Chapter 308

Li Ye drove the Volga, traveling along the empty, deserted streets to deliver clothes to Senior Brother Peng Rui's bride.

Senior Brother Peng Rui's new wife is named Yuan Hongmin; she is a doctor at Xiehe Hospital and also a college student who settled in the capital alone, living in the Xiehe Hospital's single dormitory.

Because Li Ye didn't know the exact address, Senior Sister Yu Xiufen and the two senior brothers all volunteered to accompany him, so as to avoid blowing in the cold wind in the hallway again.

"I'll say this first! When I get married, you have to give me two sets of clothes too—one Fenghua brand, and one of these so-called wedding outfits."

As soon as she got in the car, Yu Xiufen started grumbling at Li Ye.

Wang Zhiyuan immediately said: "How can you say that so lightly! How much do two sets of Fenghua brand cost?"

Yu Xiufen immediately said to Wang Zhiyuan: "Can't you pay for them? Did I say I wouldn't give money, or did I say you wouldn't give money?"

Li Ye hurriedly broke up the fight between the couple: "Don't, don't, don't. This is all a tribute from me, your junior brother, to you two. Talking about money with me is just embarrassing me!"

"Exactly, look at how stingy he is," Yu Xiufen finally let her man off the hook, then said to Li Ye: "Don't worry, Junior Brother, I'll give you the money! He earns even less than I do!"

In fact, before Peng Rui got married, Li Ye asked them to discuss how much gift money to give, and everyone said ten yuan each.

Giving ten yuan as a gift in '83 was already quite a lot; even two or three yuan was not a small amount.

However, Li Ye always felt that since they were acquaintances, ten yuan was a bit cold. But if you gave more individually, where would that leave the other senior brothers and sisters?

That was why he asked Peng Rui for the two newlyweds' measurements and "sponsored" the bride and groom with two Fenghua brand outfits. He never expected it to become the cause of Yu Xiufen and Wang Zhiyuan's bickering.

However, Yu Xiufen only argued with Wang Zhiyuan for a moment before being attracted by the two outfits in the back seat.

"Li Ye, where did you buy this outfit? It looks so festive."

"It just came from the South. They are more particular about traditions there, unlike here where we are so casual."

"That's true. My grandmother said that when she got married in the past, there was even a red veil! Now it's worse; there isn't even a ceremony to bow to heaven and earth. What is this outfit?"

Yu Xiufen saw the other improved version of the "Xiuhe suit" and couldn't take her eyes off it.

"This is a bridal outfit improved based on traditional customs in the South. It's said to have been influenced by Hong Kong. After you give it to the bride, it's best to ask about the specific situation at the hospital so it doesn't cause any bad impressions."

In fact, the most beautiful bridal outfit in Li Ye's mind was the grand, wide-sleeved style from the Ming Dynasty, but that was too complicated and really didn't fit the social environment of 1983.

That was why Li Ye drew a simple sketch of the "Xiuhe suit" and gave it to Fan Xiuling in Hong Kong, asking her to add some Ming Dynasty elements to create this "simplified" bridal outfit.

Yet, it was this simplified bridal outfit that stirred the traditional feminine nature deep in Yu Xiufen's heart.

What woman doesn't want to be glorious and beautiful once when she gets married?

Those Western suits and wedding dresses don't have much power to fight back against the things of our ancestors.

Seeing Yu Xiufen constantly stroking the brand-new wedding outfit, Wang Zhiyuan wanted to open his mouth again.

Usually, he would absolutely never argue with Yu Xiufen on such an occasion. He knew that if he argued one sentence, he would get ten sentences back from Yu Xiufen. But why are you stroking someone else's wedding clothes so much?

Li Ye saw Wang Zhiyuan's situation in the rearview mirror and hurriedly said: "Don't worry, Senior Sister. I'll give you a wedding outfit too when the time comes.

When I get married and have a kid, you can just be the godmother. Consider it the child's tribute to you, alright?"

"Hahahaha~ Then I'll accept my godson's tribute. Hahahaha~"

Li Ye pondered for a moment—why did that feel a bit wrong?

Arriving at Xiehe Hospital, Yu Xiufen took the clothes and went into Yuan Hongmin's dormitory, while Li Ye and the two senior brothers waited outside.

Listening to the bursts of exclamations from inside the female staff dormitory, the three grown men had different reactions.

Wang Zhiyuan said: "Marriage is just a formality. Those two outfits cost at least one or two hundred yuan, and you only wear them once. It's really a waste of money."

Zou Mengcheng smiled and said: "Zhiyuan! Let me say something unpleasant: if Xiufen hadn't taken a fancy to you, you'd be destined to be a bachelor. You either don't talk for half a day, or when you do, you say something that blocks people's hearts.

Is Xiufen usually a spendthrift? You only get married once in a lifetime, so what's wrong with pampering her once?"

Wang Zhiyuan smoked his cigarette without saying a word. After a long time, he finally squeezed out: "If I had that money, I'd rather buy her a washing machine."

A moment later, Yu Xiufen came out.

Getting into the Volga, she said joyfully: "I've discussed it with Yuan Hongmin. She'll wear it carefully tomorrow, and when I get married, she'll give both pieces to me. Look, haven't we saved money?"

Zou Mengcheng smiled and said nothing.

Wang Zhiyuan: "."

Li Ye: "Sigh~"

Yu Xiufen poked Li Ye unhappily: "What are you sighing for? I saved you money, and you're still not happy?"

"I'm happy, I'm very happy!"

Li Ye shook his head and said to Wang Zhiyuan: "Brother! You really have had eight lifetimes of good luck to end up with such a good woman as my senior sister!"

Before Wang Zhiyuan could speak, Yu Xiufen immediately said smugly: "That's right. The Wang family burning high incense is the only reason they got a daughter-in-law like me."

Wang Zhiyuan: "."

But when the four of them were about to return to the Xicheng Tax Bureau, Wang Zhiyuan, who had been sullen the whole way, suddenly said something that let Li Ye know that although Wang Zhiyuan didn't understand romance, he had his own strengths.

"Li Ye, do you think that if I take out a loan to buy a house now, the interest won't even cover the inflation? If I take out a loan to buy two..."

Li Ye was a bit surprised; he hadn't expected Wang Zhiyuan's thinking to be so advanced.

Zou Mengcheng is in the banking system; given the situation in '83, taking out a loan to buy a few courtyard houses would definitely be a business with no capital and ten thousand times the profit.

But Yu Xiufen immediately said: "You'd better stop! The greater the opportunity, the greater the risk. If you have that kind of mind, you'd be better off getting promoted to professor quickly so we can move into the expert building!"

Li Ye pondered for a moment and ultimately didn't try to persuade them to speculate in real estate again, so as not to affect the life trajectories of the three.

There were no housing loans in '83. If one wanted to obtain startup capital, given Wang Zhiyuan's personal situation, he would have to use some "flexible" means to get a loan. If anything went wrong, it would inevitably affect Zou Mengcheng's path to promotion.

He didn't know about Yu Xiufen and Wang Zhiyuan, but Zou Mengcheng would eventually rise to become a super big shot in the mainland financial world.

The next day, Li Ye drove to welcome the bride and send off the guests, serving the wedding solidly for a whole day, which moved Senior Brother Peng Rui to hold his hand and say many heartfelt words.

Then Li Ye took Yu Xiufen and Zou Mengcheng to the courtyard house near the Zoo.

As the spare money in his hands increased, the pace of Li Ye and Jin Peng buying houses also grew larger; even Wang Jianqiang bought two more.

This one near the Zoo was better than the one Li Ye currently lived in at Zaojunmiao, both in terms of location and quality.

"Li Ye, are there no tenants here?"

Yu Xiufen fell in love with it as soon as she entered; there was none of the noise of a crowded compound, and it was both quiet and spacious.

"Not for now. If you're willing, just give me two yuan in rent every month. If you're not, I'll rent it to someone else."

"Don't, we can't let others take this bargain. Senior Brother Zou and I will share it; we'll give you five yuan each."

"That's too much. Just two yuan—two yuan each. I won't rent it for a penny more!"

"Heh~"

In the end, the group followed Li Ye's wishes.

Because Yu Xiufen is from the '77 class at Jingda, she is already twenty-six years old this year by traditional counting. At this time in '83, she is definitely an older young woman and really couldn't afford to drag it out any longer.

And Zou Mengcheng is about the same; he wants to bring his mother over. Now that only two households live in one courtyard, it couldn't be more suitable.

Something came up today, so the word count is low. I will definitely update three times in the next two days, Old Feng guarantees.