Back to 1984: Hunting in the Mountains

"Sister Mi, you know why we are here today. It is for the lifelong event of our two children. You also know something about my Qiutang, right?"

Gao Meilan smiled and spoke first, breaking the calmness in her smile.

Tuo Runxiu glanced at Yu Qiutang, and nodded with a smile, "I heard from our eldest son that your Qiutang is a very good child."

Tuo Runxiu is not well educated, can't read a single word, and can't say anything nice. He can only simply say hello.

Seeing her mother say this, Miali smiled.

I am a little shy, but I am happy inside.

Gao Meilan said: "Indeed, let's not talk about anything else. Our own children know it themselves. I'm not bragging to you, but a boy like our Qiutang is a hot commodity in the village..."

Gao Meilan started.

He blew wildly at Tuo Runxiu.

At first Miali liked it, but as she listened more, she felt something was wrong.

I couldn't help but stare at Yu Qiutang. The meaning was simple: are you really that powerful? Why didn't I know it? What did you tell your aunt? You don't know how to control yourself and don't know when to stop.

"...In short, our Qiutang and your Lili are destined to be together and we are attracted to each other.

We come here today with sincerity. Sisters and brothers, please feel free to raise any ideas, opinions or requests you have.

Let’s talk it over and we’ll satisfy whatever can be satisfied.

If we cannot satisfy your needs, we will create conditions and find ways to satisfy them.

In short, as long as the two children can be down-to-earth and live a stable life, we, as elders, should pay more attention to them. "

"That's right, auntie, you are right. We think so too. Children have their own blessings. We, as old people, just follow the children's wishes."

Tuo Runxiu looked at Yu Qiutang kindly.

Yu Qiutang maintained a very gentle smile.

He actually knew what kind of guys his mother-in-law liked, so it was almost effortless for him to make his mother-in-law like him more and more.

"His aunt, you seem to be a warm-hearted person, so it's easy for us to talk about it. I heard from Da Wa and Li Li about Qiu Tang's ability, and they are quite satisfied.

You asked for the conditions, but we are simple, we just follow the market price, I will take whatever others have, and I will try my best to get whatever others have."

Tuo Runxiu spoke very slowly, his eyes were gentle and his voice was very soft.

It feels like it’s hard to argue with her, no matter who she is.

"Oh, don't think too much, we don't want these things, it's just that my child's marriage is a big deal, it only happens once in a lifetime, try not to feel wronged.

Women, no matter what, still hope to have face when they get married...

Oh, that’s what I think, but the specific situation also depends on the actual situation. It’s okay to be almost there, and don’t try to be pretentious.

It is definitely not a good idea to spend all your money now and not have enough time to live in the future."

As he spoke, Tuo Runxiu pulled Miyali's hand over and placed it in his palm, smiling and saying, "Living together as a couple is a lifelong thing, and what matters is a long-lasting relationship, right?"

Of course Miali could only nod shyly when her mother said this.

Generally, in such blind date situations, the two newlyweds do not talk to each other, but are more likely to be scrutinized by each other and their parents.

Yu Qiutang is well aware of this process.

Miali is a girl and must remain reserved.

Therefore, the two of them treated each other's elders in a "well-behaved and honest" manner throughout the whole process.

In fact, there is no problem with Third Aunt herself. The only two people who really need to be dealt with are Mi Youtang and Tuo Runxiu.

Seeing the peaceful atmosphere here, Yu Qiutang thought that most of today's work was done.

At this time, the aunt who appeared briefly came in.

She was obviously smiling, but Yu Qiutang sensed some ill intention in her. Sure enough, she pulled a square stool from the side and sat down next to Tuo Runxiu.

Miali had no choice but to step back and make room.

"Your name is Qiu Tang, right?"

Yu Qiutang nodded, "Yes, aunt."

"Not bad, not bad, the young man looks very capable," the aunt nodded, "I heard that your mother passed away?"

Yu Qiutang was stunned, and everyone was stunned too, except for Mi Youtang whose expression hardly changed. Everyone else subconsciously looked at their aunt.

"Auntie!" Miali called softly.

Yu Qiutang nodded again, trying his best to remain gentle and restrained.

When he came to propose marriage in his previous life, he did not meet this woman. Now, due to the timeline problem, he has this stumbling block.

But he knew in his heart that he just needed to ignore this woman, turn the page, and talk directly to his father-in-law and mother-in-law.

Even if this woman is difficult to deal with, she is still an outsider and cannot decide what happens here.

"In that case, my Lili will suffer after she gets married. She will have to take care of everything by herself. And if she has children in the future, there will be no one to help take care of them."

There is some truth in what he said.

But there is not much truth.

Just as Yu Qiutang was about to answer, Yu Chuntao smiled and said, "Aunt, what you said is not right. Our Tangtang has no mother, but he still has a sister. Can't his three sisters help with this matter?"

The eldest aunt laughed and said, "What's the use of my sister? She will get married soon. A daughter who is married off is like water spilled on the ground. She belongs to someone else. Why would she care about the affairs of her brothers from her natal family?

Besides, I heard that you two married in other places, and the remaining one is not in good health, so you still need Qiutang to take care of you, right?"

Yu Qiutang was stunned.

He didn't look at anyone else, but just glanced at Mia Li subconsciously, wondering where this aunt came from. It seemed that he had never had any dealings with her uncle in his previous life.

Could it be that the family moved away or something unexpected happened in the next two years?

But no matter what, this woman really touched Yu Qiutang's sore spot at this moment. The anger in his heart rose, and his eyes gradually began to heat up because of the anger.

He was about to speak, but Gao Meilan asked her aunt, "Sister, if you have anything to say, just say it directly. We are here today to talk about good things, not to do something boring like this."

"Really? I didn't say anything. Lili's parents are too honest. Is it okay if I don't help?" The aunt looked confused.

Gao Meilan sneered, "I'm afraid your intention to help check is fake, and your real intention is to ruin this good thing."

As she spoke, she passed over her aunt and looked at Tuo Runxiu, "Sister, we in the Yu family are all honest people, we don't beat around the bush, the two children really like each other, so we came here.

Our Qiu Tang Niang is not destined to do this, so she entrusted me to follow up. Since I have no objection and you have no objection, let's just settle the matter between the two of them. What do you think?"

"Who said..." "Sister-in-law, I think this child is very good," Tuo Runxiu interrupted her aunt, "Don't make things difficult for him anymore."

My aunt moved her lips but said nothing more.

But the fake smile on his face was gone.

Just indifferent, cold, and looked very unhappy.

Yu Qiutang looked at Mi Yali. He really didn't understand why this woman wanted to get involved in their affairs. But he saw Mi Yali standing behind him just shaking her head, signaling him not to be impulsive.

He could only guess that there was something else going on.

Seeing this, Gao Meilan calmed down again. Others were not familiar with her, but Yu Qiutang and Yu Chuntao knew her third aunt's temper and were worried that she would not be able to hold back and slap the other person.

Yu Chuntao even gently pulled on Third Aunt's clothes.

As the saying goes, professionals do professional things. Otherwise, why do people have the profession of matchmaker?

It's not just that they know a lot of people and are well-informed, but more importantly, these people are like the brothel madams of the past. They only want to make money. As long as they can make money, nothing else matters. They are very shameless.

If it was a matchmaker today, no matter what the aunt said, the matchmaker would not be angry, and would definitely side with her and let things go on.

However, Third Aunt is not a matchmaker after all, and she has a hot temper, so it is quite difficult for her to suppress it.

Yu Qiutang felt that keeping the pressure on was not a solution.

If we don't get things done quickly, something bad will happen sooner or later.

If it was any other matter, he could have stepped forward to solve the problem, but the occasion was a little special now and he really couldn't act too strong and scare the two honest and simple-minded elders opposite him.

At this difficult time, Tuo Runxiu suddenly laughed and said, "Well, his aunt, my daughter, and Qiutang, you left early in the morning and must not have had time to eat.

How about this, come to our house for lunch at noon. This is a good opportunity for his father and I to think about it. After all, this is a big deal and we can’t make a hasty decision.”

As he said this, he pulled his aunt beside him, "Sister-in-law, come and help me. I tore the tendons in my hand when I was hoeing the ground a few days ago. Now I can't use any strength. It hurts a lot when I use strength. I definitely can't roll the noodles.

You are good at rolling noodles, so please help us roll some noodles and treat our guests well."

After hearing what she said, the aunt had no choice but to stand up and was pulled out, looking back every few steps. As soon as the two of them walked out of the door, Tuo Runxiu called Mi Yali out again and asked Mi Youtang to greet the guests.

So, there were only three people from the family and Mi Youtang left in the room.

Yu Qiutang knew what kind of person Mi Youtang was, so he didn't take the initiative to talk to him. Gao Meilan didn't know that, so she continued to discuss the "three major items" and other specific requirements with Mi Youtang step by step.

But she soon discovered that no matter what he said, Mi Youtang had almost no opinion and just went along with the reconciliation.

The most he said were a few words:
"Okay, that's it."

"I think so."

"That'll be fine."

"I have no opinion on this."

"As long as they agree."

Gao Meilan listed a lot of conditions in one breath. Originally, she thought that if she proposed it first, Miyali's parents would definitely bargain and ask for higher standards. She would negotiate a part of the price down, and finally find a suitable position in the middle to reach a consensus.

But she never expected that no matter what she said, Mi Youtang agreed to it all, as if he was talking about something very ordinary, rather than discussing Mi Yali's lifelong event.

As she was talking, Gao Meilan became a little unconfident. She took the opportunity of going to the bathroom to pull Yu Qiutang and Yu Chuntao out, and the three of them held an emergency marriage proposal group meeting.

The meeting mainly focused on whether Mi Youtang and Tuo Runxiu were really willing to marry their daughter.

Yu Qiutang certainly knew that the two elders were just like this and he had no concerns.

Yu Chuntao believes that it is still unclear for the time being.

It is possible that the other party is also hesitating. Whether it is Tuo Runxiu cooking or Mi Youtang responding simply without making any demands, it is all a delaying tactic.

This probably means that they have no interest in Yu Qiutang and have no intention of making any demands at all.

Gao Meilan believed that the culprit was still her aunt.

Because they were at this important stage of proposing marriage, Miali's parents must have been very anxious. Whether to agree or not was repeatedly circling in their minds, and they were unable to make a final decision.

At this time, the sudden negative guidance from the aunt is likely to pull their thoughts in the opposite direction.

Otherwise, why would Tuo Runxiu take her aunt and Mia Li with her when she went to cook, leaving behind a man who had no say at all.

Maybe they discussed it privately.

Gao Meilan thought that since they could talk, we couldn't just sit there and do nothing. We could take this opportunity to take a look at their place and find some faults with it, so that we would have more evidence when we negotiate again.

After saying that, he pulled Yu Chuntao and started walking around with Miaqin, saying that they wanted to look around.

Yu Qiutang couldn't do anything about them, so he went outside and sat under the walnut tree to recall the past.

After Mi Youtang and Tuo Runxiu died, they were buried under this walnut tree.

The walnut tree was originally a seedling transplanted from another tree, but unknowingly, it grew stronger and stronger and gradually surpassed the mother tree.

Later, because the old tree was too old, it could not survive another thunderstorm and was split directly into two.

It turned out that there was already nothing inside.

Tuo Runxiu thought that this was unlucky and that there must be a long worm that was about to become a spirit tied up and hidden inside. God couldn't bear to see this and struck it to death directly.

The trees also suffered.

Anyway, for some unknown reason, the old tree eventually became firewood at the bottom of the pot, and Miaqin disliked it because it didn't burn well enough.

This small walnut tree suddenly became the only source of walnuts for the family and gradually became of special importance to Tuo Runxiu.

Every year when the walnut harvest season comes, the elderly girl always sits at the door with a stool to watch over the walnuts to prevent other wild children from destroying them.

When the walnuts are ripe, she will peel them herself, dry the walnuts, and divide them into many portions according to the number of grandchildren.

Of course not evenly divided.

In her heart, of course, not all grandchildren are of the same level. It is obvious that she likes her grandchildren more.

Among his grandchildren, Yu Qiutang's favorites were his eldest daughter and eldest son.

Perhaps it was because she was most worried about her youngest daughter, but felt the most distressed about her eldest daughter who suffered with Yu Qiutang.

Relatively speaking, her second daughter's family lives a good life, so she basically doesn't worry about it. She even thinks that her second daughter's two children don't lack these foodies, so the bag she prepared is the smallest.

Yu Qiutang thought that every time he brought the children over, he would remind them in advance not to take grandma's things, but his mother-in-law would always secretly find reasons to call the children to her room, and when they came out, their pockets were already bulging.

(End of this chapter)