Su Ying turned to find Su Fugui and Tian Cuifen standing in the doorway, faces dark with anger.
Seeing her son slumped by the well, wailing, Tian Cuifen rushed over, lifted Su Dabao from the ground, and brushed snow from his clothes.
“Su Ying, you worthless girl! You ruined a perfect marriage, and now you’re beating your brother have you lost your mind? I told your father already: that three hundred yuan dowry is your responsibility. Don’t even think about weaseling out of it.”
Su Fugui nodded in agreement. “Your mother’s right. On the way back, we decided if you don’t want to marry Jiang Xiaofei, we’ll find you another husband. Either way, we’ll get the dowry. You’d better behave these next few days, or I’ll break your legs.”
In the past, Su Ying would have cowered, grabbed her basket, and fled to the mountains for firewood. But not today.
She stepped forward, glaring at Tian Cuifen. “My mother died giving birth to me. Do you want to go down there and ask her who my real mother is?”
Tian Cuifen’s face turned pale. She raised her hand to slap Su Ying but Su Ying caught her wrist and pushed back, sending her stumbling several steps.
“You… you insolent brat! Su Fugui, look at what your daughter’s become! I told you she was faking her meekness all along, but you wouldn’t listen.”
“Both of you are heartless,” Su Ying said. “You abuse me, and now you want to sell me off. I warn you: if you dare marry me off, I’ll poison you with rat poison. If I can’t live in peace, none of you will either. And as for that dowry you can dream about getting it from me.”
Tian Cuifen stared, shocked. The girl was unrecognizable her ferocity was even greater than Tian Cuifen’s own, sending a chill down her spine. Someone must have put ideas in her head; there was no other way she would dare to resist.
She pulled Su Fugui aside, and the two huddled together, whispering conspiratorially. Then Tian Cuifen’s expression softened, and her voice grew sweet.
“Yingzi, forget about the wedding for now. You’re still unwell go rest. I’ll make you a bowl of egg soup with sugar in a little while.”
Su Dabao’s eyes lit up. He had been sniffling quietly, but now he threw his head back and wailed again. “Mom! She’s worthless those eggs are mine, not hers!”
Tian Cuifen quickly covered his mouth and forced a smile at Su Ying. A snake changing its skin only means trouble, Su Ying thought. They think I’m stupid? Fine I’ll play along and see what dirty trick they’re planning.
At the clinic:
Zhang Shengli poured a cup of brown sugar water and set it in front of Lu Dongsheng. “Drink up I don’t have tea, but this is better for you. Good for the body.”
Lu Dongsheng pushed the ceramic jar away in disgust. “I’m not a woman.”
“Right you can’t have kids, so this is wasted on you. Say, you only have a month’s leave, don’t you? What about your marriage? If you really like that girl, I heard it only takes three hundred yuan to marry her.”
“Get out of here with that nonsense. Keep an eye on her for me these next few days I have a bad feeling about her parents. I’m going home today to tell my folks, then find a matchmaker to go to her house as soon as possible. Once that’s settled, I’ll head back to the army to file the marriage report, then come get her.”
Zhang Shengli grinned and gave him a thumbs up. “Company Commander Lu always decisive! That’s the spirit love means speaking up!”
“Go cool off somewhere. Like you know anything about it. Does my sister even know you like her?”
Zhang Shengli’s face flushed. It was an awkward topic he liked Lu Xiaofang, but she was obsessed with dancing and barely noticed him.
Lu Dongsheng sat for a while, then caught the passing bus at the village entrance. He arrived home just as his parents finished work.
Lu Dahai came in carrying a bottle of Erguotou liquor and a few jin of pork. As the steel mill director, he was a respected figure in the commune. Like father, like son even in middle age, he carried himself with dignity and integrity.
Zhao Yulan was wiping her hands by the flower bed in the courtyard. She smiled. “Oh, son you’re home! Why didn’t you bring Xiao Zhang with you?”
“Mom, he said he’s busy these days. He’ll come visit you and Dad in a few days.”
“Good. I’ll start cooking your father bought pork today; I’ll make braised pork for dinner.”
Lu Dongsheng smiled, wondering how to bring up the matchmaker.
As night fell, the food was served, and his younger siblings Lu Wentao and Lu Xiaofang arrived home. The family had four children: the second child, his older sister, was teaching in a remote area after graduating high school and joining the “Up to the Mountains, Down to the Countryside” movement. Lu Xiaofang, the third, had been recruited by a song and dance troupe after high school and had not participated in the movement. The youngest, Lu Wentao, was in his third year of high school since three of his siblings were away, he got to stay in the city.
Lu Xiaofang saw the braised pork on the table and reached for her chopsticks eagerly. “Mom, you’re so biased! You make pork only when big brother comes home let me taste a piece first, it smells amazing!”
“A young lady should be more graceful. What will people think when you marry? Your brother hasn’t even touched his chopsticks yet.”
Lu Dahai waved a hand. “Enough everyone sit down and eat.”
Lu Xiaofang smiled, picked up a piece of pork, and ate it with satisfaction.
Lu Dongsheng was about to speak when Lu Dahai said, “Dongsheng, your mother and I talked before you came home. You’re twenty-four now old enough to settle down. Men your age already have kids running around. Do you remember Uncle Han’s daughter? We lived in the same compound when you were little she’s a good girl. She’s in the same dance troupe as Xiaofang and still single. You two should meet soon and get to know each other.”
Uncle Han’s daughter? Han Miaomiao? She had written to him in high school, but after he joined the army, they lost touch. His experience with love was limited, but he still remembered her from those days. He knew his parents worried about him, but he couldn’t marry someone who wasn’t right for him. Marriage was too important what was the point of life if you didn’t marry someone you loved?
He realized he couldn’t wait any longer. “Mom, Dad actually, there’s someone I already have in mind. I was trying to figure out how to tell you. Since you brought it up, now’s a good time to talk about it.”
At his words, his parents’ faces lit up with joy.