Chapter 117
The Village Party Secretary was completely stunned.
Subconsciously, he wiped his hands on his shirt before taking the hand that was extended toward him.
Feeling the soft, smooth hand in his, the Village Party Secretary suddenly realized: Something’s not right!
This isn’t a leader; this is the wife of a younger relative from the village!
What kind of male elder holds hands with a younger relative’s wife!
The Village Party Secretary instinctively wanted to pull his hand back.
However, this official-looking younger relative’s wife had already gripped his withered, bark-like hand with both of hers, holding it tightly and not allowing him to pull away: “Second Uncle, Yan Lei is away from home all year round, and our family has relied on you for much care. Yan Lei told me that when I met you, I must convey his deepest gratitude.”
The Village Party Secretary: “Oh, oh, don’t mention it, don’t mention it. We’re family, we’re family.”
He just wanted to pull his hand back quickly.
Young daughter-in-law, your brother-in-law is watching right there.
Qiao Wei, however, did not let go.
“Second Uncle, the matter Yan Lei promised is with me. Please rest assured,” she said with a smile.
The Village Party Secretary’s eyes lit up, and he gripped Qiao Wei’s hand firmly: “Yan Lei’s wife, you’ve worked hard! How was the trip? Have you eaten? Come, shall we go back and eat first?”
“I’ve eaten, I’ve eaten.” Qiao Wei finally let go. “Please don’t worry about me. Come, Xiangxiang, call him Second Grandpa.”
Yan Xiang was also wearing a white shirt, snow-white and super polite: “Second Grandpa.”
“Oh, good boy. My goodness, look at this child, is this Yan Lei’s kid? Look how handsome! He looks exactly like Yan Lei when he was little!”
Qiao Wei smiled and taught Yan Xiang again: “This is Uncle. Uncle is Daddy’s older brother.”
It was the first time Yan Xiang had seen his father’s relatives: “Wow~ Uncle!”
“Oh, oh!” Yan Zhu had been stunned by the momentum of Qiao Wei and the Village Party Secretary shaking hands and talking, and felt a bit at a loss. Only with Yan Xiang did he finally find the feeling of “having met the right person.”
“Oh, good boy!”
“Um, um, sister-in-law?” Yan Zhu said. “Shall, shall we go home?”
Looking at Qiao Wei now, it seemed like her face was the one from his memory. But why couldn’t he match it up?
She didn’t look like that person at all.
But it had been nearly six years, so it was possible for a person to change. After all, they had only spent a few days together before, and hadn’t even spoken more than a few words.
Qiao Wei said: “Alright, let’s go.”
The Village Party Secretary and Yan Zhu helped her carry the bags and the suitcase, and Qiao Wei led Yan Xiang as they followed them.
Seeing the mode of transportation, Yan Xiang: “Wow~”
A horse-drawn cart.
Although Yan Xiang often saw horse-drawn carts, he had never actually ridden in one in his life, not even once.
The Village Party Secretary laughed: “What’s our little one’s name?”
Qiao Wei said: “Yan Xiang. Xiang, as in Hunan, the hometown of the Great Man.”
The Village Party Secretary looked on with respect: “That’s a great name!”
Yan Zhu picked up Yan Xiang and placed him on the cart: “What, Yan Xiang has never ridden a horse-drawn cart before?”
Yan Xiang shook his head like a rattle-drum.
“Then what do you usually ride?”
“Jeeps, big buses, bicycles.”
The Village Party Secretary clicked his tongue: “A city kid, after all!”
There was also a driver on the cart, and Yan Zhu sat in the front with him. The Village Party Secretary, Qiao Wei, and Yan Xiang sat in the back.
The sun wasn’t too harsh at this moment, and as the horse ran, the breeze blowing was very comfortable.
Yan Xiang felt it was similar to sitting on the back of his mother’s bicycle. It was a pity that since the bus route had been established, his mother didn’t really ride her bicycle to and from work anymore.
He lifted his little face, enjoying the breeze and the sunshine.
The Village Party Secretary secretly sized her up, feeling that Yan Lei’s wife was completely different from his memory. Of course, he didn’t have much memory of Yan Lei’s wife anyway; he just remembered her as being thin, quite pretty, and a bit disdainful of others.
Qiao Wei suddenly cast her gaze over, not avoiding it at all, and even smiled at the Village Party Secretary.
Being caught peeking, the Village Party Secretary felt a bit uncomfortable and made small talk: “What does Yan Lei’s wife usually do in the city?”
“You can just call me Qiao Wei,” Qiao Wei corrected his address. “I work in the County Party Committee Office of our county. I am a Grade 6 clerk, and I report directly to the County Party Committee Secretary. I am mainly responsible for external publicity, writing some promotional drafts and editorials published in the City Newspaper and provincial newspapers. I have won several awards, and the Peoples Daily has reprinted my articles.”
The Village Party Secretary had originally expected to hear answers like “taking care of children, doing housework,” or knew that city people would be assigned jobs, or at most “working in XX factory earning a salary.”
He never expected that Yan Lei’s wife—no, Qiao Wei—actually worked in the County Party Committee Office.
The County Party Committee Office was the core of power in a county.
She reported directly to the top leader?
The Peoples Daily reprinted her articles?
The Yan Village Village Party Secretary was stunned.
He wanted to ask more, but Qiao Wei covered her nose and mouth: “There’s too much dust; let’s talk when we get home.”
She left the Village Party Secretary hanging for the entire journey.
Yan Zhu also kept looking back frequently, unable to hide the look of shock on his face.
The Village Party Secretary realized that this brother-in-law didn’t know what his sister-in-law did either.
Qiao Wei admired the pastoral scenery all the way until she arrived at Yan Village, as it existed in the original owner’s memory—Yan Lei’s hometown.
More than half of the families in the village were surnamed Yan; they were all clansmen.
It was rare for a rural village to have guests from afar, especially one that the Village Party Secretary had gone to pick up personally. The whole village knew, and everyone was waiting to see.
As soon as the horse-drawn cart entered the village, a large group of children scattered in all directions with a roar: “They’re here! They’re here!”
Spreading the news everywhere.
Along the way, the horse-drawn cart was followed by people who seemed to emerge from nowhere, suddenly filling the main road of the village, following behind the cart to watch the excitement.
Still, there was too little entertainment.
Qiao Wei smiled calmly, not embarrassed by being watched, but instead viewing such a scene as entertainment herself.
The Village Party Secretary knew at a glance that this was a person who had seen big scenes.
When the cart stopped, Qiao Wei jumped down agilely, then turned and lifted Yan Xiang down. She looked up and squinted at the courtyard.
In the village, this courtyard was considered a decent and tidy one. It was built with the money Yan Lei brought back after he joined the army. To build this courtyard, he had spent almost all of his savings at the time. The money he had now was all saved up later.
Yan Lei was really exceptionally good at saving money! Of course, most importantly, he could earn money!
The memories about this village, this courtyard, and this family had been swept by the original owner into a dusty, dark corner. It was also because of this reason that Qiao Wei usually couldn’t even recall that Yan Lei had a whole family.
But because it was needed now, Qiao Wei dug it all up.
Squinting her eyes, the courtyard before her matched her memories.
The Village Party Secretary, however, got angry: “Where are the people? Where is your family?”
There was no one at Yan Lei’s door; who was this intended to intimidate? He, a dignified Village Party Secretary, had gone to pick up the person personally. If Yan Lei’s family was this disrespectful, they were disrespecting him as the Village Party Secretary.
He glanced over.
Qiao Wei stood reservedly, looking at the courtyard as if viewing scenery; clearly, she was not falling for this intimidation at all.
She had come from afar and could not enter an empty house so subserviently.
From the moment she got off the train, she had taken the initiative, struck a pose, and used her presence to suppress them. She simply didn’t intend to play domestic power struggles with them or engage in these petty, trivial mind games.
And they shouldn’t treat her as “so-and-so’s wife” or “so-and-so’s daughter-in-law.” Because when she was labeled with such titles, she was already inferior in status, seniority, and position.
That wouldn’t do.
She was here to treat the old people’s illnesses; of course, first and foremost, she had to complete this task efficiently and smoothly.
But besides that, just as Yan Lei said, she was not here to be bullied.
Yan Zhu’s scalp tingled.
He actually knew roughly what was going on. Last night, his own wife had been nagging: “Yan Lei’s wife looks down on us. The third sister-in-law and fourth sister-in-law both said we shouldn’t give her too much face.”
He rushed inside in one stride and roared: “Where is everyone? Where did everyone go? Sister-in-law has come back from far away! Why aren’t you coming out quickly!”
After all, he was the eldest son of the family, and especially now that his father was old and sick, the eldest son’s weight was even heavier.
With this roar, he indeed roared everyone out from inside.
Two or three middle-aged and young women appeared at the main gate, supporting an old lady.
The Village Party Secretary was very dissatisfied and reprimanded: “Yan Lei’s mother, what’s the matter with you! Qiao Wei has come back from so far away, what have you all been doing!”
The old lady was Yan Lei’s biological mother, and she said sheepishly: “That… just now his father… I was busy…”
Women here didn’t count for much, so she habitually used her husband as an excuse. She dared not say that she had been blocked in the room by her daughters-in-law, who had deliberately kept her from coming out.
The Village Party Secretary knew exactly what was going on, but couldn’t be bothered to haggle with the women. He just said: “Take a look, this is Qiao Wei. Do you still recognize her?”
Yan Lei’s mother looked intently.
Below the steps outside the door stood a young woman in a white shirt and green army trousers. Short hair, cheeks white with a hint of pink, clean and healthy. A pair of eyes, pitch-black and bright, sparkling with spirit as she looked around.
This… this was very different from her memory.
She hesitated for a moment and said timidly: “That… Yan Lei’s wife, you’re back?”
Qiao Wei had been staring at this old lady just now. She felt she shouldn’t look as old as she did, but her appearance was truly too old.
When she saw her, a feeling of disgust arose spontaneously in her heart.
Qiao Wei dispelled this feeling; it belonged to the original owner, Qiao Weiwei. Qiao Wei refused to accept such overly subjective feelings.
She wanted to see people for herself.
She stepped forward, lifted her face, and said with a smile in a clear voice: “Mother, I am Qiao Wei. I have returned.”
She gently pushed Yan Xiang forward again: “This is Yan Xiang.”
“Xiangxiang, this is Grandma,” she introduced to Yan Xiang. “This is Daddy’s mother.”
Yan Xiang looked up at the old woman, his mouth slightly open.
This time, he didn’t say “Wow~”.
Before coming, his father and mother had taught him about the people in his hometown.
When he saw Uncle and knew he was his father’s older brother, he had said “Wow~” and felt very curious.
After all, because he himself had no siblings, even though he knew he was his father’s own brother, he didn’t have such strong empathy.
But the old grandma in front of him, she was Daddy’s mother!
Mother was such an important person.
Mother was too important to Yan Xiang. Then Daddy’s mother should be just as important to Daddy.
Yan Xiang felt a strange calling.
Without needing Qiao Wei to push him again, he walked forward a few steps unconsciously, looking up: “Grandma?”
“Grandma!”
“I am Yan Xiang, I am my father’s son, I am Grandma’s grandson!”
At this moment, Qiao Wei saw the bond of blood from Yan Xiang.
It was almost impossible for Chinese people to completely sever this bond. Even though Yan Lei had been away from home for more than ten years, and had only met four or five times in between, each time for just a few days, he could not let go of this family.
At least, it was impossible to let go of his biological parents.
But fortunately, the original text was a sweet and satisfying story; it had to be both sweet and satisfying.
The horrible sisters-in-law were designed to be slapped in the face. But to win the male lead’s heart, the male lead’s biological parents were designed as “honest, good people,” intended for the original female lead to win over and move.
Sure enough, the original female lead moved the parents-in-law, which moved Yan Lei, and won Yan Lei’s heart.
Qiao Wei remembered very clearly that in the original text, Yan Lei’s biological mother had once sighed: “This is the kind of daughter-in-law our farming family should marry.”
This route was quite good, or perhaps it was really quite suitable for Lin Xixi. It firmly established her virtuous persona, giving her all the specialties of serving people an environment to flourish, and could achieve good results.
But this was not the route Qiao Wei wanted to take.
