“I’m moving this weekend. Third Brother will arrange a cart to haul things over, and I’ve got a few friends helping out. So Mom and Dad, you don’t need to make a special trip. As for Grandpa’s things, we can temporarily store them in the factory room…”
At the old Xu family’s west wing, Xu Jianbei was telling his parents about his moving plans for the weekend. Since some of the items involved various professional books left by his grandfather, along with photo albums and letters, he had made a special trip home to explain everything clearly.
When his grandfather had passed away, his father hadn’t wanted these things. They had remained in the small Western-style building at the screw factory.
Now that he was moving out, naturally he had to take these things with him.
Old Xu, known as Old Stubborn, listened to his son and nodded. “Your grandfather raised you from a young age. I, as your father, never really did much. So just take good care of his things. You don’t need to tell us about everything else.”
Miao Daju was more direct than her husband. “By moving back here, are you preparing to marry that youngest Bai daughter?”
It wasn’t that she was being overly suspicious. The fact was, over the past few days, her son had been coming home every day to renovate his room. Quite a few neighbors had asked her if she was about to gain a daughter-in-law. Miao Daju, of course, didn’t say anything. But deep down, she still hoped her youngest son would get married soon.
Not only was Bai Lan a good girl in her own right, but if her youngest son married her, he would definitely live in the courtyard and stop running back and forth. That way, she could see her son more often and make up for the years she had missed.
Xu Jianbei gave his mother an amused look and shook his head directly. “Marriage is something to consider later. Mom, don’t ask about that for now. When the time comes for marriage, I’ll naturally tell you.”
It wasn’t that Xu Jianbei didn’t want to get married. It was just that he and Bai Lan hadn’t yet discussed the topic of marriage at all. Bai Lan was a very independent female comrade. Xu Jianbei didn’t want to rush and ask her about marriage out of the blue. He wanted to find a better moment to talk it through with her properly.
Of course, moving back to the courtyard was the first step.
—
Just as Xu Jianbei was chatting with his parents, his eldest brother Xu Jiandong and his wife Su Xiaomei were also discussing Xu Jianbei’s return.
“Your little brother is actually moving back. You useless man—after all these years, you still haven’t taken over that room. Tell me, now that he’s moving back, where are our children supposed to live?”
Su Xiaomei lay on the bed, reached out and smacked Xu Jiandong a few times, cursing bitterly.
A few days ago, when Xu Jianbei started fixing up the room, Su Xiaomei knew trouble was coming. She had told her man to talk to his parents about the room, but this useless man refused to budge an inch.
“Where to live? How should I know? Since you’re so capable, go talk to the kid yourself.” Xu Jiandong’s tone was especially impatient.
Su Xiaomei was so angry she could barely speak. But it wasn’t the first time she knew her husband was this useless. Taking a deep breath, she changed the subject. “Is your little brother really going to marry that Bai Lan? That Bai family woman isn’t easy to deal with. Her eldest sister Bai Lian alone is no pushover—divorced and still able to take a man’s money to raise her kids.”
Her tone turned sour as she brought up Bai Lian’s situation. Sure, the affair that had made Qin Shengli a cuckold was laughable. But in the end, Bai Lian had benefited considerably from the whole affair. According to people at the steel factory, before Qin Shengli left, he had given Bai Lian several thousand yuan.
Su Xiaomei absolutely refused to admit that she envied a divorced woman. A woman who got divorced—no need to serve a man, and got so much money to boot. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
That was why Su Xiaomei didn’t want Xu Jianbei to actually marry Bai Lan. If Bai Lan had such a formidable elder sister, then she herself couldn’t be simple either.
The third brother, Xu Jiannan’s wife Liu Meiling, was already troublesome enough. If Xu Jianbei married that Bai Lan into the family, Su Xiaomei felt she would be bullied to death.
—
The news that Xu Jianbei was moving back to the courtyard wasn’t just affecting the Xu family—the neighbors in the courtyard were all talking about it too.
Many people thought Xu Jianbei was going to marry Bai Lan. Why else would he suddenly announce he was moving back?
Some people went to Bai Mama to ask for details, but only got a shake of the head in response. Because Bai Mama genuinely didn’t know what Xu Jianbei and Bai Lan were planning.
“Sigh, it’s normal not to know. We parents should interfere less with the young people these days. Just look at Qin Shengli…”
The moment Wan Dama said this, she immediately realized she had put her foot in her mouth.
But Bai Mama didn’t mind. Because what happened to Qin Shengli was indeed common knowledge. He was gone, but he left behind a mountain of stories.
For instance, the very reason Qin Shengli ended up cuckolded was because his own mother had led the charge to force him into it.
Because of this incident, many parents had recently been hesitant to interfere too much in their children’s marriages, afraid of creating the next Qin Shengli.
If Qin Shengli knew he had caused such a big shift, he might feel a little gratified.
“Anyway, Jianbei is a reliable young man. When it comes to him and Lanlan, the young people will figure things out themselves. We parents just need to listen.”
As Bai Mama said this, she did have some worries in her heart. But not about Bai Lan. Rather, she worried about her second daughter Bai Li and her third daughter Bai Ping.
The eldest daughter’s matter was behind her. Her life wouldn’t be bad from now on.
Bai Lan had a mind of her own, with sound principles—she wouldn’t go down the wrong path.
But Bai Li was a bit soft in character and hadn’t taken a liking to any young man yet. As for Bai Ping, her character was a bit crooked. Bai Mama was truly afraid she would go astray.
The others who heard Bai Mama’s words nodded in agreement, saying that forcing children was never the answer.
——
Just as the atmosphere was pleasant, someone asked Bai Mama about how to buy coal briquettes this year.
The main issue was that for years, the coal briquettes for the entire courtyard had been sourced through the steel factory. And the connection to the steel factory had come through the Qin family.
But this past summer, Qin Shengli had divorced Bai Lian. Then he had been cuckolded and ultimately left the northern city. That made it quite difficult to use the Qin family’s connections to buy coal lumps this year.
Yet if they didn’t secure another source of coal, the small amount allocated per person wouldn’t nearly be enough to last until spring. Winter had already begun, and although the temperatures were still bearable, coal needed to be prepared in advance.
After getting the coal lumps, someone still had to arrange for pressing them into briquettes.
Hearing this question, Bai Mama shook her head directly. This year, her family would probably have to rely on connections through the state-run restaurant. But unlike the steel factory, the restaurant couldn’t directly haul coal from the coal yard. So this year, her family wouldn’t have enough coal to go around. As for the neighbors in the courtyard, she could only apologize.
Upon hearing that no coal had been secured this year, the few aunts and older women gathered around frowned, their expressions souring considerably.
But they all understood the complications involved, and none felt comfortable placing blame.
However, once they returned home, each couldn’t help but complain to their own families.
So when Bai Lan came home from work that day, she heard quite a few people talking about the matter. Most of it was perfectly normal, but there were one or two who expressed that the Bai family had helped them get coal every year for ages. If they weren’t going to do it this year, they should have said so earlier—now it was too late for them to find another way.
To people like that, Bai Lan gave an immediate and direct retort on the spot.
But once she got home, she quickly brought it up with her own family. “Jianbei has connections at the steel factory too. He’s already asked someone for help—a truckload of coal should be arriving in a couple of days. Our family and the Xu family will split it equally.”
In two more days, Xu Jianbei would officially move back to live in the courtyard. He urgently needed coal too, so he had asked Cao Changsheng for help and arranged for a truckload of coal lumps to be delivered.
Of course, the truck would probably take two more days to arrive, since this was essentially a last-minute insertion into the schedule. Xu Jianbei had also mentioned this to his own family, asking them to clear the space in front of their door sometime in the next couple of days so the coal could be unloaded there.
When the Xu family heard that coal could be procured, their faces lit up with smiles. Even Su Xiaomei, who had been wearing a dark expression for days, was now grinning from ear to ear.
But contrary to everyone’s expectations, the very next evening, a large truck pulled up loaded with coal lumps.
—
The truck arrived at Xinghua Alley right around the evening rush hour, when people were getting off work. Quite a few neighbors in the alley spotted the truck bed piled high with coal lumps. They crowded around, asking the driver which family the delivery was for.
The driver, arranged by the coal yard, simply told everyone it was for the Bai family in Courtyard No. 3.
When Wan Dama, who was watching nearby, heard this, she slapped her thigh. “Oh my, the Bai family is really something. Even without the Qin family’s connections, they still managed to get a full truckload of coal. Come on—let’s go call the Bai family over so we can get our share of the coal.”
But before Wan Dama could leave, Su Xiaomei immediately blocked her.
“Wait, wait, wait. Who said this truckload of coal was procured by the Bai family? Our little brother said he asked someone at the steel factory to help get a truckload of coal. For all we know, this coal is for our old Xu family.”
As she spoke, Su Xiaomei was cursing Xu Jianbei in her heart for favoring outsiders. Getting such a big truckload of coal and sending it straight to the Bai family.
Aunt Qian, who was standing with Wan Dama, wasn’t happy about this. Her household consisted of just her and her old man, both elderly, and they feared the cold more than anything. In past years, the Bai family had shared a good amount of their coal with them.
So Aunt Qian stepped forward. “Su Xiaomei, the driver clearly said it’s for the Bai family. How can you insist it’s from your family’s fourth son?”
Unwilling to back down, Su Xiaomei walked straight up to the driver, who was smoking, and asked, “Driver, this truckload of coal—it came through connections at the steel factory, right?”
The driver, who had never seen such a scene before and found it rather amusing, blew out a perfect smoke ring and laughed. “That’s right—it came through steel factory connections.”
Su Xiaomei lifted her chin. “See? Case closed. This is the coal our fourth son procured. It has to be delivered to our old Xu family.”
Bai Lan was standing not far from the truck and overheard this entire exchange. She thought to herself that Xu Jianbei’s sister-in-law really didn’t seem very easy to deal with.
But she was certain this truckload of coal wasn’t from Xu Jianbei. Because according to the timeline, the earliest it could arrive would be the weekend or Monday at best.
So—who had sent this full truckload of coal to her family?
Everyone present had the same question as Bai Lan. And when many people from the courtyard heard the commotion, they came running over.
In an instant, the scene turned quite chaotic. Everyone was arguing about who this truckload of coal ultimately belonged to.
Just then, a familiar voice sounded from behind: “I’m the one who sent it.”
Leave a Reply