Baoling and Mingyuan learned that Fang Daming had been arrested today.
Early in the morning, the two of them woke up bathed in sunlight on a 1.8-meter bed meant for only two people. Li Baoling felt utterly satisfied.
Lin Mingyuan didn’t snore, didn’t grind his teeth, didn’t talk in his sleep, and didn’t toss and turn. With so many advantages combined, the slight awkwardness of a man and a woman sharing a room the night before instantly disappeared.
On the first day after their wedding, the two of them didn’t need to go to work. Li Baoling even wanted to go back to sleep for a bit—until she heard people talking beneath the window.
“Not up yet. Hungry!” Three-year-old Miaomiao squatted beneath her little uncle and aunt’s window and sighed.
“You go wake Uncle up.” Five-year-old An’an spent all day instigating Miaomiao.
It turned out that Sun Zhaodi had boiled eggs and kept them warm in the pot, telling the two little ones to wait until their uncle and aunt woke up to eat together. But the kids had already eaten breakfast with everyone else, watched their older siblings leave for school, and played for a long time—yet their little uncle and aunt still hadn’t gotten up.
Miaomiao got tired and decided to squat under the window. That way she could rest and also hear if there was any movement.
After thinking for a long time, Miaomiao shook her head. She wouldn’t go—her little aunt was inside too, and she didn’t know her.
An’an thought she was useless. If it weren’t for waiting to eat eggs, he would have gone out to play long ago.
“These two little brats,” Lin Mingyuan said, waking up as well. The two of them had gone to sleep before ten the night before; judging by the light now, it was probably past nine.
“Getting up or not?” Lin Mingyuan turned his head to look at Li Baoling.
Li Baoling looked back. First thing in the morning, the two of them looking at each other—oh my, it was a little embarrassing.
It really was just them. They’d known each other only a few days, got married, and even slept in the same bed. Who would have imagined it, after more than twenty years of life?
“How about this—going forward, you treat me like a buddy, and I’ll treat you like a sister.”
“Deal.” When he opened his eyes and saw a girl lying opposite him, it had taken him a while to adjust too.
Li Baoling had at least dated before; Lin Mingyuan had never even held a girl’s hand. In fact, he had woken up early and hadn’t dared move, afraid of waking her.
“Alright, big guy, what are you shy about?” Li Baoling forced herself to sound calm and even patted him.
“Wash up.” Lin Mingyuan’s face flushed slightly as he got dressed and ran out into the yard.
“Uncle!”
“Uncle, you’re finally up!”
The two little ones were thrilled to see Lin Mingyuan come out, clustering around him and chattering away.
“It’s all thanks to you two whispering under our window—I heard everything,” Lin Mingyuan said, brushing his teeth as he looked at them.
“Ah!” Miaomiao hurriedly covered her mouth. Though young, she still knew how to feel shy.
“Good morning, you two little ones,” Li Baoling greeted them.
Since she had just arrived, she felt that the Lin family’s children weren’t the bad sort—especially these two little ones. They were quite well-behaved and played by themselves all day.
Now An’an felt shy too, and the two children moved closer to Lin Mingyuan together.
“Come here, you two,” Li Baoling beckoned. Lin Mingyuan nudged the children, and only then did the little ones slowly walk over.
They were still shy around strangers.
“Ta-da! Look what I’ve got!”
“Candy, brother—candy!” What child didn’t like candy? Even this kind of hard candy was a rare treat to children, especially village kids.
An’an glanced at his excited younger sister, then fixed his gaze on the candy in his new little aunt’s palm, unable to look away.
“Auntie,” An’an called out. Being two years older, he knew to address her.
“Such a good boy.” Li Baoling patted his head and gave him one.
Miaomiao copied him, and soon a piece of candy was clutched in her small hand too.
“Alright. Now that you’ve eaten my candy, we’re good friends,” Li Baoling declared.
“Good friends!” Miaomiao echoed.
As for the older kids, she’d give them some another time. Good things were best saved for oneself.
After that, Lin Mingyuan brought out the breakfast that had been kept warm in the pot. Perhaps because it was their first day, Sun Zhaodi had been especially generous—she had boiled three whole eggs. The two of them got one each, the two little ones shared one, and there was also some leftover food.
For breakfast, Li Baoling and Lin Mingyuan ate very well indeed.
“If I could live like this every day, that would be great,” Li Baoling said, full of hope.
“Same here.” Lin Mingyuan cracked his egg for himself and also divided it evenly for the two little ones.
Each got half—no more, no less.
Just as the four of them were eating happily, Third Sister Lin came riding her bicycle into the yard again, wind rushing around her.
“Third Sister, what brings you here?” Lin Mingyuan asked, looking at Lin Mingjuan as she stopped her bike at the gate.
Lin Mingjuan waved her hand. “Let me get a drink of water first.”
She scooped up a ladleful from the water vat and gulped it down. Only then did she catch her breath. “That ride nearly killed me. I got up and came straight here. Do you know? Fang Daming’s been arrested!”
Li Baoling and Lin Mingyuan both looked up at once.
“Isn’t his uncle in the Revolutionary Committee?”
“Yeah, aren’t they all his acquaintances?”
They spoke at the same time, leaving Lin Mingjuan confused. “How do you know he was arrested by the Revolutionary Committee?”
“Huh? Wasn’t it?”
“Actually, we don’t really know. It’s just that a few days ago Fang Daming tried to set us up—said that since we were getting married, he’d take us to the black market to buy things. But we didn’t go.”
Lin Mingjuan slapped her thigh. “No wonder! We were talking about it at home—how the Fang family lacks nothing, so why would Fang Daming go to the black market himself? And he even got caught red-handed. Turns out he was trying to trap you two. Serves him right!”
“That shameless bastard—he deserved to be arrested!”
After venting, Lin Mingjuan continued explaining. “It’s also because of our family that my father-in-law has been keeping an eye on the Fang family. He found out that Fang Daming really was arrested by the Revolutionary Committee. My father-in-law said that the office specifically in charge of cracking down on profiteering is currently split into two factions—one led by Fang Yuejin, his uncle, and the other by □□. The two have been fighting over the position of director. Right at this critical moment, Fang Daming was caught in the black market. Fang Yuejin is in trouble.”
“Strictly speaking, lots of people in the city go to the black market to improve their meals—but they targeted the Fang family specifically. This matter can be big or small; it all depends on whether the Fang family chooses to withdraw from the competition or keep Fang Daming locked up inside.”
“I heard the Fang household is in complete chaos right now. The family wants Fang Yuejin to save him, but Fang Yuejin’s new wife doesn’t want to. They’re arguing at home.”
“If you ask me, the Fang family might as well grow a backbone this time and leave Fang Daming alone—let him reform properly and stop coming out to harm people!”
She then praised the two of them for being smart enough not to fall for that scoundrel’s trap.
Li Baoling and Lin Mingyuan exchanged a look, schadenfreude written all over their faces. He really deserved it.
“Alright, I just came back to tell you. As long as you keep it in mind, that’s enough. I’m worried that once he gets out, he’ll still try to set people up. So remember—if you see him in the future, detour immediately and keep your distance. I’ll also have my father-in-law keep asking around. I’ll head back now—there’s still a pile of things to do at home.”
“Just tell Mom I stopped by. I’m off!”
Lin Mingjuan was brisk in person and even more so in action—she came, drank a bowl of water, spoke, and left. In no time at all, she was out of sight.
“Third Sister really is—here in a hurry, gone in a hurry.”
“Who says she isn’t? But Fang Daming getting arrested is truly good news.”
“Applause!” Li Baoling said, clapping her hands. “The heavens have finally opened their eyes.”
“Exactly.” Lin Mingyuan clapped along, then called to the two little ones who were completely out of the loop. “Come on, you two, clap too. You can’t eat candy for nothing.”
Although they didn’t know what had happened, Miaomiao and An’an had candy to eat and were very cooperative, their little hands clapping loudly.
“Oh—won’t it be three days later that we go back to the bride’s family? Since I can’t actually go back, how about we head into the city then, dress up a bit, and go watch the Fang family’s drama?” Li Baoling shot him a look.
Lin Mingyuan loved seeing villains reap what they sowed and immediately nodded. “Deal.”
They had woken up late, eaten breakfast, received Third Sister Lin, and played with the two kids for a while. By now, the sun was already high—it would soon be time for everyone to return from work.
“Shall we start cooking?” This was the task Sun Zhaodi had given them the night before. Even if they didn’t go to work, they couldn’t just do nothing.
“Let’s do it!” It was time for the two of them to show their skills—they’d definitely handle it properly for her mother.
Just as the two of them were preparing to surprise everyone, the others walking back from work were also chatting about the couple.
“Hey, I heard that the Lin family’s new daughter-in-law hadn’t even entered the household yet and already fought with Liu Heini—hands thrown and all?”
“That’s right. You didn’t see it—this educated girl spoke viciously. She said the Zhang family’s inability to produce a grandson was Zhang Baogen’s fault, and even told him to go get checked at the hospital. How could Liu Heini tolerate that?”
“They really know how to talk. How could not having children be the man’s problem? It must be Liu Ling not behaving properly. Hey, have you heard—before negotiating marriage with the Zhang family, Liu Ling was seeing someone on her own. Maybe she already—”
“Is that true? You couldn’t tell. That meek little daughter-in-law actually has that kind of history?”
“You can’t spread rumors like that. What kind of person is Liu Heini? If there were really such a thing, would she have let Liu Ling marry into the family?”
They wanted to continue, but when they saw that Liu Heini was just ahead, they were afraid she’d hear. Coincidentally, they had reached a fork in the road, and the group scattered at once.
One person, however, followed behind—that was Liu Fengying. She had always loved watching the Zhang family’s misfortune. Don’t think she didn’t know—the reason her own family had such a bad reputation was because of Liu Heini’s rumors.
She had even cursed them behind their backs. When her daughter-in-law had been pregnant, Liu Heini had deliberately splashed water in front of her house in the dead of winter, wishing for both mother and child to die. How could she let that go?
Liu Fengying rubbed her hands together. She needed to ask around. If things really were as they said—if Liu Ling had messed around with someone and ruined her body—then she wouldn’t even need to sow discord between that mother-in-law and daughter-in-law anymore. She could just watch the Zhang family go their whole lives without a grandson.
Heh heh.
Meanwhile, over at the Lin household, everyone was also looking forward to seeing what those two kids could make.
Although Sun Zhaodi felt that kids that age should all know how to cook, she still couldn’t help worrying—what if they ruined the food?