Xiao Yuan ca straight out of the train station and bought a pickup truck, loaded his belongings, and drove directly ho.
From the train station to Xiao Yuan’s hotown, Lianhua Village, one needs to take a bus to the county, then from the county take a minibus to the town, and then either find a car to ride back or walk back from the town; anyway, you must switch vehicles several tis, which is especially cumberso.
Xiao Yuan had a lot of things to carry, so switching vehicles would have been very troubleso.
Thinking that there was no car at ho, he simply bought a durable pickup truck to drive back.
Before going ho, Xiao Yuan called Mr. Xiao and Mother Xiao.
While he was driving halfway, Xiao Yuan’s older sister, Xiao Yufeng, called to ask if Xiao Yuan would be ho soon. Knowing that Xiao Yuan would be ho in more than thirty minutes, she quickly told her mom to start cooking.
Knowing Xiao Yuan was coming back today, Mother Xiao got up early and asked Mr. Xiao to catch two fish, slaughtered a chicken from their ho, and sent Xiao Yufeng to the town to buy a big piece of spare ribs. She was busy all morning cooking the ribs and chicken, preparing all the dishes, just waiting to quickly stir-fry dishes when Xiao Yuan was almost ho.
Xiao Yufeng was busy helping Mother Xiao in the kitchen. In a short while, several dishes were ready, and Mother Xiao started making sweet and sour fish.
At that mont, Xiao Yuan’s second sister, Xiao Yui, carrying things, ca back ho.
As soon as she entered the door, she slled a delicious aroma, and before even setting down her luggage, she started exclaiming, "Mom, what’s the occasion today? Why are you cooking so many delicious dishes?"
Mr. Xiao ca out of the room, and seeing Xiao Yui return, a smile appeared on his face: "Second daughter is back."
Xiao Yui smiled and fetched a bottle of wine from her bag, shaking it in front of Mr. Xiao: "Dad, look at the fine wine I brought for you, you must have a good drink later."
Mr. Xiao was even happier: "Perfect timing, your brother is also coming back today, he can join for a drink."
Xiao Yui went inside to set down her things: "A Yuan is coming back? That’s quite the coincidence."
"Indeed, it’s a coincidence."
Xiao Yufeng ca out of the kitchen with dishes: "No one expected you two to co back on the sa day. Alright, hurry and wash your hands; we’re about to eat."
Xiao Yui agreed and went to wash her face and hands.
Just as the dishes were served on the table, Mr. Xiao heard a noise from outside, followed by seeing a car driving into the courtyard.
"Whose car is this?"
Surprised, Mr. Xiao quickly went over to inquire.
As he approached, he saw Xiao Yuan stepping out of the car: "Dad, this is our car, I bought it in the city. How is it, pretty good, right?"
Xiao Yufeng heard the noise and also ca out to have a look.
She walked around the car: "This car is good, it can carry people and cargo, and can also be driven on mountain roads, it’s really good."
Xiao Yui also ran out: "A Yuan bought a car, where did you get the money?"
Xiao Yuan didn’t say how he bought the car, just motioned to Xiao Yufeng at the back: "Big sister, hurry and move the stuff."
Mr. Xiao, Xiao Yufeng, and Xiao Yui together moved things from the trunk to the house. Xiao Yui kept talking while carrying things: "A Yuan has made a fortune, buying all this stuff."
Mother Xiao entered the house and saw: "What are you buying all this for? How much money did you spend? Even if you made so money, you shouldn’t squander it like this."
Xiao Yuan sat down, pointing to the piles of things in the house: "Most of these were bought by my girlfriend; I didn’t buy much."
Suddenly, everyone’s attention was drawn to what Xiao Yuan had just said.
Especially Mother Xiao, who imdiately smiled upon hearing Xiao Yuan had a girlfriend: "You are in a relationship? Why haven’t you ntioned it before? Where is the girl from? What do her parents do?"
Xiao Yufeng and Xiao Yui also stared intently at Xiao Yuan.
Xiao Yuan looked at the food on the table: "Can we eat first? The dishes will get cold soon."
"Eat, let’s eat."
Following Mr. Xiao’s words, Mother Xiao stopped asking and hurriedly served rice to Xiao Yuan.
This was how things always were at ho; anyway, he didn’t do anything, and his als were always served up by his mother. Xiao Yuan couldn’t change too much at once, so he just sat there and took his al.
Xiao Yuan was really hungry; he found the dishes on the table very delicious.
Mr. Xiao and Mother Xiao found it hard to eat.
They were still thinking about their future daughter-in-law.
After dinner, Mother Xiao couldn’t even bother to clean up and hurriedly asked Xiao Yuan, "A Yuan, hurry up and tell mom, where is that girl from, what does she do?"
Xiao Yufeng also asked, "Is your girlfriend your classmate? What’s her education level? What does she look like?"
Xiao Yuan smiled and said, "My girlfriend is from N city. She studied at East University and graduated with a master’s degree. Her dad is a famous chef in our area. Her family owns three apartnts and a shop in N City. She previously worked in a big company, resigned after getting familiar with the business, and now she runs projects for so big companies. The profits are quite substantial, she can make millions from a single project..."
These words left the Xiao family stunned.
Especially when Xiao Yuan ntioned that Anning could earn millions per project, it scared Mr. Xiao and Mother Xiao.
Xiao Yui was dumbfounded, "Goodness, that’s so much money, this girl is really incredible."
Xiao Yufeng had a different concern, "How old is that girl, she isn’t much older than you, is she?"
In Xiao Yufeng’s view, a young girl couldn’t possibly have such capabilities.
Xiao Yuan smiled, "Not at all, she is younger than , only twenty-four."
Hearing this, the Xiao family thought even more highly of Anning.
Actually, Xiao Yuan was exaggerating a bit, Anning couldn’t earn that much from a single project, but she did make money in stock trading, so it wasn’t overly exaggerated.
The Xiao family hadn’t traveled far and were only familiar with things in their village. Even though Xiao Yufeng and Xiao Yui worked outside, they were just part of the working class, where earning a few thousand a month was considered a lot. Millions were simply unimaginable to them.
"They’re young, they earn a lot, won’t they look down on our family?"
This was Mother Xiao’s biggest concern.
Upon hearing that the girl’s family was well-off, her father a chief chef, her sister owning a shop, and she herself a master’s graduate from a prestigious university, earning so much money -- surely her standards must be very high. Girls like her, coming from families and academic backgrounds like those in the cities, surely could find suitable matches easily. How did she end up fancying their own child?
Mother Xiao often watched TV and chatted with others when she was free.
She knew that city girls nowadays don’t prefer n from rural areas, often referred to as ’phoenix n’, as marrying such n led to many complicated family issues.
Mother Xiao was afraid that Xiao Yuan’s girlfriend would despise this aspect.
Xiao Yufeng and Xiao Yui thought the sa.
The three won were all staring at Xiao Yuan, fearing he might say sothing undesirable.
"No worries."
Xiao Yuan reassured Mother Xiao with a smile, "Anning is really nice. She knows about our family situation and doesn’t look down on us at all. When I was coming back, she took to the train station and even asked to send her regards to you."
Mother Xiao was very happy to hear this, "She’s a good girl, truly wonderful."
Xiao Yui then asked Xiao Yuan, "What does the girl look like? Do you have a photo on your phone?"
Xiao Yuan took out his phone and showed Anning’s photo to Xiao Yui.
Xiao Yufeng and Mother Xiao also leaned over to look, Mr. Xiao, feeling it inappropriate to co too close, was nonetheless visibly anxious.
When they saw the photo on the phone, they were all astonished.
They had thought maybe the girl wouldn’t be pretty, but the girl in the photo was exceptionally beautiful, stunningly so, to the point that even the actresses Mother Xiao saw on TV couldn’t compare to Anning.
The three of them kept flipping through and found other pictures of Anning. The more they looked, the more they thought she was exceptionally beautiful — not just her face, but her figure too, tall and well-proportioned with a dignified air about her, which made it hard to act casually around her.
Xiao Yui then looked at Xiao Yuan and said, "A Yuan, your girlfriend is so beautiful, it makes feel a bit insecure."
Indeed, it was insecurity.
They knew their own family’s circumstances.
Though Xiao Yuan himself had good prospects, was handso, and highly educated, their family was too poor, a poor farming household in the mountains, breaking the bank to raise a doctoral student like Xiao Yuan, they couldn’t afford anything more.
Even though Xiao Yuan had graduated and could find a decent job, affording a house and a car in the city would definitely be difficult.
Such a wonderful girl could choose anyone, why must she burden herself with a family like theirs? She surely wasn’t foolish.
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