Rebirth: The Courtyard Bride Is Cool and Radiant

Chapter 478: Chapter 478: Don’t Want Them to Trouble Yi’er

Chu Yucheng signaled his eldest son, Chu Wenming, to make the introductions.

Accompanying them were the Chu Family’s eldest son, Chu Wenming; his wife, Bai Shuangjiang; and their two children, a son named Chu Gaobo and a daughter named Chu Gaotao.

Also present were the Chu Family’s second son, Chu Xinming; his wife, Jiang Yuli; and their three daughters: the eldest, Chu Xiaojue; the second, Chu Xiaolan; and the youngest, Chu Xiaocao.

Yunyi nodded to each of them in turn, considering it a sufficient greeting.

Once his eldest son finished the introductions, Chu Yucheng took over. ”Gaobo is twenty this year, so he should be older than you. Just call him Elder Cousin from now on.”

Yunyi nodded. ”I am eighteen by nominal age this year.”

Chu Yucheng pointed to his granddaughters standing near his grandson. ”Gaotao and Xiaoju are the same age as you; one was born in March, the other in June.”

Yunyi looked at the two girls. ”My birthday is on September eighth.”

Chu Yucheng then said to his two granddaughters, ”In that case, she will have to address you as ’Elder Cousins’.”

Finally, pointing to Chu Xiaolan and Chu Xiaocao, he said, ”These two are twins, sixteen this year. They are your younger cousins.”

Yunyi nodded at them, again taking this as a greeting. Being asked to address them by kinship terms feels quite awkward, as we aren’t actually related by blood. This whole act of acknowledging kinship is somewhat embarrassing.

Chu Yucheng seemed to realize this as well. ”It’s fine. You’ll all get to know each other better with more interaction.”

Upon hearing this, Yunyi frowned. What did he mean by that? More interaction? How? Did it mean what I think it did?

Just then, Jiang Yuli spoke, her tone rather unwelcoming, ”Yunyi, now that we’ve formally acknowledged our kinship, do you think you could let us move into your home for now? Staying at the hostel is far too expensive.”

Yunyi didn’t answer her, instead turning to Chu Yucheng. ”Granduncle, what are your plans moving forward?”

Afraid Yunyi might misunderstand, Chu Yucheng quickly said, ”Yunyi, please don’t worry, we won’t disrupt your life. It’s like this: you also have an aunt, Chu Wenwen, who came to Beijing with the military some years ago. Her husband is now an officer of some rank in the Beijing Military Region. He contacted us because an opportunity arose: a comrade here at the screw factory wants to transfer back to Ning City. Your aunt’s husband inquired and found out that this comrade has two job positions available. Coincidentally, our family also has two members in official job positions, so after discussing it, we’re arranging an exchange. They’ve nearly completed the paperwork in the last few days. Once that comrade has sorted out their affairs, your Uncle Wenming and Uncle Xinming will start their new jobs and eventually settle here in Beijing.”

Yunyi now understood but offered no personal opinion.

At that moment, Jiang Yuli, the Second Daughter-in-law of the Chu Family, spoke up again. ”The screw factory can’t provide housing for us just yet. Seeing as your house has empty rooms, could we perhaps stay here temporarily? Once our respective work units allocate housing, we’ll move out. This would also help us save some money.”

In these times, it’s not uncommon for people to bring their entire families to rely on relatives. Unfortunately, my courtyard really does have spare rooms, which makes this newly acknowledged kinship rather difficult for me. If I let them stay, I’d worry about all the potential trouble later on; after all, inviting guests is easy, but getting them to leave can be hard. Yet, if I refuse directly, people will likely call me inconsiderate.

She was about to suggest renting a courtyard for them near the screw factory, but before she could speak, Huo Jingrui interjected, ”Why go through all that trouble? A friend of mine happens to have an empty courtyard near the screw factory. Since you’re only planning a temporary stay, it would be better for you to live there. It’s close to the factory and convenient for commuting.”

Hearing this, Jiang Yuli, the Second Daughter-in-law of the Chu Family, looked somewhat displeased. ”There’s no need to trouble others, surely? That will just indebt us with favors.”

Huo Jingrui, easily seeing through her intentions, replied, ”He’s a good friend of mine; there’s no need to worry about owing favors. You can stay there without any concern. It’ll only be for a few days anyway.”

Whatever their motives, his main concern was preventing them from causing trouble for Yi’er.

Seeing that the matter was settled, Chu Yucheng said, ”That really is very kind of you. By the way, you are?”

Yunyi smiled and introduced him. ”This is my fiancé, Huo Jingrui.”

The Chu family members were visibly surprised by this news, especially Jiang Yuli. She had been diligently inquiring about Yunyi’s affairs these past few days. She only knew that Yunyi previously had a fiancé but that the engagement had been broken off before Yunyi went to the countryside. Hearing that, Jiang Yuli had been overjoyed, thinking that with no elder family members around, they could naturally have some say in Yunyi’s marriage. But how on earth does she suddenly have a fiancé?