With Lin Wanying refusing to go back to the Lion Bridge market, Shuisheng and Huinan kept getting chased off from place to place trying to find somewhere else to sell, and came to her for guidance on where to set up next.
Lin Wanying had a big task ahead of her these two days. Before her rebirth, she’d had a mentor named Ji Huaien, an economist who’d been branded a capitalist and sent down to her village. She’d learned a great deal of economic knowledge from him, which was why the village’s production in all areas had outperformed neighboring villages, and the wild market’s success was all thanks to what her mentor had taught her.
Her mentor had been rehabilitated the year before this. He was coming to the capital now for a meeting, and she needed to find him first, to let him know the truth about her divorce from Xu Youcheng.
She and Xu Youcheng were both students their mentor had praised, and whoever saw the mentor first would have his sympathies leaning their way.
Before her rebirth, her mentor had advised her to let go of the grudge and live her own life well, reasonable advice, but fate kept arranging friction between her and Xu Youcheng anyway. This time, she’d get her mentor to advise Xu Youcheng to let everything go, and see how that felt to Xu Youcheng.
She didn’t remember exactly which day her mentor was arriving in the capital, just that it was sometime in these next few days, so she went to the train station every day, bringing Shuisheng and Huinan along too, with her there, no hoodlums would dare bother the two boys.
She finally spotted her mentor, and her eyes welled up with tears, which she quickly held back, rushing over to greet him.
Back when her mentor had first been sent down to her village, she’d been quite fierce with him, even scolding him for being useless at everything. Her mentor hadn’t gotten angry, and instead taught her how to run a village to maximize economic output, how to manage the villagers, how to get everyone working together, and how to bring production efficiency to its fullest.
Her personality admired strength, whatever someone stronger than her taught, she listened. She’d learned a lot of practical things following her mentor.
…
Ji Huaien had also spotted Lin Wanying. During his time sent down, he’d taken on two rather unusual students, one, a sent-down youth, smart and steady, who caught on with a single hint, the other, the village’s martial arts heir, Lin Wanying. Knowledge paired with her brave heart, her formidable physical strength, and her deceptively pretty appearance made her a natural at everything.
Seeing a student at the capital train station was of course a happy thing, but it seemed off, and she was alone, without Xu Youcheng.
“Why are your eyes red? Who’s been wronging you? Where’s Xu Youcheng? Didn’t you two come together?”
Only in front of her father and her mentor did Lin Wanying act like an ordinary young girl, able to feel wronged, able to complain.
She rubbed her eyes and said, “Mentor, Xu Youcheng divorced me. He said our personalities didn’t match, that we couldn’t make it work, and you know my nature, I don’t force people, so I let him go. But he didn’t tell the whole story. His divorce wasn’t because we couldn’t make it work, it’s because his first love’s family got rehabilitated, she divorced too, and now they’ve married each other.”
Ji Huaien had long seen that this young couple wouldn’t last, but the way Xu Youcheng had gone about the divorce wasn’t upright at all, that part was wrong. He said gently but firmly, “Don’t rush. Tell your mentor slowly.”
…
Gu Shuisheng watched anxiously and asked Lin Huinan: “Why is sister-in-law’s mentor so young?”
Lin Huinan turned to look at him. “Not that young, he’s over forty, more than double my sister’s age. Don’t tell me you’re going to start gossiping about it, even more old-fashioned than us country folk.”
Gu Shuisheng muttered, “I’ve never seen sister-in-law act weak in front of anyone. It’s curious, isn’t it? Are we still following them or not?”
“Not following. Now that Mentor knows my sister’s remarried, he’ll definitely want to meet her husband, you’ll be face to face with him soon enough.”
…
The mentor wanted to meet Gu Liansheng, so Lin Wanying asked Gu Liansheng to take half a day off. Her mentor was here on a business trip and wouldn’t wait around, so Gu Liansheng hurried over after requesting leave.
Coincidentally, Xu Youcheng also brought Li Qiuzhen along. It was the mentor who’d called them there, he then had Gu Liansheng and Li Qiuzhen wait outside while Lin Wanying and Xu Youcheng went into his hotel room to talk.
Li Qiuzhen wasn’t happy about this, refusing to even look at Gu Liansheng properly, muttering, “I’m living much happier now than before.”
Gu Liansheng just felt annoyed by the whole thing. He hadn’t wanted to bother arguing, but for some reason felt restless now, and shot back, “Same here, I’m very happy now too. Wanying is so much better than you, by a wide margin.”
“I don’t believe it. If she were that good, why would Xu Youcheng not want her?”
“That can only mean Xu Youcheng is useless, in physical strength and in mental capacity, he can’t match Wanying at all. Feeling inferior, he doesn’t like women stronger than himself. That doesn’t mean Wanying isn’t excellent, go ask their mentor which student is more impressive if you don’t believe me.”
The hotel room door opened, and Xu Youcheng, face stern, looked at Gu Liansheng: “Mentor’s frowning. Please lower your voice.”
Gu Liansheng caught sight of his own wife’s smile inside and felt reassured, shooting back: “Get your wife to shut up and there won’t be any noise at all.”
…
“When Ah Ying took a liking to you, I advised her against it, your personalities didn’t match. But that night, it was you who came knocking, willing to marry her, so I could only let you two learn from your own mistakes. But Xu Youcheng, you shouldn’t have used deception to get a divorce, there’s nothing upright about that at all.”
Xu Youcheng felt guilty, but he had his reasons and needed to explain: “Mentor, you know Lin Wanying’s temper better than I do. If I’d said I wanted a divorce to marry Qiuzhen, she’d have dragged all three of us down together, there was no way she’d agree to divorce. I had no choice.”
Ji Huaien couldn’t empathize, their values were simply different.
“You had no choice, so it’s fine to deceive your own wife into a divorce? What kind of twisted logic is that? That excuse doesn’t fly with me. What’s done is done, I hope you two have some sense of guilt about it. You know Ah Ying’s temperament. If there’s a next time and she gets her revenge on you, don’t come to me for pity.”
Lin Wanying, chin held high, looked at Xu Youcheng provocatively: “Hear that? Mentor’s on my side, which means I’m in the right. Go home and rein in your wife and mother-in-law, don’t come complaining that you can’t control those useless women.”
Xu Youcheng took a deep breath and nodded: “Understood, Mentor.”
…
The talk was over, and then it was time to eat together. The mentor said, “I know none of you really want to have this meal, but I’m the host, and I invited you. If it’s uncomfortable, you’re free to leave, I won’t be upset.”
If they left, their future relationship with the mentor would grow distant, and it was just a meal, after all, whoever left first would be the one losing face, so no one left.
Ji Huaien didn’t bring up the divorce between his two students again, and instead asked about their plans. Xu Youcheng spoke first.
“I’ll observe the economic prospects for a while, work while looking for opportunities, playing it safe.”
Lin Wanying said, “Right now my priority is building a good household with my recent remarriage. My short-term goal is to build another market from scratch, so we have a real voice and can secure the best position.”
Ji Huaien was quite interested: “Do you have a location picked out?”
Lin Wanying nodded and named a spot, Ji Huaien said he knew the place.
He added: “I happen to know the district leader there. I’ll get a document issued first, so no one snatches the fruits of your labor the moment you’ve built it up, this isn’t a village you can just run yourself. You can’t only rely on brute strength, use your head, and pull whatever strings you can.”
Lin Wanying wanted exactly that, her mentor’s help, and nodded: “I knew Mentor would help me. Thank you, Mentor.”
…
Li Qiuzhen thought, since they were both students, any help should go to both, and quickly said, “Mentor, if Youcheng ever needs help in the future, you’ll help him too, right?”
Ji Huaien’s smile faded: “As long as you and your family don’t cause trouble, with the skills I taught him, he’ll do just fine in this good era.”
Li Qiuzhen felt resentful inside, then why help Lin Wanying so proactively?
…
Before leaving, Ji Huaien had a few private words with Gu Liansheng.
“Ah Ying isn’t great at expressing her inner feelings. When I first arrived in their village, she could scold me to pieces during the day, and yet walk seven or eight li at night to get me to the county hospital on her back. If she were a bit more tactful, her relationships would be much smoother, but I never tried to change that in her, let her be herself, and whoever sticks around are true friends and family. I hope you two can stay together long and steady, all the way to the end of your lives.”
Gu Liansheng hadn’t been called on all evening, but with one instruction from the mentor, everything he needed to know had been covered, a mentor truly lived up to the name.
He hurried to promise: “I understand completely. She’s harsh with my mother, strict with my brother, but she’s also the one who stands up for them. Once my brother started listening, he got scolded less too. I understand all of it. Don’t worry.”
Ji Huaien felt comforted: “Sharing this meal tonight, I’ve gotten a bit of insight into you and Li Qiuzhen. Between the two young couples, I favor you and Ah Ying more. As for Youcheng, I understand him too, once he achieves success and reaches a certain level, he’ll come to realize Ah Ying is a pearl he let slip away, and he’ll regret it. Don’t give him any opening.”
Gu Liansheng flinched, startled, his mentor’s reminder meant he should watch out for Xu Youcheng coming back for another taste, surely Xu Youcheng wouldn’t be so lacking in morals?
“Mentor, surely that won’t happen, will it?”
Gu Liansheng said, “Xu Youcheng loves Li Qiuzhen so much, how could he ever regret it? And you said he’ll succeed, even less likely he’d have regrets.”
Ji Huaien said, “Human nature is very complex. Mix black paint with white, and the black will always dominate [1]mix black with white and black wins out (jìn mò zhě hēi, 近墨者黑), Metaphor, a variant of the saying that whoever stays near ink gets stained black, meaning bad influence overpowers good far … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3158667_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3158667_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. I know Youcheng too well, he doesn’t like how strong Wanying is, and yet deep down he’s drawn to that very strength. I see Qiuzhen as someone who needs constant affection to bloom, but who can keep giving forever without tiring? He’ll get worn out, and then he’ll start comparing her to Ah Ying everywhere. Once regret sets in, Youcheng is capable of anything, just like how he was willing to abandon morality for the sake of his divorce. But don’t worry too much, Ah Ying has one great strength: loyalty. When she liked Xu Youcheng, she never looked at another man. Now that she’s your wife, as long as you don’t mess things up, she won’t look at anyone else, including Xu Youcheng.”
Gu Liansheng still wasn’t entirely at ease, but at least his mentor was firmly on his and Wanying’s side now, even if what his mentor said came true one day, he wouldn’t be afraid.
After hearing this from Wanying’s mentor, he suddenly found himself hoping Xu Youcheng and Li Qiuzhen could at least manage to stay together, and just leave everyone else alone.
…
With her mentor’s backing, Lin Wanying let herself act freely. Besides her own family, there were five other households in the compound, and she suggested each family send someone over to stake a claim to a spot.
“Once the crowd builds up and a management office gets set up, it’ll be too late to fight for a good position. I won’t open that kind of backdoor for anyone, but I can tell you now, during this early stage, whoever claims a spot keeps it.”
Her godmother, of course, supported this: “I’ll go. I’ll take my knitted socks and gloves and claim a spot, if it doesn’t take off, it’s just a chance to chat somewhere new, if it does take off, a good position alone could resell for one or two hundred yuan. Wanying’s looking out for us neighbors here, don’t complain from the sidelines if you don’t go, and don’t come regretting it later either.”
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