Chapter 29: The Kept Pretty Boy

In Meng Jia’s eyes, the Li family was nothing more than a modest household, and Li Sheng was just a pampered pretty boy who relied on Tang Xin to pay for a grand wedding to keep up appearances. She had kindly tried to offer advice, only to be met with Tang Xin’s anger, who even refused to let her accompany her to her new home.

Meng Jia took offense, feeling she had done her utmost as a good friend and that Tang Xin was simply being immature. Now, whenever she saw Tang Xin’s smiling face, it irritated her even more. She decided to turn and leave, seizing the opportunity to go comfort the even more frustrated Lu Liqin.

Weddings these days were not so elaborate. The bride and groom would first bow to the portrait of the Great Leader, then serve tea to the parents-in-law; that was the completion of the ceremony.

After that, Father Li instructed his eldest son to organize everyone to sit down for the banquet. With resources scarce at this time, country folk counted themselves lucky just to have enough to eat; pork was a rare treat, only enjoyed a few times a year.

Father and Mother Li were overjoyed that their eldest son could finally start his own family, blaming themselves for having held back such a capable son. So for this banquet, Father Li took the reins and told Mother Li to make it as sumptuous as possible. There was fish, meat, and eggs, and the old lady’s cooking skills brought out the best in color, aroma, and taste.

In truth, the Li family was not as poor as outsiders imagined. Apart from the pair of twins, all the other children were grown and could earn work points outside. Over the years, Li Sheng’s job with the motorcade had allowed the family to save a little. But because of past events and Fang’s background, the brigade members still carried a prejudice against them.

Now that their eldest son was marrying such an excellent daughter-in-law, the old couple wished to hold their heads high for once, to show everyone.

Additionally, Fang had prepared a separate, refined meal for Tang Xin; after all, it was customary for the bride to remain seated in the bridal chamber and not join the banquet.

Most of the brigade members were there just to witness the excitement; only close relatives by blood stayed for the meal. At this time, simplicity was encouraged, and lavish feasts were rare. Poorer families would simply gather a few people at one table, and the newlyweds would appear to greet everyone, marking the completion of the ceremony.

But for the Li family, this was a rare extravagance. They set up four tables in the main house and the courtyard, inviting not only relatives and friends but also the brigade leader and close family friends from the team. However, few guests brought cash gifts, and the presents were modest. Close relatives helped with the banquet and pitched in with contributions like flour, eggs, and vegetables.

Of the educated youths, only Li Xuewei and two other girls who had helped out stayed for the meal, having prepared small gifts as well. The others, lacking any real connection to Tang Xin, felt it inappropriate to remain. As for Meng Jia and Lu Liqin, no one knew where they had gone; after Tang Xin was brought to the Li family, neither had been seen.

As a modern woman, Tang Xin would not sit docilely in the bridal chamber like brides of old, waiting in silence for her groom. After greeting several of the aunts from the Li family and sharing out some sweets, she paid her respects to Father and Mother Li, smiling as she spoke with them.

She turned around and saw that Li Sheng was busy entertaining guests. Li Kai, Li Jiang, Li Hai, and Li Xiyue were all present, but there was no sign of the eldest sister, Li Xihua.

Being the eldest in the family, Li Xihua had naturally returned early in the morning to help with her youngest brother’s wedding. Tang Xin hurried over to ask, “Brother Li Sheng, why haven’t I seen our eldest sister?”

“She’s in the kitchen,” Li Sheng replied.

Tang Xin immediately turned to go, and Li Sheng quickly asked, “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to call our eldest sister to come eat,” Tang Xin answered.

When Tang Xin entered the kitchen, she was nearly choked by the thick smoke hanging in the air. Ah, when she had money in the future and they built a new house, she must have Li Sheng install a kitchen exhaust fan!

But there was a problem: in her previous life, she hadn’t paid much attention to kitchen appliances—when did range hoods first appear on the market?

It was already mealtime, but most of those seated at the tables were men; the women were all busy in the kitchen. Several women bustled around the stove, and Tang Xin immediately spotted the woman bent over, hard at work.

She looked to be in her twenties, her hair twisted into a bun like Mother Li’s, dressed in old-fashioned clothes that covered her completely. At first glance, Tang Xin almost mistook her for her own mother-in-law, for she resembled both the elder woman and Li Sheng.

In fact, Li Xihua was only a year older than Li Sheng, but from a young age she had worked at home and cared for her siblings, diligent and uncomplaining. Before she married, Li Xihua was the most capable member of the family.

Tang Xin’s deep impression of her came from the tragic fate described in the book. Unlike the spoiled, willful younger sister Li Xiaomei, Li Xihua had grown up helping her parents and caring for the younger children, which gave her a brisk and forthright, even fierce, temperament.

Yet it was precisely her competence that made her a sought-after bride in the brigade. Still, she wanted to do more for her family and delayed marriage as long as she could. It was only when Li Sheng learned to drive and could support the family that Li Xihua finally relented.

She was good-looking and hardworking, and Fang had chosen a husband for her with an easygoing mother-in-law and a diligent man. But Li Xihua disdained that family, thinking them too poor—she feared that once married, she could no longer help her own family.

Just then, another family offered a bride price of a hundred yuan—a considerable sum in the countryside at the time—and the matchmaker painted a rosy picture. Li Xihua was tempted, so she discussed it with her parents and agreed to marry into the family she had chosen herself.

Tang Xin remembered that, though the book did not dwell on it, it made clear that Li Xihua married a mama’s boy, and her mother-in-law was a mean, harsh woman. Li Xihua worked from dawn to dusk, and in the end, she literally starved to death.

To starve to death! In the 1970s, no less, and it wasn’t even as if her husband’s family was especially destitute. That was why Tang Xin remembered her so vividly and was eager to meet her, hoping to find a way to help her in the future.

Today, Li Xihua had returned to organize her brother’s wedding and had been working in the kitchen all day without showing her face. When the men feasted at family events, Li Xihua was always relegated to the kitchen, eating leftovers—this was her mother-in-law’s rule.

Her mother-in-law would even scold her to her face, saying her own mother was a pampered lady from a landlord’s family who only knew how to enjoy life. Li Xihua was truly afraid of her mother-in-law’s tongue, and worried that if the woman spread rumors, her own mother’s already poor reputation would suffer further. As a result, she endured everything in silence at her husband’s home and gradually developed a habit of lowering her head and keeping quiet.

One would think that today, her brother’s wedding would be a day of joy for her, but Li Xihua had stayed in the kitchen the whole time, not even considering stepping out to take a look.