I used rebirth to bury his captivating gaze.

Chapter 65 Yu Mei's Blind Date, Zou Yunfang and Zhu Yanli's Marriage, Liu Ying's Runa

"What? I asked my fourth aunt to find a man in the city for the pregnant woman standing on the ground. Didn't she just say she wanted to find a man from the city?"

"Yu Mei, how can you talk to your sister-in-law like that?" Yang Zhi walked in.

"Get out of here, all of you. Whether I get married or not is none of your business. Get out!" Yu Mei said, then turned and walked to her little house to the north.

“Yes, Yu Mei is right. You can stay at home until you’re old, and your brother will take care of you.” Yang Zhi said, raising his eyelids at his pregnant wife, Liu Yue.

"Alright, take your wife back to the west room. Don't cause any more trouble here."

Yang Zhichao curled his lips slightly, then pulled Liu Yue and said, "Come on, wife, go back to your room and rest. Don't overexert yourself."

Through the gap in the floral curtain covering the glass window inside the small house, Yu Mei saw Liu Yue's protruding belly. This is probably how it is for girls who marry men. Having children and living a mundane life, she doesn't really understand these things. She doesn't understand what it means to live a life, or the money-obsessed values ​​of later generations!

She knew she was lazy, a lazybones in other people's eyes. She didn't like doing farm work, didn't want to dig the ground with a hoe, and preferred to study literature and art in school or art school. But no one supported her ambition.

She loves being a private school teacher and wants to study at Chiayi Academy of Fine Arts, but she even missed the opportunity to take a correspondence art course in Chiayi City.

When Yu Mei first wrote a letter to the Sanjiang Art Academy in Jiamusi after graduating from junior high school, she received a reply a few days later from the school's registration office stating, "Three years of face-to-face instruction costs over 3,000 yuan per year. Three years of correspondence course instruction costs 50 yuan per year."

Her most reliable father, Da Shu, had passed away, and her mother was old and her health was not as good as before. The family's finances were controlled by Yang Zhi and his wife. Diao Diao only had a maximum of one hundred yuan a year.

What else can I do besides get married? I might as well agree to the city boyfriend introduced by this familiar woman with the hooked nose. At least I'll escape the countryside and farm work.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching; the day after tomorrow is the 15th of August, which is also the day when farmers begin the autumn harvest.

Yu Mei agreed to meet the city girl Zou Laxian introduced her to. She was going back the next day and asked Yu Mei to go with her. Yu Mei told her that she would go alone another day, as long as she left her address. She could come to her at the address on the note. Zou Laxian was illiterate, so Yu Mei wrote it down and read it to her. After writing it down, Zou Laxian left.

Everyone is busy with the autumn harvest. In the Yang family compound, each household in their own room is busy harvesting corn from their own cornfield.

Yang Yuhan and her daughter Liu Shulan did the same, leaving early and returning late, bringing their own food for lunch to eat in the cornfield.

Every day, in order to have a hot meal, Liu has to light a fire and cook when he gets home at noon. He is already exhausted and has to pull the cat's tail to get onto the kang (a heated brick bed), so he doesn't have the energy to cook three meals a day.

Unlike when everyone lived together before the family divided their households, where the men all worked in the fields and the women and sisters-in-law stayed home to cook.

After her husband died, the old woman had to be both father and mother, working in the fields and cooking.

When the corn was being harvested in the south wing, Yang Yuhan would prepare a simple meal in the morning and evening to tide her over. Then, like when she went to study at Tuandingshan Middle School, she would make a few white flour pancakes to take with her and eat at noon in the cornfield, so as to avoid the fatigue of walking back and forth.

Liu Yue, who lives in the west wing, is heavily pregnant and can't even cook lunch.

When it was time to harvest corn in the west wing, the situation was different. Yang Zhi and Diao Yan went to the field to harvest corn, and when they returned home, Diao Yan cooked three meals a day by herself.

It's one day until the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is tomorrow. Yu Mei took the address written by Zou Laxian, boarded the 7:20 am bus, and went to find Zou Laxian.

Diao Yan only got to harvest corn for one day, and then she was the only one cooking for herself.

Being a mother is tiring, but Yu Mei chose to leave during the busiest season of the year—the harvest season—to go on a blind date. Her brother and sister-in-law hoped she would get married sooner to save on food supplies. It wasn't during the harvest season that she left; normally, the young couple in the west wing would have preferred to leave as soon as possible.

At this moment, Liu Yue, heavily pregnant, stood in the kitchen watching. Liu Shulan dawdled while cooking, but her own stomach was rumbling with hunger. She then said with dissatisfaction,

"Yu Mei can't wait until the harvest is over before going to the city to find a partner. I think she's just too lazy and deliberately avoiding work."

"Liu Yue, you can't talk about Yu Mei like that. No matter how bad she is, she's still your child's aunt. She's a bit lazy and doesn't like to work, otherwise why don't you go to the city to find a partner?"

"Mom, I didn't say anything bad about Yumei. I was just worried about you. You've been harvesting corn all day, and you still have to cook when you get home. I'm heavily pregnant and can't help you much."

More than ten days after the autumn harvest, all the corn in everyone's fields had been harvested.

Both Zou Yunfang and Zhu Yanli have their own partners. Zou Yunfang was introduced to a man from another village by a relative.

Zhu Yanli was introduced to a young man from a vegetable farmer's family in the county town by her uncle in the village. The young man's economic conditions were quite good.

Zou and Zhu were first engaged, and after the betrothal gifts were exchanged, the woman's family invited their closest relatives to a meal, thus completing the engagement between the two families. Both Zou and Zhu then married and were soon to be mothers. Both Zou and Zhu had Yang Yuhan as their bridesmaid.

At the time, Liu Shulan did not allow Yu Han to be their bridesmaid, saying that if she gave her happiness to others, she would have less good fortune herself.

Yu Han wouldn't listen; she didn't believe in these superstitions. Although she was more educated than the two of them, they were still good friends in the past.

"Mom, after I become their wedding photographer, I'll be even more blessed when I get married. Don't worry. Just wait and enjoy the good life."

Liu Shulan snorted and stopped meddling in her affairs.

Most of my peers are already married and have children, especially in rural areas, where people are already married before they are twenty.

In this day and age, anyone over twenty is considered an older single person. This worried Liu Shulan greatly. Yu Han was already 19, the age to get married and should have a boyfriend. The gossipy women in the village only cared about matters of the heart; they knew nothing else.

Yu Han wouldn't be swayed; she would live her life as she pleased. She was reborn, living in a rural area of ​​this era. In the city of her later life, it wasn't unusual for a girl to be unmarried at 30!

Liu Shulan, growing impatient, urged him a few times, "Yuhan, you got into the top medical university in the county, but you're not going to study there. You should also think about finding a partner. Zou Laqian, the matchmaker, keeps chasing you away. This won't do. If this goes on for too long, which matchmaker will dare to come and introduce you to someone?"

She was immediately silenced by Yu Han's harsh words, "Why the rush to get married, Mom? Haven't you heard, 'Better to have nothing than something bad'? As for going to that university to become a doctor, no way! We've already decided, we're leaving soon, Mom, why are you changing your mind again?"

"Alright, I'm not going to bother with you anymore. Do whatever you want. But we're leaving now. I'm still a little worried about your third sister."

"Mom, my third sister is doing quite well now, isn't she? Her husband treats her very well. As for her mother-in-law, she's so old, she can't stay with them forever."

Hearing this, Liu Shulan felt much clearer-headed; she couldn't very well tell him...

Why do you always worry about your daughter?

Yu Han's childhood friend, Liu Ying's family, became even more lively. Liu Yingzhi was in the fifth grade of elementary school. Liu dropped out of school and remarried to work on the farm. After Liu Yue got married, she became the eldest in the family and did a lot of work. As she grew up, when it was time for her to find a partner, she started dating Sun Shangjun, a young man from the same village.

Sun Shangjun started dating Liu Ying at her home. Liu Ying's parents did not object. Later, when it came time to discuss marriage and dowry, they argued over a single item in the dowry: "milk money."

The bride's mother said, "The money for the bride's mother must stay at her parents' home after the betrothal gifts are exchanged. It cannot be brought back to the groom's home when the bride gets married. This is the money for the bride's mother who raised her with so much hardship."

These messages were naturally relayed to the Sun family by the matchmaker, Wang Qing. Upon hearing this, the Sun parents were furious. They said they would accept the money for the wedding ceremony, but the children must be brought back to the Sun family for the wedding; otherwise, they would not receive any money.

So the two families started arguing over money for milk! The matchmaker was now in a difficult position.

In the end, the woman did not agree to date Sun Shangjun. Later, the two met secretly, and after a few days, they ran away to another city. A year later, Liu Ying took her son and went back to her husband's family home with Sun Shangjun.

Liu Lu died shortly after Yang Zhannan's death.

When Liu Ying's mother learned that Liu Ying had run off with Sun Shangjun, she was nearly driven to death by Liu Ying's unfilial behavior. Fortunately, she was physically strong.

That evening, she took her eldest son-in-law and eldest daughter, who lived in the west of the village, to the Sun family to demand their return. They mainly wanted to claim compensation for the milk money. The Sun family had two sons; one had run away with his wife, leaving behind an eldest son and his wife, who were not to be trifled with.

The Liu and Sun families first exchanged verbal sparring, then insulted each other, and finally fought each other. Neither side gained an advantage, and the local police station was called in to mediate and quell the incident. The Liu family returned home empty-handed.

A year later, Liu Ying returned to her husband's family home in the village with her one-year-old son. The unfilial daughter Liu Ying started living with the second son of the Sun family, a bastard.

Liu's mother heard from the village gossips that she had taken the child back to the Sun family and run away, causing the Liu family to lose face in the village and suffer both financial ruin and loss of wealth.

Last time, Liu's mother took her eldest daughter and son-in-law to the Sun family to demand compensation for the milk money, but they didn't get a single penny. They even got a lecture from the police station, who said that in the new society, men and women have freedom of marriage, it's not a transaction, and they are not allowed to ask for milk money.

Liu's mother's wretched girl is back. She went to her husband's house first and didn't even come to see her mother. Her one-eyed Liu Lu is also dead, and her wretched girl Liu Ying doesn't even come to think of him. She doesn't even know that the reliable tree that sheltered her from the wind and rain has died!

She only temporarily received the kindness and benefits from the Sun family; she will only remember the good things her parents did for her when she cries later!

The more Liu's mother thought about it, the angrier she became. She went to the west of the village to look for her eldest daughter and son-in-law. She hadn't gone far when she saw Liu Ying and Sun Shangjun carrying their youngest son and walking towards her. She immediately saw the little bastard in the man's arms and became even more furious. She was about to find something to beat them to death.

Suddenly, she noticed Yang Yuhan walking behind Liu Ying. Yuhan quickened her pace to catch up with the person in front of her and smiled at Liu's mother.

Liu's mother's anger gradually subsided. Yu Han had played a significant role in Liu Yue's successful reunion with Yang Zhi. Yu Han was quite respectful and easygoing towards Liu's mother. Therefore, Liu's daughter quite liked this straightforward girl, Yu Han.

Indeed, this girl came to soothe the heart that was unwilling to be a mother.

Liu Ying ran away with a man, then gave birth to her first son and became a mother. She learned how difficult it was for a mother to carry a child for ten months, and she also learned about the hardships and difficulties of being a parent.

Then she discussed it with Sun Shangjun and explained the situation clearly. She then went to find a suitable mediator, Yang Yuhan, her childhood friend and relative from elementary school.

Yang Yuhan didn't look down on Liu Ying, a woman who only knew how to have children, just because she had a higher level of education than Liu Ying (who only had a primary school education), or because she was more ambitious and had a brighter future. She didn't neglect her; instead, she felt even more sorry for Liu Ying, who had been blinded by the sweet words of a man. She immediately agreed to go with the man to atone for her sins.

Liu's mother immediately returned to her residence to await their arrival. She wanted to see what kind of explanation they would give her, given that Yu Han was involved. If their explanation wasn't satisfactory, she would settle scores later. She didn't believe that the brat who had just returned to the village would run off with that wild man again so soon!

She ran away, but there are still two old geezers in the Sun family. Since they're there, Liu's mother went to make a scene and demand money from them!

Sure enough, when the three adults and one child arrived at Liu's mother's house, Liu's mother was only very warm towards Yang Yuhan, but cold and indifferent towards Liu Ying and her family.

Then Liu Ying cried for her deceased father, and then cried for her living mother. Finally, Yang Yuhan saw that Liu's mother's expression had eased slightly. He gave Sun Shangjun a look, and then took out five hundred yuan in milk money from his inner pocket and placed it in front of Liu's mother.

When Liu's mother saw the 500-yuan note, her expression immediately changed. In those days, a daughter's milk money was only worth about 250 yuan, and he was ripping her off by 500 yuan, which was twice that amount.

The mother immediately took the dead meat and put it into her purse, and Liu laughed. Everyone laughed too. In the end, Liu's mother invited everyone to eat the pork and sauerkraut dumplings she had made.