Chapter 8: Quite Remarkable After All

When Wei An arrived at the Du family’s home, Su Yuping had just gotten off work and returned.

“Are you out of pocket money? Wait a moment, I’ll soak some clothes for you,” Su Yuping offered.

Wei An glanced at Du Haibo, who was busy in the kitchen, then shot Su Yuping a sharp look.

“I have money. I didn’t come here to ask you for any,” she said.

That was her own sister—rarely visiting, yet the first thing she assumed was that Wei An had run out of pocket money. But Su Yuping wasn’t exactly tactful either; when she said that, why didn’t she spare a thought for her husband?

Su Yuping hadn’t considered much. Seeing that Wei An didn’t look like someone without money, she quickly changed the subject.

“So, have you changed your mind again? Surely you’re not still thinking about breaking off the engagement and moving to the countryside?”

Wei An was speechless.

She finally understood what it meant to bring trouble on oneself.

“No, that’s off the table. Don’t bring it up again—aren’t you ashamed?”

Though it wasn’t her doing, she was the one facing this matter now.

Every time it was mentioned, she felt more and more awkward.

Su Yuping finally put on a smile again, nodding like a doting mother, reaching out to brush Wei An’s wispy bangs.

“Good girl, that’s a good child.”

Wei An was exasperated. She stepped back two paces and headed to the kitchen.

“Brother-in-law, is the food ready yet? My stomach is growling!”

Du Haibo was about to bring the dishes out but paused when he heard Su Yuping.

“All done. You and your sister start eating. The dumplings in the pot need two more minutes.”

“Dumplings? Wonderful! I haven’t had dumplings in ages. Brother-in-law, you knew I was coming and made dumplings, right?”

Du Haibo smiled and coaxed her gently.

“Yes, I made them because I knew you wanted some.”

Actually, it was Su Yuping who had been craving them. By coincidence, Du Haibo didn’t have to drive these past few days, so he spent half the afternoon making over a hundred dumplings.

He had planned that the next morning, when his father-in-law passed by on his run, he could take a few dozen as breakfast. Wei An’s visit was timely.

“Take some when you leave later. Let Mom cook them for breakfast tomorrow.”

Wei An glanced at Su Yuping, who was nodding to herself nearby, realizing they were both enjoying this treat at her expense.

“Great! Sis, your taste is really impressive.”

She gave Su Yuping a thumbs-up.

***

Su Yuping was a very calculating young woman.

Two years ago, right after graduating high school, to avoid going to the countryside, she had her aunt who worked at the Women’s Federation help arrange an introduction to Du Haibo.

Within a month, she and Du Haibo had registered their marriage.

Wei An admired Su Yuping’s intelligence and decisiveness, especially since she had started looking for a marriage prospect for herself as early as when she first entered high school.

During that time, Su Yuping had discreetly probed and learned about her chosen partner several times. When the moment was right, she acted decisively and without hesitation to achieve her goal.

Su Yuping was puzzled, unable to understand how a mere meal of dumplings could be linked to her “good taste.”

Du Haibo, the observer, immediately caught the meaning behind Wei An’s words.

He laughed and handed the chopsticks to Wei An.

“I made the dumplings; your sister didn’t even touch them. Why are you only praising her?”

Such a mischievous girl—clearly wanting to compliment him, but instead she kept bringing her sister into it.

Wei An chuckled and gave Du Haibo a look that said, “You’re a bad man, you know exactly what you’re doing.”

“My sister has good taste, which is why she found such a devoted son-in-law for our family!”

Who else’s son-in-law would think about his mother-in-law’s home even while eating dumplings?

Just for that, Wei An wouldn’t let him meet an untimely end.

“Come over for dinner tomorrow night.”

With her stomach full and satisfied, Wei An put down her chopsticks and shared the plan she had discussed with Qu Xiurong and her husband.

“Aunt’s family lacks nothing, so I thought I’d just send her a gift as a token.”

Su Yuping looked at her in surprise, then tilted her head and asked Du Haibo for confirmation.

“I’ve heard of people suddenly maturing overnight, but this is the first time I’ve seen it.”

Wei An had been sensible before, but when it came to social matters, she had never been so considerate.

Indeed, their aunt was well-off and lacked nothing.

In past years, they would send fabric or food such as milk powder and fruit, but no one had ever thought to cook a meal for their aunt themselves.

Du Haibo squeezed Su Yuping’s hand under the table, signaling her to hold back and not provoke Wei An.

Wei An rolled her eyes and nudged Du Haibo’s foot in a little gesture.

“Feeling sorry for you.”

Du Haibo was speechless.

He got up to clear the dishes, thinking, if I can’t provoke her, can I at least avoid her wrath?

Sure enough, Su Yuping caught on and exclaimed, reaching out to grab Wei An’s ear.

“You little brat! Are you saying I’ve been stupid for three years since pregnancy?”

Wei An quickly stood up, made a funny face, grabbed the dumplings Du Haibo had prepared, and ran out the front door.

***

The rain came suddenly and heavily.

That morning, not long after Wei An returned from outside, a downpour began.

After Su Jin and Qu Xiurong went out for their run, Wei An used the excuse of exercising to follow them.

But she wasn’t there to run; she wanted to find a secluded spot to take out a grass carp from her space.

Everything went smoothly.

She first wandered around the food station and the comprehensive market, where fish were indeed sold, but they were all quite small.

After looking around, she finally chose the alley beside the tube-shaped building outside the market, where she took out a seven- or eight-pound grass carp.

Her space had appeared quite mysteriously.

It happened the year she was admitted to university. Just as she received her acceptance letter, she also got news of her parents’ divorce.

At the time, she felt as if the sky was falling.

Her parents had always seemed very close; Wei An had never seen them argue or quarrel. How could they suddenly divorce?

For a while, she found it hard to accept.

She made a fuss, trying everything to reconcile them and make them remarry, until she learned that they had actually divorced when she first started high school.

She felt angry, anxious, and utterly unsettled.

She even had a fever.

In a haze, she sensed an empty space—nothing inside. At that moment, she thought she had died.

Just as she believed she was dead, she suddenly came to, her fever broke, and she felt refreshed, as if her whole soul had been cleared.

She stopped dwelling on her parents’ divorce and instead focused on the space.

Having read countless novels and watched many dramas, she guessed that if her parents had divorced and abandoned her, and this space had appeared so abruptly, perhaps an apocalypse or a transmigration was imminent.

So she asked her parents for money and property, reasoning that since they were divorced, she needed to secure a fallback for herself in case they each had new families and no longer cared for her.

She was already an adult then, but her parents transferred over 700,000 yuan of savings into her account and even transferred the ownership of an apartment worth more than 2 million yuan to her name.

Later, she went to university. Within a year, she spent all 700,000 yuan, leading her parents to repeatedly ask if she had been scammed.

How could she explain?