This development made Bai Ping quite proud. It proved her approach was correct. With just a simple article, she had turned an unfavorable situation around.
Now that her eldest sister’s reputation had improved, her own reputation naturally wasn’t bad either. As someone with writing skills, finding a better marriage partner would be much easier.
This situation was also beneficial to the Bai family as a whole. See? The moment she got home, the whole family was already at the gate to welcome her.
—
“You still have the nerve to talk about that article? Let me ask you—when you submitted it to the newspaper, did you ask your eldest sister for her opinion?”
Bai Ping thought to herself, given her eldest sister’s indecisive personality, asking her would have been pointless. She would have just buried her head in the sand like a turtle.
“Isn’t things fine now? When I went out today, everyone who saw the newspaper said eldest sister was brave. The people at the Women’s Newspaper also praised my writing.”
Seeing that she still acted as if she had done nothing wrong, Bai Ping’s father was so angry he raised his hand to slap her. But he held back. He had never laid a hand on his children since they were young, and he couldn’t bring himself to do it now. Still, he was overwhelmed with self-blame at that moment, feeling that his failure to teach Bai Ping properly had led her to harm Bai Lian.
Bai Mama quickly reached out to soothe her furious husband. At the same time, she also felt that her third daughter was utterly out of line.
Her parents’ reaction deeply annoyed Bai Ping. Her good intentions were being treated like dirt! If it weren’t for her, would eldest sister’s reputation have improved at all?
The commotion from the Bai family immediately drew the attention of the neighbors in the courtyard. Everyone had been discussing the newspaper all day. Now that Bai Ping, the author, had finally returned, before anyone could offer their congratulations, the Bai family had already erupted. Naturally, people stepped in to mediate.
“You two parents, don’t be so angry. If any of our daughters wrote an article that got published in the newspaper, her parents would be so happy they’d buy an extra two catties of meat to celebrate!”
Aunt Qian, who lived in the ear room of the east wing, had been sitting at her doorstep chatting with people all day. Seeing the Bai family in an uproar, she immediately began to mediate.
Aunt Qian appeared warm-hearted and kind on the surface, but she always shrank back whenever something truly happened. Usually, it was Widow Hu who was the first to jump in. Now, hearing Aunt Qian speak, the crowd fell silent in surprise for a moment.
But Miao Daju interjected at that very moment: “That’s not how you should look at it. If you, Bai Ping, wrote an article without asking Bai Lian, then that article is wrong.”
Miao Daju wasn’t highly educated, but she still understood basic principles of right and wrong.
Suddenly, the entire courtyard erupted in noise again. Everyone had their own opinion.
—
Ever since Bai Ping entered, Bai Lan had been closely watching her eldest sister’s reaction. Now, seeing her sister’s expression turn extremely serious, Bai Lan knew the quiet one was about to explode. She quietly took two steps back and pulled her second sister, who was still completely confused, back with her.
And Bai Lian did not disappoint Bai Lan’s expectations. She walked up to Bai Ping, who still looked defiant, directly pinned her down by the shoulders, and fiercely smacked her on the back several times. The motion somewhat resembled a parent disciplining a child. But Bai Lian struck with considerable force—it was clear that when a gentle person finally lost their temper, it was quite terrifying.
Bai Ping was stunned by the beating. For a moment, she couldn’t even react. When she finally did and tried to struggle, she found herself held in place by some neighbor behind her, unable to move. In the end, she was forced to endure a series of hits from Bai Lian.
Bai Lan saw it all clearly from the side. The person holding Bai Ping back was Liu Meiling—the female lead of the short drama. Since Liu Meiling had married into the courtyard, Bai Lan hadn’t had a chance to interact with her alone yet and didn’t know much about her personality.
But judging by Liu Meiling’s actions at this moment, it was clear she also disapproved of Bai Ping. That probably meant Liu Meiling was a decent person.
This made Bai Lan quite happy. She sighed inwardly—truly worthy of being the female lead, her moral compass was as straight as could be.
With Bai Lian’s outburst, the matter was temporarily put to rest.
But the Bai family all knew that given Bai Ping’s personality and the indignant things she had said while being hit, there would likely be more to come.
—
Sure enough, after the newspaper incident festered for two days, Bai Lian was told by her director while at work that the city’s Women’s Federation had called their office. They wanted to invite Bai Lian to come to the city Women’s Federation for a face-to-face discussion about the divorce mentioned in the article.
“You don’t need to be afraid of this. The article is already published. The best you can do now is try to secure the greatest benefit for yourself. So I recommend you accept this invitation. Go and have a good conversation with the people at the city Women’s Federation. Who knows—it might even help you advance in your career.”
The director’s words left Bai Lian hesitating. In her heart, she wanted to refuse. But she also clearly understood that the director’s advice was very sound. The incident had already happened. Continuing to avoid it didn’t seem likely to make things better.
“I understand, Director. Thank you for your advice. I’ll think it over carefully before giving my answer.”
Meanwhile, Bai Ping, who had also learned about Bai Lian receiving an invitation, was currently at the newspaper office.
“Editor Lou, why isn’t there an invitation for me from the city Women’s Federation?”
Lou Jing leaned back in her chair and said calmly in the face of Bai Ping’s agitation:
“You’re not the person involved. When it comes to something like divorce, it’s best to communicate directly with the individual. Comrade Bai Lian is very brave. She isn’t afraid of others’ strange looks and has personally demonstrated what ‘freedom of marriage’ really means. You, as an unmarried comrade, can’t truly empathize. After considering various factors, the city Women’s Federation decided to invite only Comrade Bai Lian.”
This wasn’t what Bai Ping had initially envisioned. She couldn’t help standing up. “But that’s not right! I’ve seen similar articles before, and both the author and the subject were invited to give joint special reports!”
Lou Jing spread her hands. “This was the city Women’s Federation’s decision. I really don’t know the specifics. Sorry about that, Comrade Bai Ping. Oh, by the way—this is the payment for your article. I was going to mail it to you. Since you’re already here, just sign for it.”
Bai Ping looked at the envelope extended toward her, feeling deeply distressed.
No, no, no. What she had wanted from the very beginning was never just this paltry amount of payment. She wanted to go to the city Women’s Federation, to a bigger stage, to increase her own standing, to get closer to the people she wanted to reach. After all that running around, all she got was this meager payment?
How could this happen?
——
Watching Bai Ping leave the office dejected, Lou Jing immediately picked up the phone and dialed.
“Caimi, she’s gone. Honestly, are you really going to be this ruthless to your future daughter-in-law?”
On the other end of the line, Zhou Caimi—Qiu Chengcai’s biological mother—smiled upon hearing her friend’s words. “Good riddance. Hmph, that girl is anything but simple. Climbing up by stepping on her own elder sister. My foolish son can’t see it—he naively thinks she’s just ambitious, trying to win me over early.”
Thinking about her simple-minded son, Zhou Caimi couldn’t help but press her hand to her forehead. She and her husband were both sharp as tacks, yet somehow they’d ended up with this dim-witted son. He had no other flaws except being too naive. If someone clung to him long enough, he’d lose all sense of direction and get used without even realizing it.
If she weren’t keeping an eye on things, she was genuinely afraid someone would sell him off and he’d happily count the money for them.
Last weekend, her son had come home acting all mysterious. If her old friend Lou Jing hadn’t called her personally to say her foolish son had brought a girl to visit, hoping to get her article published in the newspaper, she probably would have been kept completely in the dark by him.
Hmph, Bai Ping was always going on about how she looked down on her family background. But heaven knew—the Qiu family lacked nothing, and their standards for a girl’s family background weren’t particularly high. However, the girl had to come from an upright family, and she herself had to have good moral character.
Bai Ping’s family background was clean enough, but her character was lacking. She was too utilitarian.
Previously, both she and Old Qiu had thought the girl was just a bit self-centered. But they never expected this—trying to climb up by stepping on her divorced elder sister. A girl who schemes so relentlessly was truly unappealing.
That day, Zhou Caimi decided to teach Bai Ping a harsh lesson. Ideally, after this whole affair, her foolish son would also wake up.
——
“Thanks, Xiao Jing. I’ll treat you to a meal when I have time. For now, you don’t need to worry about her. I’ll handle things on the city Women’s Federation end.”
Zhou Caimi was an officer at the city Women’s Federation. Although she wasn’t a leader, she had worked there for many years, and her parents were also in the same system. So, there was no way Bai Ping was going to use that article to successfully break into the Women’s Federation circle.
What she could do was promote Bai Ping’s elder sister a bit, making Bai Ping even more anxious and causing her to lose her footing.
However, because her foolish son was still acting foolishly, Zhou Caimi had already prepared a backup plan.
Besides, Bai Ping had apparently offended someone, too. Someone had slipped a whistleblowing letter into the Qiu family’s home. The contents detailed some of Bai Ping’s shady maneuvers outside. It was clear that someone had been following her and was getting revenge. Zhou Caimi didn’t want someone who made enemies so easily to become her daughter-in-law either.
In short, having blocked Bai Ping from the Women’s Federation, Zhou Caimi could now sit back and relax. She could calmly wait for Bai Ping to come to her senses and make her next move.
——
The Bai family had no idea that so many machinations lay behind the invitation for a discussion from the city Women’s Federation.
That evening, when they all got home, the Bai family learned about the invitation Bai Lian had received.
Everyone agreed that Bai Lian should go to the city Women’s Federation and see what it was about. After all, it was just a discussion. Maybe it would open up a new path for her. The situation at the steel plant—although Bai Lian didn’t talk about it—everyone could imagine how much pressure she was under.
A change of environment might bring her more happiness and joy.
Of course, Bai Ping was not among those who agreed. Bai Ping had been silent all day after returning home. At dinner, she ate as if counting each grain of rice.
The two little girls, Xiaofen and Xiaofang, had been well protected these past few days. They had no idea about their parents’ divorce. Seeing Bai Ping eating so absentmindedly, they giggled and said, “Third Aunt isn’t paying attention to her meal…”
It was an utterly ordinary comment, but Bai Ping slammed down her bowl and stood up.
“Pingping…”
Bai Ping’s father immediately frowned at his third daughter. These past few days, Bai Ping’s behavior had grown more irritating by the day. Before this, he had thought of this daughter as naturally frail, and the whole family had always made allowances for her. And Bai Ping had always behaved reasonably well—smart and not a worry.
But ever since the eldest daughter decided to get divorced, this third daughter had become more and more outrageous.
Seeing her father’s anger, Bai Ping felt even angrier herself. She had taken the day off and run to the newspaper office, only to end up with that paltry payment. It was a complete betrayal of the plan she had worked so hard to come up with. How could she not be furious!
What made her even angrier was that she had gone specifically to Qiu Chengcai in order to get into the city Women’s Federation. And what did that idiot say? That maybe it was good she wasn’t invited. He said the women at the city Women’s Federation were very sharp-tongued, and he was afraid she’d be bullied.
Bah! What a useless excuse for a man. Saying something like that—afraid of women. He was a complete coward. This only strengthened Bai Ping’s resolve to leave Qiu Chengcai.
But Bai Ping realized that no matter how perfect her plans seemed, recently, nothing good had actually happened to her. It left her frustrated and angry, yet with nowhere to direct her rage.
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