Chapter 88
◎ The next day, Miao Xiuxiu was not the only one who came to the hotel to see Bei Bitang.
Bei Bitang...
The next day, Miao Xiuxiu was not the only one who came to the hotel to see Bei Bitang.
Bei Bitang opened the door and saw Wei Bili holding a toy behind Miao Xiuxiu. She pulled the corner of her mouth and said weakly, "Second Sister."
The smile on her face was a little forced.
Wei Bili glared at her fiercely and whispered, “I don’t want to talk about you now! I came to see Anna.”
Bei Bitang guessed correctly. Last night, thinking that Wei Bili should have returned home, Miao Xiuxiu immediately called her second daughter and told her that she had a little niece.
Wei Bili closed her stall for the day. She got up early in the morning and went to Nanjing Road. She took a stroll and bought some ceramic New Year dolls, sugar figurines, and shadow puppets as gifts for her little niece. Then she went to the hotel with Miao Xiuxiu.
Bei Bitang shouted into the room: "Anna, look, who's here!"
A little girl in white sports shorts came out skipping and jumping, her two braids swinging back and forth. She was not wearing shoes, only a pair of burgundy socks.
As soon as she saw Beianna, Wei Bili's anger subsided a lot. She was getting angrier and angrier the more she thought about it on the road just now.
Wei Bili and Miao Xiuxiu smiled amiably, squatted down, and looked at Beianna. Each of them held one of her little hands, wanting to hold her tightly in their arms, but afraid of scaring the child.
The two of them suppressed their excitement and spoke one after another.
"Anna, I'm your second aunt."
"Anna, I'm your grandmother."
"Here, this is the toy your second aunt bought you. Do you like it?"
"Grandma has it too..."
The doorway was about to become a living room, and Bei Bitang hurriedly said, "Mom, you guys come in first and talk later."
The two of them entered the room and sat down in the living room, completely ignoring Bei Bitang.
He took out the gifts he brought for Beanna one by one, showed them to her, and asked her to touch them one by one to see if she liked them.
Bei Bitang hid her daughter's affairs from Miao Xiuxiu and the others, but she did not hide it from her relatives in Shanghai.
When she was very young, Beanna knew that she had two aunts, a grandmother, two cousins, and one cousin.
After deciding to return to China, Bei Bitang frequently mentioned Miao Xiuxiu and others in front of her daughter to wash away her daughter's sadness of being separated from her good friends and moving to a new environment.
Now, Miao Xiuxiu and Wei Bili looked like they loved her very much, calling her "sweetheart" and "baby" all the time.
Beianna experienced a different kind of family love and accepted Miao Xiuxiu and the others from the bottom of her heart.
Beanna did not resist their embrace at all. She took turns sitting on her grandmother's and second aunt's knees, and then they put jewelry on her.
Bei Bitang looked at the gold collar and silver locket around her daughter's neck and said, "That's too expensive."
Wei Bili laughed and said, "I still think this one isn't good enough for Anna! There's a wish-fulfilling necklace with rubies on it, but Second Aunt can't afford it right now. I'll give one to Anna and her cousin once she saves up enough money!"
The Siemens refrigerator she is using at home was sent back by Bei Bitang across the ocean.
It was placed in the living room for the whole family to use. In order to show fairness, her mother-in-law asked each of her sons to contribute a share of the money, and the money naturally fell into her hands.
Seeing that Wei Bili no longer had the sadness she once had when she was unemployed and a housewife, Bei Bitang smiled and asked, "How are you doing?"
Wei Bili touched her temples, raised her chin, and said modestly, "It's okay, not as good as the best, but better than the worst."
She and her husband Chen Jinlong, one of them set up a stall on Huanghe Road, selling light summer clothes and small accessories, while the other drove a taxi, earning at least a thousand yuan a day.
Although I still owe a large sum of money for a car, my life is getting better and better. As long as I maintain my current income, it will not be difficult to pay off my debts within two or three years, and after that I can make all the money for my family.
Therefore, it is no wonder that Wei Bili spoke so arrogantly. The couple has caught up with the dividends and favorable conditions of the times.
Miao Xiuxiu looked down at her granddaughter's belly and asked, "Are you hungry?"
Without waiting for Bei Anna to answer, she said to Bei Bitang, "Children can't go hungry. Let's go out for dinner first. I wonder if Anna can handle dishes with rich oils and sauces? Otherwise, how about going to the Red House Western Restaurant?"
Wei Bili said, "It's my treat."
Bei Bitang shook her head and said, "Let's eat at the hotel restaurant. I've already reserved a table."
The Jing'an Hilton Hotel Restaurant is not only open to guests but also to the public. In order to avoid waiting for a table, Bei Bitang reserved a table last night.
The two of them went to the restaurant downstairs to eat, which was a combination of Chinese and Western food, and everyone enjoyed it very much.
Bei Bitang gave her daughter half a portion of Western food to prevent her from suffering from acclimatization.
During this period, Miao Xiuxiu also spoke to Beanna in German.
Bei Bitang and Wei Bili suddenly remembered that the church school their mother attended was run by Germans, so it was not surprising that she could speak a little German now.
Even now, Miao Xiuxiu and Wei Bili thought that Bei Bitang's giving birth to a daughter in secret was absurd. But Bei Anna was their blood relative, and she was so beautiful and lovely, they loved her so much and treated her without prejudice.
Bei Bitang had been paying close attention to how they interacted with their daughter. Only when she saw that Wei Bili and the others had no intention of asking her daughter indirectly about her biological father's opinion did she feel relieved.
After dinner, they returned to the room. Bei Bitang let her daughter play with her new toys in the bedroom alone, and the adults sat down to talk about some serious topics.
Miao Xiuxiu and Wei Bili's expressions became serious. Wei Bili said worriedly, "What will Anna say if she asks about her father in the future?"
Miao Xiuxiu continued her words and said, "When she goes to school, what's wrong with other people calling Anna a fatherless child?"
…
Questions came one after another. Bei Bitang poured water while patiently saying, "Anna won't ask. She's smart enough to know that her father and I are separated. The child lives with her mother, and the father has his own life. This situation is very common abroad. Anna is not obsessed with "Dad" at all."
Placing the water cup in front of the two of them, she continued, "As for school, I plan to send Anna to an international kindergarten. The children there have similar ideas to Anna's childhood playmates. For these children, having only a mother and no father is a very common thing."
After hearing Bei Bitang's arrangement, they both breathed a sigh of relief. If Bei Bitang couldn't answer, they would have urged her to take Anna back to Germany as soon as possible.
Bei Bitang drank some water to cool herself down, then casually asked, "Where's the eldest sister? Why didn't she come?"
Even if you go to work, it is easy to switch shifts with your colleagues due to the social relationships in state-owned factories.
Miao Xiuxiu smiled and said, "After she got off work, she went to pick up the little one and then came over together."
Wei Bili also said, "That's what I've arranged. I'll have Jinlong pick up the two children later."
Bei Bitang smiled and said jokingly, "So, the whole family will be reunited tonight."
Well, let Anna meet everyone at once, and the gifts she brought back home also arrived.
Miao Xiuxiu looked embarrassed and said hesitantly, "My uncle is busy and can't come."
Wei Bili glanced at the bedroom door and said angrily without giving Huang Dashan any face, "How can he be in trouble? He's clearly a threat! As we value him, he can come or not!"
Hearing this, Bei Bitang felt nothing at all. To her, Huang Dashan was just a brother-in-law.
Bei Bitang asked casually, "What happened?"
International communications are so expensive, how could she bear to spend so much money on them to ask about Huang Dashan's recent situation? Besides, she didn't want to know.
Wei Bili thought the same. When she spoke to Bei Bitang over the phone, she never mentioned Huang Dashan at all, so Bei Bitang really didn't know about Huang Dashan's situation.
Wei Bili said indignantly, "Huang Dashan is jealous of Jinlong driving a car and wants Jinlong to take him with him! Isn't that funny? He wants to take advantage of such a big advantage, but he doesn't talk to Jinlong himself and lets Mom and Big Sister do the talking! He's just dreaming!"
Chen Jinlong bought the car alone, but in order to pay off his debts as soon as possible, he also hired someone to drive the car in turns during the day and at night, making full use of the car.
Nowadays, teaching you how to drive is a huge favor. Huang Dashan not only wanted Chen Jinlong to teach you for free, but also, from what he said, he wanted to invest every penny and share the profits equally with Chen Jinlong.
This is too shameless. Even Chen Jinlong's brothers are embarrassed to have such an idea. No wonder Wei Bili is so angry.
Wei Bili spoke without any scruples, even though Miao Xiuxiu was right next to her. In the past, Miao Xiuxiu was the first person to protect her son-in-law, but now she didn't say a word to help Huang Dashan. She also knew how inappropriate it was to let her son-in-law interfere in her son-in-law's business.
Wei Bili clutched her chest, took a breath, and continued dissatisfiedly, "I rejected this outright. But it's not over yet. Huang Dashan is really whimsical. He wants to buy a motorcycle and let him pick up passengers. A motorcycle must be worth at least tens of thousands of yuan, and he refuses to take a second-hand one, because he thinks it's been driven by someone else! Humph! Where will the money come from? He doesn't even want to borrow it from me and my mother! He even says he'll borrow it! He'll never be able to pay it back in this lifetime!"
Just like listening to a story, Bei Bitang became interested and asked, "Oh, the eldest sister didn't say anything?"
Lin Bilan felt so sorry for her useless husband. Huang Dashan first wanted to drive a taxi but failed, and then he wanted a motorcycle. Given Lin Bilan's personality, she was reluctant to let both of her husband's wishes go unfulfilled.
Wei Bili rolled her eyes and sneered, "Eldest Sister is too embarrassed to ask! Borrow money? Her family is still in debt!"
Lin Bilan had been waiting for news about the factory's housing allocation for years, but there had been no news. Even though her son, Lin Kangquan, was only a teenager, she was already worried about his future wedding house. She hadn't forgotten that the house they were living in now belonged to Bei Bitang.
In 1988, the factory finally announced housing, but it wasn't free welfare housing. It was a joint venture, meaning the factory paid half and the employees paid half. Anyone who wanted one could sign up, pay the fee, and there was no limit on the number of places.
Lin Bilan rode her bicycle past the factory bulletin board every day, looking at it again and again, and thinking about it again and again at night.
After inquiring from various sources, she had a premonition that if she missed this opportunity to jointly build a house, she would not know when the next one would come.
Lin Bilan gritted her teeth and decided to buy a 120-square-meter apartment out of three sizes: 90 square meters, 120 square meters, and 180 square meters.
Where did this money come from? Of course it was borrowed! Where did it come from? Of course it was borrowed from family members.
The house was a serious matter, and once Lin Bilan asked, Miao Xiuxiu and Wei Bili did not object. Miao Xiuxiu borrowed 1,000 yuan, and Wei Bili borrowed 5,000 yuan.
To be honest, Chen Jinlong didn't want to lend the money, but because he had a sister-in-law in Germany, he thought about it again and again and decided to lend it.
Besides, his wife has been very clear about how she treats her family over the years. If Lin Bilan owes money and doesn't pay it back, his wife will definitely go back to her family with a knife and fight with her sister.
Lian Bei Bitang also sent back 10,000 yuan and lent it to Lin Bilan for buying a house.
Her two younger sisters are so capable that even her elderly mother does not hold her back and can help her. But what about her husband?
She fishes for three days and rests for two days. She only works for a few days when she has no money to play around, and then goes out to play again. This cycle repeats over and over again. She is not reliable at all. Even her brother-in-law Chen Jinlong is more useful than her husband.
In this way, Lin Bilan became more and more arrogant. She had a house and a car, and she raised her son. Why should she be humble to Huang Dashan, a useless man?
For the sake of her house and her son's future, Lin Bilan gave up her lazy ways and worked two jobs a day.
At the beginning, in order to pay back the debt, Lin Bilan worked for her sister Wei Bili for free and helped her set up the stall.
It's true that although Lin Bilan is a bit fawning towards customers, many customers fall for her charm. With Lin Bilan's encouragement, Wei Bili's sales have increased significantly.
Seeing that Lin Bilan was making progress, Wei Bili felt compassion again and took the initiative to suggest that she buy some things and sell them herself.
Lin Bilan suddenly had an idea and went to the wholesale market to buy goods, such as sunglasses, belts, celebrity magazines... whatever was popular and sold well, and she actually made some money.
She was busy working to make money, making money after get off work, and taking care of her son, so she had no time to take care of Huang Dashan.
Moreover, she knew in her heart that her two younger sisters were not close to their brother-in-law Huang Dashan at all. Over the years, even their mother had become less friendly towards Huang Dashan. How could she have the nerve to ask Huang Dashan to lend money to buy a motorcycle?
In the time it took to drink a glass of water, Wei Bili used all the bad words to say about Huang Dashan. Bei Bitang found it quite interesting. It seemed that her mother and the others were not hopeless.
Finally, Wei Bili calmed down and kindly reminded her sister, "I heard the old house is going to be demolished. Bitang, you have to be careful. Huang Dashan didn't come this time, it must be because of the house. I guess Huang Dashan wants the money instead of the house, and he's going to use the demolition money to do business."
Without waiting for Bei Bitang to speak, Miao Xiuxiu quickly stated, "Bitang, don't worry, the house is yours, and that won't change."
Bei Bitang lowered her eyes, smiled and said nothing.
Wei Bili knew exactly what Huang Dashan was thinking when she said that. Recently, Lin Bilan and Huang Dashan had been arguing non-stop over the fictitious demolition.
Huang Dashan's constant talk of going south to start a big business didn't sound plausible to Lin Bilan. Besides, the house wasn't hers. Thinking of Bei Bitang's commanding gaze, she shuddered.
Even if it was hers, she would not give money to Huang Dashan to do business. If Huang Dashan wanted to do business, he should make money by himself.
Bei Bitang and Miao Xiuxiu talked about everything they could before going out to do their business.
Wei Bili and Miao Xiuxiu did not leave either. They stayed in the hotel to accompany Bei Anna and handed their daughter to Wei Bili. Bei Bitang was relieved.
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