“Didn’t she just go to the Ning family yesterday, saying she had her eye on Da Tou and wanted the two families to join together? It’s only been a few hours! How is she already engaged to someone else?”
That’s right. The person in the compound who had successfully found a match was none other than Hu Aihua.
Bai Lan looked at her mother in astonishment, hardly able to believe this was actually true. What kind of speed was this? She went to propose a match yesterday, failed, and immediately switched to someone new today—and succeeded? That was faster than a rocket! From the way Hu Aihua had looked yesterday, Bai Lan hadn’t gotten the impression that she was completely uninterested in Da Tou.
Seeing her youngest daughter’s jaw drop, Bai Lan’s mother smiled and reached out to ruffle her hair. Even after getting married, she was still so childish!
“It is a bit fast. But I heard the match has good prospects. Widow Hu probably wants to lock it down as soon as possible. Plus, Da Tou embarrassed her yesterday by rejecting her outright in front of everyone. Widow Hu’s pride must have taken a hit.”
That reasoning made sense. But as Bai Lan watched Widow Hu darting around the courtyard, her face beaming with joy, she still found the whole thing too surreal.
It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours!
“But why haven’t I seen Hu Aihua?”
In the courtyard, besides Widow Hu, the rarely seen Gao Qingqing was also chatting with others. Even Hu Aimin looked pleased, smoking with a few of the compound’s older men and uncles.
In short, the whole family acted as if they had won the lottery.
“The matchmaking happened this afternoon. After it went well, she went out to eat with the man. And I have to say, that Sister Wu really has some skills.”
Listening to her mother talk about the matchmaker, Bai Lan was starting to have a grudging respect for these people.
—
Just as she was about to go into the courtyard and listen to the women chatting, she saw a man and a woman walk in from outside.
The woman was, of course, Hu Aihua, the talk of the town. The man was a stranger, looked to be in his twenties, neither tall nor short, dressed in a cadre’s uniform. He had a fair complexion and looked very much like a southerner.
“Oh, Xiao Zhu! Thank you for sending my Aihua home. You’ve already eaten, right? What did you have? Would you like a little more?”
The man called Xiao Zhu smiled gently. “Auntie, no need. Comrade Hu and I are both full. I brought a little something for you.”
With that, he handed over an aluminum lunchbox he was carrying.
Widow Hu’s eyes lit up. She took the lunchbox, opened it, and the aroma of meat wafted out.
Many neighbors who had gathered to watch the spectacle let out “oohs” and “aahs,” clearly impressed by the box of braised pork.
Immediately, someone congratulated Widow Hu on her good fortune—finding such a good match for her daughter. Others crowded around Xiao Zhu, asking about his background.
Xiao Zhu didn’t seem annoyed. He answered various questions politely, deflecting the ones that were too personal and answering the appropriate ones with good-natured patience.
Bai Lan’s mother deliberately pulled Bai Lan to stand at the doorway and watch the commotion. Seeing this, she couldn’t help but sigh. “This young man has such a nice temperament.”
Bai Lan agreed that his temperament was indeed good. But he was almost too nice. Not just to Widow Hu, but even to the neighbors, his attitude was so gracious it felt unreal.
She turned her attention to Hu Aihua and noticed that she didn’t seem as happy as Widow Hu.
Fortunately, this man named Xiao Zhu seemed quite busy. After exchanging pleasantries with the neighbors for a short while, he glanced at his watch and politely took his leave.
Even his farewell was courteous, earning him thumbs-up from many people.
Widow Hu was naturally among them.
As soon as Xiao Zhu left, Widow Hu opened that box of braised pork again and took a deep, exaggerated whiff. Then she lifted her chin high, wearing an expression of utter bliss.
Her smugness finally rubbed someone the wrong way.
“Oh, come on, it’s just a box of braised pork. No need to show off like that! And it’s not like this Xiao Zhu came looking for you on his own. Is this Sister Wu really that reliable, finding such a good match for your Aihua?”
Aunt Wan’s questioning immediately put Widow Hu on the defensive.
“Oh, so you just can’t stand to see my family do well, can you? My Aihua is a wonderful girl! She just turned eighteen—she’s a fresh flower bud—and she’s a formal worker at the recycling station. Paired with a sales clerk at the secondhand market like Xiao Zhu, she’s more than a good enough match!”
Seeing that the two seemed about to come to blows, Aunt Qin quickly stepped in to mediate.
Although she had a very low opinion of Widow Hu because of the Gao Qingqing situation, it was Aunt Qin who had brought Matchmaker Wu to the compound in the first place. So, hearing someone question the match, she couldn’t help but say a few words.
Of course, as she spoke, Aunt Qin’s tone was tinged with bitterness.
She had no idea what was wrong with that Sister Wu. She had been the one to bring her here, yet Sister Wu had set up matches for everyone except her own daughter and son. Instead, she had found not just one but two prospects for Hu Aihua.
The first one, Da Tou, she could overlook. But the second one, Zhu Cheng, seemed like a pretty good catch. Her own Yanzi was a much better prospect than Hu Aihua!
Bai Lan caught the sourness in Aunt Qin’s voice and immediately felt relieved on Qin Yan’s behalf.
Because she was quite sure that Qin Yan wouldn’t like someone with Xiao Zhu’s personality!
Just as the courtyard was in this state of chaos, Bai Lan saw her older brother walking toward her. She asked in surprise, “Brother, aren’t you working overtime today?”
It was nearly six in the evening. Bai Lan had gotten off work early and had come to the compound to hang out. She was waiting for Xu Jianbei to finish work so they could have dinner together either at her in-laws’ or her parents’ place, then walk back to the screw factory.
Her newly acknowledged biological brother, Bai Baowei, was a man devoted to his work. Usually, Bai Lan only saw him more often on weekends. On weekdays, their schedules often didn’t align.
Bai Baowei called out “Mom,” then said to Bai Lan, “I had some work matters to discuss with Jianbei, so I left a bit early.”
Hearing this, Bai Lan lost interest.
Because whenever Xu Jianbei and her brother got together, their conversation revolved entirely around screw dimensions and machine tool technology—topics Bai Lan found both boring and incomprehensible.
But Bai Lan could tell that Bai Baowei still had something on his mind. So she asked directly, “Brother, is there something else?”
Bai Lan’s mother also noticed her son’s hesitant expression for the first time. Smiling, she patted him on the shoulder. “Go on, whatever it is, just say it.”
Seeing this, Bai Baowei didn’t dawdle. He lowered his voice. “I know that Xiao Zhu you were just talking about.”
Bai Lan looked at Bai Baowei in surprise. Since coming to Beicheng from Haicheng, her brother’s sphere of activity had been pretty much limited to the textile factory. So, he must have known this person from Haicheng.
“His name is Zhu Cheng. He’s the son of the eldest brother of Fang Baoguo’s wife.”
The relationship was a bit convoluted. The name Fang Baoguo sounded familiar. Bai Lan paused for a moment, then quickly placed it. She thought to herself, what a small world.
Fang Baoguo was Bai Baowei’s cheap older brother from when he was still Fang Baowei. Bai Lan remembered that this man had treated Bai Baowei rather poorly.
Ever since leaving the Fang family and returning to the Bai family, Bai Baowei had had no dealings with the Haicheng side, except for his adoptive father, Factory Director Fang, who stayed in touch with him from time to time. No one in their family had a problem with this father-son bond.
After all, Factory Director Fang had raised Bai Baowei for twenty years. He hadn’t known about the baby swapping back then, and after finding out, he had been paving the way for Bai Baowei’s career. So the Bai family had no reason to reject someone who was good to their son.
But Bai Baowei had indeed had no further contact with Fang Baoguo.
Bai Lan distinctly remembered that when she and Xu Jianbei had been in Haicheng with Bai Baowei, browsing a secondhand store, they had run into Fang Baoguo’s wife. She had tried to extort Bai Baowei using a broken vase.
It was surprising that the younger brother of such a person also worked in the secondhand goods business, and had even moved to Beicheng, where he had just gone on a blind date with Widow Hu’s daughter.
What a small world indeed!
Bai Baowei also found it incredible. “Zhu Cheng used to work at a supply and marketing company in Haicheng. I never expected him to end up in Beicheng and transfer to a secondhand goods store.”
“Well, just pretend you don’t know him if you ever run into him.”
The eldest branch of the Fang family harbored hostility toward Bai Baowei. Although Bai Baowei was no longer part of the Fang family, he still needed to be cautious.
Bai Baowei nodded. “I don’t have much of a relationship with him anyway. But he does recognize me.”
Bai Lan understood what that meant. But she felt that her family had nothing to do with Widow Hu. There was no reason for Fang Baoguo’s wife to go to the trouble of bringing her eldest brother’s son all the way here just to set him up with Hu Aihua just to spite Bai Baowei. There was no logical connection.
So, Bai Lan said, “Anyway, just pretend you don’t know him from now on. Let’s not get involved in the Hu family’s affairs.”
Her brother had his parents, his sisters, and a small room allocated by the factory to live in. He was skilled, good-looking, and had a bright future ahead of him.
Bai Baowei had just wanted to give the family a heads-up. After saying his piece, he let the matter go. When Xu Jianbei came home from work, Bai Baowei cheerfully pulled him aside and immediately launched into a discussion of technical matters at the dinner table.
No one else at the table could follow a word of it.
Bai Lan’s father watched the scene with a smile, then turned to his daughter and asked about her work.
“I just make buns. What work issues could I have?”
Yes, even after working for most of a year, Bai Lan was still making buns and kneading steamed buns in the canteen. She was considered a pastry chef, but the worker canteen didn’t require particularly advanced skills.
“There’s a chef certification exam at the end of the year. If you think your skills are up to it, go ahead and sign up.”
In this era, chef certifications weren’t as detailed as those for other technical trades, but they did exist, and there were exams. Passing the exam would earn you a title, which would raise your job classification and base salary.
Hearing that she could take the exam made Bai Lan happy. She didn’t have any major goals for this year anyway. There was still over a year before she needed to think about making money or taking the college entrance exam.
“Okay, Dad, remind me when the time comes.”
Her father said, “The head chef at your canteen should also notify you. But it’s still early. The lower-level chef exam isn’t difficult—I have confidence in you.”
While the Bai family was enjoying their harmonious atmosphere, the Hu family, who should have been overjoyed, was not as cheerful as everyone expected.
—
Behind the Hu family’s tightly closed door, Hu Aihua was telling her mother about today’s matchmaking.
“Mom, I don’t want to be in a relationship with this Comrade Zhu.”
Widow Hu was in the middle of putting a piece of fragrant braised pork into Hu Aimin’s bowl. Hearing this, she slammed her chopsticks down on the table with a sharp crack.
“Why not? This Xiao Zhu has a good job and good qualities. Your Aunt Wu selected him carefully just for you.”
To secure such a high-quality prospect, Widow Hu had secretly slipped Sister Wu two yuan as an introduction fee. If the match succeeded, there would be another ten yuan as a thank-you fee.
Zhu Cheng was someone Widow Hu had obtained by going behind everyone else’s back and asking Sister Wu to let her jump the queue.
Thanks to such a good prospect, that blockhead from the Ning family hadn’t dared to say a word when he saw her just now. And that old woman Wan Dama next door was practically green with envy. All the neighbors had been incredibly impressed with Xiao Zhu and were absolutely jealous.
So, hearing her daughter say she wasn’t interested, Widow Hu was furious.
She had paid a high price for this excellent prospect, yet her daughter Aihua didn’t appreciate it!
“I don’t know. I just don’t want to be with him!” Hu Aihua continued to refuse.
Widow Hu wanted to keep persuading her, but Hu Aimin had lost patience. He picked up the plate of braised pork and dumped it into his own bowl with his chopsticks, not bothering to stop talking. “A skinny little thing like you, and you have the nerve to be picky? Finding someone like Xiao Zhu is like stepping in dog shit—you should count your blessings.”
Widow Hu chimed in, “Exactly! Aihua, you’ve seen our family’s situation. This Xiao Zhu’s prospects are much better than Ning Da Tou’s from the front courtyard. Marry him, and you might even get to move to Haicheng someday! You know Haicheng—the things there are so beautiful and so plentiful!”
Even the usually silent Gao Qingqing nodded in agreement, thinking to herself that Hu Aihua was too lucky to know how good she had it.
If she, back in the day, could have had a blind date with a man like Xiao Zhu, she would have considered it a blessing cultivated over eight lifetimes. Unfortunately, her fate had been the opposite—she had been forced to marry a worthless man like Hu Aimin.
“I just don’t want to be with him.” Hu Aihua wasn’t one to compromise easily. Seeing her family take turns pressuring her, she became even more resistant. She simply didn’t like that type of man.
Seeing this, Widow Hu’s face fell. But she was Hu Aihua’s biological mother, and she knew her daughter could only be coaxed. So she began a long, patient, and earnest persuasion…
The eavesdropping Aunt Wan, with her ear pressed against the wall, heard all of this. The two families shared a wall, and today Aunt Wan had been humiliated by Widow Hu. Hearing that Hu Aihua didn’t want to date Xiao Zhu, she immediately opened her door and ran outside, ready to spread the news far and wide so that Widow Hu could no longer gloat.
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