This time, the matchmaker had found a rare, excellent match.
Li Maihong proudly told her daughter, “Their family conditions are better than the Chen family’s, and the young man is handsome and talented—no worse than Chen Xiangjun. Xiaotong, just wait patiently. Once the man’s side arranges a time to visit, we’ll dazzle those gossipy old women around here.”
By the end, Li Maihong was practically gritting her teeth.
Over the past six months or so, her daughter had done several foolish things for Chen Xiangjun, becoming the laughingstock of the neighborhood.
Now that her daughter had moved on, it was time to shut those nosy busybodies up.
“Mom, whose family is it exactly?”
She had talked for so long without getting to the point.
Li Maihong chuckled, “They’re not from our factory. You wouldn’t know them even if I told you. Wait until they come over and introduce themselves properly. Who knows, there might be a pleasant surprise.”
A pleasant surprise?
More like a shock!
Bai Xiaotong frowned. “Mom, let’s just turn this down.”
No matter who it was, she couldn’t possibly marry them.
“Turn it down?”
Li Maihong looked at her daughter with suspicion and concern. “Xiaotong, you… you haven’t really let go of that Chen Xiangjun, have you? Were all those things you said earlier just to placate me?”
If she had truly moved on, there would be no reason to refuse a meeting!
Bai Xiaotong quickly denied it. “Mom, no. I’ve already lost interest in Chen Xiangjun. That’s as true as pearls are real. Don’t overthink it.”
Li Maihong: “If you’ve let go, why not start a new life?”
Bai Xiaotong didn’t dare say she had shared a bed with Lu Ling and was now pregnant. She was afraid Li Maihong would beat her to death.
“Mom, I’ve only just started to move on, and you’re already rushing to find me the next one. To outsiders, it would look like you’re feeling insecure and trying to tie me down this way. That doesn’t seem right.
Besides, I don’t want to start looking for a partner so soon.
Mom, I’m only nineteen, still young. I’ve only been working for a little over half a year. I want to take things slow and spend more time with you.”
If possible, Bai Xiaotong really didn’t want to marry so soon.
It was just her and Li Maihong, mother and daughter, at home. If she got married, her mother would be living alone, which would be so lonely.
Unfortunately, her filial intentions couldn’t be realized.
Seeing her daughter’s concerns, Li Maihong chuckled. “Nineteen isn’t young anymore. Which girl doesn’t start looking for a partner at eighteen or nineteen? In the countryside, some start even earlier.
I’m not asking you to get married right away. First, we’ll pick someone, then you can date for a couple of years to make sure you’re compatible before marrying. As for what outsiders think, don’t worry about it. As long as the two of you get along well, the rumors will die down on their own.”
Bai Xiaotong wanted to say more, but Li Maihong didn’t give her the chance.
“Alright, don’t overthink it for now. Wait until they come. If you don’t like him after meeting him, we can talk about it then.”
Li Maihong was very confident about this blind date. Her daughter was just feeling uncertain now, but once she met the young man, she wouldn’t be so hesitant.
Li Maihong still had to go out to buy groceries, so after comforting her daughter a little, she hurried off.
Bai Xiaotong sat on a small stool in the living room, feeling anxious and helpless.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
In the old, crowded courtyard behind the factory district, Lu Ling had just dropped Bai Xiaotong off and returned home. Before even entering the courtyard, he heard his grandmother, Wen Hanyin, standing in the yard arguing with someone.
The large tenement courtyard in the back alley consisted of old, dilapidated single-story houses from decades past. Living conditions here were particularly cramped, with four or five households packed into one large courtyard. Daily activities all revolved around the central yard, making friction inevitable. Lu Ling’s childhood was spent amidst the sounds of constant quarrels.
Lu Ling entered the gate and called out to the white-haired old woman a few steps away, “Grandma.”
Wen Hanyin was sixty-nine years old, dressed in a thick dark blue jacket, hands on her hips, full of energy. She had been glaring and arguing fiercely with someone, but upon seeing her grandson return, she immediately switched to a smiling face and waved at Lu Ling. “Little Ling’er is back from school! Come over here to Grandma. How was your morning study? Were you tired? Did you listen attentively in class? Did the teacher praise you?”
Wen Hanyin looked at Lu Ling with deep affection, but the words she spoke were utterly bewildering.
Back when Old Master Lu passed away, Wen Hanyin had carried her husband’s body back to their hometown for burial. She stayed by the graveside for three days and two nights, and ever since returning, those around her had sensed that she had gone somewhat mad.
When Wen Hanyin was lucid, she was gentle, reasonable, and smiled at everyone, with a faint trace of the dignified bearing from her earlier years.
But when her madness took over, it was like now—because the old woman across the way had squinted at her and asked if she had taken the dried pickled vegetables she had sun-dried on the roof, Wen Hanyin was now spraying saliva, hands on hips, arguing with her.
One moment she acted like a shrew from the streets, the next she believed herself to still be the wealthy lady from a prominent family of the past. Her behavior was bizarre, her words erratic and nonsensical.
Lu Ling stepped forward and took Wen Hanyin’s hand. “Grandma, let’s go back inside. I’ll tell you slowly.”
Wen Hanyin smiled and nodded, then seemed to remember something and pointed at the old woman under the opposite eaves. “Ling’er, that old hag looks down on me! She says I took her dried vegetables! What an ignorant creature! A bit of dried vegetables—even if they were made of gold, so what? Our Lu family has been wealthy for nearly a thousand years! What treasures haven’t we seen? Who would covet such a thing? Pah!”
As she spoke, Wen Hanyin spat on the ground.
The woman called an old hag was also furious and pointed at Wen Hanyin, wanting to curse back. But a cold glance from Lu Ling made her swallow her words before they could leave her mouth.
Lu Ling’s reputation as a troublemaker wasn’t given lightly. Over the more than ten years he had lived in the back alley tenement, he had done plenty of outrageous things.
The old woman still remembered clearly: ten years ago, when her son got married, they had expanded their house and encroached half onto the Lu family’s eaves. Lu Ling had raised a torch, threatening to burn their house down.
He was only ten years old at the time.
As the saying goes, the fierce fear the ruthless, and the ruthless fear those who care not for their lives. Such a person was not to be trifled with.
Lu Ling helped Wen Hanyin back into their room.
The Lu family’s house was the oldest and most dilapidated in the entire courtyard—two small side rooms and a main hall, housing five members of the Lu family.
At first glance, it might not seem like many, but everyone living in this home were adults who needed their own space.
Currently, the two small side rooms were occupied by the eldest branch of the Lu family. The left one housed Lu Ling’s uncle and his wife, while the right one was shared by Lu Zhi, Lu Ling’s cousin a few months younger than him, and Wen Hanyin.
After starting work, Lu Ling often stayed on night shifts at the factory due to his job, spending most of his time in the temporary dormitory of the security department. When he did come home, he stayed in the small loft built in the living room.
Because of this loft, the Lu family’s main hall was dark, cramped, and oppressive at first glance.
Wen Hanyin sat on the old chair in the main hall, asking Lu Ling why he had returned so early today. Usually, aside from coming back to sleep, he hardly ever stayed at home.
At this moment, Wen Hanyin seemed to be in a normal state of mind again.
Lu Ling thought for a moment and was about to speak when Jiang Juhua, the eldest aunt of the Lu family, emerged from the small side room on the left. Holding a pickled vegetable stalk in her hand, she grinned foolishly at Lu Ling.