The next day.
Shen Zhiyi didn’t get out of bed until she’d had her fill of sleep. By that time, her mother had already returned from working in the fields and had even finished all her errands in town.
Shen Zhilan had set off from her husband’s family home and come back to her mother’s house, bringing her daughter Miaomiao with her. She’d come as soon as she received the message her mother had sent through a neighbor. Along the way, she’d even spent some of her carefully saved private savings to buy a bunch of bananas.
When it came to spending money on her own family, Shen Zhilan was always generous. Normally, though, she would only buy two or three bananas at most just enough for Miaomiao to chew on while teething or to satisfy a small craving.
But when she arrived home, she found baskets full of fruit that Shen Zhiyi had bought, making her single bunch of bananas seem almost unnecessary.
“This is your childhood home, and it will always be your home. You never need to bring gifts when you come back,” said their mother.
“I bought them especially for Zhiyi. She’s always loved fruits that are easy to peel,” Shen Zhilan replied, remembering her younger sister’s preferences as she always did.
“Thank you, Sister. Come, I have something to talk to you about. Miaomiao, you go ahead and have some snacks first Auntie bought them, you can eat as much as you like, but don’t eat so much that your tummy hurts. Later, Grandma is going to cook lots of delicious food for us.”
“Okay.”
Once the two sisters were alone in the room, Shen Zhiyi took out the documents needed for school enrollment and an application form for an interview at the supply and marketing cooperative and handed them over.
“These are the papers you’ll need to get Miaomiao enrolled in school have a look through them when you have time. Also, the town’s supply and marketing cooperative is hiring. It’s not far from where I work at Fumanlou. If you pass the interview, we’ll both be living and working in town from now on, and we’ll be able to look out for each other.”
“Come September, when Miaomiao starts school in town, I’ll help you arrange a place to live. The cooperative has staff accommodation, and if you get the job, I’ll put in a request to Director Du for an apartment for you. I’ll handle all the favors and connections needed you just need to make up your mind and let me know what you want to do.”
“Zhiyi, you’ve only been in town for just over ten days how have you gotten to know so many important people?” Shen Zhilan asked, hardly able to believe all the wonderful news her sister had brought her.
And the supply and marketing cooperative? It was such a good, stable job. How could someone like her an ordinary woman from the countryside, with little education and no great beauty ever hope to get hired there?
On top of that, even the tuition fees for the village primary school were considered too expensive by her husband Li Fei, who had never really wanted Miaomiao to go to school. Shen Zhilan had told him she would find a way to pay herself, so he wouldn’t have to spend a penny, but even then he had refused.
He kept making excuses, saying there was far too much work to do around the house, and that Miaomiao’s grandparents were getting on in years and could no longer manage heavy tasks. “You’re the lady of this house,” he would say. “Are you just going to abandon all your responsibilities?”
They just couldn’t seem to see eye to eye on anything.
Earlier that morning, when she had been leaving the house, Li Fei had even searched through her pockets, afraid she was taking money with her to give to her family. If she hadn’t hidden her cash inside her socks, she wouldn’t have been able to buy those bananas at all.
If she could get a job at the cooperative and start earning her own money, maybe it would be best if she just got a divorce from Li Fei.
After all, both Li Fei and her in-laws had always looked down on her, saying she was useless because she’d never given birth to a son.
She’d put up with it all these years, holding her tongue and enduring everything. She’d also told herself that ever since Zhiyi had run into trouble and been sent away, their whole family had faced one difficulty after another. If she got divorced from Li Fei right now, people would say that all the women in their family were abandoned wives, or women who couldn’t keep a husband.
To be honest, though, life back here in Lihua Village felt much more peaceful and comfortable.
“It’s nothing special, really. I don’t know that many people. But since I work in a restaurant, and quite a few people in town really enjoy the food I cook, we’ve gotten to know each other little by little,” Shen Zhiyi explained.
“That’s wonderful. All right, I’ll go and give it a try.”
“But Sister, there’s something else I need to talk to you about. Tuition fees aren’t cheap even here in the village, and they’ll be even higher for schools in town. How could I ever ask you to pay for everything yourself?”
“Don’t worry about that. I said I’ll take care of it, and I mean it. Mr. Wei pays me one hundred and eighty yuan a month, and I also make extra money selling him special seasonings I prepare. Plus, I get bonuses whenever I create new popular dishes. When you add it all up, I earn several hundred yuan every month.”
“Believe me, Sister, I can afford it. I make more than enough money, and I can’t possibly spend it all by myself. If you and Mom and Miaomiao don’t help me use it, what am I supposed to do with all of it?”
“…I don’t understand, Zhiyi how did you become so capable and successful all of a sudden?”
“It’s not that I’m so capable. I’ve just been very lucky,” Shen Zhiyi said with a smile.
“By the way, Sister, I bought some clothes for you and Miaomiao you can try them on later. These are products I use every day for washing and taking care of my skin. I think they work really well, so take them home and give them a try.”
“Did you buy these from the supply and marketing cooperative? They must be very expensive.”
“You can’t buy things this good there. I won’t tell you where I got them for now just use them first. If you find them helpful, let me know, and I’ll give you more once you run out.”
“All right,” Shen Zhilan said, accepting everything without any suspicion.
Shen Zhiyi had already torn off all the original labels from the bottles and pasted on new ones she’d made herself, writing clearly on plain white paper what each item was for: “for washing face,” “for applying to skin,” and noting that the products in the square packets were face masks, to be used for at least fifteen minutes each time.
Shen Zhilan felt quite embarrassed receiving so many wonderful things from her sister, knowing all she’d given in return was just one bunch of bananas.
Shen Zhiyi, however, didn’t mind in the slightest. She reassured her sister with a few kind words, and soon Shen Zhilan went to the kitchen to help their mother prepare lunch.
Shen Zhiyi went out into the courtyard to find Miaomiao.
The little girl was sitting there peeling corn. When she saw Shen Zhiyi coming over, she put down what she was doing and ran to hold her hand. “Auntie, where is Officer Zhou? Why didn’t he come with you to Grandma’s house today?”
“Officer Zhou has to go to work, you know. He’s not part of our family, so he can’t come visit us every single day, can he?”
“Then Auntie, can you think of a way to make Officer Zhou part of our family?”
“Think of a way? Hmm… what kind of way should I think of?” Shen Zhiyi asked, putting on an expression of deep thought and difficulty.
“Auntie, if you marry Officer Zhou, then he’ll be my uncle, won’t he? And then he’ll be part of Grandma’s family too! Then he can come back here with you every single day!”
Pfft
This little one really did live up to her name she was as clever and quick-witted as they came.
Shen Zhiyi frowned. Miaomiao had only met Zhou Muchuan once, hadn’t she? They’d just shared a meal together that afternoon, and yet the little girl had already taken such a liking to him and decided he should be her uncle?
As if she wasn’t already embarrassed enough…
“Well? What do you think, Auntie?” Miaomiao asked, growing a little impatient.
“I’m afraid that won’t work, sweetie. Auntie is already married, so I can’t marry Officer Zhou. If I did, that would be breaking the law and committing a crime, and I’d be sent away to do hard labor again,” Shen Zhiyi said, shaking her head and sighing dramatically.
Miaomiao immediately covered her mouth with her hands, then threw her arms around Shen Zhiyi and began to cry softly. “Then I don’t want Officer Zhou to be my uncle anymore. I don’t want Auntie to be sent away to work hard.”
Shen Zhiyi: “……”
Shen Zhiyi instantly regretted saying what she had she shouldn’t have teased the child like that.
She watched as Miaomiao cried her heart out, yet tried so hard to keep her voice quiet and muffled, not wanting to make too much noise and disturb her mother or grandmother. Seeing how thoughtful and considerate the little girl was, even in the middle of her tears, filled Shen Zhiyi’s heart with even more love and tenderness.
“Miaomiao, please don’t cry. Auntie was wrong, I shouldn’t have teased you like that. I promise I won’t be sent away to do hard labor not ever, okay?”
“Okay,” Miaomiao nodded, wiping her eyes.
Shen Zhiyi picked her up and sat her comfortably on her lap. “Miaomiao, do you want to go to school? Come September, Auntie will take you to start primary school in town, okay?”
“…No, I don’t want to,” Miaomiao said, shaking her head firmly. “Grandma says it’s useless for girls to learn how to read and write. She says we’d be better off getting married early.”