“Fine, you people surnamed Wan, so you were planning to humiliate my daughter all along! Pah!” The more Song Chunhua listened, the angrier she became. She never would have imagined that the old Wan family had intentions of breaking off the engagement. She simply grabbed the broom by the door of the main hall and swung it at Wang Guiying and the other two. “You people are shameless enough! How did you come to arrange the betrothal back then, don’t you remember? Your family had both a ‘stinking number nine’ and a capitalist—your class status was terrible. My family never looked down on you. We just thought Wan Decai was a decent man. Pah! This old lady was really blind!”
Her own daughter had been betrothed for three years and had waited three whole years. Song Chunhua couldn’t say she held no resentment in her heart, but every time she heard the old Wan family say Wan Decai was carrying out missions on the battlefield, she couldn’t bring herself to say anything more.
Now that he’d come back after being promoted and wanted to break off the engagement—what a ridiculous dream!
“Song Chunhua, what are you doing! We’re doing this for your family, for Lin Cui’s sake. Everyone can peacefully dissolve the engagement. Don’t make a scene—if this gets out, it won’t be good for Lin Cui’s reputation.” Wang Guiying was certain the woman’s family cared more about reputation. If word spread that she’d been jilted, it would be difficult to arrange a marriage in the future.
Hearing Wang Guiying mention reputation, Song Chunhua flew into an even greater rage.
She labored in the fields year-round and was a strong laborer who could earn full work points. Her grip was especially powerful. She swung the broom several times, beating Wang Guiying and her husband until they howled repeatedly. In the end, it was Wan Decai who grabbed the broom, finally stopping the commotion.
“Aunt Chunhua, this matter is our family’s fault. Don’t worry—I’ll take full responsibility for the reason behind breaking off the engagement. It definitely won’t affect Comrade Lin Cui’s reputation. Also, we’re willing to provide compensation…” Wan Decai’s parents had arranged the betrothal on their own initiative. When he later learned of it, he had already fallen deeply in love with the political commissar’s daughter. There was truly no way around it.
“Pah, what compensation? Who wants it!” Song Chunhua was at the peak of her fury. Thinking of how her daughter had been dragged along for three years, and that breaking off the engagement would ruin her reputation—she didn’t even know if her daughter could find another decent match. She was about to faint from anger when unexpectedly, a clear voice rang out from the corner of the room.
“Alright then, since Battalion Commander Wan also feels it’s all your family’s responsibility, I’ll be the one to name the compensation. Battalion Commander Wan should be able to satisfy it, right?” Lin Cui had listened to the Wan family jabber on and on, but she only grasped the key point of compensation. “Mother, you rest. Don’t be angry. We’re magnanimous people—we’ll give them a chance to compensate.”
After all, according to the plot development in the book, the Wan family broke off the engagement with her family, and Wan Decai offered thirty yuan as compensation. Because the matter was handled so dishonorably, her family couldn’t swallow their anger, refused to take a single cent, and directly drove the people out. Afterward, they opposed the Wan family at every turn.
But Wan Decai was the male protagonist in the book, with a powerful halo. The Wan family naturally rose with the tide. The Lin family, in the course of opposing the Wan family, could only keep suffering setbacks. Family members fell into misfortune one after another, faced setbacks, and ultimately none of them came to a good end.
Now that Lin Cui knew how the plot would develop, she naturally had to avoid it. Especially—the compensation could not be refused. She couldn’t let the Wan family get off cheap.
Wan Decai looked at the fellow villager he hadn’t seen in years, momentarily surprised that there was such a fair-skinned, pretty girl in the village, but he nodded calmly: “Comrade Lin Cui, go ahead and name it. As long as I can do it.”
Before coming, Wan Decai had already decided he was willing to give thirty yuan in compensation. This was not a small sum—it could equal an ordinary rural family’s savings for a whole year.
Just as he finished speaking, there was a commotion outside the Lin family door. Production Brigade Leader Sun Weiguo and the matchmaker Aunt Hongmei arrived one after the other, and were welcomed inside by Lin Xiaobao’s crisp shout: “Auntie, the people are here.”
Lin Cui turned to look at the reinforcements she had invited, hurriedly welcoming them in. She personally went to brew two cups of good tea—Pu’er tea cakes from the supply and marketing cooperative, rich and fragrant.
“What’s going on here?” Production Brigade Leader Sun Weiguo gripped his one-foot-long dry tobacco pipe. His old, sunken eyes swept over the people in the Lin family’s main hall, and he vaguely sensed something was off.
These two families—the Lin family looked ashen, the Wan family looked embarrassed. They didn’t seem like in-laws, but rather like enemies.
The only person in the room with a smile was Lin Cui: “Brigade Leader, isn’t it perfect that you’re here to serve as a witness? Three years ago, when the Wan family’s class status ran into problems, they thought of drawing closer to our family, so they simply had me and Battalion Commander Wan become sworn siblings—acknowledged as god-brother and god-sister. Who’d have thought it got misrepresented? Today Battalion Commander Wan has returned to the village, and you’re here just in time to witness it, so it won’t get misrepresented again in the future.”
“What?” Sun Weiguo couldn’t believe his ears. Three years ago, the two had clearly been betrothed—how had they become siblings? “You were sworn kin?”
“That’s right. Given the Wan family’s situation back then, my family is a three-generation poor peasant household, and my grandfather was a martyr—you know that too. How could we be suitable for marriage? The class status gap was too big.” Lin Cui didn’t spare the Wan family’s feelings at all. What they’d been scheming back then—who didn’t know?
Seeing the Wan family’s expressions grow uglier, Lin Cui’s smile widened: “Battalion Commander Wan is grateful for our family’s help back then, and also concerned about my—his god-sister’s—marriage prospects, so he voluntarily offered to cover all three major items for my marriage: a watch, a sewing machine, and a bicycle. Not one less. And wouldn’t you know, I just happened to bring Aunt Hongmei here to help with matchmaking.”
Sun Weiguo stood frozen in shock. The three major items for marriage were both expensive and hard to buy. Village people could work ten years and still not save enough to buy the three major items, not to mention that watch coupons, sewing machine coupons, and bicycle coupons were even harder to get.
Wan Decai was this generous?
The Wan family naturally couldn’t be this generous. Even when Wan Decai was preparing to marry the political commissar’s daughter, he hadn’t planned to buy all three major items—that would cost four or five hundred yuan! Especially since all kinds of coupons were so hard to obtain. This would practically empty the family’s savings.
Wang Guiying was dumbstruck: “Lin Cui, what are you saying…”
“Aunt Guiying, Battalion Commander Wan.” Lin Cui’s gaze swept over them, and she smiled unhurriedly. “Did I say something wrong? Three years ago, the Wan family formed a sworn kinship with our family to ease their class status problem. Battalion Commander Wan, to express his gratitude, wanted to cover all three major items for my—his god-sister’s—marriage. Or is it… that you think the two families were betrothed three years ago, and now you want to dishonorably break off the engagement? That would sound terrible if it got out, and it wouldn’t be good for your reputations either. Besides…”
Lin Cui well understood the principle of striking the snake at its vital point, and spoke with a smile: “I heard Battalion Commander Wan is about to marry the daughter of his unit’s political commissar. If these words spread, especially if they reach the military unit, it wouldn’t sound good at all.”
Lin Cui’s unhurried words left the Wan family speechless.
The Wan family naturally didn’t want the matter to blow up. After all, their family was in the wrong, and especially with the marriage to the political commissar’s daughter imminent, if word of the broken engagement reached the political commissar’s ears, the marriage might not even happen.
Wan Decai was shaken to the core—both worried that his marriage to the political commissar’s daughter might face obstacles, and unable to believe his eyes as he looked at Lin Cui, astonished by this girl who had grown up in the countryside, who looked delicate and weak but spoke with such sharp, incisive words.
“What do you say, Battalion Commander Wan?” Lin Cui suddenly raised her eyes to look at Wan Decai, a faint smile playing at the corners of her lips, as if certain that Wan Decai would agree.
“Yes, Brigade Leader. Everything Comrade Lin Cui said, we will do.” Wan Decai didn’t dare gamble, and couldn’t afford to gamble. He could only agree to all of Lin Cui’s demands. “It’s just that bicycle coupons, sewing machine coupons, and watch industrial coupons are hard to find. I can’t get them all at once.”
“Then get them done before your home leave ends. But you’ll need to write it on paper under the Brigade Leader’s witness, sign it, and put your fingerprint on it.” Lin Cui didn’t want to suffer another silent loss. She fished out a pre-prepared document from her pocket and watched as Wan Decai signed in the column for the promisor.
Seeing the note taken back by Lin Cui, folded, and placed back in her pocket, Wan Decai stared blankly at the bright red mark on his thumb, vaguely feeling that things were developing to the brink of losing control—as if everything shouldn’t have turned out this way.
Hearing the satisfactory answer, the corners of Lin Cui’s mouth curved upward. She turned to the matchmaker, Aunt Hongmei: “Aunt Hongmei, all three major items for marriage will be covered by my god-brother. I’ll trouble you to help me find a match. My god-brother, Battalion Commander Wan, is especially concerned about my marriage. Once it’s settled, I won’t forget to thank you. My requirements for a partner aren’t high. First, his class status must be good—after all, my family has been poor peasants for three generations, and my grandfather was a martyr who sacrificed himself during the commune’s flood-fighting and emergency rescue. Our whole family has red roots. Also, my partner’s family must be trustworthy and keep their word—not shameless and spineless.”
Every phrase—”good class status” here, “must keep their word” there—was like a resounding slap across the Wan family’s faces. If the Lin family had thrown a hysterical fit, it would have been easy to disgust people and give the Wan family the psychological comfort that breaking off the engagement had indeed been the right choice. But now, Lin Cui spoke with a smile, and there wasn’t a single fault to be picked in her words—yet they were like needles stabbing into the Wan family’s hearts.
Wan Decai’s face burned with embarrassment. All the reasons and mental preparations he’d built up for himself before returning home crumbled in an instant.
The village girl he’d originally disdained as uneducated and lacking intellectual pursuits had actually mocked him like this—yet he had no way to refute it.
Wang Guiying and her husband also wore ugly expressions, gloomy as liver-colored faces. Who couldn’t tell that Lin Cui’s words carried hidden barbs, ridiculing them in a roundabout way? But words had been pushed to this point, and yet they couldn’t be scolded for it. The frustration in their hearts was truly hard to bear.
Lin Wei, who had just been angered by the Wan family’s broken engagement, let out a snicker. He noticed his sister was getting cleverer and cleverer. He was enjoying the moment when a slap landed on the back of his head.
Song Chunhua, who had just been furiously swinging the broom, shot her son a glare, silently warning the boy not to drag his sister down. Then she turned to look at her daughter, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly.
Her daughter was worthy of having attended high school—with higher education, she could really scold people. Without a single dirty word, she could scold the Wan family until they couldn’t talk back at all.
Sun Weiguo gripped his tobacco pipe tighter and tighter. The more he looked at the Wan and Lin families, the more something seemed off. Was this a marriage or a sworn kinship? And if it was a sworn kinship, why was there all this mocking?
But both parties insisted it was a sworn kinship, and they even wanted to watch Lin Cui find a matchmaker to pick a partner. Brigade Leader Sun had no way to say anything more.
Aunt Hongmei, as the most famous matchmaker within ten miles, had never witnessed such a scene. First, a betrothed couple became siblings. Then, the betrothed man was going to cover all three major items for the woman’s marriage. Good heavens, that was far too generous.
Thinking of building some connection with Wan Decai, who had been promoted to battalion commander, Aunt Hongmei patted her chest: “Cuicui, what kind of partner you want, Auntie understands. Don’t worry—Auntie will dig through every village within ten miles and definitely find you someone satisfactory! Someone who satisfies you, and satisfies Battalion Commander Wan too.”
Turning her head, Aunt Hongmei looked at the Wan family, who still hadn’t said a word. Her burning gaze fixed on Wan Decai, her face full of delight: “Battalion Commander Wan, you’re so kind-hearted, truly sincere to your god-sister. You prepare the three major items, and Auntie will definitely handle it properly!”
Wan Decai pressed his thin lips tightly together. There was truly not a trace of joy to be found on his face.
Lin Cui paid no mind to what others were thinking. Glancing at the sauce-colored faces of the Wan family of three, the curve of her lips grew wider. She continued speaking to the matchmaker: “Aunt Hongmei, there are two more points. I want to find a partner who is tall and big, and even stronger—able to work and earn full work points. Oh, and he has to be handsome too.”
Lin Cui was a pragmatic girl. Nowadays, with communal eating, having no strength meant it was hard to survive. In the countryside, strong men were the most sought after—that meant they could contribute to building houses, repairing roofs, and making furniture, could earn full work points working in the fields, and at year’s end, when grain was distributed, the family wouldn’t go hungry.
She herself wasn’t cut out for field work. She’d been frail and sickly since childhood, and later she’d studied all the way to high school. After graduating, she’d been doted on by her family and had never worked in the fields. In the future, when she married, she naturally had to find a tall, strong partner.
As for looks—if he were ugly as a misshapen melon or cracked date, wouldn’t that wrong her eyes? Of course she had to have requirements for that too.
In the main hall, the discussion about Lin Cui finding a partner grew lively and heated. On the other side, Lin Fugui, who had been called to help repair the commune’s winnowing machines after work, was drenched in sweat.
The brigade’s grain-drying yard had four winnowing machines. During harvest season, the winnowing machines ran continuously, able to go twenty hours without stopping. They were the commune’s treasures.
But now—the winnowing machine on the left had clearly suffered unspeakable destruction. Its body was split into four or five pieces, unrecognizable, lying on the ground like a puddle of mud.
Lin Fugui’s eyes went wide. His hand pointing at the ground trembled slightly: “This… who did this? Which brigade couldn’t stand the sight of us and sent someone to smash it with an iron hammer? Or did the Japanese devils enter the village!”
Too hateful. What kind of grudge was this big, to dismantle a winnowing machine into eight pieces!
The commune’s scorekeeper beside him slowly looked toward the tall figure in the corner of the grain-drying yard: “Uncle Fugui, no one did it. I got tired from cranking the winnowing machine, so I asked Uncle Wan’s family’s newly found only son to help crank it and winnow the grain. But he only cranked it twice, and the winnowing machine collapsed!”
The scorekeeper was dumbfounded, and Lin Fugui was equally stunned listening. His gaze slowly moved and finally settled on the man standing to the side, who had destroyed public property yet wore a blank expression.
Having lived over fifty years, Lin Fugui had never seen such a tall man. Just letting his gaze linger on him took extra time.
This man was a full head and a half taller than himself—estimated to be over 1.9 meters. In an era of hunger and cold, when everyone was sallow and gaunt, and heights of 1.5 to 1.6 meters were common everywhere, someone like this was undoubtedly a giant.
Yet this only son of Old Wan’s family was tall and powerfully built. Just standing there, he was like a mountain—towering and immovable. Below his half-sleeve shirt were vigorous muscles, with faintly visible blue veins.
Lin Fugui’s anger from moments ago instantly dissipated. Too, too tall and big. Then he looked at the winnowing machine that had fallen apart after being cranked just once—strength, his strength was also too great.
This, was this still human?