Transmigration: Flirted with My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 414 - 413: Getting Married

Chapter 414: Chapter 413: Getting Married

As long as it concerned Lin Nianhe’s health, Su Yuncheng was always extra cautious, even if she was just going to open a door—she had to put on an army coat to do so.

He was terribly afraid that she would catch a cold from a gust of wind.

Lin Nianhe had long gotten used to Su Yuncheng’s thoughtfulness; wrapped in the large coat, she stepped aside: "Aunt Yu, please come in and sit for a while."

The two of them were naturally at ease, but Mrs. Yu seemed a bit uncomfortable. She quickly said: "No need, no need, I still have a pile of chores waiting for me. I just came to bring you some food. You two better get back inside!"

After that, she stuffed the oil-paper package into Lin Nianhe’s hands, waved her hand signaling her to close the door, and turned to leave with a distant look.

Back in the front yard, Mrs. Yu couldn’t help but ask Yu Xiangqin: "Hey, Educated Youth Lin and Xiao Su aren’t married yet, right? Are they already living together?"

"What?" Yu Xiangqin looked at Mrs. Yu puzzledly, "Lin Nianhe’s room is so small and cramped, even she complains about the space. How could the two of them possibly live together?"

"But I saw how they..." Mrs. Yu hesitated to continue.

"Don’t let your mind wander and meddle in everyone’s business, why are you acting just like Aunt Wang from our residents’ committee?" Yu Xiangqin pouted, "The two of them grew up together since they were children, they might have been betrothed long ago... Instead of worrying about other people’s business, why don’t you focus on me?"

Mrs. Yu was left speechless, received a stern look, and muttered something under her breath that Yu Xiangqin didn’t catch.

That night, Mrs. Yu and Yu Xiangqin lay side by side on the kang, listening to the howling wind outside the window and the distant wolf cries, when suddenly, Mrs. Yu’s tears came falling down. She reached out her hand, groping under Yu Xiangqin’s covers.

She still remembered when Xiangqin was born, skinny like a little monkey, yet with a particularly loud cry. Her grandmother always said that the child was born to bring blessings, and would be easy to raise.

Indeed, the child came to bring blessings.

She was always reassuring as a child; while other children would wake up every few hours, she could sleep through till dawn and, upon waking, wouldn’t cry but would just stare at her with big eyes. As she got older, when Laoer was born, she would step on a stool to change her little brother’s diapers...

Later, when Laosan grew up, she would take her two brothers out, sending the younger one to the Young Pioneers’ daycare, then go to school with Laoer. Laosan would have lunch at the daycare, and she had to be home to cook for her and her brother.

What happened after that? After she graduated from high school, the family could not arrange a job for her. Mrs. Yu thought if it didn’t work out, she would step down and let her daughter take over, but while she was still hesitating, her daughter went to the Educated Youth Office and signed up on her own.

Yu Xiangqin was originally supposed to go to the battalion in Mongolian Province, but at that time, a kid from their street had an accident in the battalion; he wasn’t seated properly while riding a horse, and was dragged to death by the horse... How could Mrs. Yu dare let Yu Xiangqin go to the battalion? Begging and pleading, she managed to switch her daughter to become a commune-dwelling educated youth.

Mrs. Yu’s tears flowed freely at the thought of marrying off her daughter tomorrow. Oh, how her heart ached... The person she felt most sorry for, from beginning to end, was her eldest daughter.

More than twenty years ago, when Mrs. Yu got married, her mother also held her hand like this, and the two of them talked all night. Only now did she understand what her mother felt back then.

She...

"Hey Mom, why are you touching me?"

Yu Xiangqin suddenly sprung up from the kang, flinging her hands with a drowsy confusion in her voice: "My God, I thought a snake had gotten into the bedding! You scared me to death!"

Mrs. Yu: "..."

In the dark, Mrs. Yu rolled her misty eyes at her, then turned her back to her, biting her teeth and said "Let’s sleep," closing her eyes with annoyance.

The next day, people woke up before the sky had lightened.

Mrs. Yu’s eyes were swollen like walnuts as she sat on the edge of the bed, spiritless.

"Auntie, come quickly," Wen Qingqing approached her with savvy, taking Mrs. Yu’s arm to give her something to do. "You need to accompany me to pick up uncle. It’s still dark and the village roads are rough. Uncle probably doesn’t have a flashlight; let’s go and meet him."

"Ah..." Mrs. Yu glanced at Yu Xiangqin, then hesitated to leave, "I’d better stay and do Xiangqin’s hair."

"Forget it, every time you did my hair when I was little, it hurt so much," Yu Xiangqin flatly refused, waving her hand at Wen Qingqing to signal her to take Mrs. Yu away quickly.

Mrs. Yu glared at her and left with Wen Qingqing, putting on her coat.

With Mrs. Yu gone, Yu Xiangqin finally took a long breath.

She leaned forward to try and see Mrs. Yu, but the windows were covered with plastic sheeting and it was too dark outside to see anything clearly.

"Sister Xiangqin, if you feel uncomfortable, why let Aunt Yu go? She’s not happy either," Lin Nianhe said softly.

"Ah... you don’t know my mom. If I had spoken gently to her, she would’ve cried till next year this time," Yu Xiangqin said, eyes downturned as she combed her hair. "Two years ago, my younger brother went to the battalion. That morning, my mom peeled an egg for him and ever since then, every time she sees an egg, she thinks of my brother."

Lin Nianhe took the comb from her in silence and helped her comb her hair.

"Speaking of my brother... I used to find him really annoying. If it weren’t for him, why would I need to do so much work? Huh... I wonder how he’s doing in the battalion. Mom gave me one hundred yuan yesterday. It was from my brother. These years, he’s been sending home twenty-five yuan of his allowance every month and keeping ten for himself. I guess that one hundred yuan must be all he saved up over these two years."

"That kid is really tough... The battalion where we live is different from the Great Northern Wilderness here; our battalion educated youth mainly herd cattle and sheep, raise horses. You don’t know, our grasslands are so vast, you can’t even see the edges... Can you imagine him raising horses? When hundreds of horses are galloping, if someone falls off, they could be trampled to death, and there would be no help..."

"I said he shouldn’t have gone, just settle in like I did, but he insisted. Saying settling in is just going through the motions. Do I not know him? He just doesn’t want to earn points, but wages instead..."

Yu Xiangqin rambled on while Lin Nianhe quietly listened, tying her hair up and putting on the Head Flower that Aunt Zhao had helped make.

Wang Xue came in, holding a handkerchief with several thin charcoal sticks inside.

She nudged Yu Xiangqin: "Enough now, it’s a joyful day. Think about your husband and stop worrying about your brother."

She turned Yu Xiangqin’s chin towards her, picked up a charcoal stick, and said, "Don’t move, I’m going to do your eyebrows."

Yu Xiangqin stayed still, kept silent, only her eyes rolling around as if asking Wang Xue if she really knew what she was doing.

Wang Xue was quite reliable though, and swiftly sketched Yu Xiangqin’s eyebrows for her.

Yu Xiangqin looked in the mirror, nodding her head in satisfaction.

She then took a piece of red paper, licked her lips, and used the dye from the paper to color her lips red.

The person in the mirror looked much prettier than usual.

Yu Xiangqin looked at herself for a while, put down the mirror, turned, and took the hands of Wang Xue and Miao Hongqi, pretending to be light-hearted, "In the future, you two will have ease. Nobody to compete with... Later on..."

"Remember to come and see me if you’re not busy... After all, we’ve lived in the same room for so many years. You can’t just forget about me..."