Chapter 57

Wu Guihua quickly covered her eldest son's mouth and scolded him, "Changsheng, you want to die? Why are you shouting so loudly, afraid that people outside won't hear?"

As she scolded him, she forcefully dragged Li Changsheng inside, and Li Mancang cooperatively closed the door, positioning himself behind it. With this arrangement, even if there were gaps in the firewood room door, people outside wouldn't be able to see inside.

"Mother, why is Yong Ge here? And why is he still unconscious?" Li Changsheng asked, his voice already tense. He might be simple-minded, but he wasn't foolish. While they were talking, Yong Ge lay on the wheat straw without any movement, clearly not sleeping.

He then looked at the set of wedding clothes that Feng Ge had just taken out of the bundle and compared them to what he was wearing. He was shocked and asked, "Feng Ge, why do you still have a set of wedding clothes? What… what are you planning to do?"

Unable to hide it any longer, Wu Guihua forcefully patted her eldest son's head from behind, saying, "What else can he do? Let Yong Ge marry that idiot in his place!"

"Mother, how can you do such a thing?" Li Changsheng couldn't believe it.

"Why not? Your father is Yong Ge's uncle. Since your second uncle isn't here, as an elder, he can arrange a marriage for Yong Ge!" Feng Ge, at this moment, had become stubborn. Speaking of it, he had no sense of guilt and spoke righteously.

"But… but Second Uncle…"

"Your second uncle might not come back. Finding a marriage proposal from the Hong family is like searching for a needle in a haystack. Yong Ge won't lose out if she marries into the Hong family." Wu Guihua shamelessly stated.

"But the marriage proposal from the Hong family was arranged for Feng Ge!"

With time running out, Wu Guihua didn't want to argue with him anymore and said directly, " Changsheng, can you bear to let your younger brother marry that fool? Isn't it better this way? If Yong Ge marries into the Hong family, he won't have to work hard from dawn till dusk anymore, and he'll have enough to eat. The Hong family has many sons, and your useless cousin won't dare to come and cause trouble when he returns. It's better than marrying into our village and suffering."

"Changsheng, I knew you wouldn't let us down," Wu Guihua said happily when she saw her eldest son's expression loosening. Li Mancang also patted his son with relief and asked him to follow him outside.

At this time, it was still early, and even though some relatives of the Li family had arrived, they were all helping in the kitchen. After Wu Guihua went out, she used the excuse of distributing candy to lure the running children to the front yard.

Handing out candy not only attracted children but also attracted people of all ages. From three-year-old children to sixty-year-old elderly, everyone followed when they heard there was candy to be had.

As Wu Guihua handed out candy, she grinned and grimaced. She had really splurged today. In a little while, when the welcoming party arrived, she would have to find a way to conceal it. Fortunately, the Hong family provided a generous betrothal gift; otherwise, with their current assets, Feng Ge's plan wouldn't have worked at all!

Feng Ge quickly changed Yong Ge into the wedding clothes and applied some simple makeup. Then Li Changsheng carried him into the newlywed room and hid him there.

During this time, a woman came out of the kitchen to pick onions in the backyard and saw the two brothers in that state. She asked curiously, "Changsheng, why are you carrying your younger brother out at this time?"

Li Changsheng froze, and Feng Ge, hiding in the firewood room, became anxious, afraid that his brother wouldn't be able to come up with a coherent answer.

"We… we…"

The woman, experienced in the ways of the world, didn't wait for Li Changsheng to come up with a response and asked herself, "Is it because Feng Ge needs to use the outhouse and doesn't want to dirty his new shoes? That's right, you shouldn't walk on the ground after putting on new shoes; it's unlucky."

"Yes, yes," Li Changsheng nodded vaguely, and quickly ran away carrying his cousin on his back.

"Changsheng, why is he in such a panic?" The woman, recalling her original purpose for coming out, slapped her forehead. "Oh, look at my memory. I need to hurry and pick onions in the field…"

After the woman left, Feng Ge emerged from the firewood room and stealthily returned to the newlywed room.

First, they hid Yong Ge, and then Feng Ge appeared in front of everyone. When the time was right, Wu Guihua came in from outside and announced that the welcoming party had arrived.

At that moment, the people, eager to join the commotion and compete for the scattered copper coins thrown by the welcoming party, had all rushed to see the spectacle.

On the other side, the Sha family also had mixed feelings when they saw the welcoming party. But who let Wu Guihua say that the two cousins had a good relationship and wanted to do it all in one day? Besides, it would save them some money to do it all in one day.

Wu Guihua's thoughts were understandable. She was only Yong Ge's uncle's wife, not his biological mother, and it was already good enough that she was willing to help with the marriage. Their family had been in a hurry, and no matter how unhappy Sha Yang's mother was about it, what could she do when her only son was enchanted by that little demon? They could only wait for the him to marry into their family and then deal with him. Otherwise, once the daughter-in-law had settled in, what position would she have in this family?

The Hong family, being far away, set off with the welcoming party before dawn and arrived at the auspicious hour. When Li Changsheng carried the person out, the matchmaker and Wu Guihua supported him on either side. The matchmaker felt that the arm under her hand was soft and she couldn't help but feel a little worried.

Instinctively, she looked up at Wu Guihua and saw her secretly passing a small piece of broken silver to her, stuffing it into her arms.

The silver weighed about one or two taels, and the matchmaker's eyes widened. Without much hesitation, she quickly accepted it. She had thought so, how could Wu Guihua be so kind-hearted? It turned out that this was her plan!

The matchmaker wasn't afraid that Wu Guihua would turn the tables on her. The betrothal letter stated Yong Ge's name, and it wasn't her concern if they decided to change the person themselves!

At the same time, the matchmaker was also puzzled. Wasn't the marriage proposal for Feng Ge supposed to be good? The Hong family was a wealthy household, and the groom in the welcoming party seemed perfectly fine. Why did they end up wanting to switch people?

The matchmaker didn't know that the two elder brothers of the Hong family were holding the groom on both sides, preventing him from speaking and running around. At the same time, the people in the welcoming party tried their best to cover up the situation. They didn't want the Hong family's reputation to be tarnished by bringing their bride to another village. Since they shared the same surname, it wouldn't be pleasant to be gossiped about.

The youngest of the Hong family could only hold on for a short while before he couldn't help but struggle and cry. His older brother quickly warned him, "Do you remember what Mother told you when she left? If you make a fuss outside, there won't be any walnut pastries you like when we get home."

The youngest of the Hong family was chubby but still had a childlike temperament. After hearing that, he said, "I won't make a fuss, Big Brother. I want to eat walnut pastries."

"You can eat them when we get home. Be obedient, and you'll get them when we get home." Hong's fourth brother also comforted him in a low voice.

"I want to eat them now…" Hong baobei struggled a bit, and his voice grew louder.

(T/N: baobei is an endearment term meaning baby)

Hong's fourth brother quickly covered his mouth. "If you cry, you won't get anything. Big Brother and I will eat all of your walnut pastries and won't leave any for you!"

Tears welled up in Hong baobei's eyes, but he saw that his two brothers wouldn't budge. Unlike his mother, they wouldn't give in when he cried. Moreover, he couldn't win against his two brothers no matter what. All he could do was endure the grievance and say, "I'll be obedient, don't take my walnut pastries…"

"Be obedient and wipe away your tears."

To be on the safe side, the Hong family had invited many relatives. With everyone's cover, they successfully completed the welcoming ceremony.

To make the welcoming party more visually appealing, the Hong family had prepared a donkey cart and adorned the entrance with bright red fabric. Therefore, Yong Ge lay motionless in the cart, completely unbeknownst to the Hong family.

During the process, Hong baobei repeatedly insisted on seeing his husband-to-be but was prevented by his older brothers.

On the other side, the Sha family also received Feng Ge during the second auspicious hour.

The relatives of the Li family who hadn't received the news were bewildered when they saw Li Changsheng carrying out the second groom. "Why is there another one?"

"Didn't Feng Ge already leave with the welcoming party?"

"This is Yong Ge. Since his father isn't here, Yong Ge was in a hurry to leave, so he pleaded with me to take charge. Since we're already taking care of Feng Ge's wedding, we might as well do them together."

Wu Guihua's ability to turn the tables was truly unmatched. The way she said it made it seem like Yong Ge couldn't wait anymore and didn't care about his own father.

But her explanation wasn't entirely wrong. After all, Yong Ge was not young anymore, and Sha Yang's conditions were indeed good. It could be understood that Yong Ge wanted to get married earlier. It's just that Wu Guihua spoke out so casually at this moment, indicating that she had been dissatisfied for a long time. No wonder she didn't reveal a single word before.

You see, when the first son's family marries their son, they don't want the second son's family to share half the glory. They wouldn't be willing to help promote it!

Feng Ge, with the veil covering him, was tense all over and didn't dare to say a word. He also had to imitate Yong Ge, pretending to be in a state of being drugged, with weak hands and feet.

As luck would have it, Cheng Duo was considering that Yong Ge had been tired from running in the mountains yesterday and planned to let him rest, so he didn't intend to go look for him.

He felt annoyed when he heard the noise of drums and gongs in the village because it would make it even more difficult for him to go find Yong Ge at night. The villagers loved spectacles, and there might even be a bridal chamber commotion. Who knows when things would calm down…

On the other side, Aunt Qian returned from watching the spectacle and said with a little displeasure, "Why is Yong Ge like this? It's one thing not to tell us about getting married, but asking Wu Guihua for help! Has he forgotten how Wu Guihua stole things from their house?"

"What do you mean Yong Ge getting married? Who is he marrying?" Yu Ge almost didn't react.

"Isn't it that Sha Yang who is always around him!"

"It's impossible. I went to see Yong Ge yesterday, and he was annoyed with Sha Yang. How could he suddenly turn around and get married?" Yu Ge's mind was sharp, and he could tell. Yong Ge must have liked someone else. When he asked, Yong Ge's ears turned red, but he refused to tell him.

That person couldn't possibly be Sha Yang. Yong Ge genuinely didn't like Sha Yang, and they were about to get married. He didn't need to put on a show in front of himself.

"How can that be impossible? I saw it with my own eyes. Could it still be fake?"

"It's definitely not. I, I'm going to go and see!" Yu Ge's mind was in turmoil, and he ran out after saying that. He first went to Li Mancang's house and hid outside, looking around for a while. He saw that the welcoming party had already gone to the Sha family. He hesitated for a while and didn't have the courage to go over.

After thinking for a while, he could only go to Yong Ge's house first to see what was going on.

When he arrived at Yong Ge's house, he happened to meet Shanzi who was also looking for someone. "Shanzi… are you also looking for Yong Ge?"

"Yes." Shanzi frowned. "I heard that Yong Ge got married, so I secretly went to the Sha family to ask what was going on. He didn't say anything and even pushed my hand away…"

That was one thing, but then the matchmaker, seeing him talking to Yong Ge, came over nervously and took him away.

Shanzi felt uncomfortable at first, but the more he thought about it after leaving, the more something felt wrong. But he was afraid of saying anything that would ruin Yong Ge's good fortune, so he came here to see what was going on.

The two of them pushed the gate of Yong Ge's house and found that it was only slightly closed, not locked.

They entered and followed the traces into the kitchen, where they saw that the rice had been washed but hadn't been cooked yet.

Although Shanzi was surprised that Yong Ge could afford such good rice, what was more important now was that Yong Ge had washed the rice but didn't put it in the pot to cook, even though he was in such a hurry. Wasn't he afraid of burning down his own house?

Yu Ge's eyelid twitched, and he turned to Shanzi. "What should we do? Should we tell third uncle…"

But Li Mancang was always Yong Ge's uncle, and if he had forcibly arranged a marriage for Yong Ge, the betrothal gifts would have already been exchanged, and even Third uncle wouldn't be able to do anything, right?

Shanzi hesitated for a moment. "I know someone we can go and try to find."

Unlike Yu Ge, Shanzi didn't think that person was Yong Ge. He was very familiar with Yong Ge, and he wasn't the kind of person who wouldn't recognize someone even if they flew onto a branch. Moreover, upon careful recollection, that hand didn't seem to have the familiar calluses…

Yong Ge had mysteriously disappeared for a few days before, and Cheng Duo was also not at home. He always felt that these two were together.

In addition, Yong Ge had been very happy since he returned. Not only did he eat well himself, but when he came to borrow grain last time, Yong Ge also gave him some dried vegetables and smoked wild boar meat, saying it was for his younger siblings to nourish their bodies.

And there was this rice and this brand new iron pot. There was no way Yong Ge could have taken them from Wu Guihua's hands. Such a generous person, he had only seen one…

"Who?"

"That newcomer in our village, a hunter."