Quite a few people in Qigu Xiang were hoping to see some excitement tonight, including several households living in Building 6. After dinner, adults and children alike lingered in the courtyard, and some even stood brazenly by the staircase of the annex, staring at the Zhan family.
"Isn’t it said that Zhan Guocheng’s mother came over? Why is there no movement at all?"
"In the five years since the Zhan family moved here, this is the first time I’ve seen his mother and brother visit."
"Well, you don’t know—Hong Huiying doesn’t get along with her mother-in-law."
"Was that kid just dragged out by Wenbin the son of Widow Qin?"
"Yes, it was him. I heard that kid just got hired at our factory a few days ago."
In the Zhan family’s living room, Hong Huiying sat by the square table, her head lowered, tears falling one after another. In just one day, the flesh on her face seemed to have sagged, making her look utterly haggard.
The gray-haired Mrs. Su, with her round face, sat small on the sofa. At this moment, her brows were also filled with worry.
"Sister-in-law," Ma Yanling, Zhan Guoli’s wife, walked out from the kitchen. "Where are your teacups?" This was also her first time in this small Western-style building. If it weren’t for her eldest brother treating them well, she wouldn’t have wanted to step into this fancy place, offering warmth where it wasn’t welcomed.
Hong Huiying acted as if she hadn’t heard, not even lifting her head.
Zhu Hongmei, standing against the wall, glanced at her mother-in-law and turned to the cupboard. "I’ll get them."
"Isn’t Linlin supposed to get off work at five?" Zhan Guoli, sitting next to his mother, looked at the clock on the five-drawer cabinet. "It’s already seven-thirty. Why hasn’t she come back yet?"
"Linlin didn’t go to work today." Hong Huiying pulled a handkerchief from her pants pocket to blow her nose.
"If she didn’t go to work, where is she?" It was already dark outside, and Zhan Guoli had noticed when he arrived that Zhan Lin’s bicycle wasn’t in the shed.
After waiting a few seconds without a response, Mrs. Su also looked at Hong Huiying. Hong Huiying sniffled and said, "She was home when I came back at noon."
Zhan Shumin, who looked exactly like her mother, Mrs. Su, brought two cups of tea into the living room. She placed one on the coffee table in front of her mother and handed the other to Hong Huiying. "Sister-in-law, have some tea."
Hong Huiying tossed the handkerchief onto the table. "Thank you."
Wen Hongjun, leaning against the doorframe of Zhan Lin’s room, seeing Hong Huiying’s lifeless demeanor, crossed his arms and signaled to his wife to come over and stay put.
Zhan Shumin was used to it—her sister-in-law’s disdain for them wasn’t a new thing. Mrs. Su turned to her second son and said, "Go downstairs and tell Wenbin and Wenkai to look for Linlin at Yuanqian Hutong."
"Alright." Just as Zhan Guoli stood up, the front door was pushed open from the outside. Zhan Wenbin, wearing a white shirt and army-green pants, led his tall and sturdy cousin back inside. "The person’s been sent off."
"Did you see Linlin downstairs?" Zhu Hongmei served tea to her second uncle and brother-in-law. Zhan Wenbin gestured backward with his chin. "She’s right behind."
Zhan Lin pushed Zhan Wenkai into the room. "Don’t block the doorway."
"You go, you go," Zhan Wenkai quickly made way for his sister. Zhan Lin entered the room, closed the door with a snap, and greeted everyone. "Grandma, Second Uncle, Second Aunt, Aunt, Uncle."
"Where have you been? Why are you back so late?" Mrs. Su stood up.
"I went out to inquire about something." Zhan Lin motioned for her grandmother to sit. She went back to her room to put down her bag and brought out some red shrimp crisps and peach crisps. "Sister-in-law, there are still two boxes of osmanthus cakes in our five-drawer cabinet."
Zhu Hongmei's favorite thing about her sister-in-law was her straightforwardness. Zhan Wenbin didn't let his wife lift a finger and opened the five-drawer cabinet himself: "Sis, would you like some malted milk powder?"
"Yes." Zhan Lin placed the walnut cookies and red shrimp crackers on a plate and brought them to the coffee table. Zhan Guoli didn't stand on ceremony, first taking a walnut cookie for his mother: "What were you out asking about?"
"What else could I be asking about?" Zhan Lin nudged her second aunt toward the sofa to sit: "Aunt, Uncle, you two grab stools and come sit over here. What are you standing there for?"
Wen Hongjun took the two stools handed to him by his nephew and niece-in-law, placed them beside the coffee table, and pulled his wife down to sit: "What did you find out?"
"Everyone's just waiting to watch the show. What could I possibly find out at a time like this?" Once all the elders had their tea, Zhan Lin headed toward the bathroom.
"This matter…" Wen Hongjun glanced sideways at Hong Huiying before looking at the young couple, Wenbin and Hongmei: "What's done is done. There's no point blaming anyone now. The urgent thing is how to minimize the damage. You need to be mentally prepared—your dad is definitely going to be stripped of his position this time."
"We know." Zhan Wenbin had gotten the news at noon and immediately went home to see his mother-in-law. His mother-in-law had gone to the Armed Forces Department in the afternoon and came back saying the same thing.
Zhu Hongmei: "What we're afraid of now is Qin Xiaoqin turning around and biting back." The nature of Gao Po Xie and rape are completely different.
"Qin Xiaoqin wouldn't dare. She still has a son." Zhan Guoli had been driving trucks for nearly twenty years and was a rough, straightforward man.
Zhan Wenbin: "Not necessarily. As soon as my dad got into trouble this morning, Shi Xiangying immediately rushed to the power plant to complete his employment procedures, but he didn't succeed. The personnel department at the power plant said he had been reported. Just now, when Wenkai and I were sending him off, he kept hinting about work the whole way. I sensed a bit of a threat in his tone."
"So, we have to find him a job too?" Zhan Wenkai was unhappy. Why should they? If it weren't for the fact that Qin Xiaoqin had once saved their aunt, he would have beaten that bastard eighteen times over already.
"I…" Zhan Wenbin had just started speaking when he saw his mother stand up and walk toward the master bedroom.
The sound of the door slamming shook the walls, and the living room seemed to freeze over.
After finishing up, Zhan Lin walked out of the bathroom and went straight to the study. She opened the cabinet beneath the bookshelf, cradling two bottles of Maotai in her left arm and holding two cartons of cigarettes in her right. Returning to the living room under the astonished gazes of everyone, she said to her brother, "There's plenty more. Go get them."
"Sis, sis, I'll do it, I'll do it." Zhan Wenkai jumped up from his stool to take the things. Oh my god, he wanted them.
Zhan Guoli moved the three plates of snacks on the coffee table aside to make room for his good niece: "We don't need these now. Who knows who they'll end up benefiting if we keep them?"
Glancing at the tightly shut master bedroom, Zhan Wenbin went to the study and brought out all his father's cigarettes and liquor in two trips.
"We'll do our best to reach out to any connections we can." Zhan Lin looked at her grandmother: "As for my dad's situation, we can only do what we can."
The elderly Mrs. Su wiped her aged eyes. "He brought this on himself, so he should suffer the consequences. I warned him long ago—he has a family, and he shouldn't get involved where he shouldn't. Back on the refugee road, Qin Xiaoqin did save your eldest aunt, but we also brought her all the way to Weiyang City and taught her to read. When she got married, I privately added to her dowry. Later, when her husband died, your eldest aunt and I accompanied her to the neighborhood committee and the factory union, preventing her in-laws from taking the job her husband left behind. We even helped her exchange that job for a position as a sales clerk at the supply and marketing cooperative. We owe her nothing."
"Big Brother has rarely visited Qin Xiaoqin's home these past two years. Before, it was only because he pitied her young son and worried they’d be bullied as a widow and orphan. He’d stop by for a few minutes every ten days or half a month, always with the door wide open." Zhan Shumin’s brows were tightly furrowed. "Who knows what happened today?"
She had advised her brother many times—Qin Xiaoqin had her and their mother looking out for her, so he shouldn’t get involved. Every time, her brother said he knew his limits. Limits? What limits?
"He shouldn’t have gone at all." Ma Yanling scratched behind her ear.
Wen Hongjun took out a bottle of special supply liquor and a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes. "My old superior likes these. I’ll take them over to him in a bit."
He had been troubled lately too. Their supply bureau was undergoing reforms, merging with several sister departments. Originally, he had hoped to compete for the position of procurement section chief, but with his brother-in-law’s incident, that was out of the question.
"Take another bottle." Zhu Hongmei pushed another bottle of special supply liquor toward him. "The supply bureau is reforming. You have the seniority—you should fight for it."
Zhan Lin also handed two packs of cigarettes to her second uncle. "We need to find a way to see my father as soon as possible."
"Sis," Zhan Wenbin passed the pack of filtered Chunghwa cigarettes across the table. "Huang Yu, the eldest son of Huang Baishan from the Shi Ge Hui, was Ning Yunshu’s university classmate."
Ask Ning Yunshu to pull strings and save her father? Zhan Lin didn’t dare even think about it. She stared at the Chunghwa cigarettes held out before her. "Brother, I’m not as close to Ning Yunshu as you are to Brother Yunshu."
"Aren’t you two married?" Zhan Wenkai snorted in frustration.
Ma Yanling immediately gave her foolish son a sharp knock on the head. "Shut up. Your breath reeks of leeks."
At half past nine in the evening, Zhan Lin and her siblings-in-law saw their grandmother off. By then, many households had turned off their lights, and Qigu Xiang was empty and quiet.
"Are you going back tonight?" Zhan Shumin asked her eldest nephew.
Zhan Wenbin replied, "Yes. Only my mother-in-law and Qingqing are at home."
Ma Yanling added, "Then you should go back. Don’t bother seeing us off—it’s almost ten."
Zhan Lin held her grandmother’s arm and stopped. "Actually, I did hear some news today."
Hearing this, everyone paused and looked at her.
Zhan Lin continued, "My mother went to Dao Bamen this afternoon to find an Auntie Hu Lantou."
"Hu Lantou?" Ma Yanling asked her sister-in-law. "Isn’t Qin Xiaoqin’s neighbor across the hall the one with the Hu Lantou hairstyle?"
Zhan Shumin nodded. "Yes, her name is Jiang Daxia. Her husband works on the railways. A few years ago, over a work dispute, she smashed her sister-in-law’s head open with a brick. It even went to the police station. Later, she returned the job to her sister-in-law, and only then did her sister-in-law write a letter of understanding to let her off."
"Returned it?" Zhan Lin asked. "Wasn’t the job hers?"
Zhan Shumin shook her head. "No, the job was originally bought by her in-laws for her sister-in-law. But when they bought it, her sister-in-law was still in school and too young to take over, so they let her work it temporarily."
Ma Yanling: "I'm free tomorrow. I'll grab two handfuls of melon seeds and go wander around Dao Bamen after lunchtime."
Zhan Lin: "There's one more thing. On the night of the 15th, Shi Xiangying went to Old Lady Feng's place in the side room of Compound No. 11 at Nancaishikou and bought ten yuan's worth of Huanqingxiang."
"What?" Zhan Wenbin was shocked. "Where did you hear that?"
Wen Hongjun and Zhan Guoli's expressions turned serious, and they asked in low voices, "Are you sure?"
Zhan Lin: "A friend told me. The information is definitely reliable."
Old Lady Su clasped her hands together. "Does this mean your father might still have a chance?"
"Don't get your hopes up too much. Big Brother went to see Qin Xiaoqin during work hours. That mistake can't be erased no matter what." Wen Hongjun even wondered if his brother-in-law had been possessed by something unclean.
"I'll go find someone to verify this information again." Zhan Guoli patted his niece's shoulder. "You're really something."
"Let's go, let's go." Ma Yanling linked arms with her mother-in-law with one hand and pulled her son with the other, urging Zhan Lin and the others to head back quickly.
Watching the group walk away, Zhan Lin pulled out the ration coupons from the small inner pocket of her waistband. By the moonlight, she found the coupons for San Zhuan Yi Xiang and the television, then turned and handed them to her brother. "Take these. Same as before, we must see Dad as soon as possible."
Zhan Wenbin took the coupons, brought them closer to examine them, and was shocked once again. He looked up at his sister and asked, "Where did you get these?"
"I found them." Zhan Lin swung her arms as she walked away.
Zhan Wenbin: "Where did you find them?"
Zhan Lin: "At my house."
Zhu Hongmei snatched the coupons and caught up with her sister-in-law. "Next time something good like this happens, call me. I won't fight you for them; I just want to watch you find them."
"Deal." Zhan Lin told her sister-in-law to put the coupons away. "This stays between you, me, and my brother."
Zhu Hongmei: "Absolutely."
Back home, Zhan Lin scooped a kettle of water and placed it on the charcoal stove. Leaving the kitchen, she knocked on the master bedroom door. "Mom, my brother and his family are about to leave. Didn't you bring back some powdered milk a few days ago, saying you wanted to give it to Qingqing?"
If it weren't for her being the biological daughter, she wouldn't dare be so brazen! Zhu Hongmei felt like kneeling down and kowtowing twice to her sister-in-law. She really wanted the powdered milk, dreamed of it. It was only after becoming a mother that she realized how much a little one could consume.
In the master bedroom, Hong Huiying wanted to stay lying down, but the troublemaker outside had already spoken up. She had no choice but to get up and fetch the key.
Zhan Lin called her mother out, and Zhan Wenbin immediately followed her into the study. Zhu Hongmei went to the kitchen to find a burlap sack—she intended to take all the cigarettes and alcohol from the coffee table.
In the study, after handing the powdered milk to her son, Hong Huiying opened the cabinet door of the bookshelf. Seeing it empty, her face instantly darkened.
Zhan Wenbin hugged the powdered milk, feeling nothing but admiration for his sister. If she hadn't mentioned it tonight, these three cans of powdered milk would most likely never have reached his Qingqing's mouth.
Seeing the three cans of powdered milk, Zhu Hongmei quickly bowed. "On behalf of Qingqing, thank you. When I get back, I'll tell my mother to make sure she tells Qingqing every time she feeds her that this was given by her grandmother."
Hong Huiying forced a slight smile. "It's so late. Take care on your way back."
"Mom, you should rest early too. We'll come again tomorrow." Zhan Wenbin placed the powdered milk into the burlap sack, then turned to his sister and said, "We're leaving."
"Go ahead. I won't see you out." Zhan Lin opened the door for them.
Zhu Hongmei: "No need to see me off, really." How could she possibly accept? When her sister-in-law held the wedding banquet, she absolutely had to prepare a large red envelope.
After everyone had left and only mother and daughter remained at home, Hong Huiying stood by the square table, glaring at her troublesome daughter.
Zhan Lin wasn’t afraid. She walked over to the table and poured herself a glass of water. “What’s the matter? Wasn’t that milk powder meant for your precious eldest granddaughter?”
“Whether I give it is up to me, but not like this.” Hong Huiying was nearly furious.
“Then how did you want to give it?” Zhan Lin looked up, meeting her mother’s gaze. Seeing that her mother didn’t answer, she smiled faintly. “You should go to bed early. Looking at you…” She pointed to the sides of her nose. “The lines here are deeper than they were at noon.”
Author’s Note:
This morning, the author checked the calendar and realized that July 19, 1970, was a Sunday. So, I’ve revised the two previous mentions of July 19, 1970, to July 20, 1970. No other content has been changed. Thank you all for your support!!