The next day was Su Jiaojiao's birthday, and the Lin Family really went all out.
They invited relatives and neighbors over for a meal and even borrowed a projector from the factory to set up a screen in the courtyard for a movie showing in the evening.
Early in the morning, the Lin Family's home was packed with people.
The hired cook was preparing a big pot meal in the courtyard, while Zhao Hua chatted idly with the relatives at the door.
Su Jiaojiao, having nothing to do, hovered around Huo Wenchang.
Today, she wore a sailor shirt and had her hair braided into two plaits.
Fashionable yet westernized, her healthy wheat-colored skin made her eyes smile even more when she smiled.
It made Huo Wenchang extremely happy, completely forgetting that Lin Anning was still upstairs.
Although the relatives had never seen Su Jiaojiao before, they recognized her by her outfit.
"Zhao Hua, your girl is really pretty, nothing like that sickly one."
"Exactly, I've always said, how could our old Zhao family produce such a thing?"
Zhao Hua took the things from the hands of the visitors, smiling.
"Right? That's why blood is thicker than water and can't be faked."
She glanced around as if to cover up something and then lowered her voice.
"But our family is decent folk, we can support an extra mouth, no trouble. Just pretend you don't know she was switched at birth, act as if they're a pair of twins, and don't let it slip. Come on in and have a seat."
No sooner had she ushered one group inside than she saw Nie Big Mouth returning. Zhao Hua approached her with a smile plastered on her face.
"Auntie Nie, you got discharged from the hospital today?"
"Just in time for our Jiaojiao's birthday, why don't you come over and have a bite to eat later?"
Nie Big Mouth, looking at Zhao Hua's hypocritical smile, snorted coldly.
She gave Zhao Hua a disdainful look and called her husband and kids into the house.
"No thanks, afraid of eating your black-hearted food. You lot, don't you dare go..."
Zhao Hua was left hanging and pursed her lips in dissatisfaction.
Don't eat then, who wanted to invite her anyway?
She was interested only in Nie Big Mouth's presence to badmouth Lin Anning in front of Ren Jing and the other relatives.
As she was thinking this, she spotted a shifty-eyed comrade approaching.
Zhao Hua quickly put on a different face and hurried over to greet him.
"Isn't this Cousin Feng? You're early, please sit outside for a while."
Cousin Feng, named Feng Kai, was a distant relative of Zhao Hua's.
He had suffered a high fever as a child, which left him a little slow-witted.
A man nearing forty and yet unmarried.
Feng Kai frowned and sniffled.
"No, no need, Cousin, you said, said you'd find me a wife. That's why I, I came."
"Where, where's my wife?"
Zhao Hua quickly pulled Feng Kai aside, gesturing for him to be quiet.
"Don't make a sound. Your wife is upstairs! Later, your cousin will take you to her!"
————————
With the ruckus downstairs, Lin Anning couldn't sleep.
She got up, opened the door, and went downstairs.
The Zhao family relatives were sitting in the living room, circling Ren Jing like stars around the moon, eagerly inquiring about life in Beijing.
With each word Ren Jing uttered, they gasped in amazement.
This reaction greatly pleased Ren Jing, and even if she was a bit annoyed, she didn't send them away.
Upon seeing Lin Anning, Ren Jing merely lifted her eyelids.
"As her sister, on Jiaojiao's birthday, you don't even know to get up early to help greet guests. Your mother has truly raised you for nothing."
All eyes turned to Lin Anning.
She was dressed in a faded shirt and black homespun pants, covered by a yellow cardigan knitted with thick yarn that had faded from long use.
The clothes outlined her graceful figure without a hint of vulgarity.
Especially that face, slightly sickly but still dazzling and captivating.
If she hadn't been ill, who knows how beautiful she would've been?
Unfortunately, that kind of look didn't seem like one of a content person.
The Zhao family relatives never liked Lin Anning and were eager to butter up Ren Jing in her presence.
"That's right, lazy and lacking any sense, how could she compare to Jiaojiao?"
"If I were a man, I'd like someone like Jiaojiao too."
"Comrade Ren Jing, in my experience, Jiaojiao is the right choice for a daughter-in-law."
Ren Jing's lips curled into a smile. She glanced at Lin Anning and flippantly said,
"Well, what can I do? My daughter-in-law was chosen by Elder Huo; I didn't have a say."
The relatives had given her plenty of grief in the past, and with old grudges combined with new, Lin Anning didn't hold back.
"Aunt San, you're not lazy nor lacking in discernment, so why does your husband beat you three meals a day and add an extra serving for supper?"
"Fifth Cousin, I heard you've been married nearly ten years and still haven't had a child. Is it because you can't choose the gender you like, so you decided not to have one?"
"And you, Third Uncle, the brides you picked for your son, one runs away after another, you sure have a great eye for people."
Several faces turned the color of pig liver, all the family's dirty laundry was aired out, how could they have the face to speak up!
Anning's gaze fell on Ren Jing, "You look down on me, after all, I don't have the ability to enter the Huo Family with a big belly without being married!"
Ren Jing's face turned dark instantly; indeed, she had married into the Huo Family while pregnant.
Not to mention the past, even today it was still considered a scandal.
The very same people who were complimenting her earlier were now looking at her with strange gazes.
Before Ren Jing could say anything, Anning had already leisurely taken her food and the warming pot upstairs.
Taking some food and a warm pot, she leisurely went upstairs.
After Anning left, the Zhao family's relatives and Ren Jing were as quiet as chickens and said nothing more.
————
It grew dark, and after a bustling dinner, the Lin Family was getting ready to watch a movie.
Jiaojiao gestured in front of everyone, signaling Huo Wenchang to call Anning.
"Brother Wenchang, sister hasn't come out. She must be mad at me. She likes watching movies with others. If you call her down to watch the movie, she will definitely be happy."
Upon hearing this, Huo Wenchang frowned and felt somewhat uncomfortable.
But under Jiaojiao's hopeful gaze, he still turned and went inside the house.
Just as he reached the staircase, Zhao Hua came up to him and handed him a cup of hot milk.
"Wenchang, take a cup of milk to Anning. The child is frail and she even refused to come down for dinner just now."
"If I take it, she definitely won't drink it. You force her to drink it, but don't say I asked you to bring it."
Huo Wenchang nodded and carried the milk upstairs.
"Lin Anning, open the door."
"What is it?"
Huo Wenchang gritted his teeth; his knocking turned into punching the door.
"I'm telling you to open the door, can't you hear?"
In the past, Lin Anning was so obedient in front of him. How dared she now give him the cold shoulder?
In comparison, Jiaojiao was so sensible!
Anning, annoyed, got up and flung the door open, but she didn't let Huo Wenchang enter the room, instead folding her arms and frowning at him.
"If you have something to say, then say it!"
Such a face, even anger looked good on her, vivid.
Huo Wenchang's anger dissipated by half, his face turned red as he looked away and handed over the milk.
"Since you didn't eat dinner, drink some milk, and come down to watch the movie."
"I won't drink it. I won't go. Go back where you came from!"
Saying this, Lin Anning was about to close the door.
Huo Wenchang pushed against the door with one hand, his teeth gritted as he glared at her.
"Aren't you supposed to enjoy watching movies with frivolous men? Now there's a movie and you say you won't watch it?"
"What, is it because the guy you're watching the movie with isn't frivolous enough for you, you're not happy..."
Slap slap
Before he could finish his sentence, Lin Anning slapped him twice.
Her strength was weak, the slaps weren't very painful, it was more the shock that mattered.
"Huo Wenchang, I'm worried you're deaf, so let me say it again."
"I don't love watching movies, much less with you. Get lost!"
Seeing Huo Wenchang still resisting at the door, she pushed him aside and turned to go downstairs.
Huo Wenchang came to his senses, looking at the milk in his hand, he was irritable beyond measure.
He came to deliver milk, but instead, he received two slaps for himself.
He took a few gulps of milk and prepared to go downstairs.
But Jiaojiao heard the noise, scrambling up the stairs.
Gasping for breath, she took the cup of milk from Huo Wenchang and gulped it down.
After catching her breath, she seemed a bit embarrassed.
"I, I was just really thirsty. You won't mind, right Brother Wenchang?"
Huo Wenchang looked at her playful expression, and the irritation in his heart vanished, and he shook his head.
Jiaojiao wiped her mouth, then wiped Huo Wenchang's mouth as well.
"Brother Wenchang, where is my sister?"
Before Huo Wenchang could say anything, the lights in the room snapped off, enveloping them in darkness.
Jiaojiao was startled and threw herself into Huo Wenchang's arms.
"Brother Wenchang, I'm scared…"
The movie outside probably started, hence the lights were turned off.
Huo Wenchang hugged Jiaojiao with one arm, intending to comfort her with a few words.
But for some reason, his body began to heat up, and a certain desire started stirring within him.
"Jiaojiao…"