Chapter 9 009 Package
Guan Yuehe finally managed to squeeze out of the No. 2 courtyard, just as she bumped into Guan Aiguo, who was coming home from school, desperately trying to squeeze in.
"Second Sister, why are you back? How's it going inside? On my way back, I saw Dafu and Dagui going to the police station... No! Second Sister, you go back first, I have to go in and take a look!"
He doesn't seem to care about studying, but he's most enthusiastic about joining in the fun.
When I came back this time, there were people from each household in Courtyard No. 3.
"Oh! Yuehe, are you home for dinner?" Zhang Ersao leaned against the courtyard gate, her eyes glued to the bundle Guan Yuehe was holding in front of her.
Guan Yuehe gave a faint "hmm" and walked inside.
In the entire No. 3 courtyard, Ding Dama was ostensibly the most gossipy, followed by Xu Dasao. But as time went on, it became clear that Zhang Ersao was the real gossip queen of the courtyard. She could spread all sorts of rumors without anyone noticing. Aside from her husband Zhang Desheng and son Zhang Quanbin, everyone else in the courtyard had been the subject of her gossip, and exaggerated ones at that.
Xie Zhenhua was among the last batch of college students. He considered himself a top-notch cultured person in Ginkgo Hutong, and was very arrogant, always looking up at the sky.
Although Zhang Desheng only had a junior high school education, he considered himself to be a cultured person on par with Xie Zhenhua and loved to give advice to others.
Jin Junwei, who only completed primary school, looks more like a cultured person than Zhang Desheng and Xie Zhenhua.
As the old men would say: "He has no worries about food or drink, no worries about supporting his family, and people even buy him good food and clothes. Even a dog can be raised to have the demeanor of a cultured person."
Lin Sitian felt that the older men were just jealous of Jin Junwei's comfortable life as a kept man.
That's right, Jin Junwei was recruited by Zhou Hongqi. He had no job, was a rural resident, and spent his days doing housework.
Although Jin Junwei is six years younger than Zhou Hongqi and looks like a pretty boy who can't do heavy work and can't support his family, Zhou Hongqi is a level four welder at the Five Star Automobile Factory. Her monthly salary is more than enough to support another pretty boy.
As she washed the vegetables, Sister-in-law Xu glanced up at Jin Junwei across the table, her mouth agape, and muttered angrily in a low voice, "Who is this pretty boy trying to impress with all his fancy clothes?!"
"Of course, I'm dressing up for Sister Hongqi!" Guan Yuehe thought to herself.
Sister-in-law Xu only dared to mutter a few words in hushed tones. If Jin Junwei heard her, he would definitely tell Zhou Hongqi. As for Zhou Hongqi, he was talkative and had plenty of strength to beat people up. He would raise his fist and start hitting people regardless of age or gender.
Therefore, after being beaten by Zhou Hongqi several times, Zhang Ersao kept her mouth shut.
"Yuehe is back!"
Sister-in-law Xu's warm greeting gave Guan Yuehe goosebumps.
"Why didn't you come back with Cheng Cai? You two grew up together and now you even work in the same factory. Aren't you a perfect match?"
The abacus beads even hit her face.
"Sister-in-law, your family has split up?"
Sister-in-law Xu was almost confused. After a moment of stunned silence, she asked blankly, "What do you mean by dividing the family property?"
"Oh, I thought your family split up, otherwise why would Xu Cheng have been kicked out to live in the dormitory?"
"Yuehe, don't talk nonsense. Our elders are perfectly fine, and the separation of the family is still a long way off! Besides, Chengcai just works a lot of overtime, and staying in the dormitory is convenient for him! He'll be going back home to stay after he finishes this busy period!"
With the children growing up, she wanted Xu Cheng to move out to make room for the family, but dividing the household was impossible now. Her brother-in-law was unmarried and had a salary; if he didn't move out, he would have to pay money to the family. The ones who benefited were her and her second brother's families, who had children.
"It's going to be hard for Xu Cheng to find a wife. He can't live separately, and he doesn't have a place to live on his own. He also has to support his nephews and nieces. Tsk tsk!"
Sister-in-law Xu could easily tell that Guan Yuehe was being sarcastic, but she didn't get angry.
If Guan Yuehe hadn't said those things, she would have been thinking of pairing her brother-in-law with Guan Yuehe, so that he wouldn't get a share of the house. But from another perspective, if her brother-in-law and Guan Yuehe were together, would he still hand over most of his salary to the family?
She figured it would be better to endure it for another two years until her brother-in-law was old enough to have his own room, then find him a wife who was easy to control, and they wouldn't have to separate the family. That way, she could continue to take advantage of him in the future.
"Look at what you're saying. Everyone contributes their salary to the household, it's just that your family is the exception."
Sister-in-law Xu changed her mind and naturally no longer wanted to force Guan Yuehe and her brother-in-law to be together.
Sister-in-law Xu's expression changed repeatedly, and Guan Yuehe guessed that she was plotting some bad idea again.
"Yuehe's home for dinner today." It was a greeting, and Aunt Fang's tone was clearly very kind.
Lin Sitian looks like Aunt Fang; they both have round faces, and everyone says that's a lucky resemblance.
As Guan Yuehe walked home, she said to Aunt Fang, "I had something to discuss with Sitian, so I came back."
Aunt Fang glanced at the package in her arms and guessed what was going on. "When she gets home, I'll have her call you."
When Guan Yuehe got home, she put the package in her parents' room. Her sister-in-law didn't ask, but Weiwei and Jingjing ran over to ask her, "Auntie, is there anything good to eat?"
Before Guan Yuehe could speak, Jiang Guiying scolded the two children, "Do you ever lack food at home? Go out and play!"
He turned his head and glared at Lin Yufeng, who had just entered the kitchen.
Lin Yufeng felt guilty, but her expression remained normal as she casually remarked, "The child is just being greedy and doesn't know any better."
Jiang Guiying said: "If children don't know any better, teach them more. Who is born knowing everything?"
"I understand." Lin Yufeng followed Jiang Guiying's words. Since her attitude was good, Jiang Guiying had nothing more to say.
However, this doesn't mean Jiang Guiying wasn't angry. Lin Yufeng didn't get along with either of her daughters. It was one thing to not get along with Yuehua—Yuehua had a terrible temper, and even Jiang Guiying's own mother sometimes found her annoying. But Yuehe, aside from being stubborn about her own affairs, never caused trouble, and Lin Yufeng still didn't get along with her.
The fact that Lin Yufeng gave her job to her younger sister from her maternal family had left a thorn in her heart.
The job at the chemical factory was found for Yuehe by Lin Yufeng and her husband after they married into the family, with money and connections. Later, when educated youth were called to go to the countryside, they worried that Yuehe would also have to go, so they discussed with Lin Yufeng that if Yuehe couldn't find a job, they would transfer the chemical factory job to her.
Lin Yufeng verbally agreed, but then immediately gave the job to her younger sister from her maternal family.
If she had held onto the job, she wouldn't have been so resentful all these years. The job was found by the Guan family, but the Lin family benefited the most.
So when her husband suggested that they each manage their own salaries, she readily agreed. This way, her second daughter wouldn't have to help her older brother and sister-in-law instead of receiving their support.
But Lin Yufeng never complained when she was working at home. Even though she was still angry, the anger had mostly dissipated over the years.
Jiang Guiying pinched Guan Yuehe's waist, but missed. This girl was getting stronger and stronger, and she didn't seem to be exerting any effort. Why was her body so firm?
He turned his hand around, grabbed Guan Yuehe's ear, pulled her into his room, and closed the door.
He muttered under his breath, "Sending stuff to Ding Laosi again, are you? Do you have money to burn?"
Guan Yuehe freed her ears, rubbed them, and hummed, "The three of us paid together, I didn't pay much."
As for which three they were, she didn't say, but Jiang Guiying knew the answer in her heart.
"I think the four of you should just get together and become a family of brothers and sisters!" Jiang Guiying said angrily. "You don't buy things for your own nephews and nieces, but you buy plenty for outsiders. How can your sister-in-law not have any doubts when she sees that?"
Guan Yuehe shrugged. "What does her want have to do with me? When I come back and buy things, don't Guan Wei and Guan Jing get a share?"
My sister-in-law used to be wary of her, fearing that her family would ask her to transfer her job at the chemical factory. So she made a deal with her younger sister from her maternal family: she would transfer the job to her sister, but two-thirds of her salary would have to be handed over.
Her parents probably didn't know about this; she overheard it by accident. Otherwise, she wouldn't have rushed to learn how to operate a sewing machine so soon after finding out that the Zhuoyue Garment Factory was going to build one...
As the saying goes, "Every man for himself." She didn't think there was anything wrong with her sister-in-law's actions, but it was absolutely impossible for her to be kind to her two nephews and nieces.
"Can't you avoid it a little next time?"
"I'm not a thief! Why don't you just blindfold them?"
Jiang Guiying clicked her tongue, "I'm too lazy to talk to you!" The next second, she sighed, "When you were little, you fell into an ice hole. Luckily, Ding Laosi pulled you out, so it's only right that we send you more. But!"
Guan Yuehe had barely relaxed for two seconds when her ear was pinched again.
"You can send things as you please, but you're not allowed to have any other intentions! Look at Xu Xiaomei..."
"Oh dear! I know!" Guan Yuehe felt that Xu Xiaomei was extremely unlucky. Her first relationship had become the talk of the whole alley, and she was being used as a negative example to educate her children.
Her mother wanted to continue, but fortunately Lin Sitian's arrival allowed her to escape her "clutches," even though her ears were pinched until they turned red!
She took the package to Lin Sitian's room.
The Lin family lived in the east wing, which was divided into three rooms. Lin Sitian and her parents lived in the rooms on either side, while the middle room was divided in two, with the front serving as the living room and the back as Lin's older brother's room. He was rarely home, so the room had almost become a storage room. The kitchen was set up in a separate shed.
Lin Sitian has had her own room since she was a child. The bed, cabinets, and desk in the room were all high-quality and kept clean and beautiful. She had always hoped that she could have a room like Lin Sitian's since she was a child.
"Don't just stand there, sit down!" Lin Sitian took out a thick letter from the table drawer and a box of cookies from the cabinet, asking her to pack it in a package.
Guan Yuehe squeezed the envelope to estimate its thickness. "Did you write down which family has an extra dog?"
"Since it's being shipped with the parcel anyway, it's more cost-effective to write more!"
Guan Yuehe couldn't understand why it was a good deal, so she re-tied the package and said, "You can mail it on your way to work since you'll pass by the post office."
"Okay." Lin Sitian patted the package. "Our factory and your factory are having a joint event on Sunday. I told Xu Cheng that I'm going, and you have to go too!"
Several people told her today that she absolutely has to go to the social event on Sunday. It seems like she has no choice but to go.
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