He Rui knocked on the door of the courtyard house. Now she was not as envious of the courtyard as before. She felt that the building she was assigned was more comfortable and convenient to live in.
Lin Xiuyao opened the door and asked, "Comrade He is here?"
He Rui nodded, and seeing Kang Kang behind him, he smiled, "Kang Kang, do you still remember me?"
Kang Kang: "Hello, Aunt He Rui, welcome to my home." He went to a hotel once, and the doorman said "Welcome" to him, and he would also welcome anyone who came to visit.
He Rui looked at his little adult-like expression and thought it was so adorable. She hoped her future children would be as well-behaved as him.
She followed the father and son into the hanging flower gate. Su Qingmeng was listening to music under the ceiling. There was a gramophone on the stone table.
Su Qingmeng found this gramophone when she was visiting a flea market. It was broken when she bought it, but it was an old item and she liked it very much. Later, she found someone who knew the business to repair it. Lin Xiuyao bought her a lot of vinyl records. She and Kang Kang both liked to listen to the textured music of the gramophone, and they would play a piece every evening when they were enjoying the cool air in the yard.
"You are so leisurely." He Rui was envious of Su Qingmeng's life.
"I can't compare with a strong woman like you." She really likes being a lazy person. She had enough of the 996 life in her previous life and didn't want to pursue a career anymore.
He Rui sat down next to him and said, "I can also take a break from my busy life and enjoy life for a while."
Su Qingmeng asked: "What's wrong? Is there anything bothering you recently?" Yesterday, she noticed that her little friend had a worried look on his face.
He Rui sighed, "The thought of having a baby makes me feel nauseous. I've just become deputy director. If I get pregnant and give birth, I don't know how much time will be lost."
Su Qingmeng didn't know how to start. Women in the workplace always struggled to balance family and work, and had to put in extra effort to balance the two. Many women in later generations also faced this problem, and she didn't know how to persuade them. "Are you planning to have a child?"
He Rui: "My mom and my mother-in-law have been urging me to get pregnant, and Qian Shengyuan is getting anxious too. If I delay any longer, the pressure will be too great, and I'll suffer when I get pregnant at my age. I've made up my mind, so I'll just get pregnant."
"Indeed, young people recover quickly after childbirth. Unless you don't want to have children, you'd better give birth earlier. Besides, you are different from me. Your mother-in-law can help take care of the child. It will only be a delay of a few months." Su Qingmeng persuaded. She knew that He Rui valued her career very much.
He Rui: "You're right, I've made up my mind. After the baby is born, I'll let my mother-in-law take care of it, and then send it to a nursery when it grows up." She looked at Kang Kang who was listening to music attentively, "I wish my child could be as obedient as him."
Su Qingmeng smiled and said, "He wasn't always this quiet." Especially after he learned to run and jump, he became like a husky, keen on destroying things. But if she talked to him kindly, he would listen, and Su Qingmeng was quite satisfied.
As it was getting dark, He Rui said goodbye. She felt that every time she came to Su Qingmeng's place to sit for a while and chat, she would feel much more relaxed, so she often visited.
Su Qingmeng didn't know what her friends were thinking. She said to Lin Xiuyao, "Today is the sixteenth. Let's enjoy the moon tonight." She took out the bamboo couch from the space and put it in the storage room, pretending that it had always been there at home. In a few years, when Kang Kang grew up, she would not be able to fool people like this anymore.
Lin Xiuyao moved it to the yard, and the family of three lay on the couch. The starry sky on the summer night was beautiful. He fanned the two of them with a palm-leaf fan. At this moment, he felt that his life was complete.
Su Qingmeng did not attend Huang Xi's wedding. She gave the gift money to Qiu Ling. She didn't like such lively occasions with strangers around. She was not familiar with Huang Xi and didn't want to attend.
Both Qiu Ling and He Rui went, but in the afternoon, they appeared at Su Qingmeng's house.
Qiu Ling came in with a stern face, "I've really broadened my horizons today. I've never seen relatives like this." He Rui also looked unhappy.
Su Qingmeng asked: "What happened?"
He Rui calmly recounted what happened today. Huang Xi's parents had just arrived today with her younger brother. At the wedding, they learned that their daughter's boyfriend was a director, and they immediately demanded three roubles, one ring, and a betrothal gift of one thousand.
The man's mother disagreed. She had two unmarried sons and how could she possibly give such a large dowry to her eldest son who was getting married for the second time? Her family only gave 300, and the two families started arguing at the wedding.
Su Qingmeng was curious: "What did Huang Xi say?"
"Huang Xi sided with her boyfriend, saying her parents were partial and favored her younger brother, and were now blocking her happiness. It turned out that Huang Xi sent most of her salary back home. She said she would stop giving money to her parents after marriage, which led to a quarrel between her and her parents."
Qiu Ling was angry, "I have never seen such ignorant parents who actually made trouble at their daughter's wedding." She has a happy family, and her parents treat her and her elder brother equally. She can't stand those who favor one son over another.
Su Qingmeng and He Rui looked at each other. They were not as naive as Qiu Ling. They had seen a lot of people in the countryside.
He Rui said, "You didn't see it. Huang Xi was arguing with her parents, and her boyfriend's family was just watching. I even looked closely at their expressions, and they looked at her with contempt."
Qiu Ling was surprised. "I didn't notice. I saw Comrade Wang even advising her to maintain peace!"
He Rui rolled her eyes. "The argument is almost over. What's the point of him saying a few meaningless words? I don't see why Wang Zhiqiang is good to her as Huang Xi said."
"How was it resolved in the end?" Su Qingmeng asked.
He Rui: "Huang Xi sided with her in-laws, and her parents couldn't make a fuss. They gave her 500 yuan as a betrothal gift. Finally, the meal was over, and her parents were still pestering Huang Xi to stay in Beijing for two days to travel. We classmates were embarrassed for them."
Qiu Ling said: "Sister Huang Xi is just too good-tempered. She agreed to it after her mother said something nice. If it were me, I wouldn't care."
Qiu Ling was a straightforward person with a clear distinction between love and hate. Su Qingmeng sighed, "No matter what, Huang Xi went to college, she definitely couldn't bear to sever ties with him." She found out in college that Huang Xi sent all the money he saved back home, and he usually talked about his parents with an expression of gratitude for their upbringing.
Some parents do this, using the rhetoric of "we have been good enough to you" to package what they should do as incredible contributions and demand more in return from their children.
He Rui: "I think her mother-in-law is not an easy person to deal with either. She even looks down on Huang Xi. I heard her telling others that her son is very capable and that female college students are vying to marry him. Huang Xi is jumping from one pit of fire to another."
She also felt a little disappointed with Huang Xi. Huang Xi refused to listen to their advice and only thought that Wang Zhiqiang was good to her. She didn't see what was good about him. There was only one meat dish at today's banquet, and there were no firecrackers. She didn't feel his sincerity at all.
After a few people complained for a while, they felt better. There was no point in them being anxious. Huang Xi had her own ideas, and even Qiu Ling didn't care. She said she would find a good partner in the future.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
