Yu Zhaozhao held soldiers in high regard. To her mind, military service was the finest forge for shaping character.
“Yu Zhaozhao, I have heard everything. Your fiancé has been stolen from you by your stepsister. Unless you marry quickly, you will be sent to the countryside. My brother has changed greatly since those days. My parents sent him to the army to be disciplined and refined. He has earned many commendations and now holds the rank of Company Commander. He has just received another great citation and is soon to be promoted to Battalion Executive Officer. His family may join him at the post. You might consider him. He is most sought after. I am constantly besieged by people begging me to introduce them. Our doorway is nearly worn down by visitors.”
Yu Zhaozhao’s lip twitched. Lu Shiguang continued eagerly.
“My brother is tall, handsome, and strongly built. He gives every appearance of being capable and protective. Otherwise surely you would not have declared you would be his bride simply because he gave you a piece of candy when you were little.”
Yu Zhaozhao said nothing. To bring up something that happened when she was four years old! As the younger brother appeared, so she might judge the older. A handsome child does not always grow into a handsome man. Some lose their promise with age. Lu Shiguang was slightly stout, with a round face, round head, and round nose—a face suggesting good fortune. He could not be called ugly, yet he was certainly not handsome. If that was the standard, she wondered how exceptional his brother Lu Shiye could truly be.
Just then a nurse approached. “Comrade Yu Zhaozhao, Comrade Wen Huazhi reports that you also drank some of the mushroom and wild vegetable soup. Please come back for a further examination to be certain.”
“Very well.” Yu Zhaozhao complied readily.
“Comrade Yu Zhaozhao, my brother is staying in Room 202. If you are looking for a husband, do consider him. He has long held affection for you. It was only your betrothal that stood in his way.”
Yu Zhaozhao committed the room number to mind. She had no wish to be sent to the countryside, yet work was scarce. Every post was filled. Even money could not buy what did not exist.
Outside the operating theatre, Zha Jinhua screamed with venomous hatred. “Wen Huazhi! If harm comes to my son, your entire family shall pay with their lives!”
“Yu Jianshe! If my son dies, you and yours are finished!” Deputy Director Wang, Wang Baogen’s father, spoke with a dark and threatening countenance.
Wen Huazhi, her face scratched and bruised, lay with eyes closed. Whether truly unconscious or feigning it, none could tell. Yu Jianshe looked scarcely human, his face contorted in a mask of fury. Uncle Zhou, having recovered, had wished to hold himself apart. Yet his own son had been the victim of the plot, and so he stepped forward to restore order.
“Let us all strive to remain calm and speak reasonably. If this matter spirals further, the consequences will be unbearable for all of us.”
At these words, both families fell instantly silent. Yu Zhaodi, Yu Yaozu, and Zhou Caixia—bruised, aching, and terrified at the thought of total ruin—shuddered where they stood. Every careful scheme had spun out of control. Had it been only the affair between Zhou Xiangyang and Yu Zhaodi, it might have been hushed up and kept within doors. But the scandal between Wen Huazhi and Wang Baogen was too shocking to contain. If it became public, the outcome was unpredictable and ruin certain for all involved. That was a fate no one desired.
Wen Huazhi opened her eyes at that moment and spoke one sentence. “The medicine was given to me by Baogen himself.”
Zha Jinhua roared. “You lie!”
“Jinhua, believe what you will. I would never harm your son.”
Yu Zhaozhao returned with her examination results and heard the remark. She spoke at once.
“Stepmother speaks with a double tongue. Who does not know that Wang Baogen has loved Yu Zhaodi since childhood? It was you who opposed the match, and Yu Zhaodi who refused him. You have lived in this house for years, yet I have never once tasted an egg from your table. How then could you have sent me egg soup? I drank none. But I little expected that you…”
She broke off, leaving the rest unspoken yet perfectly understood.
“You lie…” Wen Huazhi glared at her with venomous hatred, but Yu Zhaozhao gave her no chance to reply.
“You seek to shift the blame to me. Any clear eyed person sees what truly happened. Stepmother and Yu Zhaodi laid the plot. Yu Yaozu, Wang Baogen, and Zhou Caixia were their willing accomplices. But then you yourself grew fond of Wang Baogen and decided he was no longer good enough for a son in law. You turned your eyes instead toward my fiancé, Xiangyang-ge.”
“Wen Huazhi! I shall kill you!” Zha Jinhua lunged at her once more.
The Women’s Affairs Director called out sharply. “Enough! All of you come with me to the Street Office at once!”
“None shall leave!” Zha Jinhua screamed, eyes blazing. “My son lies in surgery fighting for his life! If he dies, I shall hold every one of you accountable!”
She glared at Wen Huazhi with unbridled fury. This shameless woman, old and faded, had dared to defile her son. She would never forgive her.
Ding!
The operating theatre doors swung open. Wang Baogen’s head had been stitched and the bleeding stopped. Zha Jinhua and Deputy Director Wang rushed forward. Moments later, a scream tore from Zha Jinhua’s throat. Wang Baogen stood senseless, his gaze vacant and staring. Saliva dripped from his open mouth. His tongue lolled out. He could not speak a single word.
“Ahh! Wen Huazhi! You have destroyed my son!” Zha Jinhua shrieked, unable to accept what she saw.
Wen Huazhi’s heart plummeted. She cast a fearful glance toward Deputy Director Wang, but he lowered his eyes and would not meet her gaze. Biting her lip, she shook her head frantically. “It was not I. Baogen was not harmed by me. It was Yu…”
Slap!
Yu Jianshe struck her hard across the face. Her already swollen cheeks were flung sideways. Wang Baogen was ruined. The Wang family would surely take their vengeance upon the Yu household.
Yu Zhaozhao pressed her lips tightly together. She had intervened intending that Wang Baogen should suffer. She had never meant for Yu Zhaodi and Yu Yaozu to escape retribution either.
At Yu Zhaozhao’s prompting, Wen Huazhi cried out quickly. “Yaozu had no part in this! He was born prematurely at seven months. His health is delicate. He is but seventeen years old. He could not bear such a scandal!”
Yu Zhaozhao scoffed. “What premature infant grows as robust and sturdy as Yu Yaozu? Seventeen is hardly a child. He is more like an overgrown coddled babe.”
The words were spoken casually, yet they struck home. Deputy Director Wang’s gaze turned thoughtfully toward Yu Yaozu. His hand tightened unconsciously at his side. No one besides Wen Huazhi seemed to notice. She breathed a sigh of relief.
The three Yu children were all good looking. Yu Zhaodi possessed a gentle beauty. Her face was oval and rounded, her features not sharply defined, her nose broad and full. Nourished and well tended, she had fair skin and a pleasing plumpness—the very image of good fortune favored by elders everywhere. She wore a constant soft smile, appearing kindness and gentleness personified.
Yu Zhaozhao by contrast possessed delicate, striking features. Yet her skin was sallow and she was thin, with a small face and pointed chin—at odds with the standard beauty of the era. She wore a heavy fringe across her forehead and dressed plainly, lacking Zhaodi’s careful adornment. Beside her stepsister she appeared pale and unremarkable. During Zhou Xiangyang’s years away at university, Yu Zhaozhao had lived quietly and withdrawn. Her manner had grown quiet and reserved, doing little to win affection.
Yu Yaozu strongly resembled Wen Huazhi—tall, broad shouldered, and sturdy, bearing also a likeness to Yu Jianshe. Deputy Director Wang stood roughly the same height as Yu Jianshe yet was grossly overweight, his belly protruding like an overgrown gas canister. He looked like nothing more than an enlarged version of Wang Baogen. In height, appearance, and figure, he could not compare to Yu Jianshe.