Chapter 22 : Paranoid Liu Ping

When the educated youth returned to the site after work, they were very happy to see Su Mo cooking again. However, they were a bit disappointed when they didn’t smell any meat.

Ma Xiaojuan came over excitedly and asked, “Su Mo, have you bought anything?”

Su Mo smiled and replied, “I’ve bought everything and put it on your bedding. I’ll give you the rest of the money after dinner.”

“Okay!” Ma Xiaojuan said, rushing into the room like the wind.

Sure enough, there were two packages in the enamel basin on the bedding. When she opened the larger one, a strong aroma of egg cake wafted out. Ma Xiaojuan quickly picked up a piece and stuffed it into her mouth.

She was so greedy! After more than half a month, she finally had egg cake again.

When Chen Lan saw Ma Xiaojuan enter the room, she washed her hands and followed her in.

Ma Xiaojuan, seeing Chen Lan, handed her the oil-paper package. “Chen Lan, have some egg cake.”

Chen Lan thanked her, took a piece, and started eating. She turned around and saw the bamboo basket and exclaimed, “How much did Su Mo buy?”

Ma Xiaojuan leaned over to take a look. There was a large bamboo basket on the ground, filled with things, but they were all tightly covered with coarse cloth.

“She did buy a lot, almost half of the bamboo basket,” Ma Xiaojuan said, continuing to eat her egg cake.

“I don’t know what she bought, why is it all covered up?”

“Nowadays, who doesn’t cover up when they buy things? Otherwise, if you run into a gossiping person on the street, everyone will know about it.”

The gossipy women in their compound knew exactly how many onions each family had bought.

Having suffered greatly from this herself, Ma Xiaojuan hated the behavior of finding out what others had bought.

Chen Lan originally wanted to persuade Ma Xiaojuan to go and see what Su Mo bought, but seeing that she wasn’t interested, she could only curl her lips helplessly.

But she didn’t dare to go see it herself.

Su Mo’s family was already well-off, and now she was dating the son of the branch secretary. She didn’t dare to offend him.

Otherwise, in this rural area, if her future father-in-law gave her a hard time and assigned her to work in the worst area, she wouldn’t have anywhere to turn.

Soon, people from the kitchen started calling for dinner, and Ma Xiaojuan and Chen Lan quickly grabbed their lunch boxes and went out.

—-

Meanwhile, Liu Guangying finally finished work, carried her things, hopped on her bicycle, and rushed to her eldest brother’s house, without even stopping to go home.

When she arrived, the Liu family was having dinner. They were surprised to see Liu Guangying coming over with something in her hand.

“Guangying, why are you here? Have you eaten yet?” Mrs. Liu asked, surprised.

“Not yet. Let me tell you something.” Liu Guangying panted as she put her things down on the table.

She had ridden her bike all the way and rushed up to the fourth floor in one go. Liu Guangying was no longer young, so she had to take things slower.

The Liu family was well-off, with all four members of the family receiving salaries. In Qingxi County, they were considered a very good family.

Brother Liu worked as the workshop director at the county machinery factory, Sister-in-law Liu worked at the cannery, the eldest daughter Liu Ping joined the art troupe, and the youngest daughter Liu Mei worked at the machinery factory.

A family of four lived in a two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment allocated by the machinery factory, which was both decent and spacious.

Liu Mei poured a glass of water for Liu Guangying and went to get a set of bowls and chopsticks. “Aunt, I made leek and egg dumplings and braised pork today. Let’s eat together.”

After Liu Guangying drank the water, she set the cup down and said, “Don’t rush to eat. I came here to tell you that Liu Ping’s match is no longer suitable.”

“What? How could it not work? We haven’t even met yet.” The Liu family’s faces changed drastically.

“He’s already found someone, and we don’t need to meet anymore.”

“Impossible! When I came back, I asked around, and I found out that Lu Changzheng doesn’t even have a girlfriend.” Liu Ping shouted.

“On the day Lu Changzheng returned, he saved an educated youth from his brigade who had fallen into the water. The two of them fell for each other right away and started dating.”

“What’s wrong with Lu Changzheng? Doesn’t he want to be the mainstay of my art troupe and falls for an educated youth who went to the countryside?” Liu Ping shouted excitedly.

The sound was quite loud, and some of the neighbors in this poorly soundproofed tube building had already started to pay attention.

“Liu Ping, watch your attitude. There is no high or low position, only different divisions of labor. The educated youth going to the countryside are also contributing to socialism.” Liu Guangying immediately smoothed things over, trying to avoid being taken advantage of by someone with ulterior motives.

Liu Ping still found it hard to accept. She stood up anxiously, walked over, and grabbed Liu Guangying’s hand.

“Aunt, what is the background of that educated youth? Is she the daughter of a high-ranking official?”

“How would I know? I still don’t even know what that educated youth is called.”

“Then how do you know they’re dating for the first time?”

Liu Guangying pointed to something on the table and said, “Look, that’s what Lu Changzheng’s mother brought to my office and asked me to bring to you to apologize. She told me the story herself, and from her tone, it seems like they’re going to have a wedding in a few days.”

“How could it be so fast?” Liu Ping was a little distraught.

“Their family is in a hurry to get married.” Liu Guangying had learned a bit about the situation when she went to discuss it.

It was precisely because of Lu Boming’s health and the Lu family’s eagerness to marry that Liu Guangying felt it was a sure thing.

“Aunt, can you help me check the file of that educated youth? Unless she is better than me, I won’t accept it.”

“What else can you do if you’re unwilling? Are you going to ruin other people’s relationships?” Liu Guangying said unhappily.

“Aunt, please help me check, otherwise I’ll go to their brigade to ask myself.” Liu Ping clenched her fists, her face showing a paranoid expression.

“My daughter, forget it. Mom will find you someone better.” Mrs. Liu advised.

They were not an unreasonable family.

If they had agreed to the match and then changed their mind before the marriage, they wouldn’t have let it go so easily. But since they hadn’t even started dating and the other party had come to apologize with gifts, they really couldn’t say anything.

“No!”

Liu Ping’s paranoid expression frightened both Mrs. Liu and Liu Guangying. Liu Mei, who was standing by, couldn’t stand it anymore and spoke up.

“Sister, forget it. It means you two aren’t destined to be together. There are many outstanding comrades in the county. Let’s look at others.”

“Shut up! If it weren’t for you, would I be in such a hurry to get married?”

Liu Ping yelled at Liu Mei with a furious expression, “I can’t look at you anymore. Are you happy about that?”

After saying that, she didn’t even eat and rushed into the room, slamming the door loudly.

Liu Mei was criticized for no reason and looked downcast.

“Mom, look at my sister.”

“She’s in a bad mood, just bear with it.” This was the only way Mrs. Liu could comfort her younger daughter.

But she didn’t expect Liu Ping to actually like Lu Changzheng so much. The couple exchanged glances, embarrassed, and looked at Liu Guangying.

Liu Ping had been spoiled since she was a child. She had always gotten what she wanted, otherwise, she would cause trouble.

The files of the educated youth were in the Hongqi Commune, so it wasn’t difficult for Liu Guangying to retrieve them and take a look.

Finally, Liu Guangying compromised, “Okay, I’ll check it out tomorrow.”

In fact, the reason why Liu Ping was so excited, aside from liking Lu Changzheng, was that he represented her last hope.

When Liu Ping first joined the art troupe, she became a mainstay with her good voice. But in recent years, she hadn’t honed her singing skills and had been gradually replaced by newcomers and marginalized.

Moreover, she had an arrogant personality and didn’t get along well with other members of the group. As a result, she was likely to be on the list of those being discharged from the troupe this year.

Of the two sisters, Liu Ping had always been the best. She couldn’t imagine how her family would look at her once she was discharged from the troupe.

If she could marry Lu Changzheng, she would most likely not be discharged. Even if she was, she would still be an officer’s wife, still at the top.

So, after finding out that Lu Changzheng was single, she asked her family to help her propose marriage.

She thought things were finally taking a turn for the better, but in the blink of an eye, all hope was lost.