Chapter 904: Chapter 724: Love Is Traversing Thousands of Mountains and Rivers; Love Is a Lifelong Obsession [70]

Later on.

The mountain wind shed the autumn leaves, whitening the mountain peaks.

November came, and the weather became increasingly cold. Due to its high-altitude location, while people at the mountain’s base were still wearing early winter clothes, those on the mountain were already bundled up in thick winter attire.

Wearing a thin military coat, Qiu Mingyan continued his daily routine of climbing the mountain to farm and occasionally hunting a wild rabbit or deer to improve his living situation.

Poverty once again shrouded the Chen Family Village.

But even more oppressive was the atmosphere surrounding the upcoming wedding of Qiu Mingyan and Mai Manxiang, which was finally going to take place—

The place was adorned with bright red lanterns and red silk.

Big red "happiness" characters were pasted on the doors and windows.

Though the wedding joy wasn’t as lively as in other families, it still had the essentials: quilts, a wash basin, a television, a motorcycle... it seemed the Mai Family was providing a substantial dowry to show that Mai Manxiang was finally getting married.

The Qiu Family was also decked out with many large red "happiness" characters at this moment.

Except for Qiu Mingyan in the living room...

At this moment, Qiu Mingyan had a thick circle of beard around his lips, giving him a bit of a rugged, yet somewhat disheveled look.

Sawing the wood in his hands and hammering nails into the boards, he had been doing this for several days without any awareness of being a groom-to-be.

When Aunt Chen came to visit with joy, he only glanced coldly at her and then continued hammering the boards with his head down.

Aunt Chen was animated, "Oh dear, Qiu Mingyan, it’s almost your big day, and you’re still doing carpentry work? Hurry and go see Ah Xiang! Her wedding dress has arrived, and she tried it on today. It’s so beautiful!"

Aunt Chen was sent by Lin Cuixia to deliberately get close to Qiu Mingyan.

Half a month ago, Qiu Mingyan was so heartless to Mai Manxiang, leaving her thoroughly disappointed and upset for a long time. Although she still didn’t want to call off the wedding, she hoped Qiu Mingyan would come to see her, considering his harsh words.

Unexpectedly, Qiu Mingyan showed no intention of going to see her at all.

Mai Manxiang became more irritable and depressed day by day, often losing her temper... Lin Cuixia couldn’t sit still any longer. Regardless of how frustrating this marriage might be, the family’s reputation in the village was at stake, and they couldn’t just call off the wedding because Qiu Mingyan was out of money, so...

At this moment, looking at Aunt Chen with her unusually bright eyes, Qiu Mingyan’s expression became even colder.

"Oh, I know."

Know? What kind of answer is that?

Aunt Chen, dissatisfied, glanced at him and said, "Hey, Mingyan, you’re getting married, and you’re not even a bit excited? At least Ah Xiang is the most beautiful woman here. She can cook, and she can have children. She should be much better than that Feng Chengyue..."

She didn’t finish her sentence before catching Qiu Mingyan’s suddenly wolf-like fierce gaze, and she awkwardly changed the subject, "So, have you tried on your wedding suit? If you don’t want to see Ah Xiang, how about you put it on and let me take a look?"

It seemed like Qiu Mingyan held back for a long time before he didn’t explode in anger.

With a calm and downcast gaze, he said, "I’ll wear it on the wedding day."

The atmosphere grew awkward again. For a moment, apart from the sound of Qiu Mingyan lifting another piece of wood, measuring its length, and starting to saw it, there was no other sound.

Aunt Chen stood stunned for a while, wanting to start a conversation several times, but not knowing how to start.

She could only awkwardly say, "Is there anything at your house that needs help?"

"No!" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The firm two words completely cut off Aunt Chen’s attempt at conversation.

Finally, after looking around uncertainly and not knowing what else to say, she could only grudgingly say, "I’ll go find your mom to chat."

She gave herself an excuse to leave.

...

Leaving, she returned to the Mai Family, and when Aunt Chen mentioned Qiu Mingyan’s reactions, her face showed complex emotions.

"Can you believe it? He’s about to get married, and he’s not happy, not preparing, doesn’t visit the bride, and hasn’t even said a single polite word. It’s been over two months, and he’s been so cold, as if he doesn’t even want to speak. Just two more days until the wedding—will he stay like this?"

Listening to all of this, Mai Manxiang, already stung in her heart, could say nothing. Especially knowing he hadn’t even tried on his wedding suit, the last few sentences pushed her over the edge, and she turned away in tears.

Lin Cuixia was also too angry to speak, and upon hearing this, she spat furiously, "Qiu Mingyan is getting more and more out of line. He’s about to get married, and who does he think he is fooling with that attitude? No matter what, Feng Chengyue is gone, and he’s still the son-in-law of our Mai Family, right? Ha, he just despises us for not being as wealthy as the Feng Family! Yes, we don’t have much, so once they’re married, he should quickly go away with our Ah Xiang to work, instead of staying in our mountain village and living off us!"

Forgive Lin Cuixia for picking up a trendy new term... "living off the older generation."

Aunt Chen nodded in complete agreement with Lin Cuixia’s words, saying, "That’s right! Before the wedding, you may not have much control, but after the marriage, he’ll be the son-in-law of the Mai Family. By then, as the mother-in-law, whatever you say, he must listen!"

Lin Cuixia was momentarily speechless: "..."

In reality, she knew that given Qiu Mingyan’s temperament, it might not work, but since things had come to this point, if they called off the wedding just because Qiu Mingyan’s family ran out of money, they would seem unreasonable.

Moreover, despite his flaws, Qiu Mingyan was still better than most others in the village, right? In time, once they had children, Qiu Mingyan would have to consider their livelihood and go out to earn money, wouldn’t he?

Even though...

She was puzzled by how Qiu Mingyan had grown increasingly indifferent recently...

Finally, she asserted, "Of course, he’s the son-in-law of our Mai Family. Whether he likes it or not, he has to stay with us! What’s this talk about the Feng Family’s revenge? It’s all just him trying to scare us! As long as the Feng Family doesn’t come, he can’t escape!" confidently displaying the temper of a future mother-in-law.

At the door, Mai Shilong was just about to enter. Upon hearing this, and thinking of Qiu Mingyan’s recent demeanor, he felt heavy-hearted and uneasy...

...

Time passed swiftly, and soon came the wedding day...