It wasn't until the famine years, when the hometown was struck by famine and could no longer support Lin Yingxian, that the seven-year-old Lin Yingxian returned to her parents' side.
Neither Lin Yingwei nor Lin Yingwan liked Lin Yingxian, who had suddenly moved into their home, and they looked down on her. They played tricks on her everywhere and mocked her with their words. They would even imitate Lin Yingxian's embarrassed expressions after falling for their pranks to the neighbor's children, feeling quite smug.
After enduring for a long time, Lin Yingxian finally mustered the courage to complain to her parents. However, her parents thought it was just playful banter among siblings and didn't pay much attention, only giving Lin Yingwei and Lin Yingwan a simple verbal reprimand. They told Lin Yingxian that her brother was immature and not to take it to heart, and that Lin Yingwan was her younger sister, so Lin Yingxian should give in to her.
They never considered that Lin Yingxian, who had just returned, felt uneasy, anxious, and in need of others' care. Lin Yingxian continued to be bullied by Lin Yingwei and Lin Yingwan.
Later, as Lin Yingwei grew up and matured, he no longer wanted to play such boring tricks on others and stopped bullying Lin Yingxian. Without her ally, Lin Yingwan's bullying behavior also became more restrained, not as blatant as before.
Later still, the current Lin Yingxian crossed over, and no one in the family dared to bully or look down on her anymore…
No one in the family had ever mentioned this engagement to Lin Yingxian, and she had no memory of it in her mind, unaware that she even had a fiancé. Hearing Lin Yingwan's words, Lin Yingxian paused briefly while locking her bike but quickly returned to normal. "Mom and Dad won't listen to you in such matters. You can't meddle with this engagement, so you don't have the bargaining chips. I won't lend you the bike."
"I already promised my classmates I'd ride the bike for the spring outing. If I don't show up with it tomorrow, I'll lose face. I won't borrow it for a month anymore, just for one day. Isn't that enough for me to help you meddle with the engagement?" Lin Yingwan compromised very quickly.
Lin Yingxian stood up and put the key into the inner layer of her military-green crossbody bag. "Come get the key from me tomorrow. Take a good look at my bike now. If there's even one scratch on it when you return it tomorrow, you'll have to pay for it. Do you agree?"
"I agree, you miser." It used to be her bullying Lin Yingxian, but now it was the other way around. Lin Yingwan racked her brains but couldn't figure out why she was always being controlled by Lin Yingxian.
"You're asking for my help now. Be more polite."
Lin Yingwan immediately changed her attitude. "Yes, Second Sister."
Lin Yingxian and Lin Yingwan went upstairs together and returned home. Lin Yingxian opened the door to find five people sitting in the small, dimly lit living room. A man sat alone opposite her parents, brother, and sister-in-law, with a net bag of fruit on the cabinet.
Eldest Sister-in-law Zhou Donghong spoke first, "Second Sister is back."
The man stood up and looked at Lin Yingxian. Only then did Lin Yingxian get a clear view of the man's face. He was quite handsome, wearing old clothes that had been washed until they were faded, but he looked clean overall. His gaze toward her was proper and respectful, not wandering or timid. This wasn't Lin Yingxian's first time seeing him. Two years ago, they had been neighboring patients in the hospital ward, though no one else in the Lin Family knew him…
Mother Lin walked over to Lin Yingxian. "This is Zhong Shucen. Your grandmother arranged an engagement for you. He is your fiancé…" The more Mother Lin spoke, the less confident she felt. She felt sorry for Lin Yingxian, the most obedient among her three children but also the one who had suffered the most.
"Comrade Lin, hello."
Lin Yingxian gave a slight nod. "Hello, Comrade Zhong."
Zhou Donghong stood up and gestured for everyone to sit. She wanted to push Lin Yingxian to sit next to Zhong Shucen, but after receiving a cold glance from Lin Yingxian, she dared not make any move and returned to her original seat. In this household, Zhou Donghong feared Father Lin and Lin Yingxian the most.
Father Lin and Lin Yingwei sat down beside Zhong Shucen. Father Lin continued pouring tea for Zhong Shucen. "Comrade Zhong, have some tea. Now that our Yingxian is also back, feel free to speak openly. We're all family here."
Zhong Shucen took out a letter and half of a jade pendant from a yellow satchel embroidered with the words "Serve the People." "We live in a new society now, not the old one, where marriage freedom is emphasized. Although our elders arranged the engagement between Comrade Yingxian and me out of goodwill, such goodwill is no longer appropriate. Arranged marriages belong to the past. Therefore, I came here today to dissolve the engagement with Comrade Yingxian, so we may each go our own way in peace. Only you here know about the engagement between Comrade Yingxian and me. I trust you will not speak of it, so even after our engagement ends, it will not affect Comrade Yingxian's reputation."
Zhong Shucen placed the letter and jade pendant on the table and looked at Lin Yingxian. "The jade pendant and the letter are left for you to handle as you wish."
Lin Yingxian thanked Zhong Shucen.
Except for Lin Yingwan and Zhou Donghong, everyone present breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Zhong Shucen's words.
The family did not want Lin Yingxian to marry an educated youth with problematic class status. They would also be implicated by Zhong Shucen and investigated by those under the Revolutionary Committee.
Before Lin Yingxian returned, Father Lin and Mother Lin had subtly inquired about Zhong Shucen's family background. Zhong Shucen's deceased grandmother was the only daughter of a major capitalist, his grandfather's whereabouts were unknown, and his parents had gone abroad in the 1950s. Zhong Shucen had been sent to the countryside five years ago.
Another important issue to consider was where Lin Yingxian and Zhong Shucen would live after marriage. Wouldn't they still have to live at home?
If not at home, they would have to sleep on the streets, as private house rentals were currently prohibited by the state, so they could not rent a place.
But there was no space left at home.
Lin Yingwan was disappointed because before she could even intervene to disrupt the marriage, it had already ended. Thus, her deal with Lin Yingxian was also over, and she would not be able to ride the bicycle out tomorrow.
As for Zhou Donghong, she had been hoping for her two sisters-in-law to marry quickly to free up space. She also found the house too small, completely unaware that if Lin Yingxian and Zhong Shucen married, they would likely have to live at home. Zhou Donghong became the most enthusiastic in the Lin Family about the marriage between Lin Yingxian and Zhong Shucen.
Father Lin's expression softened considerably. When Zhong Shucen said he had to leave, Father Lin even urged him to stay for dinner before going. Zhong Shucen insisted he had urgent matters to attend to, so Father Lin did not press further.
Father Lin slipped him two grain ration tickets, telling him to have a meal in the city before returning to the countryside.
Regardless of his private thoughts about others, Father Lin always maintained a courteous demeanor, leaving no room for criticism.
Elder Liu, a neighbor, saw the Lin Family's door open, with Father Lin and Mother Lin seeing off a guest—an unfamiliar male comrade. "Wenyue, who is this guest at your house?"
"He's a distant relative from my maternal family, here in Jiangcheng on business. He's a polite and sincere child, coming to see me as soon as he arrived in Jiangcheng." Mother Lin smiled genuinely, as if Zhong Shucen were truly a close relative of hers.
Elder Liu believed Mother Lin's words and, finding it uninteresting, asked no further questions.
Mother Lin turned to close the door, her smile vanishing instantly.
Lin Yingwei began slicing the oranges Zhong Shucen had brought. "He's a sensible person too, knowing to take the initiative to break off the engagement. Mom, I told you back then you shouldn’t have kept any keepsakes—you should have just thrown them into the incinerator and burned them to ashes along with Grandma. After all, Grandma’s dead and knows nothing now."