21: The one who popped out of nowhere
Sun Zhaodi had been nagging about Lu Guoguo’s sudden passion for learning for a long time.
“Look at you. Back then, you got into middle school, and I told you to keep studying, but you refused. You argued and made a scene with me, just flat-out refusing to go,” Sun Zhaodi said, hands on her hips, still frustrated about the child’s disobedience back in the day, lamenting that she hadn’t enforced stricter discipline then. “Now, years later, you suddenly remember you want to study.”
“I was immature back then,” Lu Guoguo apologized meekly, explaining the reason why the original owner hadn’t wanted to go. “Third Granny kept telling me that no matter how much I studied, it was useless. She said when I came of age, I’d just be married off as someone else’s daughter-in-law anyway, so tuition fees would be wasted.”
Hearing that the meddlesome old woman from next door was involved again, Sun Zhaodi’s eyes reddened with anger. “She just can’t stand to see us, mother and daughter, doing well! Don’t you know how terrible her own grandson’s grades are? She was jealous of you!”
“I understand now. I’m sorry, Mom.”
Looking at her genuinely repentant daughter, Sun Zhaodi sighed, stepped forward, hugged her, and said choked up, “It was my fault too for not asking for the details back then. I just blindly blamed you for not wanting to study.”
Back then, the mother and daughter weren’t close. Whatever Sun Zhaodi said to do, the original owner would do the opposite. Basically, anything that displeased Sun Zhaodi, she did.
After that day’s study task on the mission interface, no new tasks had appeared. Although Lu Zaiyang found time every day to explain problems to Lu Guoguo, the task still showed as incomplete.
It was then Lu Guoguo realized that that ten yuan wasn’t so easy to get.
When it came to matters of education, neither Sun Zhaodi nor Lu Laoba understood much. They simply gave Lu Zaiyang some money and asked him to take Lu Guoguo to the county town to see where they could buy suitable books.
So, Lu Guoguo set off early in the morning with Lu Zaiyang for the county town.
They first went to the town to wait for the shuttle bus. Once on board, they paid one dime each and rode for forty minutes to reach the county station. Lu Guoguo looked around curiously. There were no high-rise buildings; most structures were two-story houses or five-story apartment buildings, mainly brick houses, wooden-tiled houses, and there were even some thatched cottages.
The foot traffic was heavier than in town, and it was livelier.
Lu Guoguo stuck close behind Lu Zaiyang like a little chick following its mother.
In an unfamiliar environment, she naturally wanted to stay near someone she knew.
Noticing this, Lu Zaiyang slowed his pace slightly so that his shorter companion could keep up.
Lu Zaiyang seemed very familiar with buying books. He led Lu Guoguo to find a shabbily dressed person who looked a bit unkempt. After whispering a few words to him, the man led him into a small nearby hut. A few minutes later, Lu Zaiyang came out.
“All bought.”
He said this to Lu Guoguo.
Lu Guoguo stood on her tiptoes and reached for the bamboo basket on his back, trying to see what he had bought. But Lu Zaiyang was tall, and even on her toes, she couldn’t see what was inside.
Lu Zaiyang didn’t squat down to show her either. “We’ll look when we get back.”
“Okay.”
Lu Guoguo let go. “Are we going back now?”
“Let’s check out the food market.”
The county had a food market too, but everything was sold in state-owned shops, with no private vendors.
Lu Guoguo had saved up some money over these days. Apart from the ten yuan she hadn’t received yet, she had eight yuan and three jiao, along with a few meat coupons, sugar coupons, and even one cloth coupon.
After arriving at the market, Lu Zaiyang first went to look at the meat section. The family had run out of lard, so he needed to buy some leaf lard or fatty meat. They arrived late, so there was no leaf lard left, only fatty meat. Lu Zaiyang bought fifteen jin. Seeing Lu Guoguo staring at the streaky pork next to it, he also cut three jin of streaky pork, using his own private money.
Lu Guoguo didn’t know this. After wrapping up the streaky pork and putting it into his bamboo basket, she smiled and asked, “Will we make braised pork or twice-cooked pork?”
“Whatever you want.”
Seeing that it was crowded and Lu Guoguo was almost being pushed away, Lu Zaiyang reached out and held her forearm, guiding her forward.
Lu Guoguo was startled by his sudden grab, but seeing the crowd, she understood his intention and obediently followed.
“What do you want to see?”
The person in front asked.
“Let’s look at cloth,” Lu Guoguo said.
So, they arrived at the cloth shop.
There were mostly women inside, and since Lu Zaiyang was carrying a bamboo basket, he didn’t go in but waited at the entrance for her. “Do you have coupons?” he asked.
“Yes, I do,” Lu Guoguo nodded.
Lu Zaiyang and his father never asked about how much private money the mother and daughter had, which was very convenient for Lu Guoguo. Whenever Lu Guoguo was questioned by Sun Zhaodi, she could just brush it off by saying Grandma had given it to her before she passed away.
“Shout for me if anything happens.”
“Got it.”
Lu Guoguo waved her hand casually and went inside.
Next month, in the middle of the month, was Sun Zhaodi’s birthday. Lu Guoguo picked out a navy-blue fabric that would complement her complexion well—it wasn’t too flashy but would bring out a healthy glow. Her cloth coupon was just enough to make Sun Zhaodi a light, long-sleeved summer outfit.
Sun Zhaodi didn’t like clothes that exposed the arms or legs.
After purchasing the fabric, Lu Guoguo was about to carry her things out when someone suddenly grabbed her arm with considerable force.
Startled, she turned her head and saw a somewhat familiar-looking older woman.
“Comrade, is there something you need?”
Hearing herself addressed as “comrade,” the woman’s triangular eyes narrowed. “Oh my, after your mother remarried, you don’t even recognize your own relatives anymore?”
Relatives?
Lu Guoguo tilted her head, scrutinizing her for a moment. There was no trace of this person in the original owner’s memory.
“Brother! Someone grabbed me and won’t let go, claiming to be a relative! But I don’t know her!”
Lu Guoguo shouted for her brother at the top of her lungs, startling the other people in the shop. Lu Zaiyang strode quickly over, pulled away the hand gripping her arm, and shielded her behind him. Glaring sternly at the older woman, who now had an ugly expression on her face, he demanded, “What do you think you’re doing!”
Hearing Lu Guoguo call him brother, the older woman guessed Lu Zaiyang’s identity. She was always one to bully the weak and fear the strong. Seeing Lu Zaiyang’s aggressive demeanor, she forced a dry laugh.
“Aiya, it’s just a misunderstanding. You’re Lu Laoba’s boy, aren’t you? I’m Guoguo’s grand-aunt. Now that you’re family, by rights you should call me grand-aunt too.”
“I don’t remember her at all,” Lu Guoguo whispered to Lu Zaiyang as he turned his head slightly toward her. She didn’t dare acknowledge the connection either, Sun Zhaodi wasn’t there, and she had no memory of this woman. What if she was just bluffing?
“You say you’re my grand-aunt, but I’ve never seen you before,” Lu Guoguo said. “When my grandparents passed away, I didn’t see you there either.”
Hearing this, the older woman rubbed her nose awkwardly. “I didn’t go myself, but my son, your cousin—he went. You really have no memory, child. Not recognizing your own relatives—everyone, please excuse her, excuse her.”
The onlookers were watching with great interest. When they heard this, they even chimed in with questions.
“So, this little girl has no family left at home, and followed her mother after she remarried. With her elders gone, and you not visiting for many years, it’s understandable she doesn’t recognize you.”
“Exactly, exactly. Look how you scared her, her face has gone pale.”
Lu Guoguo took the opportunity to say, “You grabbed me so suddenly and forcefully, I thought you were a human trafficker.”
“You scared my sister,” Lu Zaiyang said in a deep voice. “Whether you’re grand-aunt or not, you shouldn’t have done that.”
“I just wanted to catch up a bit. I got a little excited seeing her, that’s all. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Cursing Lu Guoguo and her mother in her heart, the older woman slunk away shamefacedly from the shop.
Lu Guoguo and Lu Zaiyang exchanged a glance. Lu Guoguo put her things into his bamboo basket, and the two of them also left the shop.
“Did she hurt you badly?”
“It hurts a bit,” Lu Guoguo said, pulling up her slightly loose sleeve. A red mark had appeared on her arm. “She’s really strong.”
Lu Zaiyang frowned. “When we get back, ask Auntie who that person really is. If she really is a relative, she’s definitely not a good person.”
“Okay,” Lu Guoguo nodded.
The two continued browsing for a while, but since there was nothing else to buy, they took the bus back home.
When they were almost home, Lu Guoguo took the fabric out of the bamboo basket again. Holding it in both arms with a pleading expression, she begged Lu Zaiyang, “Brother, you have to keep this a secret. I want to give Mom a surprise.”
Glancing at what she was holding, Lu Zaiyang nodded. “Alright.”
But when they arrived home, no one was there. Lu Zaiyang opened the courtyard gate, and Lu Guoguo went to her room first to put the fabric away. Lu Zaiyang drew a bucket of water, and after they both wiped their faces and washed their hands, Lu Guoguo entered the kitchen and lifted the pot lid. Seeing that their meals were being kept warm inside, she called Lu Zaiyang in to help carry them out to eat.
Entering May, the days were getting hotter. After eating, Lu Guoguo had worked up a bit of a sweat. She took out her handkerchief to wipe herself, then leaned lazily against the wall with half-closed eyes, casually picking up the palm-leaf fan nearby and gently fanning herself.
Lu Zaiyang watched her contented little expression. After finishing his meal, he took the dishes to the kitchen to clean up. Seeing this, Lu Guoguo chuckled softly.
In the evening, when Sun Zhaodi and the others returned, Lu Guoguo asked whether they actually had such a relative.
Sun Zhaodi sneered coldly. “There really is such a person. But she fell out with your grandmother years ago. When your cousin was alive, they maintained contact for a few years. Later, after your grandmother passed away and your cousin died unexpectedly the following year, our families stopped having anything to do with each other. If you run into her again, just pretend you don’t know her.”
“What was our relationship with cousin like?”
“Hmph. She kept thinking about marrying into our family since your father died early. I chased her out several times with harsh words. After your grandmother died, I was actually trying to figure out how to keep my distance from her. But then her son’s fate turned out poorly.”
Seeing Sun Zhaodi’s disgust toward that cousin, Lu Guoguo didn’t ask further and simply indicated she understood.
But who would have expected that the grand-aunt showed up at their doorstep the very next afternoon?
“I ran into Guoguo in the county yesterday, and she didn’t even recognize me. After all, I am her own grand-aunt. How could she not know me? The more I thought about it after going home, the sadder I felt, so I came by to reconnect and make sure Guoguo doesn’t forget her grand-aunt.”
As the grand-aunt spoke, she wasn’t looking at Sun Zhaodi but at Lu Laoba.
Lu Laoba had heard his wife talk about this grand-aunt the night before, definitely not a good person, so he didn’t give her a warm reception either.
“A grand-aunt we haven’t seen for so many years, what kind of proper relative is that? If you don’t recognize her, so what? I have plenty of siblings and relatives; we won’t miss one unfamiliar face like yours. If you have business to discuss, go ahead—though even if you do, I won’t help. Consider me listening to you just to pass the time.”
Lu Laoba spoke loudly, somewhat irritably.
The grand-aunt immediately dared not speak loudly. Her original intention in coming was to disgust Sun Zhaodi in front of Lu Laoba, why should she be living comfortably after remarrying while her own son was dead?
Back then, if Sun Zhaodi had agreed to marry her son, her son wouldn’t have died!
But unexpectedly, this Lu Laoba was even fiercer than his son. For a moment, the grand-aunt dared not say anything to stir up trouble.
“That’s right, I was… just passing by, came to ask for a bowl of water, and thought I’d check on Guoguo and the others while I was at it. Now that I’ve seen them, water…”
Lu Guoguo stood up. “Sorry about that, we just got back from chopping firewood and haven’t boiled any water yet.”
“Your grand-aunt doesn’t need to rely on our family for a bowl of water,” Sun Zhaodi interjected, glancing at the grand-aunt whose face had turned pale.
“Auntie’s right. I think grand-aunt really was just passing by. After all, who visits people empty-handed? Since everyone’s busy, we won’t keep you, grand-aunt. Go out the gate, turn right, and follow that road straight, it’ll lead you out of the production team’s entrance. No need to see you off.”
Lu Zaiyang, leaning against the door, had barely finished speaking when the grand-aunt hurried away shamefacedly.
“What did she even come here for?”
Lu Guoguo found the whole thing ridiculous.
“Who knows.”
As soon as the woman left, Lu Zaiyang directly closed the courtyard gate. Hearing Lu Guoguo’s question, he just shook his head.
**