Chapter 365: Chapter 365: If You Are Happy, Sister Rejoices for You
The woman turned and smiled, then asked, “I’ve been caught up talking about myself, Qiqi, what about you? It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you… How have you been these years?”
Jiang Li is Lin Qi’s second cousin. Lin Qi has three uncles, and Jiang Li is the daughter of her second uncle, two years her senior.
Lin Qi has two older male cousins, two female cousins, and one younger male cousin.
Since her childhood, Jiang Li had been the kindest to her. Back then, the Jiang Family still lived in a village in the suburbs, and Lin Qi always enjoyed playing with her eldest cousin whenever she visited her maternal family with her mother.
The only warm memory of her childhood was of Jiang Li.
Jiang Li was very good to her. Back then, she would collect many postcards, stickers, and the popular music cassettes of the time. Whatever Lin Qi liked, Jiang Li would give to her.
Lin Qi liked to draw, and since Jiang Li was majoring in art, she taught her how to draw.
Lin Qi had some uneven academic strengths; she was good at the sciences but not the humanities. Jiang Li would tutor her and also buy her lots of delicious snacks.
Later on, when the village was demolished, the Jiang Family went their separate ways. Jiang Li, following her father, bought a house in the city. Her second uncle, with the compensation money from the demolition, went from running a hotel to owning a chain of hotels.
After Mrs. Lin passed away, the Lin Family and the Jiang Family had a falling out over the issue, and since then they had minimal contact.
It had been a long time since Lin Qi and Jiang Li had seen each other.
She only heard that Jiang Li had been studying for postgraduate exams, and later for a civil service position. After that, her second uncle lost money in the stock market, sold the hotels, and opened a supermarket. Life was relatively peaceful and stable.
Seeing her cousin’s concern, Lin Qi said, “I’m pretty good.”
Jiang Li asked, “Are you married?”
Lin Qi: “Hmm… but we haven’t had the wedding yet.”
Jiang Li worriedly said, “Is it because you got unexpectedly pregnant, so you had a shotgun wedding?”
Lin Qi shook her head: “We were already planning to get married. The baby was a happy surprise. Actually, my husband and I always took precautions, but I still got pregnant, so… there was no choice. You could say it was fate predestined by heaven. So, we’re planning to have the wedding after the child is born. What about you?”
Jiang Li’s expression changed, and she sighed, “I was planning to get married after passing the civil service exam, but unexpectedly… I got pregnant suddenly. The man’s family is pressing for the wedding, so we are simplifying the process. After the baby is born, we’ll have a combined wedding and full-moon celebration!”
After speaking, she looked somewhat dejected, “It’s just that I missed the civil service exam this time…”
Lin Qi comfortingly said, “It’s okay. You can always take the exam after giving birth.”
Jiang Li said, “My husband doesn’t want me to take the civil service exam. He says now that I’m pregnant, after having the baby, I don’t need to go out to work. He will support me, and I can just stay at home to look after the child.”
Huo Tingdong came over with the report in his hand.
Upon seeing him, Jiang Li looked surprised. The man was tall and handsome, which made her involuntarily take a few more glances. She hadn’t expected that he would walk towards Lin Qi and, when he reached her side, he naturally put his arm around her shoulders: “I’ve got the report.”
Jiang Li hesitated, “Qiqi, this is…?”
Lin Qi immediately said, “Sister, let me introduce him. This is my husband, his surname is ‘Huo’, and his name is ‘Tingdong’. You can just call him Tingdong.”
After a pause, she then introduced Huo Tingdong, “Husband, this is my cousin. She was always very kind to me and took great care of me when I was little.”
Huo Tingdong immediately changed his cold expression, curling his lips slightly: “Nice to meet you, cousin.”
Jiang Li said, “So you are my brother-in-law! From a distance, I was wondering who was the handsome guy, and it turns out to be your husband…”
Lin Qi said, “Hahaha! When looking for a husband, you have to pick a handsome one.”
Jiang Li said, “It’s not often we meet, are you free at noon? Let me treat you to a meal!”
Lin Qi looked at Huo Tingdong: “Are you in a hurry to get back to the company?”
Huo Tingdong said: “Not in a hurry. If you want to hang out, I’ll accompany you.”
“Good.”
Hong Kong-style restaurant.
Jiang Li booked a set meal on Meituan.
After many years, the sisters reunited with endless topics to discuss.
Lin Qi didn’t talk much about herself, but it was Jiang Li who told Lin Qi about the recent developments in each family over the years.
It turned out…
As early as three years ago, Jiang Li’s father went bankrupt, sold the hotel, repaid the debts, and these past few years managed a supermarket. After paying off the debts, life became stable again.
Jiang Li had a boyfriend, and she previously had a decent job. Last year, she began preparing to take the exams for public service, but the boyfriend’s family kept pressing for marriage. Jiang Li was reluctant; she wanted to wait until after the civil service exams, when her career was stable, to consider getting married and having children.
Unexpectedly, at the beginning of the year, she had an unexpected pregnancy.
Jiang Li suspected for a while if her boyfriend had done something clandestine, as she didn’t want to keep the child, but the boyfriend insisted on having the baby and getting married as soon as possible.
The two families were at a standoff over this for a long time until her belly gradually got bigger and the child had to be kept. The boyfriend’s family then began to take a tougher stance, and the initially agreed upon dowry started shrinking, from 300,000 at first to 200,000, and now, the talks were down to 50,000.
Jiang Li didn’t want to squabble too much with the boyfriend’s family over this issue. She accepted the dowry, took the three pieces of jewelry, hastily went through the formalities, got the certificate, and the boyfriend’s side said that after the child was born, they would take care of the wedding celebration and the baby’s full-moon party together.
Jiang Li then asked: “What about you? When are you planning to have your wedding?”
Lin Qi said: “Originally, we planned to have the wedding as soon as possible, but I am expecting twins, and my belly is getting bigger. It wouldn’t look good in a wedding dress, so I discussed with my husband that we’ll have a proper wedding after the birth of the children.”
Although it wasn’t her first marriage, she never had an official wedding ceremony with Huo Tingdong.
She still held high hopes for this once-in-a-lifetime wedding and didn’t want it to be too rushed.
Huo Tingdong then agreed to her that after she gave birth to the baby and finished her postpartum recovery, they would start planning for the wedding meticulously.
He also wanted to give her a solemn wedding, not something so rushed.
Jiang Li sincerely blessed her: “That’s wonderful! Seeing you married well and living happily makes me so happy for you, sister!”
After a pause, she hesitated: “Qiqi, I am getting married next month, will you come?”
She didn’t dare to ask outright.
After all, they had lost contact for so long, and suddenly meeting again, she was afraid that Lin Qi would think she was only inviting her for the gift money.
Jiang Li added another sentence: “It’s fine if you just come, no need for a gift.”
Lin Qi said: “I’d love to! Of course, I also want to witness your wedding.”
Jiang Li expressed her regret: “Ah, I didn’t expect us to meet in such a coincidence, and I haven’t prepared wedding candies and invitations. Originally, I wanted to invite you, but my mom wouldn’t let me, saying that after so many years without contact, it would be somewhat inappropriate to suddenly invite you to the wedding feast.”
Lin Qi smiled: “How could that be?”
She knew about the grievances and grudges between the Jiang Family and the Lin Family, hence she understood Jiang Li’s concerns.
After all, the incident with Mrs. Lin had always been a rift between the two families, Mrs. Lin had died under mysterious circumstances, and her family had made a scene after coming over to the Lin Family’s place.