"Auntie, why did you come over? Have you eaten? Come in and have some with us." Although they were uncomfortable inside, the young couple quickly put away their expressions and greeted Li Yinfeng.
Li Yinfeng looked a bit embarrassed, touched her growling stomach, but still thickened her face and went in.
The meals at home were cooked according to the number of people, not a lot, with three eating, certainly none would be full.
"How about I cook a bowl of noodles?" Seeing the empty bowl, Wang Zhaodi stood up intending to cook more.
Li Yinfeng felt embarrassed, merely chasing after her to help start the fire, and said, "I’m full, just cook portions for you and Zicheng."
Wang Zhaodi just smiled, didn’t pick up on that topic, and only inquired about Li Yinfeng’s reason for coming, "Auntie, is something happening again today?"
"Ah..." Li Yinfeng sighed deeply, her heart heavy, and recounted the events from start to finish.
Wang Zhaodi frowned immediately after listening, inwardly mocking Zhang Hongfang’s capricious nature, it would have been a miracle if anyone accepted her, her uncle really was daydreaming.
"Does Auntie hope I go and talk? I’m afraid it’s useless if I go back." Wang Zhaodi naturally didn’t want to, her relationship with the Wang Family was only superficial now. Just a few days ago during the Mid-Autumn Festival she went to the Wang Family, seeing her second sister’s husband made her uncomfortable, Zhu Zicheng even chatted and laughed with him, it was really a thorn in her throat, causing her great discomfort.
Zhu Zicheng, overhearing their conversation, his eyes twinkled with thoughts unknown.
Regarding this, Li Yinfeng was also hesitant, she didn’t want anything to do with Liu Yulan anymore, but her own husband and daughter were like that, "How about you go back first and see, maybe that guy’s already married..." She thought to herself, even if he’s not married, knowing Liu Yulan, she wouldn’t help get them together anyway, this wouldn’t work out regardless.
Wang Zhaodi didn’t want to ask, was about to refuse, but unexpectedly Zhu Zicheng agreed first, "Okay, we’ll go back tomorrow to check things out, but such matters rely on fate too, don’t you think, Auntie."
"Yes, yes." Li Yinfeng didn’t hope it would succeed, just wanted them to go back home, so she could account for herself.
After seeing Li Yinfeng off, Wang Zhaodi looked at Zhu Zicheng somewhat displeased and said, "Why did you agree to her, this thing surely won’t succeed, you know how Xiao Fang is, even if we help her get it, she wouldn’t be grateful to me."
"We’ll just go back and see what’s up, we’re not necessarily introducing Xiao Fang to him." He had his plans, the second sister’s husband worked at the town’s armed forces department, before, he spread some word in the factory, unexpectedly, the formal employee position that was up in the air, was confirmed to include him.
No matter where, having connections eases things. Leveraging this relationship, he secured his footing in the factory. Now, it wasn’t him flattering others, but others flattering him.
He really enjoyed this feeling, wanted his family and the Wang Family to have closer ties.
Knowing his wife didn’t like going to the Wang Family, persuading once or twice was useless, some things couldn’t be communicated clearly to her, essentially it’s a woman’s thing, short-sighted with long hair.
"Then why did you agree to Auntie..." Wang Zhaodi looked at him suspiciously.
Zhu Zicheng frowned and said, "Could we have refused? She came all the way here overnight. This is your aunt, haven’t you always said she’s helped you a lot since childhood? The last time she stayed a month, you didn’t even mind, so I thought you would agree to her."
"Last time was last time, this time it’s different." Wang Zhaodi was somewhat anxious, annoyed, she said, "Next time there’s an issue from my mother’s side, don’t make the decisions, I’ll handle it myself."
Zhu Zicheng pursed his lips, feeling displeased, even feeling this woman was somewhat unreasonable, he merely promised to go back and ask around, hoping to take this opportunity to engage with the Wang Family, simultaneously giving Auntie a favor, why not?
His wife actually showed attitude, "What’s different, last time she stayed a month, I slept on the floor every day and didn’t say anything, this time it’s just agreeing to go back and look, not guaranteeing success, why are you getting upset."
"How am I upset? It’s obviously something impossible to accomplish, agreeing is just a waste of time." Wang Zhaodi, irritable and agitated, couldn’t help but raise her voice.
"How is it a waste of time, relationships are cultivated. If you strain your relations with your family, what’s the benefit." Zhu Zicheng was really exasperated, why was she so shallow, "Your siblings got into high school, maybe they’ll make something of themselves, plus your brother-in-law from the armed forces, perhaps one day we’ll need that connection..."
"How their success or capability affects us, can’t we just live our own lives happily, why must we rely on them." Wang Zhaodi looked at the man before her, feeling he was too much of an opportunist, she didn’t like it.
Zhu Zicheng thought, why couldn’t she understand, it was so taxing. "It’s not about reliance, rather having a backup plan, given we have this connection, why not maintain a good relationship, unless... you regret it..."
"Wh-what... regret..." Wang Zhaodi’s heart pounded, her speech turned jittery.
Zhu Zicheng frowned at her, silent, making the room instantly fall into dead silence.
After a long moment, Wang Zhaodi weakly spoke up, "Go if you must, I won’t interfere anymore." Saying this, she pretended to be calm, finding tasks to do.
Zhu Zicheng recalled last Mid-Autumn Festival at the Wang Family, seeing Yang Zhigang made her uneasy, something seemed to become clear to him, instantly lowering the surrounding air pressure.
He turned silently and walked out the door.
"Where are you going?" Wang Zhaodi hurried after him.
"None of your business."
Wang Zhaodi stood at the door, watching his distant back, couldn’t stop the sour tears from flowing. She slowly squatted down, burying her head in her knees, sobbing painfully.
They’d only been married for three months, they’d always been good, couldn’t understand why they fought today. Was it about going to the Wang Family to inquire about a man for Xiao Fang? It didn’t feel like the reason, just a trigger.
"Alright, stop crying, I won’t go out." Zhu Zicheng, having walked barely a hundred meters, heard his wife’s sobbing and came back quickly, this place was so open, a bit of noise traveled far.
Wang Zhaodi stopped crying, promptly stood up, wiped her tears, and turned back home.
Neither spoke further about what just happened, not knowing what to say, fearing another quarrel if words came out.
Sometimes being too earnest isn’t necessarily good, playing the fool happens to be a virtue, isn’t life just about muddling through...
Yet some knots are deeply buried, who knows when they might rot, eroding our hearts...