On the second day Qiao Liansheng was preparing to leave, another major incident happened in Lu Gou Village. Early in the morning, Ma Hongde, the crippled son of Ma Jiawan Village Chief, who was three mountains away, came to Lugou Village to propose marriage. The vast group of people blew their trumpets and beat their drums. It was very lively.
The person Lame Ma wanted to marry was none other than the eldest daughter of the Qiao family, Qiao Lianxiang. The villagers started discussing. Getting married right after getting into university, wasn't this destroying their own future? Besides, how good would her life be if she married a cripple? It was a pity that the Qiao family's beautiful flower was stuck in Lame Ma's cow dung.
When the old ancestor of the ancestral hall saw this, he silently smoked his pipe and shook his head. This was all fate.
With the Qiao family missing a scholar, the villagers were no longer as happy as before. A few women were still thinking about how good it would be if they gave the half basket of eggs to their children.
Lame Ma's team arrived at Old Qiao's house, but they didn't dare to go in again. They didn't even dare to send the betrothal gifts in. That was because the Qiao family's Er Mao Zi, Qiao Liansheng, was holding a kitchen knife and grinding it repeatedly on the stone by the door. His eyes under his black glasses were staring sharply at Lame Ma's face, and his slightly tanned face was pulled very long.
Qiao Lianxiang stood by the door, covering her nose. Her eyes were red as she looked at Qiao Liansheng silently.
" Lianxiang, this…You…" Lame Ma held a stack of wedding invitations in his hands. He moved his limping legs as he looked at Qiao Lianxiang with a bitter expression. Ever since he was young, he was afraid of Er Mao Zi from Lugou Village. He never dared to show off in front of him. Looking at the white kitchen knife, he felt weak.
Qiao Lianxiang nodded silently and took a deep breath. She bit her lips and slowly walked towards Qiao Liansheng.
"Don't come over!" Qiao Liansheng shouted coldly. His eyes were still staring sharply at Lame Ma through his eyes, and he didn't look away.
Qiao Lianxiang's footsteps paused, but it was just a pause. She continued to walk over slowly.
"Go back! Enter the house!" Qiao Lian Sheng turned around and glared at her. Seeing that Qiao Lianxiang was still walking towards him, he stood up and grabbed Qiao Lianxiang's arm, pushing her into the room and shouting angrily,""Qiao Lianxiang, let me tell you! If you dare to come out again, I won't treat you as a member of the Qiao family!”
" Brother-in-law, don't be like this. We're all family…" Lame Ma frowned slightly and took a tentative step forward.
"Shut up!" Qiao Liansheng was enraged by this form of address. He turned around and pointed his kitchen knife at Lame Ma, his eyes wide and bloodshot." You son of a b * tch, if you shout again, I'll chop you alive!”
Lame Ma was so frightened that he took a few steps back. The group of people behind him also looked at each other, not daring to speak. Everyone from Lugou Village had come over. Even the old ancestor had rushed over from the ancestral hall, but no one dared to come over and speak. They only watched from afar.
"Er Mao Zi."
Qiao Lianxiang once again walked out of the house. Her fair face was calm, but her eyes were red, but not a single tear flowed out. She stood at the door with her head lowered and said to Qiao Liansheng,"He should call you brother-in-law. Yesterday, I went to the county town with him to register our marriage.”
Qiao Liansheng was dumbfounded by her words. She turned around with difficulty and looked at the half-blind woman with a complicated expression. She was not her biological sister.
"I'm a woman, and I'm not as smart as you. I shouldn't go to university. If you call me elder sister, I'll be a decent elder sister. If you go to university, I'll support you.”
Qiao Lianxiang's voice wasn't loud, but it was like a thunderclap that exploded in Qiao Lian's mind. These words also caused the spectating villagers of Lugou Village to start discussing. The old ancestor in front of the crowd, who was holding a walking stick, shook his head and repeated the same sentence over and over again in his old voice,"This is all fate!"
"That's right! Brother-in-law, I promised Lianxiang that I would pay for your college fees.”Lame Ma thought that things had taken a turn for the better and weakly interjected. The son of a village chief might not be rich, but at least he did not have to sell everything to support a university student.
Qiao Liansheng looked at Qiao Lianxiang, whose eyes were red. The eyes under the black glasses were so bright that Qiao Lianxiang didn't dare to look at them directly. After a long while, the kitchen knife fell to the ground with a clang. Qiao Liansheng turned around and glared fiercely at Lame Ma.
"If she loses even a little bit of flesh, I'll cut it off from you.”It was just one sentence, but everyone present could feel the force. No one didn't believe that Qiao Liansheng wouldn't do what he said.
Lame Ma smiled as he looked at Qiao Lianxiang, who was still standing at the door with her head lowered. He nodded heavily." Little Uncle…Lian Sheng, I really like Lianxiang. I've liked her since I was young. You know that. I…I will treat her like…like a treasure!”
Qiao Liansheng bent down to pick up the kitchen knife and walked into the house. When he passed by Qiao Lianxiang, he paused. His slightly thin body was trembling violently. He turned his head and sobbed in her ear."Sister, take care!"
Qiao Lianxiang's shoulders twitched as she slowly squatted on the ground. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed. The sobbing made the more than 90 people in Lugou Village silent. The corners of their eyes were moist.
The old ancestor, who was leaning on a walking stick, raised his wrinkled hand and wiped the corner of his eyes. He turned around shakily and sighed,"Even blood is thicker than water!”The old voice was hoarse as it drifted through the mountains of Lugou Village.
Qiao Liansheng left early in the morning on the second day after Lame Ma gave the betrothal gift. He walked along the stone road that the villagers of Lugou Village had built together, step by step. He walked out of the Lugou Village that had raised him for nineteen years without turning back, not even once.
The only person who saw Qiao Liansheng leave was Lunatic Zhang from the village. Lunatic Zhang was a bachelor in his forties. He liked to drink and would go crazy when he drank too much. On the day Qiao Liansheng left, Lunatic Zhang was sleeping on the stone lion at the village entrance because he had drunk too much. He was awakened by the sound of footsteps.
Seeing that Qiao Liansheng was about to leave, Lunatic Zhang said the most clear-headed thing he had ever said in his life," Er Mao Zi, when you arrive in Beijing, endure it if you can. Otherwise, you'll end up like your father, dying of cowardice in this poor village.”
Qiao Liansheng only paused for a moment when he heard that. Then, he took huge strides as if he was running. Lunatic Zhang licked his dry lips and laughed bitterly. He stood up with the help of the stone lion and staggered into the village. He hummed a paragraph that sounded like a song, but a few words could be vaguely heard.
" The guillotine outside Tian 'an Gate, blood splashing in the Forbidden City…"
On the day that Qiao Liansheng left, Lame Ma carried eight large palanquins to Old Qiao's house in Lugou Village. Qiao Lianxiang, the daughter of the Qiao family who was a scholar but didn't go to school, wore a large red robe made by the villagers of Lugou Village. She wore a red veil on her head and sat in the palanquin. She left in a grand manner and married into Ma Jiawan, which was three mountains away from Lugou Village.
When he sent Qiao Lianxiang to the entrance of the village, all the villagers of Lugou Village had arrived. Men and women, old and young, waved their hands. There was a happy smile on their faces, but their eyes were red.
Lame Ma carried a large bag of wedding candy and limped on one leg as he distributed them one by one. When he walked out of the village entrance, the limping groom faced everyone in Lugou Village. He gritted his teeth and stood up straight. He patted his chest and promised that if Qiao Lianxiang lost even a little bit of flesh, he would cut a piece off his body.
After saying that, he bowed deeply, turned around, and limped behind the bridal sedan once again. Lame Ma's actions made the villagers sigh with emotion. They all said that Er Mao's words had worked and made Lame Ma a man.
After Qiao Lianxiang left, the room at the east entrance of Lugou Village was empty, but the things inside were not missing. There were two narrow beds and two neatly folded quilts. There were still two photo frames on the cabinet. The black-and-white photo of a man and a woman had a faint smile.
Before she got married, Qiao Lianxiang had wiped everything in the house, saying that it would be dusty when Er Maozi came back and that it would be difficult to live in…
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。