Chapter 513

Early on the weekend, Zheng Juan, Qin Jingru, and Han Chunyan took Lin Zhengpeng and Su Qing to the largest wedding photography studio in Sijiucheng.

The studio owner, hearing that they were to take wedding photos for General Lin's son, personally came out to receive them, smiling broadly.

"Mr. Lin, Miss Su, rest assured, we will definitely use the best equipment, the best photographer, to take the most beautiful wedding photos for you."

Lin Zhengpeng

Zheng Juan said with a smile: "Su Qing, try whichever you like, don't be polite."

Sijiucheng

General Lin

Qin Jingru laughed and teased: "Pengzi, you look stunned? From now on you must treat Su Qing well."

South Luogu Lane

The photographer captured this warm moment, pressed the shutter, and recorded this beautiful scene.

Yan Bu Gui

Lin Zhengpeng chose a dark blue suit, looking very spirited; Su Qing chose a bright red embroidered gown, joyful and dignified.

Zheng Juan put a pair of gold bracelets on Su Qing, smiling and said: "This is a little token from Auntie, wishing you and Pengzi a happy marriage and growing old together."

Yan Jiefang

Let's redo ordering properly by scanning lines and adding when first seen.

I'll go through lines sequentially and record first occurrence.

Initialize empty list.

Zheng Juan

Qin Jingru

Han Chunyan

Lin Zhengpeng

Su Qing

Sijiucheng

General Lin

Line3: none new

Su Qing

Zheng Juan, Su Qing

Su Qing

Lin Zhengpeng

Qin Jingru, Pengzi

Lin Zhengpeng

Line10: none

Line11: none

Lin Zhengpeng, Su Qing

Zheng Juan, Su Qing, Pengzi

Su Qing

Line15: none

South Luogu Lane

Siheyuan

Yan Bu Gui

San Da Ye

Lin Zhengpeng

Yan Jiefang

Yan Bu Gui

Lin Zhengpeng

Yan Jiecheng

Yan Jiekuang

Yan Jiefang

Yan Bu Gui

Yan Jiefang

Yan Bu Gui, Lin Shengli

Yan Bu Gui, Yan Jiefang, Lin Shengli

Line24: none

Line25: none

General Lin

Yan Bu Gui, Zheng Peng

General Lin

Yan Bu Gui

Lin Shengli

San Da Ye

Shengli

Zheng Peng

Lin Shengli

Shengli, Zheng Peng, Jiefang

Lin Shengli, Research Base

Yan Bu Gui, Lin Shengli

Lin Shengli

Line38: none

Yan Bu Gui, Yan Jiefang

Siheyuan, Shazhu

San Da Ye, Zheng Peng, Shazhu, Yan Bu Gui

Yan Bu Gui

Xu Damao

Zhongyuan

San Da Ye

Lin Shengli

Yan Bu Gui

Shazhu

Xu Damao, Lin Shengli

Zheng Peng, Shazhu

Line48: none

Siheyuan, Yan Bu Gui, Lin Shengli

Lin Shengli

Qin Jingru, Han Chunyan, Zheng Juan

Lin Shengli

Zheng Juan

Zheng Juan

Lin Shengli

Lin Zhengpeng, Su Qing

Line57: none

Lin Shengli

Siheyuan, Yan Bu Gui

San Da Ma

Now we have list in order of first appearance:

1. Zheng Juan

2. Qin Jingru

3. Han Chunyan

4. Lin Zhengpeng

5. Su Qing

6. Sijiucheng

7. General Lin

8. Pengzi

9. South Luogu Lane

10. Siheyuan

11. Yan Bu Gui

12. San Da Ye

13. Yan Jiefang

14. Yan Jiecheng

Yan Jiekuang

Meanwhile, in the Siheyuan of South Luogu Lane, Yan Bu Gui had already gathered clear news of Lin Zhengpeng's wedding, and the little abacus in his heart began to clack again.

"Dad, what are you up to again?" Yan Jiefang watched him rummage through boxes and cabinets, unable to help asking.

Yan Bu Gui took out a red envelope from the cabinet, stuffed two hundred yuan inside, and said proudly:

"What for? Go give Lin Zhengpeng a congratulatory gift! His wedding is next month; we'll go give a red envelope, join the fun, and by the way bring up your job matter. This time he's getting married, he'll surely be in a good mood, maybe he'll loosen up."

Now Yan Jiecheng and Yan Jiekuang both have jobs, while Yan Jiefang, after being fired from the factory, has been idle all the time, and Yan Bu Gui is also worried sick about him.

"Dad, last time we hit a wall; will this time be useful?" Yan Jiefang was reluctant.

"How is it not useful?" Yan Bu Gui glared at him, "Marriage is a big deal; Lin Shengli certainly doesn't want to spoil the fun. If we are sincere and say more pleasant things, he won't dare to refuse. Hurry up, let's go to Lin Shengli's house."

Saying this, Yan Bu Gui tucked the red envelope away, pulled Yan Jiefang, and hurried toward Lin Shengli's house.

He arrived at the door, tidied his clothes, put on a fawning smile, and raised his hand to knock.

The guard who opened the door was still the same one as last time; seeing Yan Bu Gui and his son, his face instantly darkened.

"It's you again? General Lin said you're not welcome; please leave."

"Comrade, please don't!" Yan Bu Gui hastily pulled out a red envelope and handed it over, saying, "We're here to give Zheng Peng a wedding gift; he's getting married next month, and we sincerely congratulate him. Please let us in—we'll just say a few words."

The guard didn't take the red envelope, his tone firm: "General Lin has ordered that anyone trying to sneak in through the back door for a wedding will not be seen. Please leave, or I'll call someone."

"We're not sneaking in; we're just here to give a gift!" Yan Bu Gui grew anxious and tried to push inside.

Just then, Lin Shengli walked out from the house.

Seeing Yan Bu Gui and his son, his eyes turned as cold as ice: "San Da Ye, you're really persistent."

"Shengli, congratulations!" Yan Bu Gui hastily handed over the red envelope, saying, "Zheng Peng is getting married; this is my little token—wishing him a happy marriage and early children."

Lin Shengli didn't take the red envelope and said, "I've accepted the gift; take the red envelope back."

"Shengli, I'm not playing tricks; I just want to talk about Jiefang's job." Yan Bu Gui rubbed his hands, "You see Zheng Peng got married—both career and love are flourishing—while Jiefang is still unemployed at home. Please help him out, give him a chance."

"Opportunities are seized by oneself, not gained by begging others." Lin Shengli's tone left no room for doubt: "Uncle Yan, I'll tell you this one last time—the Research Base doesn't keep idlers, nor does it take people who sneak in through the back door. If you keep pestering us, don't blame me for being impolite."

Yan Bu Gui's face flushed then turned pale in an instant, the red envelope in his hand almost crushed. He wanted to say more, but seeing Lin Shengli's icy gaze, he finally didn't dare speak.

"Guard, see them out." Lin Shengli said, then turned and went back inside.

The guard stepped forward, making a "please" gesture: "Gentlemen, please."

Yan Bu Gui pulled Yan Jiefang away, slinking off in embarrassment.

When he returned to the Siheyuan gate, he happened to run into Shazhu coming home from work.

"Yo, San Da Ye, where'd you go? You've got the red envelope ready—off to give Zheng Peng a wedding gift?" Shazhu joked with a laugh; he'd long seen through Yan Bu Gui's intentions.

Yan Bu Gui's face fell; he ignored Shazhu and hurried home.

Xu Damao had just stepped out of Zhongyuan, saw Yan Bu Gui's sorry state, and gloated: "I told you, San Da Ye, you're asking for it. Who is Lin Shengli? Do you think you can just leech off his glory?"

Yan Bu Gui glared at him, said nothing, and slammed the door shut.

Shazhu snorted: "Serves you right! Trying to sneak in through the back door without even knowing your own weight."

Xu Damao curled his lip: "Don't get too pleased—you're not even worthy of attending Lin Shengli's wedding."

"I'm not going, but I truly congratulate Zheng Peng!" Shazhu stuck out his neck, "Unlike you, full of nasty thoughts, only knowing how to envy others."

The two argued a couple more sentences before each went their own way.

Everyone in the Siheyuan knew Yan Bu Gui had hit a wall, and they secretly laughed at him—truly, he wouldn't shed a tear until seeing the coffin; even though Lin Shengli had spoken so definitively, he still wouldn't give up.

Meanwhile, at Lin Shengli's home, the wedding preparations were proceeding in an orderly manner.

Qin Jingru had contacted the hotel and booked fifty tables; Han Chunyan was in charge of inviting relatives and friends; Zheng Juan was busy preparing wedding candy and cigarettes, enjoying herself immensely.

Lin Shengli returned home from work in the evening, saw the lively scene at home, and felt warm inside.

He walked over to Zheng Juan, smiled, and said, "You've worked hard, wife."

"It's not hard; for the kids, any effort is worth it." Zheng Juan smiled and said, "By the way, the chief said he wants to attend the children's wedding and even serve as the officiant."

"Really? That's wonderful!" Lin Shengli was delighted, "Having the chief as the officiant makes the children's wedding even more meaningful."

Lin Zhengpeng and Su Qing sat aside, writing the wedding invitations.

Looking at stack after stack of invitations, both faces lit up with happy smiles—their love was finally about to bear fruit.

As the night deepened, Lin Shengli stood in the courtyard, gazing at the moon overhead, his heart full of reflection.

Meanwhile, in the Siheyuan, Yan Bu Gui sat at home, sighing and lamenting, the red envelope tossed aside.

San Da Ma complained, "I told you not to go, but you wouldn't listen. Now you've lost face, and on top of that you've completely ruined the relationship."

"I didn't expect Lin Shengli to be so heartless!" Yan Bu Gui said angrily, "Forget it, I'll never look for him again; we'll figure something out ourselves."

But he still hadn't given up in his heart.

He always felt that Lin Shengli was now so promising; as long as he kept asking, there would always be a chance.

Qin Huairu crouched at the door of the broken shed, looking toward Lin Shengli's house, her heart full of envy.

She heard that Lin Zhengpeng's wedding was extravagant, with even the chiefs going to act as officiants, making her feel even more bitter.

Now she could only crouch in the broken shed, watching others' happiness, living her own life of picking through trash.

The next morning, Lin Shengli went to the Research Base.

Carrier-based aircraft production was accelerating, the J-20's development had reached a critical stage, and he still had a lot of work to do.

In the Research Base, team members were busy and tense.

Lin Zhengpeng and Lin Qinhua were formulating the carrier-based aircraft delivery plan, while Hanna was optimizing the J-20's stealth performance.

Everyone's face showed determination, striving hard for the nation's defense cause and their own dreams.