The main branch of the Tian Family next door.
Tian Chuying didn’t go to work that afternoon; she was sulking at home.
He Cuifen heard some things at work about her daughter and came home early to ask about it, only to run into Director Wu and Mr. Guo at the alley entrance.
They were there specifically to find Tian Chuying.
"This morning we agreed at the Red Fifth Street office that she would come to the community center to report, become a community volunteer, and participate in reformation through labor. We’re about to end our workday and she still hasn’t shown up!"
Earlier, Tian Chuying admitted her mistake in front of everyone, apologized to Tian Xiang, and said she’d work on her mindset. You can’t take words like these back once you’ve said them.
He Cuifen knew nothing about this and thought this was the punishment for her daughter’s attempt at stealing a partner. She agreed with a smile and said she’d let her daughter go over in a bit.
Yesterday, Director Wu wanted her daughter to give up the job.
Today she’s changed her tune to just doing volunteer work. Who knows what her daughter did, turning a big problem into a small one and a small one into nothing. This seems like a good thing!
Doing half a month of volunteer work at the community center sounds embarrassing, but it’s maybe not worth mentioning if they could get a son-in-law from Red Fifth Street.
He Cuifen smiled brightly and even invited the two to come in for tea.
She was still immersed in the joy of finding a good son-in-law, completely clueless about what happened in the morning.
Mr. Guo had eaten too many melons filled with gossip and wanted to spill what had happened that morning to He Cuifen, but Director Wu stopped him.
Seeing how smug she looked, Director Wu found it annoying and didn’t want to mention her son-in-law had already run away, letting her dream on for now.
Director Wu said, "We’ll skip the tea. We have work to get back to. You tell Tian Chuying to come over quickly."
"Got it, take care on your way back,"
He Cuifen hummed a tune as she went home. Seeing her daughter there, she quickly went over.
"I heard you went to Red Fifth Street today? Did you see Lu Feng? How did it go? What tricks did the mother and daughter next door try? Didn’t give you a hard time, did they?"
Last night, her daughter assured her multiple times that Lu Feng wouldn’t run away.
At the time, Tian Chuying still carried the tag of a main character, so He Cuifen naturally had no doubts about her daughter.
But now...
Tian Chuying quickly recounted the morning’s events, but He Cuifen interrupted halfway through.
"What, Tian Xiang hit Lu Feng?"
"That damned girl, she’s got some nerve! Hitting someone in front of a crowd, she’s bound to be taken to the police station, right? Has she been locked up?"
Hehe, she’s always been impulsive, loud from a young age.
But her reckless actions are a good thing, with one slap, the two of them are done for. Nobody can fix it now, there’s no way Lu Feng would continue seeing someone like her.
Chuying, seize the opportunity to marry over there soon."
He Cuifen’s eyes were filled with stars, not yet waking from her dream.
Tian Chuying’s eyes held no brightness, "Mom, it would’ve been fine if this hadn’t happened today, but now it’s going to be hard for me to marry over there."
After sitting at home for a while, Tian Chuying figured it all out.
Tian Xiang made this scene to make Lu Feng lose face at the Mechanical Factory.
Lu Feng is an advanced worker of the factory. Even if he doesn’t care about his reputation, there’s Lu’s mother and Father Lu.
These two are long-term residents of the Red Fifth Street factory area, and they value their reputation above all else. There’s no way they could bring a daughter-in-law, known for partner-stealing, into their home under such widely known circumstances.
Last night, Tian Chuying was afraid that Tian Xiang might reconnect with Lu Feng through a matchmaker, so she was impatiently trying to secure this man. The two agreed they’d be in a relationship, and if the matchmaker showed up, Lu Feng would refuse actively.
But who knew Tian Xiang, that shrew, wouldn’t play by the rules, and wasn’t trying to salvage the match at all, instead directly slapping him.
After listening to her daughter’s analysis, He Cuifen was speechless for a while.
"You didn’t succeed in stealing the match, and you still have to do volunteer work at the community center! Chuying, this is..."
What a disgrace!
It would be hard for their family to hold their heads high in the future.
Tian Chuying knew all this naturally.
"Mom, stop shouting!! I won’t let this end just like this..."
The mother and daughter’s voices were somewhat loud, and Tian Xiang heard them from next door.
So, Tian Chuying is also here!
Tian Xiang found a book, made a megaphone out of it, and pressed it against the wall to listen.
Too bad, the mother and daughter quickly tempered their tempers again.
Tian Xiang curled her lips, tossed the book aside, and went out with a bottle to buy soy sauce.
She didn’t even need to listen to know what those two were talking about, probably figuring out a way to rise up and become the main character.
How ironic, the title she found nauseating, others were eagerly fighting to snatch it.
It’s also true that the scumbag hid his true nature too well, and no one really knew his true face.
After spacing out for a while on the bed, Tian Xiang cleared her mind and decided there was no need to overthink the label-removal matter, she’d just follow the original plan.
All she had to do was tear off Lu Feng’s pretended facade, turn him into a street rat, or get him locked up by the station.
She refused to believe that even after all this, she couldn’t get rid of the label on her head.
...
After finishing dinner at night, when Tian Xiang finished washing up and returned to her room, Tian Weibing, who had the designation of supporting role number 27, asked about the day’s events.
Hu Honglian quietly told her husband about the situation, including the strong possibility that Lu Feng had feelings for their daughter.
"I’m thinking of letting them look at each other again, but Xiangxiang isn’t ready to accept it for now, she’s very resistant."
Upon hearing that his daughter was unwilling, Tian Weibing said, "Maybe just forget about it."
An unwilling relationship does not bear sweet fruit.
Hu Honglian didn’t mind, "What do you know? It’s normal for a young girl to have trouble putting aside her pride after such an incident, it’ll get better gradually. You haven’t met Xiao Lu; the young guy is really good, has a good job, he matches well with Xiangxiang. If there’s a chance, you should also advise her. Once Xiangxiang’s matter is settled, we’ll work hard to get Chenhui back."
Tian Chenhui is the second oldest in the family, Tian Xiang’s second brother. After graduating junior high, he went to the countryside. He had been mischievous since childhood and kept causing trouble in the countryside. The old couple wanted to bring their second son back to keep an eye on him.
Tian Weibing: "Got it."
Next morning, after Tian Weibing and his wife left for work, Tian Xiang pushed her bicycle and went out.
Today she was heading to Red Fifth Street, using her ability to see character labels to identify and track down the female secondary roles related to Lu Feng.
As it’s a supporting role, they would surely have some entanglements and connections with him, just like Tian Chuying.
Where there’s entanglement, there’s a flaw to be found. Tian Xiang planned to get in touch with those female roles and see if she could find something to expose the scumbag’s sordid intentions to the public.
During working hours, Red Fifth Street bustled like a fair during the New Year’s festival.
Passing by a newsstand, Tian Xiang picked up a copy of Red Star Weekly.
As luck would have it, there was an article about Lu Feng in it.
——"A New Star, Lu Feng’s Sea of Poetry."
Hehe, previously, Granny Liu from the Convenience Store praised Lu Feng, saying he was an outstanding worker and a talented modern poet.
Back then, Tian Xiang thought those words were probably bloated with exaggeration.
With a good job, and the halo of a poet, why would a handsome young man come all the way to Sanli Lane to look for a match instead of Red Fifth Street?
Who knew this person really could write a few clumsy poems.
If she couldn’t see the character labels, faced with such an outstanding young talent, she’d likely be very pleased too.
But now...
Tian Xiang tossed the newspaper onto the ground and fiercely stomped on Lu Feng’s photo, cursing, "Shit, shit, shit..."
After venting, she picked up the newspaper intending to throw it into the trash can, but when she looked up, she saw a man in a white shirt with an employee badge hanging on his chest standing not far away, seriously watching her.