“Lanlan, this is Comrade Fang Baowei. He’s a new friend I met at the machine tool plant.”
“Brother Baowei, this is Comrade Bai Lan, my girlfriend.”
At the state-run restaurant of the machine tool plant, Xu Jianbei was introducing Bai Lan to Fang Baowei and explaining how they had met.
“Baowei’s skills are extremely refined. They’re a bit different from ours up north.”
Fang Baowei looked a little embarrassed. “Actually, Jianbei, your skills are the ones that are really impressive. Such precision machinery, and you understood its inner workings at a single glance.”
Bai Lan sat there listening to the two of them compliment each other, feeling somewhat amused. She hadn’t expected that in just one day out, Xu Jianbei would not only meet Fang Baowei but also get along with him so well.
“I don’t want to intrude on your time together…” Fang Baowei had been chatting with Xu Jianbei for quite a while when he noticed Bai Lan sitting there smiling the whole time. It belatedly dawned on him that he might be acting as a third wheel.
He also hadn’t expected that going to the machine tool plant today would lead to meeting such a like-minded friend. Their technical skills came from different backgrounds, but they arrived at the same destination through different paths.
Bai Lan waved her hand. “No problem, no problem. Jianbei being able to make new friends here is something to be happy about!”
“Oh my, it really is you!”
Cao Changsheng appeared out of nowhere and plopped down next to Xu Jianbei. “I knew it—I couldn’t find you anywhere after work. So you’re on a date!”
Only then did he notice Fang Baowei. There had been a lot of people at the machine tool plant today, so he hadn’t been with Xu Jianbei. Now that he saw Fang Baowei, he looked at him curiously for a moment. Then he frowned and whispered to Xu Jianbei, “Is this a relative of Bai Lan’s?”
Xu Jianbei shook his head. Bai Lan’s male cousins had come to the courtyard a few times. Cao Changsheng had run into them. So now he was probably noticing that Fang Baowei looked like Bai Lan’s cousins.
Cao Changsheng was a perceptive person. He more or less guessed that something was off, but he didn’t ask. Instead, he cheerfully started chatting with Fang Baowei. The dinner table grew livelier by the minute.
—
“He seems like an honest, genuine person.”
After the meal, the four of them parted ways. Bai Lan and Xu Jianbei walked back together, and she shared her impression of Fang Baowei. If her suspicion was correct, Fang Baowei was her brother.
Xu Jianbei nodded. “There were several people from the textile factory at the machine tool plant. They all had pretty good things to say about him. But it seems the Fang family isn’t exactly peaceful either.”
Bai Lan nodded and told him what she had found out.
An older, higher-ranking father, a young stepmother, a capable stepson, and a biological son just entering society. A combination like that was bound to have its stories. But what exactly those stories were, she hadn’t been able to find out yet.
“The only thing that’s certain is that the Fang family’s eldest son doesn’t have a very good relationship with Qian Chunyun and her son.”
“So are you going back?”
Xu Jianbei took Bai Lan’s hand. She had come on this trip to personally confirm the existence of Fang Baowei. Having seen him in person, even without any concrete evidence, she could almost certainly conclude that Fang Baowei was related to her.
Bai Lan said, “Not yet. I took a week off. Since I’ve met him, you can put in the effort to spend more time with Fang Baowei over the next few days. I’ll continue asking around at the textile factory. And I’ll find some time to do some sightseeing in Haicheng.”
With her main goal accomplished, Bai Lan felt much lighter. She finally had the energy to go shopping. “Right, if you don’t have enough cash or ration coupons, take some from me. We can buy the things we need for our wedding on this trip. My third brother bought his wedding furniture here…”
—
Over the next few days, when not working, Xu Jianbei spent more and more time with Fang Baowei. They even formed a small team to tackle a new type of textile machine together.
Bai Lan, meanwhile, wasn’t idle either. After multiple visits to the textile factory’s residential area, she finally managed to piece together some information about the Fang family.
For example, Qian Chunyun had met Factory Director Fang in Beicheng back in the day. At the time, Fang was still Director Fang, and he had been sent by the Haicheng Textile Factory to the Beicheng Number One Textile Factory to help set up a production line.
That’s right—the Number One Textile Factory was the very same factory where most people in the courtyard worked.
After learning this, Bai Lan was no longer surprised that a girl from Beicheng would marry a man from Haicheng ten years her senior.
Before she married, Qian Chunyun had worked as a textile worker at the Number One Textile Factory.
As for Fang Baowei, he had been born during the time Qian Chunyun was back home visiting her family. Fang Baowei’s birthdate was the same as that of the twins Bai Li and Bai Ping—the same day, at the same hospital.
What a damn coincidence.
After finding all this out, Bai Lan couldn’t help but wonder how much of it was truly coincidence and how much was intentional.
And whoever had done such a thing had to pay the price.
Bai Lan was a woman of action. Once her mind was made up, she finally had Xu Jianbei invite Fang Baowei out on the sixth day of her trip—Xu Jianbei’s day off.
—
At the main gate of the textile factory, Fang Baowei looked at Xu Jianbei in confusion.
“You finally have a day off, and instead of going out with your girlfriend, you come to find me? What’s this about?”
The question was a bit too blunt. Xu Jianbei heard it and felt like laughing. He thought to himself that this future brother-in-law was quite straightforward.
“I just wanted to ask you to be our guide, show us around Haicheng.”
Fang Baowei glanced at Bai Lan, who was standing not far away, and felt a bit embarrassed. The main issue was that he wasn’t very good at interacting with female comrades. Although he had eaten at the same table with Bai Lan once, he knew she was just as talkative as Xu Jianbei.
Xu Jianbei could see what he was thinking and smiled. “It’s just that Bai Lan and I are about to get married. We’re planning to go to the secondhand store to see if we can find anything good.”
He had heard that the secondhand stores in Haicheng had many items from the Republican era. Bai Lan was quite interested in those. Asking Fang Baowei to come out today was a way to spend some time with him, observe his character and personality a bit more, and also let him get to know them better. Then, when it came time to talk openly about the matter, it would be easier.
Hearing this, Fang Baowei immediately nodded. Getting married was a big deal. He was more than happy to help if he could.
“Alright, let’s go now. The secondhand store should be open by this hour. And speaking of which, someone from our team once found a Republican-era music box there…”
On the way there, Bai Lan listened to Fang Baowei talk about these treasure-hunting stories and found them quite interesting. She had initially thought he was a man of few words. But once he opened up, he turned out to be quite talkative.
The secondhand store wasn’t far from the textile factory. The three of them arrived after a ten-minute walk.
It wasn’t really a store in the traditional sense—it was a single-story red brick and tile building, more like a warehouse, with a few counters inside. Each counter held quite a few items.
Some of these items were secondhand goods people had brought in to sell, others were things confiscated from raided homes. Regardless of their origin, this was a state-run establishment. So buying things was quite formal. Everything had a price tag and could be receipted. What exactly you could find depended on your own eye for value.
With the ruby jewelry set and a whole box of various other pieces that Xu Jianbei had given her, Bai Lan didn’t have much of an obsession with finding bargains. Still, she picked out two understated white jade bangles. White jade wasn’t worth much in this era. She spent only fifty yuan on two bangles in good condition.
This made her quite happy. It felt like she had made a great profit.
Xu Jianbei, meanwhile, picked out a music box from the Republican era. Seeing this, Bai Lan laughed. “You just heard the story about the music box and you’re already hooked, huh?”
Xu Jianbei smiled. “This thing is actually quite unique.”
While the two of them were laughing and chatting, they weren’t paying attention to Fang Baowei. So when they heard the sound of him arguing with someone, they both froze for a moment.
—
“Sister-in-law, don’t just grab some piece of junk and try to run a scam.”
Following the sound, they saw Fang Baowei talking to a middle-aged woman in work clothes. His tone sounded very angry.
Xu Jianbei had spent six days with him and knew he usually had a good temper. The fact that he was like this now meant he was genuinely upset.
He took Bai Lan’s hand and quickly walked over.
“What happened, Baowei?”
As soon as Xu Jianbei appeared, he caught the middle-aged woman’s attention.
“Oh, little brother. Where did you find these helpers?”
Noticing the woman’s address, Bai Lan immediately recalled the information she had gathered earlier. Fang Baowei’s sister-in-law worked at a secondhand store. But there were so many secondhand stores—she hadn’t expected her to work at this one. This was truly…
Fang Baowei was unhappy with her tone. “I didn’t ask you to take that thing out. I just walked over here, and you pulled that vase out and started shouting that I broke it. Who do you think you’re fooling?”
Fang’s sister-in-law shot back, “You say I took it out already broken? Who saw that? I say you asked me to show it to you. You even touched the vase. Then you let go and put a crack in it…”
There weren’t many people in the secondhand store at this hour, and this counter was in a corner. No one had actually noticed what happened.
Fang Baowei was clearly infuriated by his sister-in-law’s shamelessness. He was about to continue arguing when Xu Jianbei stopped him.
Bai Lan stepped forward at this point. She tugged on Xu Jianbei’s sleeve, signaling that she would handle this one.
Xu Jianbei nodded and stood firmly beside Bai Lan, looking very much like her solid support.
Seeing this, Fang Baowei immediately moved to stand beside them as well.
Trapped by three people, Fang’s sister-in-law began to panic. But this was her workplace, and her colleagues were all around. So she started shouting loudly. Soon, several shop assistants came running over.
“What’s going on? What’s going on? Are you here to cause trouble?”
“Whether we’re causing trouble or not, you should ask your colleague.”
Bai Lan pointed directly at Fang’s sister-in-law and explained what had happened to a man who looked like a manager. She also mentioned the personal relationship between this middle-aged woman and Fang Baowei.
As soon as the manager heard about their relationship, he immediately recalled the situation in Fang’s sister-in-law’s family. His expression darkened.
Fang’s sister-in-law wasn’t afraid at all. She stubbornly insisted, “He broke it. The crack on that vase is the proof.”
Bai Lan watched coldly as she tried to weasel out of it. Once she had yelled enough, Bai Lan said, “Auntie, you keep saying Comrade Fang broke it and demanding that he pay for it. If I can prove that he didn’t break it, will you be the one to pay for the vase?”
Fang’s sister-in-law was taken aback. Her instinct was to shake her head. But Bai Lan was no longer talking to her. Instead, she looked at the manager. “As I said, Comrade Fang didn’t break it. I can prove he’s innocent. But your shop assistant falsely accused a customer. How will you handle that?”
The manager had already guessed roughly what had happened. Hearing Bai Lan’s words, he wanted to mediate and let it slide. But seeing that Fang’s sister-in-law was still being stubborn, he finally said, “If you can prove that this comrade didn’t break it, then the shop assistant responsible for this counter will be fined. Moreover, falsely accusing a customer is going too far. The unit will impose disciplinary action.”
Having gotten the answer she wanted, Bai Lan smiled and said, “The crack is old. There’s a lot of dust stuck in it. If you had paid even a little attention, you wouldn’t have tried to pull such a scam.”
As soon as she said this, everyone turned to look at the vase. Fang’s sister-in-law was frozen stiff by now.
As the shop assistant responsible for this counter, she naturally knew that the vase had been broken by herself long ago. That was why she had never been able to sell it. It was only today, upon seeing Fang Baowei, that she had a sudden impulse to embarrass him and offload her own problem onto him. Who would have thought it could be proven this way?
Bai Lan’s words just now had actually been a bluff. Now, seeing Fang’s sister-in-law’s nervous expression, she was certain that she had hit the mark.
She didn’t say anything further, only smiled as she looked at the manager.
The manager immediately called over two female colleagues, who rushed over and snatched the vase away. Several shop assistants put their heads together to look, and sure enough, they saw several old cracks on the vase.
At this point, everyone understood perfectly well.
In their line of work, it wasn’t uncommon to accidentally break something and then report it as damaged. But this vase was relatively valuable. It was usually kept inside the counter for safekeeping. Claiming it as damaged could only be attributed to human error, and that kind of damage incurred a fine.
“This incident was our employee’s fault. I’ll have her apologize to you.”
Bai Lan looked at Fang Baowei and asked if he would accept that.
Fang Baowei nodded. He wasn’t one to stir up trouble either. If his sister-in-law hadn’t gone crazy, he usually went out of his way to avoid her and her husband.
In the end, Fang’s sister-in-law was forced to apologize. Later, it was said that she was transferred out of the secondhand store and sent to the recycling station to sort through waste.
Of course, Bai Lan and the other two wouldn’t know about those developments for a while. Right now, the three of them walked out of the store, and the smile hadn’t left Fang Baowei’s face.
Seeing him looking so triumphant, Bai Lan thought to herself that the conflicts within the Fang family must be quite intense.
Fang Baowei, for his part, didn’t hide anything from them and began to talk about his family situation.
“To put it plainly, my sister-in-law was deliberately picking a fight. And it’s not the first time.” Speaking of his family situation, Fang Baowei felt utterly drained.
He couldn’t stop his mother from marrying his father. Nor could he stop himself from being born. So his older brother’s hostility toward him often left Fang Baowei feeling emotionally exhausted.
His older brother’s hostility was still somewhat veiled, but ever since his sister-in-law married into the family, she had been downright nasty to him. Outside the home, she was always saying that everything belonging to the Fang family would eventually be theirs.
Truth be told, Fang Baowei really didn’t care about those things. He was a young man with two hands and feet, and he had a proper job. He could support himself no matter what. And when he got married, he could support his family too.
That said, he wasn’t going to back down either. His experiences growing up had taught him that backing down only made people bully you worse.
He spoke lightly, as if it were nothing, but Bai Lan knew it wasn’t that simple. Take today’s false accusation—it was incredibly petty. But she had still gone and done it. And if you weren’t careful, if you just got tangled up arguing with her, you could easily fall into her trap.
So Fang Baowei probably really didn’t have a good time of it in the Fang family.
Compared to the pampered, coddled life Bai Ping had lived, his was practically miserable.
And that was precisely why Bai Lan needed to tell him the truth as quickly as possible.
—
Fang Baowei stared at the photos before him, rooted to the spot. After a long time, he finally managed, “This… this…”
Bai Lan and Xu Jianbei exchanged a glance. She slowly explained the relationship between the Bai family and the Qian family, how they had made the discovery, and introduced the people in the photos as well.
Fang Baowei still found it hard to believe. The triumphant smile he had worn just moments ago after seeing his sister-in-law humiliated had completely vanished.
“I don’t believe it…”
Bai Lan could understand. If someone came to you with a few photos and told you that your mother wasn’t your biological mother, you would probably think they were crazy.
But the fact that they had known Fang Baowei for several days now made him instinctively want to ask for more details.
“I don’t want to believe it either. But the information I’ve gathered tells me my suspicion is correct. Of course, the most important thing in this matter is still to ask the person involved directly and get a clear answer.”
That was Bai Lan’s ultimate goal.
Confront Qian Chunyun directly, break through her defenses, uncover the truth of what happened back then, and make her pay the price she deserved.
Fang Baowei was direct by nature. And just now, Bai Lan had stepped up to defend him without hesitation. Now, hearing her suggestion, he stood up without a second thought.
He didn’t want to believe it, but he knew that these two people in front of him weren’t making baseless accusations.
—
Qian Chunyun was at home listening to the radio while picking vegetables. The household usually consisted of just the three of them—her, her husband, and her son. The eyesore of a stepson had been sent away long ago. Qian Chunyun was very satisfied with this life.
Her husband had money and power, her son was smart and successful. Who didn’t envy her when she went out? Even though her husband was ten years older than her and had been married before, Qian Chunyun believed that for someone like her, marrying such a man was already aiming high.
Besides, she had been very happy during her visit to Beicheng a few days ago. The person she had always been concerned about had found an even better match. Whether it was the dowry or the in-laws, it was all better than what she herself had back in the day. Someday in the future, perhaps she could finally reveal the truth. And when that day came, she would be able to acknowledge her own daughter.
Thinking about these things, Qian Chunyun’s mood grew even brighter. Humming along with the radio, she thought that in a few days, when her daughter got married, she would need to come up with an excuse to make another trip to Beicheng.
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
“Who is it?” Qian Chunyun called out cheerfully, then opened the door.
The smile instantly froze on her face.
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