Chapter 176: Chapter 176: Xu Huaiyu’s Streak of Bad Luck, the Wedding Approaches

As soon as Xu Huaiyu heard about it, he thought it sounded pretty good—if he could really get a sewing machine for just a hundred yuan, he’d be saving dozens, maybe even a hundred yuan.

But he wasn’t sure if the guy was telling the truth, or what kind of condition the sewing machine was actually in.

Seizing the opportunity, the swindler continued, “How about you come to my place and take a look? There’s no harm in just looking, buy it or not, it’s up to you.”

Xu Huaiyu thought, “Great, I’ll just go have a look. If it’s no good, I just won’t buy it.”

So Xu Huaiyu followed the swindler into a dark alley. At this point, he still didn’t realize how serious things were, chatting idly with the guy, looking forward to getting his hands on the sewing machine.

But as soon as they reached a deserted spot, the swindler turned around and knocked him out with a stick.

The swindler went through all his pockets and took the 300 yuan Xu Huaiyu had brought to buy the sewing machine and a radio.

Luckily, Xu Huaiyu had thought it was inconvenient to carry too much cash, so he’d only brought 300 yuan with him—otherwise, he’d have lost everything.

The swindler also took his thick cotton-padded jacket and pants—new, extra-warm clothes his mother Liu Guifang had made for him this year.

The guy was clearly an old hand at this. After stripping Xu Huaiyu, he carried him to a main road where people passed by, dumped him by the roadside, and ran off.

He was afraid that if Xu Huaiyu froze to death in this weather, it’d be a big deal. Stealing a bit of money was one thing, but if someone died, he’d end up in prison or a labor camp.

Sure enough, not long after, someone found Xu Huaiyu. A few kind people took him to the nearest clinic for treatment, saving his life—he didn’t freeze to death out there.

He survived, but he was badly chilled and started running a fever that night, falling seriously ill.

When he woke up and learned that his money had been stolen, and even his clothes were gone, he was so heartbroken he pounded the bed in frustration. That was 300 yuan! He’d have to work for over a year, barely eating or drinking, to save up that much.

He didn’t want Yan Lijun to know about his predicament, so he asked someone to go to the factory and get his eldest brother.

Xu Huaizhi looked at his troublesome younger brother with disappointment. He didn’t want to help, but in the end, they were brothers, so he paid for the medical bills and brought him home.

Xu Huaiyu was sick for several days. While Xu Huaizhi was taking care of him, he learned what had happened. He was both angry and a little pleased—this kid had finally run into a wall!

Xu Huaiyu begged him to help with the remaining two items for the bride price.

Seeing how pitiful he looked, Xu Huaizhi reluctantly agreed.

“This is the last time. I’ll help you ask around, but you’re getting married now—don’t expect me to help you again. I don’t owe you anything!”

“Brother, I… I’m sorry. I really didn’t know that day. If I’d known my sister-in-law was pregnant, I would never have kicked her.” Even now, Xu Huaiyu was still trying to shift the blame.

“Even if she wasn’t pregnant, you shouldn’t have kicked her. She’s been married into our family for years, always looking after you and Meiling. Is this how you repay us? Where’s your conscience? Anyway, this is the last time. From now on, you’re on your own.” The more Xu Huaizhi spoke, the angrier he got.

Xu Huaiyu shrank under the covers like a quail—his brother was really mad this time.

Xu Huaizhi had good connections at the factory. After asking around, he found someone selling a radio. It wasn’t brand new, but it was almost as good as new, and the price was right.

People in this era treasured their belongings—big-ticket items like this were treated like family heirlooms, so they were rarely damaged.

As for the sewing machine, he found a seller whose wife had brought it as part of her dowry, but she had passed away unexpectedly, so the machine was still new.

Because it belonged to someone deceased, it was considered a bit unlucky, so the price was low—just eighty yuan.

When Xu Huaizhi told Xu Huaiyu about it, he agreed without hesitation. Eighty yuan was a steal—who cared about bad luck? He had no respect for such superstitions.

Plus, after losing 300 yuan, his wallet was seriously depleted—every bit saved counted.

But he kept all this from Yan Lijun, afraid she’d be angry.

He’d spent over 400 yuan on the “three rounds and one sound” (the sewing machine, bicycle, wristwatch, and radio), and after being robbed of 300, he only had 600 yuan left.

Meanwhile, on the Yan side, his pregnant fiancée was getting anxious. If they didn’t get married soon, her belly would be showing. Luckily, people were thinner in those days, so it wasn’t obvious yet.

Once Xu Huaiyu got the “three rounds and one sound” together, he hurried to the Yan family with the bride price. Both families were eager to settle things quickly, so after some discussion, they set the wedding for three days later.

They had enough vegetables at home—just needed to get some meat to host the banquet.

At this point, Xu Huaiyu started missing his second brother. When his second brother was home, they never lacked meat in winter. Every year during the village winter hunt, his second brother would always bring back lots of game.

He remembered when he was younger, one winter a heavy snow blocked the mountains, and wild boars, desperate for food, came down to raid the fields.

His second brother led a group of young men and managed to kill eighteen wild boars, which became big news in the commune. Ten were handed over to the commune, and the remaining eight were divided among the villagers. That year, their family got half a wild boar and ate well all year.

Now that his second brother was gone, this year’s winter hunt only yielded two wild boars, a dozen pheasants, and twenty rabbits.

Each family only got a few pounds of meat, and since the family had split, their share was even less. Counting his parents’ share, they only had half a chicken, half a rabbit, and two pounds of pork—not nearly enough for a wedding banquet.

Not only was his second brother not around to help, but even his eldest brother, after helping with the bride price, was now keeping his distance.

When Xu Meiling got married, at least the second brother contributed a pheasant and the eldest brother brought a bucket of fish.

But now that it was his turn, all those things he used to look down on had become luxuries.

Since the family had split, his eldest brother’s meat ration from the factory couldn’t be shared with everyone anymore, but Xu Huaiyu still shamelessly asked Xu Huaizhi to lend him a pound of meat coupons, promising to pay him back.

Xu Huaizhi knew he’d never get those coupons back, so he just told him to keep them—as a wedding gift.

Xu Huaiyu then went to Xu Meiling’s house to “borrow” meat coupons, knowing that his brother-in-law, Chen Jianghe, received care packages from home every month.

But Xu Meiling was heavily pregnant and had a big appetite—there was no way she’d give him any. She brushed him off with a few words and only gave him half a pound of fruit candy.

Chen Jianghe had bought the candy to satisfy her sweet tooth.

His leg had healed well enough that he could do some light work now.

Because Xu Meiling had taken such good care of him while he was sick, he’d started to treat her a little better—after all, the child was his own.

After tallying everything up, he only had three pounds of meat—still not enough for the ten tables of guests expected at the wedding.

Xu Huaiyu thought highly of himself—he didn’t want his wedding to be shabby. He figured if his second brother could do it, so could he.

So, on the eve of the wedding, he went into the woods to catch some pheasants to add to the menu. But not only did he fail to catch any, he got his ankle caught in a trap set by Ji Linhai.

His screams echoed through the woods.

Down the mountain, Ji Linhai realized something was wrong and rushed up to find Xu Huaiyu, the third son of Xu Mingshan, caught in his trap.

He knew better than to admit the trap was his—otherwise, he’d be in big trouble.

Ji Linhai pretended he’d heard the screams and had come to help. He managed to free Xu Huaiyu from the trap, but the bite was deep—two bloody holes in his ankle, a gruesome sight.

Ji Linhai carried him down the mountain and returned him to the Xu family, making sure to tell everyone along the way that he’d heard someone screaming from his house at the foot of the mountain and had gone to help—just to clear himself of any blame.

He delivered Xu Huaiyu back to the Xu family, making sure Xu Mingshan owed him a favor, and then strolled home.

Xu Mingshan called a barefoot doctor to treat Xu Huaiyu. The doctor simply disinfected the wound with alcohol and wrapped it in herbal medicine.

Xu Huaiyu’s foot swelled up badly, and he lay in bed groaning in pain.

To have this happen right before the wedding was a headache. Liu Guifang even wondered if Yan Lijun’s horoscope was too strong and was jinxing her son.

Ever since the marriage was proposed, nothing had gone smoothly—first Xu Huaiyu was robbed of 300 yuan and got sick, and now this. The wedding was the day after tomorrow, and the groom’s injury would make the wedding procession a hassle.

The more Liu Guifang thought about it, the angrier she got. She cursed the person who set the trap in the dead of winter, and even cursed the heavens for being blind.

She even said a few harsh words about her future daughter-in-law, Yan Lijun. Lin Xiaomeng just sneered—this was only the beginning. Xu Huaiyu could just wait and see. With his luck gone, his life would be full of obstacles, and nothing would go right.

She’d originally wanted to take away the good fortune of Xu Huaiyu’s parents as well, but worried that if something happened to them, Xu Huaizhi might not be able to work and she’d suffer for it too.

So she held back. Now, seeing Xu Huaiyu’s suffering, she felt that was punishment enough.

To save face, Xu Mingshan took out some old ice-fishing tools and went to the river to cut holes in the ice and catch fish, bringing back a full bucket—just enough to get by.

But finding a head chef for the banquet became a problem. When Xu Meiling got married, Lin Xiaomeng had been in charge of the cooking. She was skilled and could make simple ingredients taste great—everyone was happy with her food.

But now, Xu Huaiyu had just offended her, and it didn’t seem right to ask her to help.

They completely forgot that Lin Xiaomeng was still recovering from childbirth and couldn’t possibly do much work.

Liu Guifang, acting as if she was doing Lin Xiaomeng a favor, ordered her, “Your third brother’s wedding is the day after tomorrow. You’ll be the head chef again. Make a menu for me to see.”

Lin Xiaomeng looked at her like she was an idiot. “I’m not doing it. I’m still in my postpartum recovery. The doctor said I can’t overexert myself. Find someone else.”

“Lin Xiaomeng, don’t be so ungrateful. When I gave birth, I was back to work the same afternoon. You haven’t even laid your egg yet, what are you fussing about?”

“So what if I’m fussing? Your son kicked me and caused my miscarriage, and now you want me to help him? I’m not that cheap. Don’t count on me—otherwise, who knows what I might do to embarrass him at the wedding.” Lin Xiaomeng’s words were half mocking, half threatening.

“You! You jinx! I must have been blind to let my son marry you.”

But Liu Guifang couldn’t do anything about her, so she had to find another woman in the village who could cook to be the head chef and finally got things settled.

As for the Yan family, they’d already taken the “three rounds and one sound” Xu Huaiyu brought as bride price to arrange their son’s wedding."