Red Bean Lives in the Republic of China - Chapter 53

Chapter 53

A group of people went to Yu’s family house the next day. Additionally to the newlywed couple, several old stewards of the He family were in the group. 

The He family group pulled up at Tongfu Lane where Yu Hingdou’s house was located. 

He Yunqin and Yu Hongdou stepped out of the car and headed inside. On the way, they bumped into tailor Peng and his wife. Each of them was carrying a child and looked like they were about to head out.

“Hongdou is back!” Mrs. Peng exclaimed, looking Yu Hongdou over with a smile, “You’ve changed since getting married. You’re getting more beautiful every day. It seems like Mr. He treats you really well.”

Yu Hongdou didn’t know how to respond, so she just smiled and said, “It seems Mr. Peng and Mrs. Peng are going out for some fun.”

Tailor Peng, worried that his wife might say something inappropriate and offend the bigshot, discreetly tugged at her clothes and added with a grin, “We’re taking the kids to visit their grandmother’s relatives.” Then he turned to He Yunqin and said, “Hello, Mr. He.”

The child he was holding was an older one named Dabao. He remembered that He Yunqin had given him candy last time. Seeing his dad chatting with this man, he opened his arms and approached He Yunqin, saying, “Candy.”

Usually He Yunqin carried candy with him since his fourth sister had hypoglycemia. When he saw a child begging for candy, he casually reached into his trouser pocket. But then he realised he hadn’t brought any candy today. “Uncle didn’t bring any candy today,” he smiled and said.

Tailor Peng felt so embarrassed that he couldn’t say a word and ended up hitting Dabao a few times. Mrs. Peng was also furious and twisted Dabao’s butt while gritting her teeth.

Dabao was in so much pain that he squirmed his chubby body and started to cry.

Tailor Peng turned to He Yunqin and said apologetically, “The child doesn’t know any better; please don’t take offence, Mr. He.”

“Aunt, Hongdou and Mr. He are here.”

At that time someone said looking down from the second floor.

Yu Hongdou and He Yunqin looked up to see it was their cousins Yuqi and Yuyuan. Since it wasn’t Sunday, the two sisters had taken a day off to visit with their parents.

There was a loud banging sound in the building, and Yu Chongyi had already come down to greet them.

When he first saw his sister, he was startled. After looking at her with wide eyes for a few seconds, he came to his senses. Maybe it was because she had just gotten married, and after not seeing her for two days, it felt like ages since they last met.

Noticing that his sister had a rosy complexion and looked very healthy, he guessed she had been enjoying herself these past two days at the He family. He felt much better and smiled at his sister and brother-in-law, saying, “Come in quickly.”

He also called out to the stewards at the back who were holding the gifts.

The house was buzzing with energy. Not just Mrs. Yu, but her brother’s family was there too. Mrs. Yu barely slept the whole night because Yu Hongdou was coming back today. Before her daughter got married, she wanted to pass on all her wisdom, but there just wasn’t enough time to prepare, and she was unsure how much Hongdou had absorbed. She was really anxious lately, worried that Yu Hongdou might face some teasing when she got to the He family.

When she heard that Yu Hongdou and He Yunqin were on their way, she felt like jumping off the sofa. As soon as the young couple walked in, she smiled brightly, but her gaze was locked on her daughter.

She could instantly tell if her daughter was happy or not. Seeing that He Yunqin was very thoughtful towards her daughter and realising the He family also treated her daughter well, she felt relief.

After a quick hello to He Yunqin and the He family’s steward, she made an excuse to go inside and pulled Yu Hongdou aside to talk. She didn’t stop asking questions until Yu Hongdou’s face was flushed.

Yu Hongdou became shy, and to get rid of her mother’s clutch, she ran out of the room. She ran into her cousin Yuqi in the hallway and quickly pulled Yuqi back into the house to catch up. She had been so wrapped up in her own wedding plans lately that she hadn’t even asked Yuqi about hers. The two of them went into the house and sat down to chat.

Yuqi was quite a perceptive person. She understood that Yu Hongdou was feeling shy and didn’t want to head to the living room, plus she wanted to talk about her relationship with Yuan Ruoli.

Yuqi had been kidnapped in the past, and it was all thanks to Yu Hongdou and He Yunqin that she was rescued. So she had been feeling grateful to Yu Hongdou lately. After chatting for a bit, she candidly said, “I’ve gotten my parents’ blessing. Yuan Ruoli and I are planning to get married at the end of the year. I’ll be sending out invitations to our relatives and friends in this town soon.”

Upon hearing that, Yu Hongdou was taken aback. ‘So, my cousin has made the decision to marry Yuan Ruoli.’After a moment of hesitation, she couldn’t help but ask, “What about his ex-wife? How does Mr. Yuan intend to handle his ex-wife?”

Mrs. Yuan also had her part in Wang Meiping’s incident. Although she was temporarily released on bail thanks to Yuan Ruoli’s efforts, her reputation was completely tarnished. Following that incident, it was rumoured that Mrs. Yuan’s health had declined, and she spent all her time indoors. Many of the shops under her name were nearly shut down. Considering that, Yuqi could face some problems in the future if she married Yuan Ruoli.

“I love Yuan Ruoli, and none of this is his fault or mine. Since we can’t escape the challenges, we need to figure out how to tackle them.”

Yu Hongdou never anticipated her cousin would be so composed.

Seeing Yu Hongdou lost in thought, Yuqi laughed and said, “You’re already married, don’t you get what that means? Just think about you and Mr. He, and you should understand the significance of it. ‘Love is like Zen, it can’t be put into words.’ By the way, I’ve died once, and now I really know how much I love Yuan Ruoli, and I’m sure he feels the same way about me. Plus, when I met him, he was already divorced from his ex-wife. The reasons behind their split were pretty complicated, and it definitely wasn’t just about her not being able to have kids. There were a lot of things that I couldn’t share with outsiders. All I know is that my love for him is both reasonable and legitimate, and we haven’t let anyone down. We’ll take care of his ex-wife, and we’ll tackle any challenges that come our way together.”

Yu Hongdou listened quietly. It seemed like a simple conversation, but when she thought about it more deeply, she realized it was quite profound.

In contrast, even though she and He Yunqin got married by chance, they had never really had a serious relationship. Compared to Yuqi and Yuan Ruoli, it felt like something was missing in their daily interactions. For instance, what happened last night showed that He Yunqin couldn’t hide anything from her. Seeing how well Yuqi understood her feelings made her feel a bit envious.

When she stepped outside, her uncle was chatting with He Yunqin.

He Yunqin originally planned to discuss the purchase of a house with his mother-in-law and his eldest brother-in-law. According to his mother-in-law, when the family rented this house in the past, it was more or less for the convenience of Yu Hongdou’s schooling. Now that Yu Hongdou married him, his mother-in-law no longer planned to continue renting this house.

However, besides Hongdou’s family, there were also Mr. Pan and Mrs. Pan. Mr. Pan would be fine, but Mrs. Pan seemed very interested in the He family. If he, as a son-in-law, took the initiative to discuss the matter of Yu family’s acquisition of property, it would be bad for Yu Hongdou if some rumours got out. So she just talked nonsense and didn’t mention helping the Yu family look for a house.

After having a meal, the newlyweds got in the car, while several stewards took a rickshaw.

As if she were thinking of something, Yu Hongdou was silent on the way.

Confused, He Yunqin looked at her in the mirror and recalled his performance at the Yu family today. He really did not offend her, so he took the initiative to break the silence. “When I come back from school, I plan to go find Wang Peter. Will you come with me?”

“I’m going to the school to find Gu Yun. She’s a distant relative of Xu Yishan. She was the one who called Wang Peter when the incident happened. I think she knows something about Xu Yishan’s life before he became famous. Even if she doesn’t know, the Gu family should know. Since she’s determined to solve the case, I plan to ask her about Xu Yishan later,” Yu Hongdou said seriously. 

This would be the first time they would go their separate ways since their wedding. He Yunqin felt a little reluctant to do as his wife said. “Then I’ll take you to St. John’s. I’ll pick you up when you get out.”

“The first class in the afternoon ends at about 2:30. After all, I can only talk to her after class. Why don’t you pick me up at four o’clock?”

He Yunqin looked at his watch and said, “Okay.”

Yu Hongdou was silent for a while. Thinking about what happened last night, she was still a little depressed. She put her chin in her hand and was absent-minded. Suddenly she called him, “He Yunqin.”

Her tone was slightly different from usual, and He Yunqin replied in a low voice, “What’s wrong?”

“How do you say ‘love’ in German?”

He Yunqin was startled by the sudden question, and he muttered after a few seconds, “Liebe.”

Yu Hongdou blushed slightly, and her voice became softer. “What about ‘I love you’?”

He Yunqin had figured it out by now. Yu Hongdou wanted him to confess his love to her in person. He hesitated for a moment. Did he love Hongdou? After thinking carefully for a few seconds, he whispered, “Ich hab’ dich sehr lieb.”

After Yu Hongdou asked that question, her heart was racing and she almost held her breath in anticipation. Even though He Yunqin understood her meaning right away, he took a bit of time to respond. If it weren’t for the bicycle incident and Duan Mingyi’s involvement, she wouldn’t feel so uneasy. But after everything that had happened, even the smallest discomfort felt amplified.

She was pretty straightforward with He Yunqin. Whenever something puzzled her, she would just ask him directly. But what was the point of asking this? He Yunqin simply wouldn’t share.

She had already dabbled in some German over the past few days, so she didn’t have time to ponder why he just repeated the phrase “I love you” with more than three words. She thought that even though they were married, she wondered how long it would take for He Yunqin to say those words to her on his own, and it made her feel a bit down.

When she saw St. John University, she opened the door and said, “I’m leaving.”

He Yunqin watched her from behind, thinking about her going off alone to investigate the murderer. The school should be safe, but for some reason, he felt a strong sense of unease. His instincts were usually spot on, so he quickly followed her down the driveway. “Stay at school and don’t go anywhere. I’ll pick you up at 3:30.”

Yu Hongdou nodded without looking back and walked towards the school.

End of chapter 53

Have a nice day!