Each dish had a different price. Grandma, thinking it was a big business deal, quickly took out her ledger and pen, weighing the items and recording the prices for him.
Seeing that she was still organized and clear-headed despite her age, Lu Mingzhe felt very happy.
After all the hustle and bustle, the total came to less than 100 yuan.
Lu Mingzhe gave her 100 yuan.
"Everything is sold. Are you packing up now?"
"Yes, thanks to you, I can go home early today."
Grandma was very happy.
"Wait, young man, I'll get you your change."
"No need. Grandma, don't you find my voice familiar?"
Familiar?
Everyone around 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?"
Grandma thought for a moment, then her eyes lit up.
"Oh, you're Wanwan's boyfriend? You child, look at you..."
Wanwan's boyfriend?
The people around were her regular market companions, familiar with their family matters.
Hearing her call him 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."
"Are you here 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 close and responded to everyone's greetings one by one.
Grandma was overjoyed.
"Wanwan has excellent taste. No wonder she never found anyone before, she was waiting for the most suitable one. Look how well-matched you are, the more I look, the more I like you!"
Amidst everyone's envious and blessings, the three of them left the market.
Back home, Grandma busied herself preparing lunch for them.
"You must be hungry. The vegetables are all homegrown, absolutely healthy. What do you want to eat? Grandma will cook for you."
"Grandma, you go talk to him, I'll cook."
Xiang Wan snatched the things away.
Xiang Wan was wearing a white dress, her hair in a bun, a designer bracelet on her wrist, and her nails 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 start the fire. We can talk while we cook."
He didn't mind the dirt, wearing clean clothes, he sat by the firewood.
He started the fire.
Grandma couldn't have been happier.
"Our family is poor. Alas, for so many years, it's all been on Wanwan's shoulders."
"Before, she never looked for anyone, and I worried that I, this old thing, was dragging her down, afraid people would dislike her. Seeing you today, I'm relieved."
"Xiao Lu, although I'm old, I'm still quite healthy. I won't move to the city to live."
"As long as I can manage myself, I won't be a burden to you. Don't worry. I'm not a burden. Please don't dislike Wanwan."
Xiang Wan didn't like hearing this.
"What are you saying?"
"That's just how it is. I'm an old woman who has lived in the countryside my whole life, I'm used to it, I wouldn't be comfortable living in the city. Don't think about taking me there."
"You two just live your lives. As long as you're happy, I don't care about anything."
Lu Mingzhe said.
"If Xiang Wan earns money and abandons you in the countryside, being a heartless person, then I would truly dislike her."
"Don't think that way. It's already amazing that she raised the two siblings alone, how could she be a burden?"
"We came back this time to ask you to come live with us."
Grandma smiled, didn't say anything, and urged them to hurry and cook.
After the meal was ready, they all ate and chatted happily, finishing two large bowls. Grandma told them to go rest.
"You're not leaving today, are you? I was in a hurry to come back this morning and planned to buy some pesticide to kill the rice pests, but I forgot."
"You two rest first. After you've rested, go buy some medicine for me."
Xiang Wan knew Grandma couldn't sit still, so she didn't refuse.
The two went to her room, and Xiang Wan lay in Lu Mingzhe's arms.
Looking at the simple floral bedsheet and the old textbooks on the desk, Lu Mingzhe felt many emotions.
"How fated are we to have met?"
"You grew up in such a small room since you were a child, while I was always in Nancheng. Now we're getting married."
"It must have been arranged by the matchmaker long ago."
Xiang Wan didn't argue with him.
No matter what, meeting Lu Mingzhe in this life and hearing him say such things was already worth it.
Lu Mingzhe started to get restless.
In this place that held Xiang Wan's childhood, he suddenly wanted to be a part of her past.
"Shall we have a child?"
"Huh?"
Perhaps it was due to being overly excited today, or being swept away by happiness, or something else.
Why did he suddenly say such a thing?
"I just feel so happy, I love you so much, I love your family so much, I love your past so much, I want to plant a seed that belongs to us in the place where you grew up."
"Wanwan, no protection today, will you have a child for me?"
A warm current surged through 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, then drove Grandma to town to buy some pesticide, and went to the fields together to spray it.
Lu Mingzhe saw the pesticide spraying equipment for the first time and was curious, wanting to try it.
Xiang Wan was not polite.
"In our countryside, physical labor is naturally done by men. Grandma, let him do it."
"How would he know how to do it? And his clothes are so clean, it would be a shame to get them dirty."
"Then take out Xiang Yang's old clothes for him to change into."
Grandma couldn't refuse them, so she 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 Grandma.
The rice had already grown tall and was turning slightly yellow.
Lu Mingzhe saw such a spectacular rice field for the first time and couldn't help but indulge his playful side.
He took out his phone to take pictures of Xiang Wan and Grandma.
Then the three of them took a selfie together.
Lu Mingzhe asked Xiang Wan.
"You've never posted on your Moments, nor have you ever mentioned me. Do you want to make it public today?"
"Don't you think I look ugly?"
"Not at all, I'm a handsome guy recognized by many uncles, aunts, and Grandma."
Xiang Wan then posted photos of him carrying the sprayer on his back, wearing a straw hat, and working in the fields in water shoes on her Moments.
There were countless likes and comments.
Everyone envied Xiang Wan for finding such a good boyfriend.
They finished spraying the two plots of rice fields, and it was only a little past five o'clock.
They had planned to stay the night and accompany Grandma, pack their things, and take her with them tomorrow.
However, as they were washing their feet in the yard, Lu Mingzhe's phone rang.