Chapter 337

Xu Daming's exposition.

It dispelled most of Yu Li's doubts.

Although there were still doubts, the hostility from just now was gone.

As long as Xu Daming and Yu Haitang are fine, and Yang Weimin doesn't despise Yu Haitang, she, as her cousin, naturally has nothing to say.

Not that stupid.

The parties involved are fine.

She, an outsider just watching the show, is still making a noisy fuss.

Only a fool would do that.

Brothers who fight tigers together.

When something happens, the couple faces it together.

Yu Li finished asking.

When it was Shazhu's turn to ask, the words were on his lips but he hadn't spoken yet, Xu Daming seemed to have seen through Shazhu's thoughts, and poured out like beans from a bamboo tube the general process of how he met Qin Jingru.

Qin Huairu's superb acting.

She deceived all the villagers of Qin Family Village.

All the villagers, big and small, of Qin Family Village thought Qin Huairu was enjoying blessings in the city, unlike them, who face the loess with their backs to the sun every day, scattering food from the fields.

Many unmarried women wanted to become a second Qin Huairu, just like her, to marry splendidly into the city and eat the city's grain rations.

Qin Jingru was one of them.

After Xu Daming's attempt two years ago to introduce Yan Jiecheng to her failed, he has refused to look for a partner.

Upon accidentally learning that Xu Daming had divorced, she instantly got an idea, set her sights on Xu Daming, wanting to become the wife of the Yagangchang film projectionist.

All kinds of arrangements.

All kinds of schemes.

On a dark, windy night, Qin Huairu got what she wished for, allowing herself to achieve a qualitative leap.

Afterward.

She threw harsh words at Xu Daming.

Either Xu Daming marries her, making her a daughter-in-law of the Xu family, or Qin Huairu goes to the police to accuse Xu Daming of violating her wishes, and she becomes a widow of the Xu family.

Between the two options.

Xu Daming chose the latter without hesitation.

One reason is that he didn't dare to gamble.

He still had plenty of good years ahead to enjoy.

He died.

But then he had nothing.

On the other hand, Qin Jingru is good-looking.

She won over Xu Daming with her looks.

After thinking it over, marrying Qin Jingru would not be a loss; he would gain a beautiful daughter-in-law for nothing, like finding a windfall.

Thus.

The two took advantage of having time today.

They went to the civil affairs bureau and got their marriage certificate.

They got the certificate so quickly because both Xu Daming and Qin Jingru worried that delays would bring trouble: one feared Qin Jingru would go to the police and get him killed, the other feared Xu Daming would give up and rather go to jail than marry her.

A lovable quarrelsome couple.

Hearing of their entangled process, Shazhu couldn't help but a certain word pop into his mind, and some memory fragments from his previous life flashed through his mind again.

That's also fate.

Being picky.

The two ended up together again.

…

The Siheyuan has no secrets.

The news that Xu Daming married Qin Huairu's cousin and became her brother-in-law spread to every corner of the Siheyuan in a very short time.

Naturally, Qin Huairu, who resides in the Jia Family's Hou Yuan, also learned of this.

Qin Huairu's heart.

Instantly became disordered.

All along, she has lived in an illusory beautiful dream, so false that even Qin Huairu herself believed this unrealistic fantasy.

That is, she was very happy living in the Jia Family!

Inside the Siheyuan.

She was opposed by countless neighbors.

Inside the Yagangchang.

She was despised by countless coworkers.

Qin Huairu's only face is that she can put on a false show of happiness in the city before the villagers of Qin Family Village.

Every time she sees the villagers' envious gazes toward Qin Huairu, and every time she sees the eyes of those Qin Family Village women who regard Qin Huairu as an idol and also want to marry into the city like her.

Qin Huairu's whole person will then obtain an unprecedented pleasure from inside out.

This pleasure makes her obsessed.

It makes her utterly infatuated.

To keep up this illusory sense of superiority before the villagers of Qin Family Village, Qin Huairu has been gritting her teeth and stubbornly holding on.

She thought this illusory dream could continue indefinitely, lasting until the moment Qin Huairu perished and her spirit vanished.

Fate toys with people.

Xu Daming married Qin Huairu's cousin, Qin Jingru, bringing her home as his wife.

What should have been a joyous occasion.

In Qin Huairu's eyes, however, it turned into a deadly misfortune.

Once Qin Jingru moved into the Jia Family and saw Qin Huairu's days of toiling like an ox and horse, she would realize that Qin Huairu was actually living poorly, and that each time she returned to the village claiming she was happy, she was merely putting on a front.

This amounted to puncturing the last shred of Qin Huairu's fantasy.

What made Qin Huairu feel even worse.

was her premonition of herself being stepped on by Qin Jingru.

An Jiahe, unemployed and scraping by with odd jobs on Jiēdào, remarried her current husband while still being a daughter-in-law of the Jia Family.

Bangeng and Xiao Dang loathed her intensely.

She couldn't even be bothered to call out a simple 'Mom'.

Jia Zhangshi was a parasite on Qin Huairu; if Qin Huairu didn't appease her, Jia Zhangshi would threaten her with Jia Dongxu's death, and the Yagangchang job she prided herself on turned into a toilet‑cleaning job that others mocked.

These things.

Qin Huairu did not want Qin Jingru to know.

She had been keeping it concealed all along.

As Qin Jingru moved into the courtyard house, it would probably become impossible to keep it hidden any longer.

Although Xu Daming is remarried, he is nevertheless a film projectionist at the Yagangchang.

He still receives his wages, needless to say.

And there are extra perks.

Compared to Qin Huairu's life, Qin Jingru's days are like heaven and earth.

Her fists clenched involuntarily.

Damn it.

I've been so careful, so why did Qin Jingru still end up marrying into the courtyard house!

In Qin Family Village.

Qin Huairu was everyone's pride, envied by countless people, including Qin Jingru.

Once Qin Jingru reveals the truth, the people of Qin Family Village will learn that Qin Huairu has been toiling for the Jia Family like an ox and horse, and then the object of envy will shift to Qin Jingru.

And there's Jia Zhangshi.

If it weren't for her.

could I possibly live so miserably?

Seeing Jia Zhangshi's bulky figure emerge from the inner room, Qin Huairu's fierce, dissatisfied expression vanished instantly, replaced by a kindly smile.

"Mom, just sit; I'll take care of the housework."

She reached out and took the broom from Jia Zhangshi's hands.

She began sweeping the floor.

"Huairu, have you heard? Qin Jingru married Xu Daming—the cousin you mentioned to Mom a while back, the one you asked me to help find a match for in the city."

"I've heard." Qin Huairu laughed and said, "You know the folks in our courtyard; you're not unaware that they're stubborn as a dead duck, with nothing but a mouth—whatever they say, big or small, is bound to be earth‑shattering news; in my view, they're just spreading rumors."

"Huairu, other things might be false, but I believe Xu Daming marrying your cousin is true; just now Mom, looking through the glass, saw Xu Daming bring your cousin into Shazhu's home, and Mom thought they were going to acknowledge the door."

Jia Zhangshi is a pig hogging the food trough.

All she thinks about is good things.

"Our Jia Family has finally endured hardship for sweetness; we're about to have good days—may heaven bless us, and our Jia Family will prosper."