Chapter 299: Chapter 299: Stay Away from Me

The Lius came to visit not only to wish Jiang Dashan and Yang Chunxiang a happy New Year, but also to discuss the marriage between Li Tao and Jiang Hehua.

Li Tao was an only son. He and Mr. Li both worked at the town’s brick and tile factory. A family with two wage-earners and a town household registration—to Jiang Dashan’s family, this match couldn’t be better.

Yang Chunxiang was all smiles, pulling Li Tao over to introduce him to Jiang Dahai.

"Li Tao, this is Hehua’s third uncle. He works at the Agriculture Bureau in the city."

Li Tao quickly bowed to Jiang Dahai. "Hello, Third Uncle!"

"Yes, yes, very good. A fine young man, you look quite sharp."

Hearing Jiang Dahai praise Li Tao, both Yang Chunxiang and her husband, as well as the Lius, smiled with great satisfaction.

According to tradition, the Li Family should have come for their New Year’s visit on the second day of the Lunar New Year.

But Jiang Dahai usually returned to the city on the afternoon of the first day, so to let Li Tao make an impression on Jiang Dahai, Yang Chunxiang had specially arranged for him to visit today.

This was also what the Lius wanted.

The prize they had their eye on in this marriage with the Jiang family was none other than the third uncle, Jiang Dahai.

Not only did Jiang Dahai have a son-in-law who was a battalion commander, but he was also an official in a government agency. If they could win Jiang Dahai’s favor, what was to stop them from soaring to success in the future?

Jiang Hehua and Li Cuicui were whispering in a room. "It’s not going to work out for you. Xiao Peng has a girlfriend. You should look at other families."

Li Cuicui peeked out into the courtyard through the window lattice.

Jiang Peng and a few of his cousins from the Jiang family were sitting in a circle in the courtyard, playing cards.

Even before meeting Jiang Peng, she was already very satisfied with his prospects.

A city household registration, a soldier, a father-in-law who was a government official, and a brother-in-law who was a military officer—if she married into a family like that, she wouldn’t have to worry for the rest of her life.

Now that she saw today that Jiang Peng was also tall and handsome, she liked him even more.

Hearing from Jiang Hehua that Jiang Peng had a girlfriend, she still wasn’t ready to give up.

"So what if he has a girlfriend? As long as they don’t have a marriage certificate, it’s a fair game for everyone!"

Ever since she was young, she had always been considered one of the prettiest girls in town.

There were more young men in town who wanted to marry her than she could count on ten fingers. She refused to believe Jiang Peng wouldn’t be interested in her.

Jiang Hehua tried to dissuade her but failed, so she had no choice but to lead Li Cuicui over to Jiang Peng.

"Xiao Peng, this is Cuicui."

When Jiang Peng turned his head, Li Cuicui greeted him full of confidence, "Hello."

Jiang Peng gave her a cold glance, then turned back to his card game.

Undiscouraged, Li Cuicui said, "What game are you playing? I don’t know how. How about you teach me?"

As she spoke, she pulled up a low stool and sat down next to Jiang Peng.

The moment she sat down, Jiang Peng scraped his stool a meter away from her. "Stay away from me."

Li Cuicui didn’t take Jiang Peng’s warning seriously. Instead, she dragged her stool closer to him. "What’s the matter? Afraid I’m going to eat you up?"

Jiang Peng looked her up and down. "You bet I am. Looking like a she-devil, you’re scaring me to death!"

No matter how thick-skinned Li Cuicui was, even she was starting to crumble.

"You’re calling me a she-devil? You’re not so great yourself! I haven’t even mentioned how dark you are, like a fire poker!"

"My girlfriend doesn’t mind my dark skin, so who the hell are you? If you don’t have a mirror at home, I’m sure you have piss. Take some time to look at your own ugly mug."

Li Cuicui was so angry her mouth was twisting. "You’re calling me ugly? Are you blind!"

"Don’t worry. Even if I were blind, I still wouldn’t fall for an ugly woman like you."

Li Cuicui was driven into a thunderous rage and completely gave up on the idea of marrying Jiang Peng.

’What a nasty, venom-tongued man! Whoever marries him is in for a lifetime of bad luck!’

...

With nothing to do in the afternoon, Jiang Moli, Fan Wenfang, and a few others played mahjong at home, listening to Ma Hongmei gossip about the happenings in the compound as they played.

They played until five o’clock, only stopping when it was time to prepare dinner.

There were plenty of leftovers from the New Year’s lunch—more than enough to last until the second day of the New Year.

They just had to heat up a few dishes and make a radish and meatball soup, and that would be enough.

They were only halfway through dinner when the sound of fireworks and firecrackers erupted outside.

Lu Haoyu and the other kids were tempted, eagerly putting down their bowls and chopsticks to carry the fireworks they had bought that afternoon out into the courtyard.

An Hui was worried about her grandchildren’s safety, so she told Lu Cheng, who had already finished eating, to go out and supervise them.

Jiang Moli happily gnawed on a piece of cured pork rib.

She had eaten a late breakfast and wasn’t very hungry at lunch, so she hadn’t eaten much. But now her appetite was back.

A moment later, Lu Qianqian came skipping inside. "Third Aunt, Third Uncle is calling for you!"

Jiang Moli came out into the courtyard, holding her rice bowl.

Seeing her come out, Lu Cheng turned his head and gave the order to Lu Haoyu and the others: "Alright, you can light them now."

In an instant, bottle rockets, sparklers, magic whips, and floral shells all went off at once, decorating the dim sky with brilliant, dazzling light.

Lu Cheng lit a sparkler and walked over to Jiang Moli, his deep eyes reflecting the sparks with a starlike tenderness.

"Is it beautiful?"

Jiang Moli took the sparkler and waved it around. "You called me out here just to play with this?"

"You don’t like it?"

"No, I love it."

The brilliant colors of the fireworks brought endless joy and happiness, but it was the love from this man, who always wanted to give her the best of everything in the world, that made her feel even more sweetness and bliss.

After the fireworks, it was time for the children’s favorite part—receiving their red envelopes.

Starting with Lu Tingting, they went one by one to give An Hui and Lu Deyao their New Year’s greetings.

After giving their greetings and receiving their red envelopes, they all went back to their own homes, overjoyed.

An Hui had a tradition of staying up on New Year’s Eve, waiting until after midnight to go to sleep.

Jiang Moli stayed up with her in the living room, watching TV to pass the time, and fell asleep without even realizing it.

When she woke up, she was already lying in bed, and Lu Cheng was taking off her clothes.

She lay there languidly, not moving, letting Lu Cheng help her out of her coat and pants before tucking her under the thick, soft cotton quilt.

"Go back to sleep. I’m going to go talk with Mom and Dad for a bit."

"Mm."

He kissed her on the forehead and left.

Outside, people were still setting off fireworks from time to time with CRACKLES and POPS. Jiang Moli tried to sleep for a bit but couldn’t, so she grabbed a copy of *Storyteller* and started flipping through it.

Before she knew it, it was past midnight.

Lu Cheng pushed the door open and came in. He was a little surprised to see she was still awake. "You’ve been awake this whole time?"

"It’s too noisy outside, I can’t sleep."

"That’s how the New Year is. It’ll quiet down gradually after midnight."

Lu Cheng took off his clothes and climbed into bed, leaning close to her to see the book in her hands. "What are you reading?"

"*Storyteller*. There are back issues on the bookshelf. If you want to read one, go get it yourself."

"I don’t want to read. I only want to look at you."

As he spoke, he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his face on her soft stomach. He gazed up at her, his eyes like lanterns, filled with joy and a hint of reluctance.

After the fifth day of the New Year, he would have to return to his military unit.

These moments together were incredibly precious to him.

’My wife is so beautiful. Her face is tiny, not even as big as my palm, her fair skin tinged with pink. Her eyebrows are thin and curved, and her round eyes are like washed black grapes. Her nose is small and delicate, and her plump red lips are like ripe cherries. They make me want to take a bite.’

Jiang Moli, unsettled by his intensely invasive gaze, closed her book and tossed it aside. Her eyes came to rest on the man’s chiseled face.

"Moli, what are you thinking?"

When she didn’t speak, Lu Cheng couldn’t help but murmur.

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