The mere words "divorce" caused the air to stagnate.
The girl he had married with great joy, the girl with whom he had planned to spend his life, was utterly rejected without them even bothering to understand her.
Much like their son.
The son who could make them smile was the omnipotent, invincible glory that was Qi Chengyan.
Not the one who fled in disgrace, carrying an indelible stain.
"Please convey this to Comrade Qi Shengwen: I love my current wife very much. I swear on my loyalty to the country that I will cherish her until the end of my life. As for your proposal, I refuse."
Mother Qi's face contorted with embarrassment. As his mother, she mattered less than this girl from the countryside.
Did Qi Chengyan not understand that to rise again, he needed the Qi family?
What was he without the Qi family's support?
"This is why I hate you! You have never obeyed me or your father; you've only ever defied us."
Cheng You was speechless. If they wanted an obedient child, they should have raised a dog.
She accidentally let her inner thoughts slip out: "I hope the dog you keep by your side will obey you for its entire life."
Seeing Mother Qi and Zhou Qi so enraged, yet still not leaving, Cheng You felt exasperated.
"If you don't leave, I'll have to give you another taste of being a drowned rat."
With that, she picked up the basin.
Zhou Qi instinctively retreated, pushing Mother Qi forward and enraging her further.
"Ah Qi!"
No matter what, it wasn't her place to shield him.
Qi Yang emerged from the kitchen, "Cheng You, are the meat buns ready yet?"
On the steamer, Cheng You had prepared meat buns for everyone as an afternoon snack, with hours still to go until the New Year's Eve dinner.
Cheng You dropped the basin and hurried inside.
"They're ready. Sis, why don't you try one first?"
Qi Yang had been craving them for a while. It wasn't that she was starving, just that she was craving them.
"Then I won't be polite."
She grabbed a large meat bun herself, huffing as she blew on the steaming hot bun.
Cheng You quickly handed her a bowl, "Use chopsticks."
Before she could grab the chopsticks, Qi Yang shoved the meat bun into her mouth.
The filling burst out, scalding her tongue, yet she couldn't bear to spit out the bun.
Breathing heavily, she exclaimed, "Delicious, delicious!"
Her ravenous appetite made Cheng You chuckle.
"Chengyan, come in and have some buns."
The buns were filled with pork and chives, and others with pickled vegetables and pork, with a hint of chili—full of flavor.
She placed one of each into Qi Chengyan's bowl.
Just then, Cheng Wenyu entered carrying a table. She quickly said, "Wenyu, put it down here for now and come eat some buns."
They had been in the middle of a conversation, and suddenly everyone ran off to eat buns, leaving Mother Qi and Zhou Qi in an awkward silence.
They were staying at the guesthouse, which lacked ventilation and sunlight, and had a damp, cold smell—a very unpleasant environment.
The environment was bad enough, but it was Chinese New Year, and many shops in the commune were closed.
If they wanted to eat, they had to rely on the guesthouse staff.
They hadn't saved money, but the food they received was like pig slop.
No, in Mother Qi's opinion, it was even worse than pig slop.
Although they hadn't eaten the meat buns, they could smell them.
Cheng Wenyu, in particular, was squatting under the eaves, eating a large meat bun.
The skin was thin, the filling was generous, it was steaming hot, and smelled wonderfully rich.
They had stood there for so long, yet not a single person had offered them any.
The others had no intention of offering, and Qi Yang was too embarrassed.
After all, it wasn't her home.
"Sis, I'll pack some buns. Can you take them to Uncle Li's house for me?"
"Sure!"
Mother Qi realized then that Cheng You didn't just order Qi Chengyan around; she ordered anyone around.
Even Qi Yang, her elder sister.
Qi Yang, holding the buns, walked out. Her steps paused as she passed them.
"Mom, you should hurry back home. You might even make it back before the New Year's Eve dinner."
They definitely wouldn't make it back for the New Year's Eve dinner.
Mother Qi was furious. Even now, she hadn't considered inviting her for a meal.
Qi Yang could see her thoughts immediately and quickly said, "Mom, it's not that I don't want to invite you for a meal. This isn't my home, and even Ah Yan's lodging belongs to Cheng You."
With that, she left with the buns.
After delivering them, she still had to come back to eat buns.
Before leaving, Mother Qi issued a threat: "Qi Chengyan, if you don't come back with me this time, you don't need to come back to Yancheng again. I'll consider Ah Qi my only son!"
Qi Chengyan remained silent. They had always been this way.
Finally, when they left, Cheng You felt a sense of peace.
Before they had even finished the meat buns, people started arriving with meat.
"Cheng You, we have too much meat this year, so I brought you some."
"I just saved these eggs, have them for nourishment."
"My radishes are huge, crisp, and sweet. They're great for stewing with pork bones."
"..."
Most of them left them and ran, hoping that Cheng You would remember them when it was time to recruit for the pharmaceutical factory.
Otherwise, why would anyone have too much meat to eat, when they only got to eat meat once a year?
Cheng You noted down each name, knowing she would have to reciprocate.
She had no time to refuse, while Cheng Tianhua accepted everything.
For Song Yulian and her daughter, he was practically spending his entire fortune.
Cheng You had given him some things as a token of filial piety, but for someone who had lived a comfortable life, those items were insignificant.
Just then, someone came to curry favor, hoping he would speak well of them to Cheng You.
He naturally didn't refuse when they brought him gifts, both meat and vegetables.
Song Yulian stammered, "Is this… is this really okay?"
She was already hesitant to provoke Cheng You.
Cheng Tianhua said with a dark expression, "What's not okay? I haven't promised to help them get a spot."
There were only ten spots, and very few people could get into the pharmaceutical factory.
Song Yulian still felt uneasy. She rubbed her stomach, but she also wanted to save more money for the child in her womb.
With Cheng Tao no longer a reliable support, her only hope was the child in her belly.
Relying on these gifts, Cheng Tianhua and Song Yulian had a good New Year.
After the New Year, Cheng You began the recruitment process.
The people from Qili Village who had signed contracts had already successfully joined the pharmaceutical factory and were in operation.
Compared to them, these few were already a step behind, so they needed to hurry.
One day, Zhou Yunru returned from the commune with news for Cheng You.
"I heard that there are people setting up stalls over there now."
Cheng You was startled, "So soon? Won't they be arrested?"
"That's the strange part; no one's arresting them."
It made Zhou Yunru consider it as well.
She could make money working for Cheng You, but Zhao Jianguo was idle.
Not exactly idle, but he earned his money through hard labor.
She wanted to find him a lighter job.
Cheng You saw her intention and asked, "You want Brother Zhao to go?"
Zhou Yunru sighed, "I'm just thinking about it; I don't dare to actually go."