On the surface, the two families were still relatives, so Mama Wang told Wang Cheng to attend Wang Ningkai’s engagement banquet with them that day.
Originally, Eldest Uncle’s family had not planned to hold the engagement banquet in Guanjia Village. For some reason, however, they later changed their minds and sent invitations widely among the relatives. The venue was still Fugui Restaurant. Engagement banquets did not require red envelopes, but guests were expected to bring gifts. The day after Mama Wang mentioned it, Wang Cheng went out and bought two festive little golden pig figurines. They looked cheerful enough, but in reality they were not worth much.
According to Guanjia Village custom, when relatives held a wedding banquet they usually asked other relatives to come help. Eldest Uncle’s family, however, had not invited Mama Wang to assist. Supposedly, they had only asked Madam Zhang and several other relatives.
When Third Aunt Guan next door mentioned this, she secretly watched Mama Wang’s reaction several times. Seeing that Mama Wang showed no response, she realized Mama Wang probably did not care at all and might even be pleased she would not have to put up with their faces. It only made her think Wang Hongwei’s household was even more petty.
The engagement banquet was on the afternoon of the sixth. Wang Cheng’s family went about their own work that morning and did not return until the afternoon. On the way home, Wang Cheng received a call from Chu Yifeng.
“What have you been busy with lately?”
Wang Cheng remembered he had forgotten to tell Chu Yifeng that Eldest Uncle’s son was getting engaged, so he briefly explained. “I just left the jam shop. Tonight I’m going to my eldest cousin’s engagement banquet. He’s getting engaged to that woman we saw last time.”
“Nothing unusual has happened around you lately, has it?” Chu Yifeng had no interest in Wang Cheng’s eldest cousin or future cousin-in-law.
“What could possibly happen?” Wang Cheng was baffled by the question.
“Good. As long as nothing has.”
Unable to make sense of his attitude, Wang Cheng said, “I’m almost home. We’ll talk next time. I’m hanging up.” And then he really did.
Papa Wang and Mama Wang were already home, both changed into clean clothes. It was five o’clock. The invitation said five-thirty, but the banquet itself would not formally begin until later, so there was no need to arrive exactly on time.
Wang Cheng did not change. The clothes he was wearing were already clean, and they were all luxury pieces bought during that shopping trip with Chu Yifeng. Ever since he started wearing clothes like these, returning to cheap fabric made everything feel rough and uncomfortable against his skin.
After parking the car in the courtyard, Wang Cheng went to Fugui Restaurant with his parents.
Eldest Uncle had booked the entire restaurant for the day. Since it was only an engagement ceremony, it did not need to be as elaborate as a wedding. His family was also holding the banquet in a more Western style. Weddings in Guanjia Village were usually Chinese-style, and Western-style celebrations were rare. Supposedly, this had been Wang Xiaoyan’s request.
Guests arrived at Fugui Restaurant one after another. When Wang Cheng and his parents reached the entrance, Eldest Uncle, Madam Li, and several others were standing there smiling as they welcomed people. Their smiles faded noticeably when they saw Wang Cheng’s family, but on an auspicious day like this they still would not openly pull long faces.
Besides the groom’s family, the bride’s family had arrived as well. Wang Cheng saw Madam Li talking with a woman dressed to look extremely wealthy, though the impression came mostly from piling glittering gold and silver jewelry onto herself rather than from any actual elegance. After a moment’s thought, Wang Cheng guessed she was probably Wang Xiaoyan’s mother.
Birds of a feather truly did flock together.
Seeing them approach, the woman and a middle-aged man beside her looked over. Madam Li turned as well and inwardly cursed their bad luck. She had never wanted to invite Wang Cheng’s family, but if she truly excluded them, the whole of Guanjia Village could probably drown her household in spit.
“In-laws, let me introduce you. This is my youngest brother-in-law and his wife. Beside them is their younger son, Wang Cheng.” Madam Li introduced them with a false smile.
The moment Wang Xiaoyan’s parents heard Wang Cheng’s name, their gazes moved to him. Their expressions made it obvious they had heard of him before. Wang Xiaoyan’s mother was worse at hiding her emotions, and the contempt and dislike on her face were unmistakable.
“So this is my in-law’s younger brother and sister-in-law. Nothing particularly impressive.” Wang Xiaoyan’s mother wore a false smile almost identical to Madam Li’s, as though she had just paid them a compliment. In truth, it was pure hypocrisy.
Papa Wang and Mama Wang both looked displeased.
Wang Cheng gave her a careless glance and looked her up and down. “You’re right. Nothing particularly impressive. I thought some people were real wealthy ladies. Turns out underneath all the gold and silver they’re still rustic village women, and no amount of jewelry can hide the vulgarity.”
“You!” Fury immediately appeared on Wang Xiaoyan’s mother’s face. She was about to explode when her husband pulled her back.
“What are you doing? Today is your daughter and son-in-law’s happy occasion.” Wang Xiaoyan’s father lowered his voice beside her ear. Wang Xiaoyan’s mother could only snort coldly before leaving with him to find their daughter.
Once they were gone, Madam Li’s expression cooled. All the warmth she had shown a moment before vanished, replaced by a few sarcastic greetings. Wang Cheng and his parents did not respond, which only made Madam Li look unreasonable. Several guests arriving behind them noticed the exchange, including some of Wang Xiaoyan’s relatives.
The three then went to the gift table. Second Uncle and Madam Zhang were in charge of receiving and registering the gifts. Unlike Madam Li, they did not greet them with cold expressions and cutting words. Madam Zhang accepted Wang Cheng’s gift with a broad smile and even opened it in front of them. The behavior was inappropriate, but plenty of people in the countryside did the same.
Madam Zhang had no idea what Wang Cheng would give. The package felt pleasantly heavy in her hands, but when she opened it, she found two ceramic golden pigs worth only one or two hundred yuan. Compared with some of the other gifts, you could call them respectable. On the other hand, for family, they were undeniably a little stingy. Still, considering Wang Cheng’s relationship with Eldest Uncle’s family, buying even two golden pigs was already generous enough.
Thinking that way, Madam Zhang stopped feeling jealous and instead felt a trace of schadenfreude. They had gone to the trouble of holding an extra engagement banquet, yet most of the gifts they received were still inexpensive little things.
“Running a factory really is different. You certainly spend generously now,” Madam Zhang joked. Whether she meant it sincerely was probably something only she knew.
“We’re relatives, after all. My own nephew is getting engaged. As his aunt, I should at least come support the occasion,” Mama Wang said with a faint smile that was not quite a smile.
Several guests waiting behind them to hand over gifts heard the exchange and immediately looked strange. The groom’s own uncle and aunt were attending merely as ordinary guests? This branch of the Wang family had gone too far. They had clearly excluded the third brother’s household. Sending them an invitation did not change the message. Their attitude practically announced that they wanted to draw a line between the families.
Fugui Restaurant had two floors, and Eldest Uncle had booked the second one. After the greetings, Wang Cheng and his parents followed others upstairs to the banquet area. Plenty of guests had already arrived, with the older generation and younger generation naturally forming two separate groups.
Wang Cheng followed his parents toward several village elders. Besides relatives, this engagement banquet had invited some of the elders from the village, and Wang Cheng’s family had fairly good relations with them.
Madam Li left the job of welcoming guests to her husband and went alone to the bridal dressing room on the second floor. Wang Xiaoyan and her mother were inside talking. Wang Xiaoyan’s father was nowhere to be seen, probably outside chatting with guests.
The moment Madam Li entered, Wang Xiaoyan and her mother warmly pulled her over to join the conversation. Madam Li smiled so widely her eyes nearly disappeared. It was truly a case of a turtle taking a fancy to a mung bean: people of the same temperament had found exactly the right match. No wonder they had become in-laws.
“What were you two talking about just now? Why do you both look unhappy?” Madam Li asked.
At the mention of it, Wang Xiaoyan immediately looked displeased and complained, “Who else but Wang Cheng? Today is Ningkai’s and my engagement, yet he actually dared speak to my mom like that. I’m furious. I have no idea how someone with such poor manners was raised.”
“Don’t be angry, don’t be angry. Today is your happy day. Don’t let someone unimportant ruin your good mood.” Madam Li had witnessed the exchange too and did not like Wang Cheng either, but she certainly did not want him ruining today’s celebration.
Wang Xiaoyan suddenly hesitated. “Auntie Li, there’s something about Wang Cheng, but I don’t know whether I should say it. If I keep quiet, I feel like I’m wronging your family, but it’s really difficult to talk about.”
“Something about Wang Cheng? Just say it,” Madam Li replied.
“It’s like this.” A smug smile curled at the corner of Wang Xiaoyan’s mouth. “One of my younger female cousins studies at Shanhai University. A scandal happened there a couple of days ago involving one of the lecturers. Someone exposed on the forum that the lecturer was gay and even posted photographs as proof. My cousin thought it was entertaining and shared the story with me. Guess who the man in those pictures was?”
Madam Li froze. “Don’t tell me you mean Wang Cheng?”
“That’s right. It was Wang Cheng. The man involved with that lecturer was Wang Cheng. The photographs show his face perfectly clearly. If you don’t believe me, I saved the pictures.”
Wang Xiaoyan immediately picked up her phone from the dressing table and pulled up several photographs she had deliberately saved. She had already told Wang Ningkai about the incident and originally wanted to expose it so Wang Cheng would be unable to continue living in Guanjia Village. Wang Ningkai, however, warned her not to act recklessly yet. Their engagement banquet was approaching, and if the scandal affected the event, it would not be worth it.
At first, Wang Xiaoyan had listened to Wang Ningkai. But after hearing her mother recount what Wang Cheng had said earlier, she became angry again. Madam Li happened to come in, and Wang Xiaoyan could not resist telling her. She felt no regret afterward. The moment Madam Li saw the misleading photograph, she believed it. Her face changed dramatically and she shrieked, “How could that be? How could Wang Cheng possibly be gay?”
“You really can’t judge a person by appearances,” Wang Xiaoyan’s mother sneered.
Madam Li’s thoughts were in chaos. She claimed not to believe it, but in truth she already did. She had heard that Wang Cheng had never had a girlfriend. And perhaps Mama Wang already knew about this. She remembered the time mother and son had quarreled and Mama Wang had shouted something harsh after him. It was entirely possible she had discovered her son was gay.
“Wang Cheng is gay?”
The closed door suddenly opened and Madam Zhang appeared in the doorway, her face filled with shock and disbelief. She had clearly overheard their conversation, and her astonishment was no less than Madam Li’s.
Madam Li’s eyelid twitched. She had not expected Madam Zhang to hear. Turning to Wang Xiaoyan, she said, “Don’t spread this around yet. Today is your and Ningkai’s engagement banquet. If this blows up, it won’t be good for us either.” Then she grabbed Madam Zhang and pulled her into the room next door.