Chapter 79
Li Yang was very troubled recently. A male colleague at the cotton factory had confessed to her, but she did not want to remarry.
She felt that her current life was very good. She had subsidies and a salary, enough for her and her children to live a comfortable life, and she could even save a little. There were no in-laws or sisters-in-law to cause trouble. Life was too comfortable.
She was not stupid. She had money, children, and a job. Why would she bother to manage a marriage?
What if she met a difficult mother-in-law and sister-in-law again? What if the other party was not good to her children? What if she had a third child and became biased?
Li Yang did not want any of these what-ifs.
“Comrade Li Yang, have you considered it?” Yin Linfeng asked, looking at Li Yang with apprehension.
“Comrade Yin, I’ve said it many times. I don’t want to remarry, and I don’t like you. Please don’t bother me again,” Li Yang said with a straight face, her tone serious.
Seeing that Li Yang wanted to walk around him and leave, Yin Linfeng quickly blocked her. “Comrade Li Yang, is it because of the children? I will be good to your children, as if they were my own. Really, I can write a letter of guarantee.”
“I’ll say it again. I don’t want to get married. I think I’m living a very good life now,” Li Yang said solemnly.
As far as she knew, Yin Linfeng was the eldest in his family, with two younger sisters and two younger brothers below him. If she married him, she would be the eldest sister-in-law, and she would have to take care of her younger brothers and sisters’ marriages and jobs. She would be crazy to find so much trouble for herself.
Setting these aside, Yin Linfeng himself was not Li Yang’s type.
When she got off work, Li Yang walked out of the cotton factory with her bag and saw Yin Linfeng already waiting there.
Li Yang pretended not to know him and walked straight ahead.
“Comrade Li Yang,” Yin Linfeng chased after her.
Li Yang frowned and gave him a warning look, hoping that he would be sensible and not do anything that would cause a misunderstanding in public. Otherwise, he shouldn’t blame her for embarrassing him.
Yin Linfeng stopped, a hint of grievance in his eyes. Seeing that the surrounding colleagues were all looking over curiously, he quickly said loudly, “Comrade Li Yang, Director Wang wants you to go to her office tomorrow when you get to work.”
When everyone heard that it was official business, a hint of disappointment flashed in their eyes. They had thought that Yin Linfeng was preparing to confess his love in public!
“I know. Thank you for bringing the message, Comrade Yin,” Li Yang said, nodding at him and leaving quickly.
At the family compound, Gu Yao saw that Li Yang was in a daze again and was very worried. But when she asked her, she wouldn’t say. It was really worrying.
The next day, Gu Yao was washing clothes. Seeing Li Jinfeng and Ye Qingzhi come over, she quickly let them in.
“Why are you here so early?” Gu Yao asked, wiping her hands on her apron and reaching out to hold the child, weighing him. “The little one has gotten heavier. Jinfeng is raising him so well.”
Li Jinfeng raised her chin proudly. Although she couldn’t have a son, she was good at raising children. They were all raised to be strong and rarely got sick.
“Let’s get to the point,” Ye Qingzhi said, poking her in the back.
“Oh, oh, oh, right, the point,” Li Jinfeng said, first looking around, then lowering her voice. “I’ve found out about Yangyang’s matter.”
Gu Yao’s eyes widened. “What is it?”
“It’s just that a male comrade at the cotton factory is pursuing Yangyang. After being seen, some people have been gossiping. As long as Yangyang doesn’t pay them any attention, it’ll be fine in a while,” Li Jinfeng said, waving her hand, feeling that it was not a big deal.
But Gu Yao did not think so. Li Yang was a widow with two children. It was already easy for people to gossip about her. To be involved with a male colleague, who knew what ugly things would be said.
In fact, Li Yang was not afraid of being talked about. She was just afraid that her brother, sister-in-law, and children would be implicated by her.
Gu Yao understood Li Yang and naturally understood what she had been worrying about these few days.
“You should ask Yangyang later what the situation is. Is it a normal pursuit? Or is he pestering her? This matter… it’s better for your husband to handle it,” Ye Qingzhi said. Although she had only been a widow for three months, she deeply understood the difficulties of a widow.
“Yes, this matter has to be handled by my Old Li,” Gu Yao nodded.
“What are your Yangyang’s thoughts? Does she want to find someone new? The person who is pursuing her now is not very good. I heard that his family’s conditions are not good. His father is paralyzed in bed, and his mother’s health is not very good. He is also the eldest in the family, with four younger brothers and sisters below him. If Yangyang marries him, she will have to serve the old and take care of the young. The other party is on his first marriage, so she will have to have children. No, no, absolutely not,” Li Jinfeng said. Just thinking about it made her feel that life would be more bitter than a bitter melon.
Gu Yao’s face was a little ugly. Anyone with eyes could see what he was up to.
“He must have known that Yangyang is a martyr’s widow, has a pension, and also a subsidy. Hmph, to have his eye on Yangyang, does he think her brother and sister-in-law are dead?” Gu Yao said, slapping the table in anger, which startled Tingting.
“Oh my, oh my, Tingting, be good. Auntie didn’t mean it,” Li Jinfeng said, gently patting her daughter’s small shoulder. “In any case, you should pay more attention. Actually, Yangyang is cultured. She can be a teacher. The work at the cotton factory is not easy.”
Li Yang could sit in an office now because she had taken Li Jinfeng’s position. When Li Jinfeng went back to work, she would definitely have to go to the workshop, and it would not be so easy then.
Gu Yao pondered for a moment. “I’ll have Li Jiang ask later.”
The few of them chatted for a while. Gu Yao looked at the time. It was almost eleven. She hurried home to cook.
Li Jinfeng was not in a hurry. Her family’s cooking was now done by Li Wenshu, and Li Wenhua would help out.
Yang Xiaorou felt that it was not good to have such a young child cook, but this was very common in the countryside. Anmin and Anjie used to cook often.
When Ye Qingzhi had first transmigrated, she had also felt that it was not good, but after a day of farming, she had been honest.
There was nothing to be done. She was really too tired. The main thing was that the two brothers were more skilled at starting a fire and cooking than she was.
And after staying in the countryside for a few months, she found that it was really not easy for the farmers at this time to live. As long as they could move, no one was idle.
“If Li Yang wants to remarry, I have a suitable candidate. It’s a pity she has no such intention,” Li Jinfeng said with a look of regret.
“What suitable candidate do you have?” Ye Qingzhi asked, looking at her curiously.
If it was someone from the army, then Li Jinfeng knew who she knew. But after looking around, she couldn’t find anyone suitable for Li Yang.
“Are you thinking of that group of soldiers?” Li Jinfeng said with a smug smile. “It’s not them. It’s the postman in town.”
“A postman?” Ye Qingzhi asked in surprise.
She had racked her brains but had not expected Li Jinfeng to be talking about a postman. No, wait, the postman in town rarely came to the base. How did Li Jinfeng know him?
“You don’t go out much. As for me, I can’t stay at home. I like to wander around outside. Once, I ran into Li Wang. Oh, Li Wang is that postman. We even have the same surname, so we hit it off. Now we’re sworn siblings,” Li Jinfeng said with a smile.
Ye Qingzhi was amazed. Why could they hit it off just because they had the same surname? And they even became sworn siblings? She and her own brother with the same surname did not get along.
“Li Wang is really not bad. He’s twenty-six this year, a year or two younger than Li Yang. But a woman three years older is a golden brick. The main thing is that Li Wang has no parents or siblings. He’s an orphan. Although he has no one to help him, there are also fewer troubles. If she marries him, she can be the head of the house. He’s also a permanent worker and has a house in town. He even has a pasture, which is managed by his cousin. He has three cows and more than twenty sheep. His personality is also good. He’s really very good,” Li Jinfeng said, full of praise.
It sounded not bad, but as for Li Yang, Ye Qingzhi felt that she would not remarry.
In fact, if she had Li Yang’s qualifications, she probably would not remarry either, unless she met someone with good qualifications in all aspects and who was also pleasing to the eye.
On the other side, Gu Yao told Li Jiang about Li Yang’s matter.
He thought that Gu Yao’s guess was right. Yin Linfeng definitely had other motives.
“Jinfeng is right. Yangyang graduated from junior high school. It’s no problem for her to be a primary school teacher. You should go and plead with the leader. Yangyang is not only your younger sister, but also a martyr’s widow. The army should give her some preferential treatment, right?” Gu Yao asked, thinking of how Li Yang had to get up early and work late after she started working. It was really hard.
Li Jiang was a very principled person and disliked pulling strings the most. But in the face of his young and widowed younger sister, some principles could be set aside.
And then there was Yin Linfeng. He would investigate it himself. If it was true, he would let Yin Linfeng know the consequences of scheming against his younger sister.
The next day, Li Jiang had Yin Linfeng thoroughly investigated. His father was indeed paralyzed in bed, but he had been injured in the line of duty. The factory had paid a sum of money and had also given him a job quota.
In other words, when Yin Linfeng’s younger brother or sister grew up, one of them would be able to get a job at the cotton factory. At that time, it would be a dual-income family.
His mother’s health was indeed not very good, but she did not need to take medicine. She had no problem with household chores like laundry and cooking.
As for his younger brothers and sisters, they were all relatively well-behaved and sensible.
As for Yin Linfeng himself, his relatives and friends all had a good evaluation of him. He was a filial, steady, hardworking, and ambitious good young man.
“So, this Yin Linfeng is not bad?” Gu Yao was a little tempted, then she shook her head. Their family was too large. If Yangyang married him as the eldest daughter-in-law, her responsibility would be too heavy, and her life would be very hard.
“No matter how good he is, he’s not suitable for Yangyang. There are many good men in the army. A soldier is more suitable for Yangyang,” Li Jiang said without hesitation.
Gu Yao shot him a look. “Yangyang’s situation is different. Her marriage is for her to decide. You’d better not mess around.”
Back then, Li Yang had taken a fancy to He Qiming and had also planned to marry him. But then Qi Aiguo had appeared with a token, saying that the two families had arranged a child marriage, and then Li Jiang had had Li Yang marry Qi Aiguo.
It could only be said that Li Yang’s feelings for He Qiming were not that deep. Thinking of her parents, and with her older brother’s persuasion, she had married Qi Aiguo.
But she had not married the wrong person. After marriage, Qi Aiguo was very good to Li Yang. It was just that his life was too short. He had sacrificed himself at a young age, leaving Li Yang a widow with a child. If it weren’t for Li Jiang’s help, Li Yang’s life would not be very good now.
“I know, I won’t mess around,” Li Jiang said, thinking of Qi Aiguo, and then of He Qiming.
To be honest, he regretted it. If he hadn’t acknowledged this child marriage with Qi Aiguo back then, Yangyang would have married He Qiming, and she wouldn’t have become a widow, and she wouldn’t have been bullied by her in-laws and sister-in-law.
“When Yangyang gets off work later, I’ll talk to her. You don’t say anything,” Gu Yao warned in advance.
At the He family’s house, Ye Qingzhi was reading a letter. It was actually sent by Ye Qingsong through Auntie Ye.
For this younger brother, whom the original host had raised on her back, Ye Qingzhi still had some good feelings.
When she had gone back to her hometown last time, this younger brother had secretly reminded her not to trust anyone in the family, especially her mother, and not to leave her address.
And Ye Qingzhi could feel that Ye Qingsong did not want to get anything from her.
So why would Ye Qingsong write to her through Auntie Ye?
Most importantly, why would Auntie Ye help him?