“Brother Qin, like I always say—we men work hard out there, building our careers. After a lifetime of struggle, it’s really frustrating to see everything go to outsiders. So when you get home, you should really talk some sense into our sister-in-law. Aim for a big, healthy son next year!”
The voice carried a sycophantic edge, but to Bai Lan’s ears, it was nothing but grating.
The other men coming down with them chimed in one after another. “Hao’s got a point.”
“Exactly, Brother Qin. Women having kids—it’s no big deal. If my wife didn’t want to have more, I’d give her a couple of slaps across the face, and I guarantee she’d fall in line…”
They chattered as they walked toward the restaurant exit, completely oblivious to Bai Lan and Xu Jianbei in the corner.
Bai Lan watched their retreating backs and curled her lip. What kind of nonsense was this? What trashy talk. How could her brother-in-law be hanging around people like this? Birds of a feather flock together. Did that mean her brother-in-law was just like them?
Thinking this, Bai Lan felt an urgent urge to call her elder sister right away.
“Don’t rush…”
Bai Lan looked at Xu Jianbei. “How can I not rush? Did you hear the garbage those people were saying?”
Xu Jianbei reached out and gently pulled her back. “Aside from your brother-in-law, I vaguely recognize the others. They’re all from the steel factory’s smelting workshop. They’re always like that at work. Your sister probably already knows, at least to some extent, that your brother-in-law associates with them.”
Bai Lan thought it over and realized he had a point. Still, she resolved to bring it up with her sister when she got home.
Then, out of nowhere, she asked, “Xu Jianbei, you’re a man yourself. Do you also prefer sons?”
Xu Jianbei hadn’t expected the fire to land on him. Torn between laughter and exasperation, he said, “Sons and daughters—they’re both your own children. What difference does it make? But Lanlan, asking me this now… are you trying to rush us into marriage?”
Bai Lan caught herself, glared at him, and said, “In your dreams!” Then she turned and walked outside.
Xu Jianbei quickly followed, not missing a beat: “Yes, in my dreams!”
—
Laughing and joking, the two left the state-run restaurant and headed toward the nearby park. Despite having just heard all that trash talk, their plans continued as scheduled.
The park wasn’t far from the restaurant—just two streets away. They walked and chatted, the atmosphere quite harmonious. But as they reached a street corner, they noticed a young woman and a middle-aged man walking one behind the other into an alley on the other side.
They caught Bai Lan’s attention because the social distance between the two was a bit too close for the current era. Plus, there was a significant age gap. It didn’t quite look like a normal romantic relationship.
But Bai Lan didn’t meddle in such matters. She continued chatting with Xu Jianbei about all sorts of things that had happened during her first few days at work.
Xu Jianbei also shared some of his own work experiences. Only then did Bai Lan learn that he had started working at a screw factory right after high school, where he was primarily responsible for designing and modifying screw machine tools.
This was a bit beyond Bai Lan’s knowledge. In her impression, a screw factory just made screws. But from what Xu Jianbei told her, due to technical limitations of the time, many screws could only be produced in basic specifications. More precise ones had to be hand-cut. Especially for high-precision weaponry and equipment, the requirements for screw specifications and materials were extremely stringent.
The reason he had so much to do with the steel factory was that some materials needed to be specially supplied by them.
Of course, he didn’t disclose the exact specifications. Bai Lan didn’t pry either. The topic likely touched on confidentiality, and she wanted no part of that. Still, she guessed that his earlier busy period had been related to those high-spec screws. The fact that he was less busy now probably meant the project was nearly complete.
Xu Jianbei had been watching Bai Lan’s expression. Seeing her look of sudden understanding, he couldn’t help but smile. Lanlan was truly sharp, he thought. Without him having to spell anything out, she understood instinctively. This feeling of being on the same wavelength was something Xu Jianbei found deeply intoxicating.
With both of them interested in each other, the conversation naturally flowed joyfully. When they reached the park, it was quite crowded. Xu Jianbei bought two bottles of soda, and they found a bench to sit on and continued talking. At one point, a photographer from a photo studio came by, and they even had a picture taken together.
Though they sat a fair distance apart in the photo, it was their first picture together as a couple. Bai Lan looked genuinely delighted.
“If you really enjoy having your photo taken, we can come often.”
Seeing her like this, Xu Jianbei silently made a mental note.
Bai Lan replied, “No need to come often. Just on special occasions. When we’re old and look back at these photos, it’ll be really meaningful.”
Hearing the words “when we’re old,” Xu Jianbei felt a surge of emotion. It meant Bai Lan was already envisioning a lifetime together.
—
As the sun began to set, they stood up and decided to have dinner together before heading home.
They went back to the same state-run restaurant from the morning. But before they could even enter, they ran into Qin Shengli and his group again. There were two more young women with them now than in the morning. The women seemed to know the group, laughing and chatting as they walked past the restaurant entrance. Judging by the direction they were heading, it looked like they were going to the cinema.
Xu Jianbei frowned. “Should you tell your sister about Qin Shengli acting like this?” The group reeked of alcohol and was accompanied by two young women. No matter how you looked at it, it was inappropriate.
Bai Lan nodded. “You go ahead and order. I’ll ask the restaurant to borrow their phone and give my sister a call.”
The steel factory family compound had one telephone installed. Bai Lan called and waited a while before her elder sister, breathless, picked up: “What’s wrong, Lanlan? Calling me at this hour? Did something happen to Mom and Dad on their way back?”
Their parents had come specially to visit her today, which made Bai Lian happy but also made her feel useless—a grown woman still worrying her parents.
Bai Lan didn’t beat around the bush. She quickly told her sister about running into Qin Shengli earlier.
“Elder Sister, I’m not trying to cause trouble. But it’s just not right for my brother-in-law to be hanging around people like that.”
Bai Lian gripped the telephone cord tightly and bit her lip. “Those men are probably from the workshop. I’ve taken note of it. I’ll talk to your brother-in-law when he gets home.”
Bai Lan sighed as she hung up. Matters between a husband and wife were best left for outsiders to meddle in as little as possible. Even making this call to her sister was somewhat inappropriate. Still, she felt she had done the right thing by telling her. Even if her sister might not be happy about it.
She wondered what the future held for her elder sister in that short drama. In the highlight reels she had seen, her elder sister never appeared. To be precise, the entire old Bai family only had Bai Lan’s character on screen for one second—and that was only because Song Guoping would later have business dealings with the male lead, Xu Jiannan.
Now that she was no longer connected to Song Guoping, the Bai family had become nothing more than a backdrop for the main characters.
But even as a backdrop, Bai Lan was determined to live her life well.
With that thought, she couldn’t help but look at Xu Jianbei, who was walking over with their dishes. This handsome man before her was also someone who never appeared in those highlight reels.
“What is it?” Noticing her strange expression, Xu Jianbei worried that she might have received bad news on the phone.
Bai Lan quickly shook her head. “Nothing. Today is our first day as a couple. I’m really happy. It’s just a shame we both have to go back to work tomorrow.”
Xu Jianbei laughed when he heard that. “I’ll come find you at your factory after work. The screw factory and the textile factory are close by—no problem.”
Bai Lan thought it over and agreed. They could have dates on weekdays after work, and on weekends they could spend the whole day together. Just the thought made her feel warm and happy inside.
—
After dinner, Xu Jianbei walked Bai Lan back to the courtyard. As soon as they reached the alley entrance, they ran into several neighbors. Seeing them walking together, the neighbors began to wonder.
Bai Lan and Xu Jianbei had no intention of hiding anything. They walked openly into the courtyard, and Xu Jianbei even escorted her directly to the Bai family’s door. He greeted each member of the Bai family before leaving, his manner and speech completely natural—so natural that many neighbors couldn’t quite process what they had just seen.
“Oh my!” Widow Hu slapped her thigh as she watched Xu Jianbei’s retreating figure. “You two… are you dating or what?”
Bai Lan: “Yes. Got a problem with that?”
Widow Hu was stunned. This was completely unexpected. She wanted to say more, but Bai Lan had already gone inside. So she immediately scurried off to the western wing to find Miao Daju and ask her what she thought about her son dating that Bai girl.
—
Bai Lan had no idea about Widow Hu’s gossiping. The moment she stepped inside, the whole family was staring at her.
Father Bai asked directly: “Daughter, how did you end up dating Jianbei?” He was a bit confused. His youngest daughter didn’t even work at the screw factory. How did she end up in a relationship with that kid Xu Jianbei?
Mother Bai also felt a bit dazed. Xu Jianbei had just greeted her so politely. Such a spirited young man—she really had no complaints. It just felt a little unreal.
Second Sister Bai Li looked as if she had known it all along. Thinking back to the interaction between her youngest sister and Xu Jianbei on the day of Xu Jiannan’s wedding, she knew it hadn’t been simple.
Third Sister Bai Ping stared at Bai Lan intently. “Are you really dating Xu Jianbei? Since when? Did it start the day Xu Jiannan got married?”
Father Bai and Mother Bai perked up at this. They really had been too busy that day to notice their youngest daughter’s movements.
Bai Lan frowned slightly, feeling that Bai Ping’s tone was a bit aggressive. But since her parents clearly wanted to know, she didn’t hide anything. She gave a general account of how she and Xu Jianbei had confirmed their relationship that day. She also mentioned running into Qin Shengli and his group.
The family immediately latched onto that piece of news, all agreeing that Qin Shengli was out of line. Father Bai secretly decided that he would go to the steel factory tomorrow and have a private talk with his son-in-law.
—
Meanwhile, Bai Lian was also thinking about Qin Shengli. She had already figured out what she wanted to say to him. She had assumed he would come home as usual, before eight o’clock. After all, even though Qin Shengli had many friends, he rarely stayed out past eight for social engagements.
But tonight Bai Lian waited and waited. She waited until past ten o’clock, when every household in the family compound had turned off their lights and gone to sleep. Only then did he come home in the dark.
Hearing the sound of the key in the door, Bai Lian immediately went over. “Why are you so late?” She stepped forward to help support him.
She could already smell the strong stench of alcohol.
But Qin Shengli clumsily dodged her. “I smell. I need to wash up first. You go to bed, don’t worry about me.” With that, he hurriedly grabbed some clothes from the room and headed to the washroom in the hallway.
Bai Lian stood under the dim yellow light, feeling that something was happening.
Over the next few days, Qin Shengli’s behavior became increasingly chilling. This time, Bai Lian didn’t do what she had always done and think about talking with him. Because she realized that even if she wanted to talk, he had no intention of talking to her. Instead, he kept using overtime as an excuse not to come home.
As an official at the Women’s Federation, Bai Lian had handled countless marital disputes. But what was happening to her now was likely something she couldn’t accept.
It made her feel sick, angry, and full of regret.
Bai Lian looked at her two well-behaved daughters, then at her mother-in-law, who had been making snide remarks. Deep in her heart, she silently made up her mind…
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