Along with the token of love that flew out, a woman’s voice could be heard from next door.
Her spirited, coquettish cry rang out:
“…Take it back, take it all back! Who cares about your family’s trashy junk! And all the betrothal gifts you ever gave, my mom said they were all low-grade goods like brown sugar and jujubes. I’ll convert it to ten yuan now, which is a bargain for you. Break off engagement, immediately! From now on, our two families will go separate ways. Don’t you ever get involved with us again!”
It was Bei Qinghuan. After throwing the small silver bracelet, she pulled out a handful of Mao banknotes from her pocket and tossed them at Mei Suqin before walking out.
The money fluttered down from the sky like flowers scattered by a celestial maiden.
Standing amidst the shower of cash, Mei Suqin trembled with rage.
“Don’t act so tough. There will come a time when you’ll be begging us! As if anyone would still want you. You poor, miserable country bumpkin! You deserve to die, you wretched thing! You’re an unmarriageable country bumpkin! Go back and be an old maid for the rest of your life!”
Bei Qinghuan strode out, constantly looking back, afraid they would chase after her.
However, just as she passed the corner of No. 4 Courtyard, she realized something was wrong.
An arm blocked her path.
Looking up, she saw the tall, lean “Comrade Correspondent” dressed in an undershirt, sweatpants, and white sneakers. One of his arms was stretched out straight, like a new branch growing from a utility pole.
The street lamp shone on him, a circle of radiance resting on his black hair. The sweat on his forehead reflected the light, making the contours of his face appear sharper and more profound.
Seeing Bei Qinghuan look over, the man opened his palm. “Why are you throwing things around? You startled me!”
Bei Qinghuan was speechless.
What a petty man. He was getting her back for what she said earlier.
“Then consider it compensation for you!”
Bei Qinghuan was furious. She pushed aside the arm he had extended in front of her. “Get out of my way! Watch it, or I’ll hit you!”
Jing Xiao was speechless.
Heh, he had never met anyone who dared to speak to him like that!
Bei Qinghuan didn’t care. She strode back home.
Seeing her return in a huff, Yan Guifang quickly asked, “How did it go?”
“It’s broken off! She was cursing at me, saying I’ll never get married. Mom, if you run into Mei Suqin at the factory, just pretend you don’t see her. That family just wants me to be their maid. Even if I never get married, I won’t marry into their family.”
“Didn’t you say you were going to ask for a few hundred yuan today and let Mei Suqin bring it up first?”
“Yes, that was the plan. But she flew into a rage the moment I mentioned several hundred yuan and kept cursing at both of us. I said it was fine if there was no money, as long as she found me a job, but she refused. She thinks I’m destined to be their maid. Look, she even tried to hit me. I got so angry I just broke it off directly.”
“Oh, that wicked woman! Let me see… you scraped off a bit of skin.” Yan Guifang cupped her daughter’s face to examine it, then took a tube of erythromycin ointment from a nearby drawer to apply on the scrape, sighing, “Aiya, you were too rash.”
“Mom, you regret it?”
“Not at all. I just feel that it won’t be so easy to break off the engagement. That woman is very calculating. She won’t let go without getting some benefit.”
“Who cares about them? We had to be the first to bring it up.”
“Sigh, I guess we can only take it one step at a time for now. Let’s see what they say after the scene you made tonight.”
Yan Guifang sighed again and said no more.
But before bed, she brought a dark-looking bracelet to Bei Qinghuan, who was sleeping on the balcony wire bed.
“Huan, I was just tidying up and realized, did you take the wrong bracelet? This is the one the Qin family gave. Look, the quality is very poor; it’s turned this black. The one you gave back to them should be the one your maternal grandfather had made for you when you were little. I wonder if we can exchange it back from the Qin family?”
Bei Qinghuan was stunned.
She picked up the bracelet and looked at it.
This thing was tiny and extremely dark.
It was clearly not a quality item.
The Qin family was truly stingy, using the cheapest material even for such a small silver bracelet.
But the one her grandfather had given her was much more precious.
It had been too long. She hadn’t looked closely and had taken the wrong one.
But now the bracelet…
If she asked that orderly for it back tomorrow, it should be possible, right?
Yan Guifang was also quite helpless. She pinched the black bracelet and sighed.
“Sigh, the Bei family didn’t treat you well when you were little. Your grandfather felt sorry for me and also doted on you, so he specially found an old craftsman to custom-make a small silver lock and a small silver bracelet for you. Both have your nickname on them. You’ve always worn the small silver lock. The small bracelet was swapped for this one from the Qin family when you turned five. It’s understandable that you don’t remember, but it would be best if we could get it back, don’t you think?”
Bei Qinghuan’s hand moved to her collar, then dropped guiltily.
Actually, something had happened to the small silver lock too…
Thinking about what had happened the previous year in her sent-down province, Bei Qinghuan was even more afraid to tell her mother that in a fit of pique, she had thrown the item, only for it to be knocked away by Mei Suqin and picked up by someone else.
She answered vaguely, “Uh… I know. I’ll find a chance to get it back.”
Yan Guifang was about to say more, but Bei Qinghuan, overwhelmed with guilt, used the excuse of being sleepy, turned around, and went back to her room.
But she couldn’t fall asleep as she lay in bed.
She kept thinking about Mei Suqin’s inner thoughts.
As she thought, she felt as if she were wearing blue and white striped clothes, lying on a bed.
Standing by the bed seemed to be Qin Zhenghua, yet not quite.
Because this person was wearing a western suit with a striped collar and a tie. He had an eggplant-shaped birthmark on his face and looked to be about seventeen or eighteen.
Just as Bei Qinghuan was feeling confused, the young man spoke impatiently to the Bei Qinghuan on the hospital bed.
“Mom, Dad said he and Aunt are very busy and won’t be coming back to the country. You only donated a kidney, it won’t have much effect. You’ll be fine after a while. My brother and I have to go to school, so we’re counting on you to take care of Grandma.”
Lying in bed, Bei Qinghuan felt a sapping weakness, as if her bones and sinews had been removed. She lifted a finger, wanting to say something, but the young man walked away.
Not long after, a nurse wearing a mask came in. Holding a syringe, she injected something into the hanging intravenous drip, then stood by the bed watching her.
Bei Qinghuan’s consciousness sensed that something was wrong. She then saw the nurse take off her mask, revealing a sallow, sharp face. The nurse said grimly, “Someone asked me to tell you: the money has been earned, the children are grown, and the kidney has been donated. It’s time for you to die.”
Bei Qinghuan began to feel her breathing quicken, as if someone was clawing at her throat.
She coughed violently, but her post-surgery body was too weak to even cough properly. She could only wriggle on the bed like a pinned green insect, feeling an unbearable agony.
“Hah, hah, save me… ah…”
Bei Qinghuan struggled to reach out her hand.
Struggle, struggle harder.
Just as she was about to suffocate, she shot up abruptly.
It was pitch black all around.
Bei Qinghuan gasped for air.
About five minutes passed before Bei Qinghuan raised her hand and pulled the cord to turn on the light.
It was the small balcony room she was all too familiar with.
Ah, so it was just a dream.
Bei Qinghuan dazedly got out of bed and picked up the mirror on the table to look at herself.
In the mirror was a face that, while not fair, was very smooth, with large almond-shaped eyes, a high bridge of the nose, and a small mouth.
No different from usual.