“Hey, Beige. What brings you here at this hour?”
A lazy, familiar voice sounded nearby. Bai Lan looked over and, sure enough, saw Datou already scurrying toward the handsome guy like a monkey. Dressed in an old-style undershirt and patched-up big shorts, he stood in stark contrast to the handsome man in a white shirt and black trousers.
Datou was usually quite spirited, but at this moment, Bai Lan couldn’t help but feel his looks fell a bit short.
Datou had no idea what his old friend Bai Lan was thinking. Right now, he was overjoyed to see his good buddy. He reached out and patted the other’s shoulder, asking happily, “You came because you knew Third Brother Xu was back from his trip, right?”
Xu Jianbei nodded in response to Datou’s enthusiasm. But his attention was on Bai Lan. He knew her, and he certainly knew about the dramatic, now-canceled engagement she’d been entangled with over the past couple of days.
After his initial excitement subsided, Datou shouted to Bai Lan, “Xiao Lan, weren’t you saying you wanted to treat us to a meal? Well, here he is—perfect timing!”
Hearing this, Xu Jianbei looked a bit helpless. “Datou, it’s too late for a meal right now. Let me head home first. We can talk about whatever it is tomorrow.”
With that, he nodded politely to Bai Lan and walked toward the back courtyard with a smile.
The whole exchange happened quickly, leaving Bai Lan a bit stunned. She watched as the man’s long legs carried him into the Xu family’s west wing in the back courtyard in just a few steps. Then she turned to look at Datou. She had many questions. Was this handsome man the legendary youngest son of the Xu family?
Datou seemed to read her confusion. He waved a hand in front of her eyes. “You don’t recognize Beige? I guess that makes sense. He hasn’t been around much these past few years. And even when he did come back, he never really hung around girls. It’s not strange that you don’t know him.”
Bai Lan listened and rummaged through her memories. From the distant past, she seemed to dig up a few fragments about Xu Jianbei.
——
The main thing was that he had moved out of the courtyard with Grandpa Xu when they were young to go live near the Screw Factory. As for why they moved, Bai Lan was too young back then to know the details. She vaguely remembered something about Grandma Xu constantly causing trouble for Grandpa Xu. But those were matters of the older generation—far removed from her.
Anyway, all she remembered was that after Xu Jianbei left with Grandpa Xu, he rarely returned, even for holidays. Earlier this year, Grandma Xu and Grandpa Xu had passed away one after the other. Only then did the courtyard residents occasionally mention Xu Jianbei.
But in those days, men and women didn’t interact much to begin with. Plus, Xu Jianbei hadn’t lived in the courtyard for years, so Bai Lan really hadn’t connected that handsome man with Xu Jianbei, the Xu family’s youngest son.
“Hey, about that meal you mentioned earlier. Is Xu Jianbei the one who helped out?”
Bai Lan had previously asked Datou to dig up some dirt on Song Guoping, and someone had helped quite a bit along the way. Now it seemed that person was likely Xu Jianbei.
Sure enough, Datou nodded repeatedly after hearing Bai Lan’s question.
“That’s Beige. He works at the Screw Factory, you know. The Screw Factory does business with the steel mill. Besides, Beige knows a lot of people at the steel mill.”
As Bai Lan listened to Datou go on and on about “Beige” this and “Beige” that, his fanboy enthusiasm almost made her laugh.
——
Meanwhile, Xu Jianbei had already entered his family home. The first thing he heard was his eldest sister-in-law, Su Xiaomei, complaining.
“That youngest Bai girl is completely out of line. Serves her right for getting dumped.”
Xu Jianbei knew the whole story—in fact, he’d been the one to tell Datou many of the details about the Song family. Hearing his sister-in-law twist the truth like this, he couldn’t help but frown. “Sister-in-law, we’re all neighbors. Watch what you say.”
“Oh my, look who’s here—such a busy man! What brings you home? You’re my younger brother-in-law, you don’t get to lecture me.”
Aunt Miao had just started to smile at the arrival of her youngest son. But when she heard her eldest daughter-in-law’s snide remarks, she shot back unceremoniously, “My eldest son came to see his parents. If you don’t like it, go back to your room.”
Fuming, Su Xiaomei stomped her foot hard again. But she knew her mother-in-law’s temperament—arguing further was useless. She gave her husband, who was sitting under the eaves listening to the radio, a vicious pinch before turning and retreating to her room.
Aunt Miao shook her head at the sight, then looked at her youngest son. “Your third brother is back from his trip.”
Xu Jianbei said, “I know. I heard Third Brother was back, so I came to give him these ration coupons.”
With that, Xu Jianbei pulled a stack of coupons from his pocket. There were food coupons, meat coupons, cooking oil coupons, sugar coupons, and even a few rare foreign exchange certificates.
Aunt Miao was startled. “Why so many coupons?”
Upon hearing this, Xu Laoda (the eldest brother) craned his neck to look at what Xu Jianbei was holding. Aunt Miao shot her eldest son an exasperated glare, then pulled her youngest son toward her room.
As they walked, she grumbled, “I told you, you don’t need to subsidize the family. You don’t even live here. Keep these coupons for yourself—spend them on your wife after you get married.”
Xu Jianbei smiled warmly and replied, “Mom, I can earn more coupons for my wife after I marry her. These are for Third Brother’s wedding. He’s getting married soon, but I’ve been busy with a project at the factory. I probably won’t be free again until the day of his wedding.”
…
Bai Lan carried her washbasin back to the rear courtyard and happened to see Aunt Miao leading Xu Jianbei into the west wing’s side room. That was the room where the elder Xus lived.
Come to think of it, only three households in the courtyard had independent property rights. Apart from the Bai family, there was the Xu family in the west wing, and the Zhou family in the reverse-facing rooms at the front courtyard.
Among the three, the Xu family had the most members. But they also occupied two west wing rooms and one west wing side room, so their housing situation wasn’t too cramped.
Still, there was something peculiar about their setup. The elderly couple lived in a side room. The two main west wing rooms had each been divided in the middle with wooden planks, with new doors added. What had been two proper rooms were now four small rooms, one for each son.
However, the second Xu son, Xu Jianxi, was sent to the countryside and wasn’t home. The youngest, Xu Jianbei, lived at the screw factory. The third, Xu Jiannan, was often away on business trips. So the only people regularly seen at the Xu household were the elderly couple and the first son’s family of four.
Previously, Bai Lan had been too busy dealing with the marriage issue to pay attention to any of this. But now the engagement was canceled and her job was settled. Seeing Xu Jianbei and hearing so much about him from Datou had piqued her interest in this family.
After all, this wasn’t just the home of a handsome guy—it was also the home of the short drama’s male and female leads!
So when Bai Lan got home, she asked her mother about the Xu family. But all she got was a dismissive shake of the head. “The Xu family situation is complicated. You’re still young—don’t go digging into all that old, messy history.”
Judging by her mother’s tone, Bai Lan knew she wouldn’t get anything more out of her.
——
After dawdling for a while, Bai Lan finally came out of the main hall to head to her room and sleep.
But just as she stepped out the door, she happened to see Xu Jianbei walking out of the west wing side room.
“Mom, you go inside and rest. Once I finish this project I’m working on, I’ll have more time.”
Xu Jianbei was talking to his mother, who wanted to see him to the main gate, but his gaze caught Bai Lan’s figure emerging from the main house.
Just like when he’d arrived, he gave her a polite smile and nod. Regarding the Song family matter, he genuinely admired Bai Lan’s decisiveness and intelligence.
Bai Lan hadn’t expected to see him again so soon. She gave him a warm, natural smile in return. Seeing that he was about to leave, she thought for a moment, then walked over. “Fourth Brother Xu…”
Xu Jianbei paused and looked at her questioningly.
Bai Lan’s smile grew brighter. “I heard from Datou that you were the one who guided him through the Song family matter. I didn’t know before, but now that I do, I wanted to thank you in person.”
A glint of appreciation flashed in Xu Jianbei’s eyes. “No need to be so polite. The Song family’s intentions weren’t pure from the start.”
For a young woman like Bai Lan to resist the allure of the Song family’s conditions—Xu Jianbei felt she was worth helping.
Without wasting words, Bai Lan extended an invitation. “I’m planning to treat Datou and Qin Yan to a meal tomorrow at noon. They both helped a lot with the Song family situation. Would you have time to join us?”
Xu Jianbei thought for a moment, then shook his head. “I probably won’t have time tomorrow. Let’s skip it this time. Once I finish my current project, I’ll treat all of you to a nice meal.”
Bai Lan nodded and was about to say something when she heard a door opening from the east wing behind her. She immediately signaled to Xu Jianbei with her eyes and whispered, “The widow Hu is coming. You’d better go.”
Xu Jianbei certainly knew the widow Hu’s fearsome reputation. Seeing Bai Lan’s mischievous wink, he suppressed a smile, waved at her, and left the courtyard in just a few strides.
Sure enough, the moment Xu Jianbei disappeared, the widow Hu popped out. She craned her neck suspiciously, staring at Bai Lan as if trying to read a hidden story on her face.
Bai Lan flashed her a smug grin, hummed a tune, and headed straight back to her room.
——
Inside, Bai Ping was tidying up her clothes. Seeing Bai Lan come in humming, clearly in a fantastic mood, she bit her lip and asked directly, “Xiao Lan, your job is settled, but you still don’t have a prospect! Is the Song family really out of the question?”
Bai Lan looked at her third sister in surprise, then shook her head. She wanted nothing to do with the Song family’s “prize catch.”
Seeing Bai Lan shake her head, Bai Ping thought for a moment and finally said, “Just don’t regret it later.”
Bai Lan thought to herself: Regret? Not a chance. Someone like Song Guoping—whoever ends up with him will be the unlucky one. I’d much rather look at Fourth Brother Xu I saw today. He seems like a good person, and he’s handsome too. If I’m going to find someone, finding someone like that would be much easier on the eyes.
I wonder if Fourth Brother Xu has a girlfriend yet?
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