Gu Liansheng arranged a total of three tables for the wedding banquet, held right in the courtyard compound, two tables for coworkers, one table for compound neighbors. As for the relatives, well, that was a whole other complicated story, better left unmentioned.
Truth be told, for a remarriage, nothing much had been prepared, just three tables of food, but Wanying wasn’t displeased. That was already a lot, given the circumstances.
For a second marriage you couldn’t expect too much. As long as things went along peacefully like this, he was already satisfied.
His coworkers already knew his remarried wife was his ex-wife’s current husband’s ex-wife, a complicated relationship, but one they could accept.
The new bride was spirited and pretty, smiling nonstop and warmly friendly throughout the wedding. Coworkers pulled Gu Liansheng aside privately and said, “Your wife knows how to handle a room, genuinely good stuff, work hard and build a good life, don’t let your ex-wife get the satisfaction of feeling smug!”
Gu Liansheng wanted to build a good life too, but his family situation was a mess. Lin Wanying had practiced martial arts since childhood and was basically a female knight-errant, how good could her temper possibly be?
Add to that her hot temper, and their life together was probably going to be chaotic. Might as well just wait and see for now.
Heaven wasn’t about to let him have it easy. Today, at his wedding banquet, his elder brother and sister-in-law, who never wanted to contribute anything, had actually carried their mother over.
…
Gu Yaoqiang didn’t do his duty but talked a good game, telling Gu Liansheng: “Your last wife couldn’t live with Mom, so she’s been staying at my place for five years. It’s time for you and your new wife to take over caring for her.”
Gu Liansheng was furious. That wasn’t the whole story at all, when his ex-wife married in, she’d said she couldn’t live with the mother-in-law, and his elder brother and sister-in-law happened to need Mom to help raise their kids, so he’d paid them money every month, and yet here they were, saying this to him.
Mom had fallen at his brother’s place, and they’d chosen exactly today, with all these people around, to send her over, clearly counting on the crowd to make it hard for him to refuse. Did they not consider his new wife’s feelings at all? Couldn’t they have picked another day and discussed it first?
Gu Shuisheng had a harder heart than his second brother, he’d often warned Mom, guarded against the elder brother and sister-in-law, kept a tight grip on the support money the second brother gave, but Mom wouldn’t listen. Now that the elder brother and sister-in-law didn’t want to pay her medical bills or take care of her, they were sending her back to make the second brother pay and take care of her. The new sister-in-law had such an explosive temper, she was surely going to make a scene.
Gu Shuisheng was so angry he’d decided not to get involved at all.
…
Lin Wanying thought to herself, this must be a test arranged by heaven. She’d rushed over to marry Gu Liansheng, that was the cause, and now that it had come to fruition, a mother-in-law dumped on them along with some extreme relatives, that was just a perfectly normal effect.
Where there’s cause, there’s effect [1]every cause brings its effect (yǒu yīn yǒu guǒ, 有因有果), Cultural Reference, drawn from the Buddhist concept of karmic cause and effect (因果), the idea that every action inevitably … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3158661_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3158661_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. If not for that thought, she might have worried about suddenly having good luck without something bad balancing it out, as long as it could be resolved, it wasn’t a real problem, no big deal.
Gu Liansheng’s elder brother and sister-in-law dropped their words and tried to leave, but Lin Wanying wouldn’t let them run, chasing after them, shouting: “Come back! Say it clearly before you go.”
Gu Liansheng rushed to chase after them too, but was stopped by Lin Huinan, who said lightly, “Brother-in-law, no need to chase. Those two ordinary folks, my sister will catch them in a few steps. Hurry and carry Auntie inside, and clear some space for my sister to work.”
Gu Liansheng looked confused. “Work on what?”
Lin Huinan said, as if it were obvious, “Negotiating, of course. You didn’t think of that? Once Auntie’s arms and legs heal, whose house is she going to stay at, shouldn’t that be discussed properly?”
The compound neighbors and Gu Liansheng’s coworkers all looked at the bride’s brother, asking, “How do you know your sister is willing to take care of a sick mother-in-law?”
Lin Huinan looked confused. “Isn’t Auntie only in her fifties? She can walk and move around, who needs to support her? Taking care of her for a month or two is nothing much, and my sister never quibbles over small things. Of course she’s willing to handle something this minor.”
…
Lin Wanying dragged Gu Liansheng’s elder brother and sister-in-law back, one in each hand. In that short amount of time, all the wedding guests and Gu Liansheng’s coworkers were already watching her with complicated expressions.
Must be something Lin Huinan just said about her, that idiot brother, only knew how to badmouth his own sister outside. What a fool.
Lin Wanying glared at her brother, Lin Huinan hid behind his brother-in-law, but Gu Shuisheng shoved him back out, refusing to let him hide.
Lin Huinan mouthed silently, full of hatred: You just wait.
Gu Shuisheng wasn’t intimidated either, glaring back provocatively, until Gu Liansheng, his head aching, gave him a slap. Lin Huinan laughed silently, gloating.
Lin Wanying saw these little antics and decided she’d deal with the two troublemaking brothers later.
…
She asked Gu Liansheng’s elder brother: “Brother, sister-in-law, since we’ve got so many witnesses today about Mom’s elder care, let’s just settle it once and for all.”
Gu Yaoqiang rubbed his arm, how improper, a bride running off that fast to chase her brother-in-law, her grip had really hurt his arm.
He said righteously, “We’re both sons. Mom’s lived at my place for five years, can’t the two of you newlyweds support her for five years too?”
Of course, said Lin Wanying: “Mom lived at your place for five years, and Gu Liansheng gave you five yuan a month in support. If Mom lives at our place for five years, you and your wife should give five yuan a month too, that’s only fair, right?”
“How much does Liansheng earn? How much do I earn? We don’t have money to give, and besides, we have kids, you two don’t. Your expenses are small. How can you have the nerve to ask us for money?”
The elder brother and sister-in-law had a whole pile of excuses for not paying.
Lin Wanying nodded, dragged Gu Shuisheng out, and pushed him in front of them: “Then, brother, sister-in-law, take Shuisheng with you. When he grows up and gets married, that’ll be your responsibility, that’s only fair.”
That was even worse. Shuisheng ate so much, already sixteen, and in three or four years they’d have to start arranging a marriage for him, the thought alone was exhausting.
Gu Shuisheng, believing this was really happening, looked furiously at his new sister-in-law and protested: “I knew you’d think of me as a burden. I’ll go find my own food, I don’t need you.”
Lin Huinan felt a headache coming on, not a single smart person in this family. He couldn’t help but step forward and say:
“All right, enough testing each other. Right now, the elder brother and sister-in-law don’t want to support either the old or the young. So my sister and brother-in-law will take care of them without asking for money, but once Auntie recovers, she can’t be taken back, and once Shuisheng is old enough to be matched for marriage, they can’t interfere with that either. Right, sis? These people are too simple-minded to understand your deeper meaning, you have to spell it out for them.”
…
So that was it, Gu Shuisheng stopped being angry, only retorting to Lin Huinan: “You’re the little brother here.”
Gu Yaoqiang and his wife discussed it, the kids no longer needed looking after at school, and while Mom wasn’t yet sixty, she couldn’t work for many more years anyway. What a great opportunity to dump it all on the second son’s family.
As for Shuisheng’s marriage, who cared to manage that, settled, then.
The whole process was quick, settled in a few minutes, with a draft written up and thumbprints signed.
Once it was signed, Lin Wanying chased the elder brother and sister-in-law away, then came back and told the guests: “Sorry, family business made a mess of things. Everyone, please, keep eating.”
Gu Liansheng sat dazed at his coworkers’ table, feeling like he was dreaming, no earth-shattering scene like he’d imagined, just calmly clearing his head.
Who wasn’t stunned? Whichever family’s wedding had this kind of scene erupt, the bride would have long since stormed off in anger, except Gu Liansheng’s second wife’s family was from out of town, with no one back home to run to, so she had nowhere to go, which was probably why she didn’t leave.
Coworkers offered comforting words to Gu Liansheng: “The bride had no choice but to compromise. Once the banquet’s over, if she loses her temper, just bear with it, she really was wronged today.”
His godmother came over and said, “I just watched, your wife brought your mother a bowl of food and fed her by hand. Going that far to keep up appearances, not bad at all. Whatever temper she throws later, you just take it, don’t talk back.”
Gu Liansheng understood all this, he just thought, what kind of thing was this even.
…
Gu Liansheng went back to work the day after the wedding. By rights, with all this mess at home, anyone would look haggard, but Gu Liansheng didn’t, in fact, he looked even better spirited than before his remarriage.
Curious coworkers asked him: “Your mother, your wife, two brothers, that’s a lot of conflict all piled together. How do you manage to look this cheerful every day?”
Because there was no conflict! Gu Liansheng felt like he hadn’t woken up since his wedding day, or maybe he’d never actually made it back from that ambush with the bandits on his way home, like he wasn’t really there at all.
He told his coworker: “It feels so unreal, pinch me, let me check if I’m dreaming.”
Yan Qizong didn’t hold back, slapping him hard. Gu Liansheng got angry and slapped him back: “I told you to pinch me, not hit me.”
His master, passing by, gave him a chestnut knock on the head: “If you’ve got time for this, go sort out those unsolved cases instead of horsing around here!”
…
Gu Liansheng ran outside with Yan Qizong to talk. Taking a breath of fresh air, Gu Liansheng finally sighed and said, “I thought my house would be in total chaos, and it really has been, but not the way you’re imagining.”
“What way then? Stop being coy, spit it out.”
Their conversation drew over another young officer, whose family was in the middle of matchmaking talks that had turned into a fight between the two families. He wanted to learn from his seniors’ experience.
Gu Liansheng said, “My wife and my mother clash, but not the kind of clash you’re thinking of. My mom fell and can’t move well, so she’s been eating and drinking less. My wife scolded her for it, saying it’s easier to carry her to the toilet than to have her get sick from starving herself and go to the hospital, told my mom not to be so shortsighted, forced her to drink and eat properly.”
“And my mom wanted to raise her granddaughter herself, so my wife scolded her again, saying if she can’t bear to let go and wants to go back, the elder son won’t appreciate it and the second son won’t feel for her either, she’ll be the one who suffers, told my mom to wake up and stop thinking about it. Anyway, the house is just noisy with this kind of arguing every day.”
“And then there’s my brother, rebellious, can’t stand anything, got into a fight with her brother, and my wife tied both of them up and hung them upside down from the jujube tree in the courtyard. By the time I got home and cut them down, those two kids had actually made dinner without a word of complaint. The moment my mom said one word about it, my wife told her that overindulgent mothers ruin their sons, that she shouldn’t be interfering if she can’t manage them herself, scared my mom into silence. Of course, I don’t dare say anything to her either.”
Well then, what was there to even say, if she could manage them, let her manage them, wasn’t that a good thing?
Yan Qizong didn’t believe it: “You must be mistaking a dream for reality, having hallucinations.”
Another coworker nodded repeatedly: “If I hadn’t seen it myself, I wouldn’t believe it either.”
…
At noon, Gu Liansheng brought the two disbelieving coworkers home. The two brothers were staring each other down at the compound gate.
Yan Qizong teased: “What are you two doing? Go home, or go play, why are you squatting at the gate?”
What else could they be doing, waiting for orders. Lin Huinan was used to it, once his sister gave a serious order, it had to be obeyed.
Gu Shuisheng still wasn’t quite used to it, saying with some irritation: “Sister-in-law told us to stand by.”
“Where is she?”
“Boiled a big bucket of hot water, said she’s going to wash Mom’s hair and give her a bath, and let her sit in the sun afterward, it’ll feel great.”
Yan Qizong and the other coworker felt like they were dreaming, looking at Gu Liansheng with expressions mixed with envy and jealousy, not quite able to believe it was real.
…
Just then, Lin Wanying had finished bathing her mother-in-law and dried her hair, opening the door and coming out.
Lin Huinan sprang up like a rabbit, carefully laying the sun-warmed quilt on the recliner.
Lin Wanying carried her mother-in-law out, and seeing her husband home with coworkers, hurried to set her mother-in-law down, saying: “Why are you home at noon? Perfect timing, help me carry the bucket, those two don’t have enough strength, it’s a struggle.”
Gu Liansheng, like he had no mind of his own, obediently went inside to help. Several retired elders in the compound gathered around, praising Gu Liansheng’s mother, full of envy, the two coworkers looked on, dumbfounded.
Lin Wanying quietly pinched her husband, quite annoyed: “You brought coworkers home to eat and didn’t say anything ahead of time? Where am I supposed to conjure up food from right now? Take them out to eat instead.”
Gu Liansheng quickly said, “We were doing official business, just passed by the house and came in to take a look, we’re not eating here.”
That was better. Lin Wanying then said, “The bunk beds I ordered, the carpenter your godmother introduced has finished them. Since your coworkers are here, take a moment to help carry the bed back, we can sleep on it tonight. Your mom doesn’t like sleeping with me, and I don’t want to sleep with her either. Let’s each sleep in our own bed as soon as possible.”
These past few days, Gu Liansheng had been squeezed in with his two brothers, and Lin Wanying slept with her mother-in-law, so they needed the new beds, bunk beds for the two brothers, and the old bed for his mother. That way, everyone would sleep in their own bed, which also meant, tonight, he’d get to sleep with his wife again.
He touched his flushed cheeks: “I happen to have time at noon, I’ll treat these two to lunch, then go get the bunk bed. You can sort out the arrangement, see how you want to set it up.”
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