Fang Yuan politely asked Doctor Zhang what she wanted with her.
Doctor Zhang looked at her with a smile and told her to eat first, saying they could talk after she finished.
Under Doctor Zhang’s watchful gaze, Fang Yuan hurriedly finished her lunch, barely tasting any of it.
Doctor Zhang brought Fang Yuan to her office in the logistics department, poured her a cup of water, and asked with a smile, “Xiao Fang, you’re nineteen this year, aren’t you? Once the New Year comes, you’ll be twenty. It’s about time you started thinking about your personal life.”
Fang Yuan sat upright with her knees together, holding the cup of hot water in both hands across from Doctor Zhang. A faint blush spread across her face as she softly replied, “I’d like to focus on doing a good job in the surgery department first. I haven’t thought about that yet.”
Doctor Zhang simply assumed that Fang Yuan was being shy because she was a young woman. She paid it no mind and continued, “Finding someone who shares your ideals will help you do revolutionary work even better.”
As she spoke, she secretly glanced at Fang Yuan. The young woman’s face was slightly flushed, making her already fair complexion look even more delicate and rosy. The only thing that seemed a little inappropriate was that her chest was rather full, while her waist and hips were too slender. She wondered whether such a figure would be good for bearing children. Then again, Fang Yuan was a doctor herself, so there probably would not be any problems.
“Our Old Du often tells me that I should take better care of you newly arrived doctors. As one of the hospital’s senior staff, I should not only help you with your work, but also look after you in your daily lives.”
It was only recently that Fang Yuan had learned that Secretary Du of the hospital was Doctor Zhang’s husband.
“Thank you, Secretary Du and Doctor Zhang, for your concern and care for us young doctors,” Fang Yuan replied politely.
Doctor Zhang nodded in satisfaction. “I have a nephew named Xue Wenqing. He’s twenty-five this year and works at the Grain Bureau. He has excellent political awareness and strong professional abilities. His father is our county’s deputy county magistrate. I’d like to introduce the two of you.”
Fang Yuan had long heard that Doctor Zhang was looking for a match for her nephew. When she had been called into the office today, she had vaguely guessed that it might be about this.
Now that Doctor Zhang had brought it up, she did not know how to refuse.
First, she had no plans to marry anytime soon. Second, she had no desire to reach above her station by marrying the deputy county magistrate’s son.
After thinking for a moment, she said, “Doctor Zhang, I truly don’t want to think about my personal life right now. Thank you for your concern. I still have patients waiting for me, so I should get going.”
She smiled as she stood up and placed the cup back on the desk.
“Xiao Fang, you educated youths shouldn’t be overly reserved. Being more open and straightforward will benefit both your career and your work.”
Doctor Zhang also stood up. She still believed that Fang Yuan was simply too shy. With her nephew’s outstanding qualifications, what young woman would possibly reject him? She had observed so many young women in the hospital and around her before finally deciding that Fang Yuan was the most suitable. She simply did not believe that this young female doctor truly had no interest.
Fang Yuan merely smiled without saying anything.
“How about this? This Saturday morning, I’ll have Wenqing wait for you at the county park. You young people can chat first. Remember to dress nicely.”
Fang Yuan: “…”
“Doctor Zhang, thank you very much, but I can’t go.”
With that, she turned and left.
Doctor Zhang remained standing in the office, her expression darkening slightly.
As soon as Fang Yuan came out of the logistics office, she ran into Nurse Xu, who immediately wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at her. Fang Yuan smiled and let out a helpless sigh.
Before she even reached the office, she was stopped halfway by Yao Hongying.
“I heard Doctor Zhang finally had a talk with you?” Yao Hongying handed her a piece of hawthorn cake. “Here, have a piece to help with digestion.”
Fang Yuan took it and stuffed it into her mouth, chewing vigorously.
“So tell me, did Doctor Zhang try to set you up with someone?” Yao Hongying linked arms with her, wearing the eager expression of someone waiting to hear a good story.
Fang Yuan nodded. Her delicate brows drew into an upside-down V. “I’m only nineteen, not twenty-nine. Why does everyone think it’s already late if I don’t get married now? Back at university, many of my classmates and professors didn’t get married until they were nearly thirty.”
Ever since she had started working, countless people had urged her to find a partner. Even neighbors and acquaintances always asked the same question whenever they met her. She was beginning to find it irritating. Right now, she only wanted to focus on her work and think about marriage a few years later.
“You’re not seriously planning to wait until you’re thirty before thinking about getting married, are you?” Yao Hongying asked in shock, her mouth hanging open. “Those professors at your university delayed marriage because they spent so many years studying. But you graduated so early. Once you’ve started working, of course you should begin thinking about marriage.”
“You should worry about your own personal life first.” Fang Yuan raised her wrist to check the time on her watch before gently pushing Yao Hongying. “Outpatient hours are about to begin. I still need to make another round of the wards. Hurry and get back to your own work.”
“My parents are already worrying about my marriage for me. I’ll just wait for them to bring someone through the door.” Yao Hongying grinned. Then she suddenly remembered something and reminded Fang Yuan, “Remember to speak nicely to Doctor Zhang. Don’t offend her. Otherwise, if she whispers a few words into Secretary Du’s ear while they’re in bed, and he adds your name to the list of doctors being sent to the countryside, you’ll be in trouble.”
The Ministry of Health had instructed hospitals to dispatch medical personnel to rural areas. The hospital had been selecting candidates, but because of the recent outbreaks of disease and the shortage of medical staff, the plan had been temporarily postponed. Even so, candidates would definitely be chosen before the end of the year. The entire hospital had been discussing the matter lately. Most people were unwilling to leave their current comfortable environment for rural areas where both medical facilities and living conditions were much poorer.
“I believe Secretary Du is a fair and impartial leader. He wouldn’t let personal matters influence the hospital leadership’s decisions.”
Since it was inappropriate to gossip about hospital leaders behind their backs, Yao Hongying could only pout, shake her head, and sigh as she looked at Fang Yuan.
The afternoon passed in a flurry of activity as Fang Yuan examined patients, performed acupuncture on patients receiving antimony injections, and arranged for recovered patients to be discharged. By evening, after eating dinner in the hospital cafeteria, she left at half past seven to visit her eldest aunt’s home.
Her eldest aunt, Fang Xiaoyu, and her family lived in the county People’s Armed Forces Department compound. Her eldest uncle by marriage, Lu Yongjun, was the head of the county People’s Armed Forces Department, holding the rank of a full regiment commander. The two had married for love. When Fang Xiaoyu was young, she had run away from home to join the revolutionary forces, where she met Lu Yongjun in the military. Later, both of them were assigned to work in Fang Xiaoyu’s hometown of Yuyang County.
After reporting her identity to the guard at the compound entrance and being allowed inside, Fang Yuan walked to a family apartment building behind the People’s Armed Forces Department.
The family apartment building was three stories tall. Her eldest aunt’s home was a three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment on the second floor, on the left side.
After she knocked, the door was opened by her cousin Lu Ming. He looked surprised to see her. “Fang Yuan, you… Why are you here?”
Lu Ming resembled his mother, with fair skin and refined features. Since he was only one month younger than Fang Yuan, he always called her by name instead of addressing her as his older cousin.
“I came to see Aunt.” Seeing Lu Ming blocking the doorway, Fang Yuan reached out and gave him a light push. “I was about to ask why you’re back. Shouldn’t you still be in school?” Lu Ming was studying mechanical engineering at a technical secondary school in the provincial capital, and it was not school vacation.
“I brought a classmate home to visit.” Lu Ming awkwardly stepped aside to let Fang Yuan in, following nervously behind her.
“Is that Ah Yuan?” Fang Xiaoyu’s voice called out.
“Aunt, it’s me.” After walking in, Fang Yuan noticed that there was also an unfamiliar young woman sitting in the living room.
Fang Xiaoyu beckoned to her. “Come sit down. Your uncle told me you’d be coming tonight. We were planning to wait and have dinner together. Why did you come so late? Have you eaten?”
Fang Yuan sat down beside her aunt and nodded. “I already ate at the hospital cafeteria.”
She looked at the young woman sitting on the opposite sofa. The girl had long, delicate eyebrows, a long face, and was wearing a dark red plaid autumn shirt with the white collar of an undershirt peeking out. She looked both elegant and spirited.
At that moment, Lu Ming walked over to the girl and sat sideways on the armrest beside her.
“Xiao Lu, this is Mingming’s cousin, Fang Yuan. She graduated from the Provincial Medical University and is now working in the surgery department at the county hospital.”
Hearing the pride in her aunt’s voice while introducing her made Fang Yuan feel a little embarrassed. She nodded toward the young woman across from her. “Hello. You’re Mingming’s classmate, right?”
“Hello, Cousin Fang Yuan. I’m Lu Ming’s classmate, Lu Li. It’s nice to meet you.” Lu Li smiled and nodded.
“Mom, I’ll take Lu Li out for a walk first. You all take your time talking,” Lu Ming said as he stood up.
Fang Xiaoyu nodded as she looked at the two of them. “There’s really not much to see this late at night. You can take Lu Li around the county tomorrow instead. Lu Li, your home isn’t in the county, is it? Then go get her a room at the guesthouse. Remember to bring your introduction letter.”
A faint blush appeared on Lu Li’s face as she stood up from the sofa. Lu Ming frowned and said to Fang Xiaoyu, “We still have spare rooms at home. Lu Li is my classmate. She can stay here for one night. She’s a young woman. I won’t feel at ease if she stays at a guesthouse by herself.”
Inside, Fang Xiaoyu had already scolded her son countless times over, but none of it showed on her face. She smiled calmly and said, “Even if you’re classmates, you’re still a man and a woman. If a young unmarried woman like Xiao Lu stays overnight in our home, it could damage her reputation. Besides, the guesthouse next to the People’s Armed Forces Department is perfectly safe. What is there to worry about?”
After Lu Ming reluctantly left with Lu Li, Fang Xiaoyu slapped the sofa heavily and stood with her hands on her hips as she cursed, “That fool must have had his brains kicked by a donkey!”
Fang Yuan stared blankly at her aunt’s sudden change in expression and asked in confusion, “Aunt… Do you not like Mingming bringing a female classmate home?”
“Do you know why he came back this time?” Fang Xiaoyu said angrily.
“…It looks to me like Mingming is dating this Xiao Lu. He brought her home so you and Uncle could meet her first. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?” Fang Yuan said, completely puzzled. “I think Xiao Lu seems quite nice. She’s also Mingming’s classmate. The two of them look well matched.”
“Do you know who Lu Li’s father is? Before Liberation, he was a major landlord in the villages under Yuyang County. Two-thirds of the land in Linkeng Commune used to belong to her family.” Fang Xiaoyu accepted the glass of water Fang Yuan handed her and finished it in one gulp. “When it comes to Lu Yang and Lu Ming finding wives, the only requirement I have is that the girl’s family background must be politically clean. Tell me, after he brings home a female classmate like that and even wants to marry her, how could I possibly be happy?”
Lu Yang was Fang Yuan’s older cousin. He had joined the army several years earlier. Fang Yuan’s cousin Xu Xinhong was also a soldier, and both had enlisted through Uncle Lu’s connections.
“The Premier once said, ‘A person’s birth is beyond their control, but the path they choose is their own.’ Since Lu Li was able to pass the political screening and enter a technical secondary school, it shows that her family background isn’t considered a major problem.” Fang Yuan tried to persuade her. She could tell that her younger cousin genuinely liked Lu Li, and she did not want the two of them to be opposed by their parents because of this issue.
“You, you’ve buried yourself in your studies and paid no attention to what’s happening outside. Things are different now. The scrutiny of members of the Five Black Categories and their children has become extremely strict. Your uncle left right after dinner. His attitude has already made everything perfectly clear. Your foolish cousin is the only one who can’t see it.”
Fang Xiaoyu rubbed her stomach and continued, “The reason they came back this time was because they wanted your uncle to help arrange an internship for Xiao Lu. They’ll graduate next year. Apparently, the school has been setting Lu Li’s file aside and hasn’t assigned her an internship, so they came to us for help.”
T/N: The Five Black Categories (黑五类, Hēi Wǔlèi) were five politically persecuted social groups in Mao-era China, particularly during the Cultural Revolution (1966 to 1976). They included landlords, rich peasants, counterrevolutionaries, bad elements, and rightists. People labeled under these categories, along with their children and other family members, were often subjected to discrimination, political persecution, and close surveillance.