Madam Zhou stood up and, without the slightest hint of disgust, took Ouyang Meihua’s hand.
“Future in-law, hello. We are Zhou Chengbing’s parents, here to thank Sister Tian for playing matchmaker, and to discuss the wedding arrangements for our two children.”
“I didn’t expect it to be October already, and you are still so busy. I’m truly sorry.”
As Madam Zhou spoke, she glared at her son.
Ouyang Meihua felt awkward, her hands covered in dirt.
“Hello, hello. We are just planting some vegetable seedlings, and we’ll be done in a day or two.”
“These are our own arrangements. The village will no longer organize collective planting and selling for us. Chengbing doesn’t know about this.”
“Hahaha.” Hearing her future daughter-in-law’s parents speak up for their son, Madam Zhou laughed heartily.
“Is that so? Since it’s not managed by the village, shall we give it a try? I’m very interested in planting seedlings.”
Facing her smiling future in-law, Ouyang Meihua couldn't refuse.
The Zhou family of three followed Ouyang Meihua to the greenhouse. Tian Jing, the matchmaker and also a cousin-in-law, tagged along to have a look.
Madam Zhou appeared very friendly and kind. It remained to be seen how she would treat Xiaomai.
Xiaomai and Li Liguo were still planting seedlings, completely unaware.
Upon seeing Zhou’s parents, Xiaomai was a bit taken aback.
“Uncle Zhou? Aunt Sun? What brings you here?”
Madam Zhou looked at Xiaomai, who was squatting in the dirt, busy and covered in dust, and scolded her son with a pained expression:
“Chengbing! You worthless brat, your future father-in-law’s household has so much work, and you’re not even here to help?”
“You’re my son, but if you were my daughter’s boyfriend, I’d be a hundred percent against it.”
“You don’t know how to do farm work, and you have no common sense. Hurry up and help Xiaomai with the work.”
Xiaomai, startled, waved her hands in refusal: “Aunt Sun, Chengbing can’t do this kind of work.”
Madam Zhou disagreed: “How can he not do it? Boys shouldn’t be spoiled. If he doesn’t know how, you teach him.”
Xiaomai wouldn’t cover for her future husband. These were his parents; they should know the situation.
“Aunt Sun, no matter what kind of seedling it is, in Chengbing’s hands, it will break. His hands don’t know how to apply gentle force.”
“How is that possible?” Madam Zhou squatted down and picked up a seedling.
“Isn’t it just digging a hole and burying it? How can one break the seedling… Ugh.”
Madam Zhou looked at her hand in surprise. The seedling’s leaf and stem were at a ninety-degree angle. “It, its head is broken!?”
Xiaomai was speechless. She now understood what Zhou Chengbing was like.
“Hahaha!” Ouyang Meihua burst out laughing.
“Future in-law, let me tell you, I was the same at first. I thought, ‘Fine, if he’s not cut out for farm work, I won’t do it either, I’ll just do housework.’
“Later, the village assigned thirty mu of mountain land to each household. I couldn’t let my husband handle all the work alone, could I?”
“I was just like you, breaking one seedling after another.
“I refused to accept it. My husband’s hands are so nimble, how clumsy could my own woman’s hands be?”
“Exactly, exactly!”
Madam Zhou glanced at her husband, who was already learning to plant seedlings from his future son-in-law, and agreed with her future daughter-in-law.
“Later, how did you learn?”
Ouyang Meihua squatted down, planting as she spoke.
“I couldn’t bear to ruin the seedlings, so I went to dig wild vegetables on the back mountain. When wild vegetables first sprout, they are even more tender than seedlings.”
“That spring, villagers who went to the mountain to dig wild vegetables were surprised by the sudden sharp decrease in wild vegetable production. Hahaha.”
“Hahaha.” Madam Zhou also laughed heartily. She stood up and squatted beside Ouyang Meihua.
“So, you weren’t experienced in farm work at first either?”
“More than that,” Ouyang Meihua sighed. “Let alone farm work, I was the kind of woman who could fill a room with smoke just trying to light a fire.”
“There is nothing difficult in the world if one is determined. No matter what you learn, you have to push yourself.”
“Yes, yes, yes! Future in-law, you are absolutely right!”
Madam Zhou agreed, then pointed disdainfully at her son, saying he was like a wooden stake, unable to plant seedlings properly, couldn’t he even dig a hole?
Zhou Chengbing could only squat beside Xiaomai, pretending to help. He had tried to help, but he only made things worse.
Now that his mother was blaming him, he couldn’t disregard her.
Seeing Madam Zhou and Ouyang Meihua getting along so well, Tian Jing felt relieved.
She was a talkative woman with no hidden agenda, just as straightforward as Ouyang Meihua.
By noon, Zeng Jingliang arrived to call them for lunch. Everyone put down their work and returned to the courtyard to wash up.
After tasting Afeng’s cooking, Madam Zhou exclaimed that she had tasted the delicacies of the world.
Upon hearing that Afeng was planning to open a restaurant in the back mountain, she even asked if there was anything she could do there, offering to work for free just to taste Afeng’s cuisine again.
Tian Jing glanced at Zhou’s father, who also seemed intrigued.
“Unless it’s for ticket checking at the entrance of small scenic spots, all other profitable ventures are managed by the villagers themselves.”
Madam Zhou thought ticket checking sounded good; it required no technical skill, and she wanted to do it.
Zhou Chengbing became anxious. “Mom, didn’t you say you were here to look after your grandson? Why are you getting sidetracked?”
“Oh~” Madam Zhou finally remembered the main purpose of their visit today and began to talk about Xiaomai and Zhou Chengbing’s wedding.
Ouyang Meihua looked at Tian Jing.
“Xiaomai and Chengbing are of marriageable age, and it would be inappropriate to delay any further.”
“But Xiaomai is reluctant to leave Kushan, and Chengbing also works as an accountant here.”
“I have also prepared residential land for Damai and Xiaomai…”
Upon hearing this, Madam Zhou, disregarding her husband’s objections, completely sold out her son.
“It’s fine for Chengbing and Xiaomai to live in Kushan. They can use the new house in the county town for their visits during the New Year.”
“You don’t know, I’ve gotten used to a life without my son. Ever since he grew up, he’s barely been home.”
“Either he was at boarding school or studying out of town. When he finally graduated, he came to Kushan to work as an accountant.”
“Back then, I was so angry I almost swept him out of the house with a broom. Fortunately, he at least found me a daughter-in-law.”
Zhou’s father breathed a sigh of relief. His wife hadn’t completely abandoned their son.
With the groom’s side making such concessions, what else was there to negotiate regarding the wedding arrangements?
Finally, it was decided that Zhou Chengbing and Xiaomai’s wedding would be held in early May of the following year.
Because if they didn’t hurry, Kushan would become truly busy.
It was already busy now.
After seeing the Zhou family off, Afeng and Zeng Jingliang began drafting lists of items needed for their wedding and for the mountain restaurant.
Zeng Jingliang didn’t dare to trouble Tian Jing to escort them up the mountain to view the restaurant site. They decided to hike up and take the cable car, as they had plenty of time.
Li Zhengguo had accompanied Director Ji and his party for two days. As soon as he returned to the courtyard, he heard they were going up the mountain and handed them the prepared keys.
“There are two options for you: one is the three caves on Eagle’s Beak, and the other is the wooden building opposite Eagle’s Beak.”
“The caves on Eagle’s Beak have already been partitioned into two floors in the style of the wooden building. You can decide after you’ve seen them.”
“The renovation workers are currently working on the wooden building. You can discuss any changes you need with them.”
Zeng Jingliang took the keys and thanked them sincerely. Regardless of anything else, Li Zhengguo and Tian Jing had treated Afeng with genuine kindness.
His second brother and cousin had investigated, and if Li Zhengguo and Tian Jing hadn’t brought Afeng into Kushan, she would have been forced by a Mr. Wang to work herself to death in a private kitchen.
As for why his second brother had eliminated the Wang family, he hadn’t told him.