Gu Liancheng first went to his elder sister’s home and reported the blind date to his sister and brother-in-law.
Gu Jiaoxia was pleasantly surprised. At last they could settle her younger brother’s marriage before her husband was transferred.
She pushed her husband.
“Tell Lao Li to approve Liancheng’s marriage application tomorrow.”
When Gu Liancheng had just been there, Xiao Jianzhou couldn’t say it directly.
“The conditions Liancheng proposed to those young girls during blind dates clearly show he only wants to find a paid nanny. For the sake of fairness he even insisted that the woman also bring two children. My opinion is that Gu Pan and Gu Hui should come with us. Liancheng should seriously look for a like-minded female comrade. Marriage is a major life matter—it can’t be treated as a joke.”
Gu Jiaoxia didn’t think that way.
“When the two of us first got together, we couldn’t stand each other. I still remember you saying you’d never touch me. Later, who was it that climbed into my bed in less than three months?”
Xiao Jianzhou’s old face turned red. He hurriedly covered his wife’s mouth.
“I was wrong. I’ll go find Lao Li right now.”
“I’ll go with you. The sooner it’s settled, the sooner we can relax. By the way, I have something to tell you.”
“You rarely take pleasure in other families’ misfortunes. What happened?”
Gu Jiaoxia couldn’t suppress the smile at the corner of her mouth.
“I was originally worried that when Liancheng went on blind dates, the An family would say outside that our family was impatient. But An Xiuqing has quite the nerve—she settled her own marriage.”
“Which family?” Xiao Jianzhou was astonished.
Gu Jiaoxia gave a disdainful laugh.
“Ji Fengmei’s youngest son—Doctor Qi.”
“How is that possible?” Xiao Jianzhou didn’t believe it. “You and Ji Fengmei have been mortal enemies for more than ten years. How could she let the youngest son she dotes on most marry the girl your brother’s engagement was broken with?”
Gu Jiaoxia didn’t believe it either. She understood Ji Fengmei too well. That woman was capable of anything.
“Do you think Ji Fengmei is marrying a wife for her youngest son? No. She’s using her youngest son to marry a wife for her one-eyed eldest son.”
Xiao Jianzhou felt as if struck by lightning.
“That won’t do. We should hurry and tell them.”
Gu Jiaoxia suddenly grabbed her husband and flared up.
“What business is it of yours? Besides, I’m only guessing. If the An family could break the engagement with my brother on the wedding day, they can break it a second time. If the one coming to fetch the bride isn’t Doctor Qi, they can break the engagement again. But if I’m wrong, and we go over there saying this, who would believe us?”
…
After Doctor Qi returned home from the blind date, Ji Fengmei learned that it hadn’t worked out and comforted her son.
“What a coincidence. An Qihui’s younger sister who broke off the engagement came and said she has liked you for a long time. She wanted to ask my opinion before confessing to you. Your elder brother and I don’t mind that she was previously engaged. We’ve already agreed to your marriage. If you had matched with Jiang Zhen, that would have been troublesome.”
Qi Junhai was extremely shocked.
“Mom, you didn’t even ask me before deciding?”
Ji Fengmei laughed.
“Mom knows you like Nurse An, that’s why I agreed. She broke off her engagement just to marry you. We can’t disappoint her sincerity.”
Qi Junhai did quite like An Xiuqing, but because she had been Gu Liancheng’s fiancée, he buried that feeling deep in his heart.
He never expected things would take such a turn for the better, and he was very happy.
Ji Fengmei’s lips curled up. That cheap woman who broke off her engagement and tried to hook her son thought she would get what she wanted? Either she would come be a daughter-in-law for her eldest son, and Ji Fengmei wouldn’t lose anything, or she would never have the face to see her youngest son again.
…
“What? You’ve already arranged with the Qi family to marry Qi Junhai? His mother agreed?”
An Qihui didn’t believe it either. Even if it was true, Ji Fengmei was difficult to get along with. With such a formidable mother-in-law, life would not be easy.
An Qihui earnestly tried to persuade her.
“Gu Liancheng has no parents above him. After marriage, there won’t be the trouble of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relations. His allowance is twice Doctor Qi’s salary. Once you run your own household, you’ll know how important money is!”
“Elder Sister, what use is money in a marriage without love?”
Besides, the Qi family had plenty of money. Qi Junhai’s elder brother was involved in some kind of business that probably couldn’t be spoken of openly. The family had quite a lot of money hidden away.
An Xiuqing still remembered that before her rebirth, Gu Liancheng had died in sacrifice. Doctor Qi had seen her, a woman raising Gu Pan and Gu Hui alone, and had taken care of her in many ways. But later Doctor Qi still married his widowed sister-in-law. He valued loyalty and righteousness, and she and Doctor Qi simply missed each other.
This time, after being reborn and breaking off the engagement with Gu Liancheng, she had become single again. With a try-it attitude, she boldly went to Doctor Qi’s home and confessed her feelings to his mother. She moved her future mother-in-law and was accepted.
An Xiuqing was full of expectations for the future and couldn’t hear anything else.
“Elder Sister, I already have a good destination. I also hope Gu Liancheng does well. If he does well, he won’t come bother me. Let him be with Jiang Zhen. As soon as they marry, they’ll have four children to raise. How could her life possibly compare with mine? In the future, she’ll be the one envying me.”
Since things had come to this, what more was there to say?
An Qihui said resentfully,
“You just won’t listen. Originally I intended for Gu Liancheng to repay our family’s debt for a lifetime.”
An Xiuqing was annoyed by her elder sister’s nagging. There were many things her elder sister didn’t know—for example, in her previous life their aunt had hired killers, and bandits had ambushed and killed Jiang Zhen. Only then could her elder sister and brother-in-law live happily.
These things her elder sister would never know.
This time Jiang Zhen hadn’t died and had even gone on a blind date with Gu Liancheng. The two of them forming a blended family without emotional foundation and with four children—it was easy to imagine what a chaotic and noisy life it would be.
She even lamented it.
“Gu Liancheng’s elder sister plans to give the old house in Fan City to him for marriage. That old house is right next door to Doctor Qi’s family. After marriage, I really don’t want to be neighbors with them. What if Jiang Zhen sees how affectionate Doctor Qi and I are and regrets it, and then takes a liking to Doctor Qi?”
“Then let her envy you!”
An Qihui began planning for her younger sister.
“Your wedding with Doctor Qi must be more lively and respectable than Jiang Zhen and Gu Liancheng’s.”
Thinking of the Qi family’s eldest son’s secret business and the family’s financial ability to host a grand wedding, An Xiuqing blushed shyly.
“Then Elder Sister can negotiate it for me. I’d feel embarrassed to appear myself.”
…
“Jiang Zhen, are you home? I want to discuss something with you.”
Jiang Zhen had taken marriage leave and was preparing for the wedding at home. Gu Liancheng’s elder sister had invited friends and neighbors and took care of everything. Jiang Zhen didn’t have much to do, so she stayed home packing her things, waiting to move them over on the wedding day.
Yesterday she had gone to see the new house where she would live after marriage. It was the Gu family’s old house. Previously Gu Liancheng’s elder brother had married there, and his elder sister had left the old house when she married. Now Gu Liancheng would also marry there.
The Gu family’s homestead was next door to Doctor Qi’s house. Jiang Zhen had lingered there for more than an hour but didn’t see Qi Junhai’s one-eyed elder brother.
Gu Jiaoxia had said this:
“We work together in the hospital and know each other well. Qi Junhai’s character is not bad, but that elder brother of his ran away when he was in his teens. Later I only saw him a few times. I think he’s very gloomy. Now that the country is liberated, you can’t do whatever business you like like before. If he stays at home and you run into him, don’t say much.”
Jiang Zhen wanted to see him and confirm whether he was the bandit who had escaped.
Interestingly enough, as soon as she and Gu Liancheng set their wedding date, the Qi family arranged the marriage with the An family the very next day, on the same date.
Jiang Zhen would leave from the dormitory to marry, while An Xiuqing would leave from her elder sister’s home. That meant they would walk out of the same building.
Gu Liancheng asked Jiang Zhen whether she wanted to change the wedding date.
Jiang Zhen refused.
“I set the date first. If anyone changes it, it should be their family.”
…
She didn’t care, but An Qihui did. After all, her younger sister had just broken off the engagement with Gu Liancheng. Now Gu Liancheng was coming to marry Jiang Zhen, and Gu Jiaoxia was making the wedding as grand as possible. It angered her greatly.
Seeing Jiang Zhen alone at home, she came over to discuss it.
“Jiang Zhen, it’s like this. Everyone outside is waiting to watch our two families make fools of ourselves. I suggest you and my sister stagger your wedding dates.”
Jiang Zhen had no objection.
“If your family wants to change it, discuss it with the Qi family. Why talk to me? I understand—you want me to change it? That’s hilarious. You stole my former husband and still want to negotiate with me? Sister An, where did you get the confidence?”
“My father gave me that confidence!”
An Qihui said angrily,
“Who told you to marry Gu Liancheng? Do you know that my father sacrificed his life to save Gu Liancheng’s parents? If my father were still alive, I wouldn’t have had to act as a mother to my younger sister and exhaust myself like this. The Gu family owes us sisters a debt that can never be repaid!”
Jiang Zhen crossed her arms and began to feel disgusted.
“An Qihui, Gu Liancheng said he has been investigating for years without stopping. Your father may not actually be dead. Whether this favor even exists still needs a question mark.”
An Qihui trembled with anger.
“I didn’t expect Gu Liancheng would use this method to deny the favor of saving his parents’ lives.”
Jiang Zhen said,
“If your father really isn’t dead, then how should the way you’ve been exploiting that favor against the Gu family all these years be calculated?”
“Well…”
An Qihui was speechless for a moment.
“That… probably wouldn’t be the case.”
…
When the wind blew on her, An Qihui sobered up. Jiang Zhen must have been lying to her. If her father weren’t dead, how could he not have returned all these years?
After returning home, her younger sister seemed troubled. An Qihui hurriedly asked,
“What’s wrong? Did your mother-in-law make some new demand again?”
An Xiuqing quickly covered it up.
“No. It’s just that when I think about getting married and leaving Elder Sister, I feel uneasy and reluctant.”
An Qihui laughed.
“If living with your mother-in-law becomes unpleasant, don’t worry. With Doctor Qi’s qualifications, he’ll soon be allocated housing.”
But that wasn’t what An Xiuqing was worried about. Today she had gone with Doctor Qi to the department store to buy things for the wedding. When she came home, there was an extra letter in her shoulder bag. After reading it, she burned it. She simply didn’t believe what the letter said.
At the end of the letter was the mark of a green sprout. That was the code she and her father used when passing notes as children. Who was that person—one of her father’s former friends?
The letter said she must not marry into the Qi family. What exactly did that mean?
An Qihui treated Jiang Zhen’s denial as a joke and told it to her sister.
“I’m glad now that you didn’t marry Gu Liancheng. To deny the favor our family did for him, he actually said our father isn’t dead. Isn’t that ridiculous?”
An Xiuqing frowned. Could the letter she had just read have been written by Gu Liancheng?
Could it be that after his rebirth he still had lingering feelings for her and didn’t want her to marry Doctor Qi?
An Xiuqing suddenly blushed. No matter what, she was determined to marry Doctor Qi. If it really was Gu Liancheng, then he was just being self-sentimental.
…
“You told An Qihui?”
The wedding was the day after tomorrow. Yesterday Gu Liancheng had been driven out by his elder sister to accompany Jiang Zhen to the department store to buy things. Jiang Zhen had sharp eyes and saw An Xiuqing and Doctor Qi, along with an ordinary woman who would disappear into a crowd without notice, following them.
Jiang Zhen was curious and insisted on following them to take a look. She saw that woman take advantage of a moment when no one was paying attention to slip a letter into An Xiuqing’s shoulder bag. Jiang Zhen pretended to run into them by chance, secretly took the letter out to read its contents, and then put it back.
Gu Liancheng followed that woman out of the department store. She removed the disguised wig and wiped off the fake mud on her face, then put on a hat and mask and left.
He and Jiang Zhen compared their information and felt that the man disguised as a woman was very likely the father of the An sisters.
“Since the conversation led there, it was a good opportunity to say it,” Jiang Zhen said. “You only spent one day and already tracked him to his hiding place. He has a wife and children and a whole family there—he can’t run away.”
Gu Liancheng originally didn’t want to bring it up, but when he thought about it again—if Uncle An wasn’t dead and An Qihui was still exploiting the favor to demand repayment, it was truly detestable.
“The Qi family set the time to come fetch the bride at eight-oh-eight in the morning. Do you want me to go earlier?”
“Let’s delay a little—nine-oh-eight,” Jiang Zhen said. “Otherwise everyone will be squeezed into the stairwell. If a fight breaks out, it won’t look good.”
…
Jiang Zhen actually wanted an extra hour to watch the excitement between the An and Qi families. She always felt that Doctor Qi’s mother and elder brother were brewing something.
And that warning letter—yet An Xiuqing had completely ignored it. Her heart was truly big.
Jiang Zhen had calculated it well, but Gu Liancheng’s elder sister insisted on competing with the An and Qi families. Just after seven, both bridal escort teams had already arrived. If both brides were supposed to leave at eight-oh-eight, wouldn’t they end up fighting on the staircase?
Jiang Zhen thought to herself that she was upstairs. Gu Liancheng would have to carry her down two extra flights of stairs—how could he possibly outrun the others? So competing for the same time was meaningless.
But something strange was happening outside. People were murmuring:
“Why didn’t Doctor Qi come to fetch the bride? That one-eyed man is his elder brother, right? Why is his elder brother here instead?”
Jiang Zhen grew anxious and was about to get out of bed and put on her shoes to go take a look.
Was Qi Junhai’s one-eyed elder brother really the murderer who had killed Jiang Tang and Jiang Zhao’s mother?