Chapter 35: Becoming Our Sister-in-Law

After dinner, Xia Ruanruan packed her things and headed out.

She had no idea that Huo Beiqing, who was supposed to be working overtime, had gotten off work early today.

It wasn’t because he had heard anything—he just didn’t have any surgeries scheduled.

When he got home, the house was empty. Thinking that Xia Ruanruan hadn’t returned yet, he tidied up a little and sat down to wait.

But after a while, when she still didn’t come back, he got up and went out.

He figured he’d go to the bus stop—she should be on her way home.

As he went downstairs, he noticed that the other residents were eyeing him strangely.

One of them finally mustered up the courage to ask, “Dr. Huo, heading out?”

Huo Beiqing nodded.

The person hesitated, then asked again, “Your wife isn’t home?”

Huo Beiqing paused briefly before nodding again.

The people going upstairs exchanged glances, looking like they wanted to say something but didn’t dare.

Huo Beiqing didn’t rush to leave.

The first person who spoke finally said, “Dr. Huo, it’s not that we like gossiping behind people’s backs, but you really should pay more attention to your wife.”

“What do you mean?” Huo Beiqing asked.

The person hesitated before saying, “We… we don’t know the full details. It’s just that… Director Jiang mentioned seeing your wife coming home very late every night.”

After saying that, the group hurried upstairs without waiting for his response.

Huo Beiqing still went to check the bus stop, but when he didn’t see her there, he went to the market to buy some groceries.

By the time he got home, the sky was already dark.

It was winter, so night fell early.

Meanwhile, Xia Ruanruan, unaware that Huo Beiqing had come home early, had already sold quite a few tapes as soon as she arrived at her usual spot.

She hadn’t even had the chance to sing yet.

Brother Sun, who ran a stall next to hers, still brought her a chair and even said, “Xia, don’t bring your little stool tomorrow. I’ll bring two chairs. If needed, I’ll just stand.”

“It’s not like we stay here long anyway.”

Xia Ruanruan was extremely grateful. “Thank you, Brother Sun!”

“Oh, come on, don’t mention it! I should be thanking you for bringing in business!”

As they spoke, the sudden roar of motorcycle engines came from a distance.

Since coming here, Xia Ruanruan had seen plenty of bicycles and a fair number of cars, but motorcycles were still rare.

And this sound—so loud—was clearly a group of people racing down the road.

She turned toward the noise.

She wasn’t the only one—so did the people gathered to listen to her sing.

The roar grew closer, and the crowd instinctively made way for the bikes.

In no time, five motorcycles came to a stop in front of Xia Ruanruan.

A man in a black leather jacket over a pink shirt pushed up his sunglasses, looked at his buddies, and asked, “So this is the girl you were talking about?”

The people following behind nodded vigorously.

Yu Dongyang’s gaze fell on Xia Ruanruan. “You can sing?”

The man in front of her had a pair of charming, peach blossom eyes hidden beneath his sunglasses, making him look completely unthreatening.

But Xia Ruanruan didn’t dare to relax. After all, what kind of decent person would be riding a big motorcycle at this hour, leading a group of people to rev through the streets?

She nodded while hugging her guitar. “Just trying to make a living, selling some cassette tapes.”

She pointed at the two boxes of tapes in front of her.

Yu Dongyang pushed his sunglasses back up. “What songs do you know?”

“I can sing most of the ones on the tapes.”

“Alright,” Yu Dongyang raised his hand. “Yaozi, come here. We’ll take all these tapes.”

The young man he called Yaozi immediately got off the backseat of his buddy’s motorcycle.

Yu Dongyang then asked, “How much?”

“There are 200 tapes in total, two yuan eighty cents each. Someone just bought five…”

Before Xia Ruanruan could finish, Yu Dongyang had already reached into his jacket, pulled out a stack of bills, counted them, and handed them to her. “Six hundred. Count it. No need for change.”

Xia Ruanruan accepted the money in disbelief, counted it, and found it was indeed six hundred.

She quickly put the money away, then flashed a bright smile. “Bro, what song do you want to hear?”

She sat down and adjusted her posture. “Whatever you want to hear today, I’ll sing it.”

Yu Dongyang: “…”

She really wasn’t going to offer any change?

Not even a little courtesy?

Aren’t girls supposed to be reserved?

At least pretend to be polite!

After she finished speaking and saw Yu Dongyang stay silent for a long time, she looked at him in confusion. “Bro?”

Even his crew behind him chimed in. “Yu Bro!”

Yu Dongyang snapped out of it, staring at the girl in front of him, who was smiling like a blooming flower. He finally spoke, “Sing a few of your best songs.”

“Got it!”

To be honest, Yu Dongyang hadn’t expected much from Xia Ruanruan’s singing.

His brothers had dragged him here, saying that a beautiful girl was singing and playing an instrument under the bridge.

A pretty girl wasn’t a big deal, but one who could play an instrument was rare. As for singing…

Yu Dongyang never thought she’d actually be any good.

She was probably just a slightly good-looking girl with an instrument no one had seen before, which was why she caught people’s attention.

He had only come out of curiosity.

But when Xia Ruanruan opened her mouth to sing, he was genuinely stunned.

Turned out, this little girl could actually sing.

When the first song ended, Yu Dongyang was the first to applaud.

Xia Ruanruan ended up singing six songs in a row. Since all her tapes had sold out and it was getting late, she stood up and said, “Thanks for the support, everyone. I’ve sung six songs in a row, and if I keep going, my voice won’t hold up. So, that’s all for today.”

Then she bowed. “Thank you for listening.”

Hearing that, the crowd started to disperse.

Yu Dongyang glanced at her, then twisted the throttle, turning his bike around and riding off.

His crew looked at Xia Ruanruan, who was packing up, then at Yu Dongyang, who had left.

The guys sitting on the back seats of the bikes started urging the riders, “Hurry, catch up to Yu Bro.”

The motorcycles quickly sped after him.

Yaozi, holding the two boxes of tapes, caught up and asked, “Yu Bro, we’re just leaving like this?”

Yu Dongyang turned his head, his voice mixing with the wind. “What else?”

Yaozi, still sitting in the back, shrank his neck. “At least ask the girl’s name and where she lives, right?”

“What for?” Yu Dongyang shouted back.

Yaozi glanced back at the bridge, which was now far behind them. Xia Ruanruan was no longer visible. He shouted, “She’s got a great figure, looks good, and she’s trendy. We should… get her to be our sister-in-law!”

Yu Dongyang chuckled. His laughter carried far on the wind.

Then, he said, “You guys really think outside the box. Look at how young she is, and look at me. Only shameless people like you would do something like that. I couldn’t.”

Xia Ruanruan packed up her things, greeted the nearby vendors, and then walked home against the wind and in the dark.

She had finished early today and got home sooner than usual—before eight o’clock, even.