“Let me go, let me go…”
Dragged along by her hair by Widow Hu, Gao Qingqing felt like the pain shooting from her scalp was even worse than the sting from the slaps. She screamed, hoping someone in the courtyard would step up to help her.
She knew the people living here were compassionate. Before, when she’d suddenly married into the family, they’d even reported it to the street office, worried she was being tricked into marriage. That was the very source of her confidence in standing up to the Hu family.
But this time, Gao Qingqing’s plan failed.
The residents of the courtyard weren’t fools. Since you voluntarily married into the Hu family, fighting with Widow Hu now is just a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflict. Most people filed this under family matters. No one came forward directly to “seek justice” for her.
Widow Hu knew exactly what this woman was waiting for. She let out a cold laugh: “Stop dreaming.”
With that, she glanced around, taking in everyone’s expressions, then suddenly turned furious: “I’m not afraid of the shame anymore. The reason my son suddenly went crazy and almost hit Qin Tang is all because of this hussy!”
As soon as she said this, the onlookers, who had been waiting for the drama, let out a collective “Oh.” The quicker-minded ones immediately understood, looking at Qin Tang with sympathy.
The Qin family’s faces changed drastically upon hearing Widow Hu’s words.
Auntie Qin even charged at Widow Hu, trying to shut her up. Not for any other reason, but because she was afraid this woman’s rambling would ruin her son’s reputation.
But Widow Hu clearly had skills. She dodged Auntie Qin’s outstretched arm and continued: “This hussy has been married into my family for days and still refuses to consummate the marriage with my son. My son took it to heart, got emotionally overwhelmed in the moment, and accidentally picked up a shovel to vent…”
At these words, Auntie Qin froze. The neighbors froze too.
Seeing this, Widow Hu breathed a secret sigh of relief. She wasn’t stupid; she would never actually say that Gao Qingqing had her eye on Qin Tang. That would bring her no benefit and offend the whole Qin family. She wasn’t about to do something that foolish.
Of course, to make sure Gao Qingqing didn’t get off easy, Widow Hu was particularly vicious: “My son was driven crazy by her. If she didn’t want to consummate the marriage, she should have said so earlier. Then we wouldn’t have married her. We spent five hundred yuan to bring her in, fed her well, treated her well. In the end, she does nothing, won’t even consummate—what sin did I commit? Our family has been tricked into marriage!”
As she spoke, Widow Hu slapped her thigh and finally plopped down on the ground, wailing bitterly. The crying was truly pitiful. Considering Gao Qingqing’s behavior recently, calling her a marriage trickster wasn’t an exaggeration at all.
Seeing this, Bai Lan had to admire Widow Hu’s slick maneuvering. Hadn’t the neighbors’ attitude shifted from initially condemning Hu Aimin to feeling a hint of sympathy?
Everyone was afraid of this happening to their own family!
Although it was an open secret in the courtyard that Hu Aimin and Gao Qingqing hadn’t consummated their marriage, a secret that wasn’t revealed remained just that. Now that it was laid bare in front of everyone, many felt sympathy for the Hu family. Even Hu Aimin, sprawled limp on the ground, suddenly seemed less sleazy.
“My family was tricked. My son lost control of his temper and almost hurt Qin Tang—we admit that. Once I’ve dealt with this marriage-tricking woman, I’ll bring gifts to the Qin family and apologize.”
The decisive tone earned Widow Hu another wave of sympathy. Instantly, a few people began urging the Qin family to go easy.
Uncle Qin, having already disciplined Hu Aimin, hadn’t intended to press further anyway. After all, his son wasn’t hurt. If he injured Hu Aimin, the Qins would be in the wrong.
So he stood there and said, “An apology is absolutely necessary. Also, Hu Aimin must write a letter of apology and promise to control his emotions in the future. Otherwise, don’t blame us for being unreasonable.”
“Dad…” Qin Yan wasn’t entirely satisfied with this outcome. She started to speak, but Qin Tang immediately pulled her back.
Although Qin Tang was warmhearted, he wasn’t foolish. He understood his father’s reasoning and nodded in agreement: “That’s right. Since it wasn’t intentional, write me the apology letter, and I’ll let it go. But there won’t be a next time.”
“Right, right, right, I promise there won’t be a next time.” Seeing the Qin father and son relent, Widow Hu nodded and bowed, expressing her gratitude. She also made sure to pull her limp son up off the ground and had him bow to the Qins in apology.
With that, the Qin family’s matter was half-resolved. The other half was dealing with Gao Qingqing.
Widow Hu cracked her knuckles, ready to give Gao Qingqing another lesson. But just then, Sister Bai came out of her house and announced loudly, “Handle family matters with words, not fists. Whether she’s willing or not, you need to talk it out.”
Sister Bai didn’t say anything more. Because given the Hu family’s current situation, Gao Qingqing really did look like the one who had tricked them.
Seeing that Bai Lian had been drawn out, Widow Hu promptly swore on her chest that she wouldn’t lay a finger on anyone. She promised to communicate using only words. Then, reaching out, she grabbed Gao Qingqing by the collar and dragged her back inside.
Hu Aimin, who had been lying half-dead on the ground, immediately jumped up, scurried back into the house in two or three steps, and promptly locked the door—a coward’s move, scared of getting beaten again.
And so the farce came to an anticlimactic end. Everyone exchanged glances.
Of course, opinions varied. Most believed that if Gao Qingqing didn’t want to sleep with Hu Aimin, she shouldn’t have married him in the first place. Marrying him and then refusing—how was that anything but a trick? Especially after the Hu family had paid an exorbitant bride price of five hundred yuan.
For city folks like them, one hundred yuan was already the ceiling for a bride price. As for other betrothal gifts, one of the “three big items” would suffice. But the Hu family hadn’t just paid five hundred yuan in cash; rumor had it they’d also gotten the Gao family a used bicycle.
Used or not, a bicycle was a bicycle. It could still sell for two or three hundred yuan.
So, everyone felt that Gao Qingqing was in the wrong. If you don’t want to consummate the marriage, don’t string them along! Wasn’t she just after the bride price and gifts?
That was a clear-cut case of marriage fraud.
Listening to the chatter around her, Bai Lan also thought there was something wrong with Gao Qingqing. If she really couldn’t stand Hu Aimin, she should just get a divorce. But dragging things out like this—and the Hu family being no pushovers—meant this was far from over.
After whispering a few words to Xu Jianbei, Bai Lan got back to moving. But the courtyard grew livelier by the minute. Quite a few neighbors from the alley, having heard about the commotion at the Hu family’s, came over to gawk. Even though the Hu family’s door was already shut, they all squatted outside, listening to the yelling coming from inside.
Seeing this, Bai Lan was a bit speechless. But then she thought about it—there weren’t many forms of entertainment in this era. Poking around and gossiping about neighborhood drama was a free pastime.
The drama continued, lasting well past noon.
By the time Xu Jianbei had finished putting everything away and everyone was sitting down to eat, the Hu family’s argument still hadn’t ended.
At the dinner table, Bai Lan sat next to Xu Jianbei. At their table were Xu Jianbei’s friends—the main crew who had helped with the move. Among them were Cao Changsheng, Datou, and Qiu Chengcai, all of whom Bai Lan already knew.
Yes, Qiu Chengcai—Bai Ping’s ex.
Bai Lan remembered that this guy was a friend of Xu Jiannan’s. It was a bit strange that he had shown up today to help Xu Jianbei move.
But Qiu Chengcai was pretty forward. Seeing Bai Lan’s gaze, he smiled and greeted her, a far cry from the sobbing mess he’d been at the private kitchen.
Seeing him looking so over it, Bai Lan thought to herself that leaving Bai Ping was actually a blessing for him.
Cao Changsheng, meanwhile, chatted about what was happening at the steel plant as he ate. Mainly, something that had happened at the plant in the past couple of days. And Bai Lan knew the person involved.
—
“The Song family was reported?”
Bai Lan looked at Cao Changsheng, surprised at the truth of this news. She remembered that the Song family had been in someone’s crosshairs before, which was why they were so eager to arrange a marriage with her family. But after she’d shut down that marriage talk, she hadn’t paid much attention to the Songs.
According to the short drama’s plot, this family would stand tall for decades, rake in fortunes, and eventually become a famous wealthy family in the country.
A family like that shouldn’t be having any problems in this era.
So when Cao Changsheng said this, Bai Lan first assumed he was talking about the earlier incident where the Song family had been targeted.
But then Cao Changsheng continued, and Bai Lan realized it wasn’t that simple.
“This isn’t small-time stuff anymore. I heard the mining department has sent people down to investigate.”
Hearing it was this serious, everyone else at the table stopped eating. Everyone at this table was either a worker from the screw factory or the steel plant. But when it came to having the inside scoop, Cao Changsheng was the best.
Most of the Xu family members at the neighboring table didn’t react much upon hearing the news. But Su Xiaomei, who was keeping an eye on Bai Lan, immediately remembered upon hearing “steel plant’s Song family”—wasn’t that the family Bai Lan had almost married into?
This family was about to have bad luck? Then Bai Lan really was a jinx.
Thinking this, Su Xiaomei became even more convinced that this woman couldn’t marry Xu Jianbei, lest she bring misfortune upon the family.
If Bai Lan knew Su Xiaomei’s imagination was running wild like that, she’d definitely give her a few big eye rolls.
But right now, her mind was full of this matter of the Song family being reported and investigated by the higher-ups. She felt like this whole thing was a bit odd. Although she hadn’t finished watching the short drama, this definitely hadn’t happened in the original plot.
Thinking about how Bai Ping had recently used a favor from the Song family to get a truckload of coal, Bai Lan couldn’t help but wonder if this had something to do with Bai Ping.
But then again, whether it did or not probably didn’t have much to do with her. Bai Lan put the question aside for now and went back to chatting with Xu Jianbei.
Just then, Datou pulled Bai Lan aside and whispered, “Qin Tang really has bad luck. Yanzi told me to stick with her brother all day today and protect his virtue.”
Bai Lan felt a laugh bubbling up. But she also thought Qin Yan was just being proactive.
“It’s just one day. Qin Tang is going back to the factory dormitory tonight anyway.”
Datou nodded. Exactly. For Yanzi’s sake, he couldn’t refuse.
—
After a lively lunch, the guests left one by one. Quite a few of the alley neighbors in the courtyard had also long since dispersed to go home and eat.
But the Hu family’s door remained shut. Occasionally, the sound of arguing could still be heard from inside.
Bai Lan stood under the eaves of the western wing, looking across at the Hu family’s home in the eastern wing. She couldn’t see anything.
“I’m going to tidy up this afternoon. Want to come help?”
The teasing voice came from behind Bai Lan. She turned and gave Xu Jianbei a little shove: “If I stay in your room with you all afternoon, believe me, the whole alley will be gossiping before nightfall.”
Just in the past week, with Xu Jianbei moving, the news that she was getting married to him had already spread everywhere. The neighbors had way too much imagination, so Bai Lan had to be careful.
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