Starting a new chapter in life

Chapter 215 He Ci'en is finally married

The little girl nodded in agreement: "That's right, that's right. The food here is on the lighter side, and they like to add sugar. It's one thing to add sugar to meat dishes, but they even add sugar to stir-fried vegetables. I'm really not used to that."

Seeing that the mother and daughter were starting to chat again, He Ci'en quickly interrupted, "Auntie, we'll be going now. We still need to catch a boat later, so we don't want to miss it."

"Should we bring another quilt back?" Jingyan thought about putting the bed in the second bedroom so the little girl could stay there whenever she wanted.

He Ci'en politely declined, saying, "No need, Auntie. She can stay in the dormitory for now. I'll visit her parents and get their approval before she moves in. If all goes well, I'll need your help with the wedding arrangements when I get back."

"Are you planning to hold your wedding here? Will your parents and family in Beijing be willing?" Jing Yan asked, puzzled.

"If my parents agree, we plan to hold one in Beijing, mainly for my relatives and friends. When we come back, we will also hold one here, mainly for his relatives, friends and our colleagues."

Actually, in my opinion, we didn't need a wedding ceremony at all; just getting a marriage certificate would have been enough. But the older generation still values ​​formalities, so it was a bit tiring for us both. The young woman, oh, her full name was Hu Fangfei, wrinkled her nose; she did look quite charming.

Jingyan asked An'an to help carry things. Zhizhi and Xiaoxiao escorted their sister-in-law to the dock. He Ci'en, carrying and holding things, asked An'an, who was also carrying a lot of things, "Will our future wife have a higher status than us?"

An'an glanced at her with a hint of disdain: "Does this even need a 'later'? Every time you came back before, my mom would treat you like royalty. Look at this time? I just saw my mom take out a string of white jade beads, she must have been wearing it on her wrist."

I think it was meant for my sister-in-law. I guess she thought about giving it to her earlier, but then worried about startling her, so she put it in her drawer. You'll see when you have your wedding; she'll definitely wear it.

He Ci'en's mouth dropped open: "You don't mean that the bracelet was picked out by your aunt from the jade jewelry that Grandma left her, do you? Grandma never gave anything of poor quality; it could be a family heirloom. Your aunt is really generous."

"That's because she treats you like her own child, that's why she's so generous. You know that my mom may seem generous, but she's not frugal when it comes to food, clothing, and other necessities. That's only because she likes to eat, and we just follow suit."

Grandma left her these treasures, and even my dad would get his hand slapped if he tried to touch them. I used to think those things would eventually end up in Zhizhi's hands, but judging from today's situation, maybe my future wife will get one or two of them.

"We'll keep it as a family heirloom, the kind that's only passed down to our daughters." An'an said this quite happily, without considering how old he is, already thinking about getting married.

He Ci'en remained silent for a while. As the eldest son in his family, he had always been independent since childhood. The first time he felt cared for was when he came to his aunt's house. He had always remembered how good his aunt had been to him over the years. Now, she was also paying so much attention to the partner he had chosen. Why were his eyes a little wet? There was no wind at all.

After summer vacation, Zhizhi and Lu Xiaoxiao entered high school and were placed in different classes. Lu Xiaoxiao was a little unhappy when she got home. Her mother's condition had improved a lot in recent years, and she was now able to sense and take care of the emotions of those around her.

Knowing that Xiaoxiao was unhappy, after finding out the reason, I went to the principal and finally transferred Xiaoxiao to Zhizhi's class. The homeroom teacher knew that the two were close, so she specially arranged for them to sit together. These two best friends were inseparable, going to school, leaving school, and attending classes together, which made their classmates who were only children very envious.

An'an even came to find Zhizhi during the break between classes, which was essentially a way of supporting Zhizhi. They were all greenhorns who had just entered school, and they were extremely envious when they saw that Zhizhi had a brother.

Zhizhi dragged Xiaoxiao and An'an to the school store. An'an treated them to popsicles, and the three of them happily ate as they walked. Zhizhi squinted and asked, "Brother, how much pocket money do you get each month?"

"Ten yuan, how much did your mom give you?" An'an asked immediately.

Zhizhi… She shook her head and said ambiguously, “About the same as you.”

An An didn't take it too seriously. Anyway, he had enough pocket money. Not many of his classmates had pocket money, and he was one of them.

Zhizhi glanced guiltily at the popsicle in her hand. Her mother gave her fifteen yuan a month, which was much more than her brother. She felt it was a bit excessive to let her brother buy popsicles. She clutched her small bag and decided to hide the money when she got home, keeping only one or two yuan on her for emergencies.

Lu Xiaoxiao glanced at the brother and sister, then lowered her head, only able to see their upturned lips from the side.

After entering high school, Zhizhi and Lu Xiaoxiao suddenly realized how fast the teachers were teaching. If they hadn't prepared in advance during the holidays, they would have struggled to keep up. It's clear that once someone helps you cross the river, it goes much more smoothly for those who follow.

He Ci'en and Hu Fangfei departed for Beijing on the Mid-Autumn Festival, which happened to be very close to National Day. They took two days off in between to make a ten-day holiday, which was enough for them. Jing Yan didn't even see them off when they left. Well, it would be troublesome to leave the island, and He Ci'en didn't want to bother her. She only called to let her know when they were about to leave so as not to worry her.

When the two returned, they already had their marriage certificate. Jingyan could only marvel at how quickly they got married. The woman's side said they didn't ask for a dowry, but He Ci'en still handed over a savings account with 10,000 yuan to Fangfei's parents in front of her.

When He Ci'en came back and told them about the marriage proposal, he was still a little taken aback. He had prepared himself for difficulties, but he didn't expect everything to go so smoothly. Hu Fangfei's parents only had her as their child. If they had more children, she might really have no chance with He Ci'en.

Fangfei is considered one of the most outstanding grandchildren in the family. She is a good student and entered the Aviation Research Institute on her own. Apart from being unruly and too opinionated, she is actually the one most suitable for politics. Unfortunately, her ambitions lie elsewhere.

Because of her outstanding abilities, her family originally allocated her a significant portion of their resources, including connections and money. However, she willingly gave up this portion for the sake of freedom. Nevertheless, what her parents have will eventually become hers. As long as she doesn't squander it, she can live a life of plenty.

Moreover, her own salary is not low, so she is not at the point of relying on her parents.

She was confident enough to be independent, so when He Ci'en went back with her this time, she was quite shocked to see so many people at the family gathering. All the relatives in Haishi combined didn't even amount to half the number of relatives in her family. And these were just the direct descendants of her family. It was easy to imagine how abundant her family's offspring were.

Of course, big families have their advantages too. It's not easy to be discovered if you try to fish in troubled waters. He Ci'en relied on his ability to muddle through the waters to stay out of trouble from the beginning to the end of the gathering.

Hu Fangfei's parents had actually been watching his actions throughout the party. The elderly couple later complained to their daughter, "Does this guy you've taken a liking to have social anxiety? I noticed he hardly interacted with anyone the whole time."

"Mom and Dad, you're amazing!" Hu Fangfei smiled and gave a thumbs up.

"When I went to his aunt's house, his sister told me that during his three years of high school, he had almost no friends, rarely spoke, and didn't interact with anyone. He only talked a few words at home."

The school teachers all told his aunt that the child might have psychological problems and suggested that the parents try to counsel him. Actually, there's nothing wrong with him; he's just that his mind is always on things that interest him. Perhaps because he's so focused, he ignores the people and things around him.

He values ​​his family a lot, and of course, he's very good to me too. He prepared almost all the household items in my dorm room. I do all the housework myself, wash my own clothes, and he's a pretty good cook. Apart from not being very talkative, I think he's perfect.

He even saved up enough money to buy an apartment, a two-bedroom, one-living-room house, all furnished, the simple yet stylish kind. When we get married and go back home, I'll move in from my dorm. Isn't he amazing? He doesn't rely on his family or his ancestors; he's built his own life on his own.

Hu Fangfei's parents were not old-fashioned people, otherwise they would not have only had one daughter. The pressure from the family to have many offspring was something that others could not withstand, but they were the only ones who had this one child, so they were quite satisfied with He Ci'en.

Finally, Hu Fangfei took He Ci'en's savings book, along with the money given by her parents and the money given by her relatives and uncles. All of this added up to almost enough to buy another house in Shanghai, which shows how wealthy she was.

He Ci'en didn't ask how much money was in the house or how it would be spent. He had left the house to his wife, so he only needed to go to work and earn money. His wife would take care of the money management.

On the last weekend of October, a simple wedding was still held in Haishi. While the bride in Beijing wore a newly emerging foreign wedding dress, the bride in Haishi wore a traditional Chinese wedding dress. Apart from lacking a sedan chair carried by eight men, the bride still wore a face-covering fan and a gold headdress, which caught the attention of the guests.

The gold headdress was part of her aunt's dowry and had been carefully stored for many years. Her daughter-in-law never used it, but her eldest granddaughter-in-law did, thus fulfilling the wish of passing it down. Jingyan gave the white jade bracelet to Hu Fangfei as a gift. The young girl liked it very much; it felt warm and smooth to the touch, and since her skin was fair, it suited her perfectly.

After the wedding, although there wasn't much money given as a gift, there were some nice things. In addition to the white jade beaded string given by Jingyan, Cui Hongru also gave a pair of gold earrings with rubies, made with filigree, which were very exquisite.

Sister-in-law Zhou Jie also gave her a jade pendant, which shocked Hu Fangfei. She had seen all kinds of good things since she was a child. He Ci'en's family background seemed to be just ordinary. Well, although it was much better than most families, compared with those families with a long history, they were really just ordinary people.

But she didn't expect the gifts from her elders to be so valuable. The items didn't look particularly impressive, but anyone in the know would recognize them as high-quality goods. Even her family hadn't saved much of them, since during those years, many valuable items were either confiscated or confiscated.

She carefully put the gifts away. Compared to these, even the money her family gave seemed mundane. After the wedding, the first thing Hu Fangfei did when she got home was to pack up and put away the jewelry, not forgetting to remind He Ci'en:

"Let's buy a safe later. These are too valuable gifts from our elders. I'll only feel at ease if they're locked up." He Ci'en had no choice but to obey.

By the end of November, Rong Gang received the news that Huo Benqin was pregnant, which made the whole family extremely happy. Jing Yan counted her age and joked with He Zhijun, "I don't think it's been that long, how come I'm already at the age to be an aunt in the blink of an eye? Sigh~ Time flies."

He Zhijun tapped her on the head: "You're only in your early forties and you think you're old? Xiao Huo is pregnant, what will happen to the cashier when she's pregnant?"

Jingyan glared at him: "What else can we do? I'm just staying at home anyway. I'll fill in at the shop for a few months, and she can come back when she wants to go back to work after giving birth and finishing her postpartum period."

Just as the couple made their decision, another unexpected event occurred. At the end of December, before New Year's Day, Cui Hongru brought a middle-aged man to their home. He was Sister Wang's son. After warming up for a while, he finally spoke:

"Mom, I've come to take you back to Yangzhou to live with us. The children at home are all grown up and don't need much care anymore. You're not young anymore either, so it's a good time for you to go back with your son and enjoy your retirement."

Jing Yan looked at Cui Hongru with a blank expression. Cui Hongru shook her head, signaling her not to speak.

Sister Wang remained calm, showing none of the expected excitement. "Why did you suddenly decide to come pick me up? Didn't I tell you when I left that you should just live your own life and not worry about me?"

Your dad might not recognize you, but he'll definitely remember me. That family isn't any good. I've already moved out and have no intention of going back.

The middle-aged man squatted down, placed his hands on Sister Wang's knees, and said with a look of deep affection, "Mom, I know your worries. I haven't dared to contact you all these years. I haven't even dared to go to Commander He's house, for fear of being seen."

But three months ago I received news that my father was seriously ill. At first I didn't believe it, but I couldn't resist my curiosity and secretly took a look. It did seem very serious. He must have found someone else, and there were children with him.

I heard them arguing about the cost and refusing to continue treatment, saying the old man was too old and there was no point in keeping him alive; all they did was spend money. So they gave up on treatment. Last month, I specifically asked around and learned that he had died. I even went to the cemetery to check and confirm it was true before I dared to go to Commander He's house to inquire about you.

Now, I can finally come and take you home openly and honestly. Most of those who knew you back then are dead, and even those who didn't, your name has changed, and things have changed a lot over the years. As long as my father isn't around, we're not afraid of anyone else.”