Chapter 53: Attracting Bees and Butterflies

◎ Strolling in the Park and Taking Photos ◎

When Jiang Che came home from work that evening, he saw that several of his older brothers were already there. His first reaction was relief—finally, after bothering his wife for so long, there was going to be a result.

When Wei’s brothers saw Jiang Che, they immediately stopped worrying about their troubles and greeted him. “Jiang Che, you’re back from work!”

“Yeah, just got off work. Did you guys come in the morning?”

“We arrived around noon.”

After exchanging pleasantries, Wei’s third brother couldn’t wait to ask the question that was on his mind: “Do you know if your third sister-in-law is home yet?”

“She should be home by now. The supply and marketing cooperative closes earlier than our factory. If you’re in a hurry, how about I take you to see her?”

“That would be a great help, brother-in-law!” Wei’s third brother responded with a big smile.

Seeing him so pleased, Jiang Che smiled helplessly. “Alright, just wait a bit. I’ll go find Wei Xuan and let her know.”

“Okay, go ahead. Little sister is in the kitchen.”

“Got it.”

Jiang Che found Wei Xuan in the kitchen, told her what was going on, and then took Wei’s third brother out.

Wei’s eldest and second brothers stayed behind; since their wives weren’t around, there was no need for them to join in the fun.

After dropping Wei’s third brother off and seeing Wei’s third sister-in-law, Jiang Che returned.

Wei Xuan was in the yard washing vegetables and asked, “Did you see her?”

“Yes, I did. Third sister-in-law is home, preparing dinner. I told them to come eat here tonight. Have you talked to your brothers about things?”

“I’ve told them. After I explained everything, the three of them are all motivated now. By the way, the work situation is settled too. We’ll go with what we discussed earlier. Now, it just depends on whether third sister-in-law agrees. If she does, then it’s all set. You should tell mom and dad about this too.” The work was arranged by her mother-in-law, so if she decided not to continue, they should inform her.

Jiang Che nodded. “I’ll tell them tomorrow. I’ll also ask for some money to buy a camera for Yuan Yuan.”

Wei Xuan rolled her eyes at him. “Enough with that. I’m in the middle of washing vegetables; don’t just stand there and be a bother. Go chat with the two brothers in the hall.”

Wei Xuan had already discussed everything with her brothers earlier, so there was nothing else to add. Her wife was busy and didn’t have time for him, so fortunately, their daughter woke up in time, allowing Jiang Che to bond with her.

When it was time for dinner, Wei’s third brother and third sister-in-law finally arrived.

Seeing that the food was already on the table, Wei’s third sister-in-law awkwardly said, “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“No problem. We just finished cooking. Sit down and eat,” Wei Xuan quickly eased the situation.

Jiang Che also took out a bottle of wine and asked, “Do you brothers want to drink a bit?”

Wei Xuan gave him a stern look. “We still have things to discuss later.”

“It’s fine, a little won’t hurt,” said Wei’s second brother, who was also craving some wine.

Knowing they would keep things moderate, Wei Xuan stayed quiet.

After dinner, Jiang Che excused himself, holding their daughter, and went next door, leaving Wei’s family to talk in the main hall.

Wei’s third sister-in-law was the first to speak up. “Little sister, I agree to what you said. Third brother already told me that I didn’t think things through, and it made things difficult for you. I also want to apologize to eldest brother and second brother. I should have consulted with the family first.”

Wei Xuan didn’t blame her. After all, she herself had handled things poorly.

“Since you agree, we can consider this issue settled and won’t bring it up again. As for eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, and mom and dad, let the brothers handle it.”

“No problem,” Wei’s second brother confidently said. He believed his wife wouldn’t cause trouble anymore.

Once everything was settled, Wei Xuan urged them to rest early since they had to travel the next day.

Wei’s third brother stayed at Wei’s third sister-in-law’s place, while the eldest and second brothers were arranged to sleep in the room that Wei’s mother had used.

The small room was left untouched since Wei’s mother returned, and now all that was needed was to bring the bedding to set up the bed.

The next day, after sending off her three brothers, Wei Xuan began to worry about whether her mother-in-law would be upset about her decision not to work.

In fact, Jiang Che’s mother wasn’t angry. When her son told her about the situation, her first reaction was: “Can her son really support the family all on his own? When we meet again, will my granddaughter be too thin from hunger? Looks like I’ll have to help out more with the finances.”

As for Wei Xuan passing her job onto her sister-in-law, that was natural; who wouldn’t want to help out family if they could? As long as it wasn’t like eldest brother’s wife who didn’t accept any money at all, Jiang Che’s mother wouldn’t make a fuss.

Wei Xuan also truly appreciated her sister-in-law. Thanks to her efforts, Jiang Che’s mother lowered her expectations.

When Wei Xuan compared the situation, she was relieved—she had gotten no criticism from Jiang Che’s mother.

Finally, when she heard that the camera would be bought for her granddaughter, Jiang Che’s mother took out all her industrial coupons and handed them to her son.

“Buy a good one. If the money isn’t enough, just let me know.”

“Thanks, Mom! Once I get the camera, I’ll bring it to show you and Dad and take a few pictures.”

“Go on, just keep joking.”

When Jiang Che returned, humming a happy tune, Wei Xuan immediately went up to him. “How did it go? What did Mom say?”

Jiang Che got out of the car. “She didn’t say much. Don’t worry, I told you Mom wouldn’t be upset, but you didn’t believe me.” He took the tickets out of his pocket and showed them to Wei Xuan. “Look, here it is!”

Wei Xuan leaned in, surprised. “So many coupons, did Mom give them to you?”

“Of course,” Jiang Che said, putting the tickets back in his pocket. Then he took their daughter from Wei Xuan’s arms and said, “I’ll go buy the camera for her tomorrow.”

Now, Wei Xuan was sure her mother-in-law wasn’t upset, and the worry that had been on her mind for so long was gone. She happily skipped into the kitchen to cook.

The next afternoon, Jiang Che went to the department store to buy the camera, so he came home a little later than usual.

After dinner, he had planned to take a few test photos, but unfortunately, it was already dark.

Seeing him looking disappointed, holding the camera, Wei Xuan comforted him. “Don’t worry, next time we have a day off, we’ll take Yuan Yuan to the park and you can take as many photos as you want.”

Jiang Che brightened up. “Perfect! I have a day off the day after tomorrow.”

On his day off, the weather was nice. The three of them had an early breakfast and, taking advantage of the cool weather, dressed nicely and headed for the park.

Wei Xuan dressed their daughter in a cute floral dress with a pair of little pants underneath to accommodate her diapers.

Wei Xuan wore a shirt and pants, and interestingly, her shirt was made from the same fabric as her daughter’s dress—kind of like matching outfits.

After taking a few photos, Jiang Che grumbled, “You two are wearing the same clothes, but you forgot about me.” Wasn’t he the head of the family?

Wei Xuan chuckled. “Come on, how can you wear a floral dress like that?”

“I could totally pull it off.”

Wei Xuan wanted to hurry and finish the photos so they could go home before the sun got too hot. She reluctantly gave in and said, “Alright, alright, next time I’ll make you one.”

“That’s more like it.” Jiang Che was somewhat satisfied.

“Now can we keep taking photos?”

“Sure, but we’ve taken a lot here already. Let me think of another spot with better scenery… Ah, got it…”

Just as he was about to take them to another location, they heard someone call out to him from behind.

Before he could turn around, the owner of the voice ran up behind him and even patted him on the back: “Brother Jiang? What are you doing here?” She seemed very familiar.

Wei Xuan frowned. Was this girl not taking her seriously? She was standing right here, a living person, could she not see her?

Before Wei Xuan could say anything, Jiang Che took a step back and stood in line with Wei Xuan, not pleased: “Comrade Zhong Yulan, where I am doesn’t seem to have anything to do with you, right?”

After saying that, he ignored her and grabbed Wei Xuan, intending to leave.

Zhong Yulan didn’t expect Jiang Che to be so cold-hearted. She froze for a moment before quickly speaking up: “Brother Jiang, my sister and brother-in-law are also here. Aren’t you going to greet them?”

Jiang Che ignored her and walked off.

Unfortunately, just as her words fell, a familiar voice came from behind.

“Jiang Che?”

Hearing that, Jiang Che had no choice but to stop and turn back with Wei Xuan.

It was only then that Wu Yun noticed Wei Xuan was holding a child in her arms.

“You two brought a child out to play?”

Jiang Che replied, “Yeah, Brother Wu, are you and your wife out to play too?”

Wu Yun smiled, obviously happy: “Yes, my wife said she had never been here, so I brought her to take a look. Oh, by the way,” he pointed to the woman standing next to him and introduced her to Wei Xuan, “This is my wife, Zhong Guilan. It’s the first time you two are meeting, Guilan, this is Jiang Che’s wife.”

Zhong Guilan shyly smiled at Wei Xuan after hearing Wu Yun’s introduction: “Hello, sister-in-law.”

“Hello, sister-in-law.”

After introducing the two women, Wu Yun pointed to the girl who had just spoken with Jiang Che and said, “This is my younger sister, Zhong Yulan.”

Zhong Yulan was not shy and directly asked Wei Xuan: “I’ve always heard my brother-in-law praise Brother Jiang’s wife’s cooking skills, and I’ve wanted to meet you for a long time. Unfortunately, I never had the chance. Can I call you Wei-jie in the future?”

Wei Xuan really wanted to roll her eyes at her pretentiousness, but since it was Wu Yun’s family, she finally replied mildly: “It’s just a form of address, as long as you’re happy.”

Jiang Che had gone through so much just to bring his wife out, and he didn’t want to waste time here, so he suggested going somewhere else.

But unfortunately, Zhong Yulan seemed not to understand, insisting on following them, saying, “It’s more fun when there are more people.”

In the end, it wasn’t until Yuan Yuan started fussing, wanting to sleep, that they were finally free.

Once they were back home, Wei Xuan didn’t give Jiang Che a good face. Jiang Che felt very wronged. If he had known they would run into Zhong Yulan today, he would never have brought his wife. It was bad luck!

After putting their daughter to sleep, Wei Xuan began the interrogation.

“Tell me, how did you two meet?”

“Just met at Brother Wu’s wedding.”

Wei Xuan didn’t believe it: “Just met that one time, and she’s calling you so familiarly?” She even called you ‘Brother Jiang,’ and her voice was so sweet it could squeeze honey out.

When it came to this, Jiang Che also became irritated. He ruffled his hair, leaned back in his chair, and said with some exasperation: “I don’t know what Brother Wu was thinking. He brought his little sister-in-law to his business courtyard, and every time I go there, I end up running into Zhong Yulan. It’s so annoying!”

Jiang Che hated people who were shameless and unreasonable. His temper had gotten better, but that depended on who he was dealing with. If it weren’t for Brother Wu, he would have embarrassed Zhong Yulan a long time ago.

Wei Xuan could tell from Jiang Che’s helplessness and almost laughed: “Deserved it, who told you to attract so many people!”