Chapter 20: A Disgrace to the Tian Family Name

Hu Honglian was daydreaming about Lu Feng becoming her son-in-law when she looked up and saw her daughter returning home.

Finally, the child knew it was time to come back.

Wait!

There was someone behind her, wearing a white shirt and a wool vest. Even in the dark, his bearing suggested he was someone of significance.

He had to be Lu Feng!

Hu Honglian’s heart swelled with joy. She started to walk forward to greet them but pulled her feet back after a moment of thought. She couldn't appear too eager; it would look like she was desperate to cling to him, and that would lower her family's standing. If there were to be any greetings, it should be Lu Feng who took the initiative, not her, the elder.

Crossing her arms and lifting her chin slightly, Hu Honglian put on a dignified air.

Unfortunately, Tian Xiang had no intention of introducing Meng Cheng’an to her mother. If she brought him over, her mother would interrogate him about his ancestors back eighteen generations, making it seem as if they were getting married the very next day.

Tian Xiang stopped her bicycle by the side of the road and said to Meng Cheng’an, "My home is in the courtyard up ahead. That’s my mother waiting at the gate."

Meng Cheng’an turned his bike around. "Then I’ll be heading back."

Tian Xiang waved at him. "Alright, thanks for today. I’ll treat you to a meal when I have the time!"

He had done her a huge favor, and because of her, he had been dragged from a background character into the role of a minor villain; she definitely owed him a meal.

Meng Cheng’an’s lips curled into a faint smile. "Mm."

The two parted ways, and Tian Xiang walked up to Hu Honglian.

Hu Honglian was incredulous. "Young Lu is leaving just like that?" What an attitude! He didn't even say hello when he saw her.

"Young Lu?" Tian Xiang scoffed. "Mom, that wasn't him."

"Ah? Then who was that?"

"A friend."

"What kind of friend? Where does he work? When did you meet? Why did he bring you home? Did you dance at the party? Is he from the Machinery Plant?" Hu Honglian’s questions fired off like a machine gun.

Tian Xiang clicked her tongue. "Mom, he’s just an ordinary friend."

"An ordinary friend brings you home?"

"It was just getting too late."

Hu Honglian’s face was filled with doubt. As the mother and daughter entered the courtyard, Auntie Pan, the neighborhood’s number one gossip, stood by her window and called out, "Xiangxiang is back? Why so late? Where have you been?"

Hu Honglian replied, "She went to visit her aunt. This child, she lost track of time." With the matter involving Lu Feng still up in the air, she certainly couldn't tell anyone her daughter had been at the Machinery Plant's dance.

Auntie Pan pursed her lips and said to her young daughter-in-law, who was getting ready for bed, "Forget the time while playing? What a load of nonsense."

"Mom, it’s late, let’s go to sleep," the daughter-in-law sighed helplessly.

Auntie Pan, frustrated that she hadn't gotten the scoop, was about to pull the curtains when her eyes lit up again. *Heh, something’s going on!*

By the stone steps outside the Tian family’s gate, Tian Chuying had appeared out of nowhere, glaring at the returning mother and daughter.

The courtyard where the Tian family lived was a converted traditional quadrangle. In the old society, it was a residence for wealthy families, complete with rooms, corridors, and a central courtyard. After decades of modifications, it was unrecognizable; the surrounding area had been partitioned into independent small houses, and the only thing remaining was the central courtyard, a shared space for the five families living there.

The two branches of the Tian family lived in adjacent houses and shared a small stone step. Tian Chuying stood below the step, her intentions unclear—was she leaving or coming back?

Hu Honglian put her hands on her hips. "Tian Chuying, what’s with that look? Didn't you get enough ideological education from the neighborhood committee? You still have the nerve to glare at us!" Because of the incident where Tian Chuying tried to steal her matchmaking opportunity, Hu Honglian felt she occupied the moral high ground and would lash out at anyone from next door she encountered.

Tian Chuying had never been able to win an argument against the battle-hardened Hu Honglian, so she had always avoided her. She was surprised that the woman had suddenly become so bold tonight, actually daring to show her face.

Ignoring Hu Honglian, Tian Chuying stared fixedly at Tian Xiang. "You went to the Machinery Plant's dance tonight."

*Huh?* Hu Honglian blinked, confused. How did this girl know about the dance? Could she have gone too? That was impossible; during dinner, people from the neighborhood committee had come to tell Tian Chuying to go clean the market area, a task that usually kept her busy past eight o'clock. She wouldn't have had time for a dance. Hu Honglian hadn't told anyone about the event.

But Tian Chuying was a reincarnated soul. She remembered that in her previous life, it was on this very night at this dance that Tian Xiang and Lu Feng had essentially confirmed their relationship. Later, their bond became stable, and within two months, Lu Feng had formally visited the house with gifts. Tian Xiang had also visited the Lu family, and their engagement became official. By the time Tian Chuying was still running around the clinic as a temporary worker, Tian Xiang had already joined the Red Star Street Textile Factory as a formal employee.

In this lifetime, she had thought things had changed, but the result was...

Tian Chuying gritted her teeth. "You went to the dance, didn't you?"

Tian Xiang smiled faintly. "Yes, so what?"

Tian Chuying’s heart skipped a beat. "You... have you gotten together with Lu Feng?" She wasn't the one who had gone to the matchmaking meeting this time, so why had things returned to the original point? Tian Chuying felt like she was going crazy.

Her frantic, desperate appearance looked pathetic in Tian Xiang’s eyes. Tian Xiang said, as if bestowing a favor, "I didn't get together with him, and I never will. Don't associate me with that piece of trash; it makes me sick."

After saying this, Tian Xiang went to the eaves to put away her bicycle.

Tian Chuying stared at her, stunned. "You mean that?"

Tian Xiang couldn't be bothered to respond.

Hu Honglian spat on the ground. "It’s late at night, and you're not sleeping—so that’s what you were doing, thinking about a man! Tian Chuying, I’ve watched you grow up, and I only just realized you are this shameless. You’re a disgrace to the Tian family!"

The mother and daughter went inside and slammed the door shut.

Being pointed at and scolded made Tian Chuying angry, but she would not give up on Lu Feng. In her previous life, when everyone pointed fingers at her and looked down on her, it was Lu Feng who had offered her a glimmer of warmth. In this lifetime, everything could be restarted; there was no reason she couldn't overcome this small obstacle.

In the second branch of the Tian family, Tian Weibing, as a father, was worried about his daughter returning so late and scolded her a few times.

Tian Xiang gave a mysterious smile and said to the old couple, "Dad, Mom, you have no idea—I did something tonight that benefited both the country and the people!" She was eager to share what had happened with Lu Feng.

Tian Weibing sighed. "Enough talk. Go wash up and get to sleep." He thought his daughter was talking as if she had invented a new rocket.

Hu Honglian yawned. "The hot water is in the thermos, pour it yourself. Your father has an early shift tomorrow."

At this hour, the family of three would usually have been asleep long ago. The couple went into their room and closed the door. Tian Xiang couldn't force them to listen, so she muttered to herself, "Your loss for not listening."