The one who came in first was a young man in a white shirt and black trousers, wearing a pair of glasses. He was polite and refined, looking just like someone from the city.
He was tall and thin, and his features were fairly proper-looking. He looked like a respectable man, the type modern women would like.
Unfortunately, the arrogant look between his brows made him seem a little slick and foppish, and in Chen Aifang’s eyes, he was not likable at all.
Probably because she had a soldier for a husband, she preferred that kind of iron-boned, hard-as-iron man, rather than a city man who tried so hard to look refined while being arrogant.
Gu Yijia also disliked him, feeling that the young man’s gaze was far too brazen.
At that moment, she saw another person come in after the young man.
The person who came in behind him was a young woman, around twenty. She had delicate features, her hair braided into two black plaits hanging down over her chest, and she was wearing a dacron dress and a women’s watch on her wrist, looking very stylish.
The woman first glanced at the man, then said to Gu Yijia, “Jiajia, how is your body? Are you feeling better?”
The young man said with restraint, “Comrade Gu, I heard you had heatstroke. Are you all right?”
From Gu Yijia’s memories, she knew that this young woman was the daughter brought by her stepmother, Yu Xiaolan, and her name was Gu Mingyue.
Back then, after Gu Laoda lost his wife, in order to take care of the prematurely born Gu Yijia, he was introduced by a matchmaker and married Yu Xiaolan, a widow from the neighboring production team. Yu Xiaolan’s husband had been a militiaman and died in a flood. After she married into the Gu family, she changed the name of the daughter she had with her former husband to Gu Mingyue, wanting her to be in the same “Ming” generation as Gu Mingcheng.
Seeing Gu Mingyue, Chen Aifang’s tone was not pleasant.
If she really cared so much about Gu Yijia, she would have come long ago. Why not come earlier or later, but only now? And looking at the way she was dressed, it was obviously deliberate. Someone who didn’t know any better might think she was going on a blind date.
Chen Aifang simply ignored her and looked at the young man, asking, “May I ask who this comrade is…”
She was a little confused, not knowing when her sister-in-law had met such a young man, and her guard immediately went up.
Her sister-in-law had graduated from high school last year. Because her health was poor, and because these days every job was already taken, it was hard to find work, so she had stayed at home recuperating and doing some housework, rarely going out.
However, her sister-in-law was already nineteen this year, and had indeed reached marrying age.
Thinking of that, she started to worry.
With her sister-in-law’s health, it was not easy to find someone. In these days, there were not many men who would be good to her and not mind her body.
Even she and her husband were mentally prepared. At worst, they would support their sister-in-law for the rest of her life.
The young man stepped forward with confident strides and introduced himself. “My name is Jiang Jinwang. I am the director of the Steel Factory revolutionary committee. My father is the factory director at the Steel Factory.”
He felt that once he said this, Chen Aifang should know what to do.
Although he knew that Chen Aifang was Gu Yijia’s sister-in-law, Jiang Jinwang had no intention of trying to please her. With a status like his, there were not many people he needed to curry favor with.
Chen Aifang was indeed a little surprised. She had not expected this arrogant young man’s status to be so high. The son of the factory director of the Steel Factory would be very sought after even in the city, not to mention for someone from the countryside. This was a city person, and one with a proper job too, with a not low salary and all kinds of subsidy coupons besides.
Looking at Gu Mingyue again, she immediately understood why Gu Mingyue had specially dressed herself up like this and come at this time.
Chen Aifang’s mind raced. In an instant, she thought of many things, but it did not show on her face. Smiling warmly, she asked, “So it’s Director Jiang. When did Director Jiang get to know our Yijia?”
“Not long ago.”
Jiang Jinwang’s gaze could not help but fall on Gu Yijia on the hospital bed.
Clearly she had a face full of illness, and her skin was so pale it looked translucent. Her hair was loose, she had not specially dressed herself up, and she lay there listlessly, yet she was still breathtakingly beautiful, making anyone who saw her lose all taste for the ordinary.
Even looking disheveled, it was still a kind of pitiable beauty, fragile and worthy of pity, making people feel tenderness toward her.
This was the most beautiful woman Jiang Jinwang had ever seen in his life.
So beautiful that just one glance was enough to make him unable to forget her, even to the point of overlooking her background.
However, his status was what it was, and Gu Yijia was only a country woman. Although she had an older brother who was a military officer, her sister-in-law did not even have the qualifications to accompany him to his post. Her position in the military probably was not very high either.
Gu Mingyue placed the fruit she had brought on the table and asked with a look of concern, “Jiajia, your complexion looks really bad. Are you feeling unwell?”
Gu Yijia did not speak, because by now she was already stunned.
Seeing Gu Mingyue and hearing the name Jiang Jinwang, she finally realized that she seemed to have transmigrated into a novel.
Gu Yijia remembered that some days ago, when she rarely had time to rest, she had read a period novel.
She no longer remembered the title, only that the male lead in that period novel was Jiang Jinwang, the female lead was Gu Mingyue, and there was also a sickly beauty named Gu Yijia who died young.
Because that name was the same as her own, she had specially flipped to see the ending of “Gu Yijia.”
Gu Yijia died a miserable death.
She had an older brother who was a military officer and a formidable sister-in-law who doted on her, but because her health was poor, aside from going to school, she rarely came into contact with the outside world, and she was raised to be rather naive and innocent.
Once, Jiang Jinwang ran into Gu Yijia when she had gone to the county town to look for Gu Mingyue. It was love at first sight, so he began asking around for news of her, then had a matchmaker come to the door, wanting to marry her.
When they heard that she was frail and sickly, bad at bearing children, and might even die of illness at any time, how could the Jiang family possibly agree?
The Jiang family came to trouble Gu Yijia more than once, wanting her to know when to back down. Gu Yijia was depressed. Clearly she and Jiang Jinwang were not familiar with each other, and she had never thought of marrying him. Why should she have to swallow this anger? And Yu Xiaolan, her stepmother, kept stirring things up behind the scenes, making Gu Yijia irritated to no end. In the end, she followed Gu Mingyue’s suggestion and hid at her aunt’s house in the city, so as to avoid the Jiang family and Jiang Jinwang’s forced marriage.
It was on this trip to the city that Gu Yijia ran into a bunch of loafers, who bullied her. Later, while being chased, she fell into the water and drowned.
That death was really too stifling.
After Gu Yijia died, Jiang Jinwang was depressed for a very long time. In the end, with Gu Mingyue’s devoted companionship, he finally pulled himself together, and then ended up with Gu Mingyue.
The Jiang family also, because of Gu Yijia’s death, perhaps felt somewhat guilty, and so tacitly allowed Jiang Jinwang and Gu Mingyue to be together.
When she read to the ending, Gu Yijia was utterly baffled.
What kind of ghost ending was this? Wasn’t the author really writing it just to get revenge on society[[1]]?
At this point, seeing Jiang Jinwang and Gu Mingyue coming in together, Gu Yijia already seemed to see her own future fate. Added to the fact that this broken body was now in such bad shape, she really felt miserable and only wanted to be in a state of “lying flat”[[2]].
Wasn’t this fate, visible all the way to the end, just the heavens toying with her?
Chen Aifang did not like her husband’s half-sister. Although she was not a troublemaker like her mother, Yu Xiaolan, she also liked to compare herself secretly with her sister-in-law and had taken advantage of her more than once.
Her sister-in-law was simple-minded and could not see it, and even treated her as a good sister. Her own eyes were not blind.
Of course, she also did not like Jiang Jinwang. The identity of the factory director’s son sounded quite impressive, but she felt nothing about it, and also did not think her sister-in-law would marry into the Jiang family.
Since they were guests, Chen Aifang politely received them, then, under the pretext that “Jiajia doesn’t feel well and needs to rest,” directly escorted them out.
She did not let them speak with Gu Yijia at all.
Just at that moment, Gu Yijia still had a fever and was dizzy and foggy-headed, and in her current state of giving up, she had no mind to deal with them either.
When leaving, Jiang Jinwang looked back longingly at Gu Yijia on the hospital bed. In his heart, he was hoping she would say something, but unfortunately she said nothing, like a fragile little fairy, quiet and wordless.
Seeing that, Jiang Jinwang no longer had the heart to complain about anything. He was only a little angry at Chen Aifang for not showing him any respect.
Gu Mingyue walked out of the hospital with him and secretly glanced at him, saying softly, “Director Jiang, don’t mind it. My sister-in-law cares a lot about her younger sister. Now that her younger sister is sick, that’s why she… Actually, my sister-in-law isn’t the sort of unreasonable person.”
Jiang Jinwang casually gave an mm and was still recalling what Gu Yijia had looked like just now.
Even though she was sick, she was still so beautiful, as if beauty on her never changed, no matter when or where. Even when sick, she was still this good-looking, without the slightest flaw or shortcoming.
Jiang Jinwang did not pay much attention to Gu Mingyue. In fact, if he had not known she was Gu Yijia’s stepsister, he really would not have looked at her twice.
He did not even say goodbye to her. He just strode away, deciding to come again tomorrow.
Gu Mingyue watched the retreating figure of Jiang Jinwang and could not help biting her lip, feeling unwilling.
It was clearly she who had met Jiang Jinwang first, and it was also her aunt who had said she would introduce Jiang Jinwang to her. So why did Jiang Jinwang want to marry Gu Yijia?
If only that day, Gu Yijia had not gone to the county town.
After seeing Jiang Jinwang and Gu Mingyue off, Chen Aifang brought over the porridge and let Gu Yijia eat at least a little.
Chen Aifang said, “The doctor said your heatstroke this time was very serious, and it also caused a fever. You’re still running a fever now, so it’s best to wait until the fever goes down before doing anything else, and keep observing you for another night. I’ll stay here with you tonight. If you’re better tomorrow, we’ll go back then.”
Actually, it was because her sister-in-law’s appearance at the time, like she was about to stop breathing, had been too frightening. The doctor was afraid that the examination had not been thorough enough, or that some accident might happen, so they decided to let her stay in the hospital for one night under observation.
Gu Yijia hesitated. “You don’t need to stay with me, sister-in-law. You should go back. Baoshan and Baohua are still at home.”
Baoshan and Baohua were the two children born to Gu Mingcheng and Chen Aifang. Baoshan was the boy, nine years old this year, while Baohua was still young, only five.
But Chen Aifang was not anxious. “It’s fine. I’ve already asked the old lady next door, Grandma Huang, to help look after them!”
She personally watched Gu Yijia eat. Seeing that she had only managed less than half a bowl of congee and was already looking listless and saying she had no appetite, she wanted to sigh again.
She was eating less than five-year-old Baohua.
“Sister-in-law, I really can’t eat any more,” Gu Yijia said pitifully.
Every time she looked so pitiful, Chen Aifang could not help softening. The weather was hot, and the congee would not keep, so she had no choice but to finish the leftovers herself.
After finishing the congee, Chen Aifang quickly washed the bowl.
It was not until eleven at night that Gu Yijia finally broke her fever. Only then did Chen Aifang, who had been keeping watch through the night, feel relieved and lie down on the bed next to her.