Back to 1984: Earning Money, Raising Kids, and Keeping the Household Busy

Chapter 277 Talking about Marriage
The couple were scolded like servants, and when they left the old house, they felt utterly exhausted.

Mu Qinglian, feeling unwilling and aggrieved, was about to call Xiao Jinlin with a sob in her voice when Xiao Bai pressed her down, asking, "What are you doing?"

Mu Qinglian exclaimed excitedly, "I just want to ask him, what am I to him? Since it's a reception for my future father-in-law's family, why did he inform the second wife's family but keep it from his own parents? Does he not want to acknowledge us anymore?"

Xiao Bai snorted irritably, "I think if he could, he really wouldn't want to acknowledge us! Mom and Dad have already made it clear enough that Jinlin and Guo Lingyue are irreconcilable enemies. If you call now and he mentions Guo Lingyue, what will you say?"
If he asks you to kick Guo Lingyue out of the house, what will you do? If you can't do it, don't confront him! Ask him politely what his plans are, and do as he says. That girl responds better to gentle persuasion than force.

Because Xiao Bai stopped her, Mu Qinglian ultimately didn't make the call.

When Xiao Jinchen returned from get off work, he learned that Mu Qinglian was crying in her room. He went over to check on her and found out that Xiao Jinlin wanted to get married.

He clenched his fists and looked at Mu Qinglian. "Mom, Lingyue was wrong back then. We have no face to face my brother and Miss Chen. How about this, Lingyue and I will move out, and you can let my brother move back. This will be better for everyone."

Mu Qinglian cried even harder, “What nonsense are you talking about! You are also my son. What kind of behavior is it to kick one son out of the house for the sake of another? Your grandparents’ intention is that this marriage must go through. Your wife just gave birth, so she doesn’t need to show up. We elders can handle the rest.”

Mu Qinglian expressed herself subtly, but Xiao Jinchen understood what his grandparents meant; they clearly disliked Guo Lingyue.

Since the evidence was still there, and he had seen the surveillance video before, he had no right to voice his opinions even if he had them, so he could only obediently nod and make a promise.

Seeing her eldest son like this, Mu Qinglian felt bad too. Just then, the child started crying again, and Xiao Jinchen hurriedly left.

Mu Qinglian felt that Guo Lingyue couldn't even take care of a child properly, and became increasingly dissatisfied with her.

Guo Lingyue was unaware of what was happening outside. When she saw Xiao Jinchen return, she quickly handed the child to her, her brows furrowed with worry. "Jinchen, do you think we should ask Grandpa and Grandma for help? My family says there's a renowned traditional Chinese medicine doctor who can cure any disease."

Xiao Jinchen hesitated for a moment, "Let's wait and see. The child has an immune system problem, which is probably related to genes. No matter how good traditional Chinese medicine is, can it cure genetic diseases?"

Traditional Chinese medicine has been severely suppressed in recent years. Xiao Jinchen has been exposed to Western medicine since childhood and does not believe in traditional Chinese medicine at all.

Guo Lingyue was on the verge of tears, "But we've been to hospitals big and small, and Western medicine just can't cure me."

She wanted to say something more, but Xiao Jinchen impatiently interrupted, "Stop making a fuss, just take good care of the child and make sure the child doesn't get sick. That's more important."

Guo Lingyue is on the verge of collapse. "I want to take good care of her, but she cries all the time and doesn't eat well. We've gone through so many nannies, and I'm exhausted. I've been trying to soothe her day and night, and my arms are still sore. What can I do? Waaaaah!"

She used to look forward to this child, but now she's just as terrified of it; this child is practically sent by God to torment her.

Xiao Jinchen pursed his lips, not wanting to face his wife like this, and simply took the child away.

After about half an hour of coaxing, the child calmed down.

Because of the child, Xiao Jinchen didn't have the extra energy to think about Xiao Jinlin.

Two days later, the Xiao family elders took the initiative to invite Chen Wenjun and his wife to visit them. They also invited Zhao Dongling and Xiao Bai, as well as their second son and his wife, to the old house to formally discuss marriage.

He Xue hadn't seen Mu Qinglian for a while and was shocked to see her looking haggard, with dark circles under her eyes that even thick foundation couldn't cover.

"Sister-in-law, what's wrong? Are you sick?"

Mu Qinglian forced a smile, "No, it's because of my granddaughter's fuss. The older she gets, the harder she is to take care of. She's constantly running to the hospital. We've gone through more than a dozen nannies, and none of them lasted more than a few days. The longest she stayed was half a month. We still have to take care of her ourselves."

"Just the other day, my child caught a slight breeze, sneezed, and developed a fever that night. The whole family was in chaos, and I haven't slept well for two days." Mu Qinglian had a lot of grievances to tell about her granddaughter.

He Xue couldn't empathize, and didn't want to say anything too harsh, so she just listened indifferently, occasionally chiming in with a few words.

A short while later, Chen Wenjun arrived with his wife and daughter, Lin Yi, which finally diverted Mu Qinglian's attention.

A quick glance told her that the Chen family was in business, but after exchanging a few words with Lin Qin, she noticed that Lin Qin's mannerisms leaned towards those within the system, which piqued her curiosity.

He Xue offered to answer her questions, saying, "My sister Qin founded E-Company when she was in college. It's now E-Company Media. After graduation, she worked at a local TV station and did very well in her career."

Lin Qin gave her a reproachful look, "It's not as good as you make it out to be!"

"Stop being modest!" He Xue retorted sharply, shutting her up.

The two clearly have a very good relationship.

With He Xue and Zhao Dongling present, Mu Qinglian dared not underestimate the Chen family, and the marriage negotiations went exceptionally smoothly.

After Lin Qin and the other two left the capital, Chen Xinyue was still a little dazed and complained to Xiao Jinlin, "How come we're already settled after I only agreed to date you for a short time?"

Xiao Jinlin affectionately patted her head and laughed, "I think it's too slow! According to your aunt and uncle, we'll get engaged before the new year and get married next February, which is still several months away."

He counted on his long, slender fingers, but he was never satisfied with the results.

Chen Xinyue was speechless.

In order to give Chen Xinyue a grand engagement ceremony, Xiao Jinlin, for the first time, handled a private matter in a public manner, and called several senior executives of the company to a meeting while Chen Xinyue was out.

The marketing manager looked at the planning director with confusion, then glanced at the human resources manager and the administration director, and finally fixed his gaze on Li Dehua, the head of the secretariat, and Tang Ming.

Others also reacted with confusion.

Xiao Jinlin entered and sat down, coughing lightly twice, looking a little embarrassed. "I called you all here today mainly for my engagement ceremony with Secretary Chen. I hope you can come up with a plan. Funding is not a problem. The grander and more magnificent the better, but the premise is that it cannot be extravagant."

Everyone was stunned.

Tang Ming was the first to react, clenching his fists excitedly and leaning forward, "Boss, your family has given their approval?"

"Otherwise what?" Xiao Jinlin said with a hint of arrogance.

Tang Ming suddenly realized, and gave a thumbs up, "That's amazing, boss! Don't worry, we'll discuss it right away and we'll definitely come up with a solution that will satisfy you. Do you have any further instructions?"

Xiao Jinlin shook his head.

As soon as he left, the meeting room erupted in chaos, with everyone bowing their heads and spreading the news in the QQ group.

"I have some big news to announce: the boss and Secretary Chen are getting engaged."

A stone stirred up a thousand waves.