Compared to the gentle and graceful Anning, the flamboyant An Jie was not favored by Zhiqiang.
He always felt that An Jie's appearance was a bit too bold, and her temper was not great either, which actually made Zhiqiang somewhat dislike her from the bottom of his heart.
However, since their families had arranged a marriage from their childhood, Zhiqiang couldn't avoid An Jie, which made him even more uncomfortable.
As the wedding date approached, Zhiqiang had started to accept the reality.
He knew his family was poor, and that he was lucky to get a wife at all; if it weren't for the arranged marriage, he could never have married a beautiful girl like An Jie.
Just look at the wives of the second son, Su Zhijian, and the third son, Su Zhikang, it's clear that pretty girls are not his family's fortune.
Although he had accepted the reality, Zhiqiang still had Anning on his mind.
He had thought more than once how wonderful it would have been if Anning had been the one arranged to marry him.
If he could marry Anning, he would definitely treat her especially well, not letting her suffer any grievances and would always listen to her—whatever Anning said, he would follow without hesitation.
The more he thought this way, the more Zhiqiang found himself longing for Anning.
Today when he returned home and saw Anning sitting on the horse cart, his heart felt cold again, struck by pain once more.
Anning was a high school student and also the top student at the town's school, with a bright prospect of attending college. Zhiqiang, a poor man, couldn't possibly match up to her.
Not just him, no young man in the entire Xiaogou Village could match up to Anning.
As Zhiqiang walked home, he sighed more than once, thinking that Anning, the golden phoenix of this mountain valley, would one day fly away. By then, he probably wouldn't even be able to catch a glimpse of her.
Zhiqiang sat on the kang lost in thought, when Liu Erni tugged at him, "Eldest, An Jie is pretty and treats you well, don't let her down, eventually treat her well, do you hear?"
Zhiqiang nodded in agreement.
That was what he thought too.
Although he didn't like An Jie now, she was going to be his wife soon, and he would treat her well in the future. He would try his best to forget Anning and treat An Jie well.
Liu Erni began to discuss with Shuanzi, "Let's buy a radio and secretly send it to the Third Son's Wife's family, let's not let the second family know, otherwise it will cause trouble."
Shuanzi, after finishing his cigarette, nodded, "Okay, I'll buy the radio tomorrow and send it to the Third Son's Wife's family."
The three of them settled the matter, and by that time it was already very late, and there was nothing much to amuse themselves with in the village, so they went to sleep early.
The Su family was at peace, but lively uproar had started at the Lin Family.
The reason was that Lin Aiguo discovered that the money he had placed in the cabinet was missing.
This money was from selling a big fat pig recently, Lin Aiguo had kept it in the cabinet, planning to use it for Lin Anjie's marriage expenses, and had not deposited it. But when he went to get the money at night, he found it was gone.
Lin Aiguo's face changed color instantly.
He woke up Wang Cuixhua, who was lying on the kang: "Did you take the money from the cabinet?"
Wang Cuixhua, who had been sleeping soundly, suddenly woke up: "No, what happened? Is the money gone?"
Lin Aiguo nodded, "I had it placed properly, how could it just disappear?"
"Did someone steal it?"
That was Wang Cuixhua's first thought.
Lin Aiguo shook his head: "It shouldn't be, our neighbors are not that kind of people. And we haven't been short of people around recently, if there were a thief, we would have noticed."
Wang Cuixhua thought the same.
Since it was unlikely to be an outsider, it must be someone from within.
Suddenly, Wang Cuixhua thought of Lin Anjie who had recently started dressing up; just a few days ago she had brought home a head ornament and also previously bought a bottle of face cream.
Her face turned pale instantly.
"His dad, it, it was An Jie..."
Lin Aiguo pushed the door and walked out.
Wang Cuixhua quickly jumped down from the kang and followed him.
She grabbed Lin Aiguo's arm, "His dad, don't be angry, please ask properly, just, just don't beat Daya."
Lin Aiguo shook off Wang Cuixhua's hand and walked over to knock on Lin Anjie's door: "An Jie, open the door."
Lin Anjie was about to go to bed when he heard the knocking and got up to open the door.
When she opened the door, she saw Lin Aiguo standing outside with a livid face, and felt somewhat guilty for a moment.
"Dad, what are you doing?"
Lin Aiguo looked Lin Anjie up and down: "Did you take the money from home?"
Lin Anjie, a bit scared, said: "I didn't take the money from home, I haven't even entered mom and dad's room these past days."
"If you didn't take the money from home, how did you know the money was kept in the room?"
Lin Aiguo asked another question, becoming more suspicious that Lin Anjie was the one who took the money.
Actually, at this time, many rural households tended not to deposit their money in banks; they mostly kept their cash at home, some would keep it in grain stores, some would find a secure place at home, keeping it in the bedroom was actually not very common.
"I, I heard you and mom mention it."
Lin Anjie desperately tried to find an excuse: "You said the money from selling the pig was for my marriage. How could I possibly steal my own money?"
This explanation seemed somewhat reasonable.
However, Lin Aiguo still had his suspicions.
"Let your mom go in and check."
Lin Aiguo said sternly.
Lin Anjie's face sunk immediately: "Why? Why suspect it was me who stole when money went missing from home? I'm a grown woman, you're searching and rummaging through my room, how can I face people?"
Modern-era Lin Anjie actually valued personal privacy quite a bit; she felt that allowing her mother to search her room was an insult to her.
But, Lin Aiguo and Wang Cuixhua didn't think the same way.
Their thoughts, like most parents in Hua Country at the time, were the same — the child is theirs to control since they gave birth to them, they raised them from small; what's the harm in searching her room? It's not like they are strangers.
Wang Cuixhua and Lin Aiguo had the same thought: "An Jie, let mom search it, if it's not there then you can rest assured, right?"
Lin Anjie stood at the door, refusing to open it: "Why only search mine? If money is lost, shouldn't everyone be suspected? Why not search Anning's room, or An Ping's? Maybe it was them who stole it. You lose money and first think I took it, also only search my room, is it that you dislike me? Is it favoritism..."
As she spoke, she began to cry, her cries particularly loud, waking up Anning and Lin Anping.
Anning, dressed in her clothes, pushed the door open and came out, rubbing her eyes and asking: "Dad, mom, what happened?"
An Ping also came out at this time, his face confused.
Lin Aiguo waved his hand: "It's nothing to do with you two, go back to sleep."
But An Jie was determined to pull Anning into it: "What do you mean it's nothing to do with them? Since they are awake, then search together."
She lifted her chin, her face filled with aggrieved defiance: "If you want to search my room, it must be done fairly. If you're going to search, search everyone; if not, then don't search anyone."
Wang Cuixhua was a bit troubled.
She turned back to look at Lin Aiguo: "His dad, why not just search everyone?"