“You—you’re driving me crazy…”
“Old Song, don’t blame our son. It’s that Bai family’s greed. I’ve always said that if we were going to find in-laws, we should find honest, respectable people. That Bai Xiaoniu is just a lousy cook. His family has no sons—it’s a dead end. It’s better that we didn’t become in-laws with people like that. Otherwise, they’d drag us down and we’d end up without heirs too.”
“You talk like it’s so easy. Guo Ping is being watched right now. If it weren’t for my good relationship with Old Xu, and the fact that Bai Xiaoniu is close with Old Xu, do you think that family would have agreed so easily?”
Thinking about how this perfectly good marriage arrangement had fallen apart, Factory Director Song felt a wave of frustration.
His son had grown into an outstanding young man without ever giving him any worry. But he had stumbled when it came to matters of the heart. That Liu girl wasn’t bad herself, but her family had overseas connections—and someone had exposed it. A family like that was untouchable. If they got involved, his son would have no future to speak of.
He had only one son. How could he stand by and watch him walk into a trap?
The Old Bai family had been carefully chosen. Bai Xiaoniu might be a cook from the countryside, but his income wasn’t low. The family owned three main rooms and had no sons—only four daughters. His son would be able to get a piece of that house in the future.
The eldest daughter’s in-laws were employees of their factory. A family like that had a clean background, was easy to handle, and wouldn’t cause his son any trouble.
If it weren’t for his good relationship with Old Xu, the restaurant manager, and the fact that he often ate at that restaurant and had some acquaintance with Bai Xiaoniu, plus Old Xu’s help in mediating—and the timing of Bai’s youngest daughter facing graduation and the threat of being sent to the countryside—this marriage arrangement might not have even been possible.
At this critical, delicate moment, a family like this was the most suitable. But his son had let someone get a hold over him.
Thinking of this, Factory Director Song gritted his teeth in hatred and silently cursed the people who had been watching his family.
“Then… about the Bai family wanting a job…”
Song Guoping knew this was his fault. But he couldn’t let anyone drag Liu Xiuya into this. The Bai family just wanted a job—his father could arrange that. Once they had the job, they probably wouldn’t cause any more trouble. After all, the eldest Bai daughter and her entire family were employees of the factory.
His son’s words made the factory director’s wife so angry she stamped her feet. She muttered and grumbled nonstop, cursing that young Bai daughter under her breath.
It was right around then that Old Man Bai arrived. On his way over, he had already made up his mind. Since his youngest daughter’s job was settled, he wouldn’t make a big deal out of the rest. Even about the restaurant manager’s mediation, he had a plan. He would take this opportunity to make Old Xu owe him a favor.
That night, Old Man Bai stayed at the Song household for over half an hour. Once everything was settled, he left under the unpleasant gazes of the Song family. The next morning, he didn’t even eat breakfast. He just left his youngest daughter a note saying “Don’t go out today” and hurried out the door.
—
Bai Lan, who stayed home, didn’t idle either. She called Qin Yan and Da Tou over to say she wanted to treat them to a meal in the next couple of days to thank everyone who had helped with this matter.
“I heard one of your buddies helped out too. Why not invite him over for the meal?”
Bai Lan knew that the main reason this matter had been resolved so quickly was because Da Tou had used his connections to dig up information.
Da Tou waved his hands repeatedly when he heard this. “It’s nothing. That buddy of mine is busy lately. He probably won’t have time to come eat.”
Bai Lan felt a bit disappointed but didn’t press further. She knew Da Tou had loved running around outside since he was a kid. He knew tons of people. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have asked him to help dig up information this time.
“Once the marriage arrangement is settled, we’ll have more time. Yan Zi, about your job situation…”
“What? The marriage arrangement is off?”
Before Bai Lan could finish speaking, a sharp, piercing voice suddenly rang out behind them. The owner of the voice was clearly very agitated—her tone had gone completely shrill.
The three of them couldn’t help but cover their ears and turn around in unison.
“Auntie Hu…” Da Tou started to roll his eyes when he saw it was Hu, the widow who lived in the east wing.
But Widow Hu didn’t want to deal with Da Tou right now. She scurried over to Bai Lan in two swift moves and reached out to grab her by the shoulders.
Bai Lan had been on guard ever since she spotted Widow Hu. Seeing the woman reach for her, she immediately stepped back two paces. She silently groaned. The three of them had been talking under the eaves of her own home. They had thought that at this hour, most people in the courtyard were out buying vegetables. So they hadn’t been very careful about who might overhear.
Who knew where Widow Hu had been hiding? But she had managed to eavesdrop on their conversation.
Widow Hu wasn’t happy about Bai Lan stepping back. But she had finally caught wind of the Bai family’s weak spot. She wasn’t about to let it go easily.
“Xiao Lan! I heard you got dumped by the factory director’s son?”
Bai Lan’s mouth twitched when she heard this. The three of them had been talking, and at no point had they used the words “got dumped.” They had only said the marriage arrangement wasn’t going to happen. But this woman had the nerve to twist the facts right in front of them. However, Bai Lan knew from memory that Widow Hu was a gossip who couldn’t stand peace and quiet.
Ignoring her, Bai Lan said to Qin Yan and Da Tou, “We’ll talk about the meal later. I’m going home first.”
With that, Bai Lan quickly ran inside and slammed the door shut.
She really couldn’t be bothered to argue with someone like Widow Hu. Unfortunately, her mother had happened to go out grocery shopping.
—
Mother Bai was happily walking home with her basket when someone grabbed her arm just as she entered the alley.
“Ai Hong, I heard your Xiao Lan’s marriage arrangement with the steel factory director’s son fell through?”
Mother Bai He Aihong looked at the speaker in surprise. “Da Ju, who did you hear that from?”
Miao Daju quickly pulled Mother Bai aside. “Who else but that gossip Widow Hu? She was shouting about it in the back courtyard first thing this morning. Then people from the front courtyard came over to ask. After that, the whole alley knew. I bet people in the next alley over know by now too.”
As soon as she heard the name Widow Hu, Mother Bai couldn’t help but take a deep breath.
In their shared courtyard, the one who caused the most trouble was definitely Widow Hu. But the woman was difficult to deal with. Back when her husband was alive, he had been the warehouse keeper at the textile factory. One night during his shift, he had been smoking, and he not only burned down the entire warehouse full of goods—he burned himself up along with it.
Normally, when something like this happened, the factory would consider itself lucky just not to have to deal with the family. But with Widow Hu, it was different. This woman caused a ruckus for over a month and managed to extort a compensation payment from the factory. She also secured a job at the factory for her eldest son.
More than half of the households in their No. 3 shared courtyard owned property under the textile factory, and most of the people living there also worked at the textile factory. So everyone knew exactly what had happened with Widow Hu’s family.
If the factory couldn’t handle someone like her, then the neighbors mostly avoided her too.
Miao Daju had no idea what Mother Bai was thinking. When she saw her take a deep breath, she chimed in, “If you ask me, just give her a couple of slaps across the face and the world will be peaceful again. But Aihong, is it true? That steel factory director’s son was such a good match! How did it fall through? I heard it was about to be finalized?”
Mother Bai immediately shook her head and quickly repeated the story the two families had agreed on. “That was all a rumor. Someone saw Factory Director Song eating at the restaurant, and my husband happened to come out and talk to him. Who knows who had too much to drink and misheard, but they started spreading the story that our families were becoming in-laws. Before this, people were just gossiping privately, so we didn’t want to say too much and look like we were flattering ourselves.”
Miao Daju knew something was off as soon as she heard this. But it was a family matter, and it wouldn’t be right to pry.
So while Widow Hu was going around saying the Bai daughter had been dumped, another version of the story began circulating among the neighbors.
The idle aunties in the alley heard both versions and each had their own opinion. But everyone agreed on one thing: the Bai family had really missed out by losing a match with the factory director’s family.
—
“Oh, Aihong, your family really took a loss. You finally got a match like that—why didn’t you lock it down quickly? If you had set it in stone and exchanged the formal gifts, you wouldn’t have to worry about him running off.”
Auntie Qin, who lived in the small side room next to the Bai family, saw Mother Bai come back and couldn’t help but pull her aside to express her regret.
Several other older aunties in the back courtyard, who were watching children or doing chores, also gathered around. Miao Daju had been about to head to the sink to do laundry. Seeing this, she simply carried her washbasin over and joined them. She wasn’t there to watch the drama—she just wanted to help smooth things over if anyone said something nasty.
Old Lady Wang, who lived in the small side room to the right of the Bai family, also spoke up. “It is a bit of a shame. I hear that young man is quite decent. But this matter hasn’t even taken shape yet. Since it didn’t work out, let’s stop discussing it. Xiao Lan grew up right in front of us. Just because outsiders make a fuss over nothing doesn’t mean we elders should join in mindlessly.”
Old Lady Wang was the oldest person in the shared courtyard. When she spoke, the other aunties kept their mouths in check.
Another elder, Auntie Qian, chimed in as well. “That’s right, that’s right. It’s fine if outsiders spread rumors. But all of us are Xiao Lan’s elders. We can’t just join in mindlessly.”
For a moment, the atmosphere in the back courtyard became quite harmonious.
—
Bai Lan was shelling peanuts in the main hall when she heard these conversations. She couldn’t help but smile. At least these people had some sense and weren’t saying anything too nasty.
But her smile had barely appeared when Widow Hu’s grating voice rang out in the courtyard. The woman had brought two older aunties from the alley with her.
“Oh, we don’t want to gossip. We’re just concerned about the younger generation. There are so many young, marriageable men and women in our courtyard. Xiao Lan finally found a good match, but now it turns out it was all fake. Everyone can’t help but feel disappointed. Aihong, we’re all old neighbors here. Just tell us straight—was that marriage arrangement really just a rumor from start to finish?”
As soon as she said this, the two women who had come with Widow Hu immediately chimed in. “Exactly! Such a good match—the son of the steel factory director! After I heard about it, I even told my daughter to learn from your Xiao Lan. Who knew…”
“Oh, such a good young man. Who knows who he’ll end up with!”
“I wonder if Xiao Lan will ever find such a good young man again…”
Bai Lan curled her lip when she heard this. She thought to herself: A man with three legs is hard to find, but men with two legs are everywhere. What was so great about Song Guoping? A truly good young man wouldn’t go looking for another girl to marry while he already had someone in his heart.
Mother Bai snorted coldly in response to all this blabbering. “If you think he’s such a good young man, why don’t the three of you go propose to him yourselves? You all know where the steel factory is, right? If not, my husband can show you the way…”
The whole courtyard burst into laughter.
The two aunties’ faces turned bright red with embarrassment. But Widow Hu had thick skin. She wasn’t bothered by the sarcasm at all. Instead, she smirked and looked ready to keep going.
—
But suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps came from the front courtyard.
Then everyone saw Bai Xiaoniu, the head of the Bai family, rush in excitedly, clutching a document.
Bai Lan jumped up and ran to the door. The moment she saw her father’s expression, she knew it was done.
Sure enough, Bai Xiaoniu announced loudly, “Daughter, let’s go. Come with me to the factory to complete the paperwork!”
The crowd gathered at the Bai family’s door looked at each other in bewilderment. Then someone called out, “Aihong’s husband, what’s going on?”
Father Bai’s face was glowing as he said loudly, “Good news, good news.”
Someone who could read had already spotted the big red characters on the document that read “North City No. 1 Textile Factory.” They immediately realized this was a document issued by the factory.
Bai Xiaoniu didn’t keep them in suspense. He said with a smile that this was issued by the factory administration—it was an admission letter. It admitted his youngest daughter, Bai Lan, to work as a pastry chef in the textile factory’s canteen.
When everyone heard it was a job, their eyes went wide. Even Widow Hu, the gossiping busybody, was too stunned to speak. She couldn’t figure it out. How had the Bai family’s situation turned around like this in just one morning? Hadn’t she been dumped by the factory director’s son? Even though the Bai family was stubbornly denying it, who didn’t know that was just a face-saving excuse for a good match that had fallen through? But who would have thought—the good match was gone, but they had landed a great job instead!
A job in the canteen. Not washing vegetables or doing odd jobs, but a proper pastry chef position. Not only would she never go hungry working there, but there would also be plenty of white flour and meat.
How was the Old Bai family this lucky? Not only was Bai Xiaoniu a head chef at a state-owned restaurant, but now his youngest daughter, Bai Lan, was also going to work in a big canteen. The other three Bai daughters all had good jobs too.
Heaven really had no eyes!
Bai Lan had no idea about Widow Hu’s sour thoughts. The moment her father called, she quickly gathered her documents and followed him to the textile factory.
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