Chapter 17

Because of that little episode, by the time Jiang Ling returned to the dormitory, it was already quite late.

While Jiang Ling had been away, the girls temporarily sharing the same dorm had exchanged the information they had managed to gather that day. Their conclusion was that this person should not be allowed to stay in their dormitory.

However, it wouldn’t be appropriate to confront her directly.

After some more discussion, they eventually came up with an excuse to tactfully decline her moving into the dorm.

“Comrade Jiang Ling, we heard that you’re already married. In that case, wouldn’t it be a bit against the rules for the factory’s staff dormitory, which is meant for single young workers?”

In reality, there was no rule stating that only unmarried workers could live in the staff dormitory.

It was simply that married workers, for the sake of their marital relationship, would naturally overcome all obstacles to live together with their spouse.

There wasn’t a single married worker who had stayed long-term in the staff dormitory, which made it seem as if only single workers were allowed to apply.

Jiang Ling was completely stunned. The news had spread far too fast.

It wasn’t surprising that the people in the Accounting Section knew she had registered her marriage—after all, she had done it right there on site. But her colleagues in the Accounting Section had only found out about it an hour ago, and now even the Sections completely unrelated to her had already heard.

“I need to check with the Logistics Section first to see whether such a rule exists.” Jiang Ling had no better option; this was the only way she could respond.

Before Jiang Ling had returned, the others had already asked the dorm manager and knew full well that no such regulation existed. They were simply trying to scare her off, hoping that she would take the hint and leave voluntarily, so that everyone could save face.

The most hot-tempered woman in the dorm didn’t hold back and said bluntly, “Since you can’t seem to tell a polite hint from a harsh one, then we’ll just be straightforward. We asked around today and heard about some of your past ‘glorious deeds.’ We feel our small dormitory shrine just isn’t big enough to house a great Buddha like you. Since you’re already married, why don’t you just move in with your man? That’d be better than living with us and disturbing our lives.”

This woman, though quick-tempered, normally didn’t speak so harshly. She wasn’t stupid—she knew better than to completely offend someone, in case she needed help from them in the future.

But Jiang Ling came from an ordinary working-class family and didn’t even have a good relationship with her natal family. After marriage, that man of hers was her only support.

A woman without any background, married to a penniless man whose parents had both died.

Good thing Jiang Ling didn’t know what these people thought of Song Guanshu, or else she might have laughed out loud.

Song Guanshu came from a capitalist family. During the special period, his family assets were confiscated, and most of them were lost in the chaos. After order was restored, the reputations of his father and grandfather were reinstated, and what remained of their assets was returned.

This included properties under the family’s name, a Western-style villa, company land… The Song family had once been severely persecuted—to say they had been ruined and scattered was no exaggeration. Back in the Republican era, half of Qingcheng’s industries had belonged to the Song family. The family had been too conspicuous; even relatives and friends with status and power had been unable to help them.

Calling him a penniless man—what a massive misunderstanding.

“You’ve got a bad temper, and so do we. If we end up having a conflict and get into a fight, it might affect our jobs. What if we get fired from the factory?”

These women’s resistance to her wasn’t entirely their fault—who wouldn’t want a roommate that was easy to get along with?

“You’re right. I’ll think it over.”

But Jiang Ling still felt a bit wronged. She hadn’t even done anything yet.

“Don’t judge people with old impressions. People do change.”

It wasn’t that Jiang Ling couldn’t defend herself—it was just that she and these women were clearly not the same kind of people. There was no need to waste her breath.

Jiang Ling had thought that Ding Yan, after explaining things to her brother, Director Ding, would leave the rest to him and that she only needed to show up and join in the fun on the day of the wedding.

She didn’t expect that Ding Yan would treat the wedding as a major event. The next day, before the shift had even ended at the Daily Chemical Factory, she showed up again.

She came to discuss the wedding day arrangements with Jiang Ling. “You’re currently living in the staff dormitory. Where does Xiao Song live? Is it also the staff dormitory, or is he staying in the family housing?”

Jiang Ling wasn’t exactly sure where Song Guanshu lived, but she was certain he wasn’t staying in the dormitory.

“I’m not sure about that either. Sister Ding, is that information really so important?”

“Of course it is. The groom has to come pick up the bride, doesn’t he?”

Jiang Ling said, “There’s no need to go through so much trouble. We can all just have a meal together in the factory canteen.”

Ding Yan replied sternly, “That won’t do. It has to be as lively and festive as possible.”

Since she didn’t get a clear answer from Jiang Ling, Ding Yan turned to instruct Wei Ming to go ask Song Guanshu himself in the Technical Section.

Whenever Wei Ming was in front of Ding Yan, he acted like a little lapdog, never daring to disobey her.

“Got it.”

Seeing how subservient he looked, everyone in the Accounting Section finally understood why Wei Ming had never been seen working alongside Ding Yan over the past few years. Around her, he became a small, submissive man, which truly undermined the authoritative image he usually tried to maintain.

“Xiao Song said he’s renting a small place in the Steel Factory’s family compound,” he reported, deliberately emphasizing the words “renting a small place.”

Wei Ming came back quite slowly, and this had to do with the fact that, when he went to ask, he heard that Song Guanshu was currently living in a rented place—and took the opportunity to mock him with cold sarcasm.

He had a million reasons to be dissatisfied with Jiang Ling registering her marriage with that man, but he didn’t dare show any of it in front of his wife.

Anyone with eyes could see that his wife, Ding Yan, thought very highly of this couple and was even insisting on getting involved in their wedding arrangements.

Because Ding Yan had been frequently coming to the Accounting Section lately, Wei Ming had been keeping a low profile there, worried that Jiang Ling might complain about him to his wife.

Song Guanshu was quite popular in the Technical Section. He was generous and easy to get along with. When his colleagues heard Wei Ming’s sarcastic remarks, they immediately snapped back at him by bringing up the fact that he lived off a woman.

Being labeled as someone who lived off his wife was a lifelong sore spot for Wei Ming.

Having failed to gain the upper hand on someone else’s turf, he slunk back to the Accounting Section, thoroughly humiliated.

He shared the information he had just heard with everyone, but didn’t get the reaction he was hoping for.

What’s wrong with you all? Didn’t you hear me? Song Guanshu is renting his place right now, and it’s just a shabby little house.

Still simmering from being retorted earlier, he couldn’t help but carry that resentment downstairs with him. “If you ask me, this is really tough living. Getting married just means two people suffering together.”

“No matter how poor he is, could he be poorer than your family? Three brothers taking turns wearing the same pair of pants.”

With just a single glance from Ding Yan, Wei Ming knew to shut his mouth.

Ding Yan had never considered poverty to be some unbearable hardship. In this era, everyone’s life was difficult. They had all endured a lot since childhood—during the famine years, they drank cold water every day just to stave off hunger. And yet, they had made it through.

No one stays trapped in hardship forever.

Ding Yan loved patting people on the shoulder—it gave off the feeling of a superior encouraging a subordinate. She said, “You two are both working at the factory. As long as you’re hardworking and motivated, life will only get better. People who strive to improve themselves won’t stay poor forever. You and Xiao Song should live well together, and show those snobbish parents that even if you didn’t marry some rich old man, your days won’t be bad.”

Ding Yan saw a reflection of her younger self in Jiang Ling and truly hoped this pair of star-crossed lovers could live a good life.

During the day, Jiang Ling had to deal with the overly enthusiastic Sister Ding Yan. At night, back at the dormitory, things weren’t peaceful either—the girls subtly hinted again and again, hoping she’d take the hint and move out soon.

But even if she moved out, where could she go?

She couldn’t return to the Jiang family, and she couldn’t stay in the dormitory. Back then, there weren’t rental listings everywhere like there would be in later years.

After thinking it over, she realized that Ding Yan’s forceful insistence on throwing her a wedding banquet was, in fact, helping her.

After the wedding, she would have a perfectly reasonable excuse to move into Song Guanshu’s place.

Although Song Guanshu had a gentle appearance but a dark streak beneath, he wasn’t interested in matters between men and women, so Jiang Ling didn’t have to worry about being harassed.

In the blink of an eye, it was already Sunday.

The Daily Chemical Factory followed a six-day workweek, with only Sundays off.

On Saturday, the canteen workers received a sudden notice from the leadership, instructing them to decorate the place more festively, as a young couple would be holding their wedding in the canteen over the weekend.

The canteen staff were completely baffled and couldn’t figure out which leader’s child it might be, for someone to have enough clout to host a wedding at the factory canteen.

Despite asking around in all directions, no one could find out who the newlyweds were. All they heard was that Director Ding would be officiating the ceremony, which only confirmed their suspicions that it had to be the child of one of the factory leaders.

In order to make a good impression in front of the factory leadership, everyone worked with extra enthusiasm.

Red paper cutouts of the character double happiness were pasted outside the canteen, and even the red lanterns usually hung at the factory gate during the New Year were brought out. At a glance, the place was filled with festive red.

It wasn’t just the canteen workers who were puzzled. Even workers from other sections who came to eat at the canteen on Saturday were quietly guessing which leader’s child in the factory had reached marriageable age.

Zhao Hongyun and Jiang Liwen didn’t go home for lunch that day, so Sun Yilan was left alone at home and simply made do with a casual bite to eat.

Zhao Hongyun lined up behind Bai Guo in the canteen at lunchtime. Lately, she had grown close to Bai Guo, a friendship built on gossiping about Jiang Ling.

She handed her lunchbox to the canteen auntie, along with her ration coupon. “More meat, please.”

The canteen auntie was used to hearing such requests when serving food, but she never paid them any mind. Each person was given a fixed portion—one scoop of vegetables and two slices of meat. Anything extra depended entirely on her mood. If she came across a polite young person she liked, she might toss in two extra slices of meat.

But if it was someone rude, then tough luck. Even if you paid for meat, all you’d be getting that day was vegetables.

After getting her meal, Zhao Hongyun quickly glanced into her lunchbox to check the amount of meat and vegetables—two slices of meat, not bad.

While waiting for Bai Guo to get her meal, she casually asked, “The canteen is decorated so festively. Whose child from the leadership is getting married?”