The Reborn Sidekick Rejected The Male Lead
Chapter 104 - 102: Encounter at the Wedding

Chapter 104: Chapter 102: Encounter at the Wedding

"Ah, I thought the house your older cousin was allotted was a small building," she sighed. "But upon arrival, it turns out all the houses here are like this one."

The aunt felt a pang of sympathy, as it was nowhere near the conditions of their military base.

Lu Jingqiu knew that these coastal areas were about to develop rapidly, and with her older cousin’s place being an important military base, the troops would undergo a major transformation in a few years.

"Auntie, look, isn’t our side also getting better year by year? It will be the same for my older cousin’s place."

The uncle nodded, "That’s exactly it. Our eldest son is just experiencing the hardship before the sweetness comes."

Lu Jingqiu nodded in agreement.

Zhou Lanqin knew this all too well, "Ah, I’m just worrying over nothing. Your older cousin and his wife are quite content.

We can’t provide them with a better house, so the only thing we can do is help them get more of the stuff they need."

Lu Jingqiu saw that they had everything: a sewing machine, an electric fan, a bicycle, and even the radio that her older cousin had asked the second cousin to get for him.

Lu Jingqiu thought that was quite good already. Considering her older cousin and his wife were usually very busy, they probably didn’t cook often — this place served more as somewhere to sleep.

In a few years, when the troop’s new housing was completed, it seemed they would be allocated a two-bedroom, two-living room residence.

And it was not going to be a tube-shaped apartment building but a unit building.

After chatting in the room for a while, the older cousin hurried over.

"Qiuqiu, Nanzhou, why didn’t you call ahead of time? I could have come to the station to meet you."

Lu Jingqiu replied, "Older cousin, Nanzhou has been to your military zone before and knows the way. We knew you must be very busy, so we came on our own."

Yang Mingwei knew Jiang Nanzhou, as he had visited their base before to take part in a competition. In a surprising turn of events, Jiang, a soldier from the army, managed to outperform their navy in their own area of expertise, claiming first place.

Since then, Jiang Nanzhou’s reputation had spread across their various military zones.

Once he finished his studies, the leaders of various military zones were all vying to recruit this promising young man, but unfortunately, his uncle got the jump on them.

Yang Mingwei patted Jiang Nanzhou on the shoulder, "Good buddy, let’s have a drink later."

Jiang Nanzhou smiled, offered his congratulations, and agreed to join the celebration.

Because the groom and bride were not supposed to meet before the wedding, the older cousin’s wife didn’t come over.

Their wedding reception was a small affair, with just a few leaders from the team, some non-commissioned officers who were close to the older cousin, and the bride’s family attending.

There were about five or six tables.

That evening, the older cousin took them to the canteen for dinner, making sure to request the canteen manager to prepare a couple of extra dishes for them.

Yang Mingwei had wanted to take his cousin to a state-owned restaurant, but unfortunately, since it was some distance from the city center, they had to settle for the canteen.

After dinner, Lu Jingqiu wanted to ask Jiang Nanzhou to take her out for a walk, but ended up being pulled away by her older cousin.

Lu Jingqiu had no choice but to obediently return to the guesthouse with her aunt and uncle.

Glancing at the time, it was just after six. Lu Jingqiu started painting in her room.

She painted until past ten, her mind preoccupied with her older cousin’s wedding the next day.

She quickly washed up and went to bed.

Since the bride’s family was also staying on the site, a short car ride from their home to this one would take less than two minutes.

Therefore, the couple skipped the usual procedures, simply inviting a leader to conduct their wedding ceremony in the courtyard. After the vows, Jiang Nanzhou was roped in by the older cousin to join in the ceremony.

The banquet was set up outside the cousin’s house with six tables.

The meal had been managed by the bride’s family.

Second cousin and Gao Da also arrived after ten, looking exhausted from the journey. It was clear they had endured many hardships while selling goods on the road.

Auntie was busy helping the Older Cousin’s Wife’s family with cooking, so she had no choice but to take them to the guest house to freshen up with a bath first.

"Second cousin, Fourth Brother Gao, you two look like you’re fleeing from a famine."

Second cousin said, "It’s because we were in such a rush to sell our goods. The pork, chickens, ducks, geese, those can’t be left unsold. Gao Da and I sought out many acquaintances, and only then were we able to sell everything."

Gao Da nodded, "Luckily, we had good quality goods. It was person introducing person, and within two days, everything was sold. We also had a mission, to save time, we wouldn’t go to the toilet unless absolutely necessary, let alone have time to wash our faces or brush our teeth." After speaking, Gao Da seemed a bit embarrassed as he added, "We did think about finding a guest house to clean up before coming over, but we were also afraid of missing the wedding."

Second cousin didn’t seem to mind at all, "The Older Cousin’s Wife has seen me before, she probably won’t mind, right?"

The Older Cousin’s Wife might not mind, but one feared that her family might think otherwise.

Lu Jingqiu took the two of them, one into Jiang Nanzhou’s room and the other into the small aunt’s husband’s room. Both were quick, and in less than ten minutes, they were ready.

This speed left Lu Jingqiu speechless for a long while, as she even doubted whether the two had cleaned themselves properly.

By the time they arrived at the courtyard, the food was almost ready, and the vows were about to start.

To Lu Jingqiu’s surprise, she encountered Meng Xintian here.

"Sister Jingqiu."

"Xintian?"

Lu Jingqiu thought about it and realized they shared the same last name, Meng, and laughed, "You’re not here for the wedding too, are you?"

Meng Xintian said, "The bride is my cousin sister, my uncle’s daughter. Sister Jingqiu, you wouldn’t happen to be on my cousin brother-in-law’s side, would you?"

Lu Jingqiu laughed, "That’s my Older Cousin."

The two of them marvelled at the coincidence, and once Meng Xintian realized the relationship between the two, she eagerly introduced the family relations to her, "My auntie has two sons and a daughter, and the daughter is my older cousin. My dad is the second child, and I have one brother, one younger brother, as well as my third aunt’s family, who has two sons. Everyone has come today.

Apart from my younger brother and my third aunt’s second child, everyone else is married. My older cousin is actually one of the last to marry. The main reason is she’s too picky, but after all that pickiness, she really did find a good one. Our family is very satisfied with my cousin brother-in-law."

Lu Jingqiu nodded, "My Older Cousin is indeed a good man, capable and knows how to pamper his wife. You don’t know, back when he was courting the Older Cousin’s Wife, he would always get my Second Cousin to help him get some nice things, all of which were gifts for the Older Cousin’s Wife."

"Ah, I always saw my cousin brother-in-law as quite stern, I didn’t expect he had this side to him, no wonder my sister likes him so much.

Sister Jingqiu, it’s such a fate that we’ve met. Later, I’ll leave you my school address, and you leave yours too. Let’s write to each other often, shall we?"

Lu Jingqiu nodded, "No problem."

Meng Xintian chatted with Lu Jingqiu while observing the ceremony.

The Meng family members and the small aunt’s husband were also quite surprised at how familiar the two seemed with each other.

It was only during the meal that they found out the two had met on the train and had gotten along quite well.

The fact that the two could become good friends amused the Meng family.

They heard that Yang Mingwei’s family, his grandfather, and his great uncle lived in a village in the suburbs of the city, and he and his younger brother were usually close to his eldest aunt’s family.

Yang Mingwei’s maternal family was down to just this one aunt.

Sining had mentioned that this cousin was quite nice.

Meng Xintian and Lu Jingqiu took the opportunity while the adults were talking to go to the bridal chamber and chat with Meng Sining.

Upon their arrival, Meng Sining promptly pointed to the peanuts and seeds on the table and said, "You two help yourselves. Jingqiu, I heard from your brother that you came yesterday. It’s a custom here not to meet before the wedding. Otherwise, I would have come looking for you yesterday."

"Sister-in-law, well, here we are today, aren’t we? Our customs back home are about the same. Sister-in-law, you look truly beautiful today."

Meng Sining blushed a little at the teasing, "Oh you, you’re just like Xintian."

"I’m not, am I? Otherwise, we wouldn’t have had such a good chat on the train."

Meng Sining looked at them, somewhat puzzled. After Meng Xintian explained their situation, she exclaimed at how coincidental it was.

Lu Jingqiu felt the same. She seemed to encounter many coincidences.