Yan Guifang was silent for a moment before finally sighing.
“I don’t like the Qin family either. I was hoping they would be the first to suggest breaking off the engagement, and we could just go along with it. But now… sigh. You have to understand, Qin Dagang is the deputy factory director. If we propose to break off the engagement, they’ll lose face and will surely make things difficult for us. And your grandfather, he’s the most old-fashioned of all; he won’t agree.”
After listening patiently, Bei Qinghuan asked, “So, Mom, you don’t agree?”
“No, I do agree. It’s just that we need to think about the best way to break off this engagement.”
Bei Qinghuan smiled sincerely and snuggled into her mother’s arms, acting coyly.
“Mom, you’re the best. Don’t worry, I’ll handle this myself. I’ll tell them I want the ‘Three Rotations and One Sound,’ plus three hundred yuan. And from our side, the dowry will only be a Five-Drawer Cabinet and two quilts.”
Yan Guifang chuckled and poked her daughter’s forehead. “You’re trying to drive Mei Suqin to her grave!”
Bei Qinghuan understood her mother’s subtext.
Yan Guifang believed that if their family appeared calculating and stingy, the Qin family would angrily break off the engagement.
But Bei Qinghuan wasn’t so optimistic.
Since Mei Suqin was capable of having such thoughts, it meant she knew Bei Qinghuan possessed something worth far more than a few hundred yuan. Proposing these conditions would likely be useless.
Still, she had to try.
Especially since Bei Qinghuan was now very eager to hear what other thoughts Mei Suqin might have.
How could such a strange thing exist in the world?
Could she only hear them occasionally, or would she be able to hear them from now on?
Also, Mei Suqin was already showing symptoms of Lupus Erythematosus. Instead of thinking about early treatment, she was scheming for Bei Qinghuan’s kidney. What were the reasons for all this?
Bei Qinghuan was extremely curious about it.
Because of the matter of breaking off the engagement, Yan Guifang ate a hasty lunch and then went over the accounts with Bei Qinghuan.
The arranged marriage had been set when Bei Qinghuan was five. For the first three years, the Qin family, in an effort to curry favor with the Bei family, had given some meat, brown sugar, and red dates as holiday gifts, but nothing else.
All told, it wouldn’t amount to more than ten yuan.
In the evening, just as the sky turned completely dark, Bei Qinghuan carried the Qin family’s shabby odds and ends and walked toward the Factory Leadership Residential Compound at the very back of the living area.
The Qin family lived in No. 4 Courtyard.
As Bei Qinghuan walked, she mentally rehearsed the possible scenarios for today’s conversation.
She was lost in thought.
As she passed No. 3 Courtyard, the small, red-lacquered door suddenly creaked open, startling the preoccupied Bei Qinghuan and causing the cloth bundle in her hands to fall to the ground.
The small silver bracelet inside the bundle, a symbol of the betrothal gift, rolled and tumbled until it came to a stop beside a white sneaker, where it lay still.
Bei Qinghuan took two steps after the bracelet, but seeing it had rolled to someone’s feet, she felt too embarrassed to pursue it further.
Looking up, she saw it was that fierce-looking man from before.
Ah, no, the orderly who had mocked her this morning.
At this moment, the orderly was wearing only a short-sleeved undershirt and track pants with white stripes down the sides. He was tall with long legs and didn’t look as stern as he had in his military casual uniform during the day.
However, his expression was just as fierce and wary as the first time they met.
As if she had dropped her things on purpose.
Annoyed, Bei Qinghuan took a hard line first. “Why did you suddenly open the door? You scared me!”
Jing Xiao was speechless.
What a unique way to stage an accident!
However, the things Yan Guifang had sent over again today had allowed him to eat two proper meals.
He found the pickled eggplant especially novel, having never eaten it prepared that way before.
He was in an excellent mood.
Jing Xiao picked up the bracelet, held it out in his palm, and teased, “Did you steal this?”
Otherwise, why would you be so jumpy that the sound of a door opening could scare you?
“You’re the one who steals!”
Bei Qinghuan glared at him and snatched the bracelet back.
However, her fingertips accidentally brushed against Jing Xiao’s palm. Failing to pick up the bracelet on the first try, she ended up digging into his palm again.
The man’s palm was slightly rough.
More than that, there was a warmth unique to the opposite sex that spread rapidly through her entire body from her fingertips.
For some reason, the tips of Bei Qinghuan’s ears immediately grew hot.
It seemed her face was hot too.
Almost instinctively, she bristled like a porcupine to hide this shamefully blushing moment.
She put on a stern face. “This is my token of love, a gift from my fiancé’s family!”
Jing Xiao laughed.
This girl was the first person since his arrival at 3508 Factory to proactively declare that she was already spoken for.
Pretty good.
He didn’t need to be on guard.
He could even make some small talk.
“Oh, so it’s precious. Keep it safe. If you lose it, you’ll never get another one.”
With that, Jing Xiao ran off.
He had been forced to change his morning run habit from his time in the army to a night run because girls were always trying to have “chance encounters” with him here. He was quite helpless about it, you know.
Bei Qinghuan, however, stood still, watching Jing Xiao disappear into the night.
She had been in a bit of a daze just now.
When that man smiled, he was truly captivating.
His eyes curved, and it was as if lights had suddenly been lit within them. The corners of his lips tilted, and his whole person suddenly came alive, like a mischievous youth from the compound.
He looked even younger and more handsome.
But why did such a good-looking man have to have a mouth?
She wasn’t so naive as to not understand. When he said, “If you lose it, you’ll never get another one,” he was actually mocking her, implying that if she lost this bracelet, she’d never be able to get married, right?
Suppressing her anger, Bei Qinghuan put the bracelet away and knocked on the door of No. 4 Courtyard.
She had only knocked once when the door immediately opened.
A young girl with permed bangs opened the door, her eyes shining brightly.
But when she saw it was Bei Qinghuan, she immediately leaned out to look around. Seeing no one else, her cheerful face fell. “Why is it you?”
She had clearly seen Jing Xiao come out from over the wall!
Bei Qinghuan, unaware that the girl had been climbing walls to peek, asked casually, “Who were you hoping for?”
The young girl pouted. “None of your business. Are you… looking for my brother?”
Bei Qinghuan said, “I’m looking for your mom.”
“Why are you cursing at me?”
Bei Qinghuan was speechless.
Ever since they were little, this girl’s mind had never been sharp.
Bei Qinghuan had no choice but to rephrase. “Qin Zhenghong, I’m looking for your mom, Comrade Mei Suqin.”
Qin Zhenghong pouted again. “Hmph, you’re just here to see my brother. How shameless, coming to a man’s house!”
Bei Qinghuan raised her voice. “I’m looking for your mom! I said I’m looking for your mom, looking for your mom!”
“You…!”
Qin Zhenghong was furious, but she simply lacked the ability to win an argument against Bei Qinghuan. She never had, not since they were children.
Qin Zhenghong stomped her foot and walked inside by herself.
She seriously suspected Bei Qinghuan was cursing at her, but she had no proof!
Bei Qinghuan simply followed her in.
The Qin family had moved into this independent courtyard, reserved for deputy factory director-level staff, four years ago.
Therefore, this was Bei Qinghuan’s first time here.
She couldn’t see the rest of the courtyard clearly, but in the living room, there was a standing fan.
This alone was enough to show the Qin family’s current status.
A young man in a tank top and shorts was sitting on the rattan sofa eating watermelon. When he saw Bei Qinghuan, he froze for a good while.
Bei Qinghuan bit her lip.
Before she was sixteen, her heart would flutter whenever she saw this man.
But now, seeing him, her heart was as still as a pool of dead water.
If it weren’t for the long-forgotten chaotic thumping of her heart when she touched the orderly’s hand just now, she might have thought she no longer liked men.
Bei Qinghuan gave a self-deprecating smile and raised her hand in a polite greeting. “Qin Zhenghua, you’re home.”