Chapter 9: Marriage Brings Misfortune to Husbands

Even though Wang Mingxia was well-prepared, she was so infuriated by Mother Jiang's words that her teeth were chattering. If she hadn't seen with her own eyes that Song Wanlin had given birth to Xu Qinghuan, she would have doubted whether Xu Qinghuan was actually Song Wanlin's biological daughter.

If she didn't harbor a grudge against her daughter, how could she find such an in-law family for her?

How important was the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship!

With a mother-in-law like this, would Xu Qinghuan be able to live in peace once she married in?

Fortunately, Xu Qinghuan was not her biological daughter, and her goal was to call off this engagement.

"Sister Shao, you've misunderstood. Although Qinghuan has no objections to this marriage, she also has no intention of getting married for the time being. Now that we are liberating our minds, there is something I didn't dare to mention. Previously, her second uncle found a fortune teller to check her horoscope, and they said she cannot marry before the age of twenty-four, otherwise she will bring misfortune to her husband."

Upon hearing this, Mother Jiang was so shocked she nearly jumped up, shouting angrily, "There's such a thing? Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Many things exist if you believe in them, and do not exist if you do not.

Although minds were being liberated, Buddhism and Taoism had been circulating for a thousand or two years; they were beliefs etched into people's very bones. The more ethereal and mysterious they were, the more people dared not disbelieve.

Marrying at twenty-four meant they would have to wait another six or seven years. How was that possible!

If they married early, it wouldn't hinder Xu Qinghuan at all, but "bringing misfortune to her husband"—she only had this one son, could he be cursed to death?

No, this marriage could not happen no matter what.

Wang Mingxia felt extremely gratified in her heart, but on the surface, she looked very embarrassed. "Sister Shao, this is also our fault. We didn't dare to speak of such things casually. If you hadn't brought up the marriage today, I still wouldn't have dared to say it."

Mother Jiang's chest heaved violently with anger. "Waiting six or seven years is absolutely impossible! As for this marriage, we'll see what you all have to say!"

"I have raised her for fourteen years. Logically, it wouldn't be excessive for her to call me 'Mother.' She also said she wants me and her second uncle to decide on her marriage. If you truly have any dissatisfaction, we can be understanding.

However, our family has a daughter, and we won't take the blame for this. After all, it wasn't as if we were the ones rushing to make this match." Although Wang Mingxia was thinking about how her daughter could marry Jiang Chengxu,

If the Jiang family took the initiative to bring it up, it would serve two purposes: first, to absolve her of responsibility so her sister-in-law would have nothing to say; and second, to secure a sum of benefits.

Mother Jiang was infuriated once again. She had truly never encountered such a shameless person. She sneered, "Are you implying that we were the ones rushing to make this match?"

Wang Mingxia responded quickly, "Then it's perfect. Since neither side is willing, a forced melon isn't sweet. Your family has a son, and our family has a daughter. Since neither of you is willing, we are even less willing.

Let's just call off this marriage directly!"

Mother Jiang wanted nothing more, but she was not the one who could make the decision, so she could only swallow her anger. "Regarding this matter, I must ask my husband."

***

Xu Qinghuan had made an appointment to meet Lin Xialan at the hospital in the morning. She arrived a bit early and went to see the woman who had just given birth first. The wound was healing quite well, and her physical recovery was also good.

"Thank you so much!" The woman was sincerely grateful. "My mother said she wanted to thank you, but who knew you would refuse so stubbornly. Our whole family is very grateful to you."

"It's really no need, it was just a small favor. Don't take it to heart. Speaking of which, we helped each other out. You happened to have the need, and I happened to have the ability to help you. I'm quite happy about it too," Xu Qinghuan smiled.

"Oh, right, my name is Tian Xia, and I work at Yong'an Department Store. If you want to buy anything, you can look for me. I'm on maternity leave right now. If you go, look for Wang Juan at the counter. She's coming to see me today; I'll tell her to look after you when you go shopping."

Xu Qinghuan said, "Then I won't be polite. I happen to be going shopping in the next few days, so I'll look for Sister Wang later."

Tian Xia was overjoyed that she could help Xu Qinghuan.

Xu Qinghuan looked at the baby again. "He's doing well, just a bit of jaundice. When the sun isn't too harsh in the morning or evening, let him soak up some sunlight, and it will fade in a few days. Everything else is fine."

Hearing this, Tian Xia felt relieved and watched Xu Qinghuan as she left.

***

Lin Xialan had already arrived, bringing her sister-in-law. Xu Qinghuan led the two of them to find the head of the Personnel Department. "Section Chief Liu, regarding that position Xu Qinghuan held previously, could it be transferred to my sister-in-law?"

Although on the surface, private trading of positions was not allowed, where there is demand, there is a market. The Personnel Section Chief had seen it all; usually, people would claim it was for a relative or something similar.

Xu Qinghuan was someone Dean Wu valued, so he naturally did not disagree and even diligently helped process the transfer procedures.

"This position was initially an internship post, paying 18.5 yuan a month. Once permanent, it will be 28 yuan a month." Section Chief Liu called over a clerk. "Take this comrade to handle the onboarding. If there's time, training can start today."

"There's time, there's time!" Lin Xialan's sister-in-law had sent her child to a nursery beforehand, prepared to start work on the very first day.

Nursing was actually a technical position with a vast amount of things to learn. Lin Xialan's sister-in-law was quite nervous and maintained a very proactive attitude.

Section Chief Liu was also very satisfied.

After Xu Qinghuan expressed her thanks, she and Lin Xialan walked out of the hospital. "Huanhuan, I am truly grateful for this. Here is some money and some coupons. Please take them."

Lin Xialan stuffed a fairly large cloth bag into Xu Qinghuan's hands. When Xu Qinghuan opened it, she saw a total of ten bundles of ten-yuan notes, along with many coupons.

One thousand yuan.

"Why so much? I don't need this much. Six hundred yuan would be more than enough at most." Xu Qinghuan had a slight understanding of the market price for each position; it was roughly equivalent to two years' salary after becoming a permanent worker.

Therefore, taking six or seven hundred yuan would be sufficient.

Xu Qinghuan tried to return the remaining money to Lin Xialan, but Lin Xialan refused stubbornly, her eyes reddening. "If you don't take it, we won't be friends anymore!"

Seeing how serious she was being, Xu Qinghuan couldn't help but be stunned. "Lanlan, I'll feel guilty taking so much of your family's money!"

Lin Xialan shook her head. "You don't understand, it's not a matter of money or not."

Xu Qinghuan was not an outsider, and as time had passed, Lin Xialan no longer hid anything. "You don't know, our whole family was quite worried about my sister-in-law. My mother said that once, she felt like my sister-in-law wanted to hold my nephew and die together.

She was terrified at the time. My sister-in-law graduated from high school but could never find a job, so she had no way to transfer her household registration to a subsidized grain status. Although none of us said anything, it was obvious that she was under a lot of pressure. The more cautious we were, the more uncomfortable she felt. Over time, we were truly very afraid."

Lin Xialan felt a sense of relief. She covered her face and cried for a while before spreading her arms to pull Xu Qinghuan into a hug. "Huanhuan, take this money. We are friends; we help each other, and there's no need to be so calculative. Truly, I specifically told my mother to give you more money and coupons. It's my intention. Are you going to refuse that too?"

(End of Chapter)