Chapter 181 - She could smell an affair from miles away~ (2)
Edited by Lulu
When Mother Xiao arrived at her brother’s place, her sister-in-law was the only one home.
Her sister-in-law fetched the textbooks for Mother Xiao, and when she saw her, she asked, “What’s the story with Chengping? Is he really dating that Comrade Tong?”
Mother Xiao blinked, shook her head, and said, “No, Chengping has nothing to do with that girl. You know Chengping. He had always been a kind child. One who can’t even step on an ant. He just felt bad for her after discovering that her parents had passed away and wanted to help her out a little financially.”
As upset as Mother Xiao was about Tong Xuelu’s blackmailing, she saw no reason to let anyone else know about what had happened, given that it had already been resolved.
Granted, her main reason was she didn’t want her son’s name to be tied to Tong Xuelu.
The sister-in-law let out a sigh of relief. “I’m glad to hear that the two aren’t dating. Do you know that Comrade Tong has offended someone?”
Mother Xiao was taken aback a little. “Offended someone? What do you mean by that?”
Seeing that Mother Xiao was clueless about what was going on, her sister-in-law quickly filled her in about what had happened at City Nan Grade School during the last few days.
“I didn’t know it was her at first, but when I heard that the two children that were expelled had no parents and their surnames were Tong, I figured it was the girl that Chengping knows.”
Mother Xiao frowned a little. “Expelled? Wasn’t it just squabbles among kids? Was it really necessary to have them expelled?”
Her sister-in-law sighed and said, “They had offended someone. The teacher was a relative of the Director of Education, your Big Brother’s boss. I heard that no school in the entire city district would accept those two kids.”
Mother Xiao frowned even more. “How can a teacher do such a thing? Someone like that does not deserve to be a teacher! Can Big Brother do anything about this?”
Her sister-in-law raised her brows. “You want to help them out?”
Mother Xiao said, “They are just a bunch of orphans. This is so unnecessary. I just don’t like the way this is going is all.”
She didn’t think that Tong Xuelu was good enough for her son, but she also did not condemn setting others up through dirty means, especially when it was directed at a group of parentless orphans. That was revolting.
Her sister-in-law knew that Mother Xiao had always been a righteous one and followed the rules to the T. She wasn’t surprised when she heard that. “You know that your Big Brother never got along with his superior. It won’t be easy for him to meddle with this one.”
Mother Xiao nodded in acknowledgement and didn’t say anything else.
After she had returned, she became progressively more concerned when she thought about Tong Xuelu and her siblings more. If Chengping was to find out that Tong Xuelu was in distress, she worried that he would seek her out again.
She quickly had a discussion with her husband and had Xiao Chengping’s uncle in the army quickly send a telegram to have Xiao Chengping returned to his troop.
Irritated, Xiao Chengping had been thinking about how his cousin had slipped and let his mother find out that he tried to loan money to Tong Xuelu when he received a telegram urging him to return to his troop after he had just arrived home.
He had an inkling that his mother had something to do with it.
Seeing the way that he was acting, Mother Xiao decided to take care of the problem once and for all. “It’s fine if you don’t want to leave right away. You can go to an arranged date tomorrow, and let’s nail down the matters of your marriage.”
Xiao Chengping’s beady eyes widened. “Who am I going on an arranged date with, Mom? You hadn’t already decided on that yet, had you?”
Mother Xiao said, “No, not yet, but that won’t be a problem at all. You know the girl too. She’s the daughter of the Feng’s. She’s pretty and matches our family status. I will broach the subject to the Feng’s tomorrow if you don’t want to return to your troop.”
Xiao Chengping quickly said, “Don’t, don’t, don’t. Don’t go. I’ll leave tomorrow, alright?”
Mother Xiao admonished. “Look at you. Jingyuan is such a nice girl. What don’t you like about her?”
Xiao Chengping scratched his head. “I don’t not like her. I just feel that her forehead is too high.”
Mother Xiao, “……”
Lo and behold, those over at the Feng’s were also talking about finding someone for Fang Jingyuan.
As soon as her mother had brought up Xiao Chengping, Fang Jingyuan immediately shook her head like a rattle drum. “No, Mom. I don’t want to date Xiao Chengping!”
Mother Feng was baffled. “He’s a good-looking and competent kid. What don’t you like about him?”
Fang Jingyuan pouted a little and said, “I wouldn’t say that I don’t like him. I just feel that his eyes are too small.”
Mother Feng, “……”
And that was how the arranged date was nipped in the bud. Xiao Chengping quickly packed up to return to his troop.
He wanted to say goodbye to Tong Xuelu before he took off, but with his Mother Xiao watching him closely day and night, he finally gave up on that idea.