This damn girl was just completely unyielding.
Mei Suqin’s smile finally gave way.
“Huanhuan, that temper of yours… Fine, fine. If Zhenghua comes home this afternoon, I’ll have him come over. You two can talk it over and set a wedding date soon. You’re not kids anymore, stop making a fuss, alright?”
She was, of course, cursing up a storm in her head.
But now, Bei Qinghuan could treat such useless noise as if she hadn’t heard it. She pointed to the door. “Got it. Turn left and go downstairs when you leave, thank you.”
Mei Suqin took a deep breath and lifted the Malted Milk Powder in her hand. “Then this…”
Hurry up and refuse it, then I can take it back.
However, Bei Qinghuan called Yan Guifang over. “Mom, take it. The ten yuan we returned for the in-laws’ festival gift money the other day was really too much for them. That stuff wasn’t worth ten yuan at all. You should take this as compensation.”
Mei Suqin had never imagined that after swallowing her pride to come here today, she would not only fail to accomplish anything but also lose a job slot and two tins of Malted Milk Powder.
And yet, for the sake of that “Old medicine” that might still exist, she didn’t dare to have an outburst.
Mei Suqin’s face turned green with suppressed anger. A lump rolled in her throat, but in the end, she strode out the door.
Managing to get two tins of Malted Milk Powder from the tight-fisted Mei Suqin, Yan Guifang covered her mouth and laughed, giving her daughter a thumbs-up. “Huanhuan, you’re more capable than I am!”
Bei Qinghuan said, “Of course. During my five years in the countryside, I got into plenty of fights. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had enough to eat.”
Hearing this, Yan Guifang’s smile vanished. Her heart ached as she hugged her daughter, then she grew worried again.
“You heard her just now. Mei Suqin brought up the house again. Do you think she’ll really get the factory to kick us out? Putting everything else aside, if they really make us mother and daughter move into the dormitory according to the factory’s rules, it would be so inconvenient.”
It had to be said, Bei Qinghuan had long felt that the matter of the house would be used as leverage against them sooner or later.
If they were to truly settle the matter of the house, it wasn’t that their family was in the wrong, but that the allocation would be rather troublesome and would involve her elder brother’s family.
Bei Qinghuan had no desire to deal with her elder brother’s family, so it was best if this matter wasn’t brought up at all.
“Mom, don’t worry. I’ve said it before, this house is tied to my elder brother’s interests. He’s the one who doesn’t meet the conditions. If it really comes to a fight, we’ll just drag him into it and let him handle it. He’s very good at maneuvering. Don’t underestimate him.”
Yan Guifang gave a wry smile. “How would I dare to underestimate him? But you’re right. If it really comes to them taking the house and making us live in the dormitory, then we’ll have no choice but to fight to the bitter end.”
“That’s the spirit.”
“But we’re already trying to draw a clear line with the Qin family. Why did you still take their application form? Are you really going to be a Sewing worker in the Main workshop?”
“How could I! Being a Sewing worker only pays about thirty-something yuan a month. I can make several hundred yuan just by drawing one Picture Storybook. Why would I possibly go? It’s just that if I hadn’t taken it just now, she would have definitely kept pestering me here. I just took it to get her off my back.”
Hearing this, Yan Guifang grew even more worried. “It’s never a good thing to accept something from Mei Suqin. Who knows how she’ll twist this and gossip about us later.”
Bei Qinghuan smiled and even took out the application form to show her mother.
“Mom, look. See how capable Qin Dagang is? A regular worker slot at a big Military Factory like ours, and there’s no need for an assessment, no need to submit our household registration booklet to the Comprehensive Management Department. He can just give it away and sign off on it as he pleases. If a person with ulterior motives were to make an issue out of this, who do you think would suffer more?”
Seeing her daughter’s cunning smile, Yan Guifang immediately understood. “That’s right! He doesn’t even follow the rules himself, yet he dares to talk about our house. It’s the pot calling the kettle black!”
The mother and daughter duo then settled down to enjoy a sumptuous lunch.
Bei Qinghuan loved fish. Now that they had money, Yan Guifang had specially bought a large black carp today. She marinated some of it, and the two of them planned to fry fish chunks in the afternoon to make sweet and sour marinated fish.
This dish had many steps: mixing and marinating the fish, frying the fish, and finally combining it all with a sweet and sour sauce to marinate into a finished dish. It was actually a major undertaking.
The mother and daughter were busy until dark. Just as they were about to eat, Qin Zhenghua actually showed up.
Under her daughter’s obvious signal that she was about to stir up trouble, Yan Guifang let him in.
Qin Zhenghua was wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt, which even had the red printed words of the Mingshan District Supply and Marketing Cooperative of Hai City on it.
Did he have to wear his work uniform even on a Sunday just to show off his job?
It was truly laughable.
Bei Qinghuan calmly watched the man sitting awkwardly at the dining table, wanting to laugh inwardly.
She called out to him magnanimously.
“Hey, Qin Zhenghua, you really came?”
Qin Zhenghua was decent-looking and his height was alright, about 1.75 meters.
It was just that his eyes were small, and he tended to avoid direct eye contact when looking at people, which always gave off a petty impression.
Moreover, although Qin Zhenghua was two years older, he had to listen to Bei Qinghuan when they played together as children.
If they argued, it was always Bei Qinghuan who did the scolding.
As for fighting… he had never won either.
It could be said that Bei Qinghuan had suppressed him for many years!
Hearing Bei Qinghuan’s question now, Qin Zhenghua raised a hand to his mouth and coughed dryly. “Ahem, well, you were the one who asked me to come.”
“So, if I hadn’t asked you to come, you wouldn’t have, right?”
Qin Zhenghua gave an awkward laugh. “How could that be? I was just… embarrassed.”
Bei Qinghuan walked over and sat down on the Bone Tile Stool next to him, their elbows almost touching. “Oh? Why would you be embarrassed to see me? Elaborate.”
At this, Qin Zhenghua scratched his chin and shifted his hips, unable to sit still. “Well, we’re, you know, getting married. We… back then, we just played around as kids. Now that we’re getting married, I’m a little… not used to it.”
Bei Qinghuan continued to watch him with a smile, then suddenly changed the subject. “Who is Tao Su?”
Qin Zhenghua froze, then shot to his feet. “How do you know?”
Bei Qinghuan tilted her head, staring straight at him. “Why don’t you marry Tao Su?”
Qin Zhenghua was in such a panic he didn’t know what to do. “What… what are you talking about? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You really don’t know? But how come I heard that Tao Su is dying to marry you?”
Qin Zhenghua’s expression changed several times, and he suddenly raised his voice.
“Bei Qinghuan, are you done?! If you don’t want to marry me, just say so! Why did you have to make me come here and ask all these questions! You’re always like this, you always have to have the upper hand! You… you’re great in every way, but this is what makes you so annoying, so hateful!”
Then he turned and ran out.
Yan Guifang, who had been deliberately staying out of the way in the kitchen, watched in astonishment as Qin Zhenghua left, then looked nervously at Bei Qinghuan.
Bei Qinghuan met Yan Guifang’s gaze for a moment, then shrugged and spread her hands. “Well, you saw it yourself. He’s really not obedient. Not suitable to be a Live-in Son-in-law.”
Seeing her daughter so able to let it go, Yan Guifang let out a “pfft” of laughter. “What are you going to do now?”
Bei Qinghuan raised a finger and wagged it. “Let things take their course. Mom, you continue frying the fish. I need to go out for a bit.”