“Little sister, what are you doing here?”
No sooner had Bai Lan stepped out of the school gate, before she could even feel happy, someone called out to her. She turned around and saw a sturdy man in his twenties. His features were ordinary, but his tall, 1.8-meter frame made him look quite spirited.
“Brother-in-law…” That’s right, this was none other than her eldest sister Bai Lian’s husband, Qin Shengli.
Qin Shengli nodded, then looked at Qin Yan and Datou beside her. “Yanzi, where are you two headed? If you haven’t found jobs yet, don’t waste time wandering around.”
“Shengli ge, we just came from school picking up our graduation certificates.”
Hearing Qin Yan’s address, Bai Lan suddenly remembered that Qin Shengli and Qin Yan were cousins.
To be precise, Qin Yan’s grandfather and Qin Shengli’s grandfather were brothers. When Qin Shengli was young, he had come to the courtyard with his grandfather to visit relatives. That was how he had met Bai Lan’s eldest sister. The two had fallen in love and married—quite fashionable for that era.
Hearing Qin Yan’s explanation, Qin Shengli’s expression softened a bit. But when he looked at Bai Lan, his tone remained stern. “Little sister, it’s good I ran into you. Tell me, was your eldest sister with Xiaofen and Xiaofang at your parents’ house last night?”
Hearing that question only made Bai Lan more annoyed. A grown man, not knowing that his wife had taken their daughters to her parents’ house late at night—clearly, something was wrong with him. So Bai Lan responded very bluntly:
“Brother-in-law, Eldest Sister is your wife. If you don’t know what’s going on, why are you asking me, her younger sister? If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going.”
With that, Bai Lan turned to leave. But Qin Shengli immediately stopped her again.
“Little sister, I was working overtime last night. When I got home this morning, I found out that your eldest sister and the girls hadn’t come home all night. That’s why I’m out looking for her.”
Bai Lan couldn’t be bothered to waste words with him. If he wanted to know if his wife was home, why not just go to her house and check? Why did he have time to stand here rambling at her? Could there be another reason?
Sure enough, Qin Shengli’s tone shifted as he continued, “You’re just too young. Song Guoping is an outstanding young man. Getting engaged to him was a huge stroke of luck for you. How could you go and offend him so badly?”
Bai Lan: …
She didn’t want to talk to this man anymore. No wonder she barely remembered having much to do with this brother-in-law. He really had a way with unpleasant words.
Leaving Qin Shengli behind as he continued his lecture, Bai Lan and the other two quickly returned to the courtyard.
Once home, Bai Lan first checked to see if her eldest sister was still there. But she found that neither her eldest sister nor her two nieces were home. Her mother wasn’t there either. Bai Lan guessed they must have gone out to buy groceries.
Sure enough, about half an hour later, the house became lively again.
——
Bai Lan observed her eldest sister’s expression and noticed it was much better than the night before. Her two nieces were each munching on a fried dough twist, looking quite relaxed as well.
Without beating around the bush, Bai Lan directly told her eldest sister about running into Qin Shengli on the road.
After hearing this, Bai Lian’s expression turned very sour. “Don’t mind him.”
Bai Lan carefully studied her sister’s face, then asked directly, “Eldest Sister, have the Qin family been mistreating you?”
This was a question many of the old neighbors had already asked Bai Lian after she got up that morning.
She shook her head. “It’s just some unresolved issues, so there’s been some conflict. I’m waiting for everyone to calm down before we can communicate properly.”
Bai Lan could tell her sister was saying a lot without actually saying anything. She didn’t press further. Her eldest sister was an adult—she had her own way of handling things.
Mother Bai, who had been listening from the side, couldn’t help but click her tongue in annoyance. Then she walked over and stuffed a fried dough twist into her youngest daughter’s hand. “Here, go eat with Xiaofen and Xiaofang.”
When the two children saw Bai Lan also biting into a fried dough twist, they giggled. What could Bai Lan do? She just laughed along with them. And so, the aunt and her two nieces sat under the eaves, munching on their dough twists and watching the scene in the courtyard.
——
Over on their side, everyone was happy. But Qin Shengli was not.
Not only had Bai Lan cut him off mid-lecture, but his cousin Qin Yan and that kid Datou had also witnessed it. Qin Shengli felt he’d lost a lot of face.
But he still remembered why he’d come out early in the morning instead of resting. He pulled himself together and headed toward the courtyard. On the way, feeling hungry, he stopped at a nearby state-run restaurant and bought two meat buns to fill his stomach. Only after that did he finally make his way to the courtyard.
So when Qin Shengli walked into the courtyard, the first thing he saw was Bai Lan, with his two daughters, casually laughing and eating fried dough twists.
Normally, seeing his daughters would have made him happy, but now, because Bai Lan had been so disrespectful, Qin Shengli felt a surge of frustration.
Still, he forced a smile and called out to the two children, “Xiaofen, Xiaofang, Daddy’s here!”
“Daddy, Daddy…”
Seeing their father, the two children were overjoyed. They immediately ran up and each latched onto one of Qin Shengli’s legs. Qin Shengli put on a happy face as well, scooping both children up into his arms.
The neighbors who were out and about in the courtyard watched this scene with warm, approving smiles. Someone even said directly, “Shengli, I knew you and your wife weren’t fighting. When she suddenly came home with the kids last night, a lot of people said you two had a disagreement!”
Hearing this, Qin Shengli immediately shook his head. “Not at all. If I hadn’t been working overtime last night, I would have come back with my wife. Didn’t you hear that our little sister was getting her graduation certificate today? My wife and I came to congratulate her.”
Suddenly put on the spot, Bai Lan was a bit speechless. When she’d run into her brother-in-law earlier, he clearly hadn’t known about this. Now he was smart enough to use her as a shield.
But Bai Lan didn’t argue. Her eldest sister’s affairs were for her eldest sister to handle.
The courtyard was bustling with noise, and inside the house, Eldest Sister Bai and Mother Bai had long since heard the commotion and come out. Now that Qin Shengli had said his piece, Eldest Sister Bai didn’t expose him. She just smiled and told Qin Shengli to bring the children inside—the sun was strong in the courtyard.
—
“Xiaolian…”
Once inside, Qin Shengli naturally called out to Eldest Sister Bai, then turned to Mother Bai and said, “Mom.” Then he continued, “Mom, Xiaolian came back so suddenly last night. It must have been a bother for you and Dad.”
Mother Bai replied, “She’s my own daughter, and those are my granddaughters. There’s no ‘bother.’ The question is, have you done something to wrong Xiaolian?”
Her eldest daughter wasn’t willing to talk, but as her mother, she wasn’t about to let this slide easily.
Qin Shengli looked troubled, but he gritted his teeth and said, “It’s just that my mother and Xiaolian had a bit of a disagreement.”
Upon hearing this, Eldest Sister Bai immediately spoke up. “Shengli, don’t air this dirty laundry. As long as you make things clear with your mother, this matter is over as far as I’m concerned.”
Bai Lan, listening from the side, was utterly confused. She could really see what her father had meant about her eldest sister—she was the type to bear everything on her own, not wanting to put her family in a difficult position.
Mother Bai clearly knew her daughter’s personality too. Seeing her daughter’s firm attitude, and Qin Shengli’s eagerness to make peace, she ultimately didn’t say anything more.
She simply had the family of four stay for lunch, and then sent them on their way.
But watching the backs of her eldest sister and her family as they left, and remembering how eagerly her two nieces had gobbled up the braised pork at lunch, Bai Lan couldn’t shake the feeling that this matter wasn’t going to be resolved so easily.
—
Over the next two days, nothing more happened on her eldest sister’s end. Over in the courtyard, Su Xiaomei did stir up trouble with Liu Meiling a few times, but each time Liu Meiling slapped her back down. Aside from that, life seemed pretty quiet. And it was under these circumstances that Bai Lan’s first day of work arrived.
“Once you get inside, go straight to the canteen and find your Uncle Chu. The pastry station is only really busy in the morning. The rest of the time, it’s much more relaxed.”
Early in the morning, Bai Lan left the house with her father. Along the way, Father Bai once again went over the things she needed to keep in mind for the canteen job.
Bai Lan nodded along as she listened, not worried about the upcoming work at all. Before she’d transmigrated, she knew how to make all kinds of buns, mantou, and pastries, and her original self also had skills in making dough-based foods. Besides, the pastry items the big canteen made were essentially just buns and mantou. So the job wasn’t difficult for her.
The only real challenge was getting up early.
The textile factory’s main canteen provided three meals a day for the workers. Breakfast started being served around 6:30 a.m. Even if the dough for the buns and mantou was prepared the day before, she would still need to start working around 5:30 a.m.
Fortunately, she wasn’t the only pastry chef. Moreover, once the day’s batch of buns and mantou was out of the steamer, her work for the day was pretty much done.
Riding bicycles, father and daughter soon arrived at the textile factory. After saying goodbye to her father, Bai Lan went to the guardhouse by herself, showed her work pass, and headed straight for the main canteen.
The main canteen was bustling. Workers who lived at the factory had already arrived and were busy with their respective tasks.
As soon as Bai Lan arrived, she could see the back kitchen thick with smoke and steam. Her contact, Uncle Chu, was standing there directing the staff. Seeing Bai Lan approach, he smiled and said, “You’ve come at the perfect time. I’ll take you to meet the other pastry chefs.”
—
“So that young girl is the new pastry chef?”
Several middle-aged women in their forties were at the sink, rinsing various cooking utensils for the day. Seeing Bai Lan being led by the head chef toward the pastry section, they immediately began whispering.
“That should be her. I heard she lives in the Number 3 Courtyard on Xinghua Alley. You’ve heard of her family—the no-son household, the Bai family.”
At these words, several people let out a long “Oh.”
“I don’t understand why Old Liu would just give up being a perfectly good pastry chef and let some young girl take the job.”
The group continued gossiping about exactly how Bai Lan had landed this job. After all, Old Liu was only in his forties—it couldn’t be because he was retiring and selling off his position.
Bai Lan couldn’t hear these whispers for the time being. By now, she had officially started working.
The workload was lighter than she had initially expected. Including her, the canteen had three pastry chefs. But not all the pastry-related tasks fell to just the three of them—there were also several apprentices helping out.
As the newcomer, Bai Lan’s job was simple: she was responsible for wrapping the buns. Kneading the dough wasn’t her job, and steaming the buns wasn’t her job. All she had to do was wrap them.
So by the time she finished and stepped out, it was around ten in the morning. By then, breakfast service had long ended, and everyone was starting to prepare for lunch. Bai Lan, on the other hand, was free. After coming out of the back kitchen, she decided to take a tour of the main canteen.
But no sooner had she stepped out of the back kitchen than she heard a group of people chatting by the vegetable-washing sink.
She didn’t walk over—just stood there and listened. The aunties and older women who worked in this kind of big canteen usually knew an astonishing amount of gossip.
Sure enough, she had barely stopped when she heard them discussing some bit of gossip.
Unfortunately, she didn’t recognize most of the people they were talking about. After listening for a while, she decided to go over and say hello.
——
But before she could lift her foot, she saw one of the older women lift a basin of water and fling it in her direction. The woman’s movements were very quick—Bai Lan almost didn’t have time to react. Fortunately, someone behind her pulled her back just in time.
Bai Lan turned around and saw it was Aunt Qin. She immediately thanked her.
“Don’t mention it! You spend all your time with Yanzi—I haven’t even thanked you for that yet!” Aunt Qin was Qin Yan’s mother and worked as a general helper in the canteen. When Bai Lan had arrived that morning, she hadn’t had a chance to talk to her.
“Oh my, my hand slipped.” Seeing this, the woman who had thrown the water immediately explained loudly.
Bai Lan frowned. Looking at the smug glint in the woman’s eyes, she knew it had been deliberate.
“Mrs. Cai, saying ‘my hand slipped’ doesn’t make it so. That was a whole basin of water—you saw someone standing right there and still threw it. Who would believe you didn’t do it on purpose?”
Aunt Qin had already started arguing with the woman who threw the water. The others busy at the sink also turned to look. From their murmurs, Bai Lan learned that this middle-aged woman’s surname was Cai. She was a general helper in the canteen, responsible for washing vegetables, washing dishes, and serving food.
Bai Lan was certain she didn’t know this woman. She searched her memory but couldn’t find any trace of her. Since this was her first day at work, surely she couldn’t have already offended someone, right?
So this woman actively picking a fight was truly strange.
“I said my hand slipped, so my hand slipped. If you don’t believe me, that’s not my problem.” With that, Mrs. Cai turned to leave.
——
But by now, Bai Lan had stopped wondering how she might have offended anyone. She spoke up directly. “Even if your hand slipped, you should still apologize. Of course, you don’t have to. But this counts as a work error. I remember the employee handbook has a rule: you’re not supposed to dump water on the ground—it has to go into the sink or the drain. If you won’t apologize, I’ll report this to the head chef.”
Mrs. Cai’s eyes widened in shock. How was she supposed to know about that rule? The others were similarly surprised. Although none of them dumped water at the entrance—they used the drain on the other side—did the employee handbook really have such a rule?
Seeing their confusion, Bai Lan nodded confidently.
Before starting work, she had memorized the entire canteen employee handbook. This was an era that placed great emphasis on rules. Memorizing the employee handbook might come in handy someday. She just hadn’t expected to use it on her very first day.
Mrs. Cai wanted to keep causing a scene, but Bai Lan could see from her demeanor that she wasn’t a reasonable person. So instead of wasting more words, she simply went straight to the head chef, Old Chu, and reported the incident.
The outcome, naturally, was that Mrs. Cai was criticized by the head chef and had her monthly bonus deducted.
When this result was announced, everyone’s attitude toward Bai Lan changed. They had thought she was just a young girl with a thin skin. But on her very first day, she had already proven to be formidable, turning the tables on Mrs. Cai.
News of what had happened in the canteen spread quickly through the textile factory along with the lunchtime crowd. By the time Bai Lan returned to the courtyard, she was met with curious questions from the neighbors.
Some praised Bai Lan for handling it well; others felt that being so aggressive and making enemies on her first day would make her life difficult going forward.
In short, people said all sorts of things. But Bai Lan remained very calm. She didn’t think Mrs. Cai could do anything to her. Their positions were different—she was a chef, while Mrs. Cai was a general helper. If anything, she was the one in a position to make things difficult for Mrs. Cai.
And that was exactly the case.
So after work, Mrs. Cai threw off her apron and hurriedly left the canteen, ignoring the mocking looks behind her. As she walked, she seethed with resentment: Hmph, I can’t do anything to that brat Bai Lan. But there’s someone who can cause trouble for her family!
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