The price of each dish was different. Grandmother felt that a big deal had arrived, so she quickly took out her notebook and pen, weighing the produce and recording the prices for him.
Seeing that she was still orderly and clear-headed despite her age, Lu Mingzhe felt very happy.
After a good deal of busy work, it amounted to less than 100 yuan.
Lu Mingzhe gave her 100 yuan.
"It's all sold out. Are you packing up now?"
"Yes, thanks to you, I can go home early today."
Grandmother was very happy.
"Wait, young man, I'll get you your change."
"Don't bother. Grandma, don't you think my voice sounds familiar?"
Familiar?
The people around all looked at him.
"Grandma Xiang, the young man knows you?"
"No, I don't. I don't know such a handsome young man. He looks like he's from the city. What's your name?"
"Lu Mingzhe."
"Lu Mingzhe?"
Grandmother thought for a moment, then her eyes lit up.
"Oh dear, are you Wanwan's boyfriend? You child, look at you..."
Wanwan's boyfriend?
The people around were the usual vendors who sold vegetables with Grandmother, and they were familiar with their family affairs.
Hearing her say that, they all cast envious glances.
"Wanwan has a boyfriend? So handsome, oh, you two are so well-matched."
"Grandma Xiang, you are so blessed."
"Did you come alone? Didn't Wanwan come back with you?"
Lu Mingzhe glanced back across the road.
Xiang Wan had already composed herself and walked over with light steps.
Everyone stood up and greeted her.
Lu Mingzhe held Xiang Wan in his arms, responding to everyone's greetings one by one.
Grandmother was overjoyed.
"Wanwan has excellent taste. No wonder she never looked for anyone before, she was waiting for the most suitable one. Look how well-matched you are, you look better the more I look!"
Amidst everyone's envious and blessings, the three of them left the market.
Back home, Grandmother busied herself preparing lunch for them.
"You must be hungry? I grew all the vegetables myself, they are absolutely healthy. What do you want to eat? Grandma will cook it for you."
"Grandma, you go talk to him, I'll cook."
Xiang Wan snatched the items away.
Xiang Wan wore a white dress, her hair tied up in a bun, a designer bracelet on her wrist, and her nails were done.
She looked as beautiful as a fairy.
How could Lu Mingzhe bear to let her touch the greasy stove?
"Let's do it together. Grandma, move a stool and sit next to me. I'll stoke the fire. We'll talk while we cook."
He didn't mind getting dirty. Wearing clean clothes, he sat by the firewood.
He started the fire.
Grandmother was extremely happy.
"Our family is poor. Alas, for so many years, it's all been on Wanwan alone."
"Before, she never looked for anyone, and I worried that I, this old man, was dragging her down, afraid that people would dislike us. Seeing you today, I'm relieved."
"Xiao Lu, although I am old, I am still quite strong. I won't move to the city to live."
"As long as I can move myself, I won't be a burden to you. Don't worry. I am not a burden. Please don't look down on Wanwan."
Xiang Wan didn't like to hear such words.
"What are you saying?"
"It's true. I'm an old woman who has lived in the countryside my whole life. I'm used to it, and I won't be used to living in the city. Don't think about bringing me over."
"You two just live your lives. As long as you are happy, I don't care about anything."
Lu Mingzhe, however, said.
"If Xiang Wan earns money and abandons you alone in the countryside, becoming an ungrateful person, then I would truly dislike her."
"Don't think like that. It's already amazing that you raised them, a brother and sister, how could you be a burden?"
"We came back this time to ask you to live with us."
Grandmother smiled, said nothing, and urged them to hurry up and cook.
After the meal was ready, they ate and laughed together, finishing two large bowls. Grandmother told them to go and rest.
"You're not leaving today, are you? I rushed back this morning and planned to buy some pesticide to kill the insects on the rice, but I forgot."
"You two rest first. After you've rested, help me buy some medicine."
Xiang Wan knew that Grandmother couldn't sit still, so she didn't refuse her.
The two went to her room, and Xiang Wan lay in Lu Mingzhe's arms.
Looking at the simple printed bedsheet and the old textbooks on the desk, Lu Mingzhe felt many emotions.
"What a destiny for us to meet like this?"
"You grew up in such a small room, but I've always been in Nancheng. And now we're getting married."
"It must be that the matchmaker arranged it for us long ago."
Xiang Wan didn't refute him.
No matter what, meeting Lu Mingzhe in this life and hearing him say such things was worth it.
Lu Mingzhe started to get restless.
In a place that held Xiang Wan's childhood, he suddenly wanted to participate in her past.
"Shall we have a child?"
"Ah?"
Perhaps it was due to being overly excited today, or being dazed by happiness, or something else.
Why did he suddenly say such a thing?
"I just feel so happy, I like you so much, I like your family so much, I like your past so much, and I want to plant a seed that belongs to us in the place where you grew up."
"Wanwan, let's not use protection today, will you have a child for me?"
A warm current surged in her heart, and Xiang Wan was moved.
"But Grandma is still outside."
"Then don't make a sound, don't let her hear."
The two slept until four in the afternoon. They drove Grandma to the town to buy some pesticide and went to the fields together to apply it.
Lu Mingzhe saw the pesticide application tools for the first time and was curious, wanting to try.
Xiang Wan was not polite.
"In our countryside, manual labor is done by men. Grandma, let him do it."
"How would he know how? And his clothes are so clean, it would be a shame to get them dirty."
"Then take out the old clothes Xiang Yang used to wear and let him change into them."
Grandmother couldn't persuade them and had to let them have their way.
Lu Mingzhe and Xiang Wan changed into old clothes, put on water shoes, and walked to the edge of the fields with Grandmother.
The rice had already grown tall and was slightly yellow.
Lu Mingzhe saw such magnificent rice fields for the first time and couldn't resist his playful impulse.
He took out his phone to take pictures of Xiang Wan and Grandmother.
Then the three of them took a selfie together.
Lu Mingzhe asked Xiang Wan.
"You've never posted on your Moments, nor have you mentioned me in them. Do you want to make it public today?"
"Don't you think it's ugly?"
"No, I'm a handsome guy recognized by many aunties and uncles and Grandma."
Xiang Wan then posted a photo of him carrying a sprayer, wearing a straw hat, and working in the field in water shoes on her Moments.
There were countless likes and comments.
Everyone envied Xiang Wan for finding such a good boyfriend.
It was only a little past five o'clock after they had finished applying pesticide to the two rice fields.
They had intended to stay overnight and accompany Grandmother, pack their things, and take her with them tomorrow.
However, as Lu Mingzhe was washing his feet in the yard, his phone rang.