“Really…”
“Oh my god…”
“I can’t believe it…”
“If I hadn’t been so sharp-eyed, my stupid big brother would still be hiding it from us…”
“Mom says she needs to find a wife for big brother quickly, before something shameful happens…”
Bai Lan was still lying in bed, watching Qin Yan pace back and forth in front of her, clearly agitated. She was equally shocked. At that moment, she was grateful that Bai Ping had moved out and she had the room to herself. If someone else had overheard Qin Yan’s words, things probably wouldn’t go smoothly for the Hu family’s wedding today either.
“Lanlan…” Qin Yan suddenly called out. “How can you stay so calm? My brother… Gao Qingqing…”
Bai Lan sat up and tried to soothe her. “Calm down, calm down. Not many people know about this, right?”
In truth, Bai Lan was also quite shaken.
Because Gao Qingqing had privately confessed her feelings to Qin Tang. And just two days after that confession, she got her marriage license with Hu Aimin. The only thing that had delayed it another day was needing to get the letter of introduction. At that speed, even a plane couldn’t have gotten them there faster!
Gao Qingqing’s ability to turn her feelings on and off like that was terrifying!
Qin Yan wasn’t so easily calmed. “You have no idea how useless my brother is. He’s been looking off for the past two days. And today he’s walking around with his neck all tucked in like a coward. Oh my god — from start to finish, none of this really has anything to do with my brother, right?”
Thinking about the details she’d pried out of her brother, Qin Yan felt disgusted.
“That woman is about to marry into the neighborhood. Is she going to keep pestering my brother? And my brother, that idiot — he didn’t even want to tell me at first. He actually thought this was Gao Qingqing’s private business and that talking about it would hurt her reputation. Pfft, I say if she had any shame at all, she wouldn’t do things like this. First she confesses to my brother and gets rejected, then immediately marries Hu Aimin. What kind of decent person does that?”
Bai Lan really didn’t know how to answer that.
Legally speaking, Gao Qingqing’s actions were perfectly fine. But morally… probably not many people would accept them.
“But she’s already gotten the marriage license with Hu Aimin. She doesn’t have a single thing to do with your brother. If you don’t keep your cool and people notice something’s off, that’s what will really hurt your brother.”
Hearing that, Qin Yan finally began to calm down. She didn’t want to get her brother caught up in gossip. Her brother might seem a bit foolish, but he was especially good to her. Her job had come through Uncle Bai’s connections, but it was her big brother who’d paid for all the meals and gifts to make it happen.
A brother that good couldn’t be tainted by rumors.
Having made up her mind, Qin Yan immediately ran back home. She was going to keep an eye on her brother, just in case something strange happened when Gao Qingqing arrived.
After seeing Qin Yan off, Bai Lan knew there was no point trying to sleep in anymore. She got up and went to the sink to wash up. The yard was already packed with neighbors — not just from their compound, but from several neighboring compounds and nearby alleys as well.
Mother Bai was outside chatting with a few aunts. When she saw Bai Lan, she called out, “Why are you up so early…”
Bai Lan just smiled and didn’t answer. She glanced toward the Qin family’s house and saw the door tightly shut. She knew they were having a private discussion behind closed doors. She didn’t go over to interfere. She figured this whole situation must be extremely upsetting for the Qin family.
—
By ten in the morning, the sound of truck brakes came from the alley. Many people in the yard heard the noise and rushed out. Kids ran out shouting, “We’re going to see the bride! We’re going to see the bride!” as they chased after the adults.
Bai Lan didn’t go join the crowd. Instead, she sat by her door, ready to watch the excitement from there.
Just then, Big Head ran in first. Seeing only Bai Lan, he asked in surprise, “Where’s Yanzi?”
Bai Lan said, “Her whole family went out — they had something to do.”
Indeed, at around eight in the morning, the Qin family had locked up and left together. Some people had wondered where they were going, but Aunt Qin just said they had something to do.
Everyone’s attention was on the Hu family, though, so no one paid much mind to the Qin family’s reaction.
Bai Lan thought it was good that they’d left. That way, it might avoid a lot of trouble.
And soon enough, her guess proved correct.
Because after Gao Qingqing was helped out of the truck, welcomed into the Hu family home, and went through some ceremonies, she and Hu Aimin started going door to door, handing out wedding candy.
—
Truth be told, Widow Hu hadn’t wanted to do this at first. She’d only planned to scatter some candy in front of the house for the kids to scramble for. But Gao Qingqing, right there in the yard in front of everyone, announced that she wanted to personally deliver wedding candy to all the neighbors in the courtyard.
She’d said it outright in front of so many people, and immediately someone started cheering, saying Widow Hu had gotten a good daughter-in-law — what class!
Cornered like that, and with it being her son’s happy day, Widow Hu could only nod in agreement.
And then everyone watched as Gao Qingqing, carrying a small basket of wedding candy, led Hu Aimin door to door.
Seeing this development, Bai Lan secretly felt relieved that the Qin family had gotten away so quickly. Otherwise, when Gao Qingqing came knocking, if she said something shocking, it would scare people half to death!
As for Gao Qingqing, she quickly noticed that the Qin family’s door was shut tight.
“Where are these people?”
The Qin family lived in the two ear-rooms to the left of the Bai family’s place. Seeing that no one was home and Bai Lan was sitting nearby, Gao Qingqing asked her directly.
Bai Lan just shook her head and said nothing. She didn’t really want to talk to Gao Qingqing.
Fortunately, several enthusiastic neighbors chimed in, saying the Qin family had gone out. So the wedding candy simply moved on to the next household.
Looking at the candy that had been handed to her, Bai Lan was thoroughly speechless. Mainly because she noticed that after learning the Qin family wasn’t home, Gao Qingqing’s expression actually showed a hint of disappointment.
Bai Lan found this quite baffling.
If she were Gao Qingqing, she’d probably want to avoid Qin Tang on her wedding day. But judging by Gao Qingqing’s demeanor, she clearly wanted to see him again.
In any case, Bai Lan found this behavior quite remarkable.
After that, Gao Qingqing seemed perfectly normal. Once she’d finished distributing the candy, she and Hu Aimin returned to the Hu family home.
At this point, Bai Lan thought things would finally settle down.
But as it turned out, the real chaos was just beginning inside the Hu household.
—
The Hu family, like most families, had several people crammed into a single room.
That said, the east wing room they lived in was decently sized — a little over twenty square meters. Years ago, they’d divided it with wooden boards into two sections. The inner section was Hu Aimin’s room. The outer section served as the main room during the day, and at night, Widow Hu slept there with her daughter Hu Aihua.
Given the conditions in the city, this wasn’t bad at all.
But the moment Gao Qingqing entered and saw the cramped space, she missed the countryside houses. However, city houses had one advantage — the ceilings didn’t shed mud clods. So she reluctantly accepted it, figuring she just had to wait until her sister-in-law Hu Aihua married out.
But she couldn’t help thinking about the Qin family’s house she’d just seen. Even though she hadn’t been able to go inside and see the layout, the Qin family had two rooms for four people. The Hu family really couldn’t compare!
At least the Hu family had money. She’d heard that the textile factory had paid out quite a sum back in the day. The money in that passbook she’d seen during the matchmaking visit must be that. According to the promises made that day, that money should soon be in her hands. When that happened, she wouldn’t lack cash.
Of course, besides money, there was something even more important.
“Mom, how’s the job arrangement coming along?”
The reason she’d agreed to marry Hu Aimin — aside from Qin Tang’s ruthless rejection — was this job. It was what Widow Hu had personally promised. Without that promise, she would have taken her parents and left right then and there.
Widow Hu looked at her new daughter-in-law, who was demanding a job the moment she’d crossed the threshold, but she didn’t get angry. She’d planned to use a job as bait from the very beginning. But until the marriage was consummated, she wasn’t about to actually arrange anything. Only a fool would do that.
In fact, not even the wedding night was enough. Even a child would need to be born before she’d consider helping Gao Qingqing find a job. After all, jobs didn’t grow on trees. If she gave the girl a job and she immediately turned around and divorced her son, that would be a catastrophe.
Widow Hu had it all figured out in her mind. The smile on her face grew even brighter.
“I’m still working on it — pulling some strings. You know how tight jobs are in the city. But don’t worry, since Mom already promised, there’s no way you won’t get that job. Now, your temporary job at the commune office — you probably won’t be able to keep that after getting married. But there’s plenty of housework to do, so you don’t have to worry about being bored…”
Something about this didn’t sound right. Gao Qingqing frowned, wanting to say something, but knowing this woman wasn’t easy to fool, she held back.
Seeing her so docile, Widow Hu’s smile grew even wider.
Ha! Once she had a child, she’d have to raise it. While raising one child, a second one would come along. As for the job — she’d give it to her eventually. When, exactly, would depend on her mood!
—
Gao Qingqing had no idea what kind of scheme Widow Hu was cooking up. But she wasn’t stupid either. Until that job was in her hands, she wasn’t about to let herself be taken advantage of.
So, the newlyweds went into their room. Gao Qingqing started unpacking her trousseau, which she’d brought from her parents’ home.
Because the wedding had been rushed, her trousseau was just two bolts of cloth, a few pairs of shoe soles her mother had made, and two quilt covers that the villagers had helped rush together.
Everything was packed in a wooden chest, so she had to bend down to unpack.
She’d only just bent over for a moment when Hu Aimin, standing behind her, wrapped his arms around her.
Gao Qingqing instantly went stiff. She felt a chill run down her spine. The warm breath against her ear made her want to vomit. The man’s skinny arms around her waist felt like two sticks of firewood — suffocating. His breath smelled bad.
Absolutely disgusting.
Thinking this, Gao Qingqing pushed with her arms and broke free from Hu Aimin’s embrace. In fact, since she was actually a little taller than him, when she pushed back, the back of her head smashed into Hu Aimin’s nose — making his garlic-shaped nose bleed.
“Mom… ah… Mom…”
Her son’s scream came from inside the room. Widow Hu, who had been outside blissfully imagining her son consummating the marriage in broad daylight, was so startled she threw aside the door curtain. Then she saw her son covering his nose, which was bleeding.
Seeing this, Widow Hu assumed her son had been too eager and the rush of blood had simply caused a nosebleed. She actually said with a smile: “All right, all right. Young people these days are so full of energy…”
Full-of-energy Hu Aimin was in too much pain from his nose to speak.
…
Hu Aimin’s screams were naturally heard clearly by everyone in the yard.
The crowd that had gathered to watch the excitement hadn’t dispersed yet. Hearing the screams, they exchanged bewildered glances. Some old ladies, their minds full of crude jokes, began winking and nudging each other.
Bai Lan had been observing everyone’s reactions and found the whole thing quite exasperating.
Soon enough, everyone learned that nothing major had happened — Hu Aimin had just gotten a nosebleed.
But that revelation only made things worse. Those old ladies had imaginations no less vivid than Widow Hu’s. Instantly, more risqué jokes flew through the air. Bai Lan’s forehead was covered in dark lines. She retreated inside to hide. It wasn’t that she was shy — it was that she found the talk rather dirty on the ears.
But soon enough, Bai Lan came back outside to continue watching the excitement.
Because the street office had arrived!
Why had they come?
Naturally, it was because someone had previously reported Widow Hu for marriage fraud.
For this very reason, the street office had come by to “talk sense” into Widow Hu. Her older sister — who worked at the Municipal Women’s Federation — had personally come to understand the situation.
The result had been no result at all. So now that Gao Qingqing had officially entered the household, the street office was following up to check on the situation.
Bai Lan couldn’t help but feel relieved that her older sister was off taking her two nieces out this weekend. Otherwise, she’d surely be here working alongside the street office today.
But Bai Lan didn’t want her sister getting involved in Gao Qingqing’s affairs. Earlier, she’d wondered whether Gao Qingqing might have been deceived. But seeing how she had dared to go to the Qin family’s door today, it was clear she was no pushover. People like that didn’t need anyone’s help.
—
“No, no marriage fraud at all. If you don’t believe me, just ask my daughter-in-law yourself. Qingqing, Qingqing…” Widow Hu said confidently to the street office personnel.
Hu Aimin had just gotten a nosebleed, so she’d brought him into the main room to stop the bleeding. They’d barely managed to stop it when the street office showed up. Widow Hu cursed them under her breath for meddling where they didn’t belong. But she knew she couldn’t afford to offend them, so she just called Gao Qingqing’s name loudly toward the inner room.
Gao Qingqing didn’t disappoint Widow Hu. Right in front of everyone, she said directly: “No, no marriage fraud. I’m doing this willingly. If I weren’t willing, how could I have gotten a marriage license? I couldn’t even get the letter of introduction.”
The Hu family’s commotion had already drawn all the neighbors in the yard to crowd around their door. Hearing Gao Qingqing’s words, someone immediately shouted: “Then what do you see in Hu Aimin?”
Everyone looked at Hu Aimin. At that moment, both of his nostrils were stuffed with red toilet paper. He looked utterly ridiculous. Standing next to the fresh-faced Gao Qingqing, he only made her look even more beautiful.
Gao Qingqing chuckled. “He’s a good person!”
“How good?” some old lady teased.
Gao Qingqing answered naturally: “Aimin said he’d let me run the household and find me a good job!”
Everyone was stunned. They all turned to look at Widow Hu.
Widow Hu felt a jolt go through her. A flash of menace flickered in her eyes before disappearing. Then she laughed. “Those are our family matters. Since you’ve confirmed there’s no marriage fraud, you can leave now, right?”
The street office people could more or less see what was going on. They immediately stood up and took their leave. The other neighbors who’d wanted to keep watching the excitement saw Widow Hu’s expression change and quickly got up and left too.
After all, the courtyard was only so big. If something major did happen at the Hu household, they’d find out by crouching under the window anyway.
But they were destined to be disappointed. Because after the Hu family closed their door, no shouting came from inside. Voices could be heard now and then, but they were very low, and no one could make out the content.
—
“Looks like this new daughter-in-law isn’t such a pushover either!”
The crowd gathered in the yard to discuss. Several of the enthusiastic citizens who had reported the situation earlier now looked a bit sheepish.
Aunt Wan, ever the Monday-morning quarterback, laughed mockingly: “I said Widow Hu wasn’t that lucky! Look, look. That little bride today — she’s clearly not easy to control. I bet she’s married a tigress!”
“Don’t say that. I think our east wing is going to get pretty lively from now on!”
Aunt Qian, who lived next door to Aunt Wan, also sighed. Both of them lived in the east wing alongside Widow Hu. After so many years as neighbors, they knew each other all too well.
Earlier, Widow Hu had made out like this daughter-in-law was a good catch. Now it seemed that “good” was a relative term.
The people in the courtyard sighed that Widow Hu was probably in for a fall. But Bai Lan, standing by the door watching, felt that the Qin family’s life was about to become rather turbulent.
Judging by Gao Qingqing’s behavior today, it didn’t seem like she’d be able to let go of Qin Tang so easily. Where this deep devotion came from — for a man she’d only met once — was beyond her.
But before Bai Lan had much time to dwell on it, a small bit of trouble showed up at her own doorstep.
Calling it “trouble” wasn’t quite accurate, because this had to do with her older sister’s ex-husband, Qin Shengli.
Qin Shengli — the man who had divorced her sister less than three months ago — was getting remarried. His new bride was none other than Wang Juan, the very woman he’d had the affair with. That wasn’t even the worst part. The most infuriating thing was that he had sent the invitation to their house.
The Bai family was absolutely furious. They all thought Qin Shengli was deliberately provoking them. But the way things unfolded next left everyone utterly dumbfounded — the kind they’d never forget for the rest of their lives.
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