Chapter 84
Ye Qinglan was very conflicted. Li Wang’s qualifications were indeed not bad, but she was more inclined towards Platoon Leader Jin. What was wrong with being a little short? With a flaw, she was more at ease.
And they were from the same province, both ate rice, and she couldn’t get used to eating noodles and potatoes every meal.
“Except for the one from the 351st Regiment, let’s meet both Li Wang and Platoon Leader Jin and see who we can talk to better. If neither of them is suitable, we’ll find someone else. The army has nothing else, but it has the most men,” Ye Qingzhi decided.
It wasn’t like they had to get married after they met. A blind date was a way to get to know the opposite sex. If it wasn’t suitable, they could just switch.
Ye Qinglan pursed her lips and asked in a low voice, “Will that be alright?”
Back home, a woman who went on one blind date after another would be gossiped about.
“What’s not alright? It’s just Battalion Commander Li treating us to a meal. We’re going to help Sister Jinfeng. Right, Sister Jinfeng?” Ye Qingzhi asked, looking at Li Jinfeng with a smile.
Li Jinfeng immediately reacted. This was using Old Li’s treat as a shield. She smiled and nodded. “That’s right. My Old Li is treating. It’s not convenient for me with my child, so I’m asking you to help me cook.”
The two of them smiled at each other, then at the same time looked at Ye Qinglan, waiting for her answer.
“Alright,” Ye Qinglan said. She knew that her fourth sister and the others were doing it for her own good. A marriage was a big deal. She should be more selective.
“Little Lan, how about you meet Li Wang first? If you two hit it off, then you don’t have to meet Platoon Leader Jin,” Li Jinfeng said. She was more optimistic about Li Wang.
Ye Qinglan pondered for a moment and nodded shyly.
“Tomorrow or the day after? Let’s do it the day after tomorrow. I’ll talk to him tomorrow. I also have to prepare at home,” Li Jinfeng said, her voice a little excited.
She had been a matchmaker for others before, but this was her first time being a real matchmaker. If this worked out, she could brag about it for a year.
Ye Qinglan was a little nervous, but she still nodded in agreement. Although her fourth brother-in-law was a deputy regiment commander and his monthly salary was very high, her fourth sister did not have a job and had remarried with two children. Although her fourth brother-in-law was very good to her and also very good to her, she did not want to make things difficult for her fourth sister.
She had to get married sooner or later, and she had come here to get married. So she would go on a blind date early, find a suitable person to marry, and not cause trouble for her fourth sister.
“There’s no hurry,” Ye Qingzhi said, seeing Ye Qinglan nod. She held her hand and gently pressed it. “Little Lan just arrived yesterday. She must be exhausted from the journey. Look how haggard she is. Let’s let her recuperate for a while before we go on a blind date.”
No matter when, both men and women were judged by their looks. Ye Qinglan’s current state was not good. Ye Qingzhi planned to take her to see Old Hu, take a week of Chinese medicine to recuperate, gain a little weight, and then dress up for the blind date.
Li Jinfeng looked Ye Qinglan up and down. She did look a little tired, and her hair. It would be best to get it cut in town. Her clothes were also not good. Why were they all patched?
Her gaze turned to the cloth and needle and thread in the basket. It should be the clothes she was making for herself.
“Alright. It just so happens that the first is in six days, the day of the market in town. I’ll go and talk to Li Wang then,” Li Jinfeng nodded.
After Li Jinfeng left, Ye Qingzhi saw that it was still early and simply took Ye Qinglan to find Old Hu now.
After taking her pulse, Ye Qinglan’s body was fine. She did not need to take medicine to recuperate. She was just malnourished. She just needed to eat well, drink well, and rest more.
“Didn’t I say I’m in good health?” Ye Qinglan said with a smile.
She was not like her third and fourth sisters, who listened to their parents in everything. When she was cooking, she would always secretly eat a little. Otherwise, she would have starved to death long ago.
But her fourth sister had really changed a lot. Before, she would always work silently. Now, she was very opinionated in her speech and actions. It seemed that her regiment commander brother-in-law would discuss everything with her, and would even listen to her in some matters.
Thinking of Ye Qingzhi’s experience, her husband had been gone for six years, and she couldn’t rely on her in-laws or her own family. She could only raise two children on her own. If she hadn’t changed, she would have been eaten to the bone long ago. So some changes were normal.
“It’s best if you’re fine. Here’s an umbrella for you. Don’t look at how the sun is not big today. The sun here is very harsh. If you get too much sun, your skin will turn red. You’re going on a blind date recently. You should get less sun,” Ye Qingzhi said, giving the umbrella to Ye Qinglan.
She was not afraid. Whether it was back home or here, no matter how big the sun was, it would only make her red. It would be fine after a while, and her skin would still be fair and tender.
Because of this, Yang Xiaorou and Li Jinfeng were so envious of her. Especially Li Jinfeng. Her skin was not very fair to begin with. She had gotten a little dark from working in the fields back home. After coming here, she loved to visit, so she had gotten even darker.
“No need. You should take it yourself, Fourth Sister. Your skin is tender. Don’t get sunburned,” Ye Qinglan said, waving her hands repeatedly.
“Just take it. I’m not going on a blind date,” Ye Qingzhi said, stuffing the umbrella into her hand. She did not explain too much, so as not to be seen as showing off.
In the afternoon, Ye Qinglan rushed to start the fire and cook. Ye Qingzhi, on the other hand, became the one who helped out. Seeing her uneasy expression, she sighed softly and let her do the work.
Ye Qinglan’s cooking was not bad. He Qiming, Anmin, and Anjie all praised it as delicious. He Jingyan did not speak, but he nodded. As for Yangyang, he was young, so he stood up for Ye Qingzhi, pouting and shouting, “Mama’s cooking is the best.”
“Mama’s cooking is the best, the best in the world,” Yangyang said, looking up at Ye Qingzhi, his eyes shining.
“Alright, Mama knows. Thank you for praising Mama. Mama will make you something delicious next time,” Ye Qingzhi said with a smile, rubbing his head.
Looking at their warm and natural actions, an uninformed person would not be able to tell that they were not biological.
Ye Qinglan was happy for her fourth sister from the bottom of her heart. With a good relationship with her stepson, her and her fourth brother-in-law’s relationship could last a long time.
After dinner, Ye Qinglan rushed to wash the dishes, and also stopped the few children from sweeping the floor.
“Little Lan, they’ve always been the ones to sweep the floor. You don’t have to,” she said. In Ye Qingzhi’s house, there was no concept that men could not do housework, especially her children. They could not be lazy. The whole family had to work together.
At bedtime, He Qiming held Ye Qingzhi and gently stroked her back. “I’ve already asked around about Li Wang and Jin Junjie. Li Jinfeng has good taste. Both of them are alright.”
“Which one do you prefer?” Ye Qingzhi asked, looking up at him.
“Jin Junjie,” He Qiming said. Seeing Ye Qingzhi’s confused look, he analyzed carefully, “It’s not that I’m biased towards soldiers. I have the same thought as Little Lan. It’s better to be from the same province. The customs here in the Northwest… are different from ours.”
This was indeed a big problem. First of all, their eating habits were different. One was mainly wheat-based food, and the other was rice. And their hometown’s food was light, while the Northwest’s was heavier.
Marriage was a lifelong matter. Before the blind date, she had to ask around.
Yang Xiaorou had been here the longest and had also interacted with the locals. She definitely knew more.
The next day, Ye Qingzhi went to Yang Xiaorou’s house to ask about the situation.
“A Northwest man?” Yang Xiaorou asked, looking at Ye Qingzhi suspiciously. Why was she suddenly asking about a Northwest man? Then she thought of Ye Qingzhi’s younger sister coming. “Is someone trying to introduce a Northwest man to your younger sister?”
Ye Qingzhi nodded. “Yes, his qualifications are not bad. There’s also a platoon leader from the same province as us. Qiming and Little Lan are more inclined towards this one from the same province.”
Yang Xiaorou listened to the two’s family backgrounds. She felt that they were both average.
“There’s no hurry, right? If there’s no hurry, let’s wait a bit. I’ll find someone for your younger sister,” Yang Xiaorou said. She had seen Ye Qinglan yesterday. She was very beautiful, and the key was that she was sensible.
Ye Qingzhi frowned, then sighed softly. “In my eyes, my younger sister is of course a thousand times good. But we have to be realistic. Little Lan has a rural household registration, has not studied, and can’t even speak Mandarin fluently. Objectively speaking, without Qiming, this deputy regiment commander brother-in-law, as a bonus, the two people Sister Jinfeng introduced are not a match for her.”
It wasn’t that Ye Qingzhi wanted to belittle Ye Qinglan. To be realistic, Ye Qinglan’s hard qualifications were indeed a little lacking. The young masters from the big courtyards that Yang Xiaorou knew, how could they marry a woman who couldn’t even read a single word?
“Let’s go on a blind date with these two first. It’s not like we have to marry them after we meet. If it’s not suitable, we can talk about it again,” Ye Qingzhi said, pushing Yang Xiaorou’s arm. “You haven’t told me about the customs here in the Northwest.”
“If we have to choose between these two, I choose Platoon Leader Jin. Soldiers are hardworking. Northwest men… not all of them, but most of them are not very caring and have a bigger temper. I think the men from your hometown have a gentler temper,” Yang Xiaorou said, sharing her feelings.
Besides the different eating habits, the temperaments of the north and the south were indeed not the same. Although Li Wang’s qualifications were better, he might not be suitable.
Never mind. Let’s meet them first. Who can say for sure?
After a week of good food and drink and rest, and with Ye Qingzhi having Ye Qinglan apply face cream every day, not only had she gained a little weight, but her complexion had also improved a lot.
Today was market day. Li Jinfeng suggested that they just meet in town today. If they hit it off, they could continue to chat. If not, they didn’t have to have any more contact.
Ye Qinglan put on her new clothes and pants, the shoes Ye Qingzhi had given her, and her hair was braided into two braids, tied with a red rubber band. Yang Xiaorou also applied some powder for her to make her skin look fairer.
“The neck too. Otherwise, it looks too fake,” Ye Qingzhi said from the side.
Yang Xiaorou applied powder to Ye Qinglan’s neck, and then a little lipstick, which made her look more modern.
“It’s too red,” Ye Qingzhi said, looking at Ye Qinglan’s red lips. She went over and wiped some off with her finger, turning it into a light red, which was more natural.
The lipstick on her finger was not wasted. She gently dotted it on Ye Qinglan’s cheekbones and then gently blended it, turning it into blush.
“Oh my, you look so good like this. Qingzhi, how are you so smart?” Yang Xiaorou asked, looking at Ye Qingzhi in surprise.
Ye Qingzhi smiled and waved her hand. These were all small tricks she had learned online. She was not that smart, but she couldn’t say that.
The group arrived at the town. Li Jinfeng went directly to find Li Wang. Ye Qingzhi, Gu Yao, and the others took Ye Qinglan to browse the market.
“See if there’s anything you like,” she said. After a few days of getting along, Ye Qingzhi quite liked the original host’s little sister.
“No need. I’m not lacking anything now,” Ye Qinglan quickly shook her head.
The travel expenses, the clothes, the shoes, and the fine grain, eggs, and meat she had eaten these few days. She already owed her fourth sister a lot. How could she let her spend more money?
“Let’s just have a look,” Li Yang said with a smile.
After she had become a martyr’s widow, her older brother had taken her and her two children home. Although her brother and sister-in-law were very good to her and had never treated her as an outsider, she herself had a feeling of living under someone else’s roof, so she especially understood what Ye Qinglan was thinking.
She pulled Ye Qinglan to her side and said with a smile, “Sister-in-law, Qingzhi, I’ll take Little Lan for a walk over there. We’ll be back in a bit.”
Ye Qingzhi nodded in understanding. “Alright, you go on.”
Li Yang pulled Ye Qinglan and left. The two of them were not very familiar with each other, so the atmosphere was a bit awkward.
“I heard you’re preparing for a blind date,” Li Yang asked.
“Yes,” Ye Qinglan nodded.
She had heard about Li Yang’s matter from her sister-in-law and admired and envied her very much.
“That’s good. I hope you can find a good husband,” Li Yang said. Although she did not plan to remarry, she did not think that marriage was a bad thing. In the end, there were more happy people.
“Thank you,” Ye Qinglan said. These few days, she had been learning Mandarin with Ye Qingzhi, and her pronunciation had become much more standard.
After about half an hour, Li Jinfeng came walking towards them with the tall Li Wang.