That night, Fu Lan didn't sleep well at all, constantly thinking about the gold bars hidden in the kang (heated brick bed) under her. When she woke up the next morning, she was surrounded by darkness and looked completely exhausted.
Xing Zhaozhao saw it and was startled: "Did you go out to steal at night?"
Fu Lan shook her head with a bitter face: "I'm afraid of attracting thieves."
Xing Zhaozhao: "..."
Xing Zhaozhao had no choice but to comfort her, saying, "You'll get used to it."
Fu Lan nodded listlessly: "Mm."
After breakfast, Fu Lan carried a bundle and went home. At the bottom of the bundle was the engagement gift she had given to her sister, Fu Hong. Since the gift was valuable, she had wrapped the box in several layers of cloth and made several cloth bags, putting it in multiple layers to prevent anyone from accidentally opening it and seeing it, which would cause trouble.
When Xing Zhaozhao saw her off, she added a special instruction: "Tell your sister to keep it carefully and not let anyone see it."
"I understand," Fu Lan replied, and then left excitedly.
She was as happy as she left, and as unpleasant as she returned.
Not long after lunch, Fu Lan returned, bringing back the same bundle she had taken with her when she left. Her face was long and her expression was extremely unpleasant.
Upon seeing this, Xing Zhaozhao exclaimed in surprise, "Huh?" and asked, "You rarely come home, why didn't you stay a little longer? Who in your family could possibly offend you? Who could possibly make you look so upset?"
Fu Lan has always had a good temper. Except for the time when she had an accident because of a dating incident and got into a fight with her grandmother, she is usually all smiles when she meets people. As long as you don't cross her bottom line, she rarely gets into arguments with people.
Xing Zhaozhao frowned and asked suspiciously, "It's not your grandma again, is it?"
Fu Lan shook her head: "They are from the Dong family."
Xing Zhaozhao's heart skipped a beat: "Is there something wrong with your future brother-in-law?"
Thinking about how she had previously tried to matchmake Fu Hong and her daughter because she knew Fu Hong's daughter's surname was Dong, Xing Zhaozhao felt terrible.
Fu Lan shook her head again, her expression conflicted: "He... he's not a bad person, and he's a good match for my sister, if it weren't for the rest of the Dong family..."
Thinking of the Dong family's eccentricities, and how her sister might marry into that family just because her future sister-in-law seemed nice, only to be entangled by them, Fu Lan's temples throbbed with worry. It was too distressing.
"What exactly happened?" Xing Zhaozhao asked.
Fu Lan then told Xing Zhaozhao what had happened.
When Fu Lan returned this time, it was still early, and the Dong family members had not yet arrived; only her own family members were there.
Fu Lan hadn't been back for two or three months, so her grandparents were very happy to see her. They talked with her for quite a while.
After all, so much time had passed, and both Fu Lan and Grandma Fu had softened their attitudes. Grandma Fu hoped that Fu Lan could move back in, as no other house was as comfortable as her own. However, Fu Lan was still working there and felt more comfortable staying at Xing Zhaozhao's place, so she didn't agree. Although Grandma Fu was disappointed, she was also afraid of upsetting Fu Lan and making her never come back, so she didn't insist and let her be, as long as she was happy.
Seeing that it was getting late, Grandma Fu and Grandpa Fu went ahead to prepare to receive their future grandson-in-law and his family. Fu Lan took advantage of this time to pull Fu Hong into Fu Hong's room for a chat between sisters and to give Fu Hong the gift she had given her.
Unexpectedly, she had only mentioned the gift to Fu Hong and hadn't even had a chance to take it out when a commotion broke out outside. Her future brother-in-law, Dong Cheng, and his family had arrived.
Fu Hong was in a hurry to go out and greet them, so Fu Lan had no choice but to put aside the matter of the gift for the time being and go out with her sister.
Fu Lan had a fairly good impression of Dong Cheng. He was good-looking, had a good temper, and was a reserve cadre at the textile factory. He was a good match for her sister.
But when she saw the rest of the Dong family, she immediately felt terrible.
In all her life, she had never seen anyone as bizarre as the Dong family. They were guests at someone else's house, but they acted as if they were at home, touching and rubbing everything. That was the least of their problems. The father even stuffed the wine that her grandfather had bought for the dinner table into his pocket. The mother took the shoe sole that her grandmother had been sewing halfway through, along with the needle and thread. Her younger siblings were even more shameless; they would take anything they wanted without asking a question.
Fu Lan was furious. What kind of family is this? Do they really have no shame at all?
Fu Hong's expression was also very unpleasant. She had already been to the Dong family before, but this was the first time she had ever seen such a bizarre scene.
At this moment, Dong Cheng, looking apologetic, gathered Grandpa Fu, Grandma Fu, Fu Hong, and Fu Lan together and apologized to them: "I'm sorry, that's just their temper. They didn't mean any harm. I can compensate you for the loss." After saying that, he actually took out some money.
Grandpa Fu and Grandma Fu, of course, wouldn't take his money and politely refused.
Fu Lan felt uncomfortable watching this and asked him directly, "Did you often wipe their butts like this before?"
Dong Cheng looked helpless: "There's nothing I can do, they're my family."
Fu Lan's face darkened: "So, you'll continue to clean up their messes like this from now on?"
Dong Cheng looked at Fu Lan with a surprised expression: "Of course, they are my family."
Fu Lan's forehead throbbed: "So, if my sister marries into your family, she'll have to be just like you, a maid and a janitor for this whole family?"
Dong Cheng disagreed, saying, "That's a very harsh thing to say, Xiao Lan. I'm not acting as a mother hen; I'm the eldest son, and it's my duty to take care of our parents and younger siblings."
Fu Lan: "..."
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