svetikya Chapter 15 The Zhang Family
Chapter 15 The Zhang Family
Sunlight streamed through the window, bringing the coolness of the evening. A couple on the broken wooden bed slept soundly in each other's arms all afternoon, finally recovering from their drunkenness.
"Honey, what do you think Aunt Zhang meant by that? Has she discovered our secret?" Wei Qingqing asked with some worry, resting her head on Yang Ming's arm.
"They probably don't know, unless she sent someone to follow us..."
"I feel like there's no safe place in this world, there are eyes everywhere..." Wei Qingqing buried her head in Yang Ming's arms.
"It's alright. Even if she finds out, she won't do anything to us. If it gets out and everyone knows, she'll be out of the picture. She's influential in the province, but nationally, she's nothing. She knows that. Didn't you see she was making arrangements with us?" Yang Ming gently stroked Wei Qingqing's hair. "Don't overthink it. Tomorrow you're taking me home to meet my parents-in-law!"
The 31st was a Saturday, a sunny and clear day, but Yang Ming was a little nervous because he was about to meet his father-in-law and mother-in-law.
"Come in! What are you standing there for?"
They'd already reached his doorstep, but Yang Ming seemed a little apprehensive. Wei Qingqing found it amusing, yet also somewhat poignant; tomorrow would be her meeting her in-laws, and then…
"Who's afraid of who? Anyway, I'm already their son-in-law!" Yang Ming muttered to himself, tightening his grip on the two gifts he was carrying, and followed Wei Qingqing into the courtyard.
The courtyard was paved with blue bricks, and on either side of the central gate stood a pomegranate tree, which was already laden with fruit.
"Excuse me, who are you looking for?" A middle-aged woman came out of the main room and blocked the young couple outside the middle door, looking wary.
"Mom! Don't you recognize me?" Wei Qingqing said.
The middle-aged woman did find Wei Qingqing somewhat familiar at first glance, but she never imagined she was her daughter. Although the voice was familiar, she was still unsure: "You are... Qingqing?"
"Yes! Mom, it's me, Qingqing! My face is all better!" Wei Qingqing happily stepped forward and took her mother's hand.
The middle-aged woman was Xue Hua, Wei Qingqing's mother. She taught Chinese at the No. 1 Middle School in the western part of the city, which was the only high school in the western part of the city.
"Your face..." Wei Qingqing's mother looked at her daughter's beautiful face, her hand trembling as she reached out to touch it. Feeling its smoothness, delicacy, warmth, and elasticity, her eyes instantly reddened. She called out to the inner room, "Qingqing's father, come and see... come and see! Our Qingqing is all better..." Tears welled up in her eyes. Overwhelmed with excitement and joy, she couldn't help but choke up. She quickly covered her mouth, swallowing back the sobs that were about to escape her lips, but she couldn't help but tremble.
"What did you say?" A deep voice, tinged with doubt, came from inside the house. A middle-aged man, looking puzzled, walked out from the inner room. This middle-aged man was Wei Qingqing's father, Wei Jianguo, a math teacher at the No. 1 Middle School in the western part of the city.
"Dad!" Influenced by her mother, Wei Qingqing was also a little excited and called out to her father in a trembling voice.
"Qingqing..." Wei Jianguo was stunned. This beautiful girl was his daughter? Looking at her, wasn't she just like her mother when she was young? They knew how much their daughter had suffered over the years because of her appearance, and they had worried themselves sick over it. Now that her face was healed...
Wei Jianguo didn't say a word, turned around and ran back into the inner room. However, Yang Ming, with his sharp eyes, saw the tears dripping from his father-in-law's eyes and thought to himself, "My father-in-law is really sentimental..."
"Qingqing, tell Mom, who is this young man?" Wei Qingqing's mother, Xue Hua, wiped away her tears and calmed down a bit before noticing Yang Ming, who had returned with her daughter.
"He..." Wei Qingqing blushed and said shyly, "He's my husband..."
"Are you two dating?" Xue Hua had been worrying about his daughter's marriage for years, and he was very pleased to see his daughter bring home a smart and energetic young man today.
"No, we're married, we've already registered our marriage..." Wei Qingqing blushed even more as she spoke of acting first and informing him later, feeling a little uneasy. Seeing Yang Ming standing there dumbfounded, she kicked him and whispered, "What are you standing there for? Call someone!"
"...Mom!" Yang Ming was jolted back to his senses by the kick and quickly greeted her with a big smile.
The news of her daughter's unauthorized marriage weighed heavily on her like a mountain. Then, Yang Ming's address felt like an even greater mountain, almost crushing her. She stood there stunned for a long while before finally breaking into a smile: "Sigh!" She looked Yang Ming up and down, "Young man, what's your name? Where do you work? Where are you from? Who's in your family? How many siblings do you have?"
"Mom! Are you checking the household registration?" Wei Qingqing complained to her mother with a hint of reproach.
"You've already gotten your marriage certificate, why don't you let Mom check his household registration?" Xue Hua rolled her eyes at her daughter.
"Mom, my name is Yang Ming. I work in...horticulture. My family is from a rural area in T City. It's just my parents. I'm an only child," Yang Ming answered cautiously.
"...Come inside quickly, don't stand in the yard...Old man, come out quickly, your daughter has brought you a son-in-law..." Xue Hua smiled so much that the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes were smoothed out. "You come out and keep him company, I'm going to the market to buy groceries. We'll properly entertain our son-in-law today..."
"Mom, no need to trouble yourself..." Yang Ming quickly said politely.
"No trouble at all!" Xue Hua was so happy he barely looked at her.
Wei Jianguo came out of the house. Although there were no marks on his face, his red and swollen eyes made it clear that he had been crying.
"Ahem, you're here, come in!" Wei Jianguo coughed lightly twice with his hands behind his back, glanced at Yang Ming, and then turned and went back into the inner room.
"Go ahead, he can't do anything to you!" Wei Qingqing took the gift from Yang Ming's hand and gave him a push from behind.
Yang Ming's face instantly fell. He walked towards the inner room, looking back every three steps. His father-in-law's attitude was far from enthusiastic.
Looking at her son-in-law's miserable expression, Xue Hua couldn't help but want to laugh, but she couldn't let it out. She was trembling all over from holding it in, so she quickly turned her face away.
"Honey, my dad is very honest, so please don't bully him, or I'll never forgive you..." Wei Qingqing sensed that Yang Ming was too nervous, so she quickly raised her voice and told a joke to relieve his pressure.
"You brat, what are you saying? Hurry up and go buy groceries with your mother..." Wei Jianguo shouted from inside the house, startling Wei Qingqing, who quickly shrank her neck and ran off with her giggling mother. The two of them went to the market to buy groceries together.
"What's your name?"
"Yang Ming".
How old are you this year?
"I'm 26 years old (by Chinese reckoning)."
"Hmm, you're two years older than Qingqing. Where do you live?"
"Yangjia Village, Hongqi Township, Baiyun County, T City".
"Hmm! I've heard of Hongqi Township in Baiyun County. Does it produce jujubes?"
"yes!"
"Does the family still own land?"
"Yes! My family farms 10 mu (approximately 1.65 acres) of land."
"How's the harvest each year?"
"good!"
"Is your family one of the wealthiest in the village?"
Anyway, our village is called Yangjia Village.
"Um!"……
Wei Jianguo sat calmly on the kang (a heated brick bed), not even looking at Yang Ming, and asked questions in a nonchalant manner. Yang Ming sat on the edge of the kang, answering meekly. It was truly a question-and-answer session.
Then silence fell. The two men, meeting for the first time, had nothing left to say to each other. Yang Ming felt a little awkward as they remained silent.
"...Dad...do you smoke?"
"My lungs aren't healthy!"
Would you like some water?
"I just had some porridge."
Would you like some fruit?
"...Go wash a few..."
Yang Ming quickly crawled out of the inner room, opened the gifts he had brought, took out a few large apples, washed them, arranged them on a tea tray, and carried them into the inner room.
Damn it!
Wei Jianguo took a bite of an apple, found it quite sweet and had a good texture: "Did you bring this? It's not good, it's too crunchy!"
Yang Ming also took a bite of an apple, finding it quite mealy and making his mouth water: "Yes! It's so crisp..."
"I'll buy noodles next time!"
"knew!"
"...How was it? Did the talk go well?" At this moment, Wei Qingqing lifted the curtain and poked her little head in. It turned out that the mother and daughter had already returned from grocery shopping.
"Hmm! Not bad!" Wei Jianguo nodded. "What groceries did you buy?"
"It's nothing. I bought two pounds of meat, two fish, a roast chicken, two pounds of chives, celery, chili peppers, cucumbers, sausages, bean curd sheets, pork intestines, pig's trotters, and your favorite pig's head meat."
"Who loves eating pig's head the most? I don't like it..." Wei Jianguo glared at his daughter.
"Yes, yes, yes, you don't like it, but Yang Ming does!" Wei Qingqing nodded with a smile.
"Do I like to eat it?" Yang Ming scratched his head, and seeing Wei Qingqing glaring at him, he quickly nodded, "Yes, yes, I love to eat it, I love it the most. Without pig's head meat, I don't enjoy my meal."
"Old man, have you dawdled enough? Hurry up and come out to chop the filling and clean the fish!" Xue Hua called from the outer room.
Wei Jianguo let out a long sigh of relief, quickly left the inner room, and went with his wife to prepare the food. He felt extremely uncomfortable being in the same room as his new son-in-law.
Seeing her father leave, Wei Qingqing quickly rushed in. "How was it? Did my dad make things difficult for you?"
"It wasn't difficult, he just doesn't like me..." Yang Ming told Wei Qingqing about the 'Apple Incident,' which made Wei Qingqing giggle. "Of course he doesn't like you, you just quietly lured away his precious daughter whom he's raised for 24 years..."
Yang Ming wore a bitter expression. "Did I kidnap her? It seems so..."
Wei Qingqing pouted, rubbed her little silver teeth, and feigned anger, pointing her index finger at Yang Ming's nose, "You dare say that? You dare say that and I'll bite you..."
"Bite me? I'll bite you first!" Yang Ming bit Wei Qingqing's finger and gently sucked on it as she exclaimed in surprise.
"Ahem..." Two soft coughs made the two separate as if electrocuted. Wei Jianguo, holding up the curtain, said, "Qingqing, go with your mother to pick vegetables..."
"Oh!" Caught red-handed by her father while flirting, Wei Qingqing ran away with a blush on her face, while Yang Ming stood awkwardly in place, at a loss for what to do.
Wei Jianguo gave him a couple of unfriendly glances, said nothing, and went back to busying himself with his wife.
"I...I'll help too..." Yang Ming felt it was inappropriate for others to cook outside while he stayed inside, so he followed them out.
"I thought you were raising a rich old man..."
Although Wei Jianguo's mutterings were soft, Yang Ming heard them clearly.
"Stop being sarcastic..." Xue Hua, who was sitting on a small stool picking vegetables, glared at her husband with annoyance.
"That's how I talk!" Wei Jianguo retorted, his face flushed.
"You've grown temperamental?" Xue Hua straightened up and glared at him.
"I'll go clean the fish..." Wei Jianguo quickly hid.
Lunch was very lavish, laid out on a large round table in the inner room, with a total of 14 dishes, including hot dishes, cold dishes, meat and vegetables, and a bottle of Wuliangye liquor.
The dumplings filled two bamboo trays, and were ready to be cooked after the banquet was over.
"You two eat in the inner room first, Qingqing and I will prepare the dumplings for you in the outer room," Xue Hua said with a smile.
"Mom, you should eat with us too, there are no outsiders here!" Yang Ming hurriedly invited.
"No need, no need, you guys go inside to eat, Qingqing and I will just have something to eat in the outer room."
"What's with the fuss? This table is full of food, can the two of us finish it?" Teachers usually have loud voices, otherwise the students wouldn't be able to hear them. Wei Jianguo's shout was quite loud.
Normally, when a new son-in-law visits, the bride's family is expected to invite relatives and friends to a feast to make it more lively. However, Wei Qingqing's family lives in an area that is slated for demolition, so all the neighbors have already moved away, and the relatives are all in the countryside. As for her school colleagues... ever since their daughter's face was covered in acne, they've spent a lot of money on treatment. The couple's salaries were originally quite good, but they've spent almost all of their money on their daughter's treatment, so they haven't moved out of the area yet... Wei Jianguo, who is quite concerned about his image, was too embarrassed to bring his colleagues home. Today, his daughter suddenly brought home a son-in-law, and the family wasn't prepared, so the feast felt rather bleak.
"Girls grow up and leave home; keeping them will only breed resentment, and they've even learned to launch surprise attacks... Humph..." Wei Jianguo muttered to himself as he sat at the head of the table.
Wei Qingqing and Yang Ming both heard it clearly and were a little embarrassed.
"Alright, alright, let's eat together as a family! Let's not stand on ceremony!" Xue Hua also felt the feast was a bit meager and quickly agreed.
So the four of them sat down to eat. Yang Ming politely filled Wei Jianguo's wine glass to the brim and then poured one for himself. The wine glass was two ounces, and it was quite full. Xue Hua and Wei Qingqing were drinking beverages, and Wei Qingqing also obediently poured her mother a beverage.
Yang Ming stood up, holding his wine glass. "Dad, Mom, today... today is my first day visiting your home. To be honest, my heart rate hasn't dropped below 150 since I walked in. I was really nervous. My marriage to Qingqing wasn't with your consent, which is our fault. I understand why you've been targeting me, Dad, since I quietly stole your precious daughter. I won't use sweet words; I promise you that I will treat Qingqing well from now on and never let her suffer any injustice. Otherwise, you can slap me across the face... With this glass, I toast you both." With that, he tilted his head back and downed the two ounces of wine.
"You're a very honest guy, I'm starting to like you a bit now!" After hearing Yang Ming say that, Wei Jianguo found Yang Ming more agreeable and also picked up his wine glass and drank it all.
"Your dad isn't targeting you. Actually, it's not just you who's nervous; your dad is nervous too." Xue Hua was also touched by Yang Ming's simple words. She rubbed her slightly itchy eyes and drank her beverage.
The dinner table is the easiest place to connect emotionally. After the father and son shared a drink, Wei Jianguo began to speak more coherently: "Yang Ming, my wife and I only have one daughter, Qingqing. We hope she can have a good life in the future. Don't think I'm being materialistic, but do you own a house?"
"Yes, of course we do! We have a three-room bungalow, and we're even planning to buy one across from Fangfang's house!" Wei Qingqing quickly replied.
"Fangfang's house is too big. Don't you have a bungalow? As long as my daughter doesn't sleep in the open, I, as her father, have no objection." Wei Jianguo was quite reasonable. "You said you work in gardening, how much do you earn a month? Is it enough to support your family?"
"Yes, yes, it's several million a month!" Wei Qingqing quickly answered. In fact, she was not lying. She made 280 million in one transaction yesterday, and it would be about the same amount in the future, or even more. If she did such a transaction three times a month, wouldn't that be several million?
"Shut up! Did I ask you? Can't you even brag properly?" Wei Jianguo glared at his daughter. Whose family does gardening? They can earn millions a month?
"Who's bragging? It's true!" Wei Qingqing muttered.
"Qingqing isn't lying. I make about a few million a month!" Yang Ming took out his wallet, pulled out a bank card, and handed it to Wei Jianguo. "Dad, if you don't believe me, you can check how much money is in here. The password is Qingqing's birthday."
Yang Ming didn't think there was anything wrong with Wei Jianguo asking about his income. Life was helpless, especially when you didn't have money.
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