Speaking of which, Liu Manli also worked as a caregiver in the hospital before.
Of course, being a caregiver was just a cover. Her specialty was to swindle money from rich old men. When their families found out, she would insist that it was a gift for her excellent care.
After being kicked out of the hospital, Shi Hongmei followed in her mother’s footsteps, so there was no way she could be deceived about the tricks involved.
Having seen it all before, Shi Hongxing calmly ate his egg pancake, like an immortal from another world.
“Shh,” Shi Ronggui put his finger to his lips, signaling for quiet, and growled with a dark expression, “Let’s go out together. We’ll take Hongxing to school, and you’ll go to the hospital to switch to the night shift.”
Shi Hongmei’s eyes welled up with tears as she rubbed her scalp, which was still sore from Liu Manli’s grip: “I know.”
Hearing the family leave, Jiang Yan quickly came out of her room and peeked out the window.
With each passing day, she was one day closer to the incident involving her adoptive parents. She was burning with anxiety, wishing she could leave for Nan Province right now.
But she had no money. If she went to Nan Province, even her own living expenses would be a problem, let alone helping the two elders.
She knew very well why the couple hadn’t taken the household registration booklet to the neighborhood committee to sign her up for going to the countryside today.
It was the perfect opportunity to play along and get money from them.
An hour later, at the back door of the hospital, Liu Manli poked Shi Hongmei’s forehead and cursed, “Shameless thing! You’re dawdling so much to switch shifts, do you want to die?”
Shi Hongmei endured the pain: “The patient’s family said they would stay with him at night. If I can’t stay during the day, then forget it. They’re paying so much, they won’t have trouble finding another caregiver. If it’s not urgent, Mom and Dad, can I still work the day shift?”
Her biological parents were petty criminals on the streets. If they couldn’t make it, her father would carry heavy loads at the docks, and her mother would sweep the streets and collect slop. All their hopes were pinned on their son, Shi Hongxing.
But they would never drag their precious son down. All their hopes of improving their social status rested on their daughters.
Jiang Yan had thwarted their plans, and now they were going to make her marry a man worse than Section Chief Zhu.
Therefore, she would rather stay with the tuberculosis patient than go with them.
“Are you going to say that to me again?” Liu Manli raised her hand to hit her, but Shi Ronggui stopped her and scoffed, “If you don’t want to come with us, then fine. You don’t have to give the money for nursing the tuberculosis patient to your mother this time. You can use it to buy things for going to the countryside yourself.” Saying that, he started to leave.
Her head buzzed. Shi Hongmei jumped forward and grabbed Shi Ronggui’s arm: “Dad! Why am I going to the countryside? Didn’t you say only one person per family needs to go? Jiang Yan has already agreed to go, so why do I have to go?”
A woman she had nursed not long ago was a sent-down youth who had returned to the city. While transplanting rice seedlings in the countryside, she was bitten by a leech. Her lower leg atrophied into a disability, and she would never marry into a good family in her lifetime.
“Speak any louder and the whole world will hear you.”
Shi Ronggui roared, and Shi Hongmei dared not speak loudly anymore. She pleaded tearfully in a small voice, “Dad, please. As long as you don’t make me go to the countryside, I’ll do anything.”
Shi Ronggui and Liu Manli exchanged glances, cleared their throats, and said, “I can let you not go to the countryside, but will you marry Director Sun’s son?”
Shi Hongmei felt a surge of bitterness in her heart.
Her guess was indeed correct.
Director Sun’s son had a lapse in judgment. He didn’t park the crane properly at the ladder. When he opened the crane door to get out, he stepped on empty air and fell, becoming paralyzed from the waist down. If she married him, she would be a widow for life.
“Dad, how about… how about you promise me to Section Chief Zhu?”
Section Chief Zhu, at least, was capable of intimacy and could arrange for her to work in an office.
Shi Ronggui sneered, “If Director Zhu fancied you, would yesterday’s incident have happened? If you don’t marry Director Sun’s son, then go home, pack your things, and wait to go to the countryside.”
“I’ll marry him!” Shi Hongmei sobbed.
Marrying a paralyzed man was better than suffering in the countryside, even if it was in the city.
“Alright then.” Shi Ronggui looked around to make sure no one was watching. “You’ll come with us to the household registration office. You’ll say you are Jiang Yan. Once her name is added to our household registration book, she can use the book to sign up for going to the countryside, and you won’t have to go.”
Shi Hongmei was puzzled: “Didn’t you say that as soon as Jiang Yan came to our house, you added her name to our household registration book?”
She at least knew that the household registration office and the police station were in the same place. What if they were caught impersonating someone there?
“Shut up! Are you going to impersonate her to get the household registration done or not? If not, you can wait to go to the countryside!”
Shi Hongmei had no choice. The family of three went to the household registration office. When it was their turn, Shi Ronggui made Shi Hongmei sit on a stool, while he and Liu Manli stood on either side like guards.
The staff member behind the counter looked through the documents one by one and asked questions. Shi Ronggui, as the head of the household, answered flawlessly. Coupled with Liu Manli’s agreement as the mother, they soon reached the identity verification stage.
Picking up an identification document, the staff member asked Shi Hongmei, “You are Jiang Yan.”
Shi Hongmei clasped her hands together in her lap, her heart pounding with nervousness. After all, she didn’t have the street smarts of parents who had been involved in society since childhood.
But even if she were foolish, she knew that identification document was fake. The stamp from the neighborhood committee on it was from the female cadre.
Shi Ronggui and Liu Manli said in unison, “Yes, comrade, she is our daughter, Jiang Yan.”
“You two have been doing all the talking,” the staff member said with dissatisfaction. “After all, it’s about her household registration transfer, and she’s already an adult. Can you let her answer this question herself?”
“Yes, yes, let her answer herself.”
Shi Ronggui agreed with a fawning smile, stepping on Shi Hongmei’s foot underneath.
“Yanyan, quickly answer the comrade,” Liu Manli also smiled fawningly, pinching Shi Hongmei’s back.
The pain made Shi Hongmei almost jump out of the stool. “Yes, I am, Jiang Yan.”
Didn’t others have eyes? Although the staff member found it strange, they couldn’t pinpoint why. They glared at the couple and said responsibly to Shi Hongmei, “Jiang Yan, you should think carefully. Once your household registration in Kyoto is moved out, it’s very difficult to move it back.”
Shi Hongmei lowered her head: “…I know, I am willing.”
The staff member said no more, letting the head of the household, Shi Ronggui, sign the transfer form, followed by “Jiang Yan.”
Shi Ronggui quickly signed his name. He tilted his head and watched Shi Hongmei sign the two characters “Jiang Yan.” A stone in his heart finally landed, when suddenly someone laughed:
“Officer Zhang, didn’t you just come yesterday to deliver the documents? We didn’t say anything was missing, so why are you here again today?”
His eyes widened “swish.” Shi Ronggui turned his head and saw the female cadre from yesterday talking to a staff member at another counter:
“I’m here to inform you that the household registration transfer for the batch of young people going to the countryside that I sent yesterday should be temporarily postponed. The documents for one more person haven’t been brought yet. When they are brought, you can process them all together to save you trouble.”
Shi Ronggui quickly signaled his wife to stay calm, as they weren’t there to catch them in the act.
As long as they remained calm, there were several counters between them and the female cadre. She might not see them, and even if she did, she wouldn’t know what they were doing.