Widow Remarries in Sixties

The next morning, Jin Xiuzhu was idle at home, so she made some mung bean cakes and golden cakes. Thinking that Fang Min lived next door and was also her teacher, she hadn’t had a chance to thank her before, but now she had the perfect opportunity.

After making them, she knocked on the door next door. Fang Min heard the sound and opened the door to see Jin Xiuzhu. A smile appeared on her face, and she hesitated as she saw the plate Jin Xiuzhu was holding. “What’s this?”

“Teacher Fang, these are snacks I made. I didn’t know where you lived before, so I couldn’t thank you. I was afraid of gossip if I thanked you outside. But now that we’re neighbors, it’s convenient for me to come over and express my gratitude.”

Jin Xiuzhu spoke for so long that Fang Min didn’t know how to refuse. She could only say, “You don’t have to call me ‘teacher’ in private. We’re about the same age. Just call me Fang Min. These things are too valuable. Leave them for the kids to eat.”

“You’ve asked me to call you Fang Min, and you’re still being polite with me? There are more at home. It won’t hurt them. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have grown so strong. Take them. I won’t disturb you from creating. The yellow one is bean cake, you can also call it golden cake. The other one is mung bean cake. If there’s a chance to get them into your works, I’ll feel honored.”

Fang Min pursed her lips and smiled. She found Jin Xiuzhu’s words both pleasant and irresistible. “Let me find a plate to put them on.”

“Sure.”

After packing them, Fang Min invited Jin Xiuzhu to sit for a while, but Jin Xiuzhu was afraid of disturbing her and said there were still things to do at home, so there would be plenty of opportunities in the future.

She timed it just right.

Back home, Jin Xiuzhu tidied up a bit and then went to prepare lunch.

In the afternoon, while the two children were still napping, Jin Xiuzhu sat alone in the living room, eating pastries and embroidering.

Around three o’clock, there was a knock on the door. Jin Xiuzhu thought it was Qian Yufeng and said, “Coming.”

Opening the door, Jin Xiuzhu found it was Fang Min, holding a large iron canister and two glass jars of canned fruit.

Jin Xiuzhu exclaimed, “How did you come over? And you brought such nice things.”

She hurriedly invited her in, saying, “Come in and have a seat.”

Fang Min smiled awkwardly and said, “The snacks you brought this morning were delicious. There isn’t much at my home, so these are from my hometown, for the two kids to eat.”

Jin Xiuzhu had her sit down, and Fang Min entered with the items.

Jin Xiuzhu brought her a chair. “Wait a moment, I’ll make you some tea.”

“No need to rush, I’ll leave soon.”

“It’s fine. I’ll let you taste the flower tea I just made. It’s really good.”

Excitedly, she went to the kitchen to brew the tea, still talking, “Ms. Fang, if you’re not busy, could you take a look at some poems later? Don’t laugh at me. I’ve written several privately, but I don’t know if they’re any good. If you think they’re good, I might submit them.”

Hearing this, Fang Min became less reserved. “Sure.”

Jin Xiuzhu came out of the kitchen with a cup of flower tea. In the pale green tea, a few lily flowers floated delicately, giving it a fresh and elegant aroma.

Jin Xiuzhu kept her word and went to her room to get the poems she had written.

Fang Min held the cup of tea and slowly surveyed the living room.

The living room was neat and clean, with everything tidied up very neatly, making the place look spacious. However, subtle details showed that it had been carefully arranged, avoiding any sense of dullness or rigidity.

Fang Min politely glanced over, only briefly, before her gaze finally settled on the embroidery canopy on the table. Two lively little tigers were embroidered on the black fabric, with a lively charm that was even better than drawn. She couldn’t help but turn her head to take a closer look.

Soon, Jin Xiuzhu came out with her own poetry. Nervously, she handed it over to Fang Min and then sat opposite her, eagerly awaiting the other’s response with shining eyes.

Fang Min uncomfortably took the manuscript and lowered her head to read it carefully. There were more than ten poems in total. Initially, Fang Min thought the literary style was quite high, but as she read on, she couldn’t help but furrowed her brow.

Seeing this, Jin Xiuzhu’s heart tightened, and she hurriedly asked, “What’s wrong? Is it not well written?”

Fang Min shook her head, holding the manuscript and flipping through it again, she pointed out the key issue, “Your poems are all very well written, with neat rhyme and similar to the writing style of ancient poets. However, nowadays, people don’t pay much attention to these things when writing poetry. We focus more on the inner pursuit.”

She looked up, met Jin Xiuzhu’s somewhat bewildered gaze, and hesitated before adding, “The emotions reflected in your poetry are all about the sorrow of spring and the melancholy of autumn, which is different from what people pursue now. If you submit these, it might not be easy to be selected.”

Jin Xiuzhu bit her lip, glanced at the carefully selected masterpiece in Fang Min’s hands, and understood Fang Min’s meaning. “Then what kind of pursuit is considered good?”

“It should be positive and uplifting, praising the beauty and reflecting the spirit of resilience.”

Fang Min also didn’t understand very well. She usually wrote prose and novels and didn’t have much involvement with poetry.

Jin Xiuzhu nodded vaguely, deciding to find a few poetry books to read and learn from.

Fang Min noticed that there were also drawings on the back of the poetry. One of them depicted a woman in ancient costume leaning on a railing, gazing into the distance, with several plum branches slanting outside the window. With just a few strokes, the woman’s charm was vividly depicted.

She couldn’t help but ask, “Did you draw this?”

Jin Xiuzhu casually nodded, “I felt like it, so I drew a few strokes.”

As she spoke, she picked up the unfinished embroidery on the table and continued to embroider, not even looking at it much, the silver needle skillfully threading in and out.

Fang Min was astonished, “Did you also draw this little tiger?”

Jin Xiuzhu shrugged, “What’s so good about drawing this? Just embroidering for fun. I was thinking that it’ll be getting cold in a few months, so I’ll make hats and gloves for the two kids. Do you want one? I can embroider an orchid for you. You have an elegant temperament, and an orchid would suit you.”

Fang Min wanted to say something more, but there was another knock on the door. Jin Xiuzhu instinctively called out, “Coming.”

She got up to open the door.

Upon opening it, she saw a familiar figure standing at the door. The woman was smiling, holding a plate of sliced ​​watermelon gently, and said, “Our family really liked the pastries you sent over before. Today, I bought a watermelon and specially sliced ​​some to bring over. Now that we’re neighbors, it’s convenient to visit each other.”

Jin Xiuzhu looked at Zhao Yun, feeling a bit of a headache. She really didn’t want to interact with people, but these two just kept coming one after another.

Jin Xiuzhu pretended to be surprised and waved her hand, “No, no need. Watermelon is quite expensive. You keep it for yourselves. If you liked those pastries, that’s good. I made them myself, they’re not worth much. It was Captain Yang who specially came over. We couldn’t go, and we feel really guilty about it. You don’t need to be so polite.”

She almost said outright that the two families weren’t familiar with each other, so there was no need for too much interaction.

Zhao Yun also understood the meaning behind Jin Xiuzhu’s words. Her smile faded a bit, but she still smiled and said, “You’re being too polite. The pastries are so delicious, they’re definitely worth it. If you don’t want them, it’s like you’re looking down on me.”

Jin Xiuzhu frowned subconsciously when she heard this, her eyes evaluating the other person.

She was quite adept at dealing with people, always choosing her words carefully to maintain dignity. She could clearly distinguish what should be said and what shouldn’t.

This kind of attitude, implying that refusal would be seen as looking down on the other person, she had encountered many times before. Even if the tone was gentle, it often contained a strong sense of coercion, unless the relationship between the two was particularly close.

Jin Xiuzhu wasn’t sure if Zhao Yun was unaware of this or if she was inherently domineering.

Jiang Mingchuan said she was a very good person, and Qian Yufeng also said she was gentle and likable.

Feeling uncomfortable under Jin Xiuzhu’s gaze, Zhao Yun subconsciously shifted her gaze and saw Fang Min sitting in the room.

She recognized Fang Min; she had attended a few literacy classes, but every time she finished class, she would leave immediately, as if afraid of being approached by others.

In the past few days since moving in, Zhao Yun had wanted to greet her. After all, according to Yang Yao, it seemed that Zhu Zhengwei’s family was not ordinary.

However, Yang Yao quickly dismissed her idea, saying that Zhu Zhengwei’s spouse didn’t like to socialize with others and advised against disturbing them. Zhao Yun decided to wait for another opportunity to make contact in the future.

Unexpectedly, Fang Min, whom Yang Yao said didn’t like socializing, was actually in Jiang Mingchuan’s house, holding a teacup in one hand and looking at fabric in the other, looking very relaxed.

There were exquisite pastries placed on the table nearby, indicating that it was a setting for long conversations.

Zhao Yun didn’t know what to feel. It seemed like Jin Xiuzhu was intentionally going against her, taking away anyone she wanted, whether it was Jiang Mingchuan or Fang Min.

Once again, she looked at Jin Xiuzhu, feeling a hint of unwillingness in her heart.

Jin Xiuzhu said to her, “I appreciate your kindness, but you can take it back and enjoy it yourself. There’s plenty of food at home, and it might go bad if you don’t eat it soon.”

She understood better than anyone that once this door was opened, there would be endless social obligations. She could maintain a relationship with the Qian family like this, but Zhao Yun couldn’t.

Zhao Yun didn’t expect things to escalate to this point, with Jin Xiuzhu still rejecting her. She looked at her, pursed her lips, and the smile disappeared from her face. “Okay, I’ll take it back and eat it myself.”

Without saying goodbye, she turned and left.

Jin Xiuzhu also turned and went back to her room.

Fang Min was engrossed in her embroidery. When Jin Xiuzhu returned, she didn’t ask what had happened.

But Jin Xiuzhu knew very well that the best way to get along with others was to reveal one’s own cards first. Living here with Zhao Yun’s family upstairs and knowing who was downstairs, the best and most suitable person to get along with was Fang Min, especially since Commissar Zhu was Jiang Mingchuan’s superior. It was advantageous without any harm.