Chapter 26: She thought she was coming to the capital for a life of comfort, but why did it feel like she was here to face a calamity?

“You’re claiming to be Comrade Lu Sinian’s fiancée, but do you have any proof?”

Proof?

Ye Sanqiu actually had proof.

She pulled a marriage certificate from her bag and handed it over. “This is my marriage certificate with him.” Then, she handed over an introduction letter. “This is the introduction letter our team leader gave me.”

Zhou Botao first looked at the introduction letter, which had the official seal of the team, so it couldn’t be fake.

Once he confirmed the letter was legitimate, he turned his attention to the marriage certificate, which looked a bit aged. After reading it, he fell silent.

The marriage appeared to be real, with Lu Sinian’s name clearly written.

The key issue was that he had never heard of anyone named Ruan Xue.

“Sorry, comrade, we’ll need to verify if this marriage certificate is authentic by calling to check,” Zhou Botao said.

In any case, without confirming the identity of this woman, he couldn’t let her in.

Ye Sanqiu had rushed here right after getting off the train, exhausted, hungry, and eager for a bath.

But after such a long journey, before meeting her in-laws, she was blocked by a gate.

Her patience was running out.

Her voice grew more urgent. “What else do you need to verify? I’ve shown you the introduction letter, the marriage certificate, and Lu Sinian is a real person. If you think I’m lying, just call him out and verify everything in front of me. Why waste time with all these phone calls?”

She didn’t know how long this verification process would take.

He wasn’t in a rush, but she was.

Just then, Niu Ailing came out of the door and saw Zhou Botao standing with a woman wearing a black shoulder bag.

The woman looked unfamiliar.

She overheard something about a marriage certificate and Lu Sinian’s name.

Niu Ailing’s gossip instincts kicked in.

She walked over to Zhou Botao, giving Ye Sanqiu a quick look, and smiled as she asked, “Xiao Zhou, who’s this young lady?”

Zhou Botao was about to call Lu Sinian’s family to confirm the woman’s identity but stopped when he saw Niu Ailing.

He spoke truthfully. “Sister-in-law, this young lady claims to be Lu Sinian’s fiancée, but I’m not sure if her marriage certificate is real. I was about to make a call to verify.”

Upon hearing the words “marriage certificate,” Niu Ailing’s eyes immediately lit up. “Marriage certificate? What marriage certificate?”

Zhou Botao pointed to the red paper in Ye Sanqiu’s hand.

Niu Ailing glanced over and smiled, “Young lady, may I take a look at your marriage certificate?”

Ye Sanqiu handed it over graciously.

After reading the certificate, Niu Ailing smiled and told Zhou Botao, “Xiao Zhou, the marriage certificate is real. No need to make the call. This girl is Lu Sinian’s fiancée. Look, even Lu Sinian’s mother’s name is on here.”

The witness section of the marriage certificate listed the names of both mothers—Ruan Xue and Huang Huijuan.

Ruan Xue was Lu Sinian’s mother’s name, while Huang Huijuan was Ye Sanqiu’s mother’s later name.

Zhou Botao had already seen the marriage certificate, and of course, he had seen the names of the witnesses. “Sister-in-law, you’re saying Ruan Xue is Lu Sinian’s biological mother?”

Niu Ailing nodded. “Yes, Ruan Xue was Lu Sinian’s biological mother. You probably haven’t heard of her—when you joined the army, Comrade Ruan Xue was already gone. The woman living with the Lu family now is Lu Sinian’s stepmother.”

“Alright, this girl’s identity is confirmed. Since I have some free time, I’ll take her to the Lu family.”

With Niu Ailing vouching for her, Zhou Botao no longer doubted Ye Sanqiu’s identity. “Thanks, sister-in-law.”

Niu Ailing didn’t find it troublesome at all. The fiancée of the Lu family’s little scoundrel had shown up, and now the Lu family was in for some excitement.

She was thrilled, not at all bothered by the situation.

She waved her hand. “Xiao Zhou, you go ahead and get busy. I’ll take this girl inside first.”

Turning to Ye Sanqiu with a broad smile, she said, “Girl, come with your aunt. I live right next to your fiancé’s house.”

Ye Sanqiu was still processing the phrase “Ruan Xue is no longer here; now the person at the Lu family is Lu Sinian’s stepmother.”

She snapped back to attention when she heard Niu Ailing’s voice and politely thanked her. “Thank you, Auntie.”

Niu Ailing looked Ye Sanqiu up and down. She was quite pretty, tall, and when standing next to her, Niu Ailing was half a head shorter. The young lady was polite as well.

She was wearing a wrinkled white cotton shirt on top, black pants on the bottom, and black cloth shoes.

Niu Ailing lingered on Ye Sanqiu’s black cloth shoes for a few seconds before smiling and asking, “Girl, where are you from?”

Ye Sanqiu answered honestly, “I’m from the West Province.”

“Where in the West Province?”

“It’s a small county in the West Province, in a small place under that county, called Mengniu Commune, in the Lahua Brigade.”

Niu Ailing paused. “Your family is from the countryside?”

Ye Sanqiu turned to look at her. “What’s wrong with the countryside?”

She was proud to be from the countryside!

Niu Ailing awkwardly laughed. “Oh, nothing. I just thought, you’re a countryside girl coming here all alone. Aren’t you afraid of meeting bad people on the way?”

Ye Sanqiu replied confidently, “I’m not afraid. I’m bold.”

Niu Ailing paused, feeling like the girl was just bluffing.

Not afraid, bold!

She was definitely from the countryside, and hadn’t seen much of the world, making all kinds of boastful statements.

“By the way, girl, where are your parents?”

“They’re dead.”

Niu Ailing exclaimed, “Dead?”

Ye Sanqiu nodded calmly. “Yes, they died when I was five, both of them.”

Niu Ailing was at a loss for words.

“You’re quite unfortunate, it seems similar to the story of Lu Sinian,” she finally said.

Ye Sanqiu turned her head and looked at Niu Ailing. “Auntie, I just heard you mention that Ruan Xue isn’t here anymore. What does that mean? Did she die like my parents?”

Niu Ailing hadn’t planned to talk about Ruan Xue; it was a forbidden topic in the courtyard.

But seeing Ye Sanqiu looking so confused, especially after hearing that her parents had passed away, her heart softened.

She cautiously looked around before speaking, “Yes, your mother-in-law passed away when Lu Sinian was five. You should never mention her name in front of outsiders, especially not in front of Lu Sinian.”

Ye Sanqiu was confused. “Why can’t I mention her name?”

Niu Ailing hesitated, unwilling to explain. “Just listen to your aunt. Don’t mention your former mother-in-law’s name outside or in front of the Lu family.”

Ye Sanqiu’s eyes darkened.

Not only had her mother-in-law passed away, but now they couldn’t even mention her name.

It seemed the Lu family was not as simple as it appeared.

Niu Ailing didn’t want to say any more, and Ye Sanqiu, sensing her reluctance, wisely didn’t press further. She changed the topic. “Auntie, is my current mother-in-law easy to get along with?”

Niu Ailing paused, then stretched her voice with a mysterious smile. “Her?…” She looked at Ye Sanqiu and said with a smile, “You’ll find out once you spend some time with her. It’s hard to say if she’s easy to get along with. If others hear me, they’ll think I’m trying to stir up trouble between you and your mother-in-law!”

Ye Sanqiu thought, If only you hadn’t said that, I might have thought she was easygoing.

“What about my fiancé? What kind of person is he?”

For once, Niu Ailing was silent.

The moment Ye Sanqiu noticed her silence, she had a bad feeling.

After a long pause, Niu Ailing finally said, “You’ll know what kind of person he is when you meet him!”

Ye Sanqiu thought, If you hadn’t been silent, I might have had some expectations for him!

Halfway there, Ye Sanqiu almost turned back.

Her mother-in-law, who had been as close as a sister to her, had passed away. The one she was about to meet was difficult to get along with, and the man she was going to marry was someone even others didn’t want to comment on!

Ye Sanqiu sighed.

She had been promised a life of comfort in the capital, but now she felt like she was walking into a disaster.

But, now that she had come this far…

She might as well go and see for herself!