Marriage at Thirty - Chapter 44

In the afternoon, several relatives came to visit the house.

Their wedding had been too rushed previously; even Xu Yanyan and her husband received the invitation suddenly. Therefore, Xu Yanyan had originally intended to go over first to assess the situation and hadn’t invited the relatives to the dinner, so as to avoid any jokes.

Now that the couple had been married for almost half a year and had returned home to visit, it was only natural to introduce them to the family.

Xu Yanyan introduced Lin Ran to everyone. The relatives continuously scrutinized Lin Ran while offering words of praise.

Lin Ran also received several red envelopes.

The house was getting too crowded, so one group of people went downstairs to wait in the shop. Lin Ran also went downstairs, curiously wandering in front of the cabinets. The medicine cabinet had a certain sense of age, and the name of the herb was pasted on the outside of each drawer.

She casually pulled open a drawer, examined the medicinal materials inside, and smelled them.

Fu Linling stayed by her side, answering questions about pharmacology.

“Do you recognize all these herbs?” Lin Ran asked.

“I recognize them, but I only know how to dispense the medicine, not write prescriptions,” Fu Linling replied.

“That’s still quite impressive. Why didn’t you study Chinese medicine?” Lin Ran asked again.

“I found it boring. As a child, I watched the shop every day, and it was so dull.”

Not many people came to see the Chinese medicine doctor, and most were neighbors, so Xu Yanyan often went out to play Mahjong or chat with friends.

If a patient arrived, Fu Linling would run to call her mother back.

Most of the time, she sat amidst the pile of medicinal herbs, watching the shop and doing her homework. Every time she saw groups of peers passing by, she felt very envious.

She both wanted to go out and play but also didn’t know how to integrate into other people’s social circles.

So, while she disliked watching the shop at home, in a certain way, she also liked it.

“Cousin-in-law, am I late?” a middle-aged woman with a strong voice walked in, wearing bright red lipstick and holding a one or two-year-old child in her arms, followed by a young couple.

“Not at all. The banquet hasn’t started yet. You’re right on time,” Xu Yanyan said with a smile. “Come in and sit down quickly.”

“I said I wanted to come earlier, but things are slow when you have a child. His parents are busy working all day, so I’m the only one looking after the child. There’s nothing I can do.”

After the woman spoke, others stepped forward to tease the child and offered compliments: “You’re in for a good life. You have a grandson so young, and your daughter and son-in-law are both successful.”

The compliments made the woman beam. She looked around, saw Lin Ran, paused, and asked in surprise, “Is this the wife Yuan-Yuan married?”

“Yes, her name is Ranran,” Xu Yanyan said.

The woman walked up to Lin Ran and examined her closely.

“This is your Cousin-Aunt,” Fu Linling said beside her.

Lin Ran smiled and nodded. “Hello, Cousin-Aunt.”

“You’re so young. Did you graduate from college already?” Cousin-Aunt asked.

“Yes, I did. Yuan-Yuan and I are the same age,” Lin Ran said with a smile.

Fu Linling suddenly glanced at her, then turned her head and chuckled softly.

“I really can’t tell you’re thirty at all. I was worried Yuan-Yuan had abducted a minor,” Cousin-Aunt’s comment made everyone laugh.

After sitting for a while, Xu Yanyan checked the time and invited everyone to go out to eat, having reserved a large private room.

Cousin-Aunt’s daughter and son-in-law had to go eat with the in-laws, so they excused themselves first.

On the way to the hotel, Lin Ran listened to Cousin-Aunt’s booming voice, which was either complaining that her daughter was too busy with work or grumbling that her son-in-law was too weak and did whatever his wife said.

Anyone with sense could tell Cousin-Aunt was subtly praising them, yet everyone pretended not to understand, following her lead and advising her to be content with how successful her daughter and son-in-law were.

Lin Ran didn’t really care at first, as they weren’t close, but she noticed Cousin-Aunt seemed to be getting carried away with the compliments, and her topic slowly shifted to Fu Linling.

“My daughter has always worried me since she was little. Her grades were average; she couldn’t compare to Yuan-Yuan at all. But she surprisingly became successful when she grew up. She passed the civil service exam on the first try and married a doctor from the People’s Hospital. Now she even has a child. I have nothing to worry about in this life. I used to envy my sister-in-law’s good fortune, but I unexpectedly got a grandson before her.”

Everyone else’s expressions changed, and they felt a sense of awkwardness. After all, there had genuinely been no same-sex marriages in their small town. Many people talked behind Xu Yanyan’s back, saying the Fu family’s girl had been in the big city for too long and must have picked up big-city habits.

Zhang Wu’s face immediately fell, but since this wasn’t her territory, she couldn’t openly flare up.

Xu Yanyan, however, laughed. “Your good fortune is still ahead of you. Look at you. You’ve gone gray worrying about your daughter and grandson. You’re not even fifty yet. Why do you have so much gray hair? Come find me sometime, and I’ll write you a prescription to adjust that.”

Cousin-Aunt was most concerned about her gray hair and had to dye it every month. She asked in alarm, “Is it that obvious? Is there even more gray?”

“Quite a bit more. Looking from a distance, I thought you were wearing your grandson’s cotton candy on your head,” Xu Yanyan said.

This comment made others chuckle, and Zhang Wu felt a sense of relief seeing Cousin-Aunt’s exasperated look.

“Does this person not like you?” Lin Ran whispered to Fu Linling, who was walking at the back of the group.

Fu Linling said, “She lives close to us and spends the most time with my mom. When there’s a need, they help each other out, but when there isn’t, she’s very calculating. She’s made a habit of comparing everything: husbands, daughters, sons-in-law…”

Lin Ran curled her lips. “She couldn’t win with her husband or daughter, then she realized she won with her son-in-law, who’s a doctor, and even has a grandson. No wonder she’s so smug.”

“Why would she lose on the son-in-law? Our family is victorious in every aspect,” Fu Linling countered.

Lin Ran gave her a look and laughed, pinching her cheek. “Oh my, oh my. Look at this smugness. That’s not like Doctor Fu at all.”

“I can’t help but be smug since I married you.”

The people ahead heard their movement, looked back, saw Lin Ran quickly kiss Fu Linling on the cheek, and quickly turned back around.

Cousin-Aunt clicked her tongue in amazement. “It’s so different when girls marry girls. So affectionate.”

“Of course. Who wants to be affectionate with stinky men? Would any of you be this affectionate with your husbands?” Xu Yanyan laughed.

“Stop! Just thinking about it is annoying,” the others quickly chimed in.

Zhang Wu laughed heartily and linked arms with Xu Yanyan. “Women are naturally closer to each other.”

“Exactly.” Xu Yanyan looked back at the two of them and said, “I’ve lived long enough in this life, and I may not live to see my grandson get married. So, as long as I see my daughter married happily, that’s all that matters. I don’t worry about anything, and my hair is black. I see your hair is quite shiny too, Sister Wu. You look so beautiful now, you must have been a great beauty before!”

Zhang Wu said without exaggeration, “I was scouted by a talent agent before.”

They chatted and laughed until they reached the hotel. Fu Shanqing, who had gone to buy wine, also arrived then.

Fu Linling and Lin Ran sat next to the grandmother again, but the main protagonists of the evening were the newlywed wives.

For the past half-year, people coming and going in the town had been asking about them, and some even asked Xu Yanyan to her face if it was true.

As for Lin Ran’s basic situation, everyone only knew she was from Jincheng and was a painter; they knew nothing else.

“What exactly does a painter do?” Cousin-Aunt asked curiously. “Do you just paint every day? Who pays your salary?”

“I paint for Party A, and Party A pays me,” Lin Ran explained.

Cousin-Aunt didn’t understand the intricacies of Party A and Party B. She only cared about one thing: “Is the salary high?”

“It depends. It’s not very stable. If I paint, I get paid. If I don’t, I don’t.”

“That’s really not stable. Why don’t you take a civil service exam? A guaranteed job. Yuan-Yuan has a guaranteed job, too. If both of you are stable, your parents won’t have to worry.”

Zhang Wu was the first to speak. “I’m not worried at all.”

Xu Yanyan also nodded. “The children have their own ideas. A guaranteed job is good, but they have to like it, too.”

Cousin-Aunt’s expression stiffened slightly. She persuaded them, “That’s because you haven’t been a civil servant. You don’t know how great the benefits are. During holidays and festivals, not to mention the housing provident fund, even the oil and rice Qin-Qin’s unit distributes are enough for me for a long time. I haven’t had to buy those myself anymore.”

“You should tell Qin-Qin to be cautious. She didn’t take anything she shouldn’t have, did she? I hear they’re strict about that now,” Xu Yanyan asked.

Cousin-Aunt’s expression was slightly awkward. She gave a strained smile. “How could she? Most of it was Qin-Qin buying things to show her filial piety to me.”

Everyone lowered their heads, stifling laughter.

Cousin-Aunt awkwardly changed the subject, her gaze sweeping toward Fu Linling. “Yuan-Yuan, you have two doctors in your family. Why did you look for someone who paints? Oh, I’m not saying painting is bad, but I just thought you’d look for someone with common interests.”

Xu Yanyan’s face completely darkened, but she heard Fu Linling say flatly, “Mind your own business.”

“Yuan-Yuan, why are you cursing people? Sister-in-law, aren’t you going to manage her?”

“As you all know, Yuan-Yuan usually doesn’t curse. If she does, I can’t manage her either,” Xu Yanyan shrugged.

Lin Ran, seeing Fu Linling truly angry for the first time, scratched her hand under the table and leaned in to whisper, “My sister is so cool; I love it.”

Fu Linling was immediately amused by her again, lowering her voice. “Don’t mind her, and don’t listen to her words. She’s so annoying.”

“I’m not close to this aunt, and I may not see her many times. It’s Mom I feel sorry for, having to face such a passive-aggressive person every day,” Lin Ran said.

Fu Linling sighed. “The gossip in town never stops. I want to take them to Jincheng to retire, but they’re unwilling. They still prefer this old place.”

“Adults are all like that. They might not adapt if they move away. We can only come back more often to visit them.”

After the meal, everyone departed, returning to their respective homes.

Lin Ran took a shower and ran into Zhang Wu’s room, locked the door, and the two chatted animatedly.

Xu Yanyan brought them milk, noticed Lin Ran wasn’t in her room, and after learning she was in Zhang Wu’s room, she closed the door worriedly and asked in a low voice, “Was Ranran upset by your Cousin-Aunt?”

“No, not at all.”

Xu Yanyan was still uneasy. “Comfort her more. She came from a big city, so it’s normal if she’s not used to our local customs. Your father and I are both careless. If we do anything wrong, you must remind us not to neglect her and her mother.”

“I know. You’re both doing great.”

After a while, Lin Ran returned. The two lay down on the wooden bed. The street had quieted down early, and their voices naturally softened.

“Grandma sleeps early. This is the gift she wanted to give you for your first meeting,” Fu Linling retrieved a pair of jade bracelets from the bedside table. They were of excellent quality, and most importantly, they were passed down to the grandmother from her mother.

Lin Ran carefully took them. “Grandma is so kind.”

“She really likes you.”

“That’s only because she likes you, and she extends that love to me,” Lin Ran laughed. She put the bracelets away, then flipped onto the bed, rolled around twice, and smilingly leaned in to kiss Fu Linling.

“Tomorrow, you’ll go shopping with my mom and me. We need to buy some things.”

“Alright.”

Fu Linling tightened her grip on Lin Ran’s hand, pressed the back of her neck, flipped her over, and kissed her with ragged breaths.

With both their parents in the adjacent rooms, and uncertain about the soundproofing, they didn’t go all the way. Lin Ran was quite disappointed; she was nearly brought to climax just by Fu Linling’s kissing.

The next day, Lin Ran and her mother asked Fu Linling to take them shopping on the street, without Xu Yanyan or her husband accompanying them. The day after, they invited Xu Yanyan and her husband out to visit a new housing development.

“Dad, Mom, what do you think of this place?” Lin Ran asked, walking into an empty apartment.

“It’s nice, quite spacious. The greenery is good, and it’s close to home. Are you planning to buy a house here?” Xu Yanyan asked.

“Yes, but it’s for you and Grandma to live in. Grandma isn’t in great health, and Dad is getting older. It’s not safe to keep having Dad carry her up the stairs. This building has an elevator, which would be better for all of you,” Lin Ran said.

“It is good, but… don’t laugh at us, but we really don’t have the money. We helped Yuan-Yuan a bit when she bought her house in Jincheng, and we still need to keep some retirement money for Grandma and ourselves. We really can’t afford to buy another new house,” Xu Yanyan sighed.

“You don’t need to pay for this. I’ll buy it,” Lin Ran said.

“How can you do that?!” Xu Yanyan was shocked.

“I’ve been living with Yuan-Yuan since we got married, and I didn’t contribute a penny to that house. Yuan-Yuan is also paying the mortgage herself, so I should contribute some money. Buying a new house here will also make it more convenient for us when we come back, right?” Lin Ran said.

Zhang Wu also nodded. “I still have an old house in Jincheng, and Ranran’s name is on the title. The Jincheng house is enough for them. If we buy one here, I might come here to travel next time and won’t have to bring them along. How convenient is that?”

“But there’s no need for you to spend so much money on the three of us old folks,” Xu Yanyan said.

“Mom, we can only truly be at ease out there if you feel safe and comfortable living here. Essential health investments are necessary,” Lin Ran smiled.

“Why didn’t you notify us beforehand?” Xu Yanyan turned to Fu Linling.

“She only found out today too,” Lin Ran said, smiling as she took Fu Linling’s arm. “Convincing her was even harder than convincing you.”

Lin Ran and her mother were determined to buy a house here. Xu Yanyan couldn’t refuse, but she had one condition: “The house must be registered under Ranran’s name.”

After reaching an agreement, the group headed home and ran into Cousin-Aunt’s family shopping on the street.

“Where did your family go to have fun?” Cousin-Aunt asked.

“We went to buy a house,” Xu Yanyan said vaguely.

“Did you buy it for Yuan-Yuan and them?”

“No, Ranran bought it for us,” Xu Yanyan pointed to Lin Ran, still recovering from the shock. “She… paid for it in full.”

Cousin-Aunt was stunned. “Sister-in-law, are you kidding me?”

Xu Yanyan slowly shook her head. Even she couldn’t believe Lin Ran was so generous.

In truth, she knew nothing about Lin Ran’s financial situation, as she hadn’t asked in detail, which was why she was so shocked.

Even though Lin Ran said the full price in the town was less than the down payment in Jincheng, it was still over a million yuan.

How many people in their town could afford to pay a million yuan for a house without relying on their parents?

Evidently, Cousin-Aunt was also speechless, staring blankly at Lin Ran. “You painters make that much money?”

“It depends. This profession isn’t stable,” Lin Ran repeated.

Cousin-Aunt’s perception, however, had completely shifted.

“The price for orders is high now; it just depends on how diligent she is,” Zhang Wu said from the side. “When she first started in college, the prices were low, but she was diligent. By the time she graduated, she bought me a car. Yanyan, tell her to get you one too sometime.”

After bidding farewell to Cousin-Aunt and her family, Zhang Wu chuckled. “Oh, my goodness, bragging about your daughter feels so good.”

Xu Yanyan laughed along with her, then looked at her own daughter and clicked her tongue. “Who would have thought that you, being so simple and slow, could manage to marry a rich woman? What kind of luck is that?”

Fu Linling: “……”

Lin Ran was overcome with joy, holding the salary card Fu Linling had handed over. “Did you really give it to me?”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll empty your accounts?” Lin Ran whispered.

Fu Linling complimented her: “You already have emptied me out.”

Lin Ran immediately lifted her head proudly. “I’m truly amazing!”