Lu Jiaxin and Xue Mao were pulling weeds in the courtyard when someone knocked at the door. Opening it, they found it was Liao Xiangmei.
Bringing her inside, Jiaxin poured her a glass of water. “We just moved in, so there’s nothing much here, I hope you won’t mind the poor hospitality, Auntie Liao.”
Hearing this, Liao Xiangmei felt a pang of sadness, her foolish son’s blunder had put a distance between her and this girl. “You don’t have anything here at all, didn’t your father say anything about that?”
Jiaxin certainly wasn’t going to speak up for him. “He said he already gave me all the money, so he doesn’t have the means to furnish anything else for me. After a lot of back and forth, he finally agreed to buy me a watch and a cassette recorder for studying English.”
“I’m planning to buy furniture at the secondhand market. But I’m not familiar with the place, so I’ll wait until Sunday and have Fifth Brother take me, otherwise those vendors will see how young Xue Mao and I are and try to fleece us.”
After thinking it over, Liao Xiangmei still said, “Xinxin, all of that is just talk to placate you. He’s worked at the department store for so many years, there’s no way his savings are only a few thousand yuan. Whatever you’re missing, ask him for it, and if he refuses, make a scene like you did that day.”
“Xinxin, don’t feel embarrassed about it. He’s your father, asking him for things is only natural. If you don’t, it’ll only end up benefiting that venomous mother and daughter.”
Jiaxin said, somewhat helplessly, “I don’t understand the reasoning behind it, but if he says he has no money, there’s nothing I can do.”
In the minds of most Chinese people, parents raised you, so you owed them gratitude, and once they grew old you were meant to care for and serve them dutifully. Speaking ill of your parents to others made you an ungrateful, unfilial child. A little complaining about Lu Hongjun was one thing, but outright blame or scolding was another.
Liao Xiangmei said, somewhat angrily, “His own daughter got driven out of the house and he won’t even help, what kind of father is that? I’ll go find your father later and make him furnish this place properly for you.”
Jiaxin could hardly have hoped for better. If Lu Hongjun could be pushed into buying everything she needed, she’d save herself a huge sum of money. Right now, with money tight, every yuan saved counted.
Liao Xiangmei took a palm-sized wooden box out of her handbag and handed it to Jiaxin. “This was the token your mother gave at the time, keep it safe.”
Jiaxin took it and opened it to find a twin-lotus jade pendant inside. She examined the pendant, warm and delicate in texture, pure white in color, with a soft, gentle luster.
Remembering the jade pendant she’d had Xue Mao trade for eighty yuan, Jiaxin asked, “Auntie Liao, my mother loved jadeite and jade, did she collect any jade jewelry?”
The original owner had never seen her mother wear any jade jewelry, but Jiaxin suspected her mother must have collected quite a few exquisite pieces. When someone loves something enough and has the chance to own it, they’ll find a way, even knowing the risk.
Liao Xiangmei nodded. “Your mother happened to acquire a few pieces two years before you were born. She loved them so much she took the risk of keeping them. Later, once she had you, she told me she planned to make them part of your dowry.”
“Which pieces were they, Auntie Liao? Do you still remember?”
Liao Xiangmei thought it over and said, “Besides this twin-lotus pendant and the one you were wearing, there was also a bracelet and a Hetian jade hairpin. I’m not sure if she bought anything else after that.”
The political climate had been very tense in those years, and with Jiaxin so young, this had never been discussed. Now that policies had relaxed and Jiaxin had grown so much more decisive, there was no longer any fear in speaking of it.
She already knew about the two pendants, one she’d sold, one she now held. But the bracelet and hairpin were a complete mystery to her. She had no idea whether these items were with Lu Hongjun or had been entrusted to someone else.
Liao Xiangmei asked with concern which school Jiaxin planned to retake her exams at. This year had already been derailed, but with Jiaxin’s grades, she was certain the girl would pass next year.
Jiaxin shook her head. “I went to the hospital for a full checkup this morning, and the doctor said my body can’t handle such intense studying right now, so I won’t be retaking the exam for the time being.”
Liao Xiangmei had noticed her pale complexion yesterday and had known she was in poor health, this visit, she’d brought milk powder and honey and other health-building foods. “That’s the right call. Health is what matters most, without it, nothing else matters.”
Like Xiaoxia, sacrificing her own life to save someone else’s child, only to benefit some other woman while her own daughter suffered for it.
Jiaxin said that was exactly her plan.
After chatting for a while, Liao Xiangmei prepared to leave, saying before she went, “Xinxin, call me if you ever need anything.”
Jiaxin declined tactfully. “Auntie Liao, you don’t need to worry about me. After everything I’ve been through, I can take care of myself now.”
Liao Xiangmei’s spirits dimmed. This child kept refusing her kindness time and again, it seemed the distance between them was real now. She’d originally wanted to have Fan Yinuo come apologize to Jiaxin, hoping it might smooth things over somewhat, but that wretched boy refused to come back at all, leaving only a note saying he’d be staying at a friend’s place for a few days.
Not just her, but even old Fan had been furious about it. Committing such a grave mistake and not even having the nerve to come apologize, with no sense of responsibility or accountability like that, what would the boy ever amount to?
Jiaxin walked her to the mouth of the alley. “Auntie Liao, Fifth Brother said we should set up a couple of tables to celebrate the new house, I’ll let you know once we’ve settled on a date.”
Only then did a smile appear on Liao Xiangmei’s face. “A housewarming is such a big event, I’ll definitely come.”
Once she’d seen her off, Jiaxin went back to pulling weeds with Xue Mao.
“Jiaxin, Xue Mao, come help carry things!”
The two of them walked out to find Lu Jiajie and his wife Ma Lili, along with a brand new tricycle cart parked beside them.
Ma Lili had fair skin and pleasant features, and worked at the department store. Back when Lu Jiajie had courted her, part of it was thanks to having Lu Hongjun, the general manager, as his uncle, and part of it was that the Ma family had no sons and wanted to recruit him as a son-in-law to carry on the family line. But his second uncle and aunt hadn’t agreed to that, and after negotiation, it was settled that their second child would take the surname Ma. Unfortunately, that second child turned out to be a girl, and not long after her birth, family planning policy came into effect, turning the original agreement into a worthless piece of paper.
Jiaxin greeted them with a bright smile. “Fifth Sister-in-law, what brings you here?”
Ma Lili took both her hands and looked her over carefully. “You’ve gotten darker, and thinner too, and your complexion isn’t good, you really need to take care of yourself.”
Jiaxin nodded in agreement, then brought the couple inside.
Once in the courtyard, Lu Jiajie dug a watch and a cassette recorder out of a pile of things in the tricycle cart. “Jiaxin, Third Uncle says he’ll get you the rest of the things gradually.”
Jiaxin took the watch and looked it over, a Plum Blossom brand watch, one of the top brands domestically. She put it on her wrist, then looked at the rice, flour, oil, and other items in the cart and asked, “Who bought all this?”
Lu Jiajie said with a smile, “Your father, of course. Also, your dad agreed to give you thirty-six yuan a month for living expenses.”
Jiaxin was quite surprised. “How did he agree to that?”
Lu Jiajie said with a smile, “I’m the one who brought it up. He wouldn’t agree for the longest time, it was only after Big Brother called him that he finally gave in.”
When Big Brother stepped in, that was worth double the effort.
“Thank you, Fifth Brother.” Even though she knew she wouldn’t be keeping this money for long, she was still genuinely touched by the sentiment.
“Say that again and I’ll get mad.”
Jiaxin said with a smile, “This is the last time. From now on, no more formalities between us.”
“That’s more like it.”