“… Director Jiang said that if you’re willing to marry him, he’ll prepare the four major household items[[2]] and a 500 yuan bride price. As long as you marry him, you’ll be a city resident, and he’ll also help you get a job. I heard there happens to be a teaching position at the county primary school… Jiajia, with such a good match, what are you hesitating for?”
Gu Yijia looked blankly at the middle-aged woman chattering nonstop in front of her, a little stunned.
She looked around again. This was a low brick-and-tile house. The furniture in the room looked bulky and old, and there were many things that were not really necessary, but the owner couldn’t bear to throw them away, which made the whole room look cramped and packed together, with a somewhat strange smell in the air.
“Jiajia, you have to think it through. You’ve already graduated from high school for a year and still don’t have a job. Your body isn’t good, so you can’t just keep relying on your older brother and sister-in-law to support you, can you? Your older brother may not say anything, but what about your sister-in-law? Your sister-in-law is already very busy raising two children. For your sake, she can’t even go with the army and has to stay in the commune to look after you… Auntie is doing this for your own good, I’m not lying to you…”
As Third Aunt Gu spoke, she looked over the girl sitting by the bed and felt praise in her heart.
Among the eight or ten surrounding villages, if you were to talk about the prettiest girl, it would be Gu Laoda’s youngest daughter, Gu Yijia.
A flower-like face, willow-leaf brows, thick black straight hair, jade-white flawless skin, like a person carved out of jade. At a glance, she didn’t look like a country girl.
Of course, Gu Yijia was raised by an older brother and sister-in-law who spoiled her, and she really had not been raised like a country girl.
She also had a pair of big, watery eyes like black grapes, bright and shimmering. Every time someone was casually looked at by those eyes, they would forget what they had been about to do.
The only pity was that, because she was born prematurely, she had been weak and sickly since childhood. Every time the seasons changed, she would have a serious illness. She couldn’t handle heat, couldn’t handle cold, and couldn’t even handle being tired.
Because of that, she looked very frail, like crystal glass, with a kind of brittleness that made her seem as if a light touch would break her.
When other people got sick, they either looked haggard and miserable, or got so thin they lost their shape. No one knew how she had grown. Clearly, she had been sickly since childhood, had several times been on the verge of death, and almost didn’t make it.
None of this affected that face of hers, which was almost like a fairy’s. Even when she was thin, she was thin in a beautiful way, and even when she was sick, she was pitiable.
Third Aunt Gu sighed inwardly. Precisely because she had such a pretty face, even though her health was poor and she clearly didn’t look like someone with much luck, Director Jiang from the Steel Factory was still willing to marry her. Director Jiang’s biological father was the factory director, and it was said his family background was not small, with relatives who held high office in the provincial city.
What could they do with such a sickly girl? Take her home and worship her like a bodhisattva?
Although she thought that, Third Aunt Gu didn’t say anything. If Gu Yijia really married into the city, they’d all be happy. It would definitely help the Old Gu family.
Seeing that she still wasn’t speaking and looked dazed, Third Aunt Gu gradually fell silent, and couldn’t help worrying a little. She hurried out to pour her a glass of water and bring it back.
“Come, come, have a sip of water first. Don’t rush!”
A chipped enamel cup was shoved into her hand. Gu Yijia happened to be thirsty, so she lowered her head and took a sip.
As soon as the water entered her throat, a large amount of memories suddenly rushed into her mind. Caught off guard, Gu Yijia choked on the water and began coughing violently. She coughed so hard it was earth-shaking, and her head started to throb painfully too.
Third Aunt Gu was frightened at once. She wanted to pat her back, but when she saw her thin spine, she worried that she might use too much force and hurt her. She was so anxious that she spun in circles. When she saw that Gu Yijia was actually coughing and coughing and then suddenly fainted, she was nearly scared out of her wits.
At a loss, she hurried outside to call for help. “Quick, come here! Jiajia has fainted.”
Very soon, several women rushed in. Seeing Gu Yijia lying on the bed, her face deathly pale and unconscious, they were also shocked and hurriedly carried her out.
It wasn’t yet the Dragon Boat Festival, but the weather in the south was already unbearably hot.
It was just after noon. The sun outside was still scorching, and most of the commune members were busy in the fields. Under the blazing sun over all of Nanshan Commune, even the crops looked a little wilted.
Suddenly, a burst of commotion rang out, drawing many of the commune members to look up.
Very quickly, they learned that it was because the youngest daughter of the Gu family, Gu Yijia, had suddenly fainted, and everyone was going to the secretary’s home to borrow a vehicle to take her to the hospital.
Hearing this, many of the commune members were already used to it.
It was some of the newly arrived sent-down youths[[1]] who didn’t know the situation and asked what was wrong with Gu Yijia.
There was little entertainment in the countryside, and everyone liked to crowd around and watch the fun. If anything happened, they would have long since gone over to watch. But after hearing about this, these commune members actually looked perfectly accustomed, which inevitably made those sent-down youths puzzled.
“Sigh, that little girl from the Gu family, she gets sick every few days. We’re long since used to it.”
“I heard that back when her mother was pregnant with her, she went out on a rainy day and fell. Not only was the child born prematurely, but the mother died too. This little girl from the Gu family has been sickly since she was young, and she looked like she’d die young… cough, but who would’ve thought she grew up in the blink of an eye. Although there were twists and turns along the way, at least she grew up.”
“She’s pitiful too. From childhood to adulthood, this little girl has eaten more medicine than rice.”
After hearing this, the newly arrived sent-down youths felt that the Gu family was pretty good, willing to raise a sickly child.
After they were sent down to the countryside, they had heard of many bad rural customs, especially extreme preference for sons over daughters. If any family had such a sick child, and it was a girl at that, one that looked like she wouldn’t survive, they would have long ago thrown her into the deep mountains and be done with it.
Everyone knew about this kind of thing, and no one would bother with it either. As long as no one specifically reported it to the public security bureau, it would be treated as if nothing had happened.
Who would have thought that when the commune members nearby heard this, they couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
“You’re thinking too much. It isn’t easy for us to make money in the countryside. Which family isn’t poor? How could we afford to raise a child who gets sick every few days? Later, when Old Gu remarried an awful woman, that Yu Xiaolan isn’t some easy woman. She has her own children to raise. How could she possibly hope that all the money in the family would go to raising a girl, and a girl who was always getting sick at that?”
“If it weren’t for Gu Mingcheng always pulling this younger sister along, how could this little girl have been raised to adulthood?”
“Exactly. Mingcheng is a reliable child. He knew how to take care of his younger sister and protect her from a young age. Every time she got sick, he was the one who carried his sister to the clinic… Later he went to the army and married Chen Aifang. Chen Aifang is also formidable. She treated her little sister-in-law like her own daughter and protected her tightly…”
Hearing this, the newly arrived sent-down youths roughly understood Gu Yijia’s situation.
Her biological mother died in childbirth, and her biological father later married a formidable stepmother. She looked like a little pitiful thing, but she had a powerful older brother who was a soldier and had protected her and supported her from a young age. Later, her older brother married a powerful sister-in-law, and with her brother and sister-in-law raising her, she didn’t suffer any grievances and grew up smoothly to this age.
As for the commune members saying that Gu Yijia was one of the prettiest girls in their commune’s surrounding eight or ten villages, the sent-down youths who had never seen her in person didn’t take it seriously.
A country girl, no matter how pretty she was, how pretty could she be?
Very soon, another commune member who had gone to help came back.
“You didn’t see it. That little girl from the Gu family had a deathly pale face, with a hint of blue in it. She looked like she was about to run out of breath. The doctor at the clinic said it would be best to send her to the hospital, otherwise it’d be too late.”
“What? That serious?”
…
The commune members around were all shocked and couldn’t help discussing it, while they also couldn’t help muttering to themselves inwardly.
Gu Mingcheng had spent so much money over these years raising this sickly younger sister. It had finally taken him to the point where she was an adult. If she still couldn’t be raised to survive, wouldn’t all that money have been wasted?
How much money had been wasted?
They heard that what this little girl usually ate was all fine grain, and Gu Mingcheng was even willing to use his own allowance to support her schooling, letting her study all the way through high school.
If there had been a college entrance exam now, maybe he would even have let her go to university.
Gu Yijia felt very unwell.
She had been healthy since childhood and rarely experienced the feeling of being sick. She was also the youngest daughter most doted on in the family. Although it wasn’t the kind of wanting the wind to have wind and wanting the rain to have rain, she still lived in a family that was rich both materially and spiritually. She had never been wronged, and had never felt this miserable before.
Her body felt as if it was being roasted over a fire, roasting her until she was like a fish about to be sun-dried to death.
Besides all that, her head hurt as if it were about to explode, and chaotic memories surged up.
These memories weren’t hers, but belonged to a girl who was also called Gu Yijia. The human brain couldn’t possibly receive so many memories all at once. At this moment, she was like a computer with not enough memory, about to crash.
For such a muddle-headed half a day, Gu Yijia finally finished digesting all the memories, and the pain in her head gradually lessened.
Gu Yijia finally woke up from unconsciousness.
When she opened her eyes, she saw the woman keeping watch by the bed.
She was wearing a blue shirt, black trousers underneath, and her hair was cut short and neat, making her look very energetic.
With thick eyebrows and big eyes, full cheeks, and a gentle face, although her skin wasn’t particularly fair, she had a kind of vigorous vitality about her. She was a plump beauty in the broad sense, and she looked healthy and energetic.
The woman saw her wake up and showed a look of delight, asking with concern, “Jiajia, are you all right?”
Gu Yijia opened her mouth and hoarsely called out, “Sister-in-law…”
Chen Aifang went to pour a cup of water, carefully helped her sit up, and after feeding her the water, said, “The doctor said you got heatstroke, but…”
She trailed off.
It was said to be heatstroke, but when she was sent to the hospital, anyone who saw her face thought she was about to die, and even the doctor was shocked.
Fortunately, the final examination result was just that the weather was too hot and she had heatstroke.
Because of this, everyone wasn’t too puzzled either. Gu Yijia was this sickly girl who couldn’t handle heat or cold. The weather was so hot that if she stood under the sun for a few minutes, she might just collapse.
The doctor was also familiar with Gu Yijia, who often came to the hospital, and felt that it was probably because her body was so poor that her reaction to heatstroke was so severe.
Looking at her expression, Gu Yijia understood a little.
It seemed that her appearance while unconscious had indeed frightened people. When she had accepted those memories, even she had been in so much pain that she was half dead, so her face definitely wouldn’t have looked very good.
Seeing Chen Aifang’s worried look, she said, “Sister-in-law, I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
Chen Aifang saw that she still looked listless, and knew she was only trying to comfort her, so she patted her hand. “Why are you putting on a brave face with your sister-in-law?”
Gu Yijia had no choice but to say, “I’m just a little dizzy.”
After hearing this, Chen Aifang couldn’t help feeling a little sad.
She was a teacher at the commune primary school. Today she was in class when a commune member suddenly rushed over to find her and told her that her little sister-in-law had gotten into trouble.
That commune member couldn’t explain clearly either. She only said that her little sister-in-law’s face looked very bad and that she had already been sent to the hospital, fearing that, fearing that…
At that time, Chen Aifang was frightened out of her wits, her legs even went weak. She didn’t even have the strength to ride a bicycle over, and it was other kind teachers from the school who sent her here.
Thinking of this, Chen Aifang wanted to ask what had happened to her little sister-in-law today, but seeing her pale face and the IV drip in her arm, she was afraid that her body might be uncomfortable and didn’t want to ask too much at this time.
She reached out and touched Gu Yijia’s forehead. The temperature still hadn’t gone down, and she couldn’t help feeling a little anxious.
After asking the doctor, the doctor said this was normal. It was only a slight fever now, and it already counted as getting better.
Chen Aifang glanced at the sky outside. The sun was almost setting.
She brought over the enamel mug on the table. Inside was thick white porridge and some light side dishes. “Come, eat something. You’re hungry too, right?” Eat something and you’ll have strength.
Gu Yijia had actually not much appetite. Maybe because of the fever, her whole body was weak and limp, and she had even less desire to eat.
From childhood to adulthood, she had never felt this bad before, as if even her soul had become heavy.
Just as she was about to refuse, she suddenly saw someone appear at the doorway of the ward.