Chapter 131: The Ceng Family

Zhao Fangyuan thought quite highly of Li Chen and Li Jing, but since he was not their relative, there were some things he could not easily say.

Ceng Lifen claimed to be a cadre at the Street Office, but in reality, she was just in charge of logistics, registering simple data, serving tea and water, and doing cleaning and miscellaneous chores.

Moreover, the Ceng family only had three Daozuofang rooms; the father and mother of the Ceng family had one, the grandparents and two grandsons had one, and as for Ceng Lifen, she slept in the main room, with a curtain pulled up to partition it as a bedroom.

Li Mei and Li Qing, the two girls, also heard Zhao Fangyuan's words; the two looked at each other and decided to ask Zhao Fangyuan about it.

Taking advantage of the lunch break, the two girls went to find Zhao Fangyuan to ask, and Zhao Fangyuan did not hide anything, telling them everything he knew all at once.

"Uncle Zhao, please try your best to hold off on the housing application."

"Done."

Zhao Fangyuan had a very good impression of the siblings and did not want Li Chen to jump into the Ceng family's pit of fire.

"Sister, let's tell our uncle or our eldest aunt; the second brother definitely won't listen right now."

"Fine, let's just tell our uncle."

At the same time, at the Ceng family home, the father and mother of the Ceng family were also urging Ceng Lifen.

"Did that Li Chen agree yet?"

"Father, Mother, it's not that easy; it would be good enough to be able to apply for one room," Ceng Lifen said helplessly; she also wanted to get married off early and did not want to sleep in the main room every day.

"You dead girl, if there aren't two rooms, what will your two younger brothers do when they get married in the future?"

"Hurry up and urge him."

"Alright, I know."

In fact, Ceng Lifen had always used the registration information at the Street Office to look for high-quality men; she had dated a few before, but her family's reputation was well-known, and city people would find out after simply asking around, so almost everyone cut their losses in time.

Seeing that this was not working, the father and mother of the Ceng family told Ceng Lifen to focus on workers who had just arrived in the city and choose the best, so the two brothers Li Chen and Li Jing caught Ceng Lifen's eye.

Finally, after some consideration, she chose to approach the Private Manager Li Chen, as his salary was higher after all; just like that, through her deliberate "chance encounters," the two got to know each other, and after going back and forth, they started dating.

At noon, Zhang Ping'an was reading a medical book under the grape trellis when Xiaomei and Xiaoqing came over in a rush.

"What's wrong? Drink some tea first, catch your breath, and then talk."

"Uncle, that Ceng family is not a good family..." After drinking the tea, Li Mei's mind was much clearer, and she told Zhang Ping'an all the information Zhao Fangyuan had provided.

"You're saying that the Ceng family is doing this for the sake of a house?"

"Yes, Uncle. Normally, one room is enough for marriage; why would Ceng Lifen want the second brother to apply for two? It's all for her younger brothers."

"That's right, Uncle. Now the second brother is completely infatuated; even if they have more children in the future, it wouldn't be too late to apply for a second room. We told Uncle Zhao to let him hold off on this matter first."

"Fine, I know. I'll go over there tonight." It seems that whether now or in a past life, "younger-brother-obsessed" people are everywhere.

After learning the address from the two sisters, Zhang Ping'an went to ask around in the afternoon; good heavens, what Zhao Fangyuan said was still conservative.

There was no one in the nearby hutongs who didn't know about the Ceng family when mentioned, which showed their "influence"; starting from the grandparents of the Ceng family, they were not easy to deal with, and ordinary people really wouldn't dare to marry into such a family.

However, Ceng Lifen was considered the best in their family; having graduated from junior high school, she understood a bit of reason, but in such a family environment, she didn't understand much.

But now Li Chen had his heart set on Ceng Lifen, so he had to be made to know the severity of it, though it would require Zhao Fangyuan's cooperation.

In the afternoon, Zhang Ping'an privately found Zhao Fangyuan to state his purpose; Zhang Ping'an was quite familiar with him.

"Brother Zhao, I still need to trouble you for a favor regarding Xiaochen's matter."

"Done, I also don't want that child Xiaochen to fall into a quagmire."

So Zhang Ping'an briefly explained his idea.

"Hahaha, Ping'an, no girl would be willing to go along with this idea of yours."

"That's exactly what I want—for her to be unwilling, so we can get rid of that Ceng Lifen first."

"Done, I'll tell Xiaochen."

Before getting off work, Zhao Fangyuan called Li Chen into the office.

"Xiaochen, you are still in one room with Xiaojing, so it's impossible to allocate two rooms to you. The higher-ups' intention is that either you move to the Ear Room, or you persuade Xiaojing to move to the Ear Room."

"Ah? This..."

"Alright, go back and think about it yourself." Li Chen, who hadn't yet recovered his senses, was shooed out of the office.

After work, Ceng Lifen came looking for him, and seeing Li Chen still in a daze, she called out:

"Brother Chen, how is it? Can we get a house allocated?"

"Uh..." Li Chen struggled for a moment before telling the truth.

"What? Live in the Ear Room? How big is the Ear Room? Even a side room wouldn't be enough!"

"Why wouldn't it be enough? It's enough for us to get married; after we get married and have children, we can definitely apply for another one later."

"What are you thinking, Li Chen? You want me to live in the Ear Room after I marry you? I really regret dating you; you can't even handle two rooms. You really are from the countryside."

"Lifen, you've gone too far. I am from the countryside, but I also earn my living by my own ability; I don't steal or rob."

"Yes, yes, yes, and the result is you can't even handle a wedding house."

"You..."

"Lifen, do you really think I'm a fool? Don't I know what your family situation is? Lifen, I was willing to believe everything you said before, but look at what you're like now."

"People at the entrance of your hutong say all sorts of things about your family, but I didn't want to believe them; I only believed you. But look at you—as soon as I mentioned the house, you showed your true colors. Even a worse place is better than you sleeping in the main room!"

"You... bullshit! You're the one who sleeps in the main room!"

Ceng Lifen's face flushed red; she also regretted saying what she just did. If her parents hadn't been urging her so urgently this morning, she wouldn't have spoken without thinking. Now it was done—the duck that was already in her hand was about to fly away.

Li Chen was very heartbroken; his first relationship had ended just like that. He didn't even eat dinner after work and went back to his room to sulk and sleep.

Thinking about it, it was understandable; a young man from the countryside, single since birth, finally having a "white, rich, and beautiful" city girl take the initiative to pursue him—it was normal to be lost. But now that he saw clearly, the dream should also be over.

The next morning, Ceng Lifen was holding steamed buns, waiting for the shop to open at the entrance.

"Li Chen, I said things I shouldn't have yesterday. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. I thought about it yesterday; you were right. As a person from the countryside, I really am not worthy of you city people, and I don't even have a decent place to get married. You should go back; let's just act like we don't know each other from now on."

Li Chen had also thought it through last night; he had been too concerned with saving face from the beginning, wanting to find a city person, and had subconsciously self-anesthetized against the rumors about the Ceng family. Now that his brain had regained the upper hand, the lies Ceng Lifen had told in the past were full of holes when he thought about them.

"Fine, don't regret this. If you don't kneel down and beg me, I won't turn back."

Ceng Lifen left in a huff. In any case, she hadn't suffered a loss these past few months; during this time, Li Chen had bought her quite a few things, adding up to over one hundred thousand yuan in total, yet Li Chen hadn't even touched her hand.

"Xiaojing, Xiaomei, Xiaoqing, I've made you watch a joke. On my day off, I'll go home and have Father and Mother help me arrange a blind date."

"..."

Li Chen's change in attitude was a bit drastic; before his younger siblings could even react, he had already walked out.

After this incident with Li Chen, Li Jing felt a bit uncertain about his own partner, but upon remembering that he had already been to her home, he set his mind at ease.