Chapter 70
◎In the alley, several little girls with ponytails were still playing hopscotch, and the extremely vulgar He Dafei was nowhere to be seen◎
In the alleys, several little girls with ponytails were still playing hopscotch. The extremely wretched He Dafei was nowhere to be seen, and Bei Bitang breathed a sigh of relief.
Going upstairs and pulling open the curtains, Lin Bilan was talking to Miao Xiuxiu excitedly. When she saw Bei Bitang enter the room, she fell silent for a moment. She glanced at Miao Xiuxiu and nodded at Bei Bitang.
Bei Bitang had a calm face and her eyes were as calm as a deep well. Miao Xiuxiu didn't let Lin Bilan speak, pulled her away, and left Bei Bitang alone in the inner room.
Bei Bitang took out the two business cards, tore them into pieces, and threw them into the trash can.
She sat in front of the window. Every time she couldn't finish a question or had a headache from studying, she would take out the two business cards and stare at them for a while. Now that she had made a decision, she felt a little regretful.
There was no point in thinking too much, so Bei Bitang focused her attention back on the math textbook.
Bei Bitang did her homework all day and didn't think about Gu Wangxi anymore.
The autumn fireflies are twinkling, emitting faint light.
Bei Bitang lay on the floor, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
The sounds of roosters crowing and dogs barking, and Bei Bitang's eyes were dry and dark circles hung around her eyes. She got up, tied her hair, brushed her teeth, washed her face, emptied the toilet, lit the stove, cooked noodles, made porridge, and beat eggs.
Miao Xiuxiu, carrying a faint mist, returned from the market with her shopping. As she put down her basket, she muttered, "Today we have the last batch of lotus roots from Taihu Lake. I bought two sections and made glutinous rice candied lotus roots. Chinese yams will be in season soon, so I'll make sweet-scented yam. I had a banquet at the Kong family last time. It was delicious, but yams aren't fashionable."
Lin Bilan took care of the little boy, while Bei Bitang brought pickles, steamed eggs, porridge and batter to the table.
There were only three adults and one child at the dinner table. Huang Dashan was not there. He didn't come back last night.
It is not surprising that Huang Dashan does not go home to sleep. Two or three times a month, he goes to the homes of his good brothers, drinks white wine mixed with water, gets drunk, and falls asleep at the homes of his friends.
But recently Huang Dashan has been spending the night outside more and more frequently.
Bei Bitang handed the half-cooled batter to Miao Xiuxiu and asked her to feed the little boy.
After finishing breakfast, Bei Bitang finally spoke, "Big Sister, go to the He family and explain everything clearly. It was all your fault. They want to marry someone from our family as their daughter-in-law. You can consider it, Big Sister."
Bei Bitang's face was cold and indifferent, and Lin Bilan blushed. What kind of words were these? She said angrily, "You don't understand my good intentions at all, and you still say this to me. Where is your brother-in-law's face?!"
Bei Bitang smiled coldly and said, "You're jumping up and down, disregarding my wishes, rushing to be a matchmaker. Why don't you think about your brother-in-law's face? Hard work? I don't see it, I only see your greed."
Lin Bilan felt a pain in her chest from choking. She murmured, "If you marry He Dafei, I'll be the only one who gets it, okay? You'll be the one who enjoys the most happiness."
Bei Bitang said sarcastically, "Then I'll give you the blessing. After all, the eldest sister is younger than He Dafei, so she can be a good match."
Lin Bilan covered her face and cried falsely, "What sin have I committed? My own sister asked me to abandon my husband and children and remarry!"
Bei Bitang added, "I must have been a vicious person in my previous life, so my sisters in this life sent me to the bed of an ugly person with bad behavior."
Lin Bilan felt extremely wronged. She dropped her hands immediately, her eyes widening as she defended herself, "How could I have sent you to He Dafei's bed?! Am I still a human being then?"
Bei Bitang snorted coldly and said, "Is what you did different from sending me to He Dafei's bed? You want me to marry He Dafei, but don't you have to sleep with him? Is He Dafei some kind of saint?"
Lin Bilan had nothing to say and started shouting again, but she was afraid of Bei Bitang's sharp tongue, so she could only yell interjections and pretend to hit her chest hard.
Miao Xiuxiu slammed the table and said with a serious face: "Today, the three of us, mother and daughter, will talk things over and understand the He family's affairs."
After she finished speaking, she looked at Bei Bitang and asked, "You still say the same thing, you look down on He Dafei?"
Bei Bitang shook her head without hesitation and said, "I would rather die with He Dafei than be with him."
She promised Gu Wangxi to be his lover without a specific deadline. Even if Gu Wangxi wanted to get married within a year or two, she would not choose He Dafei.
Miao Xiuxiu turned to look at Lin Bilan, and said with a serious face, "You understand your sister's thoughts, right? You hid it from us before, sneaking around with the He family, just trying to cover up your mistake. If you don't ask clearly, you can assume that Bitang's attitude is vague."
Lin Bilan made a big noise but didn't do anything. She pretended to wipe away the non-existent tears on her face and said dejectedly, "That's all my fault, okay? I'm the only bad guy."
Bei Bitang's face was filled with anger. She asked, "Who do you think is the bad guy, Big Sister? Who else is the bad guy?"
Lin Bilan avoided meeting Bei Bitang's gaze, snorted softly, and said, "Some people don't know the difficulties their family faces. They're already grown up, but they still need their mother, sister, and husband to support them."
Bei Bitang didn't get angry or rush to prove herself. She said calmly, "Mom is willing."
Lin Bilan, don't even think about getting money out of her. If she were to pay for her meals, she would bend over backwards for a living. She'd only been eating and drinking for free for less than a month, how could she be so shameless!
Miao Xiuxiu waved her hand and said, "Bilan, you're wrong. I'm the only one raising Bitang. I didn't save any of the money you paid for vegetables every month to give to Bitang. I even added some extra money."
Miao Xiuxiu was her mother, and also Bei Bitang's mother. Miao Xiuxiu said so, and she herself was willing to let Bei Bitang live off her parents. Lin Bilan said so much, but it was useless. In the end, it was just an old scandal, and the ones who were embarrassed were Huang Dashan and Lin Bilan.
Lin Bilan thought for a moment and said, "Feng Jiaqing said that she wants to transfer Bitang and me to the factory's labor union to work and transfer us to the cadre system. Mom, then our family will have two cadres, and we'll become a cadre family!"
Lin Bilan spoke passionately, and Miao Xiuxiu said calmly: "Bitang is unwilling, and Feng Jiaqing can't do it."
Lin Bilan turned her gun around, looked at Bei Bitang eagerly, and said, "Little sister, when we join the union, I'll do your work. You just drink tea and read the newspaper every day and be comfortable."
Bei Bitang said in annoyance, "Big Sister, there's no need to say anything. If you want to sell your sister for fame, it depends on whether others are willing. If you haven't married and have children yet, you can do it yourself."
Lin Bilan's face turned pale. She said regretfully, "Mom, didn't I offend He Zhiguo and Feng Jiaqing? Can I still have a good life in the factory?"
As she spoke, she looked at Miao Xiuxiu for help.
Miao Xiuxiu glanced at Bei Bitang, who looked indifferent, and said, "That's your fault. You never thought about the consequences when you did things."
Bei Bitang still didn't say anything.
Miao Xiuxiu continued, "The He family doesn't have absolute control over the factory. The factory is publicly owned. Even a production director like you wouldn't be able to do anything to you unless you committed a serious offense. Just bear with the small obstacles they throw at you. Just make sure your salary and benefits are maintained."
Lin Bilan's face was full of bitterness. She lowered her head and said, "Mom, I'm going to work."
Bei Bitang said, "Big sister, don't leave yet."
Lin Bilan looked at her angrily and shouted, "Is this the end yet?! I'm not going to have anything to do with the He family anymore. You can marry or not, but I won't be the one to be the maid!"
She worked hard for most of the day, but in the end she didn't get any benefits at all. Her family didn't understand her, and she had to bear all the bad consequences.
Bei Bitang said calmly, "What are you going to do with the gifts from the He family? Are you trying to drag it out for no apparent reason?"
Lin Bilan waved her hands irritably and said, "Let's talk about it when I'm free."
Bei Bitang opened her mouth and asked Lin Bilan to give a specific date.
Miao Xiuxiu interrupted and said, "When Bilan gets home from get off work today, she'll go shopping and return all the gifts from the He family. She'll also buy a bag of Shandong apples and talk to the He family nicely, apologize, and ask them to let it go."
Lin Bilan said angrily: "I have to pay more for the apples!"
Bei Bitang said coldly: "Who is to blame?"
Lin Bilan remained silent. Miao Xiuxiu turned to Bei Bitang and said, "I'll go with Bilan tonight and take care of things. You two sisters should stop arguing about this."
Bei Bitang looked at the thin and short Miao Xiuxiu and said "hmm".
In reality, this mess wasn't just Lin Bilan's fault. Were the He family also innocent? They knew Bei Bitang despised their son, otherwise they wouldn't have singled out Lin Bilan and secretly manipulated her. Not to mention, He Dafei acted like a fly, doing all sorts of things to Bei Bitang.
The He family was evil and wicked, and Lin Bilan was a little bit bad, but more of a greedy person. But poverty makes one short-sighted, so Miao Xiuxiu and the others had to bow their heads and apologize to the He family.
Bei Bitang felt bad, but then she realized that she was the most innocent person in this matter, and Lin Bilan should learn a lesson. She felt sorry for her mother and Lin Bilan, but Lin Bilan would not feel sorry for either of them.
Miao Xiuxiu waved Lin Bilan's arm, and Lin Bilan shouted, "Got it! I'm going to work!"
Lin Bilan went home from work, but Miao Xiuxiu forced her to go back reluctantly. She bought some things and went to He's house without even drinking a sip of water. After a while, the two came back.
Lin Bilan looked frightened and didn't speak for most of the day.
Bei Bitang asked Miao Xiuxiu, "What happened to Big Sister?"
Miao Xiuxiu glanced at Lin Bilan and said unhappily, "Bilan was almost beaten by He Dafei. As soon as we started talking, He Dafei threw the things he brought at our faces and tried to hit Bilan. I didn't expect He Dafei to have such a bad temper. Who could withstand his big fists? His father and grandfather were almost unable to control him. I don't want a son-in-law like that. Fortunately, we made things clear so early."
Bei Bitang quickly asked with concern: "Is Mommy okay?"
Miao Xiuxiu waved her hand and said, "I'm fine. I'm small and can hide quickly."
Bei Bitang ignored Lin Bilan. Lin Bilan looked pitiful, but Bei Bitang didn't feel sorry for her at all, especially after knowing what had happened to them in the He family.
Although Lin Bilan didn't know He Dafei's character before, it was a fact that he wanted to push her into the fire pit.
The guilt that Bei Bitang felt towards Lin Bilan for bowing to the He family and perhaps facing difficulties at work disappeared without a trace that night.
After the matter was clarified, Bei Bitang was worried that He Dafei would do something drastic, so she stayed at home for several days. On weekends, she went to Zhou Jiewen's house for tutoring, and then she went out with a nervous look on her face.
Bei Bitang got on the bus without any trouble and breathed a sigh of relief. No one was following her on her way back to the Shikumen from Zhou Jiewen's house, which was strange. After asking around, she learned that He Dafei's grandmother, who lived out of town, was ill, and He Dafei had gone to her home overnight three days ago to take care of her.
Bei Bitang didn’t know whether the story was true or not, but she didn’t care. At least she could rest assured for a while.
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