Chapter 92: If You Want Me, Then This Son-in-Law May as Well Be Cast Aside (Please Vote Monthly)

“Xiao Cheng, when you came to this forum, did your father-in-law and mother-in-law know about it?”

Old Qian’s face twitched a few times. He could hardly come right out and say it to this dazed, foolish youngster, so he could only ask in a roundabout way.

Old Feng and his wife had really gone and not said a single word before leaving home today?

Still, it was understandable.

Who could have expected their son-in-law to be so dim-witted? The other side had merely been polite, and this foolish son-in-law had taken it seriously.

He had braved this enormous snowstorm and pedaled all the way over on his bicycle, his whole face nearly frozen a bruised purple.

“They know, I think. Before they left, they even told me not to be late,” Cheng Xuemin replied as he jumped off the bike, pushed it forward, and walked alongside Old Qian.

“They told you to come even after knowing?” Old Qian stared. “And they told you not to be late? Your father-in-law and mother-in-law really said that?”

Old Qian was baffled once more. It would have been one thing if the foolish son-in-law didn’t understand the situation, but could the mother-in-law and father-in-law be equally clueless?

That day, Li Qingquan had obviously only been making a polite remark. So they had actually taken it seriously and sent the whole family?

This wasn’t a dinner party. It was a forum. Without some reputation in the industry, who had the standing to come?

Yet the Feng family had not only sent this son-in-law, they had even specially told him not to be late.

What were they thinking?

Did they really think Yanjing Literature was a restaurant where you were invited to a banquet?

“Old Qian, what difference does it make whether it’s true or not? The wind and snow are too heavy outside. Let’s go in and warm up first,” Cheng Xuemin said, taking Old Qian’s doubt in stride. “Yanjing Literature should have heating, right?”

“Should have, yes. Yanjing Literature belongs to the Cultural Bureau compound; big institutions like that all have centralized heating,” Old Qian nodded, quickening his pace as well.

In the late seventies, centralized heating had not yet become common in residential neighborhoods in Yanjing, but heating did exist.

The places that got it were large government offices, the residential compounds attached to major units, and some apartment blocks near major institutions.

Ordinary homes, courtyards, alley-side lane houses, and long communal apartment buildings rarely had heating.

The old courtyard house where Cheng Xuemin was staying with Old Qian had no heating.

That was also why Cheng Xuemin and the Feng family couple were looking to buy a better house.

At the very least, if it had heating in winter and no need to empty a chamber pot in summer, that would be perfect.

“Old Qian, Old Qian, you’re here at last? I was really worried that with such heavy snow, you’d refuse to honor us and not come!”

When Li Qingquan saw Old Qian at the gate, his eyes lit up and he hurried over in greeting.

“I said I’d come, so of course I came. Even if it were raining knives, I’d still show up,” Old Qian said irritably, giving Li Qingquan a glare. This boy sure liked making a fuss.

If you’d simply said plainly that it was some kind of surprise, that would have been enough. Instead, you dragged him out in this wind and snow, making him brave the storm just to come and support Li Qingquan.

Then he asked, “Has the author of The Horse Herder arrived? Has Ding Ling arrived? Don’t tell me they all didn’t come and the forum’s been canceled!”

“They’re here, they’re all here! Please, hurry inside first and warm up,” Li Qingquan said quickly and fawningly.

After all, this was a true heavyweight. In ordinary times, even People’s Literature might not have been able to invite him.

Who would have thought that this time, after being prodded by Li Qingquan’s goading, he really would come?

It was both a surprise and a delight.

“That’s good,” Old Qian nodded, and was just turning to tell Li Qingquan something when he remembered, “That son-in-law of the Feng family...”

“Of course, of course, I know him. Xuemin, you came with Old Qian, right? You’re not frozen stiff, are you? Come in quickly and warm up. We don’t often get centralized heating here,” Li Qingquan said, greeting Cheng Xuemin warmly as well.

“Uh...”

Old Qian was left a little stunned. He had been about to instruct Li Qingquan to seat the Feng family’s son-in-law somewhere inconspicuous, so the Fengs wouldn’t stand out too much.

But who would have thought?

Li Qingquan was greeting the Feng family son-in-law with even more enthusiasm than he showed him.

That left Old Qian unable to say the rest of what he had intended.

“Old Qian, Xuemin, the forum is on the second floor in the meeting room. Why don’t you both come to my office first? Teacher Ding is already here,” Li Qingquan said.

“You can arrange it however you like. I want to see just what kind of trickery you’ve cooked up,” Old Qian said, nodding. Since he was the guest, he would let Li Qingquan, the host, handle the arrangements.

Then it seemed something occurred to him, and he asked, “Haven’t Old Feng and Teacher Gu arrived yet? Their son-in-law is here; do they know about it?”

“Old Qian, here’s the situation. Old Feng’s side from Chinese Literature is represented by Old Yang; Old Feng himself couldn’t get away,” Li Qingquan explained with a wry smile.

“As for Teacher Gu’s side from October, only Old Liu came. Teacher Gu really didn’t give me, Li Qingquan, any face and didn’t show up.”

He had originally been waiting to give Gu Xueqing a huge surprise.

Who would have thought?

Neither member of the couple had come—only their Horse Herder son-in-law had.

“They both didn’t come?” Old Qian was completely flabbergasted. “We ran into each other this morning, and they never said they weren’t coming today.”

“They were the ones urging me to hurry over, reminding me not to be late.”

“This... the Feng family couple, what kind of people are they?”

Old Qian had already written his speech, and he had been determined to use the forum to criticize the woman from the Feng household in a deeper, more pointed way.

But who could have guessed the audience hadn’t come? Then what was there for him to criticize?

Should he really continue delivering a speech like that, one that did nothing but create trouble and make the host unhappy?

“Haha! It’s fine, it’s fine! It’s already a big enough honor that you came, Old Qian! And with Xuemin from their family here, that’s good enough too,” Li Qingquan thought. Since the couple hadn’t come, all the better. Then he could keep the matter of their son-in-law being the author of The Horse Herder a little longer.

As long as he kept Old Qian steady today and prevented him from going back and talking nonsense to the couple, everything would be perfect.

“Not enough, not enough. Old Feng and the others are far too inconsiderate! If I’d known they weren’t coming, why would I have gotten up at dawn and rushed over to support your event, Li Qingquan?”

Old Qian kept shaking his head and muttering on and on, not at all worried that Li Qingquan might be offended. He had that right and that confidence.

Let Li Qingquan dare say he wasn’t pleased.

“Good heavens, Old Qian, you really came too? I thought Old Li was bluffing and fooling us!”

Once they entered Li Qingquan’s office, Liu Xinwu from October was the first to spot him. He sprang to his feet at once and greeted Old Qian warmly.

“Old Qian, long time no see. I really didn’t expect you to come either,” Ding Ling said as she rose as well, greeting the old friend with a smile.

“Hello, Xiao Liu. I hear you and Teacher Gu cooked up a bomb to blow us all away, is that so?”

Old Qian began with a joke aimed at Liu Xinwu.

“Not at all, not at all. You flatter me, Old Qian,” Liu Xinwu hurriedly said, waving his hands again and again.

Old Qian narrowed his eyes and let the matter drop, then nodded toward Ding Ling with a sigh of surprise. “When Li Qingquan told me you were coming too, I was truly astonished.”

“I never would have thought you, Ding Ling... still marching to the beat of your own drum. But it’s good that you’re back. Good that you’re back.”

By not marching to the beat of the ordinary drum, he was referring to today’s forum. A piece by a new author had actually been enough to bring Ding Ling here in person.

“Didn’t you come as well, Old Qian?” Ding Ling glanced at him, her expression equally tinged with emotion. “Old Qian, sit here.”

“Xiao Cheng, come here. Sit with me on this side! How did you get so frozen? Your face is all flushed,” Ding Ling said, turning away from Old Qian and greeting Cheng Xuemin warmly again.

“Hello, Teacher Ding. Hello, Teacher Liu,” Cheng Xuemin said quickly after Old Qian, greeting the two of them as well.

“What’s this? Xuemin, you know Teacher Ding and Old Liu?” Li Qingquan, who had been about to make introductions, was dumbfounded on the spot.

Ding Ling had not even waited for him to introduce them before greeting Cheng Xuemin directly. And Cheng Xuemin, in turn, had not only greeted Ding Ling, but Liu Xinwu as well.

What was going on?

Li Qingquan, still standing nearby and preparing to introduce them, was instantly left at a loss.

Even Old Qian was very surprised. He looked at Ding Ling and asked, “What? Ding Ling, you know Teacher Gu’s son-in-law too? I was just about to introduce you.”

For Ding Ling to know this Feng family son-in-law really did catch Old Qian off guard. After all, Ding Ling had only just returned to the capital recently and had kept mostly to herself, not interacting much with the outside world.

Since coming back, apart from speaking up for Li Qingquan’s The Horse Herder, today was basically her first public appearance after returning.

Ordinarily, she definitely would not know anything about Gu Xueqing and Old Feng’s son-in-law.

After all, that son-in-law of Old Feng’s was not only dazed and foolish, but also lacked any obvious brilliance. How could Ding Ling possibly know him?

“Not that! Old Qian, when you just said Xiao Cheng was whose son-in-law again?”

“Teacher Gu? Which Teacher Gu?” Liu Xinwu blurted out in sudden alarm before Ding Ling could answer.

“Which Teacher Gu? How many Teacher Gus do you have in October? And how many Teacher Gus do you know, Xiao Liu?”

“Xiao Cheng is Old Feng’s newly married son-in-law! You don’t know that, Liu Xinwu? That shouldn’t be possible, should it?”

Old Qian sat down with a huff and shot Liu Xinwu a glare. What did he mean, which Teacher Gu? Just how many Teacher Gus did he know?

Even the newly returned Ding Ling knew her, yet Liu Xinwu of October didn’t? And they called themselves partners?

“Holy hell! Xiao Cheng, you’re Teacher Gu’s son-in-law? Her family’s Jiayou’s husband?” Liu Xinwu slapped his thigh and asked in utter shock and confusion.

“Teacher Liu... my mother didn’t come here with you today, did she?”

Fine then.

With that one sentence, Cheng Xuemin had effectively admitted that he was indeed Gu Xueqing, Teacher Gu’s son-in-law.

“No, wait, you really are Teacher Gu’s son-in-law?”

“You... then that piece of The Horse Herder was given to Old Li instead of your mother-in-law’s October?”

Once Liu Xinwu confirmed that it really was Teacher Gu’s son-in-law, he could no longer remain calm. He was full of resentment.

What in the world was going on?

Teacher Gu’s son-in-law had written The Horse Herder, but instead of submitting it to his mother-in-law’s October, that is, to Liu Xinwu’s own October, he had sent it to Old Li’s Yanjing Literature?

No wonder.

Liu Xinwu finally understood why Li Qingquan had made such a mysterious phone call that day, thanking him profusely.

So that was the reason.

The son-in-law of their own magazine had not submitted to his own side, but had instead given Li Qingquan a huge win. No wonder Li Qingquan was grinning from ear to ear.

“Cough, cough. Teacher Liu’s question is a little too sharp... I... Jiayou and I were only thinking about getting the manuscript accepted as quickly as possible and getting the payment as quickly as possible,” Cheng Xuemin said, sitting upright and proper, so embarrassed he didn’t know how to defend himself.

“At the time, a manuscript of yours had already been stuck with Teacher Liu’s side, so we just... just... Teacher Liu, you should understand, right?”

“Ah! I knew it, I knew it! We should have published your Jiayou’s manuscript earlier!” Liu Xinwu lamented bitterly.

In the end, all their initial worries had actually come true: that Teacher Gu, by setting strict standards for her daughter, had caused people to think October’s requirements for manuscripts were too high.

Not only had that frightened away the new authors at her daughter’s university, Yenching University, but now it turned out even Teacher Gu’s own son-in-law had been scared off.

When even a son-in-law could be driven away by his mother-in-law, and instead submit to Li Qingquan’s Yanjing Literature...

This, this, this... a son-in-law like that might as well not be wanted at all.

It was fortunate he wasn’t Liu Xinwu’s son-in-law, or he would really have broken his dog legs. He’d have gone too far!

“No, Xiao Cheng, you’re Teacher Gu’s son-in-law? That day... why didn’t you all introduce yourselves to me and Old Mao?” Ding Ling was equally surprised.

She hadn’t expected that the author Old Xu of The Horse Herder, whom Teacher Gu had brought to the ministry that day, was actually the Xiao Cheng sitting before her, and that he was Teacher Gu’s son-in-law.

That day, Teacher Gu had really kept her composure and never mentioned it to them.

“This... at the time, you and the others didn’t ask, and my mother thought it would be best to avoid any appearance of favoritism, so she didn’t say anything to everyone,” Cheng Xuemin explained.

On the way over, he had already anticipated that this would be the reaction, and had prepared his answer in advance. His mother-in-law also knew what would happen today, and that the truth could not be hidden any longer.

“Oh, Teacher Gu. Promoting the worthy without avoiding kinship—what is there to hide?” Ding Ling said with a smile and a shake of her head. Then she added to Old Qian, “Still, Teacher Gu really did find herself an excellent son-in-law.”

“Xiao Cheng is indeed excellent, just a bit...” Old Qian had also gone completely slack-jawed. He looked at Cheng Xuemin in bewilderment and silence. Hearing Ding Ling speaking to him, he instinctively nodded, about to say that Cheng Xuemin was just a bit foolish.

But he quickly snapped to attention and blurted, “Wait a minute, Ding Ling, don’t tell me that Li Qingquan’s The Horse Herder was written by Xiao Cheng!”

“Teacher Gu’s son-in-law wrote The Horse Herder? Is that really true?”

“Xiao Cheng, was The Horse Herder written by you?”

Old Qian was completely off balance now, firing a string of soul-searching questions at Ding Ling, Li Qingquan, and Cheng Xuemin.

...