Chapter 132: Another Half Year Passes in a Flash

Li Jing's partner is a temporary worker at the Textile Factory named Han Meimei. She only has her mother and four siblings at home, and they are a family of martyrs, so that bright, shining badge cannot be faked.

Han Meimei's family also has three rooms. She is the eldest daughter, and in order to free up a room for her two younger brothers to get married, she wants to marry as soon as possible.

Han Meimei's eldest younger brother, Han Lei, works at the grain station and is eighteen this year, one year younger than her. Her second younger brother, Han Shi, is fifteen and still in school, and her youngest sister is eleven and also still in school. Her mother is thirty-eight and a housewife.

Han Meimei and Li Jing also met at the Street Office. When she went to collect her subsidy, the two of them caught each other's eyes, and after a bit of back and forth, they started dating.

"I don't have high requirements, as long as there's a place to get married. Life in my family isn't easy, so half of my future wages must go to my younger brothers and sisters at home until they are adults. If you don't mind that, we can try dating."

These were the exact words Han Meimei said before the two started dating. Li Jing naturally wouldn't object; an eldest daughter who looks after her younger brothers and sisters, and is also from a family of martyrs, surely has a good character.

"Fine, I have no objections. My hometown is in the countryside, and I only came to Sijiucheng to work these past two years. We should be able to have a room for the wedding." And so, the two began dating, and it has been nearly two months now.

On his day off, Li Chen really did return to his hometown to tell his parents he wanted to take a wife. After hearing this, Zhang Cuihua was naturally happy, and she started making arrangements that morning. She used a matchmaker to contact several young women she had long had her eye on.

Li Chen is not bad-looking, and he has a job in the city, so he is almost a hot commodity in the countryside. By the afternoon, three families had brought their daughters to the house.

Li Chen took a fancy to one of them on the spot. The girl's name was Liu Ermei, eighteen years old, and she had the kind of figure that the older generation of this era likes. The girl's family didn't make any excessive demands; they just wanted him to treat their daughter well.

The two decided on it right then and there, and they would return to hold the wedding banquet on the next day off. That is how fast it was. When Li Chen came back and told everyone, they were all dumbfounded, though women like San Jie Zhang Xiaohua could understand, as they had almost all gone through the same thing.

"..."

The next morning, Li Mei and Li Qing came over to tell Zhang Ping'an the good news.

"Good heavens, that was fast."

After the storm that night, Zhang Ping'an said to Wang Xiaoling:

"Well, they are both my nephews, so I can't favor one over the other. Let's just buy bicycles for both Xiaochen and Xiaojing at the same time."

"Yes, that's fine too."

The next morning, Zhang Ping'an pedaled his own tricycle and took his two nephews to buy bicycles.

"Uncle, we'd better not. Our family already has one."

"That's enough, Uncle isn't short of money for these two. Your eldest brother's can stay at home, and yours can stay in the city, isn't that just right? Whoever needs it can just ride it."

They each bought one at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative, and then Zhang Ping'an took them to get the steel stamps punched.

"Li Ge, sorry to trouble you." This was during the lunch break.

"It's no trouble at all." Li Aiguo took the cigarette from Zhang Ping'an and tossed it to the Public Security officer handling the paperwork.

"Thanks, Li Ge." Then, the procedures were handled with swift efficiency.

In the blink of an eye, it was another day off. Early in the morning, Zhang Ping'an took Wang Xiaoling back to his hometown, preparing to go to his eldest sister's house with his parents. Zhang Ping'an had already delivered the ingredients needed for the banquet to his eldest sister's house two days prior.

As it happened to be a day off, Li Chen's wedding banquet was exceptionally lively. Young women, young wives, young men, and children were running around everywhere—it was quite a scene.

"It's still more lively here." Wang Xiaoling had never attended a rural wedding banquet, and she found everything very novel.

"Yes, in the countryside, everyone in a village is related by blood to some extent, so everyone will lend a hand."

Four bicycles and two tricycles—this display of status made the bride's family overjoyed.

"The Liu Family has really climbed up in the world."

"Indeed, I heard the son-in-law is a Worker in the city."

"Who's to say otherwise? But that girl Ermei is quite a beauty, too."

"That's true."

"Come, come, let's go have some wedding candy and soak up some of the joy."

When Li Chen brought the bride back, Wang Xiaoling looked at the other woman's figure, then looked at her own, and couldn't help but feel a bit discouraged.

"This damn competitive spirit."

Zhang Ping'an saw it all and shook his head with a smile. After eating at the banquet, Zhang Ping'an didn't stay long; he said his goodbyes and left.

That night, after the labor, Zhang Ping'an sank his consciousness into the space and was surprised to find that the Back Mountain behind the Cottage had grown nearly a hundred meters taller, while the Jade at the bottom of the pond had not decreased much.

In the blink of an eye, it was mid-June. After Zhang Ping'an harvested the wheat in his courtyard in batches at night and replanted it with corn, he returned to his hometown to help with the harvest. In late September, the corn in the courtyard was harvested, and wheat was planted in its place.

In a flash, it was the end of December. Wang Xiaoling was over three months pregnant. During this period, Zhang Ping'an fed her all sorts of different things, and Wang Xiaoling's face had become much rounder.

The mountain peaks inside the space had grown to nearly a thousand meters, and two smaller peaks about two hundred meters high had branched off to the side. The Jade at the bottom of the pond had finally been mostly consumed.

Zhang Ping'an transplanted all the fruit trees around the pond to the two mountains, bought many more to plant on them, and covered the two peaks with the remaining grass seeds from Beijiang.

From now on, this would be a grazing area, a paradise for herbivores like wild sheep, wild horses, and sika deer. The herds of sheep and deer could finally expand.

After half a year of training in the kitchen, Cai Quanwu had mastered chopping, and he could stir-fry large-pot dishes quite well. There would be no problem for him to become a regular employee by this time next year.

Shazhu also reaped his own love; it was Liu Erxia's youngest daughter, Liu Lan's younger sister, Liu Feng—a big mouth inherited from the same line.

Liu Erxia had two daughters; the eldest, Liu Lan, had married three years ago.

Originally, Liu Erxia wanted to introduce Liu Feng to Cai Quanwu, but after some analysis by the family, they felt that marrying Shazhu was more reliable. After all, the closeness of father-son and brotherly relationships was clear at a glance.

Although Shazhu wasn't a handsome young man, he was straightforward, had a good job, a house, and the support of his elders—he was a perfect "golden turtle son-in-law."

After Liu Feng and Shazhu met, Shazhu took a fancy to her at first sight. After all, Liu Lan was a great beauty when she was young, and her younger sister Liu Feng was similar to her, also a rare beauty.

Liu Feng had thought Shazhu was very ugly based on her mother Liu Erxia's previous introduction, but after meeting him, she felt he wasn't bad at all—at least he was more handsome than her mother had described.

This was also intentional on Liu Erxia's part. She knew her youngest daughter had high standards. If you say someone is handsome, but they turn out to be average, it's hard to accept. If you say someone is ugly, but they turn out to be average, it's clearly higher than expectations, and that makes them handsome.

Thus, Liu Feng gladly accepted, and coupled with Shazhu's excellent conditions, they were magnified infinitely in her eyes. She and Shazhu started dating.

This day, Zhang Xiaohua met Zhang Ping'an, who was also returning from work.

"Ping'an, are you going back for the New Year this year?"

"Yes, the tricycle has a windproof wooden board, so Xiaoling won't get cold."

"Hmm, still, be careful."

"Okay." What the siblings didn't know at this moment was that their parents and grandparents were already on their way.

That night, when the two returned home from work, Zhang Ping'an discovered that the meal at home had already been prepared.

"Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Mom, why are you here?"

"Let's spend the New Year here this year. Xiaoling is having her first child, and it's twins, so it's better to be careful."

"Mm," Zhang Ping'an and Wang Xiaoling were filled with emotion in their hearts.

"Alright, wash your hands and let's eat."