Chapter 202: Liu Guangtian's Opportunity

"Ahem, I went back and researched it, and I discovered that our State is actually encouraging widows to remarry. Jiecheng is just supporting the State's policy," Xu Damao said, directly parroting Zhang Ping'an's original words.

"Oh? Is there really such a saying?"

"How could there not be? Others might not know, but Teacher Yan couldn't possibly not know. He spends every day either fishing or reading the newspaper. If you let Jiecheng say it, he will absolutely be speechless."

"Hmm, alright. I'll go tell Jiecheng. If this matter succeeds, I'll have Jiecheng treat you to a meal."

"Ahem, anything is fine, I'm not picky."

Yan Jiecheng's culinary skills were quite good now; he might even pass Level Nine this year. Xu Damao was also a glutton, and as long as a cook was treating, he liked it.

Shazhu rushed in a panic to the First Canteen and first told his father about it.

"Was it really Damao who told you? Does he even read the newspaper?"

He Daqing punctured the truth in one sentence, and Shazhu was also stunned for a moment. It seemed Xu Damao really wasn't the type to read newspapers.

"Then..."

"However, Damao was likely telling the truth, but he definitely heard it from someone else. Using these words to block old Yan, he really would have nothing to say."

"Then should I go tell Jiecheng?"

"Go ahead."

He Daqing also thought highly of this pair. Aside from having a big mouth like her mother, Liu Lan had no other flaws, and her figure was also one that was good for childbearing.

A big mouth and a taciturn person like Yan Jiecheng were just a perfect match. As for a first marriage with a second marriage, He Daqing shared the same view as Shazhu: living a good life was better than anything else.

"Jiecheng, Big Sister..." Shazhu repeated Xu Damao's argument to Yan Jiecheng again.

"Hmm, my dad is most particular about these things, maybe it really could work." However, Yan Jiecheng felt a bit guilty when he thought of his furious parents at noon.

"It's fine, I'll face it with you."

Initially, Liu Lan just wanted to tease the taciturn Yan Jiecheng, but who knew that although Yan Jiecheng was not good with words, he was warm-hearted in everything he did.

There was a time she brought her daughter to the back kitchen, and Yan Jiecheng coaxed her with extreme patience. Moreover, her daughter was also exceptionally close to Yan Jiecheng. Through this back and forth, she herself fell for him without even realizing it.

The two of them naturally came together. As for secretly getting the marriage certificate, it was Yan Jiecheng's idea; only by acting first and reporting later could they snatch a glimmer of hope from Yan Bugui. However, with the State policy now in the mix, he believed it would be easier.

Yan Bugui had already felt some regret when he drove his son and daughter-in-law away at noon. He also knew Liu Lan; she had come to Shazhu's house before to see her sister, and they had greeted each other. She was a perfectly good person, just that she had married someone unreliable.

Later, when Liu Lan became a widow, Yan Bugui and his wife had felt sorry for her at the time. Now that she was really going to be his daughter-in-law, he was reluctant again.

In the evening, Yan Jiecheng brought Liu Lan back home again, carrying gifts. Yan Bugui still kept a straight face.

"Dad, Mom, I brought Liu Lan here."

"Sigh, forget it, come on in." Looking at his eldest son's pitiful appearance, Yan Bugui sighed, and his stiff face relaxed.

"Sit down."

"Okay, thanks."

"Liu Lan, we can be considered acquaintances. It's not that I oppose the matter between you and Jiecheng. It's something the State supports, it's just that in my heart... forget it. In any case, just live your own lives well."

"Dad, I know I'm not worthy of Jiecheng, but..."

"Dad, it has nothing to do with Liu Lan. We will live our own lives well, and we will be as prosperous as Uncle He. After the New Year, you will be able to hold a big grandson."

"What? Liu Lan, you're pregnant? Oh my, you old fool, Liu Lan, stop crying, don't cry and hurt your health."

"..."

Yan Bugui was speechless, thinking to himself, at noon you were the one who said the nastiest things, and now you've changed your face again. Do you really think you're a Sichuan opera mask?

"Liu Lan, tell Mom, how many months?"

"Mom, it's only three months." Liu Lan was a bit embarrassed.

"Good, good, good. Don't leave tonight, eat here at home. Jiedi, hurry and tidy up the room for your sister-in-law."

"Oh, oh, okay." Seven-year-old Yan Jiedi couldn't quite react to her mother's change in attitude.

Just like that, a conflict in the Yan family was dispelled by Liu Lan's pregnancy. Yan Jiecheng hadn't even used the State policy; if he had known, he would have said it in the morning.

"How about it, Shazhu? Did it work?"

Ersha had been peeking from the Daozuofang the whole time. Seeing that there was no movement from the Yan family, Xu Damao said smugly.

"Hmm, don't worry, there will be a meal for you when the time comes."

Shazhu didn't know at this moment that the Yan family had calmed down not because of the State policy Xu Damao mentioned, but because Liu Lan was pregnant.

"Brother Zhuzi, my sister, she..."

"Hmm, don't worry. The Yan family has already quieted down. The matter between Big Sister and Jiecheng is done."

"That's great, Big Sister has finally come through the bitterness to the sweetness."

"Not bad, not bad." He Daqing also nodded in satisfaction from the side.

At Zhang Ping'an's house.

"Brother Ping'an, do you think Teacher Yan will agree?"

"Don't worry, Teacher Yan isn't an old fossil; he'll come around sooner or later."

"Ping'an is right. Little Yan is a good person. He's always smiling at everyone he sees, and since he's a teacher, he definitely thinks more than we do. He's just stuck in a rut for a moment," the old man said.

If you asked who he was most familiar with in the courtyard, it was definitely Yan Bugui. He often watched a group of old men playing chess in the Front Courtyard, and Yan Bugui was often there too. Through this back and forth, the two had even become friends across generations.

Back Courtyard, Liu Family.

"Guangqi, Jiecheng is already married, when are you and Xiaolan getting married?"

Xiaolan, full name Qian Xiaolan, was a classmate of Liu Guangqi and worked at the Textile Factory. Her father was a Deputy Section Chief at the Textile Factory.

"Dad, I want to wait until the housing is allocated."

Liu Guangqi was a technical secondary school graduate, belonging to a Cadre Post. He had already been working for two and a half years. Next year would be his third year of work, and there was a high chance of being allocated housing.

"Alright then." Liu Haizhong nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

At this time, Liu Guangtian had also graduated from junior high school in mid-July. He had taken his big award certificate from that year to the Police Station to recommend himself, but unfortunately, they were fully staffed and didn't need anyone at the moment.

He went out to do odd jobs everywhere every day, usually working until eight or nine in the evening before returning home.

After finishing his work past seven o'clock that day and earning eighty cents, Liu Guangtian prepared to buy some good food the next day to reward himself, but unexpectedly, he tripped not far from the Siheyuan.

By the moonlight, Liu Guangtian saw an old man lying on the ground; this fellow was quite bold, as a normal person would be scared half to death seeing someone lying on the ground in the middle of the night, yet he reached out directly to check the man's breath.

"Not dead yet."

Liu Guangtian remembered that Zhang Ping'an had studied Traditional Chinese Medicine and that the injury medicine he gave was very effective, so he hurriedly ran back to the courtyard to call for help and borrow a cart.

"Zhang Shu, help, save him!"

Zhang Ping'an was just getting ready to bathe and go to sleep, discussing life with Wang Xiaoling, when he was interrupted by this kid pounding on the door.

"What is it, Guangtian?"

"Zhang Shu, there's an old man lying at the entrance of our courtyard, he's not dead yet, you need to go take a look quickly."

"Alright." Zhang Ping'an pushed his tricycle and followed him out.

"Why is it him?" Zhang Ping'an recognized at a glance that it was the old man surnamed Mu he had met on the train back then.

"Zhang Shu, you know him?"

"We've met once before. This old man is in poor health; why is he out in the middle of the night?"

Zhang Ping'an felt his pulse, hurriedly inserted two needles, and fed him some Space Water.

"Guangtian, take him to the Hospital and stay until he wakes up. Don't you want to be in Public Security? Perhaps this old man can give you a hand."

"Really, Zhang Shu?"