Chapter 104 Which respectable girl got pregnant out of wedlock?

Qiao Xingyue suddenly realized that her initial complaints about Xie Zhongming not returning to Chadian Village for five years were somewhat selfish.

This man had indeed never returned to Chadian Village.

But if you put yourself in his shoes, with such a good family background, and being tall and handsome, how many female comrades in the compound liked him, but he didn't even give them a second glance, focusing all his energy on his work in the army.

Suddenly, she, who used to weigh over 200 pounds, slept with him.

How wronged!

It wasn't like Xie Zhongming wanted to sleep with her, who weighed over 200 pounds; he was also tricked by Zeng Xiuzhu.

But Xie Zhongming, who had such a good family background, status, talent, job... in everything, still married her, which can be considered as taking responsibility.

If it were any other man, would he ever marry her and send her money back home?

Forget about the past. She wanted to live a good life with Xie Zhongming from now on. Living peacefully in such a prestigious family meant she would definitely have a good life when she grew up.

However, she still plans to wait until the national policy is relaxed in a few years and individual businesses are allowed to operate before she starts trading.

No matter how illustrious the Xie family's background is, it belongs to others and can only add to their glory. What she wants is to firmly establish herself in this era.

After introducing Huang's relatives, Huang Guilan then introduced Xie Jiang's relatives to Qiao Xingyue.

Previously, Xie Jiang's father was the richest man in Jincheng, a match tycoon, and also ran businesses in cement, textiles, and coal mining. His matches were even exported overseas.

The Xie family is a well-known wealthy family in southern Sichuan.

However, given the historical context, all of Xie's private enterprises underwent a transformation into public ownership, becoming state-owned enterprises and fully integrated into the national planned economy system.

Therefore, Xie Zhongming's uncles, aunts, and other relatives all became factory directors, workshop directors, or section chiefs in the transformed state-owned enterprises.

Xie Zhongming's uncle looks very much like Xie Jiang; they are clearly family.

“Xingyue, this is my uncle, my father’s older brother. He is the factory manager of Jincheng Match Factory.”

When Xie Zhongming led Qiao Xingyue to Xie's eldest uncle, he immediately felt a sense of kinship. Not only did the uncle resemble Xie Jiang in appearance, but he also shared the same unwavering determination and kindness in his eyes. However, the uncle had more age spots on his face than Xie Jiang, making him look older.

"Uncle, hello."

Xie Jiang's older brother is named Xie Jun.

He looked at Qiao Xingyue with the air of an elder, nodding and praising her repeatedly, "Zhongming, your wife is clearly a kind-hearted girl. You and Xingyue must live a good life together and treat Xingyue well."

After the introductions, it was time to give out red envelopes.

Qiao Xingyue was shocked. Was it because she was the Xie family's new daughter-in-law that every elder in both the Xie and Huang families had to give her a red envelope?

What kind of custom is this?

Why had she never witnessed this in her previous life?

Today, Qiao Xingyue has been receiving so many red envelopes that her hands are sore from receiving them.

The formal banquet will have to wait until tomorrow.

The Xie family home was already packed with guests today, and the whole day was lively and bustling.

In the evening, eight square tables were set up in the Xie family's courtyard and under the old locust tree outside the courtyard. The tables and chairs were all borrowed from the neighbors.

The Xie brothers, along with Xiao Songhua, Jiang Beisong, and Jiang Beiyang, took charge of the three makeshift honeycomb briquette stoves, constantly cooking dishes, one after another, authentic Jincheng delicacies, which were served one after another.

Before dinner, Qiao Xingyue was chatting with several elders.

The person Qiao Xingyue most wanted to chat with was Huang Guilan's third sister-in-law, Xie Zhongming's third aunt, Mao Xiangfeng, the vice president of Jincheng Military Region Hospital.

Because they were both doctors, they had common topics to discuss.

After their conversation, Mao Xiangfeng looked at Qiao Xingyue with newfound respect. "Xingyue, you're simply a medical genius. Have you ever considered working at our hospital?"

She wasn't a medical genius at all; it was just that she came from the future and had access to more cutting-edge medical technology, which was why she was able to answer Mao Xiangfeng's question.

Mao Xiangfeng held Qiao Xingyue's hand, her eyes full of admiration. "Xingyue, if you're thinking about this, your third aunt will help you find a job at our hospital."

Qiao Xingyue glanced at Xie Zhongming.

Xie Zhongming replied gently, "Xingyue, whatever decision you make, I will support you."

"Third Aunt, I'll think about this matter and then give you an answer. Thank you for your concern regarding my work."

At this moment, Shen Liping walked over, called out "Third Aunt," and then looked at Qiao Xingyue and Xie Zhongming, "Fourth brother, Xingyue, Mom wants you to go to her room."

"Third Aunt, have some tea and melon seeds. Dinner will be served soon. I'll take Xingyue to see what my mom wants to see us about." Xie Zhongming greeted his third aunt, Mao Xiangfeng, and then led Qiao Xingyue and Shen Liping through the square tables in the courtyard, into the main room, and pushed open the door to Huang Guilan's room.

Inside the room, Huang Guilan and Xie Jiang sat on the edge of the bed.

There was an iron box on the bed.

That box used to hold White Rabbit milk candies. After the candies were finished, Huang Guilan used it to store various tickets and money.

Upon seeing Shen Liping call Qiao Xingyue and Xie Zhongming in, Huang Guilan casually said, "Liping, close the door."

Shen Liping nodded and closed the door.

Xie Zhongming approached and asked, "Dad, Mom, what's wrong?"

Huang Guilan took out a stack of money from the box, including ten-yuan, five-yuan, two-yuan, and one-yuan bills. She then stood up and stuffed the money into Qiao Xingyue's hand. "Xingyue, this is the money you received as wedding gifts for your and Lao Si's wedding banquet. It's a total of two hundred and seventy-six yuan. You can keep this money yourselves."

"Mom, no, you have to keep this money. The wedding banquet at home and the banquet booked at the state-run restaurant have already cost you and Dad a lot of money these past two days."

Just as Qiao Xingyue was about to decline, Huang Guilan stuffed the thick wad of money into her hand again.

Huang Guilan held Qiao Xingyue's hand, preventing her from refusing any further. "As parents, we should spend money to help our son get married. You must accept this gift money; there will be many other expenses in the future. Besides, when your eldest brother and sister-in-law and second brother and sister-in-law got married, the gift money was given to them. This is a rule of the Xie family, and you must accept it here as well."

Shen Liping, standing beside her, smiled and chimed in, "Xingyue, just take it. Your parents aren't short of money. If you don't take it, it'll seem like your second sister-in-law and I are getting a free ride."

“Yes, Xingyue, you keep this gift money. From now on, you'll also be in charge of Zhongming's salary and allowances. Your little family will need money for many things, so you'll have to take care of them.” Xie Jiang chimed in.

Where can you find such wonderful in-laws as Xie Jiang and Huang Guilan?

Qiao Xingyue held the thick wad of money in her hand, and her nose suddenly stung with tears.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

Shen Liping opened the door, and standing there was Sun Xiuxiu, the second son's wife. "Sister-in-law, Dad, Mom, fourth son, Xingyue, dinner is ready. Hurry up and sit down to eat."

From the courtyard outside, the voices of the eldest brother, Xie Zhongyi, and the second brother, Xie Zhongjie, warmly greeting the guests could be heard.

"Dear elders and relatives, please eat and drink well, don't be shy."

Xie Jiang led the people in the house out to the only empty square table in the courtyard to have dinner.

After all the guests were seated, only one square table remained. The people who hadn't yet sat down included the five Xie brothers, Xie Jiang, Huang Guilan, Sun Xiuxiu, Shen Liping, Qiao Xingyue, and Jiang Beiyang, Jiang Beisong, Xiao Songhua, and Chen Jiahui, who came to help cook and serve the dishes, making a total of fourteen people.

However, only eight people could sit at the square table.

The remaining six people have to stand.

Xie Zhongyi, the eldest son of the Xie family, suggested that the women sit down to eat while the men stand.

The five Xie brothers took the lead and stood in front of the table, arranging seats for all the women. The last seat was offered to Jiang Beisong, Jiang Beiyang, and Xiao Songhua.

Xie Zhongming pressed Xiao Songhua down to sit next to Chen Jiahui, saying, "You sit down."

Xie Zhongming knew that Xiao Songhua had always secretly loved Chen Jiahui. But Chen Jiahui had been waiting for him all along, and he felt guilty towards Xiao Songhua.

Now that he and Qiao Xingyue have already held their wedding banquet, he is looking forward to attending Xiao Songhua and Chen Jiahui's wedding next time.

Xie Zhongming patted Xiao Songhua on the shoulder, "Songhua, Jia Hui has been helping out all day, she must be tired, so please give her some more food."

Just as everyone was enjoying their meal, a sour, sullen shout suddenly came from outside the Xie family's courtyard gate.

"Oh my, the fourth son of the Xie family is getting married, such a joyous occasion, but Huang Guilan and Xie Jiang didn't invite me to the wedding banquet. What's wrong? Are they afraid I can't afford a red envelope, or do they look down on me, Jiang Chunyan?"

As they were talking, Jiang Chunyan led Deng Yingying in from outside the Xie family's courtyard.

The housing for Jiang Chunyan and Deng Yingying's families was applied for with the help of Xie Zhongming.

After Jiang Chunyan remarried, she was no longer considered a martyr's widow.

However, recently, Jiang Chunyan and Deng Yingying stayed at the Xie family's house every day, eating and drinking for free and refusing to leave. Xie Zhongming had no choice but to apply for a single room for the mother and daughter because Deng Yingying was the daughter of a martyr.

The mother and daughter would come to the Xie family every few days to beg for money.

It wasn't until recently, when Jiang Chunyan and Deng Yingying reported Xie Zhongming and Qiao Xingyue for having an affair and even pretended to be good people in front of Huang Guilan, that Huang Guilan finally broke off all ties with the mother and daughter.

I have no intention of having any further contact with them.

Therefore, Huang Guilan did not send invitations to Jiang Chunyan and her daughter for Xie Zhongming and Qiao Xingyue's wedding banquet.

Jiang Chunyan stood in the courtyard, looking at the packed house of guests, and shouted, "My husband, Lao Deng, sacrificed himself to save Xie Jiang. When Lao Deng died, Xie Jiang promised to take good care of my daughter and me in his place. Now that they're having a wedding, they didn't even invite us to the feast. The Xie family is utterly ungrateful..."

As she spoke, Jiang Chunyan burst into tears.

She was crying and sitting on the ground, slapping her thigh and wiping away her tears.

“Old Deng, look at this! This is the person you risked your life to save. The whole family are ungrateful bastards.”

Deng Yingying also cried, wiping Jiang Chunyan's tears as she cried, "Mom, don't cry, it breaks my heart to see you crying. Uncle Xie and Aunt Lan don't want to see us, mother and daughter, so let's leave."

The lively atmosphere was instantly turned completely cold by the mother and daughter.

The guests of the Xie family all looked at Jiang Chunyan, who was crying and screaming on the ground, and they all discussed it among themselves.

Huang Guilan really wanted to grab a bucket of manure and throw it at Jiang Chunyan and Deng Yingying, but with so many guests at home today, and it being such a joyous occasion, she could only hold back.

Jiang Chunyan, lying on the ground, kept kicking and throwing a tantrum, pretending to cry and shout, "I even prepared a red envelope for Xie's fourth son when I heard he was getting married, but the Xie family didn't even plan to invite us to the wedding banquet. The whole Xie family is ungrateful! Did we, Old Deng, save such a heartless wretch?"

Jiang Chunyan screamed and pretended to cry, her fierce gaze falling on Huang Guilan.

I won't let her have an easy time.

Those people won't have an easy time.

Jiang Chunyan plans to cause trouble not only today, but also at the state-run restaurant tomorrow for the official wedding banquet.

She was determined to ruin the Xie family's happy occasion.

Xiang Chunhua felt a sense of schadenfreude when she saw people causing trouble.

In the morning, her sons Xiaojun and Xiaobing wanted to play with the picture books with "Journey to the West" printed on them that Xie's granddaughter An'an and Ningning owned. They couldn't win the game and even got scolded by Xiaojun and Xiaobing's grandfather. They were very angry.

Seeing Jiang Chunyan causing trouble, Xiang Chunhua only hoped things would escalate. She looked at Huang Guilan and loudly urged her to stop:

“Guilan, this is where your Xie family is wrong. Back then, Old Deng really did sacrifice himself to save your Xie Jiang. When you have a happy occasion, how could we not invite Sister Chunyan to the celebration? You can do such an ungrateful thing. You have really disgraced our Xie family.”

One sentence made Xie Jiang and Huang Guilan's faces burn.

Huang Guilan was seething with anger. What was this called again? Xingyue had taught her... moral blackmail.

Moral blackmail.

They were clearly the ones being morally blackmailed, but now that Jiang Chunyan has made a scene and Xiang Chunhua has stirred things up, they've become the ones in the wrong.

At this moment, Qiao Xingyue, who was next to Shen Liping, stood up.

She has plenty of ways to deal with this kind of scoundrel.

Over the years, the Xie family has been morally blackmailed by this scoundrel. This scoundrel takes advantage of their kindness and makes the Xie family suffer a lot. Today, she will teach this rogue a lesson in public.

Seeing her get up, Shen Liping, fearing she would suffer a loss, also got up, as did Sun Xiuxiu who was next to her.

The three sisters-in-law are of one mind.

Before Qiao Xingyue could speak, Zhang Hongmei, who was sitting at another table, strode up to Jiang Chunyan, looked down at her as she threw a tantrum on the floor, and said:

"Jiang Chunyan, have you no shame?"

Not to mention that her two sons, Jiang Beiyang and Jiang Beisong, are good brothers with Xie Zhongming, she also has to help the Xie family vent their anger today because of her revolutionary friendship with Huang Guilan.

“Jiang Chunyan, you knew that Xingyue was Xie’s fourth son’s long-lost wife, yet you still went to the black market to buy veterinary drugs for breeding, hoping that your daughter Deng Yingying would sleep with Xie’s fourth son and then marry him.”

“I saw you buy the veterinary medicine with my own eyes. I also heard clearly what you two, mother and daughter, were saying.”

"What's wrong? Your daughter didn't get to marry the fourth son of the Xie family, are you jealous and resentful?"

“Over the years, Guilan has been mindful of Old Deng’s life-saving grace to Commander Xie, and she has given all the family’s grain coupons, cloth coupons, and meat coupons to you two, mother and daughter. I can testify that the Xie family is not an ungrateful wretch.”

Zhang Hongmei has always had a loud voice.

With that shout, all the guests inside and outside could hear it clearly.

At this moment, Wang Shufen, who was sitting next to Chen Shenghua, also stood up to testify, "That's right, Jiang Chunyan, Guilan has been subsidizing you two mother and daughter a lot over the years. You can't just do this behind your back because your Deng Yingying didn't marry the fourth son of the Xie family."

Qiao Xingyue thought that this might be what is meant by "the righteous gain many supporters, while the unrighteous lose few."

Therefore, both Aunt Wang and Aunt Hongmei were able to stand up and speak for the Xie family.

Zhang Hongmei shouted again, "Jiang Chunyan, you not only let your daughter Deng Yingying seduce Xie's fourth son, but you also want to seduce my Beisong. You two are shameless!"

Jiang Chunyan, who was sitting on the ground, stopped kicking her legs and pretending to cry. She was choked at first, but then became even more self-righteous. "You're talking nonsense. My Yingying is a decent girl. How could she seduce a man?"

"A respectable girl? Jiang Chunyan, what respectable girl would get pregnant out of wedlock?"

The person who said this was Qiao Xingyue, who stepped forward.