Unexpectedly, the other party returned his promise to him exactly as it was.
Seeing Gu Lingyu's serious tone, Chen Haoyu was unsure what she meant. He instinctively scratched his head. "Don't misunderstand, I didn't mean anything by it, it's just..."
Gu Lingyu smiled and said, "Class monitor, don't misunderstand, I'm serious."
As she spoke, she stepped forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with Shen Wuqiu, took Shen Wuqiu's hand, and slowly clasped it. Seeing that Shen Wuqiu did not flinch, she turned her head and smiled sweetly at her, saying, "I heard that Qiuqiu is the goddess of your class. Does the class monitor still question the goddess's choice?"
Chen Haoyu was momentarily stunned by her bright smile, and it took him two seconds to react—strangely, the two people in front of him suddenly seemed incredibly harmonious and well-matched to her.
After a moment, he shook his head violently, "That's not what I meant..."
Gu Lingyu raised her chin slightly. "That's not what the class monitor meant, but that's what I meant. Thank you for taking care of Qiuqiu. If there's anything I can help you with in the future, please don't hesitate to ask."
She paused, then added, "I think I can be of help in any way."
“…Okay…okay.” If it were anyone else, Chen Haoyu might have thought that this excessive confidence was arrogance, but for some reason, he didn’t have that thought in his mind. In fact, he even felt as if there was really nothing that could stump the other party.
Just then, Zeng Min leaned over with her phone, holding up a selfie stick, and asked, "What are you two whispering about over here?"
Chen Haoyu was starting to dislike her, so he casually replied, "I didn't say anything, just chatting."
Zeng Min pouted, thinking it was cute, and said, "Tsk, they must be whispering something behind our backs."
"You're overthinking it. Even if we're whispering, we won't hide it from everyone, except you." People who don't know their place are really annoying. Gu Lingyu shrugged and pretended to think for two seconds. "However, what we were just saying wasn't exactly a secret. The class monitor said that if we need any help in the future, we should just ask him."
Zeng Min looked up from her phone for a second, glanced at her, but quickly made a cute pouty face at her phone screen before saying, "We're classmates after all, so we should help each other out where we can. I can't help with other things, but if you ever have any difficulties in the future, I can lend a hand. I do have some money..."
As Zeng Min spoke, she reached out to put her arm around Shen Wuqiu's shoulder as if they were "close sisters".
As a result, before her hand could even touch Shen Wuqiu's shoulder, her hand was suddenly jerked away.
She couldn't explain what had just happened, but she felt as if she had been stung by something. The sudden, sharp pain made her dizzy for a moment, and she instinctively let go of the selfie stick.
Gu Lingyu deftly caught it for her and smiled as she handed it back: "However, I just told the class monitor that we appreciate his kindness. But we should be the ones telling him that if he has any difficulties in the future, he should come to me."
Zeng Min took the selfie stick, still a little dazed. The excruciating pain from just now had disappeared too quickly, but she felt as if it had really happened, which was really baffling.
After failing to figure it out, she gave up and focused on showing off her superiority. She glanced at Gu Lingyu and gave Shen Wuqiu a proper look: "Oh, Qiuqiu, don't be shy with us, really."
Gu Lingyu wanted to say something more, but Shen Wuqiu pulled her hand and said with a smile, "Well, thank you for your kindness."
Upon hearing this, Zeng Min's sense of superiority immediately swelled up, and she squeezed next to her, saying, "It's been so long since we've seen each other, let's take a selfie together."
Chen Haoyu reached out and blocked her camera lens, "Where are you planning to post these photos this time?"
Zeng Min's little scheme was exposed, and she deliberately got angry, saying, "Class monitor, what do you mean?"
Chen Haoyu smiled apologetically at Shen Wuqiu: "You may not know, but she's a live streamer now, and she likes to post everything on various social media platforms."
Zeng Min: "I know how to share."
Gu Lingyu immediately pulled hard, pulling Shen Wuqiu behind her. "If I don't know how to share, then it's not your place to share my wife."
Zeng Min: "..."
Feeling awkward, Zeng Min pouted and went back to taking pictures of this and that with her phone.
Unlike banquets in hotels, banquets in the countryside don't end after the meal. Usually, neighbors leave first, and if the relationship is closer, the host will offer extra hospitality.
With so many guests at home today, Shen Wuqiu naturally couldn't just stay around her college classmates. After chatting with them for a while, she went to greet all the relatives and gave them return gifts.
In the village, the return gift for the full moon celebration is red eggs. Generally speaking, the bride's family prepares such return gifts.
However, families with better financial means might express their affection for the child by randomly mixing extra gifts into the red eggs as a return gift. These gifts might include items like a child's safety lock, bracelet, or small silver peanuts, conveying the host's heartfelt blessings to the guest's child.
At least, Mr. Shen had attended about twenty full-moon celebrations, big and small, and he had never received a return gift other than red eggs. In the whole village, it was said that only the old landlords who had moved to the provincial capital had ever been so wealthy.
This old landlord was quite wealthy, but his family had always been a single-lineage line. By the time of the old landlord's generation, he had gone through two or three wives without having a child. It wasn't until he was forty years old that he finally had a son in his old age. That's why he randomly added a few silver peanuts to the return gifts for everyone at the full moon celebration.
To be honest, even though Mr. Shen was so excited, he wouldn't dare to spend so much money.
To his utter surprise, his in-laws, the Gu family, were far wealthier than he could have imagined. They secretly mixed a plump silver peanut and an exquisite silver ruyi lock into every serving of red eggs.
So, everyone who went home after the banquet that day with their return gifts received this pleasant surprise:
"Mom, there's a peanut inside this egg!"
"What peanut? It probably fell in by accident."
"Hey, why are these peanuts so hard? Mom, can't we eat them?"
"Let me see... You silly child, this isn't peanuts, it's silver!"
...
"I asked around, and everyone who went out for drinks got peanuts and peace locks."
"You have them all? Impossible! This thing looks so exquisite, and it feels quite sturdy. I bet it would cost at least several hundred yuan to buy. You do the math, I roughly counted the banquets today, there were about fifty-two tables, eight people per table. Even if I say three hundred yuan for each of these, that's still over 120,000 yuan... My goodness, the return gift alone will cost over 100,000 yuan..."
"The banquet they've prepared today, with its dishes, is something rarely seen. It must cost at least eight hundred thousand."
"How rich do you think the Le family must be?"
"I heard that this return gift was prepared by his in-laws. I think his in-laws are quite wealthy. Didn't you see that his in-laws' three sons all drive... what's that four-ringed thing again?"
...
As the saying goes, "He who eats another's food is bound to do his bidding; he who takes another's money is obligated
The villagers were all stunned by the wealth and power of this large family. No one dared to gossip about them behind their backs. Even if they were envious and jealous, they could only keep it to themselves.
Of course, the Gu family, who just wanted to prove that they really loved their four daughters, never expected such an unexpected joy.
However, that's a story for another time.
Meanwhile, after Chen Haoyu's college classmates and their relatives had all left, he also said goodbye.
Unlike the city, accommodation in the village is indeed inconvenient. Shen Wuqiu exchanged a few polite words but did not stay any longer. Instead, she took out the return gifts she had prepared in advance and said, "Class monitor, I'll leave the return gifts for the other classmates to you."
"You're welcome." Chen Haoyu initially wanted to decline.
Shen Wuqiu insisted on giving it to him: "This is our local custom. Eating red eggs at the full moon banquet will bring good fortune."
Zeng Min was initially curious about what the return gift would be, since it was all packed in a red-sealed hard paper bag, and you couldn't tell what it was from the outside. But when she heard it was red eggs, she immediately lost interest. "These are all old feudal traditions. Besides, eggs are so inconvenient to carry. They're easily bumped and broken."
Shen Wuqiu, being good-natured, said, "These days, red eggs are all preserved eggs, so they're fine if they get bumped or knocked."
Upon hearing her say that, Chen Haoyu immediately took the things.
Zeng Min waved her hands repeatedly, saying, "I don't want it anyway."
Shen Wuqiu didn't insist. She put the gift box back on the table and took out the things that Gu Lingyu had prepared for them: "Lingyu said that you have all come from afar and it must have been hard for you. She has prepared a small gift for you. Please accept it."
Zeng Min glanced at the bag in her hand, somewhat disdainfully, "What's this now?"
Chen Haoyu and the others felt embarrassed to accept the offer, saying, "No need to be so polite."
Gu Lingyu stuffed the items into their hands one by one, saying, "Qiuqiu said that we may not be able to hold a grand wedding in front of the world again, so we can't invite you to the wedding. This is a small token of my appreciation for you all."
Chen Haoyu and his companions couldn't refuse, and thanked him again.
Zeng Min took the item in her hand and glanced at it discreetly. She only saw a small red thing, not very well packaged, just placed in a small gift bag, which looked cheap. She didn't really want it, but she didn't refuse it directly. Instead, she threw the item to Li Qian as soon as she got in the car, saying, "This is for you."
Chen Haoyu was about to start the car when he saw her like this. He frowned and said, "It's just a small token of their appreciation. It's not right for you to do this."
Zeng Min shrugged, "Anyway, I don't need it..."
As soon as she finished speaking, she accidentally caught a glimpse of An Yue taking something out of the small gift bag. She was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously tried to take back the thing she had thrown to Li Qian, but to her surprise, she found nothing.
Li Qian: "Didn't you say you'd give it to me?"
"..." Zeng Min was annoyed. "You're so naive, I just wanted to see what it was?"
An Yue held up the small, jade-like bead, examining it from left to right in the slanting sunlight. "Is this jade?" he asked.
Zeng Min: "Are you thinking about peaches? And red jade?"
At this moment, Fang Miao also took out the item, "It feels a bit like ruby?"
Zeng Min: "Even if it's true, what's the value of something the size of an eye booger?"
Fang Miao: "Your eye boogers are that big? Is there something wrong with your eyes?"
Zeng Min looked speechless: "A metaphor, do you even understand it?"
An Yue then pulled something out of the small gift bag, looking surprised: "What's this? Glass marbles?"
Fang Miao quickly rummaged through the small gift bag again, picked up the tiny thing that looked like a glass marble, blinked, and swallowed hard. "Could this be a luminous pearl?"
"Hahahaha... You guys are really cracking me up! Have you ever seen anyone give a luminous pearl as a return gift?"
A note from the author:
Thank you all for your concern and understanding. I will try my best to adjust my emotions and state of mind.
Sorry to keep you all waiting.
Chapter 105
The mountain valley was inconvenient to access, and accommodation was also inconvenient. After the banquet, the guests gradually said goodbye.
After most of the relatives and neighbors had left, Shen Wuqiu and the others were finally able to sit down and rest for a while. Having entertained guests for most of the day, she was also feeling a bit sore and didn't want to move while sitting on the sofa.
The cat, being non-human, didn't feel this fatigue. Seeing this, it thoughtfully sat down next to her and massaged her lower back. The massage was just right, as if squeezing out all the soreness accumulated in her body, making her feel incredibly comfortable.
"Could you please be understanding of single people? Little brother, right?" Zhou Xingxing was still drinking sweet wine while holding her water glass. The sweet wine that Su Yunzhi steamed was so delicious that she wanted to drink more and more. When she was eating at the banquet, she was busy chatting with her college classmates and didn't drink or eat properly.
"I'm fine." At this moment, apart from Su Yunzhi and Shen's father discussing something in their room, Shen Wujun was lying in front of the rocking horse playing with Da Mao, not paying much attention to the dog food and the dog abuse.
Shen Wuqiu teased her, "Isn't this to provoke you, so you can find a partner soon?"
"Finding a home is hard." Zhou Xingxing rolled his eyes, seemingly oblivious, then picked up his glass again and drank. After each sip, he smacked his lips and exclaimed in admiration, "How can your family's rice wine taste so good?"
"If you like it, just drink it. We've steamed so many vats this year." Su Yunzhi happened to come out of the house.
Zhou Xingxing turned to look at her and said, "Auntie, your distilling skills are so good, I really envy Qiuqiu."
Su Yunzhi teased her, "Are you really envious? If you're really envious, you can call me Mom too."
Gu Lingyu's alarm bells rang loudly, and she immediately hugged Shen Wuqiu tightly: "Anyway, I don't agree to Qiuqiu taking another concubine."
"..."
Shen Wuqiu glared at her, "What are you thinking about?"