Three or Two Things about Rebirth

"Maybe, but it doesn't seem to be completely true. ... I can't tell."

"Tomorrow, Sunday, you two come to the reading room to see me, and we'll have a good chat and comfort her."

"I've already told her, but she won't go. She's always been late for work and leaves early recently. Recently, she simply doesn't come at all. Accountant Zhao helps her do the work." Han Meifen sighed.

Qiu Luming went to the living room to call Qin Huifang. It was Qin's mother who answered the phone. After she recognized Qiu Luming, she smiled and said, "Huifang has gone to her uncle's house. She won't be back for a few days. I'll ask her to call you back then!"

After hanging up the phone, Qiu Luming said to Han Meifen, "Her mother said she went to visit relatives, so let's wait for her to come back. Don't worry, she has always been able to let go of things, and maybe she will be in a better mood when she comes back." This kind of knot in the heart has to be untied by oneself after all, so it would be good to go out and relax.

But Qiu Luming never received a call from Qin Huifang. She called again, but the answer she got was still that she was not at home. One day in mid-August, Han Meifen suddenly came to Qiu Luming and said, "Luming, Huifang is getting married!"

"Ah? With whom?"

"Lu Jiaming!"

"Ah?" Qiu Luming stood up suddenly. "Are you kidding? He!...He hasn't graduated yet!"

"Really, the two families have already become relatives. They held a wedding before school started. They said they got engaged last year."

"Did she tell you that herself?"

"She didn't go to work. It was her colleagues who told her about it. We are all discussing how to give gifts!"

"Let's go! Come with me to ask Huifang!"

"Don't go. They went to Harbin to buy clothes today."

"This guy! He didn't even tell us about such a big thing!" Qiu Luming asked Han Meifen, "Does she have a deep relationship with that Daqing? She wouldn't be so disappointed and hastily married him, right?"

"Huifang and Daqing's guy seem to be a good match, but I think he's a bit of a playboy. She was very happy in Harbin, but she became unhappy when she returned to Jiayang. However, it seems that she became even more upset after the day of our gathering."

"Party? No, I have to ask Ma Mingjun!" Qiu Luming got up and went to the living room to make a phone call. When the call went through, there were quite a few people at Ma Mingjun's family, so Qiu Luming suggested that they come out and talk in person.

The three of them met at Jiangxiakan, north of Qiu Luming's home. Ma Mingjun looked frustrated. "When I heard that they were getting married, my head was buzzing. Oh, don't question me. I also drank twice that day and I was confused and blacked out."

"So how much did you drink? Didn't you say you were going to get some fresh air? Why did you have to drink again? Did Huifang drink too much? Normally she can drink seven or eight bottles without getting drunk!" Qiu Luming asked, staring at Ma Mingjun.

"Well, I didn't drink much. I just met Da Liu and his friends and drank some white wine. I didn't expect to get so drunk. The three of us went to the beach to enjoy the breeze, but there was no wind that day and there were a lot of mosquitoes. Lao Qin was bitten all over and started crying. She vomited after crying, and then cried again after vomiting. We finally pulled her up to the dam. We took a taxi, but it was not on our way. I happened to meet a neighbor, so I took his bicycle home. I don't know anything about their affairs."

Ma Mingjun continued, "Lu Jiaming is so beautiful, she smiles every day. She showed me her marriage certificate yesterday, and they have already registered."

Qiu Luming and Han Meifen looked at each other and said nothing. The matter was settled, and it was inappropriate to say anything else except blessing.

Five days later, Qin Huifang and Lu Jiaming came back from Harbin with half a truckload of stuff. It was said that the Lu family gave Qin Huifang 20,000 yuan specifically to buy clothes, so she didn't hesitate and bought several large bags of clothes and shoes for all four seasons.

Qiu Luming and Han Meifen went to see her new house, which was located on the east floor of the third floor of the second unit of the tax family building. There was a wedding character pasted on the door of the west house, indicating that they were a young couple who had just gotten married.

It had been more than twenty days since I last saw Qin Huifang. Her face had become much thinner. When she saw Qiu Han and the others, she smiled and invited them into the house.

The new house is more than 50 square meters in size, with one bedroom, one living room, one kitchen, one bathroom, and a large balcony on the north side, which is more than enough for the young couple to live in. The furniture and appliances are very complete, there is an induction cooker and a microwave in the kitchen, the floor is covered with natural color solid wood flooring, there are several suitcases piled in the bedroom, and there are still a few bags of clothes on the floor that have not been sorted out.

This house was built with funds raised by the tax bureau last year, and the Lu family had already prepared it as a wedding house for their son.

Qin Huifang took out drinks from the refrigerator and gave them to drink. "Meifen, please be my bridesmaid. You are considerate. Help me carry the bag when the time comes. Don't worry, no one will scatter the grains. It's just a symbolic scattering."

Han Meifen nodded silently. Qin Huifang didn't look at Qiu Luming's eyes. She turned around and said, "By the way, I also bought some chocolate with hazelnuts. I'll give it to you to try."

"Huifang, why did you get married suddenly? Won't you regret it?" Qiu Luming couldn't help but stood up and followed Qin Huifang to the TV cabinet.

Qin Huifang held a round candy box in her hand, flipping it over and over, and finally pushed the candy box away, "Forget it, both of you stop looking at me like that, I'm going to tell you the truth."

She sat back on the sofa and gulped down a few sips of Coke. "To put it simply, I drank too much at the party that day and had sex with him after drinking."

"Ah? This..." Qiu Luming and Han Meifen were both stunned. "He bullied you!"

"I don't want to recall it, nor do I want to go into details. Anyway, let's just leave it like this."

"So do you like Lu Jiaming?" Han Meifen also asked.

"I like Liming, but I can't marry him. If I can't marry Liming, I'll marry Lu Jiaming!" Qin Huifang's eyes were slightly red, and she said again, "That's it!"

Han Meifen wanted to ask more, but was stopped by Qiu Luming's eyes. Now that the matter was done, there was no point in saying more.

"Huifang, you and Lao Lu grew up together as childhood sweethearts. You know each other very well. That's great! Your future will surely be more prosperous!"

Qin Huifang smiled and said, "After the wedding, he left for school. I live alone now. I don't know how cool it is!"

Qiu Luming pouted, "You are biased. Why do you let Meifen be the bridesmaid and not let me be one?"

"You can't do that. You're too pretty. You'll definitely overshadow me once you put on makeup. I only found someone prettier than me to be my bridesmaid because I had nothing better to do! Also, you have a bad temper. If someone makes a joke, you'll curse and beat them up right away. How can I get married?"

Before Qiu Luming could say anything, Han Meifen was unhappy. "Oh, so Luming is good-looking and I am ugly. Luming has a bad temper and I am the weak one!"

"Oh my god, you living ancestor! I said I was wrong, isn't that enough? You two are really good at this. How come you are still making trouble again?"

All three of them laughed happily.

***

Qiu Luming hesitated for two days, and finally talked about this with He Manshu. She asked, "Mom, if Qin Huifang doesn't love Lu Jiaming, do they have to live together for the rest of their lives just because they had sex after drinking? If she doesn't marry Lu Jiaming, can Huifang still marry someone she likes?"

He Manshu sighed, "I've even seen girls marry their daughters to rapists, because if they don't marry him, the girl won't be able to get married."

"Does she have to get married? Why would parents marry their daughter to someone who bullied her?" Qiu Luming was extremely puzzled.

"People's ideas are very different. Many people have a deep-rooted concept of being faithful to one person. Even if they marry the wrong person, they have to accept their fate. So, even if that person bullies their daughters, they can only swallow their anger and marry their daughters to that person."

"This is so foolish and ridiculous! Mom, do you think Huifang made the right choice?"

"Yo Yo, Mom knows you're sincerely thinking about your friend, but you're just her friend after all. For such a big matter, she and her parents will have to make the final decision. You better not say anything nonsense!"

"I won't. I'm just asking you. By the way, Mom, don't tell anyone about Huifang, not even my dad."

"You trust me so much, so of course I have to live up to your trust. I won't tell anyone!" He Manshu said seriously, "There are no real secrets in a small county town. Maybe rumors will spread soon. Don't let others think it was mom who said it."

"Will not."

"Well, as I said before, girls should always be vigilant when they are outside, avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, and foresee possible dangers, especially drinking. Getting drunk is too dangerous! Look, your friends who you have grown up with still have such an incident. Don't go out drinking with them in the future."

Qiu Luming nodded repeatedly.

He Manshu tidied up her daughter's hair, looked at her bright face, and couldn't help asking, "Hey, you really don't have a boyfriend?"

"Let's talk about it after graduation."

"If you find someone suitable, you can date one. You are in your prime years now. If you date for two years, get married, and have a child, you will recover faster."

"Okay." Qiu Luming began to shorten his replies, trying to end the conversation early.

"Then you, you are not still thinking about Xie Zhi, are you?" He Manshu looked at her daughter's face carefully and asked.

Qiu Luming shook his head, "No. He's already married, and his son is not young anymore. Even if he gets divorced now, I don't want him. Who wants a second marriage?"

He Manshu laughed.