Bai Lan’s eldest sister, Comrade Bai Lian, was 25 years old. Currently, she worked as a cadre in the Women’s Federation at the steel mill. Her husband, Qin Shengli, 26, was a salesman at the same steel mill. The couple had two daughters: Qin Shufen, six years old, and Qin Shufang, four.
In Bai Lan’s memory, her eldest sister had a personality that fit the traditional mold of a virtuous, dutiful woman. Such an eldest sister married a steel mill salesman and, through his family, secured a job at the steel mill. In many people’s eyes, the eldest sister’s life was quite successful.
So when the eldest sister showed up at the courtyard with her children late that evening, any neighbors who hadn’t yet gone inside to sleep reacted first by thinking that the eldest Bai daughter was just returning to her parents’ home a bit late. It wasn’t very safe to come this late with children. Only after that did they start wondering why Bai Lian had come home.
Of course, that was what outsiders thought. For the Bai family, everyone’s heart just sank.
“It’s nearly nine o’clock. Why are you coming home with the children at this hour?” When Mother Bai saw her eldest daughter, her first reaction was to pull her inside. Of course, she didn’t forget to signal to Father Bai with her eyes, indicating that he should bring the two granddaughters inside as well.
Bai Lan watched her eldest sister and two nieces from the side, observing their expressions. After they had all gone inside, she got ready to close the door. But before closing it, she noticed several neighbors in the back courtyard still peering toward their house. Clearly, they were all curious about why the eldest Bai sister had come so late at night.
Ignoring these glances, Bai Lan shut the door directly.
——
“What are you looking at, Mom?”
A feeble voice sounded behind the widow Hu. Upon hearing it, the gloating expression on her face didn’t fade at all.
“Watching the Bai family’s misfortune! Hmph, a married daughter bringing her children home late at night. Nothing good ever comes of that.”
Hu Aimin looked at his mother impatiently. “Mom, if you have time, just find me a girlfriend already. What’s the point of gawking at other families’ problems every day? And today—Xu Laoda’s wife was causing trouble. Why did you have to stir yourself into it? You just made me look bad for no reason.”
That’s right—Hu Aimin was blaming his mother for embarrassing him. As for her stirring up trouble, he didn’t really care about that. The prerequisite was that she not embarrass him. Hadn’t he seen how all the young men and women his age in the courtyard looked down on him? Hmph, it was because his father had died young. Having a man in the house really made a difference.
Look at Datou—his father had been bedridden for nearly twenty years. And still, no one dared to bully him.
At the end of the day, the courtyard residents only bullied him because he didn’t have a father. And it was because he didn’t have a father that he was still twenty years old with no girlfriend.
Hearing her son’s complaints, the widow Hu lowered her voice repeatedly and said, “Alright, alright, Mom will find you a girlfriend, find you a girlfriend. I already have a prospect—we’ll have news in a few days.”
The wife of the Wan family, who lived next door to the Hu family, had been straining her ears listening to the widow Hu’s rambling. In her opinion, the eldest Bai daughter coming home late at night meant something had definitely happened. But no matter what it was, just from how Uncle Bai and Aunt Bai had acted, it was clear that their daughter was welcome back home.
——
The Bai family didn’t know about the complicated thoughts going through the neighbors’ heads. Right now, everyone was staring at the mother and two daughters sitting by the eight-sided table in the main hall. Their feelings were complicated.
Mother Bai forced a smile. “I was just saying I’d bring you some pork tomorrow—I didn’t expect you to come back today. Have you eaten? Do you want something?”
Hearing this, before Bai Lian could respond, six-year-old Qin Shufen was already clutching her stomach and calling out, “Grandma, hungry.” Four-year-old Qin Shufang followed suit, nodding vigorously and chanting, “Hungry, hungry, hungry…”
Hearing this, Mother Bai immediately stood up to go make something for the children to eat. Seeing this, Bai Lan and Bai Li said directly, “Mom, Dad, you two talk first. Sister and I will go to the kitchen and make the girls some egg noodles.”
Bai Lian saw her sister stand up and immediately wanted to refuse. But seeing her two daughters’ eager expressions, she quickly stopped herself.
Pulling her second sister out of the room, Bai Lan couldn’t help but frown. What exactly had happened to her eldest sister? Why was she bringing the children home at this hour? If she remembered correctly, in this era, if a married woman brought her children to her parents’ home late at night, nine times out of ten, she had a conflict with her in-laws.
Just that day, she’d heard Xu Jianbei mention the eldest sister eating at the cafeteria. At the time, she’d suspected the Song family might be behind it. But now that the eldest sister had suddenly come home like this, it was more likely that she’d had a conflict with her in-laws.
A conflict serious enough to bring the children to her parents’ home late at night.
“Something must have happened. Otherwise, our eldest sister wouldn’t act like this.” Bai Li poked at the coal stove, watching the flames rise, and said quietly.
By now, there was hardly anyone left in the courtyard. The two sisters talked as they started cooking the noodles.
…
Inside the room, Father Bai and Mother Bai had already started asking, one after another, what exactly had happened to Eldest Sister Bai. But Eldest Sister Bai only shook her head, saying nothing had happened—she’d just had a small disagreement with Qin Shengli.
Having a disagreement and then bringing the children to her parents’ home late at night—no matter how you looked at it, it didn’t add up. Bai Lan’s parents simply didn’t believe their eldest daughter would be so willful.
Mother Bai said even more directly, “If you won’t tell us, I’ll go ask Qin Shengli myself tomorrow.”
“Mom, don’t get involved for now. I just want to live at home for a couple of days and have some peace.”
Hearing her daughter say this, Mother Bai didn’t dare act on her own. But she still said, “Living at home is fine. Didn’t Xu Jiannan in the west wing just get married today? Your father got a portion of pork—tomorrow I’ll make you all some braised pork.”
The two little girls, who had been clutching their stomachs the whole time, immediately cheered when they heard there would be braised pork the next day.
Even Bai Lan, cooking noodles outside, couldn’t help but laugh when she heard the cheering.
There were still neighbors nearby straining their ears to hear what was happening at the Bai household. Hearing the children’s happy sounds, they felt Eldest Sister Bai probably wasn’t in any serious trouble. Otherwise, the children wouldn’t be laughing and carrying on.
Of course, the widow Hu, who had just been complained to by her son, curled her lip when she heard the children’s voices.
—
That night, after eating their noodles, Eldest Sister Bai and her two daughters settled down to sleep in her old room.
Each of the Bai sisters had half a main room. Even after marriage, the rooms were still kept for them. Eldest Sister Bai, with her two young daughters, naturally had enough space for all of them to sleep.
The next morning, Bai Lan wanted to ask her mother about what was going on with her eldest sister. But before she could, Qin Yan’s voice rang out from the courtyard. Bai Lan had no choice but to grab two steamed buns and head out.
The reason for going out that day was simple: she was going to school to pick up her graduation certificate. After picking it up, she had three more days before she needed to report for work at the textile factory’s main canteen.
When Bai Lan reached the front courtyard with Qin Yan, Datou also came out and joined them. Along the way, the three of them chatted about Xu Jiannan’s wedding the day before. Of course, Bai Lan didn’t miss the curious looks Qin Yan kept throwing her way. Without even asking, she knew they also wanted to ask why Eldest Sister Bai had come home with her children.
Bai Lan pretended not to notice. Even if they asked her, she wouldn’t know. The people who really knew were probably her eldest sister’s in-laws. Even Xu Jianbei, who had passed along the tip about the cafeteria, probably didn’t know the full story.
Datou sensed that the atmosphere was a bit off. He cleared his throat twice and said, “Beige came to the courtyard yesterday. He wants to treat the three of us to a meal together this weekend. Do you two have time to go?”
It was Monday, so the weekend was still six days away. Hearing this invitation, Bai Lan’s first reaction was: why didn’t Xu Jianbei just ask her himself yesterday? But immediately, she thought back to the situation yesterday. He probably had wanted to ask her. But then his sister-in-law had caused that scene, and afterward, it was probably hard for him to bring it up.
Bai Lan’s guess was spot on. In fact, it was precisely because of Su Xiaomei’s antics that Xu Jianbei had to change his plans to ask her out to eat.
“I have time—why wouldn’t I have time?” Qin Yan happily responded, tugging at Bai Lan’s arm as she spoke.
Bai Lan nodded. “Sure. I’m free on the weekend. Oh, speaking of which, Yanzi—about your job, did Uncle Qin talk to my dad?”
—
Previously, because of the engagement to the Song family, there had been some connection with Manager Xu of the restaurant. Father Bai had asked him for a temporary job. Of course, it wasn’t at the Fourth Restaurant where Father Bai worked, but at the recycling station on the main road off the alley.
The job wasn’t prestigious, and it was only temporary. Bai Lan had told Qin Yan to go home and discuss it with her parents. If they wanted the temporary job, they could talk to Father Bai about how to arrange things.
Hearing this, Qin Yan said, “My parents and grandparents couldn’t find me a job. A recycling station is fine. I’ll be picking through trash, Lanlan—you won’t look down on me, will you?”
“You at least have trash to pick through. I don’t even know what’s happening with me yet.” Datou suddenly laughed bitterly, mocking himself.
The Ning family’s situation was complicated. Datou was an only child. Not long after he was born, his father was crushed by a storage rack in the factory warehouse. He was in the hospital for a long time and ended up paralyzed.
Although the factory provided disability benefits, and Datou’s mother had taken over his father’s job, a paralyzed person required expensive medicine every month. So even though Datou’s family had only one child, their finances were the tightest in the entire courtyard.
The factory didn’t owe the Ning family anything. It wouldn’t be reasonable to directly give Datou a job.
At this, Qin Yan sighed. “If only your mother were as good at stirring up trouble as the widow Hu.”
The widow Hu’s husband had burned down the factory warehouse while smoking. He lost his life, but it was his own fault. Yet the widow Hu not only secured compensation but also got her son, Hu Aimin, a job as an electrician. Qin Yan’s own brother, Qin Tang, was also an electrician at the textile factory, and he knew very well that Hu Aimin wasn’t particularly skilled.
At the mention of Hu Aimin’s name, Datou curled his lip. The girls might not know, but among the young men in their alley and the surrounding ones, few had any respect for Hu Aimin. With his attitude, if his mother weren’t so good at causing trouble, there was no way he’d have the job he had now.
—
Chatting as they walked, the three soon arrived at school. Bai Lan looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar school and classmates, feeling deeply emotional.
Half of her classmates had gloomy expressions—all of them were being sent to the countryside. Some looked very relaxed—those already had jobs. And still others were inviting classmates to their weddings.
All from the same class, yet their fates were vastly different.
Bai Lan counted herself among the lucky ones, so she didn’t say much. She just dutifully picked up her graduation certificate and prepared to leave, not wanting to attract any resentment.
But unexpectedly, while she had avoided trouble at school, the moment she stepped out of the school gate, she ran straight into a different kind of trouble.
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