Hua Xiangyun looked at Hua Zhian as if she were being unreasonable, "Second brother, you clearly said before that I was your only little sister, but why are you calling Zhou Xiaolan little sister now?"
Let me tell you, I don't have any sisters. If I were to actually date Zhou Xiaolan in the future, I definitely wouldn't talk to you.
"How could that be?" Hua Zhian quickly assured him, "I just said it offhand. How can she compare to you, little sister? I promise I won't call her that anymore."
"You still want to have anything to do with her?" Tian Guihua retorted angrily. "Have you forgotten the feud between our two families?"
"No contact, no contact. I won't even acknowledge her if I see her on the street from now on," Hua Zhian quickly promised.
“This isn’t something my second brother could do alone. After all, we all live in the same courtyard, and we’re bound to bump into each other when we come and go,” Li Lijuan, who had been quiet all along, said.
Hua Zhian was overjoyed that there were still people in his family who understood him, and he gave his sister-in-law a grateful look.
But Li Lijuan's next words made the smile on his face crack.
"In our supply and marketing cooperative, we've heard many versions of women pursuing men."
Some female comrades have resorted to all sorts of methods to avoid going to the countryside.
Even married men can be accused of indecent assault simply for accidentally hugging someone.
In order not to implicate his entire family, he eventually had to divorce his wife and later married this woman.
A guy like my second brother can achieve his goal without them even needing to ruin his reputation. Do you think there might be another trick up his sleeve?
Li Lijuan has already made herself so clear, everyone understands. Even if he ignores Zhou Xiaolan, so what? If she really has a scheme in mind, he really can't guard against it.
“That can’t be right,” Hua Zhian thought Zhou Xiaolan shouldn’t be that kind of person, after all, the two of them had been very well-behaved in their interactions these past few days.
If she really wanted to harm me, she would have plenty of opportunities.
“Why is that impossible?” Hua Zhiping stood up to support his wife. “This kind of thing happens countless times in this county every year, it’s just that this year has not yet started.”
Is it too late to take precautions when things have already happened?
You've been working in the countryside for two years now, I don't believe those people will behave themselves just to go back to the city.
Hua Zhian was stumped by the question. He had indeed seen this kind of thing many times. Many women never went to the countryside again after returning home. The news he heard was that they got married. Everyone knew that they couldn't endure it and just found someone to settle for.
Could it be that Zhou Xiaolan's recent closeness has also created a thorn in his side? Yes, even though they live in the same courtyard, aren't there too many chances of them bumping into each other?
Seeing the boy deep in thought, Hua Xiangyun finally breathed a sigh of relief. Now that this thorn had been planted, she would see how Zhou Xiaolan would remove it.
However, today was a bit of a surprise to her. Usually, when they discussed family matters, her sister-in-law would not interrupt, but today was quite unusual.
Li Lijuan noticed her sister-in-law's gaze and smiled at her.
She doesn't usually like to get involved, but she's not stupid either. When Hua Zhian gets married, it will be extremely important to the family, especially to her, his sister-in-law.
With Zhou Xiaolan's personality, how could the whole family possibly have peace?
She's about to give birth, not only for herself, but also for her child to have a peaceful family environment to grow up in.
She likes the current family atmosphere very much, and doesn't want Zhou Xiaolan to ruin it.
The scheming in that girl's eyes was too obvious. In the past, when her sister-in-law interacted with her, she couldn't always interrupt, otherwise outsiders would think that she couldn't tolerate her sister-in-law and liked to nitpick.
But things are different now. The two families are at odds, which wouldn't have affected her before, but if she wants to marry into the Hua family, it would infringe on her interests, so how could she not speak up?
Given her personality, it's clear she and Zhou Xiaolan wouldn't get along, not to mention the Zhou family she can't shake off.
Hua Zhiping walked over and pulled the person into Hua Zhiping's room, saying, "Let's have a talk, you two brothers."
Hua Guangzong let the two brothers talk, hoping that the boy would listen and observe more, and not always be so naive.
"Alright, let's eat first," Tian Guihua said, though she was angry, she couldn't ignore the family.
The food was prepared a long time ago, and thankfully the weather is gradually warming up, otherwise it would have gotten cold by now.
Bai Ailian also brought Zhou Xiaolan to the room. "How are things on your end? If you still can't win over that Hua family boy, then you'll have to listen to your mother. Although the matchmaker introduced you to a divorced man with a child, at least he has a temporary job and won't have to go to the countryside."
Bai Ailian was testing the waters. She knew her own daughter well and had plenty of ideas.
By bringing up this person now, she is also urging Zhou Xiaolan to make a decision quickly.
She didn't want to raise such a grown daughter and then send her to the countryside, where she could marry some peasant. She'd be miserable.
Zhou Xiaolan said, "Mom, we have to take it slowly. You know the Hua family must have a lot of opinions about me. I don't know how many bad things they've said about me behind my back."
Besides, if this goes through, who knows how much trouble it will cause? Will you and Dad really help me then?
“Of course, we’re family.” Bai Ailian thought for a moment and then said, “We’ve already agreed that no matter who you marry in the future, the betrothal gifts will definitely stay at home.”
"And the 'three turns and one sound' (referring to a set of three round watches, one watch, and one radio), not one can be missing. Your brother and I also need to get big red envelopes."
Zhou Xiaolan lowered her head and said, "Mom, your daughter isn't a fairy. You're making things too difficult for me. With these conditions, who would dare to come and ask for my hand in marriage?"
Bai Ailian: "Why not? The family I just mentioned agreed to this."
And you don't have to become a housewife as soon as you arrive; they'll even provide you with a temporary job, which is much better than the Hua family's.
It would be very difficult to get that old woman from the Hua family to arrange a job for you. Even if you want to work in the future, you'll probably have to wait until Hua Baoguo and the others retire.
Not to mention, their family still has that brat Hua Xiangyun. Even if she steals Jiang Yi away, she might not necessarily get the job; that depends on the Hua family.
Bai Ailian frowned, naturally annoyed that her ideal son-in-law had slipped away.
"Do you think that girl used some dirty tricks?"
Zhou Xiaolan also made this guess: even if Hua Xiangyun looks beautiful now that she's dressed up, people forget that she still has a scar on her forehead, and that she was previously covered up tightly.
“What’s the point of saying all this now? The news has already spread.” Zhou Xiaolan said maliciously. “And it’s probably not just us who have this idea. Many people are probably talking about it. Hua Xiangyun used underhanded methods to date Jiang Yi.”
Bai Ailian pinched her arm hard, but Zhou Xiaolan gritted her teeth and dared not make a sound. "So what's the use of raising a daughter like you? Look how clever other people are."
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