The heavens set sail from the courtyard

He Changsheng and Liu Meixin have been worried about something recently. The third child, He Jiayi, is very close to an old classmate named Ouyang Bao.

He Changsheng had met Ouyang Bao before and had even invited him to his home for a meal.

He Changsheng felt that there was something going on between his third daughter and Ouyang Bao at that time, but they were both too young at the time, so He Changsheng didn't take it seriously.

Later, when He Jiayi graduated from high school, He Changsheng used his connections to get her a job in an art troupe, and the two should have lost contact.

Not long ago, Liu Meixin saw He Jiayi and Ouyang Bao shopping and dating on the street, and only then did she realize that her daughter was in a relationship.

He Changsheng and Liu Meixin both disagreed with He Jiayi being with Ouyang Bao because his family was too poor.

Ouyang Bao lost his mother at a young age. The ten brothers were raised by their father in extremely poor conditions.

Ouyang Bao's father made a living selling peanuts outside the theater. It was already very difficult for him to raise ten children, and he had no conditions to let his son get married.

He Changsheng also learned that Ouyang Bao was not a down-to-earth person. He had been dealing in duck feathers and chicken feathers and reselling them to the supply and marketing cooperatives.

Because the eldest and second sons both married college graduates, He Changsheng and Liu Meixin became more selective in choosing a son-in-law.

The third daughter, He Jiayi, is already pretty and now works in a good company. He Changsheng doesn't ask her to find a college student, but he also doesn't want her to find a street urchin.

But He Jiayi is a love-brained person. She doesn't care about any conditions when looking for a partner. As long as she likes the person, she will go all the way and refuse to break up with Ouyang Bao no matter what.

He Changsheng and Liu Meixin were also very worried.

"He Jiayi, I'm warning you, don't hang out with that Ouyang Bao in the future." He Changsheng began scolding his daughter at the dinner table.

"Dad, what's wrong with Ouyang Bao? He has made a lot of money recently." He Jiayi said in confusion.

Liu Meixin frowned and said, "Ouyang Bao's family is burdened with too much. He has nine brothers, so he will have troubles in the future."

He Jiayi said stubbornly: "We have quite a few children, six in total."

He Changsheng said angrily: "How can it be the same? Ouyang Bao has ten brothers, and he has so many brothers to take care of."

"Dad, you just look down on Ouyang Bao." He Jiayi said aggrievedly.

"What can I like about him?" He Changsheng sneered, "Look at your eldest brother-in-law and second brother-in-law. If Ouyang Bao could be half as good as them, I wouldn't want to oppose you."

Wang Gang and Tang Weimin looked at each other. They didn’t expect that the person He Jiayi found had such a heavy burden on his family. No wonder He Changsheng refused to agree.

He Jiayi then said, "Dad, you refused to allow my two sisters to marry into the Tang family, and even forced my eldest sister to run away from home. Now my eldest and second sisters are quite happy."

"You!" He Changsheng glared angrily and slammed the table.

"Changsheng." He Wenshi spoke up and said, "Today is a day to celebrate the return of Wencheng. It's a happy day for the family to reunite. We can talk about it later if there's anything else."

He Changsheng suppressed his temper upon hearing this and slowly sat down again.

Liu Meixin exchanged glances with her eldest daughter He Jiali.

He Jiali understood what her mother meant and silently pulled He Jiayi to the end of the table.

He Jiawen originally wanted to go over to persuade the third sister, but was held back by Wang Gang.

After dinner, Wang Gang took He Jiawen home on his bike.

"Why did you stop me when we were eating just now?" He Jiawen sat in the back, hugging Wang Gang's waist tightly.

"Don't interfere with Third Sister's marriage." Wang Gang reminded: "Whether she and Ouyang Bao can be together in the end, it will not be good for you."

He Jiawen said worriedly: "But Jiayi is my sister after all."

Wang Gang advised: "It is because of the close relationship that it is difficult to intervene. It is easy to be blamed."

He Jiawen leaned his face against Wang Gang's back and said, "Do you think Jiayi will end up with Ouyang Bao?" "It's hard to say." Wang Gang said, "Your sister has a rebellious personality. The more your parents oppose it, the more counterproductive it may be."

He Jiawen asked in surprise: "Should I remind my parents?"

Wang Gang shook his head and said, "Your mother should go to your eldest sister to persuade your third sister, so you should stay out of it."

He Jiawen sighed and said, "It seems that the marriages of the sisters in our family are not going well?"

Wang Gang laughed and said, "Nothing in life goes smoothly. To me, what happened to my third sister is just a small episode in her life. No matter what she chooses in the future, she has to live her life."

He Jiawen asked curiously: "What do you mean?"

Wang Gang chatted: "Think about it! If the third sister marries Ouyang Bao, she will indeed suffer for a few years at the beginning, but who can guarantee that Ouyang Bao will be poor all his life and will not get rich in the future.

Thinking from another perspective, if the third sister doesn't marry Ouyang Bao, she will lose her first love, but her parents will definitely find a way to introduce her to a good man. How she will live in the end is still unknown!"

He Jiawen said thoughtfully: "That's true. No matter what choice you make, there are always gains and losses in life."

Wang Gang smiled and said, "Everyone has their own fate. As relatives, we can only help Third Sister when she is frustrated or in trouble, but we cannot help her make choices, because no matter what choice she makes, she will lose something, and that will be a reason for her to blame us in the future."

"Okay, I understand. I'll listen to you." He Jiawen agreed.

Three days later, Tang Weimin and He Jiali went to Wang Gang's house at the same time.

Wang Gang was not at home because he was working overtime, so He Jiawen poured a glass of water for his sister and brother-in-law.

"Jiawen, I've talked to Jiayi, and she just refuses to break up with Ouyang Bao." He Jiali said anxiously.

"What do mom and dad mean?" He Jiawen asked calmly.

"Mom means that we should talk to Ouyang Bao together. It would be best if Youmin and your brother-in-law were present as well, so that Ouyang Bao would give up." He Jiali said.

He Jiawen hesitated for a moment, and finally refused: "Sister, I don't think we should interfere with the third sister."

He Jiali frowned and asked, "Don't you want to manage Jiayi's affairs?"

He Jiawen told Wang Gang the reason he had given before, and then said: "I have been thinking about Third Sister's affairs these days. I think we should not interfere, lest Third Sister blame us in the future."

He Jiali frowned and said, "What if Jiayi marries Ouyang Bao and suffers? Wouldn't she blame us for not stopping her?"

He Jiawen shook his head and said, "She chose her own path. Even if she can't bear the hardship and gets divorced in the future, we can help her, but we can't make a choice for her, or force her to make a choice."

"Why are you so selfish now? You just watch your third sister jump into the fire pit and do nothing!" He Jiali said angrily.

He Jiawen glanced at Tang Weimin and said calmly, "When our parents opposed us marrying into the Tang family, they were probably afraid that we would fall into trouble. No one can predict the future."

He Jiali was speechless after being answered, and waved her hand and said: "I can't beat you in eloquence, after all, you went to college, and you have a lot of reasons to say.

I only know that I am the eldest daughter of the He family, and the eldest daughter is like a mother. I can't watch my third sister jump into it when I know it's wrong."

Hearing this, Tang Weimin opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but finally closed it.

He Jiali finally left Wang Gang's house somewhat unhappy.

After Wang Gang got home from get off work, he heard about this and said that He Jiawen did the right thing.

"The key to getting along with relatives is to maintain a sense of boundaries, balance interests, respect individual differences, and maintain emotional ties through moderate interaction," Wang Gang told He Jiawen.
"After all, we are not her parents. Some things are not easy to ask about. If the eldest sister-in-law insists on intervening, she may be asking for trouble."

He Jiawen sighed and said, "I tried to persuade my eldest sister, but unfortunately she didn't listen. She always felt that the eldest sister was like a mother and had to be responsible for us younger sisters."

Wang Gang said: "Forget it, let her be! We also need a sense of boundaries between us and our sister-in-law." (End of this chapter)