of Meng’s absences.

Though they had agreed to call Tang Xin’s family at noon the next day, the two of them arrived at the commune early in the morning. It was only ten-thirty, and luck was on their side; when Tang Xin made the call, her mother happened to be the one who answered.

Perhaps feeling wronged at home, Tang Xin’s mother began to pour out her grievances before Tang Xin could even broach the main topic. Tang Xin listened patiently, closing her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, the innocence and romance of youth had vanished.

“Mom, if life is so hard, why insist on carrying on?”

Her mother was stunned, not expecting her own daughter to say such words. She immediately launched into a righteous lecture. It was the usual—insisting her father was still a good man, that he was simply blinded for the moment.

Tang Xin sighed inwardly. She understood reality well enough. The prevailing attitude was that, even if a man was unfaithful, the wife didn’t blame the man first, but rather the other woman.

At the heart of it, Tang Xin’s mother had no means of independence, having relied on her husband all her life, while Tang Xin herself hadn’t yet sorted out her own affairs. There was little more she could say, except to gently advise her mother to seek her own happiness, rather than revolve her life solely around her husband.

Only then did she objectively recount the events that had transpired in the Harvest Brigade. Naturally, over the phone, Tang Xin sang Li Sheng’s praises from top to bottom, assuring her mother that marrying him would bring her happiness.

Her mother was unmoved by the outward reasons, but one thing Tang Xin said struck a chord: “Mom, I feel at ease with him. I believe life will be comfortable if I marry him.”

Though she herself could not live without a man, Tang Xin’s mother, with decades of life experience, was open-minded about her daughter’s choice of partner. Wealth and status weren’t necessary; the important thing was that he would be good to her daughter.

Previously, when her daughter had liked Lu Liqin, Tang Xin’s mother thought well of the Lu family’s son. But now, seeing her daughter had lost interest in him, she was, in truth, relieved. She knew Meng Jia and her daughter were no good, and yet Lu Liqin would sometimes help them bully her own child. Every time she saw it, it made her simmer with anger.

This was better. Let those three entangle themselves as they wished; she’d rather see her daughter marry someone she liked. However, after a moment, Tang Xin’s mother grew worried again.

“Your father won’t agree to let you marry into the countryside.”

Tang Xin wrinkled her nose. “Mom, don’t forget, he was the one who insisted on sending me to the countryside. This situation is entirely of his making.”

Due to policy, unless one was an only child in the city, everyone had to go to the countryside to support national development. If you could get a job in the city, you’d be spared. Tang Xin’s elder brothers had both secured positions on their own merit. When it came to Tang Xin, she could have tried to stay in the city as well. This was the real reason her mother resented her father so deeply.

After a moment’s thought, her mother gritted her teeth and said, “If you think Li Sheng is a good man, then go ahead and marry him. Your father can’t control things from so far away.”

Unlike other families who favored sons over daughters, Tang Xin’s mother had had her precious daughter after two sons. Yet her daughter had been sent to the countryside to endure hardship, which broke her heart. For the first time, this woman, who had always put her husband above all, nursed rebellious thoughts.

Tang Xin spoke with her mother a while longer, promising to write as soon as she returned, and urged her not to send money or ration coupons, assuring her she had enough. Then she hung up.

Although she said so, Tang Xin knew her mother would still send them. Though she’d spent her life as a housewife, she’d managed the household for years and now received filial gifts from her sons each year. She still had some assets, which was why Meng Jia tried to please both Tang Xin and her mother. In truth, Tang Xin’s father, rough and careless as he was, might not send as many good things as her mother did. But when it came to major decisions, her mother simply didn’t have the connections or influence her father had acquired over years of working outside the home.

After the call with her mother, Tang Xin’s mood lifted considerably. Strangely, even though she knew the woman on the other end was the original owner of this body’s mother—not hers in any real sense—just hearing her voice moved Tang Xin deeply.

Her mother’s voice wasn’t like the one she remembered from her past life, but perhaps, in some mysterious way, there was a connection between them. Otherwise, how could she have ended up in this place for no reason at all?

“Li Sheng, your mother-in-law has agreed to our marriage,” Tang Xin exclaimed, flying into his arms, chirping like a little bird.

Li Sheng quickly reached out to steady her, afraid she might fall, but let go as soon as she was standing safely.

“It’s broad daylight—don’t get carried away,” he admonished.

Tang Xin grinned mischievously. “So it’s fine at night, then?”

Li Sheng frowned, his tone serious. “We’re not married yet. Not at night, either.”

“Then let’s get married as soon as possible, shall we?”

Were they really about to get married? Li Sheng was still a little skeptical, but he’d heard everything Tang Xin’s mother had said on the phone. He’d also caught the part where Tang Xin encouraged her mother to leave her father.

Every family has its own troubles. He figured this girl had her share of hardships, no matter how cheerful she seemed, so he didn’t press her for more. Everyone has their secrets; even the closest couples don’t share everything.

Tang Xin was already chattering on, listing the things they’d need for the wedding. Li Sheng cut her off. “Let me handle the arrangements. But country weddings are simple affairs. I’m afraid it won’t be very grand for you.”

Tang Xin laughed. “Marriage is our own affair; weddings are just for show. There’s no such thing as grand or simple when it comes to happiness.”