Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Just as she was about to agree, Qing Wenyu smiled and said, "Tomorrow my cousin is getting married. My mom has already asked Pearl to accompany her to the wedding banquet, so she might not be able to join you all. I'm really sorry."
Song Pearl watched as Qing Wenyu's lips moved but said nothing, picking up her chopsticks to grab some Sweet and Sour Ribs from the plate.
She knew about her cousin's wedding; how could she not? But her mother hadn't mentioned anything about attending the banquet! Or perhaps Qing Wenyu was just using this as an excuse to decline going back home with Song Zhenbao's family?
"That's fine, then the three of us can go!" Song Shiting seemed to catch the hidden meaning in Qing Wenyu's words and smiled as he said, "It's important to maintain relationships with relatives. Our family doesn't have many relatives, and Pearl has no experience with these matters. She should spend more time with your mom among the relatives."
On the way back, Song Pearl asked Qing Wenyu, "Which cousin is getting married? I’ve never heard of this before."
"You know her," Qing Wenyu glanced at her. "It's Gao Xiaoxia, who worked at the Ecological Aquaculture Farm for a while."
"What? Gao Xiaoxia is your cousin?" Song Pearl sat up straight, her eyes sparkling with excitement as if she had just heard some juicy gossip. "But wait, how come I never noticed? I remember she was quite infatuated with you for a while. If she's your cousin, there shouldn't be that kind of strange and blind admiration, right?"
"First cousins are quite distant; haven't you heard?" Qing Wenyu chuckled lightly. "I didn't know we were related until my mom went back home recently. She's the daughter of my mom's cousin!"
"Oh!" Song Pearl nodded. "It's surprising that you two live so close yet don't know each other. Your family is quite peculiar."
"There's nothing strange about it. My mom is similar to you; she rarely goes out and doesn't like socializing. After she got married, she hasn't seen her old aunt and didn't even know there was a cousin living so nearby!"
"If I had known earlier that Gao Xiaoxia was your cousin, she probably wouldn't have been fired from your company. With all the trouble she caused, finding someone to marry must have been really difficult for her."
Qing Wenyu smiled again. "You are quite familiar with her fiancé too. That's why I wanted you to go."
"Who is it?" Song Pearl searched her mind for anyone she might know but couldn't recall anyone who would be getting married.
"When you were working at the Machinery Factory, there was an office director named Ban Chengdong..."
"Gao Xiaoxia is marrying Ban Chengdong?" Song Pearl leaned back in surprise, holding her forehead. "I don't want to attend such a wedding. I seem to remember that Ban Chengdong was already married... He might even have kids!"
"Getting married means you can also get divorced; otherwise, how could you remarry?"
"That's true," Song Pearl nodded. "After returning to the Qing Family, Gao Xiaoxia left the Ecological Aquaculture Farm because your Qing Family doesn't rehire former employees. Now that you know she is your cousin, will she come back to the company?"
"She has to be willing to work first!"
"If that's the case, then Manager Gao is actually your cousin too. She's quite capable."
"Yes, but she's been with another company for a long time. Capable people don't stay in one place for too long."
Qing Wenyu parked the car. Song Pearl got out to grab some Goat Milk, and they walked into the house side by side.
"Actually, my mom didn't want you to follow along to the wedding. But I think it's better for you to stay away from Song Zhenbao; after all, my wife can't always rely on Zhang Yunye for protection!"
"Thank you for your concern, but I don't need it!" Song Pearl shrugged off Qing Wenyu's hand that was resting on her waist and quickly walked into the room.
Qing Wenyu helplessly watched her retreating figure and smiled wryly, "I just wanted you to drive my mom; she doesn't go out much and isn't familiar with those relatives. I'm worried she won't handle it well."
By the time he entered the room, she was already sitting on the sofa with the TV on. She looked up at him and asked, "So are you asking me for help?"
"Alright! Consider it me asking for your help. If anything happens at the wedding banquet, please keep an eye on things," Qing Wenyu said with a rare pleading expression.
"What trouble could there possibly be on such a joyous occasion?" Song Pearl was about to laugh when she suddenly thought of something and frowned. "I wonder if Ban Chengdong's wife will cause a scene at the wedding? That would certainly make it lively!"
"Song Pearl, don't jinx it! How did you become such a mundane woman? You have quite a lot on your mind!" Qing Wenyu said casually as he sat down and patted her head.
"Being around mundane people for too long naturally makes one mundane as well," Song Pearl raised an eyebrow and replied.
After she finished speaking, no one paid attention to her. The person sitting next to her, Qing Wenyu, suddenly got up, clutching his stomach, and went to the bathroom, not returning for quite a while. Song Pearl realized that he had been in the bathroom for too long when she wanted to go herself.
She didn't expect this capable person to have such a problem! She sighed and stood at the door, calling out a couple of times.
It seemed that having a man come home on time wasn't necessarily a good thing; how could such a large house only have one bathroom? That was unreasonable! She definitely needed to build another one when she had the chance.
As she stood at the door with her arms crossed, the bathroom door opened, and Qing Wenyu walked out, looking somewhat pale.
"What's wrong with you?" Song Pearl sensed something was off and, forgetting about her own need to use the restroom, hurriedly asked.
"It seems I have an upset stomach!" Qing Wenyu replied, his lips slightly white and his hands trembling as he unconsciously bent over.
"Then hurry up and go to the hospital!" Song Pearl quickly grabbed the car keys and headed out. "How could you have an upset stomach? We all ate the same food; it couldn't have gone bad since I bought it fresh at work! Are you allergic to something?"
Qing Wenyu's arm rested on her shoulder as she half-dragged him into the car, where he slumped into the passenger seat.
"Is it very painful?" Song Pearl asked nervously while driving.
The man's lips turned from white to purple. This was the first time Song Pearl had seen him so weak; a few years ago, when he caught a cold after getting caught in the rain on the back mountain, he had only looked disheveled. Now, Qing Wenyu's condition made her feel panicked.
They arrived at the emergency room. The attending doctor wasn't as anxious as Song Pearl; he briefly asked about the situation and then prescribed some medication.
"Go to the Infusion Room for an injection; you'll be fine after that."
"Doctor, is it food poisoning or something? It looks pretty serious," Song Pearl asked.
"It's just a common gastrointestinal infection; there's no need to panic," the doctor said, giving Song Pearl a meaningful look. "Just married, right? Is that why you're so nervous? If you're still worried, come back tomorrow for a full check-up."
"Okay, thank you." Song Pearl helped Qing Wenyu into the Infusion Room and let him wait in his seat while she went to pay and get the medication. The hospital was relatively quiet in the evening, with the television on in the Infusion Room and a few people receiving IV drips staring at the screen.
After finishing three bottles of IV fluid, Qing Wenyu's complexion indeed improved, and he no longer looked as frightening as before.
"I didn't expect the Quack Doctor's medicine to be quite effective," Song Pearl remarked as she walked out of the Infusion Room.
"How do you know he's a Quack Doctor? You can't just judge like that," Qing Wenyu replied, still a bit weak but able to joke with Song Pearl.
"Without any proper diagnosis or examination, just giving you some generic medication—doesn't that make him a Quack Doctor? Luckily, a blind cat stumbled upon a dead mouse!"
When she mentioned the cat, Song Pearl stopped her playful steps, looked up seriously at Qing Wenyu's face.
"What are you looking at?" Qing Wenyu turned his face away. "We're in the car; it's not our first meeting. Why do you look so infatuated?"
"I thought of a question. Is your diarrhea related to the cat? You always hold it when you go back home; cats carry bacteria, so who knows when you got infected with something..."
"Impossible! That cat is very clean; many people have cats, only you don't like them!"
"Because I'm not wealthy," Song Pearl said as she sat in the car, deciding to be clear with Qing Wenyu. "When I first started working at that Machinery Factory, there were frequent safety incidents because of a cat."
"A cat causing safety hazards everywhere?" Qing Wenyu had already regained his spirits. "That's not surprising; it's common to have wild cats or rodents in remote areas. But the accident analysis report from the Machinery Factory didn't mention any of this!"
"Because no one could see it, except for me," Song Pearl said lightly.
"Was it Zhang Yunye helping again?" Qing Wenyu laughed. "Did staying up too late trigger your old problem again? Make sure to rest well when you get home."
He fastened his seatbelt and let Song Pearl drive.
Song Pearl saw that he did not believe her, pursed her lips and said nothing. She could not see anything now and felt no presence of the demon. She hoped that what she feared would not happen.
The second morning was originally sunny and cloudless, but just after leaving home to pick up her mother-in-law Tian Yue, the sky became overcast. After a while, the clouds dispersed, and soon it started to rain. At first, it was heavy rain, but before long it turned into a light drizzle, as fine as cow hair.
Song Pearl did not dislike the rain, but she hated the dampness; the air became heavy, oppressive, and suffocating.
Tian Yue pointed out the route to her, turning left and right as they progressed. They finally stopped in front of an elegantly decorated restaurant. Tian Yue opened her umbrella and waited for Song Pearl to park the car.
A car happened to drive by just then, splashing through a puddle and soaking the hem of Tian Yue's clothes.
"Who drives so recklessly?" Song Pearl frowned as she followed the luxury car that had stopped not far away. The driver was a very competent-looking woman. When she got out of the car, Song Pearl approached her and said firmly, "You got my mother's clothes dirty; you need to apologize to her."
The woman glanced at Song Pearl's attire and then at Tian Yue's, sneering slightly.
Did this pair dressed in common clothing come to attend a wedding? She smiled and nodded, "I'm sorry, Auntie, I just got your clothes dirty. Here’s compensation for you."
With that, she took out her wallet and casually pulled out several hundred-dollar bills, tossing them down. The pink bills fluttered down to land at Tian Yue's and Song Pearl's feet. (To be continued...)
Comment 0 Comment Count