Boom. Before the eyes of his children Yu Jianshe felt his mind explode.
Wen Zhihua you shameless woman. I will beat you to death this day.
Yu Jianshe you worthless creature. Lay a hand on me and I shall make sure you never know a woman again.
All out war hung in the air. Yu Zhaodi and Yu Yaozu threw themselves between them struggling to hold both sides back. Meanwhile Yu Zhaozhao began searching the room for the household registration booklet.
Yu Zhaodi panicked. If Yu Zhaozhao kept looking she would find it first.
Stop fighting. Stop it at once. Yu Zhaozhao is searching for the booklet.
Yu Jianshe and Wen Zhihua fell apart instantly.
Quick. Do not let her get it.
Wen Zhihua shouted urgently to her children and rushed forward herself. Seeing her in such frantic haste Yu Zhaozhao knew the prize must be close at hand. She seized Yu Jianshe’s wooden pillow and struck them again and again hard. They yelped and scattered before her blows.
You unnatural ungrateful girl. How dare you strike your own brother. Yu Jianshe roared seeing his son hurt. Parental affection overrode everything else and he raised his hand to strike Yu Zhaozhao.
Yu Zhaozhao had endured enough of this worthless father. She struck back blow after blow.
Strike your own father and may lightning strike you dead.
Yu Jianshe passed through rage into stunned numbness. He felt as though he were being flayed and torn apart limb from limb by this rebellious daughter.
I strike a father who deserves no respect.
Wen Zhihua Yu Zhaodi and Yu Yaozu stood pale and terrified at the sight. Yu Zhaozhao had seemed quiet meek and easily pushed around ever since Zhou Xiangyang went to university. Now it appeared she had merely been biding her time. Had they known she could turn so fierce and reckless they would never have provoked her. A pang of regret shot through all three.
Yet Wen Zhihua reflected and knew she would make the same choices again. Zhou Xiangyang was exactly the son in law she had always wanted. He had visited often in the past helping Yu Zhaozhao with every task. The Zhou family stood well placed. His father was a seventh grade widowed worker who had never remarried. Zhou Xiangyang had graduated from a worker peasant soldier university and would serve as a cadre with a bright future stretching before him.
Why should such an excellent match fall into her stepdaughter’s hands instead of her own daughter? Especially when her own daughter had been targeted by that hideous oaf Wang Baogen.
Wen Zhihua had pampered and protected these dull witted mother and son for reasons she dared not speak aloud. She had meant to divert misfortune elsewhere and even harbored the thought of letting Wang Baogen ruin her stepdaughter instead.
Wang Baogen might be plain but to his mother Zha Jinhua he was the handsomest man alive and worthy of no one less than perfection. No woman could have known a peaceful life married to him and with such a mother in law. And he was so very ugly.
Yet recalling what had happened between herself and Wang Baogen that morning filled Wen Zhihua with conflicting feelings. His face repelled her yet in other ways he had been vigorous and satisfying. Youth possessed undeniable power. Far better than worn out old men like Deputy Director Wang and Yu Jianshe.
She did not know that Wang Baogen had been left not only simple minded but entirely broken. Zha Jinhua wished to tear her apart with her own teeth. That however would come later.
For now Yu Zhaozhao had felled all four members of the Yu family. She secured the household registration booklet counted out one thousand yuan and took also her monthly grain ration coupon. All those years practicing martial arts while running a stall in her past life had proven useful indeed.
This is compensation owed to me by Wen Zhihua and Yu Zhaodi. One thousand yuan every penny accounted for. And my monthly grain allowance twenty seven jin. As for the household registration booklet I shall keep it safe. When you wish to divorce or marry you shall come to me. I shall oversee every step of the proceedings.
With that she strode from the room and left with quiet confidence.
One thousand yuan in hand together with the three hundred yuan Wang Baogen had given Wen Zhihua brought her total to thirteen hundred. She must secure a proper post and transfer her household registration as quickly as possible. Buying a home could also serve the purpose but homes were nearly as hard to come by as work these days. Secure employment or marry a city resident and she would escape rural assignment.
First however she must fill her belly. In the kitchen she smashed the cabinet lock open cooked herself a bowl of egg noodles and ate in peace.
In the master bedroom chaos reigned. Yu Jianshe seethed with fury. He demanded Wen Zhihua return the money. For the sake of their son he offered to call off the divorce.
Wen Zhihua however had been sending money to her own family for over ten years. In the past two years alone she had diverted more than two thousand yuan there. That was precisely why she had blocked efforts to buy Yu Zhaozhao a proper post. She had hoped time would conceal the debt. She had never imagined exposure would come like this. And the money once given to her family could never be recovered.
Yu Zhaozhao finished eating and returned to her room to sleep. The Yu family home held three bedrooms. Yu Jianshe and Wen Zhihua occupied one. Yu Zhaozhao and Yu Zhaodi shared another. Yu Yaozu slept alone. Yu Zhaozhao bolted her door securely. Yu Zhaodi stood outside not daring to enter.
Yu Jianshe drove Wen Zhihua from their room that night. Mother and daughter crowded into Yu Yaozu’s quarters instead.
Mother. Tomorrow I shall escort you back to Grandmother’s home and demand the money returned. For the sake of his own interests Yu Yaozu set aside affection.
Yaozu. Once money has reached their hands it never returns. Wen Zhihua wept. Her husband turned against her and now her own son as well.
Yu Yaozu spoke bitterly. If they refuse let them support you for the rest of your life. You have given them enough over the years.
Yu Zhaodi added reproachfully. We might overlook past sums but two thousand yuan in barely two years is no small matter. Mother did you ever think of me or your grandson?
Wen Zhihua looked upon her cold children and her heart turned to ice.
Morning came. Wen Zhihua had already been packed off by Yu Yaozu to her parents home. The distance was short perhaps thirty minutes on foot or less by bicycle. Meaning she must walk an hour daily simply to fulfill her manure gathering punishment. Yu Jianshe made no move to welcome her back. He took leave from work and shut himself inside his room.
Elsewhere Zhou Xiangyang’s father had gone to work. Zhou Caixia and Yu Zhaodi set off to clean toilets. Zhou Xiangyang came calling for Yu Zhaozhao.
Have you eaten breakfast Xiangyang? Yu Zhaozhao asked unsurprised by his arrival.
I have. But I brought something for you. Zhou Xiangyang produced a net bag holding two tins of malted milk and a greased paper parcel. I bought your favorite shrimp dumplings from the state restaurant.
I shall accept the dumplings thank you. But the malted milk is far too precious. I cannot take it. It was scarce and highly prized. Money alone could not buy it. Tickets were required and even then stock ran out quickly.
She and Zhou Xiangyang were no longer betrothed. She could not accept gifts as though nothing had changed.
Zhaozhao do not stand on ceremony with me. Even though we cannot marry I shall always be your Xiangyang Ge.
Yu Zhaozhao remained silent. They stood in an awkward place once intended for marriage. She had loved him for years and his loss brought genuine pain. Yet that pain had been worn away through lifetimes of hardship and struggle. She had made her peace.
Zhou Xiangyang set the bag upon the table then drew forth a thick paper envelope.