Chapter 79

**Chapter 79**

"I really wasn’t in a relationship at the time."

It wasn’t that Jiang Yiwei didn’t want to tell Gu Xiaolei, but Fu Xunian truly hadn’t been her boyfriend back then—so of course she said no.

"If it wasn’t then, then you must be together now."

If they weren’t dating before, didn’t that mean Fu Xunian was now her boyfriend?

"You’re right—he is my boyfriend now."

"Alright, you should go home now, and I should too."

Jiang Yiwei knew Gu Xiaolei had a million questions, but she really had to leave.

She hurried over to Fu Xunian, leaving Gu Xiaolei watching their sweet exchange.

Whatever Jiang Yiwei had said to him, Fu Xunian’s lips quirked into a smile as she hopped onto the back of his bicycle with ease.

"What a perfect match—you two really are the most compatible."

Gu Xiaolei’s appreciation for attractive people kicked in. Clasping her hands, she gazed dreamily in the direction where the bicycle had disappeared.

Even after they were out of sight, she carried that warmth home with her.

After this performance, many more troupes sought out Jiang Yiwei for costumes.

All because Yao Mingzhu and her troupe’s *Moon Over Water* performance had been raved about—even their costumes made the dance light, lively, and full of life.

Many theater troupes knew that the Fangyuan Drama Troupe had recently suffered a fire, destroying their prepared costumes.

At the time, several troupes secretly gloated over Fangyuan’s misfortune.

But no one expected them to commission such brilliant new costumes so quickly—costumes that elevated their dance.

Soon, a troupe approached Liang Xiaoe, asking who had made their costumes this time. They needed new ones made and wanted to find the same person.

Liang Xiaoe freely shared the details, even giving them the address.

She’d heard Yao Mingzhu mention before that Jiang Yiwei was sewing clothes for income.

She assumed Jiang Yiwei would be happy to take on requests from troupes that came looking for her.

Still, Liang Xiaoe sent Yao Mingzhu ahead to explain the situation first, to avoid startling her with sudden requests.

"Troupe Leader, I’ll go find Sister Yiwei now."

Yao Mingzhu then set off for the Jiang family courtyard to look for Jiang Yiwei.

Just as she arrived, she bumped into Jiang Yiwei, who had just come home from school.

"Yiwei!"

"Mingzhu-jie!"

Seeing Yao Mingzhu, Jiang Yiwei was surprised that she had come alone.

She quickly stopped her bicycle. "Mingzhu, are you here to see me?"

Yao Mingzhu nodded. "Yes. Troupe Leader Liang sent me to tell you something."

Jiang Yiwei paused for a moment, puzzled. What did Liang Xiaoe need to tell her through Yao Mingzhu?

"Mingzhu, what does Troupe Leader Liang want to tell me?"

Yao Mingzhu told her what Liang Xiaoe had asked her to pass on.

"So, you're saying other drama troupes might come to me for stage costumes?"

"Exactly. This time we wore the costumes you made onstage, and even the city officials at the event praised our dance—they complimented the outfits too."

In this competition, Fangyuan Drama Troupe outperformed the other troupes.

They even received praise from several officials.

Even Jiang Yiwei's costumes got some compliments.

"The other troupe leaders aren't dumb—they know quality when they see it."

"If your work is good, people will come to you for costumes, even if the officials hadn't praised them."

The other troupes weren’t stupid; they could tell how good Jiang Yiwei’s work was.

Sooner or later, they would come to her to design and make stage costumes.

"Some have already approached Troupe Leader Liang, asking who made our costumes. She told them, but she was worried you'd be caught off guard when they show up, so she asked me to give you a heads-up first."

Liang Xiaoe specifically sent Yao Mingzhu to warn Jiang Yiwei, fearing she might be surprised by unexpected visitors.

"Startled? I'm thrilled!"

More troupes meant more business—how could Jiang Yiwei not be happy?

Just like she figured, if Mingzhu and the others’ dance stood out, the costumes she made would draw attention.

So, Jiang Yiwei was ready for them to come knocking.

It would mean good money, though it would be hard work.

But lately, she wasn't getting many orders anyway.

Besides, she was at a textile institute—most students there knew how to make their own clothes.

"Alright then! I can see you've got it all worked out."

Seeing Jiang Yiwei excited rather than nervous, Yao Mingzhu guessed she’d anticipated this.

"Alright, I should get going—I still need to let Liang Xiaoe know."

Yao Mingzhu needed to report back to Liang Xiaoe.

"Goodbye, Mingzhu."

Jiang Yiwei watched as Yao Mingzhu pedaled away, her figure shrinking in the distance, before finally turning around.

Thinking about the upcoming business, Jiang Yiwei couldn’t wipe the smile off her face.

When she goes back to school tomorrow, she’ll share this good news with Zhou Hongmin.

Actually, Jiang Yiwei figures if she gets costume orders, she’ll rope Zhou Hongmin into helping—there’s no way she could do it all by herself. They’ll split the earnings down the middle.

Pushing her bike into the yard, she saw Jiang Ningning staring at her expressionlessly.

Jiang Ningning stared at her for a long moment before turning and walking inside.

Jiang Yiwei wrinkled her brow.

“What’s Jiang Ningning’s problem?”

Like she’d done something to piss her off.

But she hadn’t—they hadn’t even bickered lately. Even when Jiang Ningning argued with Jiang Liling, Jiang Yiwei had just watched without getting involved.

By all accounts, she hadn’t crossed her recently.

“Whatever, not worth thinking about.”

Jiang Ningning was always moody anyway.

Better to think about the gigs she might land.

She walked into the yard, humming to herself.

Back in her room, Jiang Ningning slammed the door hard, making Liu Xian and Lin Meixiang, working outside, jump.

“Now what’s Ning Ning’s problem?”

“Probably got her feathers ruffled somewhere,” Lin Meixiang muttered.

Whenever Jiang Ningning came home in a huff, she had that same sour look.

“Who knows who angered her? She’s as bad-tempered as Yue Xin. If they ever marry, good luck to their in-laws putting up with their attitudes.”

Jiang Ningning only played nice around Granny Hu, Jiang Erjie, and Xu Qi.

But Liu Xian thought Jiang Ningning and Jiang Yuexin were cut from the same cloth—both impossible to deal with.

“Who cares if others can handle her?” Lin Meixiang shrugged. “If she gets married, at least we won’t have to put up with her tantrums anymore.”

As long as it wasn’t her problem, that was good enough.

Liu Xian hesitated. “You’ve got a point, sis.”

Jiang Ningning was always taking her bad moods out on them. If she married off sooner, it would be a relief for them.

In her room, Jiang Ningning scowled at the floor, her face stormy.

Thinking about how Yao Mingzhu’s dance had stood out and earned praise from the leaders, Jiang Ningning’s face contorted with rage as she hurled everything off her bed.

Even though she had prepared for so long, and even fate had seemed to help her by destroying Yao Mingzhu’s costumes—

In the end, she still lost to Yao Mingzhu.

Damn it.

She couldn't help but recall every word spoken at the troupe today.

Everyone praised Yao Mingzhu and her group for their dancing.

People kept praising Yao Mingzhu and her group.

No one even glanced her way.

She had practiced till she was covered in bruises, pushing through the pain, only to be outshone by Yao Mingzhu’s group during the performance.

She had put in so much effort, yet still came up short against Yao Mingzhu.

Even the costumes worn by Yao Mingzhu and her group received compliments, with several troupes already asking who made them.

The costumes were made by Jiang Yiwei.

Jiang Ningning wondered—if it weren’t for Jiang Yiwei making those costumes, maybe Yao Mingzhu wouldn’t have performed so brilliantly on stage. She could’ve stolen the spotlight from Yao Mingzhu and her group.

"Jiang Yiwei, why are you always in my way?"

Because of Jiang Yiwei, things kept veering off-script, making her waste time and effort trying to fix them.

Suddenly, Jiang Ningning let out a hollow laugh.

Jiang Yiwei, if I'm suffering, you'll suffer too.

You mess with me, I’ll mess with you.

"Hahaha..."

Her eerie laughter echoed from inside the room, making Liu Xian jump, her hands shaking.

Lin Meixiang kept her cool. "Ignore her. Let's just get this done. Otherwise, when Mom gets back and sees we're not finished, we’ll catch hell."

"Okay, big sister-in-law."

Liu Xian and Lin Meixiang ignored her and kept their heads down—neither wanted to face Xu Qi’s wrath.

"Arms up."

"Oh!"

Zhang Jiahui immediately lifted her arms.

"Yiwei, this time, make my dress gorgeous."

Jiang Yiwei chuckled. "I know."

"I’ll make sure you’re the prettiest one there. Liang Jun will be smitten the moment he sees you."

At the mention of Liang Jun’s name, Zhang Jiahui shot a nervous look outside.

"Shh, keep it down! If Mom finds out, she’ll kill me."

Liang Jun was Zhang Jiahui’s new flame, but she hadn’t dared to tell Aunt Mao about him.

Because Liang Jun was from out of town—he came to study in the capital and went to the same college as Zhang Jiahui.

Aunt Mao never imagined Zhang Jiahui marrying someone from out of town. She hoped they would both stay in Beijing, close to her and her family, so they could look after her if anything happened in the future.

That's why Zhang Jiahui was afraid to tell Aunt Mao about her relationship with Liang Jun—she only dared to whisper it to Jiang Yiwei.

"I know, I promise I won't say a word."

"But are you really planning to be with Liang Jun forever?"

She could hide it from Aunt Mao now, but what about after graduation, when they wanted to get married? She couldn’t keep it a secret forever.

"They assign jobs after graduation. A Jun has such good grades—he’s sure to land a job in Beijing."

Zhang Jiahui had already thought this through.

As long as Liang Jun got assigned a job in Beijing, everything would work out.

"But what if he doesn’t? What if his assignment takes him outside Beijing? And is he even willing to stay?"

Zhang Jiahui was being naive.

Had she even considered what would happen if his job wasn’t in Beijing? Or whether Liang Jun even wanted to stay?

Just imagining Zhang Jiahui having to leave home upset Jiang Yiwei—Aunt Mao would feel even worse.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it!" Zhang Jiahui’s earlier happiness had vanished completely, replaced by a cloud of worry.

Jiang Yiwei looked down, kicking herself for bringing it up.

"Aunt Mao, is Yiwei over at your place?"

"She's here, in Zhang Jiahui's room."

At that moment, Huang Manjun and Aunt Mao's voices came from outside.

"Sister-in-law!"

Jiang Yiwei and Zhang Jiahui stepped out and saw Huang Manjun, her belly rounded with five or six months of pregnancy, walking toward them.

Jiang Yiwei quickly went up to her. "Sister-in-law, what brings you by?"

"Auntie has arrived, so Mom sent me to get you to come see her."

"Auntie...?"

At first, Jiang Yiwei was puzzled by the mention of "Auntie," but then a memory from the original host surfaced in her mind.

It turned out to be Zhang Cuimiao, Zhang Cuifen's younger sister.

"Sister-in-law, give me a sec—I'll go back with you."

Then Jiang Yiwei went into Zhang Jiahui's room, packed her things, including the fabric Zhang Jiahui had given her, and left with Huang Manjun.

However, on the way home, Jiang Yiwei noticed Huang Manjun was in a really good mood.

She kept going on about how Jiang Yiwei was blessed,

which just left Jiang Yiwei baffled.

Later, when they got home and she saw who the visitor was, she finally understood why Huang Manjun kept saying she was blessed.

She knew Zhang Cuimiao, but sitting next to her was a woman around her age and a man with handsome features and clear eyes, who looked about Fu Xunian’s age.

“Mom, Yi Wei is back.”

Huang Manjun pushed the stunned Jiang Yiwei forward toward Zhang Cuifen and Zhang Cuimiao.

“This is Yi Wei! I haven’t seen her in ages. Girls change so much as they grow up—that saying really holds true!”

Zhang Cuimiao stood up and pulled Jiang Yiwei in to inspect her up and down, growing more and more pleased.

“Auntie,” Jiang Yiwei said politely, putting on a polite smile and allowing herself to be examined.

But the woman beside Zhang Cuimiao gave her a look that made Jiang Yiwei’s skin crawl, like she was livestock up for sale.

Zhang Cuimiao took her hand and pointed to the woman beside her. “This is Aunt Muchun. Call her ‘Auntie.’”

“Aunt Muchun.”

“Good girl.”

Aunt Muchun eagerly grabbed Jiang Yiwei’s hands and gushed over her endlessly.

Then, Zhang Cuimiao pointed to the man sitting nearby. “His name is Gu Jiang. Just call him Gu Jiang.”

Jiang Yiwei looked at the man and politely said, “Brother Gu Jiang.”

Gu Jiang gave a slight nod but stayed silent. Aunt Muchun, though, wasn’t happy and nudged him. “Say something!”

Only then did Gu Jiang speak. “Yi Wei.”

Perhaps worried that Gu Jiang’s awkward silence might scare Jiang Yiwei off, Aunt Muchun quickly explained.

“Yi Wei, don’t mind him. This boy usually talks a lot—maybe he’s just nervous meeting you.”

“It’s fine. I don’t mind.”

Jiang Yiwei’s smile was becoming forced.

If only they could read her mind, they’d know exactly how she felt.

Gu Jiang—that was the name of one of the male leads, Jiang Liling’s future boyfriend.

But this wasn’t how it happened in the book.

In the story, after Qu Zhenxin broke up with the original protagonist, he quickly got together with Jiang Ningning. Zhang Cuifen returned to her family home, blaming Wu Jing for setting her up with such a bad match.

Later, Zhang Cuimiao happened to visit and promised Zhang Cuifen she’d find Jiang Yiwei a guy at least as good as Qu Zhenxin.

Some time after that, Zhang Cuifen told the original protagonist to get all dressed up and meet Gu Jiang at a government-run restaurant the next day.

Still bruised from Qu Zhenxin, the original protagonist had no interest in another matchmaking session, but she didn’t dare defy Zhang Cuifen. So she went and met Gu Jiang.

Gu Jiang was naturally handsome, and the original protagonist was instantly drawn to him.

Later, due to his mother’s influence, Gu Jiang became her boyfriend.

But the first time he met Jiang Liling, he fell for her at first sight.

Yet now, here she was, meeting Gu Jiang directly—and totally in the dark about the arrangement.

This was nothing like the novel.

Jiang Yiwei’s mind reeled—how could everything change so drastically, completely inconsistent with the novel?

Was it because she strayed from the original plot that things went off track?

But the setup with Gu Jiang matched the novel’s plot perfectly.

She shot a glance at Zhang Cuifen, who was originally beaming with satisfaction over Gu Jiang. Perhaps Jiang Yiwei’s gaze held too much confusion, but Zhang Cuifen couldn’t care less.

If Jiang Yiwei dared reject this match with Gu Jiang, Zhang Cuifen wouldn’t let it slide.

Ugh! Jiang Yiwei groaned internally.

With things as they were, refusing Gu Jiang would mean trouble.

Whatever. She’d play along—it’s not like words alone decided anything.

Besides, if Gu Jiang could fall for Jiang Liling at first sight, obviously, he was never into her.

The three elders—Zhang Cuifen, Zhang Cuimiao, and Aunt Mu Chun—were deep in lively chatter. If the young pair weren’t there, they’d probably be picking a wedding date already.

Especially Zhang Cuimiao, who noticed how quiet Gu Jiang and Jiang Yiwei were, not saying a word.

She was getting antsy.

This was no good.

"Yi Wei, take your Brother Gu Jiang out—go see a movie or something." They needed some alone time.

"Go on, you two!"

Zhang Cuifen and Aunt Mu Chun urged them to go out for a movie.

The kids needed space—having adults around would just make it weird.

Jiang Yiwei wasn’t having it. She had planned to endure until they left, but now they were forcing her to be alone with Gu Jiang. She opened her mouth to refuse—then a sharp pinch to her thigh cut her off. Rubbing the sore spot, she looked at Zhang Cuifen with grievance in her eyes.

Her eyes screamed betrayal.

Mom, seriously?

"Go out for a walk with your Brother Gu Jiang. There are plenty of places to have fun—it's fine if you come back late."

"If today’s a bust, there’s always next time."

Zhang Cuifen might as well have shouted, "Get together already!" No way was she letting Jiang Yiwei screw this up again.

If Jiang Yiwei pulled another stunt like last time, no amount of begging would save her.

Perhaps sensing the tension between mother and daughter, Huang Manjun yanked Jiang Yiwei to her feet. "Come on, let me fix your hair before you go out."

Grumbling, Jiang Yiwei let herself be hauled into the room.

"You! After the Qu Zhenxin disaster, you’re really pushing Mom’s buttons?" Huang Manjun saw right through her—Jiang Yiwei wanted nothing to do with Gu Jiang.

Huang Manjun actually thought Gu Jiang wasn’t bad. Like Gao Zean, he was a long-haul trucker—good-looking too. According to Zhang Cuimiao, his personality was pretty decent as well.

But no matter how good he was, if Jiang Yiwei wasn’t into him, it was all for nothing.

“If you’re not into Gu Jiang, just turn him down if he asks you out.”

“He hasn’t said anything yet. Just think of it as hanging out with a friend—walking around, catching a movie. Treat him like a friend, that’s all.”

Huang Manjun didn’t have any better ideas for Jiang Yiwei.

She also didn’t want them to end up in a huge fight over this.

“Cut your mom some slack. She’s just looking out for you and your sisters.”

Being a mother herself, she got where Zhang Cuifen was coming from.

At the end of the day, all parents want what’s best for their kids.

Still, Huang Manjun wasn’t about to force Jiang Xiaohua to do something she didn’t want to do.

“Sis, I get what you’re saying, but at least they could’ve asked me first! I’m totally caught off guard here.”

Jiang Yiwei got what Huang Manjun was saying.

It’s just that she wished she’d been told beforehand about the setup, instead of having it sprung on her.

“What’s done is done. Just work it out without getting bent out of shape.”

Since it had already happened, there was nothing left but to deal with it.

She tugged Jiang Yiwei’s arm. “Let’s head out before they start nagging.”

Jiang Yiwei stepped out with Huang Manjun, seeming a lot more composed now.

As soon as Jiang Yiwei appeared, Zhang Cuifen and the others pushed her and Gu Jiang out the door.

Jiang Yiwei and Gu Jiang locked eyes for a second before looking away.

They stepped out one behind the other.

Walking side by side, they could’ve been complete strangers.

Jiang Yiwei made small talk. “Brother Gu Jiang, is there anywhere you’d like to go?”

“No, I usually drive trucks and am always on the road. I wouldn’t know where to go for fun in the city.”

Gu Jiang was telling the truth.

Because he frequently drove trucks out of the city, ask him about cool spots in town and he’d draw a blank.

“In that case, let’s go see a movie first.”

“It’s not like we can bail early anyway.”

Since Gu Jiang knew nothing, Jiang Yiwei took charge.

There was no way they were going home early.

Gu Jiang caught her drift right away—she wasn’t interested in him.

This was a first—a girl who wasn’t into him.

So for most of the afternoon, Jiang Yiwei took Gu Jiang to a movie and then led him into a narrow alley.

The alley was tight, barely fitting three or four people across.

But with many vendors setting up stalls on the ground, the walkable space became even narrower.