Chapter 2

Xia Wanhui was an impatient person, so of course he wouldn’t let Xia Shao go tomorrow.

After locking the door, the siblings asked the receptionist for directions and headed straight to the address left in the letter.

Jiangcheng was located in the Changbai Mountains, with abundant forest and mineral resources. Along the way, Xia Wanhui saw many towering chimneys, truly blending into the streets much busier than those back home, especially during rush hours when people were going to and coming back from work.

“Can we really find out anything? What if they just ignore us?” 

It wasn’t that Xia Wanhui was overly worried, but these days, shops and state-owned restaurants were good places to work. Although the wages weren’t high, they determined whether you could see good stuff in the store and whether the ladle you got during mealtime was filled or not.

So people working in these two places were quite arrogant and indifferent to customers, totally unlike the attitude toward customers in other places.

Of course, when the wave of layoffs hit in the ’90s, these two places were among the first affected.

Having worked outside for four years, Xia Shao had seen all sorts of attitudes and wasn’t afraid of them. Seeing that the vegetable and grocery store had already closed, she saw a middle-aged woman struggling to put up boards outside the glass window. She hurried over and lent a hand.

When the middle-aged woman felt the load lighten, she quickly said, “Thank you.” Turning her head, she realized it was a pretty young girl.

Xia Shao smiled and said, “It’s nothing,” and together they wedged the boards into the grooves outside the window.

Seeing this, Xia Wanhui also hurried forward to help. “Auntie, take a break, I’ll do it.”

Now, the middle-aged woman’s hands were completely free, and she quickly pounded her right shoulder, saying, “I don’t know if it’s wind or what, it’s been hurting for the past few days. I can’t even lift my head to comb my hair.” Then she asked the two, “From your accents, are you from Guanli?”

Xia Shao responded with an “Hmm,” saying, “Here to meet a prospective partner.”

This explanation was quite reasonable, as people had been coming to the Northeast to seek opportunities for a livelihood since the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China. At its peak, eighty to ninety percent of the population in the three provinces of the Northeast were young men, comparable to Shenzhen in the 1990s.

With so many single men, where were the local girls enough to marry?

Therefore, many people who settled in the Northeast would return to their hometowns to marry a wife and bring her to live in the Northeast.

The middle-aged woman didn’t doubt it but felt a bit sorry for Xia Shao’s good looks. “You’re really lucky to have found such a handsome son-in-law.”

Xia Shao just smiled. After the boards were secured, she clapped her hands and said, “Auntie, can I ask you about someone?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Do you know Li Changshun? He also works at the vegetable store.”

“You mean Li the accountant? I know him, why?”

The middle-aged woman nodded, realizing something, and looked at them intently.

“So it’s you who’s here for the prospective partner. It’s rare for someone who came here to get married to go back to find their in-laws. Were you childhood sweethearts?”

Although they had just been talking about Xia Shao, as soon as they heard it was Li Changshun’s family, why did it suddenly become about Xia Wanhui?

Xia Wanhui was momentarily confused, but Xia Shao had already made a guess in her heart. She didn’t deny it. “Auntie, can you tell me about his family? I remember he has a son. Is he married? Are they getting along well?”

Xia Shao looked good and took the initiative to help. The middle-aged woman had a good impression of her.

She just thought Xia Shao was worried that her brother and her eldest uncle wouldn’t get along. “They’re married. They got married the second year after coming to the Northeast. They already have two children.”

“What? Li Baosheng is married!” Xia Wanhui’s expression changed suddenly.

What does it matter whether Eldest Uncle is married or not? They’re not living together…

The middle-aged woman felt Xia Wanhui’s reaction was a bit exaggerated. Seeing Xia Shao’s calm expression, she nodded again, her tone somewhat sour.

“Li the accountant is capable. He brings his son to the store to help every day. His son knows how to please people. Look, he even caught the manager’s daughter’s eye. Unlike our stinky boy at home, who only knows how to eat and work…”

Xia Wanhui didn’t listen to what the other party said afterward. If it weren’t for Xia Shao pulling him, he would have almost exploded on the spot.

No wonder there was no news from the Li family as soon as they came to the Northeast, no replies to the letters, no wonder Tian Cuifen kept obstructing them with lies…

So it turned out that Li Baosheng had gotten married long ago!

If you don’t want to marry, just say so. Who’s holding onto them? What’s the meaning of dragging it out like this?

And asking them to wait to return.

Wait for a few years?

Wait until his sister becomes an old spinster and is laughed at by the villagers?

Xia Wanhui’s face turned livid. After bidding farewell to the auntie, he walked toward the address they had found. “No, we must demand an explanation from their family! They were the ones who wanted to get married in the first place. Now that they’re here in the Northeast, they’re already married. What kind of nonsense is this!”

As the one who had been jilted, Xia Shao remained relatively calm.

Li Baosheng couldn’t possibly stay unmarried forever. Since he didn’t want to marry her and had married someone else, she wasn’t very surprised.

Instead of getting angry, she thought about how to use this leverage.

Xia Shao patted Xia Wanhui’s back. “Don’t be angry. Getting angry will only harm your health.”

Xia Wanhui was almost choked by her words. “They’re treating you like this, and you’re not angry?”

“Now that we know, it’s better than finding out later, right? As the old saying goes, to live a good life, you have to experience some setbacks.”

“Pfft!”

Xia Wanhui was beginning to suspect that his sister wasn’t just physically poisoned but possibly also mentally poisoned when he heard laughter from nearby.

The siblings looked over and saw two young men, one tall and one short, smoking by the wall not far away.

The tall one, even in modern times, would be handsome enough to be a model for the country.

Although he was a bit skinny, he had broad shoulders and a straight back, a typical hanger body type. He didn’t look over, half-lidded with a lack of interest, his face bathed in the dim yellow light from nearby households, giving his sharp features a

 sharp edge.

Xia Shao had already withdrawn her gaze but couldn’t help turning her head to look again.

The shorter one immediately whistled, “What are you laughing at? Are you interested in him?”

If it were an ordinary girl, she would have blushed long ago, at most giving him a stern look with a red face.

Unexpectedly, Xia Shao heard the words, turned her head boldly, and looked directly at him. She even commented seriously, “Indeed, he looks better than you.”

What’s just a glance? If it were modern times, someone would have gone up to ask for WeChat.

Xia Shao was very calm, instead of baffling the other person. Even the one who had been smoking with his head down lifted his eyelids and glanced over.

Xia Shao then noticed that his pupils were very dark, especially when he looked at people, his gaze was cold and distant.

With just one glance, the Fang withdrew his gaze, Xia Shao didn’t feel particularly remarkable about what she said, and just turned her head, pulling Xia Wanhui away.

After walking a distance, you could still hear the incredulous voice of the short man.

“She said you look better than me, she actually said you look better than me!” Erli widened his eyes and looked at Chen Jibei beside him, “Are girls nowadays so bold? Saying such things without blushing or skipping a beat.”

“It is a fact.” Chen Jibei didn’t even lift his eyelids.

“Why are you so narcissistic? Are we still buddies?” Erli was choked.

Seeing Chen Jibei’s lack of response, he grinned again and approached, “How about staying at my place tonight? I’ll take you to play cards. Anyway, your sister-in-law doesn’t like you, she’s always treating you like you’re nothing.”

“Not interested.” Chen Jibei put out his cigarette directly. “It’s getting late, I’m going back.”

Indeed, it was not early. Li Changshun’s family had already finished dinner, and they were eating two steamed buns filled with shepherd’s purse.

The buns were made from vegetables harvested and chopped together by Tian Cuifen and her daughter-in-law, and they even sent a large plate to Li Baosheng’s family.

After finishing eating and washing the dishes with the remaining hot water in the big pot, Tian Cuifen couldn’t help but complain while banging the plates and bowls into the cupboard, making a clanging noise.

“Who are you throwing it at?” Tian Cuifen gave her a glare.

Li Laidi then lightened her movements but still muttered, “Mom, you’re really something. They haven’t had any contact for years, and you’re eagerly sending your daughter over. Can’t their daughter get married?”

As she complained, she continued to put away the dishes and chopsticks.

“You don’t understand. Your sister-in-law doesn’t know about this matter yet. What if it causes a scene in front of her? Do you still want to find a job?” As soon as Li Changshun spoke, Li Laimao was instantly dumbfounded.

Her sister-in-law is not for nothing. She was the daughter of the manager of a vegetable and side dish store, and she was also the only daughter of the Cheng family. Manager Cheng had no sons, so he raised his daughter like a son, educated her, and even found her a job.

During the initial marriage negotiations, they had agreed that the second child in their family would take their mother’s surname in the future, which was the condition for securing the marriage.

Li Laidi was almost eighteen, and her father’s assistant manager of the store, was about to retire. Whether she could find a job and whether her father could move up further depended entirely on whether Manager Cheng was willing to help.

Their family was still busy currying favor with her sister-in-law; how could they let people know at such a crucial moment that her brother had a previous engagement in their hometown?

Li Laidi didn’t say a word as she finished putting away the dishes and chopsticks, but she couldn’t help muttering, “What if my sister-in-law doesn’t care?”

What if? Who would dare to bet on that uncertainty?

“Do you think just because Wen Hua’s father is always smiling, he’s an easy person to talk to? Could a truly easygoing person become a manager? If this matter really comes out, Wen Hua might be understanding, but her father may not be.” Li Changshun picked up the enameled pot, took a sip of tea, and asked his wife, “Have you arranged things for the Xia family?”

“It’s all arranged. That boy from the Xia family did raise objections, but Xia Shao was afraid of trouble, so she stopped him. That girl has no guts; she cried all night at the guesthouse and even cried her eyes out. She doesn’t dare to go out, so don’t worry.” Tian Cuifen said, causing both Li Laidi and Li Changshun to look at her with disdain.

Li Changshun couldn’t stand the temperament of the Xia family’s mother and daughter, always timid and keeping their heads down. But Xia Laosan was capable; his wife was a bit softer and easier to handle; and Baosheng was also easygoing. That was why he didn’t say anything.

“Now that everything’s arranged, send them back tomorrow quickly, so they don’t show up in front of Wen Hua.” Li Changshun took a look at the time on the watch he got after they became relatives with the Cheng family.

Li Laidi hurried to tie the door, and as soon as the door closed, a female voice came from outside: “Laidi.”

The voice sounded familiar, like the Cheng Wen Hua they were just talking about.

Li Laidi quickly opened the door again, and sure enough, there was a heavily pregnant woman outside, holding a flashlight.

“Sister-in-law, why are you here?” Li Laidi felt a little guilty.

Hearing the commotion, Tian Cuifen also hurried out of the inner room and went up to support her daughter-in-law. “It’s so dark, and Baosheng dared to let you go out alone. Couldn’t he come himself if there’s something? You’re five or six months pregnant; what if you fall?”

No matter what she thought, it was never wrong to blame her son first when something happened.

Sure enough, when Cheng Wen Hua heard this, she spoke up to defend her son, “It’s not that Baosheng didn’t want to come. Relatives came from the countryside, and he couldn’t leave.”

This puzzled Tian Cuifen a bit, “Relatives came from the countryside? Who came?”

In order to prevent those poor relatives from coming to take advantage, she and Lao Li rarely wrote letters to their hometown in the past few years, and it was the same for their three married daughters. She was already surprised when the Xia family siblings came, so who else would come without a word? 

Tian Cuifen suspected the eldest daughter, Zhaodi,  was behind this.

When they gave birth to her, they didn’t know they would end up with three financial burdens. Seeing it was a daughter, although disappointing, they didn’t treat her as badly as some people do to their daughters. When she got married, their family was in trouble, and they found the worst son-in-law out of the three.

If they really couldn’t make ends meet, coming to Northeast China to find her and Lao Li was not impossible.

Tian Cuifen blamed her eldest daughter for not being sensible, running over at this time to cause trouble. She didn’t know how she got there, let alone how she went to her son’s house. She went to the train station this afternoon to pick up Xia Shao and Xia Wanhui, but didn’t see her there.

She was thinking about how to send her away when she heard Cheng Wen Hua say softly, “They’re a brother and sister surnamed Xia.”

Xia?!”

Not only her, but Li Laimao next to her and Li Changshun inside the house all changed their expressions drastically!