“Wenzi, take this bag of apples and malted milk extract back with you for your younger siblings and little nephew.”
“Houzi, didn’t you say your younger sister is expecting again? Take these fruits and malted milk extract along. As her elder brother, you should visit her home more often. Then no one will dare mistreat your sister in her husband’s family.”
Du Wen was a city resident and had a one-year-old son.
Hou Ziliang’s family lived in the countryside, but he had a younger sister who had married into the city. After giving birth to a daughter, she had met with disapproval from her husband’s family. Now she was expecting a second child, yet her in-laws remained biased. They not only refused to help care for the child but even tried to seize her job opportunity. Hou Ziliang had visited her once and came back to complain to Lu Shiye about the matter.
“No, no, no. Brother Lu, we absolutely cannot. These are meant to restore your health. We cannot take them.”
Du Wen and Hou Ziliang moved quickly to decline the offer.
“Take them. We cannot possibly consume all this ourselves. The fruits will spoil if they keep. You have worked so hard caring for me these past months, and I shall still rely on you both until I fully recover.”
Yu Zhaozhao promptly prepared equal portions of fruit, canned goods, and malted milk extract for both Hou Ziliang and Du Wen to take home.
Lu Shiguang said he would return home to fetch food and offered to see Hou Ziliang and Du Wen downstairs. Yu Zhaozhao handed him another portion of fruit, malted milk extract, and canned goods to take back as well.
“Sister-in-law, you are far too polite with me.”
Lu Shiguang was reluctant to accept. But when Lu Shiye spoke, he could only take the gifts and depart together with Hou Ziliang and Du Wen.
When Yu Zhaozhao turned around, she found Lu Shiye smiling warmly at her.
“Wife, you are truly wonderful.”
Lu Shiye felt immense joy. He had worried that Yu Zhaozhao might be unwilling to share their provisions, yet she had acted with even greater generosity than he might have hoped. She handled matters of human relationships and social grace with remarkable skill.
Yu Zhaozhao could not help smiling at his words. Hou Ziliang and Du Wen had cared for Lu Shiye for months. Though their service was part of their duty, it was only proper to show gratitude with gifts. And beyond them, even Lu Shiguang, his own younger brother, deserved heartfelt thanks.
Yu Zhaozhao said, “Once you have fully recovered, we shall host everyone for a proper meal.”
“Very well. We shall arrange it then.”
Lu Shiye had been thinking the very same thing.
Yu Zhaozhao opened the canvas shoulder bag her mother-in-law had given her and gasped in astonishment.
Lu Shiye noticed her reaction and asked, “What is it?”
“Look at this.” Yu Zhaozhao held the bag open for him to see.
Inside were stacks of brand-new banknotes and a generous variety of ration and supply coupons. She counted the money alone and found it amounted to exactly three thousand yuan.
Lu Shiye too fell silent, his expression shifting to one of complex and unreadable emotion.
“Since this is Mother and Father’s kind intention, we shall accept it gratefully.”
Yu Zhaozhao could not fully decipher the depth of emotion in Lu Shiye’s gaze, yet she sensed that all was not entirely ordinary within the Lu family. Her mother-in-law had been extraordinarily generous. Could the Lu family truly be so wealthy? She kept the question to herself and did not voice it aloud.
At noon, Lu Shiguang arrived with a meal prepared by his wife, whose cooking was excellent. After they had eaten, Lu Shiguang remained at the hospital to keep watch over Lu Shiye. Yu Zhaozhao borrowed Lu Shiguang’s bicycle and rode back to the courtyard where she lived. Her appearance drew immediate attention.
“Yu Zhaozhao, we heard you went to register your marriage today?”
The women of the courtyard immediately gathered around her. Yu Zhaozhao knew well that news traveled fast in this neighborhood and she had no wish to keep it secret. She promptly distributed the wedding candies the Lu family had prepared among them all.
“Zhaozhao.”
Zhou Xiangyang had learned that Yu Zhaozhao was seeing someone and had already registered her marriage. Though he understood how matters stood, his heart sank nonetheless.
“Brother Xiangyang, I registered my marriage today. My household registration has also been transferred away. I shall not be living here anymore. Please take good care of yourself.”
Zhou Xiangyang was soon to marry Yu Zhaodi. Beyond wishing him well, Yu Zhaozhao found she could offer no further words of blessing.
“What sort of man is he?” Zhou Xiangyang had heard her intended was a soldier but knew few details.
“Brother Xiangyang already knows him. It is Lu Shiye, your former high school classmate.”
“Lu Shiye?” Zhou Xiangyang froze in disbelief.
“Lu Shiye? You have married Lu Shiye?” A sharp voice rang out from behind her.
Yu Zhaozhao turned to see Yu Zhaodi rushing forward, her face marked by utter incredulity.
Yu Zhaozhao raised an eyebrow and smiled coolly. “That is right. I have married the man you long admired, your beloved Brother Shiye.”
Zhou Xiangyang looked at Yu Zhaodi with deep revulsion. She had secretly loved Lu Shiye all this time, yet she had schemed to marry him instead.
Yu Zhaodi paid Zhou Xiangyang no mind at this moment. Lu Shiye was the cherished ideal of her youth, the man she had loved for years. In the past, she had waited for him daily after school, yet Lu Shiye was rarely seen. She had also learned where Lu Shiye’s family lived and had seen the handsome courtyard home. She had discovered he had been raised by his grandparents and that they had since passed away.
Her admiration for him had deepened. His grandparents had been respected senior leaders. Even in death, Lu Shiye was guaranteed a secure position. To marry him would mean a home, steady employment, and perhaps even work found for her as well. No parents-in-law remained to serve or care for. It seemed the perfect arrangement.
But upon graduation, Lu Shiye had vanished without a trace. For years, Yu Zhaodi had refused all suitors, faithfully awaiting his return. Each day on her way to and from work, even on holidays, she would deliberately walk a great distance past the Lu family home, hoping he might appear. Yet Lu Shiye was nowhere to be found.
Now to hear that Yu Zhaozhao had married him came as a thunderclap. Her world seemed to crumble.
“Impossible. This cannot be true. How could Lu Shiye ever look upon someone like you? You are lying!”
Yu Zhaodi could not believe that a man as proud and aloof as Lu Shiye would have entered marriage so hastily with Yu Zhaozhao.
Yu Zhaozhao rolled her eyes sharply. “You are truly unreasonable.”
Yu Zhaozhao leaned her bicycle against the wall, paid them no further attention, and walked into the Yu family home.
Yu Jianshe had taken leave from work today. The military authorities had come to make inquiries, and the malicious gossip had begun to affect him. His work had suffered, his spirits were low, and his superiors had advised him to rest. Now seeing his daughter return, his eyes burned with resentment. If not for this ungrateful girl, he would not be the object of ridicule.
Yu Jianshe disapproved of Wen Zhihua’s schemes, but he was far more angered by their failure. Because of her, his reputation had been ruined. Had matters gone according to plan, this daughter would have married into the Wang family and Zhaodi into the Zhou family. It would have been a perfect arrangement. Instead, this daughter had spoiled everything. And to make matters worse, Wen Zhihua had brought shame upon his name. Yu Jianshe could have struck her down in his rage.
Yu Zhaozhao met his hostile gaze without fear.
“The household registration book is here. From this day forth, I shall never return to this house.”
She walked inside, retrieved a burlap sack filled with her belongings, and walked past him without a glance. Yu Jianshe did not stop her. Relations between them had long since broken beyond repair. He wished nothing more than for her to vanish from his sight forever.
He opened the household registration booklet. Yu Zhaozhao’s page had indeed been removed. He felt no sorrow at her departure. His expression hardened only when he saw the pages bearing the names of Wen Zhihua and Yu Zhaodi.
When the neighbors saw Yu Zhaozhao depart with but a single sack of belongings, their sympathy deepened. That was all she possessed. Yu Zhaozhao had indeed lived in this home for more than a decade with so little to call her own. Of her schoolbooks, she had kept only a few essential volumes and sold the rest as scrap. She possessed barely a handful of clothing, and the very best outfit she owned was already upon her back.
She would need to visit the department store to purchase a few more suitable garments. Simplicity was admirable in these times, yet when visiting the Lu family, she must not appear impoverished. Even if the Lu family did not judge her, the gossiping neighbors most certainly would. Having grown up among them, Yu Zhaozhao knew well how tongues wagged, spreading every rumor and judgment far and wide.
Yu Zhaozhao secured her sack to the bicycle carrier. She glanced once more toward the Yu family home, then at the gathered neighbors, and finally at Zhou Xiangyang. “I shall not return on your wedding day.”
From this day forward, she had no wish ever to set foot in the Yu family home again.