"Will it really work out?" Xiang Gaoli asked. She liked Bai Xingguo, so she didn’t want to put him in a difficult position, but deep down, she was full of anticipation.
"Of course. Don’t you trust me?" Bai Jiu patted her hand to reassure her.
"Then I’ll go back and talk to my family?" Xiang Gaoli said shyly.
"Yes, talk to them. Once a time is set, we’ll arrange to have a meal together."
Bai Jiu’s words left Xiang Gaoli’s heart fluttering so much that she couldn’t stay any longer. Before long, she left and headed home.
By the time Bai Xinghua returned, Xiang Gaoli had already left.
"Sister, I’m back!" Bai Xinghua loved having his older sister at home, even if it had only been two days.
"Go eat your food since you’re back. It’s been kept warm for you," Bai Jiu replied from Father Bai’s room, where she was unpicking the stitching of the old quilts.
She had bought the cotton batting, but their mother would have to make the actual quilts when she returned. All Bai Jiu could do for now was take apart the old ones and put on the four-piece bedding set she had brought back.
The bedding set from her spatial dimension was genuinely tacky, but it fit the aesthetic of this era perfectly. She had to admit, her past purchase was spot on for this situation. However, the family lacked quilts. The ones in her older brother’s room were stiff and completely unyielding, offering no warmth at all. They desperately needed to be remade, so she didn’t bother changing their covers yet. In contrast, the quilts in their parents’ room were still in decent condition, showing just how filial the Bai family’s sons were.
"Okay." Bai Xinghua peeked into the room. Seeing his sister helping their father wash and change the bedding, he scratched his head and gave a foolish smile. "Sister, did Sister Li go back?"
"Yes, she went back. Don’t worry about it so much. Hurry up and eat. After you’re done, help me boil some water. I’m going to wash yesterday’s clothes in a bit." There were still plenty of chores left to keep her busy.
"Okay, I’ll help you later."
"No need. Just go back to your room and sleep after you eat. The heated kang in your room is already warmed up. You just got off the night shift and haven’t slept yet; no matter how good your health is, you won’t be able to handle it."
She hadn’t forgotten that her younger brother had worked for a full day and night before coming back. Fortunately, he didn’t have to work tonight and wouldn’t need to go in until tomorrow morning.
"It’s fine, I’m not sleepy."
"You have to sleep even if you aren’t sleepy." He was just asking for a scolding.
While unpicking the quilt, Bai Jiu filled Father Bai in on what she and Xiang Gaoli had discussed.
"Your oldest brother has really suffered these past few years," Father Bai said, his heart aching immensely after hearing her out. If it weren’t for the family dragging him down, he wouldn’t have ended up in this state. "Back then, your brother was excellent at his studies. All his teachers said he had a bright future ahead of him. It’s just that no one expected the changes to happen so quickly, and even less did we expect your grandfather to lose his life over it."
Recalling the past left Father Bai with a lingering dread. If his own father hadn’t been so ruthless back then, their family would have been torn apart long ago. And then there were the things his father had hidden away. He sighed, wondering if they would ever see the light of day again.
"It’s alright. Big Brother hasn’t given up yet, has he? He’s always kept up with his reading; it’s just that he can’t put it to use right now. Who knows, an opportunity might present itself soon." On this point, Bai Jiu greatly admired Bai Xingguo.
Even after all these years, he still held a special dedication to books. It truly validated the old saying that opportunity favors the prepared mind. In another two years, it would be Brother Bai’s time to soar. He loved books and reading so much that he was bound to become an outstanding teacher in the future.
"Who can say for sure? But things are fine as they are now. Once he gets married and settles down, he’ll finally have something to look forward to in life." The most terrifying thing for a living person was to have no hope.
"Dad, do you agree to the marriage with the Xiang family?" Bai Jiu asked.
Father Bai let out a bitter laugh. "They haven’t looked down on our family, so what reason do we have to disagree? It’s very difficult for your brother and younger brother to find a match."
Other families’ children got engaged at seventeen or eighteen. Only in his family did the boys reach their early twenties without a single matchmaker knocking on their door. Of course, they didn’t dare take the initiative to propose marriage, either, because doing so would only make their family’s life even more difficult.
Bai Jiu understood. "Then we’ll discuss it once Mom gets back."
"Yes, it is time to discuss it." His eldest son was twenty-seven, not seventeen. No matter how much the boy objected, this time he was determined to make him marry her. To him, that girl seemed quite nice.
Bai Jiu smiled. "Dad, take your medicine and take a nap with Xiuxiu and the boys. I’ll go out and wash the clothes and quilts."
Having gotten a definitive answer, Bai Jiu got to work. She hated the cold in the dead of winter, so she boiled a lot of hot water for the laundry. Between one task and another, the sky grew dark. Fortunately, she had finished all the washing.
Meanwhile.
The moment Xiang Gaoli arrived home, her mother grabbed her by the ear and gave her a harsh scolding.
"How many times have I told you? The marriage with the Bai family won’t work! It won’t! Why do you keep throwing yourself at him every single day? Now look what’s happened, your reputation is completely ruined!"
Looking at her disappointing daughter, Xie Mei truly wanted to burst into tears. How had she given birth to such a stubborn fool?
"Mom." Xiang Gaoli was used to the way her mother treated her. It wasn’t that her mother didn’t love her; rather, she loved her too much, which was why she acted this way.
"Brother Bai is a good man. I won’t marry anyone but him," she said, having lost count of how many times she had repeated this. "Besides, does our family even have a reputation to begin with?" Xiang Gaoli rolled her eyes.
She wouldn’t dare say this outside, but since her father was a butcher, many of the men who proposed to her were only after a few ounces of meat. Which one of them was ever sincere about her? Some even gossiped behind her back, saying her destiny was cursed. They claimed that being born into a butcher’s family burdened her with a heavy destiny, fearing she would bring misfortune to her future husband and children if they married her.
"You!" Xie Mei was half-dead with anger.
Raising this daughter had truly been a waste of effort. She had been such a wonderful, sweet, and warm girl when she was little. How did she grow up to be so exasperating?
It wasn’t like she was ignorant of the rumors outside. After she had taught a few gossips a lesson, no one dared to say those things to her face anymore. But in private, there were still plenty of people who called her daughter cursed. The men who came asking for her hand really did harbor ulterior motives; otherwise, they wouldn’t have kept their daughter at home until now. She just loved and ached for her daughter.
"And the Bai family is any better? Have you ever thought about how much gossip you’ll have to face after marrying into that family?" The Bai family was even worse off than theirs. At least the men and sons in her family were still well-regarded.
"That was in the past," Xiang Gaoli declared with full confidence. She then recounted what she had encountered today to her mother.
Seeing her mother’s dumbfounded expression after hearing the story, Xiang Gaoli felt extremely smug. "His sister is amazing. After making such a scene this time, the Bai family’s life will be much better from now on. By then, it’ll be a different story whether they even think I’m good enough for them."
"He wouldn’t dare!" Xie Mei snapped back to her senses at her daughter’s words. "If that Bai Xingguo dares to let you down, I’ll take your father’s butcher knife and chop him to pieces!" The ferocity on her face was truly frightening.
"Hmph. With such a formidable sister-in-law at home, are you sure you’ll have a good life in the future?" However, she quickly collected herself again.
Her daughter had mentioned that the woman’s husband had died and that she was bringing along two children; she would probably live with her maiden family from now on. She had no job and no food rations, yet she still had to raise two children. The Bai family didn’t have much money to begin with, and now, with three extra mouths to feed, their lives would probably become even harder.
Only her foolish daughter would be so dead set on this that not even ten oxen could pull her back.