Chapter 24 tells her to give up participating in the cultural troupe's audition...
As soon as he said that, the surroundings fell silent.
Ye Yingtao was somewhat shocked by him. She took two steps back. "Comrade Qi, are you kidding me?"
Qi Changming: "No."
"I'm not joking with you, I really do want to marry you."
He knew very well that his father was back and would definitely force him to marry Meng Yingying, even though they had already broken off their engagement.
He still needs to marry her.
His father is a very stubborn person.
Only if he gets married early and has a wife will his father prevent him from marrying Meng Yingying.
Ye Yingtao was a very smart person, and she understood Qi Changming's meaning in an instant: "Are you afraid of marrying Meng Yingying?"
"But didn't you already annul your engagement?"
Qi Changming didn't want to explain the issue. He said, "If you're willing to marry me, we'll go to the civil affairs office to get our marriage certificate tomorrow morning."
Ye Yingtao remained silent. She had actually given up on Qi Changming. She married for better conditions, but she also wanted to live a good life.
She said tactfully, "We're not a good match."
Qi Changming was taken aback when Ye Yingtao rejected him. He was stunned for a moment. "What's wrong with it?"
“Comrade Ye, neither of us is married. I am young, healthy, and a local of Harbin. Moreover, both of my parents are cadres. Normally, we would not have to worry about making a living after we get married.”
Ye Yingtao smiled, "That was what I was thinking too."
"But," she changed the subject, "first, you have a childhood betrothal partner, and second," she smiled frankly, "your mother and I probably don't get along."
"With your mother's temper, I'm afraid I won't have a good life if I marry you."
"Comrade Qi," she said with some difficulty, "it's precisely because I like you that I can't marry you. I don't want you to argue with your mother because of me, putting you in a difficult position."
Upon hearing this, Qi Changming was deeply moved. "Don't worry, once we get married, we'll move out."
"Didn't I retire from the military and change careers?"
"I will first transfer to the Civil Affairs Bureau for a period of time, and then I will go to the railway bureau where my uncle works. Whether it is the former or the latter, there will be housing allocation quotas."
"So, I don't need to live with my mother anymore."
Of course, he himself didn't want to live with Chen Xiulan either.
Ye Yingtao was genuinely tempted, but she still didn't give in. "You dare to defy your mother?"
She could tell from before that Chen Xiulan was a very assertive person, while Qi Changming was the kind of person who was indecisive and was mostly controlled by his mother, Chen Xiulan.
Qi Changming said without any hesitation, "It's perfectly normal for people to move out after getting married."
"There's no point in resisting or not resisting."
Ye Yingtao looked at Qi Changming's face, somewhat tempted, but still weighing the pros and cons, "Let me think about it."
Give me one night to think about it.
Qi Changming hesitated for a moment, "Then you'd better hurry up. If you want to get a marriage certificate with me, you should do it before my dad comes back from outside, otherwise I'm afraid you won't have the chance."
Ye Yingtao was not surprised by this answer.
"I'll think about it."
"However," she suddenly asked before going inside, "Are you sure you and Meng Yingying should back out?"
She didn't want to be a third party, stealing someone else's love.
Qi Changming: "I'm withdrawing."
"I asked Commander Qi to help me retrieve my engagement token, and that completely dissolved the engagement."
Ye Yingtao hummed in agreement, then turned back and smiled at him, "Give me one night to think about it."
She had a round face, and because she was in a hurry to come out, she was wearing a dance costume, her limbs were slender, and she had a big smile on her face.
To be honest, Ye Yingtao is quite beautiful, and as a dancer, she also has a certain elegance.
This left Qi Changming somewhat dazed.
"I'm waiting for your good news."
"If you'd like, let's meet at the Civil Affairs Bureau entrance at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."
He thought that perhaps he wasn't so averse to Ye Yingtao anymore.
Marrying a beautiful girl like Ye Yingtao is better than being forced to marry Meng Yingying, that 300-pound fat woman.
When Ye Yingtao returned, the dance practice room was still in session, and she danced absentmindedly for a while. That evening, she and Lin Qiu shared a dormitory room.
The two had a good relationship.
Then he asked, somewhat conflicted.
"Lin Qiu, Qi Changming wants me to marry him. If you were in his shoes, would you agree?"
Lin Qiu, who was drinking water, was stunned by the question. "Why does he want to marry you? Doesn't he have a childhood sweetheart?"
“Yes,” Ye Yingtao said, also with a headache. “He said he broke off his engagement with Meng Yingying, so he wants to marry me.”
Lin Qiu stopped drinking water, walked up to Ye Yingtao, and asked her, "What are you thinking?"
Ye Yingtao truthfully said, "I used to really want to marry Qi Changming because he has a promising future in the garrison, plus he is a local and his parents are both cadres. If I really married him, he could support me and the children when I get old and can't jump anymore and retire from the army."
Lin Qiu stared in astonishment.
Ye Yingtao raised her hand and slapped her, "Don't laugh at me, I'm just asking you, are the things I've considered correct?"
"Is being a performing arts soldier a job that only lasts a short time? How many of us can get promoted? And those who don't get promoted still have to leave the army anyway. Rather than leaving the army and going back to our hometown to find a mediocre partner, we might as well stay in the unit, pick a good one in advance, and settle down for marriage."
Lin Qiu couldn't help but say, "You've really thought things through."
“I’m telling you, you should learn from this,” Ye Yingtao said. “If we girls don’t think about ourselves, there are very few people in this world who will think about us.”
“They all have their own interests, while our interests are focused on ourselves.”
Lin Qiu was a little confused and puzzled. "Since you think Qi Changming meets all your criteria, why don't you agree to marry him?"
Ye Yingtao choked, "I'm not sure either."
"Qi Changming is indecisive. I think I can win him over, but I'm not sure about his mother. She's a very shrewd and assertive person. If I marry him and Qi Changming doesn't stand by my side, then I'll be bullied to death."
"Lin Qiu."
Ye Yingtao lay on the bunk bed, rolling around with her pillow in her arms, and wailed, "I want to get married as soon as possible, not to be reincarnated as soon as possible!"
"With Chen Xiulan's mother-in-law, if I married Qi Changming, it would be like courting death."
Lin Qiu stopped drinking water and sat down by Ye Yingtao's bedside. "So, do you want to get married or not?"
Ye Yingtao removed the pillow, revealing a look of utter despair. "I don't know either."
"Qi Changming was originally my target, but after I got him, I found that he was neither satisfying to eat nor worth giving up."
"If I don't marry him, I'm afraid I won't be able to find someone with a good family background like Qi Changming later on."
“But I’ll marry him.” She gritted her teeth. “The thought of dealing with Chen Xiulan, this seemingly kind but actually cunning mother-in-law, makes me incredibly irritable.”
Seeing her like this, Lin Qiu said, "Since you're hesitant, then don't rush into marriage."
She was someone who was wholeheartedly devoted to dancing, so she advised, "Anyway, we're doing quite well in the performing arts troupe."
Seeing Lin Qiu like this, Ye Yingtao couldn't help but say, "I wish I were as innocent as you."
"Why do I feel like you're insulting me?" Lin Qiu rolled her eyes at her. "Forget it, why don't you wait for Meng Yingying to come over tomorrow morning and see what she thinks before making a decision?"
"To be honest, Cherry, I always felt that Qi Changming, who already had a childhood sweetheart, still wanted to marry you. He doesn't seem like a good person."
What kind of good man would do such a thing?
Ye Yingtao remained silent, clearly moved by Lin Qiu's words. She lowered her eyes and said, "Then I'll think about it."
"I'll talk to Meng Yingying tomorrow." She hesitated for a moment. "However, he asked me to meet him at the Civil Affairs Bureau at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."
Lin Qiu was shocked, "You guys are fast?"
"Do you think I should go or not?"
Lin Qiu sneered, "Go to hell! Qi Changming came from the garrison, has he forgotten? We need to apply for a marriage certificate to get married. She didn't even apply for one, so how can she get married? Is he trying to fool you?"
Ye Yingtao then realized, "That bastard tricked me!"
If she goes to the Civil Affairs Bureau tomorrow morning, she's a dog!
*
At the Qi family home, Chen Xiulan couldn't eat or sleep, just waiting for her son Qi Changming to come back and see how things were going on his end.
If Ye Yingtao agrees, the pressure on their side will be less.
Chen Xiulan waited and waited, and finally at 8:30, Qi Changming arrived. The moment she saw her son return, Chen Xiulan couldn't help but stand up to greet him. Before asking any questions, she glanced outside the door.
After the neighbors in the tenement building had all rested, she finally felt relieved and pulled Qi Changming inside, lowering her voice, "How was it?"
"Did Ye Yingtao agree to your request?"
Qi Changming shook his head. "She said she needs to think about it for one night."
Upon hearing this, Chen Xiulan's face immediately darkened. "She has a new choice, so she's been keeping you hooked."
Qi Changming subconsciously replied, "No."
Why is that?
Qi Changming refused to give any further reasons. He couldn't very well say that Ye Yingtao didn't want to marry him because she discovered his mother was not an easy person to deal with after getting to know her.
He hesitated and stammered.
Chen Xiulan frowned, her shrewd eyes full of questioning, "What exactly did she say to you?"
Qi Changming didn't want to say it at first, but after being questioned repeatedly by Chen Xiulan, he also became annoyed. He said, "She used to like me, but because of you, she can't marry me."
"What?"
"You still don't understand?"
Qi Changming roared, "She just doesn't want you to be her mother-in-law, she doesn't want to marry me."
Do I really have to put it so harshly?
Chen Xiulan nearly collapsed. She had been holding back her temper for days, but finally couldn't take it anymore. She raised her hand and slapped Qi Changming across the face. "Don't you even know who I'm doing all this for?!"
"Qi Changming, everyone can criticize me, but you can't!"
As soon as he said that, Qi Changming fell silent. He regretted it as soon as he said it, but he couldn't bring himself to apologize to his mother.
"What's wrong?"
Qi Changming's elder brother and sister-in-law returned, having heard the rumors and rushed back. Qi Changming's elder brother, Qi Changcheng, is twenty-nine years old. He has a typical long and thin face with a somewhat pointed chin, which makes him look less masculine.
"Changming, why did you argue with Mom?"
Qi Changcheng was a filial son.
Naturally, the first thing she said was to criticize her younger brother.
Qi Changming remained silent.
When Chen Xiulan saw her eldest son return, she immediately felt reassured and recounted everything.
"That's basically it. Your brother has already broken off his engagement with Meng Yingying, but you also know that your father is coming back. Even if they broke off the engagement, it won't matter. According to your father's plan, he will definitely force your brother to repay his debt of gratitude by marrying Meng Yingying."
"I originally planned to have your brother marry that girl from the performing arts troupe, Ye Yingtao, after they broke off the engagement. But Ye Yingtao has now changed her mind and said she needs to think about it."
"Now things are really difficult. Your brother can't marry Ye Yingtao, Meng Yingying won't leave the garrison, and your father is coming back. Don't you think this is a dead end?"
Chen Xiulan was so anxious that her mouth was covered in blisters, but her precious son was still complaining about her.
Chen Xiulan really wanted to beat him to death.
Qi Changcheng astutely saw the crux of the problem: "If Changming can't get married, then forget it."
"Anyway, we had already discussed his marriage from the beginning, and we would try our best to marry him."
He married a woman from a poor background, and only after joining his workplace did he realize how far behind his colleagues who married the daughter of a leader were.
Therefore, his younger brother's marriage will be a bargaining chip in his hands.
"The most important thing now is to get Meng Yingying out of Harbin. We can't let her stay in the stationed team, and we certainly can't let her join the cultural troupe."
“My dad won’t give up until she’s gone far away and I don’t know where she is. Only then will he give up.”
"Mom, Changming, you've complicated things. Asking someone else to marry you or annul the engagement is not as good as getting rid of Meng Yingying."
As soon as he said that, Qi Changming and Chen Xiulan both looked over.
"Why are you looking at me? Go and solve the problem where it is, instead of you all having pointless arguments here."
Qi Changcheng's face was thin, with no flesh on his cheekbones. He looked just like Chen Xiulan. When he was scheming, he seemed a bit cold-hearted.
“You can argue a hundred times, but as long as Meng Yingying joins the performing arts troupe and stays in Harbin, even if Changming doesn’t marry her, my dad will still bring her to his door and give her things once he knows she’s here. That’s the real issue.”
Chen Xiulan had never thought about it this way; she was blinded by her own involvement.
Otherwise, I wouldn't have thought of this place.
You mean?
"Just kick Meng Yingying out of Harbin."
Qi Changcheng nodded. "As long as she's not around, Changming is safe. Even if my dad has a lot of ideas, it's all in vain."
Qi Changming, who was standing next to him, hesitated for a moment and explained in a low voice, "Isn't that a bit unfair?"
"I want to annul the engagement." Seeing that his mother and brother had seen through it, Qi Changming's momentum weakened a bit. "But I never intended to make Meng Yingying disappear completely."
He knew his older brother's temperament; calling him ruthless wouldn't be an exaggeration.
However, Meng Yingying was nothing more than an unwanted childhood sweetheart to him. There was no deep-seated hatred between them, so why did he have to kill her?
Qi Changcheng frowned upon hearing this. "Changming, if you continue to be so indecisive, you'll only have yourself to blame if you marry Meng Yingying."
"No poison, no manhood. If you want to live well and have a good life, and you can't even do this one thing, then you deserve to have a bad life."
As soon as Qi Changcheng finished speaking, his wife Huang Zhizhi couldn't help but look up at him.
She couldn't help but wonder, is he like that too?!
Qi Changcheng didn't take her seriously, so when his wife saw him, he just glared at her coldly before issuing an ultimatum to Qi Changming.
"I'll give you three minutes to think it over. If you agree with my idea, I'll help you get rid of Meng Yingying before Dad comes back. If you don't agree, then you'll have to face Dad yourself and marry Meng Yingying yourself. As the eldest brother, I won't interfere."
Qi Changming didn't want to use Qi Changcheng's method, so he settled for second best: "I still have Ye Yingtao. As long as Ye Yingtao is willing to marry me, I can solve both Meng Yingying and my father."
"We've made an appointment. If she agrees, we'll meet at the Civil Affairs Bureau at nine o'clock tomorrow morning to get our marriage certificate."
Qi Changcheng twitched the corner of his mouth, somewhat mocking his younger brother's naivety, "If Ye Yingtao really wanted to marry you, you wouldn't be arguing with Mom here right now."
"Changming, I'll teach you one more time today. Remember this: in this life, don't place your hopes on others, but on yourself. Ask yourself what you can do."
"This is the real issue. As the saying goes, 'Man proposes, God disposes,' and this is exactly it."
Qi Changming was silent for a moment, his face showing struggle, but when he opened his eyes again, he had made up his mind. "Big brother, what do you want to do?"
"Didn't you say that Meng Yingying was going to the performing arts troupe for an audition?"
“By cutting off her means of survival, she could no longer live in Heilongjiang Province, and leaving her with no other option was to leave.”
The room fell silent instantly.
Qi Changming subconsciously said, "How could Meng Yingying, a fat woman weighing 300 pounds, possibly pass the audition for the performing arts troupe?"
"What if she really passes the assessment?" Qi Changcheng looked at his younger brother. "Are you really planning to let Meng Yingying stay and work in the art troupe, so that she'll be under the watchful eye of the Qi family for the rest of her life?"
“You know what kind of person Dad is. If he knew that Meng Yingying works here, don’t worry, all of us will put up a lower priority after Meng Yingying.”
The key point is that Meng Yingying's existence infringes on the interests of everyone in the Qi family.
"Boss, what do you want to do?"
Chen Xiulan listened to the whole thing. Compared to her son Qi Changming's indecisiveness, she was much more decisive. "Don't worry about Changming. We'll do it. Eldest son, you tell me what to do and I'll do it."
Qi Changcheng glanced at his younger brother, Qi Changming, who remained silent, which he took as tacit agreement. He then said, "It's very simple. There are plenty of ways to find out where Meng Yingying lives so that she can't go to the cultural troupe's assessment tomorrow."
"Diarrhea, sprained ankle, oversleeping—anything goes."
Qi Changming couldn't listen anymore. After all, he came from a military unit. Even if he wanted to break off his engagement with Meng Yingying, he never thought that anything would happen to her.
"Brother, don't you think these methods are too despicable?"
Qi Changcheng sneered, "Then do you have a good idea?"
Qi Changming didn't. He took a deep breath and said, "Let's talk to Meng Yingying first and ask her to give up the cultural troupe assessment. If she gives up voluntarily, we won't resort to these underhanded methods."
Qi Changcheng sneered, "Changming, you seem to have forgotten who we are considering."
If it weren't for Qi Changming, they wouldn't have come up with such underhanded methods here.
Qi Changming knew his elder brother was mocking him, and his face turned ugly. "If we don't even talk and just come to this, elder brother, I will regret it for the rest of my life."
“I don’t want to marry Meng Yingying, but I’ve thought about ruining her.”
Seeing Qi Changming's persistence.
Qi Changcheng pinched the bridge of his nose. "Who will go to negotiate?"
In the end, they compromised.
No one spoke.
"Me, go talk to him?" Qi Changcheng pointed to his nose, but his words were immediately rejected by his wife, Huang Zhizhi. "It's not appropriate for you to go talk to him. How can you, as the elder brother-in-law, go to meet your younger brother's childhood sweetheart?"
"This is not appropriate."
Chen Xiulan thought for a moment, then said, "I'll go."
"As the future mother-in-law, I will go and meet Meng Yingying."
She didn't want to show her face, otherwise she wouldn't have expected Qi Donghan to negotiate with Meng Yingying to annul the engagement. But according to her eldest son, they couldn't avoid meeting now.
"I just hope that Meng Yingying won't cling to me after seeing me."
Huang Zhizhi lowered her head and pouted, thinking to herself, "Why is Meng Yingying bothering an old woman like you?"
Unfortunately, as a daughter-in-law, she couldn't say these things, otherwise she would have definitely given her a piece of her mind.
Having made the decision, Chen Xiulan quickly took action.
She arrived at the garrison's guesthouse at just six o'clock in the morning, found the receptionist, and said, "Comrade, could you please contact Meng Yingying, who's staying here, and tell her—"
Fearing rejection from the receptionist, she fabricated a story: "Her future mother-in-law came to meet her."
"Please make sure she comes down to see me."
Xiao Qin was on the night shift, and it was still a bit early. She yawned and stared at Chen Xiulan for a while with some suspicion. Seeing that Chen Xiulan was a respectable person, she got up and said, "I'll go ask for you, but whether the other party comes or not is their business."
"Thank you for your help."
Xiao Qin ran very fast, went straight to the second floor, found Meng Yingying, and skillfully knocked on the door.
There was no other reason than that she knew Meng Yingying, because the person who checked her in was Commander Qi.
It would be difficult for her not to know him even if she wanted to.
Meng Yingying was going to the performing arts troupe for an audition today, and she couldn't sleep all morning, so she decided to practice dancing in her room. When she heard a knock on the door, she was a little wary and breathed heavily, "Who is it?"
Sweat rolled down her cheeks, leaving them flushed.
"It's me, Qin from the front desk."
"Comrade Meng, there is a woman outside who claims to be your future mother-in-law and wants to meet you."
Upon hearing this, Meng Yingying frowned. She walked to the door, opened it, and refused decisively, "Little Qin, just tell her I won't see her."
She didn't think she had anything to say to the other person.
Since they've broken off the engagement, they're now from two different worlds.
As for the title of "future mother-in-law," it sounds rather unlucky.
"Such arrogance."
It turned out that Chen Xiulan had secretly followed Xiao Qin upstairs without anyone noticing. As soon as she reached the corridor, she heard Meng Yingying refuse to see her.
Who is Chen Xiulan?
Such a proud and arrogant person.
He was immediately displeased, and before he even arrived, a reprimand came over: "Didn't your parents teach you to respect your elders?"
Meng Yingying took a deep breath, her porcelain-white face tense, and said with a forced smile, "My parents taught me to respect my elders, but—"
She changed the subject, raising her voice slightly, "Did your mother teach you to act like a senior citizen?"
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Author's note: Good talk!
The second and third updates have been combined into one!
P.S.: The red envelopes for chapters 16-20 have been drawn. Congratulations to the lucky winners!
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