Chapter 74: Rural Absurd Past Events Chapter 74

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

This wedding was the most high-class wedding Li Xiulan had ever attended, bar none.

The weddings she had attended before were all village banquets; who would come to a hotel in town? Nobody had that kind of money!

Li Xiulan brought her children and followed the people ahead inside.

Zhang Zhongtian at the front took out the gift money he had prepared in advance to give to Niu Chunsheng and Lin Xiaofang; beside them stood an old man responsible for recording the gift amounts, and after recording, they would give back a bag of wedding candy.

The gift money given by those who entered ahead was not small, all fifty or a hundred.

Zhang Zhongtian gave fifty yuan.

Seeing this, Li Xiulan couldn't help but feel a bit panicked.

Because she hadn't brought much money; when she went to other people's wedding feasts before, she only gave ten yuan as gift money, and now she only had ten yuan in her pocket.

Did Niu Chunsheng's wedding really require giving this much?

She didn't really want to give this much, but she didn't want to lose face in front of Niu Chunsheng.

So she hurriedly turned back to ask Liang Yuanchao behind her if he could lend her some money, saying she had come in a hurry and hadn't brought that much money.

Liang Yuanchao chuckled:

"I only brought my own gift money."

Liang Yuanchao actually had two hundred yuan in his pocket, but he was unwilling to lend it to Li Xiulan.

He used to be very eager to help others, but now he ruthlessly refused Li Xiulan.

Because he harbored resentment toward Li Xiulan in his heart, feeling that he was dismissed from his job as Village Committee Secretary, and Li Xiulan was the culprit.

Back then he had spoken humbly and pleaded with Li Xiulan, but Li Xiulan insisted on taking the demolition compensation before signing the demolition agreement, which led to a series of annoying things happening afterward.

So now it was impossible for him to help Li Xiulan.

He was just an ordinary person, not some saint; he definitely had his own selfish motives.

Li Xiulan failed to borrow money from Liang Yuanchao, then went to ask several other villagers, but none of them lent her money; only the old doctor Zhong Jianguo lent her fifty yuan.

Finally, when Li Xiulan entered, she gave Niu Chunsheng and Lin Xiaofang sixty yuan in gift money; she finally didn't lose face in front of Niu Chunsheng.

"Sister-in-law Xiulan, you actually don't need to give so much; making money isn't easy!"

Niu Chunsheng received Li Xiulan's gift money and still advised her not to give so much.

"I want to give it! Your wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime thing; I definitely want to give a bit more!"

Li Xiulan pretended to be generous; when she laughed, her crow's feet were very obvious.

Niu Chunsheng finally stopped saying anything, only greeting Li Xiulan to bring her three children inside to find seats.

Several villagers from Shanggou Village followed them in, but their gift money to Niu Chunsheng was only ten yuan or even five yuan; Niu Chunsheng and Lin Xiaofang had no objections and still warmly welcomed them inside.

Seeing this, Li Xiulan was stunned and surprised, instantly feeling she had lost out.

She hurriedly asked Liang Yuanchao, who had just entered:

"Why did you give so little? Isn't it supposed to be fifty or more?"

Liang Yuanchao looked at her with disdain:

"Who said fifty or more? Usually it's five or ten yuan, okay!"

"Then how come Zhang Zhongtian and those people ahead..." Li Xiulan hesitated.

"Those few ahead are town government staff; of course it's normal for officials to give more for face. As for Zhang Zhongtian, he is now the Acting Village Committee Secretary of Shanggou Village; he wants to get on good terms with Niu Chunsheng so that through Niu Chunsheng's connections he can gain recognition from those people at the town government; giving fifty yuan as gift money is very normal. As for us small villagers, we don't need that much face and don't need to ask people for favors; just give the normal amount!"

Liang Yuanchao said this, his gaze at Li Xiulan still carrying mockery:

"You actually borrowed money just to give sixty yuan in gift money; you really treat Niu Chunsheng differently!"

Li Xiulan felt extremely depressed in her heart.

But thinking it over, this was Niu Chunsheng's wedding; giving a bit more to make Niu Chunsheng remember her wasn't actually a loss.

Entering the Street Corner Grand Hotel, she saw thirty or forty tables set up inside.

Li Xiulan sat at a table with her children and the people from Shanggou Village.

Zhang Zhongtian deliberately went to sit at a table with those from the town government; before the dishes were served, he had already started toasting them.

Li Xiulan then realized that what Liang Yuanchao said earlier was right; Zhang Zhongtian gave so much gift money for a purpose.

And she gave so much purely because she was a bit foolish.

The wedding hadn't started yet, and the dishes hadn't been served.

Everyone sat eating peanuts, cracking sunflower seeds, eating wedding candy, and chattering about idle talk.

They talked about the bride, about Niu Chunsheng, about the food at this grand hotel; talking and talking, they also got onto the topic of gift money.

Everyone said they gave five or ten yuan.

"Just come to eat a meal; why give so much gift money? We're not rich people, right?"

A villager said this.

Everyone nodded and said right, right, right.

Li Xiulan kept her head down and couldn't speak.

She had given too much gift money, and instead didn't fit in with the other villagers from Shanggou Village.

This made her seem a bit embarrassed.

Everyone knew she had given sixty yuan in gift money; they looked at her with strange eyes, but didn't dare to discuss it directly.

After all, they knew Li Xiulan was formidable; this woman was not someone to be messed with.

Just then, the Wedding Host walked onto the front stage.

The Wedding Ceremony began.

The Wedding Host finished the congratulatory words and invited the bride and groom on stage!

Only to see Niu Chunsheng and Lin Xiaofang walk in hand in hand from Outside.

The venue echoed with the sound of Gift Cannons, and sparse, scattered applause.

Seeing them walk onto the stage, Li Xiulan's Inner Heart surged with a complex mix of feelings.

The kindness Niu Chunsheng had shown her before now seemed to have turned into a Knife; following the rhythm of the festive music at the Wedding Venue, it stabbed into her heart, knife after knife.

Making her unable to hold back silent Tears.

The other Villagers sitting at the same table, seeing Li Xiulan cry, all looked at her askance, yet didn't know what to Say.

Li Xiulan knew that once she returned to Shanggou Village, her crying now would definitely become the Villagers' tea-time Joke/Laughing stock, but she could no longer care about So Much; she simply couldn't Control herself.

Niu Chunsheng and Lin Xiaofang's Happiness only threw her own life into sharper relief as even more unsatisfactory.

Making that thought grow even stronger: if Initially she and Niu Chunsheng had met before she Married and had children, would the one standing up there Marrying Niu Chunsheng now be her?

"Mom, I've thought of a name. Can I be called Wang Xiaohua from now on?" Suddenly, the voice of her Youngest Brother Wang Xiaohua rang by her ear. Wang Xiaohua had been thinking of a name ever since he got out of the car; he didn't eat the Peanuts, Sunflower Seeds, and other Snacks on the table, just single-mindedly thought of a name, and finally thought up a good name:

"Mom, Xiao Fang is a girl, Xiao Hua is a boy, just call me Xiao Hua, okay!"

But Li Xiulan was absent-minded; her Inner Heart was churning entirely with her own affairs — where would she have the Free Time to pay attention to Wang Xiaohua?

"Fine fine fine, call yourself whatever name you like, just don't come bother me!"

Li Xiulan Impatiently said this one Sentence, and then stopped paying attention to Wang Xiaohua.

Wang Xiaohua felt a pang of disappointment in his Inner Heart; he had thought for a long time to come up with this name, he thought his mom would praise him, but got this kind of Attitude in return.

"Please, bride and groom, drink the Cross-cupped Wine!"

At this moment, the Host on stage joyfully spoke this one Sentence.

Niu Chunsheng and Lin Xiaofang began to drink the Cross-cupped Wine.

Li Xiulan looked up from afar, eyes full of Envy; Tears once again couldn't help but flow out.

She knew, watching with her own eyes as Niu Chunsheng and Lin Xiaofang drank this cup of Cross-cupped Wine, from now on she should put an end to all fantasies about Niu Chunsheng.

……