Luo Yao never expected that Xu Qingning would help her find a job.
For a moment, she felt like a clown.
People treated her like a junior and took good care of her, but she was thinking about other people's husbands.
She felt ashamed when she thought about what she had just said.
Seeing that Luo Yao didn't speak, Yang Yuelan continued, "Your aunt is a very warm-hearted and kind person. She knows that you and Jingyu grew up together, so she treats you like family. You also know that it's very difficult to find a job these days."
Yang Yuelan didn't care about seniority anymore; it was just a title anyway, and Luo Yao wasn't family.
Logically speaking, Luo Yao should call her grandma, but she called her aunt instead, and Yang Yuelan didn't hold it against her.
"Yes, it's not easy to find..." Luo Yao had heard Chen Meili say that she was an educated youth and could only return to the city if there was a job opening.
Chen Meili said that Xu Qingning got pregnant because she slept with Zhao Jingyu. Zhao Jingyu didn't like her at all, and Xu Qingning didn't like Zhao Jingyu either.
They got married solely because they had a child.
Moreover, they agreed when they got married that they would divorce after raising the child.
Chen Meili also said that Xu Qingning likes Xiao Tingshen, the man of her half-sister, and that Xu Qingning is not proper and that her relationship with Zhao Jingyu will definitely not last long.
Luo Yao felt very sorry for Zhao Jingyu after hearing this.
I feel sorry for him for marrying a woman he doesn't love, and I feel sorry for him for having to endure such a marriage for the sake of his child.
After much thought, she realized she still had a chance.
If that's the case, she can wait for Zhao Jingyu, wait for him to get a divorce, and she's willing to marry him, even if he has a child, she can accept that.
But now, Xu Qingning has extended an olive branch to her, and judging from Yang Yuelan's tone, Xu Qingning doesn't seem as insidious and vicious as Chen Meili described, which puts her in an awkward position.
“Luo Yao, Jing Yu is already married and about to become a father. No matter how good your relationship was before, you should avoid suspicion from now on.” Yang Yuelan firmly stood on her daughter-in-law’s side. “Your aunt is a good daughter-in-law. Your uncle likes her very much. During his time at sea, he has been calling and writing to her all the time. They will not get a divorce. Even if they do, I will only recognize her as my daughter-in-law.”
This wasn't Yang Yuelan's first time being a mother-in-law. She and Wu Xiufang and Zhou Chunyan had lived in the countryside for so long, and their relationship had always been fraught with conflict.
But she felt very comfortable with Xu Qingning. Although this daughter-in-law was from the city and seemed a bit spoiled, she was actually smart and capable.
She could still earn money while pregnant, and she was very easy to get along with. She had lived with me for so long, and I had never argued with her.
Such a daughter-in-law is hard to find.
Hearing Yang Yuelan say this, Luo Yao felt even more ashamed and bit her lip, saying, "Auntie, I know what to do..."
She wants to go back to the Northwest.
I don't want to stay here for even a second longer.
When Xu Qingning returned, Luo Yao had already left, and Yang Yuelan was sitting alone on the kang (a heated brick bed) in a daze, not even knitting a sweater.
She only found out today that her son and daughter-in-law had agreed to divorce. If Xu Qingning really leaves this family, she will be the first to object.
What will happen to this family if Xu Qingning leaves?
"Mom, what's wrong?" Xu Qingning found it strange. Yang Yuelan was very engrossed in knitting, and she basically never put her hands down. Whenever she had a spare moment, she would quickly knit a few stitches.
"It's nothing, I just slept for a while." Yang Yuelan rubbed her eyes, put on her shoes and got off the kang (heated brick bed). "You should go back to your room and rest. I'll go make you some food."
"Mom, it's not even five o'clock yet, why are you making dinner?" Xu Qingning felt her mother-in-law was acting strangely, so she asked her, "Has Luo Yao been here?"
"She came by." Yang Yuelan glanced at the clock on the wall and forced a smile. "She sat for a while and then left. I invited her to stay for dinner, but she refused."
"Did you talk to her about work?" Xu Qingning noticed that Yang Yuelan looked very uncomfortable, and her gaze lingered on the sweater in Yang Yuelan's hand. "I called her here mainly to talk about work, whether she would be willing to teach at the school?"
Zhao Jingyu's sweater is almost finished at the neckline; at this rate, it should be completed in about another week.
Yang Yuelan's knitting speed is quite impressive.
“I did tell her, but I didn’t ask her if she was willing to go…” Yang Yuelan picked up the sweater again and started knitting, her hands moving quickly. “She didn’t say she would go, nor did she say she wouldn’t. I forgot to ask her.”
"So what were you talking about?" Xu Qingning asked, puzzled.
Let's talk about Zhao Jingyu?
It's not impossible.
"We just talked about their experiences in the Northwest." Yang Yuelan was afraid that Xu Qingning would misunderstand, so she didn't dare to tell her what Luo Yao had said.
"Then I'll ask her out again in a couple of days!" Xu Qingning didn't want to delay things; the sooner she found out, the better. If Luo Yao didn't go, she could tell Du Juan so that she wouldn't have to worry about it.
"Alright." Yang Yuelan began to struggle internally. What if Xu Qingning found out about Luo Yao's feelings from somewhere else?
Wouldn't that mean we'd misunderstand her as her mother-in-law?
Just after dinner, the courtyard fell silent; the power had gone out.
Wang Cuifen, holding a small stool, called out to Yang Yuelan from outside the window: "It's too dark to do anything, come out and chat!"
"You guys chat, I have something to do, so I won't go out." Yang Yuelan didn't want to chat with them, so she took out a candle from the drawer and lit it.
The courtyard experiences power outages once or twice a month.
This was the first power outage this month, but everyone's used to it by now.
Xu Qingning was used to it. She took off her shoes, climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed), and leaned against the bedding, saying to Yang Yuelan, "Mom, let's close the door and go to sleep early. I'm afraid the electricity won't come back on tonight."
"I'll close it now." Yang Yuelan closed the door and then rustled around in the living room tidying up the stools, worried that Xu Qingning might trip over them when she passed by.
For the first two months, when the two boys lived here, Yang Yuelan would tell them stories whenever there was a power outage at night.
Yang Yuelan tells some folk tales and myths, such as a scholar and a princess, and a peach tree that becomes a spirit, which are very interesting.
Xu Qingning listened along, and she listened with great interest.
Now that the two boys have gone home, she, being an adult, doesn't want her mother-in-law to tell her stories, so she leans against the bedding and quietly listens to the sounds outside.
Wang Cuifen and the group of old ladies usually sit and chat in the cool air at the front gate, but tonight they all seem to have come to their place for a gathering.
As soon as the old ladies arrived, they started chattering away, gossiping about this family and that family.
The yard was quiet because of the power outage.
The old ladies' voices were exceptionally clear.
One of the old ladies was particularly agitated. Xu Qingning recognized Zhang Guoshi's voice: "Let me tell you, Tang Wenya's sworn sister, Chen Meili, is no good. Today she came to our courtyard looking for Tang Wenya, but Tang Wenya wasn't home. She stood at the door waiting. I kindly invited her to come in and sit down, but she refused and looked disgusted. I said, 'You really don't know what's good for you. My good intentions have been wasted.'"
"Guess what she said?" Zhang Guoshi's voice became even more excited.
"What did she say?" Wang Cuifen asked first. She had a good relationship with Zhang Guoshi, and the two of them had become the leading figures among the old ladies.
Thank you for the donations from readers, and thank you to Strawberry Jia for the monthly ticket. First update.
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