On the way home, Mother Qiao grumbled nonstop.
“I knew you were a troublesome little girl with no sense! Honestly, you grew up with those other girls. Why can’t you learn from your Sister Huihui? She’s so shrewd. Your brother-in-law had barely left school before she ‘snapped him up’! Now look at you, holding out until twenty-one, picking and choosing. First you fell for a married man, and now you’ve taken a liking to a pretty boy. Tell me, just tell me. Are you trying to make me worry myself to death?”
Walking beside Mother Qiao, Qiao Yan listened to her nagging while admiring the scenery along the street. The longer she listened, the more amusing she found it.
“You’re even envious of Sister Huihui’s husband? He’s not even a hundred and sixty centimeters tall, and he’s already going bald straight out of university. What will he look like in his forties or fifties?”
Mother Qiao scoffed, unconcerned. “So what? It doesn’t matter if a man is a little ugly or short. What matters most is that he’s capable, understand? He’s a university graduate, and he went straight into the Telecommunications Bureau after graduation. With an iron rice bowl secured, do you even need to ask what his future will be like? Like the sun at eleven or twelve, bright and blazing!”
Qiao Yan said, “That’s enough to guarantee a bright future? Why don’t I see it?”
“That’s because you’re young, immature, and have no sense! When you’re my age, you’ll understand. Looks and height are all superficial. They’re worth less than a basket of eggs.”
As she spoke, Mother Qiao lifted the eggs she was carrying to make her point, still troubled by the price. “Egg prices have gone up again. They’re almost four yuan a jin now…”
Qiao Yan let her mother’s words go in one ear and out the other. She paid no attention to the rising price of eggs. All she heard was that looks and height were superficial.
For some reason, she found that amusing, especially coming from Mother Qiao.
“Mom, those weren’t your standards when you were looking for a husband, were they?”
“What?”
“How come I heard that, out of all the young men who came to propose back then, you chose Dad for his looks?”
“That was… That was…”
Mother Qiao’s face flushed red. Only after a long struggle did she manage to say, “That was because I was immature and had no sense back then too!”
Qiao Yan burst out laughing.
The sunset’s lingering glow fell across her laughter-flushed cheeks, making her fair skin look rosy and especially lovely.
She knew Mother Qiao meant well and wanted to find her daughter a stable, dependable partner.
But then again, in this era, was anything truly guaranteed to be stable and dependable?
Programmers, on the other hand…
As far as Qiao Yan was concerned, 1995 was right at the very beginning of the internet industry’s development!
It was the perfect opportunity to reap the benefits of the times.
Besides, “You can’t let yourself enjoy all the good food, then insist that I live on bran and vegetables when it’s my turn, can you?”
Mother Qiao: “….”
Those words did silence Mother Qiao, but only temporarily.
That evening, once Qiao Jianguo came home, Mother Qiao gave Father Qiao a full account of everything that had happened at the matchmaking agency, adding a few embellishments along the way.
“Tell me, why does this daughter of ours give me so much trouble?”
Mother Qiao folded the clothes in her hands resentfully, her mouth never stopping. “If I hadn’t practically marched her over there today, who knows when she would have gone to the matchmaking agency?”
Father Qiao was reading the newspaper. At her words, he put it down, took a sip of tea, and sighed softly.
“She’s still young, after all.”
“Still young? She’s almost twenty-two! In a couple of years, she’ll be twenty-five and heading toward thirty. When I was her age, I already had two children.”
“Things are different now,” Father Qiao said.
“Yes, yes, they’re different. My thinking is outdated and feudal. I married into your Qiao family just to hold you all back! So I deserve to slave away for all of you, is that it?”
Father Qiao frowned. “Why are you suddenly angry again?”
Mother Qiao’s eyes reddened as she remembered what her daughter had said that afternoon. “Do you know what your daughter said today? She said I chose you for your looks back then, so why was I insisting on stopping her from choosing a man for his looks now? I couldn’t say a word at the time.”
“…Why did that suddenly come up?”
“But what I really wanted to say was that I regret it!”
As she spoke, Mother Qiao flung the clothes she had been folding onto the bed. Huge tears began rolling down her cheeks.
Realizing something was wrong, Father Qiao hurriedly stood up to comfort his wife, patting her back.
“Wang Derong, why are you crying? Don’t cry. There’s nothing here worth crying over.”
“I’m crying because I’ve had such a hard life! Back then, I didn’t know any better. I insisted on marrying into your family despite my parents’ objections. Once I did, there was nothing but four bare walls. Not only did we have nothing, but you also had two younger sisters who needed to go to school.”
“Your younger sisters finally got married, and I had children of my own, only for your parents to fall ill. I ran around looking after them, waiting on them hand and foot. I never had a single peaceful day. I couldn’t even get any peace during postpartum confinement.”
“So tell me, what have I been hoping for all my life? All I want is for my children not to follow in my footsteps. Yet in the end, my own child accuses me of enjoying the good food myself while making her live on bran and vegetables!”
Through her tears, Mother Qiao fixed her gaze on Qiao Jianguo’s face, which had long since lost its youthful looks, and couldn’t help gritting her teeth.
“Qiao Jianguo, tell me. Tell me yourself. What good things have I enjoyed? Since I married you, what good things have I ever enjoyed?”
Qiao Jianguo couldn’t answer. After all, he had to admit that, over all those long years, his wife was one of the people he had let down the most.
The sweet, innocent young girl who had once worn her hair in two braids had been weathered by the years, wrinkles appearing on her face long ago.
And because of all her work caring for the family, her once fair, smooth hands were now covered in cracks.
Qiao Jianguo sighed again, longer and more heavily this time.
He continued gently patting his wife’s back. “Wang Derong, I let you down back then. I wasn’t capable enough. I never amounted to much, and I couldn’t give you and the children a good life.”
Mother Qiao suddenly stopped crying at those words. She sniffled. “Then there’s a perfect opportunity right in front of you to make amends. The question is whether you’re willing.”
Qiao Jianguo froze. “Make amends? What could I do to make amends?”
Mother Qiao said earnestly, “Our lives aren’t going to change much now, but we can’t let our daughter follow in my footsteps. So I’ve thought it through. Give Old Wu a call later…”
Night deepened.
To save on electricity, the Qiao family switched off the main breaker early.
In the next room, Qiao Yan was organizing her wardrobe by the faint moonlight coming through the window.
She had actually wanted to do this during the day.
Unfortunately, she had been pressed for time and hadn’t gotten around to it.
Now that she was home with time to spare, she naturally wanted to give her current wardrobe a thorough sorting.
Clothes that weren’t too old, looked neat and clean, and were still wearable went into one pile.
Anything hideously ugly, or covered in holes and patches, went into another.
Then there were the clothes covered in pills, the ones printed with bootleg Mickey Mouse… Only after taking everything out did Qiao Yan discover that the original owner actually had quite a lot of clothes! Even her primary school clothes were still there.
Of course, she certainly couldn’t wear her primary school clothes now.
Qiao Yan picked out everything that was completely unwearable and put it into a large plastic bag, planning to throw it away as soon as it was light tomorrow.
Keeping these clothes in the wardrobe only took up space. They were useless and spoiled her mood.
Besides, her sister-in-law Song Zhenzhen’s belly was growing.
Once the baby was born, there would be plenty of things needed for feeding, clothing, and everyday care. When that happened, Qiao Yan would still have to clear out her wardrobe.
Whether she did it sooner or later, it would have to be done.
She might as well take the initiative and save herself the trouble later.
But the wardrobe had been in disrepair for years. Who knew how old this “antique” was? The slightest touch made it creak.
Before long, a tut came from next door.
“Look at the time. Aren’t you going to bed? Even if you don’t need to sleep, other people do!”
Qiao Yan’s hands paused. Thinking of her sister-in-law’s baby on the way, she could only abandon the task and leave it until tomorrow.
The next day brought more fine weather.
The good thing about Shen City’s weather was its steady temperature throughout the year. It never got too hot in midsummer or too cold in the depths of winter.
Back in her old life, the late-June sun would have been shining on Qiao Yan’s backside by seven or eight in the morning. There was no way she could have slept comfortably until nine or ten.
Shen City was different.
Whether it was late June or late February, the temperature stayed in the twenties. It was simply a little higher in the twenties in June and a little lower in late February.
And so Qiao Yan enjoyed a comfortable sleep.
Only when Mother Qiao entered the room carrying a feather duster did she jolt awake.
“What time is it?”
“What time? It’s almost lunchtime. What time do you think it is?”
Mother Qiao sounded irritated.
Qiao Yan rubbed her eyes, stretched, and climbed out of bed. The couple who slept in the neighboring bed were already gone, which was unusual.
“Where are they?”
Qiao Yan asked.
Mother Qiao folded her son and daughter-in-law’s bedding, then swept the feather duster over the sheet to smooth it out. “At the hospital. For a prenatal checkup.”
“Oh.”
Qiao Yan acknowledged this, thinking that explained why they had gone to bed so early last night.
She folded her own quilt, then resumed sorting through the wardrobe. Seeing her take out so many clothes to throw away, Mother Qiao was deeply pained by the waste.
“These clothes are still perfectly good. Why are you throwing them away?”
“They’re from when I was in primary school,” Qiao Yan said. “If I don’t throw them away, am I supposed to save them for my niece?”
“Pah, pah, pah! What niece? You and your nonsense.”
Mother Qiao reacted as though faced with a grave threat.
Qiao Yan had no time to entertain her outdated preference for boys. She simply carried on taking out the unwanted clothes to throw away, then picked out an outfit for that afternoon.
It was a plain white dress.
There wasn’t a trace of decorative trim on it, and its style was as simple and understated as could be.
Yet this ordinary-looking cotton dress had caught Qiao Yan’s eye the moment she saw it in the shop yesterday.
“I’m wearing this on my blind date today,” Qiao Yan said.
Mother Qiao instinctively glanced at the dress a few times before delivering her verdict. “It’s not pretty. Too plain.”
Qiao Yan paid her no mind. “What do you know? The simpler it is, the prettier it looks.”
As she spoke, she took out the white shoes she had worn yesterday.
“All right, all right. What do I know?”
Seeing that her daughter’s mind was made up, Mother Qiao offered no further opinions. She merely reminded her, “You’re short on time, so hurry on your way. Don’t be late.”
Actually, Qiao Yan didn’t need her mother to tell her how important first impressions were.
Last night, she had tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, repeatedly imagining what might happen on today’s blind date.
All right, Qiao Yan admitted it. She was a little nervous.
After all, this was the first blind date of her life.
Previously, she had only encountered blind-date anecdotes in novels or short videos. She had never imagined that one day it would be her turn.
And in 1995, no less!
Qiao Yan couldn’t help letting her imagination run wild.
Zhao Jin’s profile said he was 183 centimeters tall. Was he really that tall?
She had heard that many men exaggerated their height. A man claiming to be 180 centimeters might not even be 175.
And Zhao Jin looked so refined and handsome in the identification photograph on his profile. Could it have been Photoshopped?
She knew Meitu didn’t exist in this era, but did Photoshop?
Zhao Jin had studied computer science, after all.
Qiao Yan admitted that she really didn’t know! What if the promising prospect she had chosen so carefully turned out to have a face covered in acne?
In short, Qiao Yan felt deeply conflicted, with a faint sense of anticipation mixed with reluctance.
But conflicted or not, Qiao Yan was certainly not someone who let fear stop her at every turn.
Since she had gone to the matchmaking agency and chosen Zhao Jin, she would turn up on time for this afternoon’s blind date even if “thunder and lightning struck.”
And she wouldn’t merely arrive on time. She would get ready properly and turn up looking lovely.
So that afternoon, Mother Qiao watched her daughter bustle around the apartment making preparations.
First, she took a shower, washed her long, thick black hair, and let it air-dry. Then she changed her clothes, socks, and shoes.
Once her hair was dry, Qiao Yan combed it smooth. She didn’t braid it, letting it fall naturally instead, and fastened a sparkling rhinestone hair clip near the top of her head. It glittered in the sunlight.
She wore the dress she had picked out that morning.
But she added a thin brown leather belt around her waist.
The belt had originally belonged to Mother Qiao, who had given it to Qiao Yan after it began digging into her stomach. She had intended for her daughter to use it to hold up her trousers, never expecting it to become the perfect finishing touch to a dress.
Once Qiao Yan was dressed, even Mother Qiao, usually so merciless with her comments, brightened at the sight.
“My daughter really is beautiful. This blind date is sure to be a success.”
Qiao Yan smiled at her reflection in satisfaction. She hadn’t given much thought to making the date a success, but looking nice put her in a good mood.
Seeing that it was almost time, she picked up her one and only small bag, put her keys, tissues, money, and other necessities inside, and left home looking lovely.
The blind date was to take place at a small park in the middle of a street in Futian.
She had passed it yesterday and still remembered the way. After a few turns, she soon reached the agreed meeting place.
She had checked the time before leaving.
The walk from home to the park entrance should get her there right on time.
According to Aunt Liu, Zhao Jin would be waiting at the entrance with a rose.
But… the timing, location, and arrangements all matched. There was indeed someone holding a rose at the park entrance.
So why did he have a square face?!
=口=
Author’s Note:
Confirmed: Zhao Jin is a Photoshop master. (Just kidding.)