After breakfast, the old man called Xiao Shan to the study.
“Can you or can’t you rein in that woman’s tongue? Have I or have I not forbidden her from meddling in Xiao Yunting’s affairs? When she used such underhanded tricks to force her way into the Xiao family as your wife, you should have known exactly what sort of person she is!”
Xiao Shan pressed his lips together and said nothing. Back then, Qin Mengxue had passed away suddenly. He and his father had been at their busiest, with chaos and disorder plaguing both the extended and immediate family. It was then that Qin Mengshuang had stepped forward, telling him she wished to care for and raise Xiao Yunting as his young aunt.
He had refused outright. A widower and a widow living under the same roof—the whispers of others alone would have been enough to bury him. Yet that very night, Qin Mengshuang had found some way, somehow, to climb into his bed without a soul being the wiser!
When he awoke the next morning, he had expected her to make a scene, to scream the news far and wide and force his hand. Instead, she had wept not a tear nor raised a cry. Quietly she dressed herself, then dropped to her knees with a heavy thud.
“Brother-in-law… the Qin family turned me out when I gave birth to a daughter. Now that my husband is gone, they want nothing more to do with me or my child. I had nowhere left to turn, so I resorted to this desperate measure. I beg you—please give me a way to survive!”
“If you will take me in, I shall tend to you and the old master faithfully from this day forth. I shall raise Yunting as though he were my own flesh and blood. If you will not have me… then let this night be as though it never was. I shall speak of it to no one else. To the world, I shall remain your respectful sister-in-law, and nothing more.”
Hearing those words, all resentment in Xiao Shan’s heart melted away in an instant. He had never cared for overbearing women—women like Qin Mengxue, who, secure in her noble birth, had always held herself high above all others. Had it not been for the debt his father owed to Qin Mengxue’s grandfather, who had once saved his life, he would never have wedded a woman of such temperament.
Qin Mengshuang was different. She was careful and timid. Before him, she never dared speak above a whisper. She dared not meet his gaze openly, but stole glances at him from beneath lowered lids—and whenever she looked at him, her eyes shone with reverence, as though gazing upon something divine.
That day, Xiao Shan did something rash, something he himself had never expected: he lifted the kneeling woman into his arms, laid her upon the bed, and took her once more in full possession of his senses. Thereafter, they obtained their marriage certificate. To the curious neighbors, he gave a simple excuse: he had wished to find someone quickly to care for his infant son, not yet three months old.
And true to her word, Qin Mengshuang had been utterly compliant in every way since then. She tended to his every need, in public and in private, seeing to his comfort without fault. When the old master forbade her from bearing children of her own, she obeyed meekly and drank the contraceptive decoction. When he returned home weighed down by the vexations of the world, she received his ill humor with the meekness of a lamb.
A heart is not stone. For a year or two, such conduct might be feigned. But twenty years had passed, and Qin Mengshuang still conducted herself with the same deference and humility as on the day she entered the household. It seemed to him that his father and his son were carrying things too far—never once treating her as a true wife and daughter-in-law of the Xiao family…
“Father,” Xiao Shan said at last, “be that as it may, Mengshuang has been my wife all these years, and lawfully wedded at that. As for Yunting and that young woman he has brought home… truly, the girl knows nothing of the world. It is small wonder Mengshuang took offense.”
Xiao Yuzhang could scarcely believe his ears—and was almost amused in his fury. “She takes offense? Has she the face to take offense? Because of the two of you, I walked with my head bowed for three long years. Did I once hold it against you?”
“She would not have spoken slightingly of the girl’s birth had the girl not spoken first. Very well. If you believe your wife blameless… then pack your things. Take her and her little brat with you. Leave this house. From this moment forth, I shall trouble myself no more with your lives. And neither shall you have any part in mine, or in Yunting’s.”
With that, the old man picked up his service cap with steady hands and strode out ahead of him.
Qin Mengshuang had been hovering outside the study door ever since the two men had entered. At the sight of the old man emerging, she hurried forward to meet him. “Father…”
Xiao Yuzhang cast a cool, sidelong glance over her face. “A lady of quality does not loiter at doors to eavesdrop on private conversations. What fine breeding you have indeed!”
“I did not! I heard nothing at all!” Qin Mengshuang protested hastily. “Father—when I asked those questions at the dinner table, I meant no harm by it. I was only concerned that admitting a girl of unknown origins into our home might bring trouble upon us. I own that I acted with a small measure of foresight and asked those questions before you, thinking she would speak the truth out of respect for your authority.”
“I harbor not the slightest wish to bring harm to this household! It was simply that the girl bore herself with such insolence, showing me not an ounce of respect. Had I questioned her in private, she would have denied it all!” Qin Mengshuang seethed inwardly. She had learned nothing from her inquiries—on top of which, she had been openly slighted by the younger generation. And now she had managed to incense the stubborn, unyielding old man as well!
Xiao Yuzhang let out a cold snort. “I said it twenty years ago: if Xiao Shan chose to dance at the end of your strings, that was his affair. But Yunting’s affairs were to remain strictly off-limits to you. Since you are incapable of keeping your word… then pack your things and take your little brat with you when you leave!”
“Father… forgive me! I spoke out of turn. I know full well that I was wrong!”
Leave? She would never leave. Once outside these walls, what hope would she ever have of laying hands on the treasures the old man kept locked away? Xiao Shan earned a pittance—barely a handful of yuan each month. Compared to those heirlooms, his entire lifetime of wages would amount to less than a drop in the ocean!
The old man had no patience for her pleas. He turned away and stepped into the waiting car, escorted by his orderly. Xiao Shan too mounted his bicycle and departed. Having grown up beneath his father’s stern tutelage, he had long since grown accustomed to his ways and manner of speech…
The jeep pulled away swiftly. Dust billowed in its wake as it departed, leaving the sharp, acrid stench of exhaust hanging thick in the air. Qin Mengshuang sneezed again and again, choking on the fumes.
Elsewhere, Xiao Yunting led Yu Wanzhi to the Friendship Store.
“The clothing sold at state-run shops is hardly worth your notice. The goods here are far finer. Choose whatever catches your eye. And surely young ladies such as yourself enjoy face creams, scented cosmetics, and the like? Buy as much as you wish—do not spare a single fen on my account.”
The girl had been with him three days now and had not once changed her clothes. Xiao Yunting had it in mind to purchase several sets of undergarments and daily wear so she might have fresh things to change into—though he had been too bashful to say so outright.
Over the years, he had amassed considerable savings trading on the black market. His grandfather, in addition to slipping him fifty yuan each month in secret, had also long insisted that Xiao Shan—Yunting’s father—set aside half his wages each month to be given over to his grandson. Since Yunting boarded and ate at home, and every necessity was provided for, he spent almost nothing at all. His savings sat untouched, waiting for this very moment. Now that he had met her, he spent freely, without the slightest pang of regret.
Yu Wanzhi accepted his kindness without coy protest. A few changes of clothing would indeed be welcome.
After all, they had yet to pick up the threads of where they had left off in their past lives. She said nothing of the miraculous space she carried within her—she would keep that in reserve, and reveal it to him only when he least expected it. A touch of mystery, after all, was never amiss.