It was past midnight.
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Although it was Old Madam Zhou’s 96th birthday, the celebration was not overly grand. Grandpa Jiang took the stage and delivered the opening remarks, followed by a few elderly male and female guests who were of high status. After their speeches, the guests settled into their tables for dinner.
Midway through the al, a man in his forties went on stage and sang "The East Is Red" for the great-grandmother. The whole venue joined the chorus, and suddenly, the atmosphere beca very lively. Then, regardless of whether they sang or spoke well, various guests took turns performing, delighting the great-grandmother, who even got on stage herself to demonstrate a martial arts routine.
Seeing the great-grandmother in her nineties, standing straight and agile on stage, performing kung fu moves, how could anyone not be excited? Thunderous applause erupted wave after wave, making it feel as though the roof might be lifted off.
After completing the final move, Grandma Jiang and Grandpa Jiang quickly went to assist her, but the great-grandmother brushed them off with displeasure on her face, "I am not so old that I can’t move!"
"Hahaha..."
"Hahaha..."
After a brief silence, the hall erupted into laughter.
Grandpa Jiang smiled helplessly, "Mom, we know you’re still young at heart. We just wanted to show our respect for the birthday star by coming over to help you."
"No need, only fuss over when I’m so old that I can’t move properly," said the great-grandmother briskly as she walked toward the main table, prompting laughter all around.
Just then, Huang Suai took to the stage and spoke into the microphone, "Today is Great Grandma Jiang’s 96th birthday. I’m honored to be here and very happy. Next, I will play ’Liuyang River’ for Great Grandma Jiang. I hope she likes it."
"Wow! Wow! Wow!"
The enthusiastic applause erupted again for this legendary girl. Whether they were older or younger, everyone felt an instinctual respect for her—a respect for the strong.
Sitting at the piano, she turned and smiled at everyone, her fingertips touching the keys. The beautiful and smooth lody of "Liuyang River" began to play. This song, even if not everyone could sing it, had been heard countless tis. Under Huang Suai’s skilled performance, many people couldn’t help but hum along. Unlike the previous lively atmosphere, this ti it was more a warm and touching experience.
Feeling the elevated mood of the audience, after playing through once, Huang Suai played it all over again before finishing. When she stepped down, she naturally received applause as enthusiastic as the great-grandmother’s martial arts performance earlier.
"Ah, if only I had that talent," Jiang Feng, sitting beside Chuxia, said with envy. "Heaven really favors her. She’s so smart, her dical skills are great, and even her piano playing is exceptional. I heard she can sing and dance well, too."
Chuxia said sincerely, "That’s truly a talent."
"Third sister-in-law..." Jiang Shan hurried back, giving Chuxia significant looks, "Please, co with to the restroom, okay?"
"Alright," Chuxia stood up.
Jiang Feng pulled at Jiang Shan with displeasure, "You’re so annoying. Why do you need third sister-in-law to accompany you to the bathroom?"
Jiang Shan was visibly anxious, "Stop it, I really can’t hold it in."
Jiang Feng gave her a glare, "You can’t hold it and you’re looking for third sister-in-law?"
"Comrade Lin Chuxia, please don’t leave just yet, okay?"
Chuxia was walking to the center of the hall with Jiang Shan when Ye iru’s voice carried over. Jiang Shan pulled on Chuxia forcefully, whispering, "Hurry, let’s go, don’t mind her!"
After a mont of hesitation, Chuxia followed Jiang Shan, moving towards the exit. But Ye iru was not one to let her go so easily and raised her voice, "Lin Chuxia, are you afraid? Are you running away?"
At that, all eyes turned towards Chuxia. Many, of course, had no idea who Lin Chuxia was, but being called out like this surely ant so issue was at hand. With everyone’s innate love for watching drama unfold, the crowd beca even more excited.
Old Madam Zhou frowned as soon as Ye iru called out Chuxia’s na from the stage. She truly hadn’t expected Ye iru to do sothing so crazy.
However, she then thought it wasn’t so surprising after all. A girl capable of doing so many shaless things, what couldn’t she do? At the mont, unsure of what Ye iru intended, she remained silent.
Jiang Shan kept tugging Chuxia towards the exit, "Jiang Shan, stop," Chuxia said.
"Third sister-in-law," Jiang Shan looked at her urgently, gesturing with her eyes for Chuxia to ignore everything and just leave with her.
"It’s fine," Chuxia smiled at her, "Running away has never been my style. I’m curious to see what she wants to do." Saying this, she turned around, faced Ye iru onstage, and gestured for her to continue.
"Everyone knows that I almost beca Zhou Mikang’s wife. But back then, I was too young and naïve, and I did many things that hurt both him and myself.
Later, I regretted it. However, what’s done is done; I couldn’t go back to the way things were. The result of my efforts was complete loss of him.
He suddenly got married, which I believe was surprising for everyone. Actually, it’s not an unexpected event; he’s just still angry with , so he did this to get back at ."
I’m filled with guilt. If he had married a high-quality woman like my cousin, Huang Suai, I would have been relieved for him. Unfortunately, that’s not the case—he married a girl from the countryside.
I tried to stop him, hoping he wouldn’t give up on himself, and to seriously consider his lifelong commitnt. But as you can guess, he wouldn’t listen at all.
A rural woman with no culture, no specialties, no background—what right does she have to mock a cultured, skilled, well-connected, musically talented woman of a respectable family? I thought her behavior simply showed that she couldn’t accept the sophistication of others because of her own coarseness.
Who would have thought that I’d learn just now that Comrade Lin Chuxia here is also a master of musical rhythm? Then, could she grace us all with a performance at Great-grandmother’s birthday?
That way, everyone in this circle might forgive your previous rudeness; otherwise, you’ll be despising everyone in our circle!"
What kind of logic is this? Chuxia was speechless and touched her forehead, but before she could speak, Lin Yanqiu had already stepped up angrily and stared at Ye iru: "Aren’t you going too far? Is it any of your business to comnt on the wife of the Zhou family?"
Ye iru smiled at her: "Auntie, I know you’ve always disliked , but you mustn’t let your emotions get in the way of your son’s happiness, right?"
Old Madam Zhou stood up and said deliberately, "If you apologize now, I can still forgive you. Otherwise, you’ll be permanently on the Zhou family’s blacklist."
"So, that’s the wife of the Third Young Master of the Zhou family?"
"Yeah, I heard he married a girl from the countryside. Now that I see her, she really does look nice and has a good deanor. It’s just that I don’t know if she’s as uncultured as Ye iru says."
"Who knows? Those kids from the countryside, no matter what, they lack education, don’t they?"
"Indeed, I’ve always felt that the Third Young Master of the Zhou family was a bit too hasty in getting married."
"Maybe it’s just like the Ye family’s daughter said, he married her out of spite."
"Marriage is a serious matter, how can it be taken lightly?"
"Exactly, exactly!"
"..."
While the crowd watched the commotion and comnted, they seed to forget who the real protagonist of the day was.
Grandma Jiang’s face turned red with anger, and she said to Great Grandma Jiang, "Mom, how did the Ye family raise such an ignorant girl? Should we just kick her out?"
"No need," Great Grandma Jiang waved her hand. "If you kick her out, it won’t look good for Mikang’s wife. Don’t worry, she has a way to handle it."
Grandma Jiang looked at the old lady with disbelief: "How did you see that?"
"I have lived for ninety-six years."
Great Grandma Jiang was bewildered, thinking that living to ninety-six ans you can see everything?
But her anger subsided, and she whispered to Old Madam Zhou, "My mother-in-law says your granddaughter-in-law is quite capable, so don’t worry too much."
Old Madam Zhou nodded at her: "I know."
"You know?" Grandma Jiang echoed in surprise, and the other people at the main table also looked towards Old Madam Zhou, evidently puzzled.
"If it’s resolved this ti, she won’t dare to make a fuss again. Whoever else wants to ddle can be dealt with at the sa ti."
As if to prove Old Madam Zhou’s point, Yanqiu’s arch-enemy, Qin Xiangyi, stood up and said loudly: "Yanqiu, why are you ddling in the children’s affairs? If your daughter-in-law can’t play, let my daughter-in-law help you out. She won’t let you down in this area." As she spoke, she pushed Lv Fu, who was sitting beside her, forward.
Lv Fu stepped back: "Mom, it’s their family business; let’s not get involved."
"You silly girl, I’m just asking you to help out, not to ddle," Qin Xiangyi said as she continued to push her on, "The Zhou family had nowhere to live a while ago, and I was the one who rented them a place to stay. I’ve helped once, it doesn’t hurt to do it again. Go on."
"Mom." Lv Fu frowned, truly not wanting to get involved in her mother-in-law’s ssy affairs. If it weren’t for her fiancé insisting on her coming, she wouldn’t have bothered.
"You, child, don’t even listen to your mother. When you get married into the family, we’ll see," Qin Xiangyi whispered a threat in her ear and pinched her.
While doing all this, Qin Xiangyi kept a smile on her face, which to everyone else looked like she was happily discussing matters with her daughter-in-law...
Chuxia sighed and started walking up to the stage, Jiang Shan followed her worriedly, wanting to pull her back but also knowing that at this point, playing poorly would be better than retreating.
What a pity she wasn’t good in this area; otherwise, she could have legitimately joined the third sister-in-law in the performance. Sigh...(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welco to vote for it at qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian to read.)
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