Transmigration: On the Gossip Front

Zhang Gui very quickly found out about Qiao Xue’s family situation; you could say most of what was in the letter matched, except for one thing that wasn’t mentioned.

"Qiao family only has this one daughter, Qiao Xue, but it seems what they mean is that they want to use her for a marriage alliance."

"I know you’ve always wanted to compete with Zhang Tao, but the Deng Family’s situation is different from the Qiao family’s. One doesn’t insist on their daughter marrying up, while the other hopes their daughter can marry up."

Zhang Gui hadn’t expected Qiao Xue’s family conditions to be even better than Deng Jie’s; he was really more and more tempted. But once he thought of the Qiao family’s expectations for Qiao Xue, he again felt the chances of success weren’t big.

Xue Lei also learned about the Qiao family’s situation from Zhang Gui, and she too felt the chances of Zhang Li successfully chasing Qiao Xue weren’t big.

After hearing such a definite answer from Zhang Gui, Zhang Li started calculating in his heart how this should be handled, how he should go after Qiao Xue. With the Qiao family’s good conditions, with good food and fun, she’d long been spoiled; if he tried to pursue her with ordinary tricks, most likely Qiao Xue wouldn’t even give him a proper look.

If he wanted Qiao Xue to notice him, and then to become familiar with each other, he had to come up with some very special methods. What to do?

"Dad, even if the Qiao family really wants Qiao Xue to marry up, is her temperament suited for that?" After working together these days, Zhang Li had gotten a very clear sense of Qiao Xue’s temperament; she really was quite a spoiled, unreasonable girl.

"That girl is very good at making people happy." Zhang Gui could tell Zhang Li still wasn’t giving up,

"I know, I’ve seen her chatting with the factory director and them; she can very easily get them all laughing and grinning."

"As long as she’s willing, she really can get along well with anyone. Dad, Mom, if I marry such a capable wife in the future, there’ll be a lot of things I can let her handle."

Before, when Zhang Li heard about how Qiao Xue coaxed the leaders and made them happy, he’d felt very resentful, always thinking she was just a bootlicker. But once it became a matter of her marrying him, then of course all that could help prop him up and let his career move up another level.

Zhang Gui and Xue Lei looked at each other; there was nothing wrong with what their son said. If he really married such a socially adept wife, it would definitely be good for him.

"But her family?" What worried Zhang Gui was that once the Qiao family found out, they’d definitely come out and interfere.

"I’m not stupid; of course I won’t make a big show of it." Zhang Li looked full of confidence.

The two of them had a lot of confidence in Zhang Li as well. Girls, no matter how hard they are to chase, how hard can it really get?

"Fine, son, you work hard." Thinking of Xu Ling’s smug face these days, Xue Lei felt very unhappy. "You must get Qiao Xue."

If Zhang Li could get Qiao Xue, she didn’t know how many times better that would be than Deng Jie. Let’s see how Xu Ling dares to show off in front of her in future.

Zhang Li knew his parents would definitely support him. "Well, Dad, Mom, you also know chasing a girl takes money." He didn’t say more, just looked at the couple.

The couple immediately knew what he meant—he wanted money. Zhang Gui didn’t handle the money, so he looked at Xue Lei.

Hearing that he wanted money again, Xue Lei felt her heart tighten. Ever since Zhang Hui went to be an intellectual youth, the household expenses had been flowing out like water.

"Son, don’t you spend your wages yourself?" Xue Lei remembered that Zhang Li’s wages were all for his own use.

"I only make that little bit. My own expenses already take almost all of it—how am I supposed to chase a girl?" Zhang Li was immediately unhappy. "Zhang Tao doesn’t hand over his wages either, and he’s been working for so many years already; his wages are higher than mine. The money he spends on girlfriends all comes from the family."

The two brothers were both chasing girls, but the treatment they got was completely different. Zhang Li really couldn’t understand why his side of the family had to be the one to put up with it.

Clearly he was the eldest son of the family, yet his treatment couldn’t even compare to Zhang Hui’s. That girl had gone off to the Northeast as an intellectual youth; the family had to send her twenty yuan in living expenses every month, plus supplies.

Even that he could accept. That girl couldn’t do farm work; if the family didn’t send money, she really might starve out there. But why couldn’t they teach her to do housework? At least they could save the labor fee they were paying Zhang Yu.

Zhang Hui had burned through so much money, and as the eldest son, Zhang Li had never protested, thinking that no matter what, he was the eldest son; whenever there was a need, the family wouldn’t ignore him.

Now he understood that in his parents’ hearts, this eldest son really couldn’t compare to Zhang Hui. The more Zhang Li thought about it, the angrier he got.

"Dad, Mom, it’s not like you don’t know the Qiao family’s conditions. With a family like that, how could ordinary things catch her eye?"

The more he talked, the more wronged Zhang Li felt, and finally he said, "Forget it, I just won’t chase her. Saves me from making a fool of myself in the end."

Wiping his eyes, Zhang Li was about to leave his parents’ room. He’d already decided that if things were like this and his parents still refused to loosen up, then they could rely on Zhang Hui for their retirement in the future.

Hearing what Zhang Li said, Zhang Gui and Xue Lei both panicked of course. A girl with such good conditions—how could Zhang Li just give up on chasing her?

If he didn’t chase girls, so be it; such a proud girl might not be someone he could marry anyway. But they could hear the thick dissatisfaction with the two of them in Zhang Li’s words.

The two of them looked at each other and knew they couldn’t not fork over this money. "Son, son, why is your temper so big?"

"I was just asking casually, what, you’re my son, how can I not ask?" Xue Lei said irritably.

"You just keep your eyes on my money. Why don’t you talk about how much you send my sister every month? You know she can’t do housework, and you still send money to Zhang Yu. I really don’t get it. She’s a girl—why can’t she cook? Why can’t she cook for herself?"

"You’ve really treated her like some young lady." The more Zhang Li thought about it, the angrier he got. Since he had the chance now, he might as well vent; opportunities like this would be rare later on.

Hearing what Zhang Li said, the couple’s faces instantly went pale. In their hearts they kept muttering, no way, no way, surely Zhang Li doesn’t know about that, right?

They really didn’t dare think how many people might end up knowing about this in the end.

Right then Zhang Li noticed how pale his parents’ faces had gone. "You two, you two?" Why were things like this all of a sudden? What had he just said to make their faces turn so white?

What he’d just said was only calling her a "young lady." That term was a bit much; if the people in GWH heard it, that would be a big deal.

"Uh, Dad, Mom, don’t worry, I’ll never say this outside again." Yeah, that term really couldn’t be used. If someone heard it, it could really cause big trouble.

The couple hadn’t expected their son to see them lose their composure like that. They were still thinking about how to reel it back in, and before they could come up with an explanation, their own son had already patched it up himself.

Which was just as well; it showed he basically didn’t know about this matter, so they could relax a bit. Otherwise they’d still have to discuss how to tell Zhang Li, and one more person knowing meant one more layer of danger.

Even though Zhang Li was her son and Xue Lei loved him, she still understood that one more person meant one more risk.

"The wind outside is very tight right now. If it gets tied to your sister, then our whole family..." Xue Lei stopped there. Zhang Li’s body involuntarily tensed up.

Even though he never got involved in that messy stuff, he still knew a bit about what was going on outside.