Bei Qinghuan didn’t say a word. She just leaned against the door, quietly watching Mei Suqin’s performance.
Yan Guifang pushed through the crowd and came over. “Mei Suqin, what nonsense are you spouting!”
Originally, Bei Qinghuan’s deliberate silence made Mei Suqin feel like she had punched a ball of cotton, unsure how to continue. But when Yan Guifang anxiously interjected, Mei Suqin found her vigor again.
“Am I spouting nonsense? If Bei Qinghuan didn’t have a wild man on the side, why would she reject our Zhenghua? Our Zhenghua is tall and well-built, and he works at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative! So many families want to marry into ours. But you, we’ve begged you several times to no avail. Bei Qinghuan, give me an answer today. Will you marry him on September 1st or not?”
Her voice was as loud as if a factory-wide assembly was being held.
Furious, Yan Guifang was just about to say “No,” when Bei Qinghuan grabbed her arm. “Mom, ignore her.”
Yan Guifang looked at her daughter with disapproval but ultimately held her tongue and stood with her by the door.
The surrounding neighbors were waiting for Bei Qinghuan’s family to retaliate, so no one said a word.
This created a moment of eerie silence.
In a quarrel, the most disarming tactic isn’t about who can curse the loudest, but when the air suddenly falls quiet.
Moreover, compared to Mei Suqin’s vicious expression, Bei Qinghuan’s open and honest face made people doubt whether what Mei Suqin said was true.
Seeing that the gazes of the onlookers, who had initially been enjoying the show, were now turning toward her and that they were starting to whisper among themselves, Mei Suqin felt a little helpless.
Her voice was no longer as loud as before.
“Bei Qinghuan, I’m asking you, will you marry him on September 1st or not?”
Bei Qinghuan still didn’t speak, just watched her quietly.
Mei Suqin glanced around.
The ordinary workers in the tube-shaped apartment building harbored a natural animosity toward those who lived in the leaders’ separate courtyard houses.
After all, everyone was human, so on what grounds did they get to live so well?
If the family of a well-liked leader was involved, people would naturally be more tolerant.
But Mei Suqin…
She had always looked down on others.
She never bothered to interact with the families living in the tube-shaped apartment building. Even if she recognized many of the people here, she would pretend not to.
As a result, standing here today felt like playing an away game.
What could you do when no one was there to cheer you on?
Mei Suqin’s momentum immediately weakened. “Bei Qinghuan, I’m talking to you. Is this how you treat your mother-in-law? We’ve begged you so many times. Give us a straight answer. If you don’t say anything, then it’s settled for September 1st!”
Bei Qinghuan smiled, her voice soft and gentle. “Alright!”
Mei Suqin, who had expected a few more rounds with Bei Qinghuan, was left speechless.
She suddenly deflated.
Mei Suqin pointed a finger, sweeping it across the crowd. “Then, everyone standing here today is a witness!”
Bei Qinghuan replied, “Okay.”
Mei Suqin finally smiled in satisfaction, letting out a huge sigh of relief.
She knew it. Accusing a woman of fooling around with a wild man was usually an indefensible blow.
However, she had relaxed too soon.
Bei Qinghuan said in a clear, resonant voice, “That’s right, everyone standing here today is a witness. The factory director’s wife has said that she wants her son and me to get married on September 1st. Since the date is set, then please also settle the betrothal gifts, so everyone can bear witness.”
“Betrothal gifts?” Mei Suqin was stunned. “What betrothal gifts? Didn’t I already give you…”
She was done for!
These were sensitive times. The top leader had long since declared that no new hiring quotas could be released to the public for the time being. Any absolutely necessary hires had to be approved by a factory committee meeting.
The hiring spot she had given Bei Qinghuan was an under-the-table operation, a private deal made with a few friendly mid-level managers. How could she possibly speak of that now?
The corner of Bei Qinghuan’s mouth curved up as she finished her sentence for her, “Already gave me what? This?”
She held up a small, dark circle.
The object immediately drew everyone’s attention.
“What is that?”
“Looks like a tin ring?”
“…”
Before the crowd could figure it out, Bei Qinghuan gave them the answer. “Madam Director, since our engagement was settled, your family has only given this one small, tarnished silver bracelet. Is this supposed to be the betrothal gift? Don’t you think that having me marry into your factory director’s family for just this will damage your family’s reputation?”
“You, this…”
Mei Suqin’s mouth opened and closed.
She wanted to say, like last time, that she would give a Bicycle and a Sewing machine.
But Bei Qinghuan kept calling her “Madam Director,” putting her on a pedestal.
It was 1980 now! Even ordinary families provided the Three Rotations and One Sound when their sons got married!
In private, giving a Bicycle and a Sewing machine would have been quite good. But with so many people watching, if she said that now, wouldn’t it just make people gossip about how stingy the factory director’s family was?
“You’re so shameless, talking about such things in public! We’ll talk about it later. I’m still busy, hmph!”
She pushed through the crowd and rushed downstairs.
Bei Qinghuan spread her hands to the crowd.
“Uncles, aunts, I’m sorry you had to see that. To be honest, I don’t really care about any betrothal gifts. I’m just angry that she looks down on us for living in the tube-shaped apartment building. She wants me to marry into her family but isn’t willing to give anything, and she even tried to sling mud at me. Thankfully, all of you were here to support me.”
Now that she had put it that way, even if they hadn’t been supporting her, they were now.
The crowd, who had been about to ask a few questions about the “wild man,” now followed Bei Qinghuan’s lead. “Aiya, Qinghuan, you did the right thing. It’s only right to ask for betrothal gifts.”
“Exactly! They’re the factory director’s family. Anything less than the Three Rotations and One Sound would be embarrassing.”
“Right, right, if they don’t give the Three Rotations and One Sound, you absolutely must not agree.”
“That’s right, Huanhuan. You have to bring honor to our tube-shaped apartment building. Don’t give in unless they offer the Three Rotations and One Sound. We’ll help you keep an eye on them.”
It was always fun to watch a drama, and they didn’t mind making it bigger.
If they could make it a little harder for the factory director’s family to get a daughter-in-law, how delightful would that be!
The crowd egged her on with a tacit understanding.
Bei Qinghuan nodded obediently and thanked everyone again before closing the door.
Only then did Yan Guifang dare to let her anger show. “That vicious woman, Mei Suqin! How dare she play the victim when her own son is the one fooling around outside. How does she have the face to come and slander you?”
Bei Qinghuan said, “Mom, what are you so angry about? She didn’t get the upper hand. Didn’t she just run off with her tail between her legs?”
What Bei Qinghuan didn’t say was that she had long predicted that, given Mei Suqin’s character, if she forcefully insisted on breaking off the engagement immediately, Mei Suqin would definitely slander her.
And here it was.
Fortunately, she had planned ahead.
Yan Guifang was still lamenting, “With all this drama, when will it ever end!”
Bei Qinghuan said, “Soon. In the next day or two, I’ll see her come to me and ask to break off the engagement herself.”
Unlike Bei Qinghuan’s certainty, Yan Guifang was deeply worried about the matter and went to work the next day with dark circles under her eyes.
Bei Qinghuan wanted to comfort her, but she knew her mother’s personality. Persuasion would be useless; she would worry regardless.
Besides, she wasn’t sure when that Tao Su would show up, so she let Yan Guifang go to work, yawning nonstop.
Unexpectedly, at eleven o’clock, Yan Guifang suddenly returned home early.
Her voice, both excited and urgent, rang out from the doorway. “Huan, Huanhuan, a fight broke out! A real fight! A group of people almost came to blows!”
Bei Qinghuan was speechless.
Almost?
What was the “almost” that stopped them?