CHAPTER 213: 213 MARRIAGE

"Director Jiang, are you showing off?" The two glared at Jiang Xinyu, gritting their teeth.

"Yes, did you see through it?" Jiang Xinyu laughed heartily, which earned her two eye rolls. So infuriating.

Over here, there was laughter and chatter, but over there, Kong Mengjie and Huang Hongwei were silent.

"Wife, don’t worry, I won’t go back. She has nothing to do with me now. I’ll go to the furniture factory to find Huang Yi, give him the money for these two months, and tell him not to come again."

"Okay." Kong Mengjie felt very uncomfortable in her heart. Although there was certainly a separation between their couple with his mother and her three children, as long as no one mentioned it, she could deceive herself and pretend it didn’t exist.

But this time, having Jiang Xinyu mention it made her feel embarrassed.

"Wife, don’t think too much. My heart belongs only to you."

Kong Mengjie nodded. She certainly knew that, to be fair, Huang Hongwei was genuinely good to her. Actually, she was reluctant to give up the fifteen yuan a month, right? But she wasn’t an unreasonable person; she knew that if she made a fuss, Huang Hongwei would certainly not give them the money, but then both of them would have knots in their hearts, right?

Forget it, let’s just leave it at that. Let them have the money. The two of them can save more than sixty yuan a month now, which is already very good.

This matter spread around, after all, Huang Hongwei’s affairs were of great concern to everyone.

Jiang Xinyu felt she had a clear conscience, but Kong Mengjie felt that Jiang Xinyu was the one who spread the word about this affair, leaving her very displeased with Jiang Xinyu. However, she wouldn’t show it, so she still acted the same as before.

There was only a week left until Wang Ailing’s wedding day, and Jiang Xinyu took the opportunity of a meeting in the city to visit the department store and bought two festive thermos bottles, along with a pair of pillowcases with big red double-happiness characters.

"Is Director Jiang getting married?" Yao Shimin asked with a smile.

"Vice Factory Director Yao, if I get married, I’ll definitely let you know, and you’ll have to bring a gift. Don’t come to my house for dinner if it’s too little."

"Haha, okay, how about a month’s salary?"

"That would work, then I’ll reluctantly let you eat."

Qian Jun, who was driving in the front, smiled as he listened to their banter.

"When our factory workers get married, we always bring gifts."

"Then on behalf of my friend, thank you both factory directors."

"You’re welcome."

"Director Jiang, both of us will also bring a gift. Wang Ailing is really nice."

"Haha, but there might not be a banquet to attend, I’m not quite sure."

"No worries, it’s just how things are now, isn’t it?"

"I forgot, I should have helped her buy some candy at the department store."

"Are we going back now? We haven’t gone far."

"Can we?"

Qian Jun promptly turned the car around. Now, the three girls got off together, and strolling around the department store wasn’t bad either.

Jiang Xinyu had three pounds of sugar coupons and bought three pounds of fruit candy wrapped in plastic.

Song Qingqing’s family conditions seemed pretty good; she bought two pounds of ox tongue biscuits, just as a snack.

Pan Xiulan bought two pounds of rice candy. Jiang Xinyu thought they looked good too, so she bought two pounds.

The three of them got back in the car and took out what they had bought to share with the two factory directors.

"I don’t like sweets," Qian Jun smiled as he declined.

"I don’t eat them either. Those are for women," Yao Shimin said.

The three of them were already used to Yao Shimin’s occasional bursts of male chauvinism.

When they arrived at the factory after work, Jiang Xinyu rode her bike straight to Wang Ailing’s house.

"Xinyu, thank you so much. Our sugar coupons were just not enough. How much should I give you?"

"Just give me three yuan and six cents. This is your wedding gift from me."

Looking at the thermos bottles with big red double-happiness characters and the pillowcases, Wang Ailing loved them too much to part with them.

"I love them. This saves me quite a bit of money."

"As long as you like them. By the way, both our factory director and the union will bring gifts. Are you preparing a banquet?"

Wang Ailing shook her head, "We don’t have the means. We’re just having a simple ceremony. We bought two pounds of candy, and with these three pounds, it should be enough to share with everyone. Quite a few people from his unit will come that day too."

"That’s fine. Oh, by the way, I have peanuts at home; you can fry them. Candy with peanuts is not bad too."

"Sure, I know how to fry peanuts. When I was young and greedy, I used to fry them myself."

"Okay, I’ll get them from home for you now."

Jiang Xinyu soon delivered over half a bag of peanuts, which the Wang Family had given her last year.

"Xinyu, didn’t you eat any?"

"Where would I find the time to eat them? When I get home, it’s already the end of June, and it’s too hot in the summer to move, so I saved them for you."

After delivering the peanuts, she went home to take a bath and have dinner. Millet yam red date porridge with brown sugar, quite nourishing.

On October 1st, there was a celebration party at the factory, organized by the union. Lu Changchun was really capable, and the factory workers were talented. They could sing popular songs right off the bat.

No one expected Yao Shimin to have such a good voice either, singing "The Song of the Guerrillas" with a talent that Jiang Xinyu thought was no less than the original singer.

Everyone coaxed Jiang Xinyu into singing. She really couldn’t sing, so she recited Chairman Mao’s "The Long March."

Everyone felt happier than during the Lunar New Year for this festive occasion. Qian Jun approved a direct bonus of two yuan for each person this month.

This was the most practical, and everyone’s excitement rose even higher.

On October 2nd, it was Wang Ailing’s wedding day. Nowadays, dual-worker weddings like this one were held at night, as everyone worked during the day. This was the way it was, without the fuss of the older generation.

Both sets of parents were present, along with siblings.

The police station sent over twenty people, and there were even more from the textile factory. Jiang Xinyu acted as the accountant this time, keeping track of the accounts and collecting money.

Song Qingqing and Pan Xiulan were in charge of accompanying Wang Ailing and helping distribute candy to everyone.

The young men from the police station were delighted to see three unmarried beautiful girls. After asking around, they found out that they were all competent people: an office director and two secretaries, all good jobs.

Finding a partner nowadays places great importance on their job.

So, the young men were hovering around the three. At first, Jiang Xinyu didn’t pay much attention, but as time went on, she noticed and found it amusing that there were people interested. But she just regarded them as young kids.

By nine in the evening, everyone had left, and Jiang Xinyu handed over the account books and money, leading the five members of the Wang Family back to her own home. It was the couple’s wedding night, and not to mention there were people from Wang Ailing’s husband’s family, so there really wasn’t enough space to accommodate everyone.

When Jiang Xinyu got home, she was busy cooking a large pot of broth noodles. She even made one with scrambled egg for the young child, just egg beaten with a little salt and lard, mixed with boiling water.

The child was only three months old, but they were already feeding solid food at this time.

Wang Jianqiang and his son stayed in the west room, while the remaining women stayed in the east room. Fortunately, it wasn’t cold yet, otherwise, there wouldn’t have been enough quilts. But they still had a set of bedding for Guo Caifeng and her daughter.