The moment she said this, the place went quiet.
It took Zhou Ze’an quite a while to react. “Ruizhi, I didn’t know about that, but you… you’re being too aggressive. What’s between the two of us, we can talk about privately. Do you have to make it this ugly?”
Yan Ruizhi’s face was full of scorn. “So you know what ugly is. Then when you were carrying on with that worker, didn’t any of this occur to you? Zhou Ze’an, I wanted us to part on good terms. It’s your family that insisted on trampling my reputation. In that case, you’re going to give me an explanation today!”
Zhou Ze’an was so angry at this that his face went livid. He turned to his own mother. “Mom, was it you?”
Zhou Ze’an’s mother’s face went dark. “What do you mean, me? I don’t know what you’re talking about. Ruizhi, since you agreed to the divorce, then return the bride price money our family gave you, and don’t hold up our Ze’an marrying again.” At that point she swept a contemptuous glance over Yan Ruizhi and Huo Shufen and the rest. “Or is it that you can’t afford to pay it back?”
Huo Shufen was so angry she could have spat blood. Yan Ruizhi held her arm tightly.
Yan Ruizhi had already seen plenty of Zhou Ze’an’s mother’s meanness and calculation in her last life, so she stayed fairly calm. She turned and said to the village head and the others, “Village head, uncles, you all heard it too. The Zhou family broke faith first, they can tear up a settled engagement, and not only that, they throw dirt on me as well. I’ll return the bride price, but what about my reputation? This is a new era now, and no matter who does something, there has to be law and reason to it. Wouldn’t you say so?”
Zhou Ze’an’s mother heard that and jumped out at once. “Heard what? What did I say? Your family is so poor, who knows whether you can afford to pay it back. Yan Ruizhi, don’t go shouting at me about a new era. That bride price, if your family returns it now, then I’ll take back what I said!”
“Bullshit from your mother’s dog!” Huo Shufen pointed at Zhou Ze’an’s mother and started cursing. “You want to break the engagement, and we’re not willing to swallow that dead fly either. Broken is broken, but there’s no reason for you, you stinking hag, to go around ruining my daughter’s reputation. Your son gets engaged and then goes around carrying on with another woman, and you still think you’re in the right?”
“Pah, what do you mean, carrying on? They were only engaged, they weren’t married. Besides, everyone saw what happened yesterday. A daughter-in-law who hasn’t come through the door yet, in my brother-in-law’s arms. If we didn’t break the engagement over that, wouldn’t my son be a cuckold? Who knows, one day there’d be a patch of green on my son’s head [1]a patch of green on my son’s head (tou shang yi pian lv, 頭上一片綠) Metaphor, a green hat/head means a man’s wife or girlfriend is unfaithful, i.e. he’s a cuckold jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3249662_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3249662_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });…”
Something resolute flashed in Yan Ruizhi’s eyes. “Is that so? I was nearly hit by a truck and killed, and my uncle saved me, and by your account that makes me unchaste. Then tell me, if I go and tell Tan Yueqin that Zhou Ze’an and I were engaged, do you think she’d still agree to marry Zhou Ze’an?”
Hearing the name from Yan Ruizhi’s mouth, Zhou Ze’an and his mother both changed colour at once. They looked at each other, and each saw the fear and worry in the other’s eyes.
Huo Shufen’s head came up at once. “Ruizhi, don’t be afraid, we’ll go straight to that female comrade. You said she’s at the paper mill? Right? We’ll go to their leaders. Heh, I don’t believe it, snatching away a man who’s already engaged, and she thinks she’s in the right…”
The village head and the others hurried to smooth things over, and at the same time they did not forget to shoot warning looks at Zhou Ze’an’s side.
Zhou Ze’an said quickly, “Ruizhi, between us… Mom, hurry up and apologize to Ruizhi!”
Zhou’s mother was unwilling, but thinking of her son, and of her son’s bride who had not yet come through the door, she gave Yan Ruizhi a sidelong look. “All right, I know what your goal is in making such a scene. I know your family is poor and can’t come up with the money. I won’t press you. Just give it back to us before the end of the year!”
Once Zhou’s mother had finished, Zhou Ze’an quickly added, “But you have to promise not to go out and talk nonsense…”
Even though she had already told herself to let it go, Yan Ruizhi’s heart still clenched with a sharp ache. In her last life she had spent half a lifetime learning that woman existed, and another half lifetime believing he still thought of her and felt inferior because of that woman’s family background and job. Reborn, she had told herself to give up, to let the two lovers be together.
So even at this point Zhou Ze’an was already shielding the one dearest to his heart!
Her fingernails dug deep into her flesh. Yan Ruizhi hurt so much it was hard to breathe. It was a long time before she slowly let out one word. “Fine!”
Zhou Ze’an and his mother both let out a breath at once. Zhou Ze’an did not notice Yan Ruizhi’s pained eyes in the slightest. He did not even give her one glance. Yan Ruizhi kept telling herself that since she had let go, then she should let go completely. What mattered most right now was earning money to pay the debt!
“Fourth Brother, this business today has something to do with me too, and since so many people are here, let me say a word to everyone. Comrade Yan Ruizhi, I’ll marry her!”
Just then a voice came from outside, and a tall, long-limbed man walked in. He was not in uniform today, but from the moment he stepped through the village head’s gate, that height of nearly one metre ninety gave people a pressure they could not ignore.
Yan Ruizhi looked up and saw him, Zhou Ze’an’s uncle Zhou Mu, the man who had saved her life yesterday. They had not had much to do with each other, and she did not know much about him, but in her last life he had never married. She had heard from Zhou Ze’an’s grandmother, that is, Zhou Mu’s own mother, that Zhou Mu was carrying someone in his heart, which was why he refused to marry.
And now… his words were like a great stone thrown into a lake that had just gone still, and waves rose at once.
Everyone present was stunned. Zhou Mu was in the air force, his legs were long, and a few steps brought him to Yan Ruizhi’s side. He looked at her for a few seconds, then his gaze fell like a hawk’s, straight onto Zhou Ze’an and his mother. He was Granny Zhou’s child born late in life, and although he was only in his thirties, he stood high in the family’s generations. He spoke to Zhou Ze’an’s mother. “Sister-in-law, you’re a female comrade yourself. You ought to know what a reputation means to a female comrade!”
Zhou Ze’an’s mother’s family name was Du. She was called Du Tianzhen, a domineering, overbearing woman, selfish and cold as well, and in the last life she had given Yan Ruizhi no end of trouble. Right now, facing her brother-in-law’s challenge, she could not keep her face, and she muttered something under her breath.
Zhou Mu turned and said to the village head, “Fourth Brother, I’ll have to trouble you to write a letter of introduction for Comrade Yan Ruizhi. As soon as I get back this time I’ll write the marriage application!”
The Fourth Brother Zhou Mu spoke of was the head of their village, the man Yan Ruizhi would have to call Fourth Uncle by generation.
Seeing the village head nod, Zhou Mu then said to Yan Ruizhi and Huo Shufen and the others, “What happened yesterday couldn’t be helped, but since it’s already a fact, then for the sake of Comrade Yan Ruizhi’s reputation, and since I happen not to be married, how would this be?”
Huo Shufen stared at Zhou Mu’s earnest, serious expression. Her face turned solemn, and she could not help asking, “You’re really willing to marry our Ruizhi?”
You had to remember that Yan Ruizhi had been engaged to his eldest nephew Zhou Ze’an, and on top of that the two of them were a generation apart!
But Zhou Mu… he really was a hard-to-find candidate for a son-in-law. As for work, they said he flew planes, and she had heard Zhou Mu’s mother show off about it plenty of times. His wages were said to be very high, over a hundred, and his looks were beyond finding fault with, tall and imposing, something to be proud of when you mentioned him. A Zhou Mu like this, everything about him was good. She hardly dared believe he was willing to marry her daughter.
Yan Ruizhi clenched her fingers nervously. She had thought that after breaking the engagement with Zhou Ze’an, marriage was something to talk about later. But the way things were going now… it seemed different from what she had imagined. Something was gradually drifting off the track she had planned.
“Since Comrade Yan Ruizhi’s reputation has been ruined because of me, then I have to take responsibility!” Zhou Mu spoke briefly and to the point. He turned to look at Yan Ruizhi. “Comrade Yan Ruizhi, are you willing to marry me?”
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