On the outskirts of the provincial capital of J Province stood a two-story, brick-and-timber courtyard house with three-sided wings. Several strings of dried chilies hung beneath the eaves.
Wang Xiulan sat in a bamboo chair in the courtyard, lazily waving the palm-leaf fan in her hand. She looked up at the spacious house that belonged to her family, then let out a long sigh.
The house was large, and all her children had started families of their own. By rights, she should have been enjoying a comfortable retirement. But there was one matter weighing on her mind—one that had been troubling her for nearly a year.
Her youngest son, Lu Jingfeng, was already twenty-five. He had been discharged from the army more than a year ago and assigned to serve as the section chief of the security section at the state-run Cigarette Factory. It was a respectable job, the pay was good, and he had a decent appearance.
Yet when it came to finding a wife, he was enough to make her so angry she could hardly eat!
She had already arranged meetings with seven or eight girls, each with better qualifications than the last. One was a permanent worker at a textile factory, another was a sales clerk at a supply and marketing cooperative, and yet another was the daughter of a cadre[1]In China, a cadre is a person holding an official, administrative, or managerial position; the term does not by itself indicate a specific rank. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3733453_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3733453_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });…
After meeting each one, Lu Jingfeng had said the same thing: “We’re not suitable.”
When Wang Xiulan asked what was unsuitable about them, he had answered with complete confidence, “I didn’t take a liking to her.”
Wang Xiulan had slammed the table in anger. “What’s wrong with those girls? They have jobs, they’re educated, and their families are respectable. What more do you want?”
Lu Jingfeng had told her directly, “I want someone prettier, someone pleasing to the eye.”
Wang Xiulan had nearly smacked him with the broom. “Can pretty looks put food on the table? You really think you’re someone important, don’t you?”
Lu Jingfeng had remained completely unmoved. “It’s not as if our family doesn’t have anyone ugly. With my qualifications, why is there anything wrong with wanting to find a pretty wife?”
Those words had enraged Wang Xiulan so much that she had chased him all around the courtyard with the broom raised, trying to hit him. Lu Jingfeng had long legs; in just two or three strides, he had darted out through the courtyard gate. Before leaving, he had not forgotten to turn around and shout, “Mom, don’t get yourself worked up! I’ll buy you some brown sugar later!”
Wang Xiulan had stood at the gate and cursed him for a long while, while the neighbors laughed themselves silly.
Ever since then, the several matchmakers in the area had grown wary whenever they saw her. Who would willingly take on such a difficult assignment? The young man was a section chief, and his eyes had practically grown to the ceiling! He looked down on ordinary girls, while even the pretty ones had to suit his fancy. If a match went wrong, the matchmaker would also have to endure a long bout of complaints from Wang Xiulan.
The more Wang Xiulan thought about it, the more irritated she became. She turned toward the main room. Lu Changxiong was sitting there reading the newspaper. After retiring, the old man was living a very comfortable life and refused to concern himself with anything! In the morning, he took a stroll around the street corner; at noon, he ate lunch; in the afternoon, he read the newspaper; and in the evening, he listened to the radio.
Even if the sky fell in at home, he would finish reading his newspaper first. She was practically dying of anger, while the Old Man remained as calm as if nothing in the world concerned him!
Wang Xiulan could not stand it anymore. “Lu Changxiong! Why don’t you worry about your son for once? He’s twenty-five years old, and he still hasn’t even started looking for a wife. Every day, he just clings to that lousy job of his and goes through the motions!”
Lu Changxiong thought to himself that this was a case of the city gate catching fire and the fish in the moat suffering. He merely said, “How is his job a lousy one? He’s the section chief of the security section. Plenty of people want that position but can’t get it.”
“Am I talking about his job? I’m talking about the fact that he refuses to find a wife!”
“He’ll look when the time is right.”
That made Wang Xiulan even angrier. “That’s the only thing you ever say! When exactly will the time be right? When we were twenty-five, our eldest was already running around!”
Lu Changxiong lifted his teacup and took a sip. “Life was different back then.”
“It is different now! The Japanese have been driven out, and life is getting better and better! You just don’t care!”
Lu Changxiong sighed. “How can you say I don’t care? The last few times the girls came over, wasn’t I the one who sat and talked with them? If an ox won’t drink, you can force its head into the water and it still won’t drink!”
Wang Xiulan immediately picked up on that. “What good does it do for you to sit and talk with them? After your son meets someone, he goes back to his room and says only, ‘We’re not suitable.’ The girl from the textile factory the other day was such a good person. She had a pleasant face and was quick and capable with her hands.”
“Jingfeng said she talked too much.”
Wang Xiulan glared at him. “If a girl doesn’t talk, should we find him a wooden post instead? And you still have the nerve to laugh! That rotten habit of your son’s was all spoiled into him by you!”
Lu Changxiong said, “All right, stop scolding him. Jingfeng isn’t the kind of child who’s just wasting his days. He knows what he’s doing.”
“Knows what he’s doing? If he really did, he would have brought a wife home by now!” Wang Xiulan was still speaking when someone pushed open the courtyard gate from outside.
“Mom! Mom! There’s news!” Her eldest daughter-in-law, Li Xia, came hurrying into the courtyard with a shoulder bag. She had been busy at work all morning and had rushed home as soon as she got off, without even having time to drink a sip of water.
Wang Xiulan asked, “What news?”
Li Xia closed the courtyard gate and gave her a mysterious smile. “Matchmaker Zhang came to my workplace today and said she has a girl who’s especially beautiful!”
“Really?” Wang Xiulan asked. “Where is she? What about her photograph?”
Li Xia took a kraft-paper envelope from her shoulder bag, pulled out three color photographs, and handed them to Wang Xiulan. “Matchmaker Zhang told me to bring these back first and let our Jingfeng take a look. She still has several more photographs. We can discuss things further once we’ve made up our minds.”
Wang Xiulan hurriedly took them. In the photographs, the girl wore a floral blouse and was as beautiful as a movie star. Her skin was also fair. Seated in front of the flower-patterned backdrop of a photography studio, she had a particularly elegant air.
Wang Xiulan lifted the photographs and examined them over and over several times.
Lu Changxiong also set down his newspaper and craned his neck to take a look. He nodded. “She really is pretty.”
Wang Xiulan looked from one photograph to another, murmuring repeatedly, “Oh my, this girl is truly pretty! Look at her face, her eyes, her figure. That stinking boy Jingfeng won’t have anything to say this time, will he?”
Li Xia said with a smile, “I thought she was beautiful at first glance too. Matchmaker Zhang also said that the girl is seventeen this year and has graduated from junior high school. She’s an honest, steady person, too.”
The description of her as honest and steady was something Li Xia had added herself.
Wang Xiulan asked, “Seventeen? That age is suitable. What does her family do?”
Li Xia thought for a moment before answering, “Her family’s circumstances are ordinary, and they live deep in the mountains. Their village is far from the county seat. Still, the girl’s father is the brigade accountant, and her mother delivers babies in several nearby villages. They have a good reputation. There’s nothing shady going on in the family; they’re just a little poor.”
The excitement on Wang Xiulan’s face faded somewhat. “She’s from the mountains?”
Li Xia hurriedly tried to make up for it. “She is from the mountains, but she comes from a perfectly respectable family, and there’s no problem with them. Matchmaker Zhang said the girl did well in school, but her family was short on grain and couldn’t afford to let her continue her education.”
Lu Changxiong took one of the photographs and examined it more closely. “Graduating from junior high isn’t bad either. At least she can read and do accounts. Girls from the mountains know how to endure hardship. Once she comes to the city, she can learn gradually.”
Wang Xiulan did not respond. She was somewhat hesitant. She did not look down on poor people, but the Lu family had been established in the provincial capital for many years, and her son was a section chief at the Cigarette Factory…
If they really brought a girl from the mountains into the family, wouldn’t her habits, the way she spoke and handled things, and her understanding of social relationships all have to be slowly adjusted?
Li Xia saw her mother-in-law’s hesitation and quickly persuaded her. “Mom, Jingfeng has been choosing for more than a year now. He’s already met practically every suitable girl in the city. When a girl has good qualifications, he complains that she has too bad a temper; when she has a good temperament, he complains that she doesn’t look the way he wants.”
“This girl passes the looks test, and she’s educated too. Besides, what’s so frightening about her family being a little poor? Our family isn’t short of food.”
Wang Xiulan looked at the photograph, still unable to put it down.
Li Xia continued, “If she really marries into our family, we’ll have another pair of hands around the house. You’re getting older, and I have to work during the day while also taking care of three children. We can’t keep putting all the housework on you.”
Those words were very considerate, and Wang Xiulan found them pleasing to hear. But Li Xia had other calculations in mind.
She had married into the Lu family twelve years ago. Both of her husband’s younger sisters had long since married and moved out, so apart from her parents-in-law, the household now consisted only of her and her husband, Lu Jingjun, and their family.
Lu Jingjun did hand over his entire salary to her, but he was busy! Cooking, doing laundry, sweeping the courtyard, caring for the elderly—so many chores ultimately fell to her. She was so exhausted that she had not even dared to have a fourth child.
If Lu Jingfeng brought home a city girl, she would most likely have a job, and her temper would probably not be mild either. Besides, the older couple already favored their younger son more. In the end, the new wife might not share any of the household responsibilities, and Li Xia would still have to watch her expression.
A girl from the mountains would be different. Without her maternal family to support her, she would have no choice but to be more diligent after entering the Lu family home. Mountain girls were accustomed to hard work and hardship. When the time came, Li Xia could have her cook and do the laundry and help with the children, which would make life much easier for her.
At that thought, the smile on Li Xia’s face grew even more sincere.
Wang Xiulan suddenly asked, “Did Matchmaker Zhang say what kind of temperament the girl has? It won’t do if she’s only pretty, then spends all day crying after she enters the family.”
“She said the girl is steady-tempered, and her family dotes on her. Her elder sister married well, and her brother-in-law knows Matchmaker Zhang from his work transporting goods. That’s how the photographs were sent over.”
Lu Changxiong handed the photograph back. “Let Jingfeng take a look first. The girl lives far away. We can’t make a big fuss on our side, only to say in the end that it won’t work.”
Wang Xiulan snorted. “If he dares say it won’t work, I’ll make him become a monk.”
Li Xia laughed. “Mom, don’t say that. Little Brother will come back and argue with you.”
Just then, the sound of a bicycle bell came from outside.
The courtyard gate rang twice more, and Lu Jingfeng pushed his bicycle inside. The moment he entered, he sensed that something was wrong. Usually, at this hour, his mother would be busy in the kitchen, while his eldest sister-in-law would probably not have returned yet. Today, however, the three of them were gathered around the table, all staring at him.
Lu Jingfeng asked knowingly, “What’s going on? Is the family holding another meeting?”
Wang Xiulan slapped the three photographs down on the table. “Come here! Take a look at this!”
Lu Jingfeng leaned his bicycle against the wall, then walked over and picked up the photographs.
Wang Xiulan stared at his face, her heart pounding.
Lu Jingfeng looked at the first photograph, then picked up the second…
After a long while, he finally asked, “What’s this girl’s name?”
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