Chapter 60: Keeping several gigolos?
Xu Yancheng clenched his fists, took Ruan Anan in his arms and was about to leave.
"An An, let's go home!"
Ruan Anan shook her head and walked to Zhu Lijuan to apologize.
"Principal Zhu, I'm sorry."
Ruan Anan meant this "I'm sorry" sincerely.
She just wanted to teach Qi Sisi a lesson.
Who would have thought that Principal Zhu’s scar would be exposed!
Zhu Lijuan took the enamel cup handed to her by Qi Changan, took a sip of warm tea, and regained her composure.
"Comrade Ruan, this isn't your fault. We are the ones who should be sorry. It's our family that didn't raise our daughter well."
Qi Changan also sighed.
"That's right. It's all because we, as parents, didn't teach our daughter well... Let's eat first and talk while we eat."
Can you still eat this meal?
Ruan Anan stood there, neither able to advance nor retreat.
Xu Yancheng just wanted to take his wife away from this troubled place immediately.
"Captain Qi, Principal Zhu, An An was frightened today. How about I take her back first?"
But Zhu Lijuan's hand was like an iron clamp, holding Ruan Anan's wrist tightly without letting go.
"An An, I made your favorite dish. Can you please eat it before you leave? There's nothing shameful about this. It makes me feel uneasy if I don't say it."
Since Zhu Lijuan said so, Ruan Anan couldn't bear to refuse and could only nod and agree.
Finally, the five of them sat down around the mottled old wooden table.
On the island in the early 1970s, this meal was quite sumptuous.
The tempting and shiny braised pork, the perfectly steamed sea fish, and the spicy and fragrant stir-fried oysters.
There are also green water spinach, sauce-colored cold tofu and crispy pickled cucumbers.
Zhu Lijuan picked up a piece of braised pork with fat and lean strips and placed it in Ruan Anan's bowl. "Sisi's cousin is my aunt's cousin. My uncle married into the Zhu family, so my cousin has our surname, Zhu."
"The Zhu and Qi families had an engagement, but my cousin looked down on the Qi family, who were so poor at the time."
A trace of bitterness appeared on Zhu Lijuan's lips. "She cried and made a fuss, refusing to marry no matter what. My family had no choice but to change our marriage."
"Who would have thought that the young capitalist my cousin married would abandon them, an orphan and a widow, and run off to Taiwan with his family. And Old Qi..."
She glanced at her silent husband beside her, with complicated emotions in her eyes.
"With his unwavering determination, he earned great fame."
"When my cousin was four months pregnant, the man and his family ran away! My cousin and I gave birth in Hai City around the same time, but not long after I came out of confinement, I received a transfer order to come to Nansha Island to build a primary school."
"The conditions on the island were really tough back then. We were exposed to the wind and sun, and even getting clean water was difficult."
Zhu Lijuan's voice dropped, filled with heartache. "I couldn't bear to see my child suffer, so I left Sisi at my parents' home in Hai City, thinking I'd bring her back when conditions improved. She stayed until she was fourteen or fifteen."
"So, Sisi is closer to her aunt than to me, her biological mother."
She said this very softly, but with an indescribable sense of loss.
"Comrade Ruan," Zhu Lijuan refocused her gaze on Ruan Anan's face, her eyes unusually earnest. "I'm not telling you this to defend myself. I'm afraid that because of what happened today, you might have formed an opinion of me and be unwilling to consider teaching at Nansha Primary School."
"Sisi has been brought back for eight years, and this kind of farce isn't the first time."
She gave a wry smile, filled with deep fatigue and self-mockery. "I've already lost all my face because of this daughter. But Comrade Ruan, the children on the island are innocent!"
"They were born and raised on the island, and many of them have never seen the outside world! You've studied abroad and are knowledgeable! You can come and teach them, broaden their horizons, and then they'll have something to strive for, and will truly work hard to change their own destiny!"
Zhu Lijuan's eyes were red, and her tone was almost pleading, "So... I beg you, please think about it carefully, okay?"
Seeing Zhu Lijuan begging him without caring about her reputation for the sake of her child, Ruan Anan felt a sudden pang of pain in her nose.
What a strong and great woman!
Her value goes far beyond the title of the chief's wife.
The hard work she put into island education should not be ignored because of a disobedient daughter.
Qi Changan nodded gravely, his voice hoarse, "We've seen Comrade Ruan's abilities. Sisi was wrong today, and I know a simple apology won't change anything. But the reason she's like this is because of us as parents, so you can beat her or scold her if you want."
"Uncle! Aunt!" Gao Ruoyun, who had been holding back her emotions, finally couldn't help herself and interrupted quickly, "Do you think my cousin lacks love? I don't think so!"
"She's at her cousin's house in Hai City, living like a real little lady! Everything is provided for her, and she's even more pampered than her cousin's own son! She's just blaming you for dragging her from Hai City's affluence to this island, where she can't live a life of luxury, so she's throwing all kinds of tantrums!"
Gao Ruoyun obviously hadn't finished speaking yet, and continued like a bamboo tube pouring beans: "Aunt, please don't be offended by what I'm saying. Your cousin is not a good person!"
"Ever since you brought Qi Sisi to the island eight years ago, she's been spreading the word that she and General Qi are a family of kin, connected as far as the bone is concerned! People who've relied on this connection to try to get her help in sending their children to the army have practically trampled down her doorstep!"
She never stopped talking until she was shocked. "Besides, I heard she used this name to support several gigolos! My parents have been asking me to find an opportunity to remind you."
"I'm a straightforward person, I can't beat around the bush, so I'll just say it straight! Instead of feeling guilty and blaming yourself, you two should think about how to protect your reputation and future! If you keep going like this, who knows what will become of you!"
Xu Yancheng and Ruan Anan glanced at each other quickly, both of them embarrassed.
Damn it! It's someone else's dirty laundry, and these two outsiders are listening in. What's wrong with that?
However, my cousin Qi Sisi eats really well!
He is truly a role model for our generation!
Xu Yancheng didn't know that Ruan Anan was envious of his cousin Qi Sisi. He was more worried.
Commander Qi was very kind to him and promoted him, and they were like father and son.
Now that his mentor has been thrust into the spotlight because of this unknown relative, how can he not be worried?
Ruan Anan caught the worry in Xu Yancheng's eyes, and only then realized the seriousness of the problem.
In her era, people were open-minded and keeping a gigolo was not a big deal.
But this was the 1970s! If your reputation got ruined, the consequences would be disastrous!
"I already know about this! That's why I shamelessly invited you to dinner."
Qi Changan stood up, opened the drawer, and took out a brown paper envelope.
He walked back to the table and pushed the envelope in front of Ruan Anan, "Comrade Ruan, take a look at this."
Ruan Anan's heart skipped a beat, and she gritted her teeth and took out the letter under the gazes of several people.
Her eyes swept across the elegant yet calculating handwriting, and her brows furrowed tighter and tighter.
"Qi Sisi's cousin is bringing her son to visit relatives on the island?"
"What?" Gao Ruoyun was so shocked that she almost spit out the food in her mouth. "Isn't it enough that she ruined my uncle and aunt's reputation in Hai City? She has to come all the way to the island to disturb their peace?"
"Old Qi!" Zhu Lijuan glared at her husband in disapproval. "Comrade Ruan has just arrived on the island and hasn't even found her feet yet, and you're bothering her with this mess? Aren't you just causing her trouble?"
"I really have no idea what to do!" Qi Changan's voice was full of helplessness.
"I've been thinking about it, and I feel like Comrade Ruan is the only one on the entire island who can cure her!"
Qi Changan had just heard Xu Yancheng in the kitchen say with his own ears how Ruan Anan planned to deal with Su Erhei and Lu He.
That thought and that skill opened the eyes of even this old army commander!
Deal with an old shrew like Zhu Wei who is persistent and full of bad intentions.
They are honest people who care about their reputation. They are no match for them at all!
This family is in urgent need of a "brain trust" who can calm the situation.
And Ruan Anan is the most suitable candidate.
Ruan Anan was so scared that her hands trembled, and she threw the letter back on the table like a hot potato.
"No, no! Commander, this is your family affair, it's inappropriate for an outsider like me to interfere!"
Xu Yancheng could no longer sit still and said in a serious tone, "Chief Qi, it's not that we are unkind as a couple, it's simply your family affair, and it's unjustifiable for outsiders like us to interfere."
After saying that, he stood up and was about to pull Ruan Anan away.
That "Zhu Wei" doesn't sound like a good person.
How could he let his delicate wife go against that old shrew?
What if I get hurt?!
"Wait...it doesn't have to be an outsider..."
Zhu Lijuan, who had been silent all the time, suddenly spoke.
"Old Qi, don't you always talk about not having a son?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
