When Li Yuanhua came to my home to propose marriage, my parents sighed repeatedly.
"The Li family is full of military generals. Lady Li passed away early, and there is no woman in the family. How can you adapt after you marry into their family?"
I was full of doubts.
"Father, Mother, doesn't the Li family have a daughter? Her name is quite nice. I think it's Li Qiyu?"
I remembered this name the first time I heard it. Qiyu, Qiyu. It sounds so poetic.
Unexpectedly, when my parents heard my words, they shook their heads even more vigorously. "The daughter of a military general is more boyish than a boy. This marriage won't do. It won't do."
My parents urged someone to call off the engagement quickly, but I stopped them. Every young girl in the boudoir has a hero dream. Every member of the Li family is a great hero. It's a great fortune for me to marry into such a family.
"Dear daughter, if you regret it in the future, don't come crying in front of your parents."
"Father, Mother, don't worry. Daughter will never regret it."
The Li family acted very quickly. In just a few days, the wedding was well - prepared. A sedan chair carried me from the Hua family to the Li family. It really lived up to the reputation of a military family's wedding. My ears were filled with the voices of men. Just from their voices, you could tell they were all big and strong men. They raised their wine glasses and drunkenly congratulated my husband, Li Yuanhua.
"General Li, congratulations on winning the beauty's heart!"
"Yeah, our young General Li is handsome and talented. His wife must be no ordinary woman."
"Don't talk nonsense. Our sister - in - law is not just an ordinary beauty. She is definitely a one - in - a - million beauty."
I couldn't stand all this teasing. My face turned bright red. I didn't even know how I got to the bridal chamber. Along the way, there was a short girl with a very loud voice who escorted me all the way.
"You all be careful. If you scare my sister - in - law, I'll hold you accountable."
I heard them call her the eldest miss. I guessed this was Li Qiyu, the apple of the Li family's eye.
This girl was really bold. She drove all the men out of the bridal chamber but stayed herself. Just as I was thinking about whether to say something, a small face suddenly appeared under my red veil.
To be honest, the girl was very good - looking. Although she hadn't fully grown up yet, you could already see the outline of a beauty. She would definitely have many suitors when she grew up.
However, from this angle, it was really scary.
Fortunately, she just took a quick look and then left quickly.
"Hehe, sorry, sister - in - law. I was just curious to see what you look like. Sister - in - law is really a one - in - a - million beauty as they said."
I'm not a vain person. I know very well what I look like. She was just trying to please me. However, the Li family members seem to be straightforward in everything they do. I was really at a loss when I first faced them. Li Qiyu, however, was very familiar with me. She plopped down beside me, put her arm around my shoulder and said, "Sister - in - law, don't worry. From now on, I'll protect you in the Li family!"
When Li Qiyu plopped down, all the peanuts on the bed were crushed by her.
At this time, Li Yuanhua's surprised cry came from the door.
"Li Qiyu, that's my wife. Let go of her!"
The siblings started to fight in the room in front of me. I suddenly became a bit curious about my future life.
It was so lively. Although it was really different from my life at home, but... it was quite interesting?
Just like this, on the surface, I was Li Yuanhua's wife and the eldest daughter - in - law of the Li family, but in fact, I was like the mistress of the Li family.
Since I married into the Li family, the men in the Li family have consciously left all the household affairs to me. It was only after I married in that I realized how messy this family was.
Yes, it was a family full of men.
On the third day after I got married, I deeply understood what my father meant when he said that the daughter of a military general was more boyish than a boy.
The Li family really embodied the saying that men are not good at running a household.
All the clothes in the family were in black or gray, and the young miss's clothes were no exception. According to Li Qiyu herself, it was because they had to practice martial arts and shoot guns, and often rolled around in the mud, so they couldn't wear light - colored clothes. Black was the safest color. Even if it couldn't be washed clean, no one could tell.
Hearing this, I was really speechless. "Who wears clothes just to roll around in the mud!"
Li Qiyu, however, had her own justifications. "Not entirely. There are many activities in our military camp, like archery and pot - throwing. Oh, and when we go to war, we also wear black. You can't see the bloodstains. It's just so cool!"
"..."
It wasn't just the clothes. The way the Li family ate was also quite strange. The house was full of meat, and a lot of it had gone moldy. At first, I thought the Li family usually ate in the military camp and not at home. When I asked the servants to throw away the moldy meat and vegetables and have new ones delivered, the butchers actually sent ten pigs to the Li family, and most of them had the best cuts like streaky pork removed.
It was obvious that they had been taken advantage of.
But none of the Li family members thought there was anything wrong. Li Qiyu looked innocent. "We have a big family. Buying more can save us trouble. Besides, isn't it all pork? Does it really matter which part it is?"
Finally, I cooked a meal for them myself. Only then did they understand the difference between streaky pork and other kinds of meat.
However, the after - effect was that I spoiled the appetites of the whole Li family. Later, when they went on a military campaign, they even asked me to cook special meals for them. They took me to the battlefield simply because they thought I cooked deliciously.
I never expected that my presence in the Li family would be reflected in this way.
Although the Li family seemed wasteful in some ways, they were really frugal. There were no antiques or calligraphy and paintings in the house. All you could see were weapon racks. Even the eldest miss, Li Qiyu, had very few pieces of jewelry. Her room was full of weapons instead.
Later, I learned that in order to decorate my room, the three men in the family, the old and the young, squatted on the threshold of my room and discussed for a long time about how to decorate it.
Finally, they thought that to make the room more feminine, they should hang pink silk curtains. So there were curtains everywhere in my room. I was afraid of tripping over them, and I really couldn't stand this strange color combination. So I took them down not long after I got married.
Of course, these were just minor things. After all, these were all things of little value. The Li family was willing to spend money on weapons, but they tried to save money everywhere else. Even my father - in - law, the old General Li, still happily wore his court robe even though it was worn out.
The messiest part of the Li family was...