Everyone turned to look in the direction of the voice, and one by one, their eyes went wide.
Bai Lan also looked at the newcomer and frowned. “Where did you get this coal?”
Bai Ping lifted her chin, eyes narrowing slightly with a smug expression. “I have enough capability to get a truckload of coal. I just heard that your boyfriend also got a load. What’s the matter? Hasn’t it arrived yet? Or have you been fooled?”
“You’re someone cooling your heels at the newspaper office. What connections could you possibly have?”
Seeing how harshly Bai Ping was speaking, Bai Lan deliberately poked at her sore spot. According to her eldest sister, although Bai Ping was no longer in the archives, she still hadn’t entered any core department. She was still stuck in a dead-end position. And someone with Bai Ping’s high self-regard particularly hated being reminded of that.
Sure enough, as soon as Bai Lan brought up work, Bai Ping jumped. “Cooling my heels is still better than being a cook steaming buns and making baozi.”
“Enough. You’re never home, and the moment you come back, you stir up trouble. Where did this coal come from?” Old Mr. Bai stood outside the crowd and asked loudly.
Seeing that he looked like he had just gotten off work, people tried to smooth things over. “Oh, Old Bai, you don’t know? Your third daughter has done well for herself. She got this whole truckload of coal for your family. Don’t be angry with her.”
Aunt Qian’s attempt at mediation earned her a grateful look from Bai Ping.
Others also chimed in to mediate. The fact that Bai Ping could get a truckload of coal showed she had ability. And the Bai family certainly couldn’t use all of this coal themselves. Then the neighbors could benefit too.
Bai Lan wasn’t angered by the neighbors’ sudden shift in attitude. She walked straight up to her father. “Dad, let’s go home and eat.”
Old Mr. Bai nodded.
Bai Ping was furious. “Dad, I got this coal especially for the family. How can you just walk away without saying anything and go eat?”
“If you don’t explain where this came from clearly, I wouldn’t dare use it,” Old Mr. Bai said.
Those words were a bit heavy for a daughter. But Old Mr. Bai genuinely felt that Bai Ping had become someone he hardly recognized anymore.
He would be happy if his daughter could procure coal for the family. But if it came through crooked means, he didn’t want it. And Bai Ping, as it happened, was exactly the type to take the crooked path.
This outcome was far from the triumphant homecoming Bai Ping had imagined. She stomped her foot angrily, wanting to say something, but felt that her family simply didn’t appreciate her.
Just then, Su Xiaomei mocked, “Ooh, so this truckload of coal has questionable origins?”
The others, upon hearing this, instantly stopped talking about getting a share of the coal for themselves.
Watching her family and neighbors leave one by one, Bai Ping finally rushed toward her father, who had almost reached the entrance of the courtyard.
“Dad, I swear the coal is fine. I helped someone at the steel factory, and they gave this coal as a thank-you.”
Hearing this, everyone understood. So it was a repayment of a favor. For a moment, they had thought Bai Ping had real connections.
Seeing everyone’s expressions, Bai Ping got even angrier. Her original plan had been to deliberately obscure the coal’s origin in order to create the illusion that she had extensive connections. Now that she had been forced to explain, all the mystery was gone.
This made Bai Ping quite upset.
So she deliberately raised her voice. “I don’t think my family will need this much coal. Anyone who needs some can take a portion.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she was met with a chorus of praise. Everyone complimented her for being beautiful, kind-hearted, and capable.
Amidst the compliments, Bai Ping turned to give Bai Lan a smug look. But Bai Lan had already dragged their father home to eat.
The target of her showing off had vanished, leaving Bai Ping so furious she could almost spit blood. That feeling of punching a pillow left her deeply frustrated.
Even basking in everyone’s praise, Bai Ping instantly felt it was meaningless.
As for Bai Lan, who had already gone home, she had indeed seen Bai Ping’s proud and show-off expression before leaving. But she wasn’t impressed. If Bai Ping loved performing so much, let her perform for those who wanted to watch.
In the end, the truckload of coal was divided up among the neighbors of the courtyard. Apart from the Xu family and the Bai family, every household received some.
—
This outcome undoubtedly made Bai Ping feel that her effort today had been a waste. She had used up her favor. Even though she got the money for the coal back, she was still completely dissatisfied.
But when she called the person who had procured the coal, Bai Ping immediately changed her tone. “Comrade Song, I truly appreciate your help. I could never have gotten so much coal on my own. My parents are getting older, and this is exactly when they need coal the most.”
“You’re welcome. This is merely my thanks for your information.” The person on the other end of the line left these indifferent words and hung up directly.
From beginning to end, the person on the other side had shown no emotional fluctuation toward Bai Ping whatsoever.
Bai Ping was even angrier at this cold attitude. She slammed down the receiver, silently vowing to implement her plan as soon as possible.
This time, she wouldn’t give up so easily.
—
Xu Jianbei quickly learned that Bai Ping had brought a truckload of coal to the courtyard and that she had argued with Bai Lan. As a man, it wasn’t appropriate for him to bicker with Bai Ping. But he immediately went to investigate the origin of Bai Ping’s coal.
Since it came through steel factory channels, Xu Jianbei easily found out that the coal had been secured through Factory Director Song’s connections. And the Song family seemed to owe Bai Ping a favor for some reason, though no one knew why.
This was rather surprising.
After listening to Xu Jianbei’s account, Bai Lan was equally puzzled about how Bai Ping had gotten involved with the Song family. Ever since she had resolved her own botched betrothal to Song Guoping, she hadn’t paid much attention to the Song family.
The main reason was that the two families had no further ties. Barring any unforeseen events, their paths would likely never cross again. She hadn’t expected that after several months, the Song family would reappear in their lives.
“Could Bai Ping be up to something again?” This was Bai Lan’s inference based on her understanding of Bai Ping. Bai Ping never did anything without a reason. Suddenly procuring coal for the family was highly suspicious. And involving the Song family made it even more suspicious.
Based on the countless melodramatic novels Bai Lan had read, she couldn’t help but suspect that Bai Ping might be pursuing that kind of agenda. If so, that would be way too over-the-top!
—
In fact, Bai Ping was indeed pursuing that agenda. And she had been plotting it even before sending the coal. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have conveniently tipped off Song Guoping, allowing him to stop his parents in time from pressuring Liu Xiuya.
Having earned Song Guoping’s gratitude, Bai Ping immediately asked him to repay the favor. Choosing to send a truckload of coal to her family was also a way to display her kindness in front of Song Guoping.
Because she had heard that the reason Song Guoping liked Liu Xiuya was that she was an exceptionally kind and gentle woman.
Unfortunately, this tactic didn’t seem to have made much of an impression on Song Guoping.
Fortunately, Bai Ping had already prepared herself mentally. She immediately set about writing a report letter. This time, she was reporting Song Guoping—accusing him of having an improper relationship with Liu Xiuya. And Liu Xiuya, who had overseas connections, being involved with the family of the director of a factory of ten thousand workers—that would surely force the Song family to act decisively and quickly find a woman with a clean family background for Song Guoping.
Thinking of the future—of the Song family taking control of the steel factory, of the iron and coal mines that Song Guoping would one day possess—Bai Ping’s heart blazed with ambition.
The chances of raising her social standing and climbing into the upper class through the Women’s Federation or the newspaper office were slim. So she definitely couldn’t give up on the backup path she had prepared from the very beginning.
—
Bai Lan didn’t know about Bai Ping’s grand ambitions, nor was she interested.
Although she guessed Bai Ping’s objective and found it utterly melodramatic, it had nothing to do with Bai Lan whatsoever. She would rather go to bed early and help Xu Jianbei pack when he moved tomorrow.
The next day arrived quickly. After a good night’s sleep, Bai Lan got up and washed up, only to see the courtyard already bustling with activity.
Several young men were cheerfully hauling yellow clay into the courtyard. This clay would be mixed with the coal lumps to make honeycomb briquettes, which burned longer and more efficiently.
Seeing Bai Lan was up, Qin Tang greeted her warmly.
Bai Lan smiled and said, “Working so early?”
Qin Tang nodded. “Yeah, I happen to have the day off.”
“Oh, Qin Tang. Why have you been living at the factory lately? Found yourself a girlfriend there?”
Widow Hu popped up from somewhere, asking Qin Tang with a slightly probing tone.
Wan Dama followed up with a grin. “That’s right, kid. Something’s definitely going on. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be staying in the group dormitory.”
Yes, ever since Hu Aimin married Gao Qingqing, Qin Tang first stayed at Qin Shengli’s place. Then, after the cuckolding incident, he moved straight into the textile factory’s group dormitory. Even though the conditions there were terrible—conditions he used to despise.
But for the sake of his own unblemished reputation, Qin Tang no longer dared to be picky.
He had come to the courtyard today on his day off because they were making coal briquettes. As the only young man in his family, this job naturally fell to him.
Now, hearing Widow Hu’s voice, Qin Tang shuddered instinctively. Fortunately, Wan Dama jumped in right after, allowing him to relax a bit.
—
“I’ve been preparing for the level-four electrician exam. Been busy studying.”
Hearing that Qin Tang hadn’t been coming home because he was working hard to improve himself, Widow Hu’s face fell. Her son Hu Aimin was also an electrician. The two had worked in the same office for years, yet Qin Tang passed one level exam each year, while her son remained at the lowest level.
This stark contrast made Widow Hu even more bitter.
And behind her bitterness, aside from her envy, lay the matter of Gao Qingqing. It had been days since the wedding, and her son still hadn’t consummated the marriage with Gao Qingqing. Remembering how Gao Qingqing had mistaken Qin Tang for Hu Aimin before the wedding, Widow Hu felt a knot of frustration.
Back then, she had deliberately made her son bring Qin Tang along precisely to confuse the woman. After all, her family conditions were good. Once the woman’s family learned about their situation after the first meeting, they naturally wouldn’t look down on her son.
In the end, Gao Qingqing married her son, proving she hadn’t been wrong. But Gao Qingqing’s refusal to consummate the marriage made Widow Hu realize she had still made one mistake.
And Qin Tang was a big potential source of trouble.
Thinking this, Widow Hu wanted to say more. But then she noticed Gao Qingqing standing at the door, peering out into the courtyard.
Because they were mixing mud, the young men in the courtyard were all wearing thin clothes, showing off their burly figures. Her son was among them—already short and thin, he looked even worse by comparison.
Even though she thought this way, Widow Hu still shouted toward Gao Qingqing, “What are you looking at? Get to work! You’ve been married for days, do nothing but eat, eat, eat. Keep it up, you’ll be eating wild greens every day from now on.”
Gao Qingqing, caught off guard by this scolding, looked deeply unpleasant. But she knew that refusing to consummate the marriage with Hu Aimin had already angered Widow Hu. So being yelled at was to be expected.
Truth be told, Gao Qingqing had considered just lying down, closing her eyes, and getting it over with. But in the end, she found she couldn’t do it. Even closing her eyes was torture.
Thinking this, she cast a pleading look toward Qin Tang again, hoping he would step up and support her.
Unfortunately, her hint was lost on the clueless Qin Tang. But Widow Hu caught it right away. Rolling up her sleeves, she was about to march over and teach Gao Qingqing a lesson.
But just then, the honk of a large truck sounded outside the gate, and a moment later, Datou came running in.
“Come on, come on, let’s go help Brother Bei move his things.”
Bai Lan had been sitting at the door watching the drama unfold. Seeing Widow Hu about to scold Gao Qingqing, she was curious to see Gao Qingqing’s reaction. Not because she was cold-hearted—Gao Qingqing had gotten married willingly. And she already knew about the unconsummated marriage. The whole courtyard knew. Only Widow Hu still thought she was keeping it a secret.
Refusing to consummate the marriage while still wanting to benefit from the Hu family—where in the world did such a good deal exist?
Poor Qin Tang.
But before she could finish watching this drama, Datou’s arrival made Bai Lan immediately stand up and go out to meet him. Eating melon seeds (watching the drama) was important, but Xu Jianbei’s matters were even more important.
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