Xu Mei accepted her mother's advice, and her mother led Shi Lan to the countryside to marry a dark-skinned short and fat girl. This girl's surname was Bao and her name was Liaohua. She was born into a fisherman's family. Her parents went fishing for a long time. She was at home. Often helps weave webs. My mother said that she looks ordinary but is thoughtful in what she does.
On the day of her son's blind date, Xu Mei also came with her. She saw that Bao Lianhua was quite dexterous in pulling and winding silk, so she believed that her mother's evaluation of her was right. What I'm a little dissatisfied with is that her appearance is too that or vulgar, anyway, it doesn't look pleasing to the eye.
Mom peeked into Xu Mei's thoughts, pulled her aside and said, as the saying goes, an ugly daughter-in-law is a treasure. Although it is ugly and not good-looking, it will be pleasing to the eye if you look at it too much. Besides, my daughter-in-law is too handsome to keep, can your son Shi Lan be able to control her?
Mom moved her eyes to make a show, implying that Shi Lan was so stupid, who would want to follow him? It would be good to find a wife who can manage the family. Xu Mei couldn't make up her mind for a moment, but after thinking about it carefully, her mother made sense. Then he said, you can make the decision for me!
Bao Liaohua didn't know it at first. Someone came to her to propose marriage. She only felt that someone was secretly peeping at her. There was also a young man looking blankly beside a clump of banyan trees. At first glance, he looked like a person with no opinions.
When my mother saw that Xu Mei had agreed, she approached her and whispered, "You need to prepare some betrothal gifts. Otherwise, how will you recognize your in-laws?"
Xu Mei was a little anxious. She didn't have any money on hand. She raised her hand and instinctively touched her black hair. She unexpectedly came across a hosta with a phoenix dance pattern stuck in her hair. This was the date her ex-husband Shi Yinde met her. The gift given to her at the beginning of their love turned out to be a pair, each with a dancing phoenix pattern printed on it.
She usually wears a hosta with a phoenix dance pattern on it. That time Shi Yinde took her to the beach. Because of the hot weather, he rented a swimsuit and a lifebuoy and went surfing in the sea to cool off. But while they were playing in the water, Xu Mei fell on her head. The hosta with the phoenix dance pattern on it was lost. Shi Yinde accidentally discovered it when he went ashore to put on his clothes. He was very anxious to rent a swimsuit and went to the sea to fish for it repeatedly, but found nothing.
But he never came ashore in the water. Xu Mei also rented a swimsuit and went fishing in the water, but with no results. Seeing Shi Yinde's uneasy look, she asked him, "How much is a fallen hosta worth?" Didn't you give me a pair? There is another one you can wear, just be careful not to lose it in the future.
Shi Yinde told her with laughter and tears that before he presented the pair of Phoenix Dancing Hostas, he went to Wudang Mountain to see a Taoist. The Taoist said that these pair of Hostas are treasures. If you give them to your loved one, she must protect them. Lost, once lost, both you and your loved one will be disadvantaged, and your marriage will not be guaranteed.
When Xu Mei heard this, she felt it was very important, and she groped around in the salty sea water, but still couldn't find it. She told Shi Yinde, don't believe what the Taoist said, it was superstition.
Looking back now, Xu Mei shudders. After Shi Yinde committed a crime and lost his life, his child Shi Lan also had troubles. I remember that he was still well-behaved when he was young, but why did he become more stupid as he grew older? Thinking about it this way, she felt that it was indeed unlucky to lose a hosta, and the hosta with the phoenix dance pattern on her head did not seem to bring good luck to the mother and son, so it was better to pawn it off.
At that moment, Xu Mei asked her mother and Shi Lan to wait in Bao Liaohua's village. She went to the town's pawn shop to take off the hosta and pawned it for 50 yuan. At first she bargained and said that the hosta should be worth more than 200 yuan. The pawnshop owner was a shrewd middle-aged man. She took the hosta and touched it again and again. Then she put it down, took out a pair of glasses from the cabinet and put them on. Then she picked it up and looked at the phoenix dance pattern on it carefully, and then raised it again. He started looking at Xu Mei and said, these hostas should be a pair, but it seems that there is still one missing with the phoenix dance pattern.
Yes, a few years ago my husband and I went swimming in the ocean and forgot to take it off our head, and it fell into the water. Xu Mei leaned against the wall of the pawn shop and answered truthfully.
Pity. The middle-aged man said this and expressed his unwillingness to close the deal. The reason was that if he wanted to pawn a pair of hostas with a phoenix pattern, it would be useless to pawn one. Xu Mei pleads for mercy, I am in urgent need of money now, no matter how much you pay, I will pay. As a result, the pawnshop owner was only willing to pay 50 yuan.
Xu Mei bought a red-lacquered bamboo basket with a lid from the bamboo shop in the town, which contained two portions of pork she weighed from the butcher shop and dozens of eggs she bought from the vegetable stall, and carried it back to the village. She was not very happy, as if she had to complete the task, and was very reluctant. However, when she saw her mother and Shi Lan wandering around the pond at the entrance of the village, she showed a smile again, which was also reluctant.
Mom greeted Xu Mei, asked some questions, opened the lid of the red lacquered bamboo basket, looked at it, and then closed it again. Xu Mei asked with a look of shame on her face, was the meeting gift too light? Mom said, it’s okay, it’s a gift after all.
Then, she told Xu Mei and Shi Lan to wait outside, while she walked towards the house of Bao Polygonum weaving nets with red paint, bamboo and blue, and suddenly looked up and down Bao Polygonum. She was wearing a floral shirt, with her front collar There are still some stains, which were stained by work. Maybe she didn't care about changing them and was just busy.
Mom smiled and asked her if the Master was at home? Bao Liaohua stood up after being stunned for a while and said, Dad has gone to sea, but Mom is here. I will take you to see her. Bao Liaohua put down her work and led her mother into the room carrying a red lacquered bamboo basket.
From a distance, Xu Mei could see their figures. After a while, Bao Liaohua came out and continued to sit in front of the door and weave a net. After a while, my mother came out with empty hands and a slightly raised face, looking very proud, which proved that the Bao family had accepted the bride price.
Yes, suddenly a slightly shorter mother also came out. She might be Bao Polygonum's mother. She raised her hand to beckon Bao Polygonum into the house. Bao Polygonum put down her work of weaving nets and got up and followed her into the house. .
The matchmaker's mother walked around three times in front of the house with her hands behind her back. When she saw them coming out, she went up to them. She was so happy that she didn't know what to say. Xu Mei didn't hear it and didn't have any thoughts to guess what they said. She just watched her son Shi Lan squat. He was lying naked on the bank of the pond, pulling threads of grass, chewing grass stems from time to time, and making silly giggles.
When she raised her head, she saw Bao Liaohua coming out of the house again. She had changed into a crimson shirt. She no longer squatted down to weave a net, but glanced at the pond bank from time to time. Her eyes were clearly different from Xu's. Mei's eyes met, but at a distance, there was a feeling. It was not so clear, and there was no need to deal with or avoid it deliberately. Even though the psychological reaction between each other was unnatural, it seemed natural.
Suddenly, Xu Mei heard her mother's voice calling her, and looked closely to see her mother standing in front of the house waving to her. Xu Mei picked up her son who was squatting on the ground and told Shi Lan to follow me. They walked to the front of the house, and Bao Liaohua deliberately went to the room to avoid it. At this time, the mother pointed to the other mother and introduced to Xu Mei that she was Lei Shi, the mother of Bao Liaohua. Then he looked at Shi Lan and said, come and recognize your mother-in-law. Shi Lan stood close to Xu Mei, unmoved. Then my mother said to Xu Mei and Lei, the two in-laws, why don't you get to know each other quickly?
At this moment, Lei Shi, who was looking at Shi Lan seriously, felt that the man had a square mouth, a square nose, a broad face, and was pretty good-looking. She secretly wondered, would such a handsome young man like my humble daughter? Are there other reasons?
Lei Shi is an experienced and shrewd person in judging people. She found that Shi Lan couldn't speak, so he called her Lei Shi's mother after being prompted by his mother. He had a stuttering sound at the end, and his movements were a bit slow like his eyes.
However, when Lei thought of her daughter's ugly appearance, she had no reason to be picky. She was very enthusiastic at the moment, leading them into the house and letting Polygonum Flower make tea. Mom took the cup of tea from Liaohua and didn't drink it immediately, nor put it down. She said to Liaohua, give this cup of tea to Shi Lan's mother first, she is your future mother-in-law!
