Yang Tao was forced to go on a blind date
Of course, dinner that day was also eaten at Shan Jiqing's house. When Shan Jiqing returned home with his two friends, his mother Xu Jing was already busy in the kitchen. Seeing someone coming, she hurried out to entertain them.
"Nanbeibei, you're all here. Just find a place to sit. Auntie's still cooking. She'll bring it out to you when it's ready!"
Shan Jiqing explained, "My mom just got back from the art troupe. She doesn't usually cook, but today, she thought the nanny wasn't very good at cooking since you guys were coming, so she decided to cook for us. Also, my dad has something to do at work today, so he won't be coming home to eat with us."
Jian Jianan: "Is that so? Thank you, Auntie."
Jian Jianan was still holding Fish Maw in his arms. "I'm not sure if Auntie will dislike the puppy or if she'll dislike it, but I promise Fish Maw is very well behaved and won't get anything dirty here. My brother and I originally planned to leave her at home, but she's too small, and we were worried Fish Maw would be scared, so we brought her here with us."
Shan Jiqing immediately went to the sofa and found something, then handed it to Jian Jianan with both hands. "My mom doesn't hate cats and dogs. She loves small animals the most. Look, ever since she heard you guys started getting a puppy, she made this thing so Fish Maw can sleep in it at night."
The thing that Shan Jiqing handed to him was a round frame. Jian Jianan often saw old people weaving this kind of things, but unlike the ordinary bamboo weaving, Xu Jing put a small blanket inside and smoothed the edges. It looked very soft. If the basket was bigger and more spacious, Jian Jianan almost wanted to lie down in it and sleep.
Jian Jianan put the sleepy fish maw in his arms into the bag. The size was just right. The puppy hummed a few times and fell into a deep sleep, looking very safe.
Xu Jing quickly finished cooking dinner, and the four of them ate together. After they finished, Xu Jing smiled and said to Jian Jianan, "I've already arranged the rooms. Xiaoqing can stay in your room as usual. I've also prepared a guest room with bunk beds. Nannan, you can sleep in it with your brother."
Jian Jianan nodded, and his brother Jian Jiabei had no objection to the proposal.
But before going to bed, Jian Jianan still has one thing to do, which is to make a summary of today and new plans for tomorrow.
Jian Jianan spread out the notebook on the table in the guest room. It was not yet time to go to bed at night, but Shan Jiqing was like Jian Jianan's follower, sticking to her and following her closely.
Shan Jiqing saw Jian Jianan busy writing something and couldn't help asking, "Nannan, what are you doing?"
Jian Jianan was multitasking: "I'm thinking about what to focus on when I go to the Nanbei Hotel tomorrow."
They can arrange their vacation time freely, and their parents don't have much objection to their arrangements. Jian Jianan will complete her study tasks during the vacation, but apart from that, she is very interested in the Nanbei Hotel, especially the operation of the hotel. She always wants to understand how each link is arranged. Therefore, she will take time to visit the Nanbei Hotel every few days.
The hotel staff were no longer surprised by this scene. It would be really strange if Jian Jianan didn't come one day.
Shan Jiqing nodded: "Okay then, will you come to our house to sleep when you come back at night?"
He had other plans with his mother and was very sorry that he could no longer stay with Jian Jianan.
Jian Jianan didn't agree right away. "That depends on whether my parents can come home tomorrow night, but I don't think they can. They can finally go to a farther county town. I still hope everything goes well and we can convince people to come to Xindian as soon as possible."
Shan Jiqing suddenly noticed that Jian Jianan, in addition to making new plans today, was also writing and drawing on a page of a book. He was very curious and asked Jian Jianan, "What are you doing?"
Jian Jianan answered cheerfully, "This is the homework my mother assigned to me before she left home."
Shan Jiqing took it and looked at it, and found that there was only one line of words on it.
"If the Nanbei Hotel is having a big promotion today, with a gift for every purchase, and a large number of customers are dissatisfied with the gift and want to exchange it for one of the same price, what should I do?"
Shan Jiqing was stunned when he saw it. "Do you understand? Do you do this kind of questions every day? This is in our exercise book. Why haven't I seen it before?"
Jian Jianan shook his head: "No, this is a question my mother tailored for me."
She looked very proud. In fact, Su Qinxuan knew her little daughter's personality best. She was mischievous and could never rest for a moment. If she was idle, something big might happen. So she thought of giving Jian Jianan some questions that she was most interested in to kill time.
This really worked. Jian Jianan had been thinking about this problem for several days, but she didn't understand it at all. She originally wanted to complete it alone, but later found that it was impossible to complete it alone, so she turned her attention to the people around her.
Shan Jiqing was rarely embarrassed and admitted, "I don't understand how to do this either. I think it would be better for you to consult a professional."
Jian Jianan had no choice but to nod disappointedly. In fact, besides her good friend Shan Jiqing, she also had a brother who was one year older than her. However, at home, seeing her brother sleeping with his legs up in the air and snoring slightly, she gave up the idea of looking for her brother as an external aid.
"Okay, then I'll go ask Sister Xiaotao tomorrow. We don't know because we don't have much experience, but Sister Xiaotao must know!"
This matter was decided in this way.
Jian Jianan had a good dream last night and planned to go to the hotel to find Sister Xiaotao tomorrow.
However, what she didn't know was that the sister Xiao Tao, whom she trusted the most, was now experiencing a difficult human problem!
At one o'clock in the morning, the Nanbei Hotel finally closed. The employees had just finished cleaning and were preparing to go off work.
They passed by Yang Tao, who was still carefully checking the situation in the store, and greeted her: "Sister Xiao Tao, we are leaving. See you tomorrow."
Yang Tao responded: "Okay, see you tomorrow. Be careful on your way."
The employees walked far away from the restaurant and thought that Yang Tao would not be able to hear what they were saying from this distance, so they whispered to each other.
"The last time I heard President Su say that we're going to open a new store, and we're still looking for a storefront and people to hire."
Someone with inside information immediately chimed in: "Yes, they are going to open a new store. I just don't know if we will continue to stay in the old store or be transferred to the new one."
"Hey, why are you worrying about that? Anyway, these two stores are very close to my home. I can go to either one. Maybe there will be better development space in the new store."
"That's true, but I heard that the manager of this new store will fall to Yang Tao."
"Huh? Our boss doesn't plan to be the store manager himself?"
"Who knows? Maybe he's too busy to handle it all by himself, so he wants to promote Yang Tao. Hey, never mind. Anyway, even if it's not Yang Tao, it can't be you or me!"
"Hahahaha, you're right."
Yang Tao finally checked the faucets and main power switch in the store, and after confirming that they were all turned off, he locked the door and left.
She was always the last person to leave the restaurant and was used to it.
Yang Tao walked on the dark and silent street, with only the moonlight to accompany him. Normally, anyone would feel scared and quicken their pace in such a dim environment, but Yang Tao not only did not quicken his pace, but instead dragged out his pace, as if he wanted to extend the original ten-minute journey to half an hour.
She sighed deeply. She really didn't want to go home, but her home was there and she had to go back.
Yang Tao finally moved slowly to the bottom of her building. She looked up at the dim lights on her floor and finally breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that they were all asleep. No matter how reluctant she was, she still went upstairs bit by bit.
When I finally got home, I inserted the key and the door opened with a click.
Before Yang Tao could completely let out a breath, it came back to her throat. Why was there such a large group of people in the living room?
My parents, elder brother and sister-in-law are all waiting for me here late at night!
She stayed in the restaurant until the last person before slowly going home. Besides being truly responsible, she also didn't want to go home so early to interact with her family, otherwise another fierce quarrel would break out.
As soon as they saw Yang Tao coming back, the Yang family members who had been sitting in the living room like ghosts in silence suddenly came back to life as if they had returned to the world.
"Hey, Taotao, you're back. You didn't get home until two in the morning. You must have worked so hard. You're a girl, why do you work so hard? You work so late every day and have to go to work again early tomorrow morning. How much can you earn in a month if you work so hard every day?"
This is the mother with a hint of heartache on her face.
"Oh, Mom, please stop saying that. My sister is really capable, otherwise the boss wouldn't think so highly of her. Look, that bunch of keys is still hanging around her waist! This is the only way to justify the monthly salary that President Su gave you, don't you think so, sister?"
This was her brother who kept glancing at her with a wandering gaze.
"Oh, the busiest person in the family is finally back. I haven't seen you for almost a week. If it weren't for the noises coming out of your house from time to time, I would have thought you didn't exist in our family!"
This is my sister-in-law who is five months pregnant and whose temper is getting worse and worse.
"Shut up, say less and get straight to the point!"
This was the old father who was smoking a pipe nearby. He had remained silent during the quarrel, but now that he saw everyone in the family had vented their anger, he finally stood up to stop it.
Yang Tao found the scene before her funny. No matter how many years had passed, she would burst out laughing. But there was one significant difference from before: now she would try hard to hold it back, whereas her former self would have burst out laughing.
"Why are you all still awake so late? What are you all doing here?"
Yang Tao asked calmly.
"Sister-in-law, you're such a fool! You're pregnant and need a good rest, so why aren't you getting some? Mom and Dad, you're all elderly people, and the elderly don't have the same ability to recover as the young. If you don't get enough sleep for one night, it'll take you a week to recover."
Yang Tao spat out a few words like a machine gun, without giving anyone time to react, and swept across everyone at once.
"And you, big brother, you have to get up early to work at six tomorrow. How come you still have the leisure to stay up late here? If you don't take a rest, you will be snoring all day while repairing the car tomorrow, right?" Yang Tao turned his head and said to his big brother.
After a long while, Brother Yang touched his head and said with a wry smile, "Xiao Tao, you've been working at the Nanbei Hotel for a long time, so your eloquence has improved."
Yang Tao smiled slightly, took it as a compliment, and accepted it without hesitation.
"Tell me, what do you want from me?"
Yang Tao was no longer polite. He looked directly at the group of people in front of him and asked them why they came.
The mother was a little dissatisfied, "Why do you ask that? Can't we just care about you?"
Yang Tao found it funny: "Care? If you really care, can't you find a time to talk to me properly tomorrow during the day? Why do you have to block me at this time tonight?"
She gradually became impatient: "Are you going to tell me or not? Are you going to tell me or not? If not, then move aside. I'm going to sleep and rest!"
She wanted to see whether he would let her go to sleep now. Didn’t he just say that he was worried that she would be tired? If that was the case, he should let her go!
Finally, the four people opposite put away the false concern and smiles on their faces and became expressionless.
Finally, it was Mother Yang, who always played the villain, who spoke first: "Taotao, we want to check on you. How have you and Xiao Sun been chatting these days?"
Xiao Sun?
Isn’t that the blind date her family forced her to go on last month?
The second after Yang Tao's mother finished speaking, she felt a surge of anger rising in her heart like a volcano erupting, almost bursting out of her throat.
She knew it! She knew it! Apart from this matter, they had no other reason to come to her!
Yang Tao suppressed her anger and kept her voice as calm as possible: "Not really, I haven't been in touch for a long time!"
Mother Yang exclaimed, "What? What do you mean by no contact? Explain clearly! I saw you two were chatting happily the other day, laughing and talking."
Yang Tao said indifferently, "Didn't I tell you that I have no plans to start a family or a career in the next few years? You asked me to take leave to go home that day saying something important happened, and then I met this guy and went on a blind date with him. Is this the most urgent matter you mentioned?"
Mother Yang knew she was in the wrong and kept silent, but in return she received an angry glare from her brother Yang Da.
"How did you talk to Mom? We're worried about you. Don't you think about how old you are? You've become an old maid and you don't even have a boyfriend. Not to mention a boyfriend, you don't even have a good friend of the opposite sex. Our whole family sees it and remembers it in our hearts. We're worried about you! Otherwise, we wouldn't be begging everyone, asking them to introduce you to a young talent!"
Brother Yang spoke these words loudly, as if he was accusing Yang Tao of being an unfilial daughter who did not know how to be grateful and did not understand the painstaking efforts of her parents and family.
Yang Tao could only sneer in her heart, "Good intentions? Ridiculous! I don't know if that Xiao Sun agreed to any of your conditions, but I'm telling you, this is his promise to you, not mine. If one day they come to me and ask for a price, that's when you come forward. I won't intervene!"
After Yang Tao finished speaking harshly, her tone softened a bit, and she continued, "I know everyone is anxious, but this matter can't be rushed. Mom and Dad, you must be especially careful and don't let just anyone in. If I hadn't asked someone to find out, I wouldn't have known that family actually owed a huge sum of money outside. Even the money for their brother's marriage was borrowed from others. This kind of family, who kept it a secret from us even after such a situation, do you think they can still be considered a good family?"
Among the many kitchen helpers, there is a local apprentice who has a huge network of connections and knows a lot of people. It seems that he can talk to everyone and knows everyone's family affairs. After Yang Tao met Xiao Sun last time, he specially asked him to inquire about it, only to find out that this so-called blind date is not as good as he said.
Mother Yang was shocked and blurted out, "What? So that's how it is! Then the several thousand betrothal money he promised us turned out to be..."
"Shh!" The husband quickly told Mother Yang to shut up and said, "Don't let anything slip by accident."
But it was too late, Yang Tao already knew why they were in such a hurry.
"Okay! Okay! So it's a betrothal gift, so you want the betrothal money!"
Yang Tao laughed out of anger. So that's how it is. She said that she had already agreed with her parents at the end of December last year that they would not rush to find someone in the new year. They would just let nature take its course. If there was a partner, that would be great. If not, there was no need to rush to look for one. They would just let everything develop naturally.
But I didn't expect that before a month had passed, my parents changed their minds. When I got home from get off work, I saw a completely strange man waiting for me at home. Could he be a blind date?
So you wanted to receive a betrothal gift, that makes sense.
Yang Tao said slowly, word by word: "Dowry? You want a dowry? Well, I'm going to make this clear today. There's no dowry without a dowry. You have to pay as much dowry as you want. Do you understand? Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Sister-in-law Yang Tao stood up immediately and said, "What are you talking about? What are you talking about? Dowry and betrothal gifts? Let me tell you, when you get married, the betrothal gifts are given to the parents' family. When did it become necessary to link the dowry to the betrothal gifts? There is no such rule in the world!"
Yang Tao smiled faintly: "Okay, then tell me, is there any rule in the world that allows selling daughters?"
Yang Tao slowly pointed at the four members of the family in front of her, "I know what you're up to. I'm the one paying for all the household expenses now. I advise you all to tighten your belts and stop having any more shady ideas, or I'll move out tomorrow. If you want to buy anything, go buy it yourselves!"
“No!”
"no!"
"Don't!"
Father Yang was so anxious that he even stopped smoking and quickly put down his pipe. Ever since his daughter started working with Su Qinxuan and others a few years ago and found a job that could support herself, as Su Qinxuan and others' business grew bigger and better, her salary also rose. By the second half of last year, her salary was higher than the total salary of himself and his mother, two veteran workers with decades of work experience.
My daughter is also a grateful person. Since she found a good job, she has been contributing to the family expenses. She also buys gifts for her family during festivals and holidays. The adults all see it in their hearts.
Especially after the restaurant opened, Yang Tao, as the biggest manager besides Su Qinxuan and others, only received a commission of a few dozen yuan every month, and he was also the one with the highest salary in the family.
I don't know when it started, but it became an unwritten rule that all the expenses of the family fell on Yang Tao. From the big expenses of car and gas for sister-in-law to visit relatives, to the small expenses of meat and vegetables for buying groceries every day, Yang Tao was the only one who paid for it.
but……
"Taotao, you're not a child anymore. It's time to get married, start a family, and have children. You're already 26, and it'll be too late if you put it off any longer. Mom and Dad care about you and don't want you to be alone in the end. That's why we want to introduce you to some talented young men. If you don't like this one, we can find another. It's okay."
Father Yang consoled him, "But you saw it too. Your sister-in-law got pregnant last year, and we're expecting a baby. With only two rooms in the house, it's not very convenient for a new baby to arrive. Besides, you've been through this yourself since you were little. Don't you think it's inconvenient not to have your own space? If you're willing to get married and start a small family with someone else, wouldn't you have a room of your own?"
The carambola was about to fall. So that's how it was. So that's how it was. The eldest brother married the eldest sister-in-law, and the eldest sister-in-law was pregnant. They and mom and dad were a family of four, but maybe later they would become a family of five or even six.
But he was not included in that family.
You will eventually be separated and become an outsider of your own family!
But under extreme shock, Yang Tao still managed to maintain a last bit of rationality, "Is this why you don't look at anyone else, but pull every man here, and are so anxious to marry me off?"
"...Taotao." Yang's mother's worried voice sounded, but he didn't even look at her.
Yang Tao forced herself to remain calm and continued, "No, it's not just that. Besides wanting to marry me off to free up space and prepare a new room for the newborn, you're also eyeing my betrothal money. Ultimately, what you want is that several thousand yuan betrothal gift!"
Mrs. Yang was already very impatient after hearing this. Her patience had been worn away by this farce. She held her big belly tremblingly and shrilly, "Isn't it your duty to make room for my child? Besides, you're a grown woman. Your parents paid for your education, which is why you were able to find such a good job after graduation. I don't know how much others envy you. Others don't even have these conditions. They can't even go to the Nanbei Restaurant if they want to. You don't know how much money you make a month now, so isn't it your duty to make some contribution?"
Yang Tao was so angry at the man's distorted words that her mind went blank. "Contribution? Let me tell you what contribution I made! The money for your unborn child's milk powder, my eldest brother's cigarettes, and the tribute money from your mother's family... I paid for all of this, all by myself. None of you contributed anything!"
Mrs. Yang was still very confident: "Those who are capable should work harder. Who told you that you can't spend all the money you earn? We all live together, so of course we have to think about this big family."
Yang Tao looked at them one by one in disbelief, and seeing that the other three people did not say anything to refute, he knew that they had the same idea in their minds, and was finally extremely disappointed.
Yang Tao knew that there was no point in talking to them, so she said coldly, "I'll say this one last time. If something like this happens again, I'll move out."
When she reached her room and opened the door, she suddenly thought of something and turned back to say, "Since you said I haven't made any contribution, then let it be. From now on, I won't contribute a cent to our family. I don't eat at home anyway. Even if you spend a dozen yuan on a meal, no matter how sumptuous it is, I won't be able to eat a single bite."
With a bang, the door closed, shutting out the quarrel that had suddenly boiled over.
Yang Tao covered her face and cried. When did this family become like this?
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