After finishing dinner and washing the dishes that evening, Qiaoqiao slipped on a light jacket and told her mother, “Mom, I’m going over to Zheng Fenglin’s place for a bit.”
Her mother, who was sitting on the kang embroidering pillowcases, said, “There are candies from the Zhou family in the side room. Grab a handful and take them for Fenglin to try.”
“Okay.”
Qiaoqiao went to the side room and picked out a dozen or so candies. They were peach-flavored, with crystal-clear, shimmering wrappers that looked quite pretty.
After a moment’s thought, she put most of them back and took only two as she headed out the door.
Zhao Jintao couldn’t possibly eat ten candies anyway, and since this kind of candy didn’t exist in the village, if his mother found out, there was no telling how she might mock and ridicule her.
Down by the reservoir, Zhao Jintao sat on a boulder, staring blankly ahead. Under the moonlight, the clear ripples danced in a sparkling display of youthful energy.
“Brother Jintao, have a candy.” Qiaoqiao walked up to Zhao Jintao, unwrapped a piece, and handed it to him.
“You’re here.” Zhao Jintao stood up quickly, looking anxiously at the candy in Qiaoqiao’s hand.
“Go on, eat it. It’s my wedding candy,” Qiaoqiao said with a sweet smile.
Wedding candy, wedding candy. Zhao Jintao took it and popped it into his mouth; it tasted sweet with a hint of tartness.
The two of them sat down, and Qiaoqiao said cheerfully, “I’m getting married on the eighth. You have to come to the wedding feast.”
“Are you… truly willing to marry him?” Zhao Jintao stammered.
“I am willing. He is a hero who lost his legs for our country. I admire and respect him, and I’m willing to marry him.”
Qiaoqiao smiled, her round face, sun-browned skin, and youthful smile radiating the earthy fragrance of the soil.
Zhao Jintao gave a bitter laugh. “I thought you were being forced.”
“Everyone in my family loves me so much—how could they force me?”
“Then… I wish you happiness!” Zhao Jintao had never made any promises to Qiaoqiao. Since she was willing, aside from offering his blessings, there was nothing left to say.
“Brother Jintao, if it were you, would you marry into this?” Qiaoqiao asked abruptly.
After a brief silence, Zhao Jintao said, “Perhaps I would.”
Qiaoqiao laughed. “Fenglin said the same thing. After my brother graduated from senior high school, he wanted to be a primary school teacher in the village, but because of our family background, it was completely out of the question. Yet the Zhou family didn’t hesitate for a single second before securing an entry introduction letter for the municipal machinery plant.
“When autumn and winter roll around, my grandma’s entire body aches as if ants are crawling all over her, and Dad can only afford to buy her a few painkillers. And Grandpa—on the surface, people say we’re just making up numbers, but back then, when they wanted to beat us, they beat us without a second thought. Brother Jintao, I don’t care about the village gossip; I just want my family to be able to stand tall with our backs straight.
“If the Zhou family can let my grandfather and my father live with their heads held high, then I am willing to marry.”
As the words fell, her tears fell with them.
“As the team leader, I should be the one letting Yang Zheng take that spot. Digging ditches and clearing paths—many of those ideas were his. But in this world, how can we possibly change anything? Qiaoqiao, the Zhou hero is an educated man; he will treat you well.”
The romantic feelings Zhao Jintao held for Qiaoqiao were forcefully stamped down in his heart. Voicing them aloud would only breed unnecessary sorrow.
Qiaoqiao marrying a hero was her family’s decision, and his good friend Yang Zheng had finally found a path to get ahead. What kind of security could a mere team leader like him possibly offer Qiaoqiao?
Zhao Jintao didn’t care about his mother’s opinions; it was simply that Qiaoqiao was too good—far too good—and following him would only mean going hungry three meals a day.
“My brother said the world won’t always be like this; people can’t be left without enough to eat forever. We’re still young, so we’ll wait. The day when we have enough food and warm clothes will come. Brother Jintao, my brother and I are leaving. If anything happens at my home, I hope you’ll look out for them.”
“Of course. Yang Zheng and I are friends; your family is my family.”
“Thank you. You must come eat wedding wine on the eighth.”
What should have been a joyous occasion left a complex mixture of bitterness and sorrow in both their hearts.
When she returned home, Grandma and Mom were still embroidering pillowcases. Qiaoqiao called out a greeting and went straight to her own room.
The Yang family had a total of four adobe houses and two side rooms.
The central main room was used for dining and storing odds and ends. The eastern main room contained the kang, where her parents and grandmother slept.
The western main room was where Grandpa and her brother slept.
Qiaoqiao slept in the back room; out of the whole family, she was the only one with her own independent space.
The side rooms served as the kitchen and the dry latrine.
That night, under the bright moonlight, Qiaoqiao lay in bed and let her tears flow freely.
She did not want to marry Zhou Wenhui.
Though Division Commander Zhou and Aunt Luo were warm and enthusiastic towards her, Qiaoqiao felt an intangible sense of pressure, and her inner feelings of inferiority left her completely at a loss.
Zhou Wenhui was a college student, well-groomed and handsome. Even though he had lost both legs, how could someone with his privileged upbringing ever genuinely like a dark-skinned country girl?
Qiaoqiao understood everything—she understood it all. The reason she acted as though she didn’t care was simply to keep her family from worrying.
When she was little, Grandpa was still a respected private tutor in the village, and he had told her that to change the nation’s destiny, some people had to make sacrifices.
If everyone only cared about their own interests and clung cowardly to life, the nation would be reduced to little more than slaves.
Marrying Zhou Wenhui was the only opportunity to alter her family’s destiny. Her brother was heading to the city, meaning his children—his grandchildren—would all be city folk.
As for herself, Qiaoqiao shared her mother’s sentiment: having a child would make her life complete.
And if she couldn’t have children, she wouldn’t care either; for the sake of her family, she was willing to be the one who made the sacrifice.
Yet if—if Qiaoqiao could truly choose, she would have wanted to marry Zhao Jintao.
Zhao Jintao was also a senior high school graduate who, within two years of returning to the village, had become the team leader of Dashui Village.
While the village women at most earned seven work points, and girls like Qiaoqiao typically only got five, Zhao Jintao had always given her seven.
When the team distributed pork during the New Year, Zhao Jintao divided it strictly by head count, never leaving Qiaoqiao’s family short.
When the team drained the fish ponds, Zhao Jintao would always call upon her brother, letting him take home a batch of small miscellaneous fish in the middle of the night to improve their diet.
Zhao Jintao respected educated people and quietly looked after the Yang family, but he had his own fatal weakness: his mother was the most notorious shrew within a ten-li radius.
Jintao’s mother had long since made it clear that since her son was a team leader and a key talent being groomed for advancement, she would never allow him to marry a woman with an unclear family background.
Qiaoqiao understood Jintao’s mother; if she stayed with him, Zhao Jintao’s future would be ruined.
Zhao Jintao understood this too, which was why he had never dared reveal his true feelings.
In these hard times, everyone weighed their options by the measure of self-interest.
Qiaoqiao turned over, wiped the tears from the corner of her eye, and told herself: the eighth was only three days away. Three days from now, she would begin a new life.
All the love and hatred of Dashui Village should be wiped clean by then.
Three days from now, her brother would send her off to the Zhou family, and then head to the municipal machinery plant to report for work.
Her brother would probably find a pretty, gentle city girl to be her sister-in-law, right?
Perhaps in just a few years, Qiaoqiao would have a nephew or niece, and they would surely look as pretty as porcelain dolls.
Division Commander Zhou had promised to bring Grandma some military medicine for her rheumatism, so in future winters, Grandma’s bones wouldn’t ache anymore.
The five hundred yuan her parents gave her couldn’t be taken away; she would hide it right under her mother’s pillow.
With that money, Grandpa and Dad could occasionally afford a meal of pork belly. Thinking of this, Qiaoqiao smiled happily as she drifted off to sleep.