Chapter 44
Miao Xiuxiu suddenly remembered the little brat. She looked into the room and asked in panic, "What happened to the little brat?"
Miao Xiuxiu suddenly remembered the little brat. She looked into the room and asked in panic, "Where's the little brat?"
Lin Bilan was startled and covered her chest and said, "The little brat went to the next door house to play with another little brat."
Miao Xiuxiu breathed a long sigh of relief. Lin Bilan said with a hint of jealousy, "I've never seen Mommy this worried about us daughters."
Miao Xiuxiu rolled her eyes and said casually, "How can this be the same? I used to be a widow with three children. How hard was life? Now I'm retired and have some free time, and you've all grown up."
Lin Bilan glanced at the inner room and asked unwillingly, "Mom, my little sister..."
Miao Xiuxiu looked into her eyes and said in a deep voice, "Give up. That's your little sister's dowry money."
Lin Bilan curled her lips and said, "I don't believe that Mommy won't add some makeup to her when the time comes."
Miao Xiuxiu ignored her little thoughts, turned away, picked up the pots and pans and walked towards the kitchen.
Lin Bilan glanced at the quiet inner room, then glanced at Miao Xiuxiu who lifted the curtain and left, stomped her feet, and followed Miao Xiuxiu out.
Lin Bilan stood behind Miao Xiuxiu in the hot and small kitchen, which was like a furnace.
Miao Xiuxiu stopped throwing away the kitchen garbage, looked back at Lin Bilan, and said unhappily, "You're not going to help me? What are you standing here for? It's so crowded!"
Lin Bilan didn't get angry. Instead, she touched Miao Xiuxiu's shoulder with her own, and with a smile on her face, she lowered her voice and asked, "Mom, have you mentioned He Dafei to my younger sister?"
Miao Xiuxiu turned back to her work and said calmly, "Why would I talk to her about a grown man I don't know?"
Lin Bilan stamped her feet anxiously. She said, "Oh, Mom, didn't I tell you that Chairman Feng is very pleased with me and is interested in marrying into our family? Why did you forget to give me some support?"
Miao Xiuxiu's expression remained indifferent, and her tone was the same. She asked, "Do you think Bitang would be interested in someone like He Dafei?"
Lin Bilan looked anxious, as if she were a female relative of He Dafei. She said dissatisfiedly, "What is there for her to dislike?! I'm worried that after a while, Chairman Feng will no longer have this idea!"
Miao Xiuxiu was silent for a moment before she said, "He Dafei is a bit old. He's not even on the same level as Bitang in looks. He's even a bit ugly compared to ordinary men."
Miao Xiuxiu spoke implicitly, as she didn't want to directly say that Lin Bilan was cheating on her.
Lin Bilan stretched out a hand, opened her palm, and counted He Dafei's advantages one by one. She said, "Looks and age can't make a living. My younger sister is young and beautiful, but she's still working hard as a low-level worker in a small vegetable market. Besides, an older man is more caring and looks honest, and he won't do anything unruly."
Listening to Lin Bilan's words, Miao Xiuxiu felt a headache. No matter how she tried to teach her eldest daughter, she couldn't learn anything. She had told her so many life experiences, but she forgot them as soon as she heard them, and never forgot them in her heart.
She is in her thirties and she doesn't even know how to judge people.
Do men become more caring when they get older? Look at the middle-aged couples around you. Which one isn't the man getting older? If he didn't care for his wife when he was young, he still won't do it now. When he's in his seventies or eighties, he probably won't be able to rely on his wife.
A man who looks honest wouldn't do anything shabby? Haha, she didn't believe that He Dafei hadn't gone to see Bitang. Given how much Feng Jiaqing doted on her son, she would definitely have consulted him before choosing a daughter-in-law, not just based on his opinion.
Look, He Dafei has taken a fancy to her young and beautiful daughter, so he is just trying to be naughty.
Miao Xiuxiu came back to her senses and continued to listen to what Lin Bilan had to say.
Lin Bilan said excitedly, "He Dafei not only works at the factory's radio station, and has a respectable job, but he also has his own separate house for marriage! Mom, guess where that house is?!"
Miao Xiuxiu didn't want to answer. Lin Bilan blushed with excitement. She asked herself, "Luwan! Mom, that's Luwan's house! The house in the upper corner! It's not even a pavilion!"
Miao Xiuxiu glanced outside the kitchen and poured cold water on Lin Bilan. She said, "They said it was a wedding room?"
Lin Bilan said nonchalantly, "Even if it's not the wedding house, He Dafei is an only son, an only child among only sons. Everything in the family will belong to him and his wife in the future. The house they live in now is already big. It has three proper rooms with solid walls and bricks, not partitions or curtains. Even if they don't give the Luwan house to the newlyweds, they won't lose out if they live together."
Miao Xiuxiu pushed Lin Bilan away a little, walked around her, picked up a rag, and said coldly: "What does this have to do with you?"
Lin Bilan looked embarrassed and said with a guilty conscience, "Mom, look at what you said. Bitang is my biological sister, how can I not hope for her well? If she delays any longer, she will be neither high nor low, and end up marrying into a Shikumen family with many brothers. It will be hard for her. When a couple does something, they have to greet each other and wait in line. It will be even worse after having a child. There is no end to this kind of life."
She changed the subject and returned to He Dafei. She said, "So, look at this, Mom. Isn't He Dafei a hot commodity? Not only can the house she lives in be used as a wedding house, but she also has another house in a prime location. It's only because Chairman Feng has high standards and is not afraid of worries. Otherwise, her grandchildren would all be just sitting there doing the cooking."
Miao Xiuxiu turned her head and stared into Lin Bilan's eyes, her face expressionless. She said, "Bitang is already quite old. As soon as you told me about the boy from the He family, I turned around and went to find my colleagues who live in the factory to ask about it."
As she spoke, Miao Xiuxiu's face darkened. "Bilan, what you said are all external conditions. It's not like I don't treat my daughter as a human being and buy her mother. He Dafei's family conditions are not as good as his. He climbed over the wall to enter the women's bathhouse and peeked at the women bathing. He was caught red-handed by the old lady who collected the bath tickets."
Lin Bilan suppressed her guilty conscience, looked at Miao Xiuxiu, and said calmly, "Mom, this might be a misunderstanding. With the He family's conditions, He Dafei can have any girl he wants! Besides, the bathhouse is mostly filled with old orange peels, what's the point? He Dafei must have gone to the wrong bathhouse."
In fact, He Dafei's story of peeping at women bathing was true. It initially caused quite a stir, but was later suppressed due to He Zhiguo's impending promotion to director. The He family's move wasn't, as they'd claimed, to make it easier for the elderly woman to get up and down the stairs. Rather, it was to avoid the rumors He Dafei had brought.
Miao Xiuxiu said: "He Dafei was caught at the door of the women's bathhouse locker room not once, but three times."
As she spoke, Miao Xiuxiu sighed deeply. Everything she had said before was empty talk. She knew that her youngest daughter and He Dafei were not a good match in terms of appearance, but she was also moved. Otherwise, she would have gone back to the factory to inquire about it.
This is fate, there is nothing we can do about it. It's Bei Bitang's fault for not being reborn into a good family and becoming her mother and daughter.
Lin Bilan was silent for a long time before she spoke: "Mom, I've worked in the spinning mill for so many years, and I'll continue to work until I retire. There's so much dust flying around, I can't even drink water, and the machines are rumbling, my ears are bleeding. How did my dear father die? Wasn't he suffering from lung disease? We hired a German surgeon, but he couldn't cure it, and we were planning to go abroad for surgery. Unfortunately, he died before he could get on the ship. I don't want to end up like him."
Miao Xiuxiu's face suddenly darkened, but she didn't say anything. She told Lin Bilan that her biological father didn't die of lung disease for no reason. That was just the explanation to the outside world.
Her first husband was good in every way except smoking, whether it was hookah, cigars or opium. He had been addicted since he was a few years old, and no matter how she tried to persuade him, he would not listen. So he fell ill at a young age, leaving her a widow.
Lin Bilan's voice was dull and obscure. She continued, "Mom, I've always said I wanted to change my job, but I haven't done anything. Do you think I didn't want to? I just don't want to get hit in the face. Everyone in the workshop with connections has left, leaving us without connections, working ourselves to death. Chairman Feng told me that if we became a family, she would transfer me to the union, under her leadership, to protect me."
After a pause, Lin Bilan looked at Miao Xiuxiu's face, which was still expressionless.
Lin Bilan swallowed her saliva and continued, "Mom, I'm not selfish and don't consider my younger sister at all. You've been married three times, so you should know that all that love, affection, and love are empty. Only good food, warm clothes, and shelter are real. My younger sister is young and inexperienced. She only cares about appearances and is attracted by a man's good looks. If you persuade her and show her the way forward, she will definitely agree."
Miao Xiuxiu turned around and washed two bowls before saying, "I'll talk to her. If she doesn't agree, forget it."
Lin Bilan was ecstatic, as if success was just around the corner. She said excitedly, "Mom, you'll definitely be fine. I've always listened to you the most."
Miao Xiuxiu snorted coldly and said, "But I don't like He Dafei either."
Lin Bilan said nonchalantly, "Mom, didn't you look down on Dashan in the beginning? Look at how nice you are to Dashan, your son-in-law, now."
Miao Xiuxiu couldn't help but look back at the door. She saw that the door was empty and Huang Dashan had not returned yet, so she breathed a sigh of relief.
Miao Xiuxiu glanced at Lin Bilan and said unhappily, "If it works out, whether it's good or bad, you'll have to bear the consequences yourself. Outsiders will know what's going on. If they say Bitang and He Dafei are in love, will they believe it? They'll say behind your back that you're selling your sister for fame!"
Lin Bilan's mind was already overwhelmed. She said nonchalantly, "What do they know? They're just jealous of our family!"
Miao Xiuxiu grumbled inwardly, "I'm afraid there will be more trouble than just this." If the younger daughter is unwilling and resents the older daughter's matchmaking, then once the pillow talk starts, not only will she not be able to ride on the favorable wind, she'll definitely be turned away.
At that time, she had to step in again to clean up the mess for her eldest daughter and reconcile the conflict between the two sisters.
It was because of Miao Xiuxiu that Lin Bilan only remembered food and not beatings. From childhood to adulthood, no matter how many times she had angered Bei Bitang, it was always Miao Xiuxiu who went to mediate and make peace with Bei Bitang.
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