Chapter 330: One Heaven, One Earth
In the blink of an eye, it was early morning of the next day.

Luo Guofu, who had slept in the gatehouse of the courtyard house for the whole night, was woken up by Yao Meilan before dawn.

Afterwards, he had just finished washing up when Yao Meilan stuffed a large piece of pork and several bags of candy and snacks into his hands.

Then he stuffed another 50 yuan into Yao Meilan's pocket.

These things and money were prepared by Li Dawei and Yao Meilan for Luo Guofu, so that he could take them to the countryside to pick up his bride, Zhao Qiuyan.

After all this ordeal, Luo Guofu finally came to his senses. He hurriedly put on a big red hydrangea and rode his bicycle to Zhao Qiuyan's home.

After he left, Yao Meilan looked up at the gray sky, then looked at the room where Li Guoqiang and Luo Huijuan were, hesitated for a moment, and ultimately did not go and wake them up.

Because she believed that Li Guoqiang and Luo Huijuan were both reliable people and there was no need for her to urge them.

Soon, she turned and walked towards the kitchen to prepare some breakfast for everyone.

As a result, as soon as she walked into the kitchen, she was stunned by the piles of various ingredients.

Among them, there were not only seven or eight golden and fat carps, a dozen large pig trotters, a large fan of ribs, a large piece of pork belly, ten large capons, ten large white ducks, five big-headed geese, a piece of tender beef, a leg of lamb, big crabs as big as fists, big shrimps as thick as thumbs, but also a variety of vegetables, fruits and melons.

Just by taking a quick look, she knew that these things would cost at least four or five hundred yuan.

According to their plan to set up seven or eight tables, the cost of each table would be seventy or eighty yuan, which is almost as much as Luo Guofu's three or four months salary.

To be honest, Yao Meilan is indeed happy right now, but she is also a little nervous.

After all, their family is not a royal family, and setting up such a sumptuous banquet all of a sudden would easily lead to some criticism.

However, she then remembered that a person only gets married once in their lifetime, and this man is her own son. It would be a bit unreasonable if she didn't make the ceremony more grand.

At worst, she could just say that she borrowed money from someone and asked someone to buy the things for her.

Anyway, they are not the only family who borrows money and tickets for their children’s wedding just to make it look decent.

What's more, their family also invited Song Guochang, the executive deputy mayor of Dongcheng District, to come to the banquet. It is highly unlikely that someone would be so stubborn as to deliberately cause trouble for their family.

Thinking of this, Yao Meilan slowly relaxed, and then she hurriedly opened the rice jar, scooped out a large bowl of white flour, and prepared to make a pot of delicious and spicy dumpling soup.

By the way, you can also steam some buns or something, which will be delicious and filling.

Just when the old couple were busy and having fun, Li Guoqiang, Luo Huijuan and others also woke up from their sleep one after another.

After waking up, Luo Huijuan saw that it was already light outside, and she couldn't help but put on her clothes and ran out in a hurry, which made Li Guoqiang laugh.

In fact, Luo Huijuan could have gotten up earlier, but last night, seeing that Li Guoqiang had no one to accompany him, she felt a little reluctant, and she was also a little greedy, so she did a little bit of it.

However, this process lasted until midnight, and she ended up oversleeping.

Fortunately, it was not too late. When she finished washing up, she happened to meet Shen Fengxia and Shang Xiuzhen walking in from outside the yard. They were holding some gifts from their homes. It was obvious that they had already dealt with their parents.

Immediately afterwards, Xu Yuying, Wu Zhaodi and others also came out of the house, and followed Luo Huijuan to start preparing for the lunch banquet.

Just as they had set up the tea table in the courtyard, Li Guoqiang also went to the courtyard and invited the three big guys Yi Zhonghai, Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong, as well as the chef Sha Zhu, to come.

Seeing this, Li Dawei hurried forward and enthusiastically invited Yi Zhonghai, Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong to sit down at the tea table. Then, while drinking tea, they discussed the wedding process.

As for Sha Zhu, he let Li Guoqiang lead him directly into the kitchen, pointed at the large pile of ingredients, and said with a smile: "Look, the ingredients are all here, you can decide what dish to make!"

"Got it!"

When Sha Zhu saw the dazzling array of ingredients, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he nodded quickly and agreed.

For a chef like him, seeing good ingredients is like a wolf seeing meat. Especially for someone like Li Guoqiang, who has no restrictions on dishes and portions and is allowed to perform on his own, this opportunity would rarely come across in a year in the past.

What's more, after Li Guoqiang finished speaking, he immediately handed him some good cigarettes and tea, which made him full of energy.

Then, just as he was about to open the menu, he suddenly heard Luo Huijuan shouting outside the kitchen, saying that someone was looking for him.

He walked out and saw that the person who came was none other than Liu Lan, who had told him that she would come to help in the kitchen.

So, without any formalities, he called Liu Lan into the kitchen.

When Liu Lan walked into the kitchen and saw the pile of delicious ingredients, she was shocked on the spot. Then she hurriedly pulled Sha Zhu to ask about the situation at Li Guoqiang's home.

Originally, she just wanted to introduce Li Guoqiang to Li Huaide's wife so that she could continue to get benefits from Li Huaide. She never thought that Li Guoqiang's family would have such strong power.

If she could establish a relationship with Li Guoqiang, wouldn't that be better than her trying her best to plot against Li Guoqiang?

At this moment, for some reason, the phrase "old cows eat young grass" that Sha Zhu had said to her yesterday suddenly came to her mind.

Especially when she learned from Sha Zhu that Li Guoqiang had achieved a series of brilliant results in just over half a year, her heart began to pound.

However, her thoughts were soon shattered by the young and beautiful girls in Li Guoqiang's family.

Although she was indeed pretty and had managed to hook Li Huaide, she really didn't have the confidence that she could hook Li Guoqiang among so many beautiful girls.

In desperation, she could only vent her depressed emotions at work, chopping chickens, ducks and geese with a knife. It made people feel a little creepy. I wonder what's wrong with her?
Seeing this, Luo Huijuan hurriedly handed Liu Lan some tea, which calmed Liu Lan's mood a little. She was no longer anxious and worried about being abandoned by Li Huaide.

Not long after, the first aunt, the second aunt and the third aunt, together with the unemployed aunts and young wives in their courtyards, moved the tables, chairs, benches and other items in their homes to the gatehouse of Lao Li's house and arranged them from the kitchen door to the gatehouse.

That scene looked much grander than when Li Guoqiang and Luo Huijuan got married.

Seeing this, Li Dawei couldn't help but say to Yao Meilan, "Look, take a good look at yourself. I told you that Qiangzi and Xiaojuan wouldn't mistreat Xiaofu!" "That's enough!"

Upon hearing this, Yao Meilan immediately rolled her eyes, and then said unhappily, "I have already admitted my mistake to you before, and you are still telling me this now, is it interesting?"

After saying that, she turned her head and looked at the entire South Courtyard. The lively scene made her smile uncontrollably.

In fact, she originally just thought that as long as it was not much different from the marriage between Li Guoqiang and Luo Huijuan, it would be fine.

As a result, she didn't expect that Li Guoqiang would be so willing to hold Luo Guofu's wedding, which was even more grand than the one he and Luo Huijuan had, which made her feel a little guilty.

If she had known this would happen, why would she have done so much?
Fortunately, the previous misunderstandings have been cleared up, otherwise she would have to slap herself a few times.

Just as she was silently planning to help take care of her daughters-in-law, Luo Huijuan, Shen Fengxia and others in the future, the invited guests arrived one after another.

Among them, in addition to their few relatives, there were also colleagues, friends and neighbors. The most important guests were Song Guochang and Wu Cai'e.

When Li Dawei introduced Song Guochang's identity to the guests, it instantly caused a burst of warm applause, and also made many people look at the Li family with a new respect.

After all, most of them are just ordinary people. The people they come into contact with most on a daily basis are the workshop directors and some cadres from the streets and neighborhood committees. They rarely have the opportunity to meet with district leaders.

As for the Li family, now that they have such a relative, even a fool can tell that the Li family has become different from before.

Soon, Song Guochang and Wu Cai'e were led by Li Dawei to the main table and sat down.

Upon seeing this, Liu Haizhong immediately approached with a shameless face and tried to get close to Song Guochang, hoping to gain Song Guochang's appreciation and give him a position.

In comparison, Yi Zhonghai and Yan Bugui seemed much calmer. They just smiled and greeted the couple and did not move forward any further.

Apart from the fact that they cannot let go of their face, the main reason is that they are not as keen on being an official as Liu Haizhong.

Soon, as guests kept arriving, time slowly passed and it was past 10 o'clock in the afternoon. It had also been four or five hours since Luo Guofu went to the countryside to pick up Zhao Qiuyan.

Seeing that the time was almost up, Li Guoqiang hurriedly found Qin Huairu, wanting her to help take people to the gate of the courtyard to welcome the bride.

When Qin Huairu heard this, she immediately rolled her eyes at Li Guoqiang. Then she did not refuse. She hurriedly pulled a few young wives in the yard, holding a bowl of peanuts, melon seeds, candies and so on, and walked towards the gate of the yard.

According to the rules, the people who welcome the bride cannot be family members. They have to ask neighbors or elders who are more capable of handling things to help with the process.

Therefore, what Li Guoqiang did was equivalent to not treating Qin Huairu as his own family.

This naturally made Qin Huairu, who had eaten meat several times before, feel a little indignant.

However, she was worried that if she angered Li Guoqiang, she would not be able to eat meat in the future, so she did not dare to refuse.

Just when she was thinking about whether she could ask Li Guoqiang to give her some more delicious dishes to take home after the banquet, she suddenly heard cheers in her ears.

"The bride is here!"

"The bride is here!"

"Hurry, get someone to light the firecrackers!"

Qin Huairu came back to her senses and immediately shouted anxiously to the young wives next to her. Then she grabbed peanuts, melon seeds and candies and scattered them around while turning her head to look towards the entrance of the alley.

Luo Guofu was seen wearing a big red flower, riding a bicycle, carrying a girl in a long skirt. The girl's face was covered with a layer of powder, making her look very young and fashionable.

Behind Luo Guofu's bicycle, there was a donkey cart filled with gossipy people wearing patched clothes.

Seeing this scene, Qin Huairu immediately remembered that when she married Jia Dongxu, she came here on the donkey cart of the team.

However, she didn't have such a grand ceremony at that time. She just asked an aunt to help lead her into the Jia family's house, and then simply set up a few tables for a banquet in the middle courtyard.

In comparison, they are like heaven and earth.

Afterwards, seeing that Luo Guofu had arrived with the bride, Qin Huairu had no time to feel sorry for herself anymore and quickly signaled to Yan Jiecheng, who was ready at the side, to light the firecrackers.

Amid the crackling sound of firecrackers, the naughty children who were watching and scrambling for the wedding candies jumped up and down, covering their ears, and the atmosphere suddenly became festive.

After the firecrackers were finished, Qin Huairu immediately walked forward with a smile, led the bride into the yard, and went straight to the bridal chamber.

At the same time, she did not forget to ask the young wives in the courtyard to help receive the gossips from the aunts and uncles who came to see her off, so as to avoid gossip.

Then, she followed the rules and scattered peanuts, melon seeds, red dates and other things on the bed in the new house, implying the early birth of a son.

After completing the process, she asked the young wives to stay in the house and talk to the bride, and then she went back to the gate of the courtyard and scattered some wedding candies to the naughty children, making them shout with joy.

Then she went back to the courtyard, invited those gossipy ladies to have tea, and put everything in order so that no one could find fault with it.

Upon seeing this, Li Guoqiang nodded with great satisfaction, and then directly gave Qin Huairu a big red envelope of ten yuan, which immediately made her very happy.

At the same time, this also allowed her to roughly understand Li Guoqiang's temper and know how to get along with Li Guoqiang better in the future.

If time and place did not allow it, she would probably want to help Li Guoqiang wash his hair.

Not long after, Sha Zhu suddenly walked out of the kitchen, leaned close to Li Dawei's ear and whispered something.

Upon hearing this, Li Dawei immediately asked Luo Guofu to bring out the bride and prepare for the wedding ceremony. He also invited Song Guochang to be the witness.

Those gossipy ladies were already shocked by the lively scene, and then when they heard that the Li family had actually invited a senior leader to be the witness, they were all a little numb.

(End of this chapter)