Evening. 8 pm.
The moon is up, and the stars are shining brightly.
Dong Xuebing smiled and lit a cigarette as he watched Qu Yunxuan drives off in her Mercedes Benz. He hummed a song as he walked back to his residential building.
First floor….
Second floor….
Third floor….
As Dong Xuebing was about to open Aunt Xuan’s apartment, he noticed the lights of his old apartment were switched on from under the door. His first thought is someone had broken into his old apartment. He quickly took out his keys and opened the door.
“Who is it?” A woman asked.
Dong Xuebing was relieved to hear this voice. He had listened to this voice his whole life. “Mum, why are you in Beijing?”
“Xiao Bing?” Luan Xiaoping walks out of the kitchen with a broom. “Why are you here?”
“I was here since yesterday. I am here for some official matters.”
“Why didn’t you let me know?” Luan Xiaoping grumbled. “You frightened me. I thought someone had broken into our house.”
“You are the one who had frightened me. I was wondering why the lights are switched on.”
“Sit there and stop walking around. I had just mopped the floor. Look at your shoeprints.”
Dong Xuebing laughed. “Why have you come back to Beijing?”
Luan Xiaoping took a mop from the bathroom to clean the dirty shoeprints. “It’s Sunday tomorrow, and Old Yang is not working. He wants to come to Beijing to look at our former apartment. That’s why I came back to pack up the house and buy some groceries. It’s been vacant for more than a year. How can we have guests over in this state? Lift your legs.”
Dong Xuebing lifted both his legs. “Why is Old Yang coming over?”
Luan Xiaoping mopped the floor. “He wants to see our apartment.”
“What’s there to see in this small rundown apartment? Did you two register your marriage?”
Luan Xiaoping blushed. “We are considering this, but it’s not finalized.”
Dong Xuebing is unhappy. “You had met his family, and Old Yang is coming to our house. Isn’t this the proper procedure? What do you mean by it’s not finalized?”
Luan Xiaoping gave Dong Xuebing a stare. “Don’t try to be smart. Go and change to slippers, and help me clean the windows. I can’t reach as I am short.”
“Sigh…. I am tired.” Dong Xuebing mumbled as he massaged his aching waist. He took a cloth and started wiping the windows unwillingly. “This is going to happen eventually…. I can understand this feeling.”
Luan Xiaoping overheard him. “What did you say?”
“Err…. Nothing. I am saying you have become prettier.”
Ring… ring… ring… Luan Xiaoping’s phone rang.
Dong Xuebing turned and saw his mother wiping her hands and answering the call. “Hello… Yes…. I’m Luan Xiaoping. Oh…. Zhaojuan…. That’s right…. what’s wrong? Oh, you are coming with your Mum and Old Yang tomorrow? Of course, I welcome you all… Are you driving over? Then…. Then…. I will go and fetch you all.”
Dong Xuebing asked after his mother hung up. “Who was that?”
Luan Xiaoping replied with a somber tone. “It’s Old Yang’s sister, Yang Zhaojuan, and their mother.”
“Yang Zhaojuan? Is she Su Jia’s mother? The one I met before?” Dong Xuebing could not remember their names.
“No.” Luan Xiaoping replied. “The one you met in the City Committee family quarters is Yang Zhaofen. Zhaojuan is Old Yang’s youngest Sister. You had not met her.”
“Oh, why are they coming over?”
Suddenly, Dong Xuebing noticed his mother’s phone was still on. He frowned and picked it up. “It’s not hung up.”
Luan Xiaoping looks over. “I am not good with mobile phones. Help me hang up.”
“Wait…. The other party had not hung up, and someone is talking.”
“What are you doing?”
“Shh…. Don’t say anything.”
Dong Xuebing could hear the sounds of cloth rubbing against the cloth and could not hear the conversation. But he can hear someone saying his mother’s name. He put the phone on speaker and increased the volume.
“We got to wake up early tomorrow.” A woman said, and it should be Yang Zhaojuan.
“You can just go on your own. My legs are not good, and I don’t want to travel.” This person should be Old Yang’s mother. Her voice is hoarse and sounds old.
“Mum, how can you not go? You got to be my Brother’s gatekeeper.”
“I had met Xiaoping before.”
“What do you think of her?”
“Average…. Sigh…. I don’t like her.”
“That’s right. My Brother is mesmerized by her and can’t see everything. As a family, we should be the gatekeeper in case he makes the wrong decision. I spoke to my Brother over the phone yesterday, and he is going to register their marriage. I don’t know what’s so good with Luan Xiaoping. She got average looks, and her dressing is off. She got no taste at all. Moreover, she is from a small farming village.
Yang Zhaode’s mother asked. “Isn’t she from Beijing?”
“I heard her mention that she is from a village in Fen Zhou City. Her former husband is from Beijing.” Yang Zhaojuan smacked her lips. “She is not good enough for my Brother.”
Suddenly, a man’s voice said. “Xiao Jia had said Luan Xiaoping’s son is rich.”
Yang Zhaojuan retorted. “How rich can a Subdistrict Office Director be?”
“Xiao Jia said he is driving a good car.”
“How can you call someone rich with over a million RMB? Just our two houses are worth over two million RMB. I heard Luan Xiaoping does not even own a house, and she lived in a small single bedroom apartment in Beijing with her son. It’s still a rented apartment. You are a nobody if you don’t own a house. We can buy three BMWs if we sell our houses.”
The man replied. “You are too biased. Don’t ever say these in front of your elder Brother.”
Yang Zhaojuan replied. “I am doing this for my Brother. I don’t like Luan Xiaoping, and I wonder what my Brother is thinking.”
Yang Zhaode’s mother replied after a short pause. “If it’s like what Zhaojun said, then it’s really….”
“Don’t you agree with me?” Yang Zhaojuan added. “Mum, you must stop my Brother before he regrets in the future. I have a classmate who got divorced last year. She is around forty years old and is pretty. She comes from a good family and has two houses in Hebei Province. One of them is a mansion, and she is driving a BMW. If you agree, I will recommend her to my Brother.”
Yang Zhaode’s mother replied. “Show me her picture.”
“I got it with me. Here.”
“Hmmm…. This girl is quite good-looking. How old is she again?”
“Forty-one. She is much younger than Luan Xiaoping.”
The middle-aged man asked. “Then why are you going to Beijing?”
Yang Zhaojuan replied. “We still have not met Xiaoping’s family. It’s only my Sister who had met her son. I want to see her family’s condition and make my Brother change his mind. Mum, I am not saying she must own property. We are not snobs. But if her family is poor and she is from a village, they will have differences in the future. They will not be compatible. My Brother is a City Organization Department Chief and a Party Committee Member. If they get married, she will have to attend public events with him in the future. She will be a laughing stock.”
Dong Xuebing is looking terrible and hangs up the call. F*CK you!
Luan Xiaoping’s eyes were red, and she wiped her tears.
Dong Xuebing got more furious when he saw his mother cry. “How dare they look down on you?! I should be the one looking down on them! Mum, break off with Old Yang and move in with me. I will take care of you for the rest of your life.”
Luan Xiaoping’s tears rolled down her cheeks.
Dong Xuebing is frustrated and paces around the living room. “Who the hell do they think they are? Mum, are you aware that his family is not willing to accept you?”
“Yes.”
“I should be the one who is unwilling to accept this!” Dong Xuebing cursed. “It’s their fortune for my Mum to get married into their family. They should thank their ancestors for doing good deeds. How dare they look down on you because you are from a village and say you have average looks?! You all are the ones who should be thankful!”
Dong Xuebing took out his phone to call Yang Zhaode.
Luan Xiaoping tried to snatch the phone away. “Stop it, Xiao Bing. You are not allowed to call him.”
Dong Xuebing replied angrily. “Why?!”
“I am dating your Uncle Yang and not his family.”
“But marriage is between two families. If Old Yang’s family are unwilling, you will suffer when you get married into his family.”
“Listen to me. Sit!” Luan Xiaoping is angry too. “Are you not going to listen to me?! Give me your phone!”
Dong Xuebing threw himself on the sofa. “Who the hell do they think they are?! They must be blind!”
