Chapter 13: First Visit

As soon as the clock struck six, the end-of-day bell rang punctually at the steel factory office building. Su Yue slung her satchel over her shoulder, picked up the lunchbox, and followed the crowd of workers toward the factory gate.

At that moment, Li Xiangbei was chatting with the factory gatekeeper while scanning the crowd. When he spotted Su Yue, he quickly said goodbye, “Uncle, I gotta go now—catch you next time!”

He ran over to Su Yue and naturally took the lunchbox and her satchel from her hands. “So? Was your first day tiring?”

Su Yue smiled, “Not really. This morning the supervisor familiarized me with the workflow, and it was pretty quiet in the afternoon. What about you?”

Li Xiangbei grinned. “I wasn’t tired either. Hey, wait a minute—why do I smell braised pork?”

He brought the lunchbox closer to sniff it.

Su Yue nodded, “They served braised pork at the steel plant canteen for lunch. I remembered you like it, so I brought you a portion.”

As she spoke, she subtly watched her surroundings. She still remembered Qin Mingyue saying that her third uncle lived in the steel factory’s residential compound.

Su Yue asked casually, “Li Xiangbei, do you know where Deputy Director Qin’s house is?”

Li Xiangbei was slightly surprised by the question but answered truthfully, “Yeah, he lives in one of the standalone houses on the west side.”

Seeing Su Yue nod calmly, Li Xiangbei couldn’t help but feel a tinge of worry. He asked, “Yueyue, did the deputy director give you a hard time?”
Su Yue tucked her wind-blown hair behind her ear. “Not at all. I just ran into Qin Mingyue today and remembered she said her third uncle lived in the compound, so I asked. Don’t worry—no one can push me around.”

Li Xiangbei was finally reassured. He pointed toward a row of houses. “Yueyue, count from the first house—ours is the seventh.”

As they talked, they arrived at Li Xiangbei’s doorstep. He called out toward the courtyard, “Dad, Mom, Yueyue’s here!”

Su Yue smiled and confidently followed him in. The Li family’s courtyard wasn’t big; you could see everything at a glance. In the corner, they had planted some green onions and chili peppers.

Hearing the call, Zhang Cuihua rushed out from the kitchen. “Xiao Su is here, come on in.” She pointed to the man sitting by the door. “This is Xiangbei’s father.”

Su Yue took the lunchbox from Li Xiangbei’s hands and greeted them sweetly, “Hello, Uncle, Auntie.” Then she handed the lunchbox to Zhang Cuihua. “Auntie, I brought some braised pork.”

Zhang Cuihua glanced at it—it was exactly the portion she had served to Xiao Su at lunch. Her satisfaction with the girl grew even more. “It’s hot today; the meat might not keep well. Auntie will accept it this time. But next time, don’t bring anything, okay? Come on, sit inside. Xiangbei, I bought soda—go get some for Xiao Su.”

“Thank you, Auntie Zhang,” Su Yue said politely.

Li Xiangbei chimed in, “Yueyue, it’s hot out here. Come sit inside.”

As they stepped into the living room, they saw Liu Lanxiang already drinking the soda. When she noticed the two entering, she hurriedly took a few more sips from the glass bottle. Nearby, Li Xiaoxue stared at the soda longingly, practically drooling.

Li Weibing was tugging at Liu Lanxiang’s pants. “Mom, I want some too. Give me some!”
Liu Lanxiang quickly held her pants. “What’s the rush, you little rascal? You’re about to pull my pants off!”

Muttering, she brought the soda to Li Weibing’s lips and let him take a sip.

Meanwhile, Zhang Cuihua took the lunchbox into the kitchen and asked Wang Xiaoyuan to heat up the braised pork. Then she returned to the living room, only to see Liu Lanxiang drinking the soda—and instantly felt her anger rise. Inwardly, she cursed Liu Lanxiang for being so shameless.

She had been afraid that Liu Lanxiang would sneak a sip, so she hadn’t taken the soda out until Xiao Su arrived. But in just that brief moment, the soda had already ended up in Liu Lanxiang’s stomach.

Zhang Cuihua suppressed her anger and said to Li Xiangbei, “Xiangbei, how come you haven’t even brought out a chair for Xiao Su to sit on?”

Li Xiangbei quickly brought out a chair and placed it in the breezy spot near the door. “Yueyue, sit here. I’ll get you a glass of water.”

Su Yue smiled and nodded.

Zhang Cuihua glanced at Liu Lanxiang and said curtly, “Lanxiang, go help Xiaoyuan in the kitchen.”

Liu Lanxiang was clearly reluctant and muttered, “Mom, isn’t Xiaoyuan enough in the kitchen? Why don’t you help, and I’ll stay here and chat with Xiao Su?”

Zhang Cuihua couldn’t be bothered to argue with her eldest daughter-in-law and turned to Su Yue instead. “Xiao Su, Auntie asked around—your supervisor has a good temper. Usually she fetches water and does everything herself.”
Su Yue smiled. “Yes, both Ling-jie and Wu-jie in our archives room are easygoing.”

Liu Lanxiang burped loudly. “Xiao Su, how much do you make in a month? And how much of that do you give your family?”

Su Yue was momentarily stunned by the abrupt question.

Zhang Cuihua’s face flushed with embarrassment. She thought, What time is it already? Why hasn’t my eldest son come home yet? She scolded herself for ever agreeing to let her son marry this woman.

She tried to change the subject. “Lanxiang, go check outside and see if your husband is back.”

“What’s there to check? It’s still early, and it’s bright outside. Don’t worry about it, Mom,” Liu Lanxiang replied.

Then she turned back to Su Yue, “Xiao Su, you…”

“Big sis-in-law, Yueyue hasn’t even had a sip of water since she came in,” Li Xiangbei suddenly cut in, handing a new tea mug to Su Yue. “Yueyue, this mug is brand new.”

Su Yue accepted it with a smile.

“What’s that smell? Xiangbei, what are you giving her to drink?” Liu Lanxiang asked while pushing her three-year-old son Li Weibing forward.

Li Weibing immediately ran toward Su Yue, shouting, “I want some! Give me some!”

Li Xiangbei stepped in front of Su Yue, glaring at Liu Lanxiang. “Sister-in-law, if you don’t know how to discipline your kid, I don’t mind helping you do it.”

If he wasn’t afraid of scaring Su Yue, he would’ve exploded long ago. He had been holding back, but Liu Lanxiang kept pushing her luck.

Seeing the murderous look in Xiangbei’s eyes, Liu Lanxiang felt a chill in her heart but still tried to argue, “Weibing is still just a kid. He asked his fourth uncle for a sip and you wouldn’t even give him that? What kind of uncle are you?”

Her courage came back as she continued, “Fourth brother, we haven’t even split up the family yet, and you’re already keeping everything to yourself?”

SLAM!

Zhang Cuihua slapped the table hard and shouted, “What do you mean, keeping everything to himself? After you got married, you’ve only been paying ten yuan a month for living expenses. The rest of your money, haven’t you kept it all to yourselves? We, as parents, never said a word about how you spent it. What now? Is it the Liu family’s rule that a sister-in-law can control her brother-in-law’s money too? If you want to split the family, fine—move out! Don’t even think about your father and me’s money. Wait till we’re dead, then come split things!”

Li Xiangbei shot a cold glare at Liu Lanxiang and turned to his mother. “Mom, I’m taking Yueyue out for dinner.” With that, he took Su Yue’s hand and prepared to leave.

“Wait!” Zhang Cuihua quickly stopped them. She reached into her pocket, took out five yuan and some ration coupons, and handed them to Xiangbei. With a face full of apology, she said to Su Yue, “Xiao Su, I’m really sorry about today. Let Xiangbei take you out for a nice meal.”

Su Yue gave a small nod and followed Li Xiangbei out of the Li household.