Chapter 6 It would be better to just find a man and get married sooner rather than later...
Xu Jialan came out of the bathroom, leaving only Chen Yaoan at the dining table, who was quietly eating noodles with her head down.
He glanced at her, picked up his coffee, and took a sip.
Then, I almost spat it all out.
After trying for a long time, Xu Jialan finally held her breath and swallowed all the coffee in her mouth.
Then, she looked up at Chen Yao'an with suspicion.
Chen Yao'an seemed to only then notice his unusual behavior and asked with concern, "What's wrong?"
Just as Xu Jialan was about to speak, Shi Xinyu returned. Sensing the awkward atmosphere, she asked, "What's wrong?"
"fine."
The meal went fairly smoothly. After leaving the restaurant, Chen Yaoan checked the time and said, "I need to hurry back."
Shi Xinyu knew her family situation best, so she didn't say much. "You didn't ride a bike when you came here?"
"I walked there."
“It’s too far to ride back to your shop.”
Indeed, this place is quite a distance from Wenzhi Street.
Upon hearing this, Xu Jialan replied, "Then I'll take you."
Chen Yaoan looked at him, and their eyes met. She felt inexplicably guilty.
"Yes, let him take you; it'll be faster that way."
"And what about you?"
"I'll just take a taxi back."
Chen Yaoan looked at Xu Jialan, "I'll take a taxi back myself."
"I'll take you." Xu Jialan's lips curled into a half-smile as she looked at her.
The two faced off in silence.
Seeing that the two were at an impasse, Shi Xinyu pushed Chen Yaoan to the car and said, "Calling a taxi will take a long time. Let him take you, it will save you time and effort."
Xu Jialan seized the opportunity, opened the car door, blocked her way, and gestured for her to proceed.
She seemed to have no choice but to bend down and sit in the passenger seat.
After saying goodbye to Shi Xinyu, Chen Yaoan pointed out to Xu Jialan
In the car, Chen Yao'an gave him directions, but the two barely spoke.
After driving for about twenty minutes, the car stopped at the entrance of a small alley on Xiaxin Street.
"I've arrived. Thank you for bringing me back."
After thanking Xu Jialan, she prepared to open the door and get out of the car.
She had just touched the doorknob when she heard a "click".
That's the sound of the car door locking.
Chen Yao'an's heart skipped a beat, and she turned to look at Xu Jialan.
Xu Jialan was watching her with a relaxed expression.
"Is there anything else?"
People always feel guilty after doing something wrong, and she felt extremely uneasy at that moment.
Xu Jialan rested one hand on the steering wheel, her tone unhurried, "Yes."
Chen Yao'an's voice was a little unsteady, "What is it?"
Xu Jialan suddenly leaned over.
Startled, Chen Yao'an pressed her back against the car door behind her.
He still had a nonchalant smile on his lips. "You did it on purpose."
He was stating a fact.
-
A few days later, in the morning, as usual, Chen Yaoan got up and busied herself around the house.
Yan Shumei came out of the house leaning on her cane, her face sullen, looking like she was in a very bad mood.
Upon seeing Chen Yaoyao, she asked, "Are you going to the store again today?"
Why not go?
Doesn't she go every day?
"It's the weekend, can't you take a day off? All you ever do is busy with your lousy clothes!"
Chen Yao'an was already used to Yan Shumei nagging her like this.
"If we don't make clothes, how will we support our family?"
Chen Yao'an replied calmly that they had already argued about this topic many times, and she no longer had the energy to continue arguing with her.
Yan Shumei snorted heavily and said, "You might as well find a man to marry as soon as possible!"
Yan Shumin had said similar things before, but not often. She probably overheard some neighbors gossiping about their family yesterday.
Chen Yao'an's grandfather passed away when she was very young due to illness.
She also had a younger brother, but he fell into the water when he was eight years old and could not be saved.
Zhou Yao was deeply affected by her younger brother's death and couldn't accept it for a long time, after which her mental state plummeted.
Ultimately, what completely devastated her mother was the death of her father, Chen Yuandong, which came without any warning.
Her father used to be a carpenter, and he was known for his excellent skills in Dai County. He had a good reputation and was never short of work.
On an ordinary afternoon, Chen Yuandong was riding his motorcycle to the construction site to catch up on work when he got into a car accident and died on the spot. From then on, only the three of them remained in the family.
The year Chen Yuandong passed away was the first year after Chen Yaoan graduated from university. In order to take care of her mother and grandmother, Chen Yaoan had to quit her job and return to Dai County.
Chen Yuandong had always had a good income. Knowing that she liked painting, he encouraged her to study it. Later, when she went to university, he further encouraged her to choose fashion design.
After returning to Dai County, she used Chen Yuandong's savings, the compensation from the car accident, and some of her own savings to open this clothing studio.
They live in a small, backward place, so there's bound to be some gossip and idle chatter.
These gossips often reached her ears, saying that the women in her family were all unlucky for men, and that none of the men in the family lived long lives, which was why no one wanted her daughter.
Especially as Chen Yao'an gets older, and she is never seen dating, these rumors and gossip increase.
Yan Shumei continued to nag, "You're not getting any younger, it's time you found someone."
"Grandma, let them say what they want, why do you take those words to heart?"
Yan Shumei was clearly furious. "You should find a good man to shut them up!"
I don't think it's necessary.
Upon hearing this, Yan Shumei exploded, "What do you mean 'unnecessary'? Are you planning to never get married?!"
She has always believed that women should get married and have children as early as possible.
Chen Yaoan didn't want to argue with her. Yan Shumei was old and sometimes particularly stubborn, with outdated ideas. She felt that they should just live their own lives.
"I'm going to the store." Without giving Yan Shumei a chance to nag any further, Chen Yao'an left directly.
Yan Shumei couldn't stop Chen Yao'an, but staying at home only made her angrier.
As it was getting late afternoon, she figured the elderly folks would be out for a stroll and a chat, so she leaned on her cane and headed outside.
Before leaving, she went to check on Zhou Yao in the main house. Zhou Yao was fiddling with the TV in the living room. "You stay home and take care of yourself. I'm going out for a bit."
Zhou Yao glanced at her, and without knowing whether she understood, nodded.
Yan Shumei then took the key and opened the gate. After going out, she turned back and closed it again. Then, leaning on her cane, she slowly walked out of the alley.
Xiaxin Street is the main street, and when there's nothing to do, the elderly people in the neighborhood often gather here to chat and gossip.
Before she even got close, Yan Shumei had already spotted the culprits behind the gossip.
She leaned on her cane, trying to quicken her pace. The cane struck the ground with a thud, as if she were about to start a fight.
Hearing the sound of crutches, everyone turned to look at her.
Before the people even got close, Yan Shumei couldn't wait to start her outburst, glaring at them and demanding, "Are you people spreading rumors about our family?"
Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed, and some even nervously looked away.
Some of the quick-witted ones immediately retorted, "What are you talking about? Why would we gossip about your family?"
Yan Shumei said with a stern face, "Who else could it be but you? Don't think I didn't hear you!"
Everyone immediately fell silent upon hearing this; it seemed she had caught them red-handed.
Yan Shumei slammed her cane on the ground, glaring fiercely at one of the old men. "Old Zheng! You're so old, why can't you watch your mouth? You'll regret it!"
Yan Shumei's words were harsh, and Old Man Zheng immediately disregarded the friendship between neighbors and glared at her: "How dare you talk like that! You're the one who'll die a horrible death! Did I say anything wrong? Everyone in the entire Yao'an Town knows about your family's situation. We were just chatting for fun, what's wrong with that? Can't we even speak?"
Yan Shumei was so angry she gasped for breath, "Whatever my family is like, it's none of your business to talk about it! You old fool!"
"You old hag!"
Seeing the two arguing in the street, people around them quickly intervened, saying, "Stop arguing, you're both old, don't get sick from getting so angry."
"We're all neighbors, let's all compromise."
"Yeah yeah."
So someone went up and pulled Old Man Zheng away.
Old Zheng was pulled aside, and Yan Shumei looked at the others, "I'm telling you this now, if anyone ever speaks ill of our family again, I will absolutely not let them off!"
Seeing her imposing manner, no one dared to utter a sound.
After uttering those harsh words, Yan Shumei huffed and puffed as she walked away, leaning on her cane.
After walking for a long time, Yan Shumei realized that this was not a place she often went to.
Since her legs became weak, she rarely travels far, and her daily activities are basically limited to the area around Xiaxin Street. She was just confused by anger.
She looked around at the streets, which were already quite unfamiliar, and thought that since she was already out, she might as well take a look around and walk a little further before slowly walking back.
She walked a little further with her crutches when an electric scooter came speeding towards her.
She was slow to react and had no time to dodge. The person riding the electric bike had obviously just noticed her and didn't have time to slow down. In a moment of panic, he could only slightly adjust his direction.
Finally, the electric scooter grazed past Yan Shumei. Startled, Yan Shumei instinctively tried to dodge, but her legs wouldn't obey her, and she fell heavily to the ground.
The person riding the electric bike looked back angrily, muttered a curse under his breath, and without any intention of stopping to check, sped off.
Yan Shumei fell to the ground and couldn't get up for a while. She was both angry and anxious, and could only struggle on the ground.
Just then, Xu Jialan came out of a supermarket after buying water.
As a result, he bumped into Yan Shumei and fell to the ground.
He naturally stepped forward to ask what was wrong: "Grandma, are you alright?"
"fine."
Yan Shumei was strong-willed and struggled on the ground a few more times, trying to get up.
Seeing that she was struggling, Xu Jialan quickly reached out to help her.
Yan Shumei was very stubborn; she pushed his hand away and insisted on doing it herself.
Xu Jialan guessed that she must have fallen and injured herself, and finally helped her up with a bit of force.
"I'll take you to the hospital."
"No need." Yan Shumei was in a very irritable mood and was exceptionally stubborn.
"They're bleeding."
Yan Shumei glanced down and saw bloodstains on her clothes. She immediately felt guilty. If Chen Yao'an found out, he would blame her for running around.
Yan Shumei was in a dilemma. It seemed she couldn't go back on her own, and she also needed to treat her leg injury. In the end, she had no choice but to compromise, "Could you please take me to the hospital?"
“Okay.” Xu Jialan readily agreed.
Xu Jialan quickly took the person to the hospital. While waiting for the doctor, he asked Yan Shumei, "Do you have your family's phone number? I'll call them and have them come pick you up."
Yan Shumei remained silent.
Xu Jialan could tell she didn't want to talk, "I have something to do later, so I can't stay any longer."
The meaning is obvious; this is all he can do to help.
Xu Jialan got up to leave.
In recent years, Yan Shumei has rarely left her home, and she rarely goes to the hospital. The sight of people coming and going makes her dizzy, and she feels anxious when no one is with her.
Although the person in front of me is also a stranger, we had at least spent several tens of minutes together before.
Relatively speaking, Xu Jialan is more reliable in front of me.
Yan Shumei has an old-fashioned mobile phone with a few phone numbers saved on it. She pulled out the phone number saved as Yaoyao and handed it to him, saying, "This is my granddaughter's phone number."
Xu Jialan dialed the number on her mobile phone.
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