Ch 11: The Scumbag’s Daily Wife-Doting Life [QT]

After relations with Li Jianguo eased somewhat, Xie Li officially began building the house under the guidance of this future father-in-law.

He planned for two bedrooms, one main hall, plus a kitchen and a bathroom, built overall with a family of three in mind. The chosen location was not far in front of the Li house. Walking two hundred meters would reach it easily, convenient for the highly vigilant Li Jianguo to keep an eye on things at any time.

For the exterior, Xie Li intended to use gray bricks. They cost more than red brick or mud brick, but they were sturdier, and their color carried an elegant, antique charm. Continue reading on HololoNovels dot com. Black roof tiles and wooden beams would top the structure. The interior walls would be painted white, while the floors would be paved with blue stone slabs, making cleaning easier and preventing dampness and strange insects during rainy weather.

Li Tiantian had seen the concept sketches and was ecstatic.

“It’s ten thousand times prettier than I imagined.”

All she had wanted was a house that could block wind and rain, yet Xie Li had given her an enormous surprise. She had never known she could one day live in such a beautiful home, prettier even than many houses in the county city.

Under her expectant gaze, Xie Li smiled helplessly inwardly and sped up construction.

In the blink of an eye, two months passed. By the time the rice stalks began forming ears, Xie Li’s first little house in this world was finally complete.

On the day construction finished, half the village came to watch.

“This house is really nice. I thought educated youths were all poor, but looks like Xie Li’s different. The brigade leader really has good judgment. We were the ones who misjudged him.”

“Yeah, building a house must’ve cost a fortune, right?”

Back when news of the engagement first spread, everyone thought Captain Li had gone crazy. Only now did they realize the ones getting slapped in the face were themselves.

“Money’s nothing. Look at Captain Li’s daughter marrying an educated youth like this. He paid for the house himself. Unlike that brigade leader’s daughter from the neighboring village, who had to provide money and a house for the educated youth she married.”

“Stop gossiping. That brigade leader’s daughter from the neighboring village jumped into the river not long ago. Barely got rescued.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop. Let’s just admire the new house.”

Hu Dezheng came too, bringing a group of educated youths at Xie Li’s invitation. After looking around a few times, he sighed in admiration.

“Starting a family and building a career. You’ve already completed half your life goals.”

“If you’re jealous, you could do it too,” Xie Li replied meaningfully, giving him a look.

According to Li Tiantian, over the past three months Qian Lanxiang had been constantly visiting the educated youth point to bring Hu Dezheng food.

Hu Dezheng froze for a moment. Something flashed through his eyes before he gave a bitter smile, pulled himself together, and deliberately changed the topic by looking back at the house.

“Let’s not spoil the mood. We should keep admiring your new place.”

Xie Li looked entirely unconcerned. Seeing Hu Dezheng intentionally steer the conversation away, he merely smiled without exposing him and continued leading everyone around the house.

The more the educated youths looked, the more envious they became, letting out mournful groans.

Xie Li laughed helplessly.

“Stop envying me. When I get married in a while, just remember to come drink at the wedding feast.”

“So soon?”

Xie Li leaned against the doorway with arms folded and raised an eyebrow.

“How is it soon? It’s already been more than three months.”

These past three months had nearly exhausted him. Almost every single day, he had to find ways to avoid everyone and enter the space. Once inside, he had to check whether crops were ripe, harvest and pack them, then figure out ways to secretly sell mountains of vegetables.

The quantities had become so absurd that later even Uncle Luo suspected he was collecting vegetables from the entire village to sell, warning him to be careful not to get caught.

Fortunately, the rewards had been equally great.

Not counting the ginseng that still had not been harvested, Xie Li’s current net worth had reached over fifteen hundred yuan.

The eggplants alone, growing at ten times the normal rate, had produced nearly ten thousand jin over ten consecutive harvest days, earning him a total of 635 yuan.

Chinese cabbage sold for three fen per jin. Xie Li planted two thousand heads and earned another 220 yuan.

After that, as summer arrived, he gradually sold off the string beans and pumpkins from the space, making another five hundred plus yuan altogether…

With this amount of money, he already had enough for Li Tiantian’s bride price.

As for the remaining ginseng in the space, Xie Li no longer intended to sell it for now. He planned to let it continue growing slowly, only taking out one or two roots if urgently needed. Perhaps one day he might even grow some thousand-year-old ginseng spirit.

Recalling the hardships of the past three months, Xie Li smiled faintly without revealing anything outwardly.

The others had no idea what he had suffered through and merely continued teasing him for being impatient, unable to wait even three months.

Xie Li did not argue. After touring the house, everyone headed back.

Even after the house was built, it still needed airing out, furnishing, arranging furniture, and preparing for the wedding banquet… There were still plenty of troublesome steps before anyone could move in.

…

“We’ll buy the furniture ourselves.”

That evening, Xie Li went to update Li Tiantian’s family on the progress and was once again kept for dinner by his future mother-in-law.

Well, mostly because she had bought pork ribs and wanted Xie Li to cook them.

Thanks to the spirit spring, Xie Li had spent recent months frequently cooking to win over his future in-laws. No matter what ingredients he used, the dishes always came out perfect in color, aroma, and taste.

Even simple vegetables, after a few drops of spirit spring water, carried an extraordinary fragrance once cooked, crisp and juicy with a glossy sheen.

Over time, whenever the Li family bought meat, they handed it directly to Xie Li to cook, afraid of wasting expensive ingredients.

Once the dishes were on the table, Wang Cuihua casually made the suggestion.

Xie Li opened his mouth to refuse, but before he could speak, Li Jianguo chimed in:

“That’s right. We’ll buy the furniture. We only have Tiantian as our daughter anyway. Everything we own will belong to her eventually. Buying it earlier or later makes no difference.”

After saying this, Li Jianguo looked at Li Tiantian somewhat wistfully.

“Tiantian, after you get married, you still have to come back often to visit your parents. Don’t forget us.”

“Dad, Mom, what are you talking about?” Li Tiantian found it amusing. “Our houses are going to be this close. If something happens, shouting from one house can already be heard in the other. How could I forget you? Besides…”

As she continued speaking, she lowered her head shyly.

“It’s still early before marriage.”

“Not early. We’re planning to let you two marry soon.”

Li Jianguo’s single sentence made Xie Li raise an eyebrow while Li Tiantian’s eyes widened in shock.

“Really?”

Only Wang Cuihua looked completely unsurprised, clearly already aware of the situation. She nodded and said:

“If your father already said it, how could it be fake?”

Li Tiantian looked at Li Jianguo, then at Xie Li, then at Wang Cuihua, before covering her mouth and laughing foolishly in delight.

Xie Li looked at her helplessly yet fondly, patted her lightly on the back, then turned to Li Jianguo and asked:

“Although I’m also very happy we can get married sooner, I still want to ask, Father-in-law… did something happen for you to suddenly change your mind?”

“It’s about that family your cousin-in-law introduced before. Sigh…”

Back then, the neighboring village’s Sun family had wanted to arrange a marriage. Continue reading on HololoNovels dot com. They offered the Three Big Items plus one hundred yuan in bride price. Jia Xiaotao had specially come to mention it, and Wang Cuihua had even been tempted for a moment.

But by then Li Tiantian had already fallen for Xie Li and firmly refused, so the matter died there.

Unexpectedly, trouble later surfaced.

Only then did Wang Cuihua learn that the Sun family’s intended groom was not the eldest son, but the younger son.

The younger son was a fool. Everyone knew it.

Yet the Sun family still insisted on finding a normal girl to marry him, intending for the daughter-in-law to take care of their son for the rest of his life.

That explained why they offered such an enormous bride price yet still could not find a willing bride. They had to constantly search for matchmakers, even promising five yuan as a matchmaking fee if the marriage succeeded.

That was exactly why Jia Xiaotao had suddenly thought of Li Tiantian and hurried over to bring it up while freeloading a meal.

But that was not the main issue.

The real issue was that after searching for so long, the Sun family either could not find willing girls, or disliked the ones who were willing. In the end, they had set their sights on Li Tiantian and had recently even sent someone to formally propose to Li Jianguo.

“What?!”

Li Tiantian shot to her feet in shock, eyes wide open.

“They set their sights on me?!”

She was so angry she could barely speak. Pacing circles around the table with her hands on her hips like a furious little teapot, she muttered nonstop:

“Who do they think they are? Just because their family has connections, they think they can treat people however they want. I’m already engaged and they still have the nerve to propose. Shameless! Shameless!”

Xie Li was equally displeased, his expression darkening. But seeing Li Tiantian’s furious little performance instantly dispelled his irritation. His brows relaxed and he laughed.

“It’s alright. Father-in-law didn’t agree, did he?”

“I’m still angry even if he didn’t!” Li Tiantian grumbled resentfully.

Li Jianguo picked up a rib and chewed on it with satisfaction before sighing.

“That’s why I said you two should marry earlier. It’ll save a lot of trouble.”

The Sun family had relatives working in the county city, specifically in finance-related positions. Everyone had to give them some face. If this dragged on and they became fixated on Li Tiantian, trouble might arise.

It would be better to marry her off sooner.

Besides, a daughter was destined to leave home eventually. Li Tiantian’s heart was no longer here anyway, and they did not want to drag things out and risk the son-in-law changing his mind.

Li Tiantian froze for a moment before instantly turning from anger to joy.

“That’s right! Let’s get married earlier! Dad, what date do you think would be good for the wedding feast?”

“……”

Suddenly Li Jianguo could not even enjoy his meal anymore. He glanced at Li Tiantian while biting into a rib, feeling utterly heartbroken.

Even if he had agreed to let them marry early, did she really have to sound this impatient?

“Sigh… I’ll go ask Old Zhao to pick a date later.”

The more he thought about it, the more miserable he felt.

Only Wang Cuihua understood his mood. Suppressing her laughter, she punched him lightly in amusement.

…

In the end, the wedding date was set for before the summer harvest.

Xie Li moved out from the educated youth point and into the new house first. He invited villagers over to help decorate the home, then busied himself buying vegetables, rice, and supplies while preparing for the wedding banquet.

In the countryside, marriage was not judged by registration papers but by the wedding feast.

If a man and woman registered legally but never held a banquet, people would still gossip about them living together.

But if they held a banquet, even without registration, nobody would criticize them, even if children were born.

This was also why, during this era, many educated youths who married local villagers could later abandon their spouses and children once they received permission to return to the city.

Legally speaking, they were still considered unmarried. After returning home, they could simply marry again.

Only the people left behind in the countryside suffered, still waiting hopelessly for someone who would never return.

In the previous life, the original owner had been able to leave so easily precisely because they had never officially registered the marriage.

This time, however, Xie Li fully intended to register properly.

While preparing the banquet, he was already considering when he and Li Tiantian should go to the county city together afterward to obtain their marriage certificate.

Li Jianguo wandered over with his hands clasped behind his back.

“This afternoon, when you go pick up Tiantian, remember to circle around the whole village first. Right, is the ox cart ready?”

Xie Li nodded.

“Father-in-law, don’t worry. I already cleaned and refurbished the ox cart. It’ll definitely arrive on time this afternoon.”

Li Jianguo nodded in satisfaction and glanced around the bustling courtyard, where villagers helping with preparations were working enthusiastically. Not wanting to linger and become a nuisance, he waved his hand.

“Alright then. I’m heading back.”

With Xie Li’s parents absent, even he, the father-in-law, had to come supervise things personally.

Li Jianguo slowly wandered back home, thinking of his daughter’s joyful, expectant expression.

His heart softened completely.

He truly hoped these two young people would live happily together for the rest of their lives and never separate.

╰───♡───╯

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