Chapter 47

Chapter 47

In the letter, He Qiuxia's tone was as direct as ever, with no preamble. She said that Lizi and He Jianjun had already been preparing their new home and planned to get their marriage certificate in the last month of the lunar calendar. The He family wanted to get it done before year's end, since the New Year was right around the corner anyway—more lively and festive that way.

He Qiuxia said that Lizi didn't plan to invite Wang Wanru and Meng Guangze to the capital for the wedding, saying the journey was too far and inconvenient to travel back and forth, and besides, the Meng family's class background wasn't good—their showing up would just give the He family something to gossip about. He Qiuxia wrote in the letter: "Lizi is getting more and more willful these days. I scolded her a few times, and she just cried, saying she's set on He Jianjun for the rest of her life. Forget it—kids make their own luck. I can't handle her anymore. When you get to Su City, spend some time with your birth mom. She's had a rough time of it too."

At the end of the letter, He Qiuxia's tone suddenly softened: "I hear Su City gets cold in the winter too. Back when you were in the capital, you couldn't even step outside in winter without your quilted pants. This year on the island you don't feel the cold, but you'll be freezing in Su City. I knit you a pair of wool pants—make sure you bring them and wear them. In the box are the date paste cakes and sesame candies you eat every winter. The other day I went with Lizi to the department store to get a watch and saw them, so I picked some up for you. It's been snowing hard in the capital lately, and the roads are slick—your dad almost slipped, but he's fine. Everything's fine here at home. You take care of yourself over there."

Ji Yunshu set the letter down and bent over to unwrap the oil-paper bundle that came with it. The date paste cakes and sesame candies had softened a bit, wrapped in several layers of oil paper, with sesame seeds stuck right to the paper.

Ji Yunshu broke off a small piece and put it in her mouth. Sticky rice flour wrapped around date paste—sweet but not too rich. It was the taste she'd grown up on. Every winter, He Qiuxia would make the trip without fail to that old shop at the end of the alley outside the compound to buy date paste cakes. Ji Yunshu suddenly felt her throat tighten. In He Qiuxia's letter, she wrote that Meng Li was getting married, but there wasn't much joy in it—instead, there was a tired, worn-out feeling she was trying to hold back. She knew He Qiuxia didn't like He Jianjun, and she knew He Qiuxia really couldn't handle it anymore. But even when she was this worn out, she still remembered that Ji Yunshu ate date paste cakes every winter. Ji Yunshu couldn't help but feel for her.

The dream was still going on, but now she wasn't part of Meng Li and He Jianjun's relationship. As long as they didn't mess with her life, Ji Yunshu wasn't going to bother with them either.

Back home, Ji Yunshu washed up and leaned back against the headboard, pulling out He Qiuxia's letter to read it again. Pei Yufeng checked all the doors and windows in the main room, filled the water bowls for Huajuan and Shenshen, then went upstairs. When he walked into the bedroom, he saw Ji Yunshu with the letter on her knee, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the edge of the paper. Her expression wasn't exactly sad, but there was a deep, stubborn melancholy in her eyes.

"What did Mom say in her letter?" Pei Yufeng lay down beside her, reaching over to pull her into his arms, his voice low, like he was coaxing her to open up.

"She said Meng Li and He Jianjun are getting married." Ji Yunshu leaned her face into the crook of his shoulder, her tone wistful. "Meng Li doesn't plan to invite Mom and Dad to the capital for the wedding. She says it's too far, but really she's just embarrassed by their class background. Mom wrote in the letter telling me to spend time with my parents—they must be hurting. Ugh, even though Meng Li isn't Mom and Dad's biological daughter, they never treated her badly in all nineteen years. What she's doing is really messed up."

Pei Yufeng's arm tightened around her waist, gentle but firm. He was silent for a moment, his fingers stroking her back rhythmically, then spoke, his voice steady: "Meng Li chose this path, so she has to be responsible for her own choices. That He Jianjun..."

He paused, like he was choosing his words, then gave up on being diplomatic: "He just looks good on the surface. If Meng Li ends up unhappy, she's got no one to blame but herself."

"I don't want to deal with Meng Li, but I'm scared she'll end up hurting Mom and Dad." Ji Yunshu sighed, burying her face deeper into his shoulder. "Both sets of parents are getting older. My brother's stationed far away and can only come back once every year or two. And the Meng family's situation isn't good either..."

"No matter what, Uncle Ji and Aunt He are both level-headed people. If anything really happens, they definitely won't let it slide." Pei Yufeng lowered his head, his lips pressing against the top of her head, comforting Ji Yunshu seriously and gently. "Mom and Dad don't owe her anything. Uncle Ji and Aunt He don't owe her anything either. If she really ends up in trouble and wants to come back, Uncle Ji and Aunt He will definitely help her."

Ji Yunshu looked up at Pei Yufeng. The dim lamplight fell across his face—the shadow of his brow, the curve of his nose, the line of his jaw—all quietly relaxed in the light. Pei Yufeng didn't say much, but he always knew how to calm her restless heart with the simplest words.

It was like something heavy in her chest had been gently lifted by a warm hand, and it suddenly felt light. Ji Yunshu reached out and wrapped her arms around Pei Yufeng's neck, pressing her face into the hollow of his throat, taking a deep breath, soaking in that reassuring scent that made her feel so safe.

"Brother Pei." Ji Yunshu spoke softly.

"Hm?"

"Thank you."

Pei Yufeng didn't say "no need to thank me." He just turned over, gathered her entirely into his arms, lowered his head, and gently brushed his lips against Ji Yunshu's forehead. That touch was as light as a leaf landing on water, yet it made Ji Yunshu feel warmth spread from her forehead all the way down to the bottom of her heart.

Ji Yunshu felt Pei Yufeng's kisses move from her forehead to her brow bone, then to the tip of her nose, her upper lip—each one slow and gentle, like he was tracing her features with the softest brushstroke.

"Get some rest." He whispered by her ear, his voice low and husky, his lips pressed against that sensitive spot just below her earlobe. His kisses slid from her earlobe down to her collarbone, where he paused. Ji Yunshu's fingers gripped his arm, her breathing already unsteady.

That night they didn't say much more. Pei Yufeng just soothed her from head to toe in the gentlest way. He was telling her: the things you worry about, I'll carry them with you; the things that feel heavy, I'll help you shoulder them.

The next morning when Ji Yunshu opened her eyes, sunlight was already squeezing through the curtain gaps in several beams, falling on the cabinet at the foot of the bed.

Ji Yunshu turned over, and the soreness in her waist made her inhale softly—Pei Yufeng hadn't pushed her to the point of begging for mercy like he usually did last night, but that gentle, lingering tenderness was more bone-melting than any fierce demand. He was using the whole night to tell her one thing, but unfortunately she'd been kissed into a daze and hadn't quite caught on.

Pei Yufeng was already up, his side of the bed empty, but the blanket still held his warmth. She heard the sound of chopping vegetables and the clatter of a spatula from the kitchen downstairs, along with a familiar smell of sesame paste drifting up the stairs, making her stomach growl.

Ji Yunshu went downstairs to wash up and saw Pei Yufeng standing at the stove in a dark blue apron, sleeves rolled to his elbows, adding broth to a copper pot. The copper pot was something Pei Yufeng had bought from who-knows-where—it couldn't compare to the blue copper pots at the hotpot restaurants in the capital, but the clear broth was bubbling away with a few slices of ginger, a few sections of scallion, and some red dates and goji berries. It actually looked pretty close to a proper capital-style copper hotpot.

Ji Yunshu was surprised: "Why are you making hotpot?"

"Yesterday you mentioned Mom said it was snowing in the capital, and it reminded me how much you love this." Pei Yufeng's hands didn't stop slicing the meat. "In past winters, you'd always pester Mom and Dad to take you to the state-run restaurant to eat it. I just remembered the supply co-op had copper pots for sale—not the same as the ones in the capital, but they work."

Steam rose from the pot, filling the whole kitchen with a warm, fragrant smell. On the cutting board by the stove sat a plate of sliced beef, each piece thin enough to see through, arranged neatly on the plate.

The beef was hind leg meat Pei Yufeng had bought early that morning from the supply cooperative. He'd sliced it piece by piece with a kitchen knife—his knife skills couldn't match a restaurant chef's, but every slice was even in thickness, and held up to the light you could see the grain of the meat. Beside it were several plates of side dishes: tofu cubes, potato slices, soaked wood ear mushrooms, washed greens, and two bowls of prepared sesame sauce—made with sesame paste, chopped scallions, and a little of the minced garlic and chili sauce he'd brought back, not much different from what you'd get at a capital hotpot restaurant.

"There's no lamb at home—there isn't much lamb around here anyway. But luckily I went early and managed to get beef." Pei Yufeng said as he carried the copper pot to the dining table. This was his way of recreating a taste of capital winter for her as best he could.

"It's fine—anything tastes good in hotpot." Ji Yunshu really hadn't had copper pot hotpot in a long time. Though it looked simple, the meat and sides had to be sliced thin and tender, so they'd cook in seconds when dipped in, then mixed with the sesame sauce—absolutely delicious.

Ji Yunshu sat down at the table, picked up a slice of beef with her chopsticks, and dropped it into the boiling water. She counted a few seconds in her head, fished it out, dipped it in the sesame sauce bowl, and put it in her mouth. The beef was so tender it barely needed chewing. Though the clear broth couldn't match the rich bone broth of the capital restaurants, the sweetness of the red dates and goji berries had seeped into the meat, combined with the rich sesame sauce and the spicy kick of the chili sauce—one bite warmed her whole body. She squinted her eyes and let out a satisfied sigh.

"Good?" Pei Yufeng sat down across from her and dropped another piece of tofu into the pot for her.

"Delicious." Ji Yunshu nodded vigorously. "The sesame sauce tastes almost as good as the one at the restaurant near my old house. How do you know how to make everything? Give you a cookbook and you could open your own restaurant?"

Pei Yufeng didn't answer that question, just put another freshly cooked slice of beef into her bowl. But the faint red on his ears was clearly visible in the sunlight streaming through the window.

The two of them ate hotpot from noon well into the afternoon. The sunlight outside was lovely, steam rose from the pot, and a thin layer of mist had formed on the window glass, blurring the shadows of the trees in the yard into a soft green smudge.

After the hotpot, Pei Yufeng cleared the dishes and went to wash them. Ji Yunshu leaned against the kitchen doorframe, watching his back as he did the dishes, silently counting the days in her head. Today was November 28th. The ferry ticket she'd bought was for December 1st. Three days until departure. She'd be in Su City for about a week.

She would miss him.

She'd miss the way Pei Yufeng pulled her into his arms every night, as naturally as breathing. She'd miss the sight of his back in an apron standing at the stove. She'd miss his endless patience and indulgence toward her.

On the morning of December 1st, before dawn had fully broken, Pei Yufeng was already up. He checked the luggage he'd already checked three times the night before, tucked seasickness pills, Huoxiang Zhengqi water, and a packet of tangerine peel wrapped in oil paper into the outermost pocket of the shoulder bag, and added an extra thick scarf to Ji Yunshu's suitcase. Ji Yunshu was still half-asleep in bed. He bent down, brushed his lips lightly against her forehead, then went downstairs to prepare breakfast.

Ji Yunshu was woken by the scent of brown sugar ginger tea drifting up from the kitchen. She washed up and came downstairs to find Pei Yufeng had already set out breakfast. After eating, Pei Yufeng walked her to the dock.

By the time they reached the dock, it was already 11 a.m. A white ferry was moored there, and sailors on the gangplank were untying the ropes.

Whether it was the nourishing island air or the months of taking blood-tonic supplements that had built up her constitution, when the ferry left the harbor Ji Yunshu only felt slight dizziness. She leaned against Pei Yufeng's shoulder with her eyes closed and soon adapted to the rocking of the waves.

Once the ferry reached a steady speed, Ji Yunshu could even walk around on board. She went out to the deck to enjoy the sea breeze, watching seagulls chase the white foam behind the stern. It was only when the ferry approached Yue City harbor and slowed down to dock, rocking more violently, that Ji Yunshu suddenly felt her stomach churn. She quickly leaned back against Pei Yufeng's shoulder and closed her eyes.

Pei Yufeng wrapped one arm around her shoulder and pulled the tangerine peel from his bag with the other, holding it under her nose. The crisp, refreshing scent of tangerine peel cut through the fishy smell of the sea and the rising nausea. Ji Yunshu took a few deep breaths and only stood up once the boat had fully docked. When her feet hit the concrete of the pier, she found her legs were a bit weak, but her head was no longer spinning.

That afternoon, Pei Yufeng saw Ji Yunshu to Yue City train station. The platform was crowded with people.

Pei Yufeng helped Ji Yunshu carry her suitcase onto the train, placed it in the rack above her window seat, hung the shoulder bag on the hook by the window, and pulled out the tangerine peel and seasickness pills, setting them on the small fold-out table. He told her to lie down and rest if she got tired.

From Yue City to Su City, the train took a day and two nights—arriving on the morning of the third day. It was a long time, and Pei Yufeng couldn't help but worry.

"Alright, hurry and get off—the train's about to leave." Ji Yunshu pushed his arm. "Mom said she'll pick me up. Don't worry."

Pei Yufeng straightened up and immediately said: "Call to let me know when you arrive."

"I know, I know." Ji Yunshu waved at him.

Pei Yufeng still couldn't relax: "It's cold in Su City—wear more clothes. When you come back, wait for me at the train station—I'll pick you up." He'd said all this more than once already. He didn't want to seem too naggy, so he just left it at those two final remarks.

Ji Yunshu nodded: "I know. Didn't we already buy the tickets? The one arriving in Yue City at noon on the tenth—I remember it all!"

Pei Yufeng really had nothing left to remind her about. He just reached out, tucked the stray strands of hair behind her ear, brushed his thumb lightly across her cheekbone, then turned and got off the train. He stood on the platform, watching her through the window.

He stood straight in his military uniform, his back as straight as a pine tree. Ji Yunshu pressed her palm against the window glass and smiled at him.

The train's whistle gave a long blast, and the platform broadcast announced that passengers should prepare for the doors to close and the train to depart. At that moment, Ji Yunshu watched Pei Yufeng standing on the platform, suddenly stood up, rushed from her seat to the carriage door, and jumped off the train.

Without any hesitation, Ji Yunshu ran to Pei Yufeng, stood on her tiptoes, wrapped both arms around his neck, and hugged him tightly. His military uniform fabric wasn't particularly soft—even stiff from too many washes—but underneath was Pei Yufeng's warm body heat and familiar scent. Ji Yunshu buried her face in his chest and took a deep breath.

"Wait for me to come back—it'll be quick." After saying this, Ji Yunshu let go of him, turned, and ran back onto the train.

The train slowly pulled out of the station. Ji Yunshu pressed her face against the window glass, watching the tall figure on the platform grow smaller and smaller until it became a tiny speck of light that disappeared completely into the grayish-white winter skyline.

The train arrived in Su City at six in the morning. Ji Yunshu woke up on the sleeper berth, pulled her padded jacket tight around her, and leaned against the window to look outside. The platform in Su City was made of blue brick, with two rows of bare plane trees lining it, their bare branches reaching starkly into the gray-white sky. The people coming and going were quiet and subdued—a world apart from the bustling chaos of Yue City's train station.

Everyone on the platform was bundled up in thick padded jackets and overcoats. Ji Yunshu paused, then pulled out the thick scarf Pei Yufeng had stuffed into her suitcase, wrapped it around her neck, and carried her luggage off the train.

Wang Wanru and Meng Guangze were already waiting on the platform. Wang Wanru wore a dark gray wool coat, her hair noticeably whiter than the last time they'd met, but she looked well. She waved at Ji Yunshu as she stepped off the train, a handkerchief in her hand, her eyes already red. Meng Guangze stood beside her in a navy blue padded jacket, his hair neatly combed, his back a little more hunched than in summer, but he still carried himself with that restrained uprightness of an old-school scholar.

When he saw Ji Yunshu, he didn't wave excitedly like Wang Wanru did. He just shifted the cloth bag on his shoulder, his lips moving a few times before he finally said: "Glad you made it. Was the trip tiring?"

"Not at all—I slept twice on the train and here I am." Ji Yunshu hurried over. Wang Wanru grabbed her hand and looked her up and down several times, her eyes red as she said, "You look better than before. Are you getting used to island life?" Then she asked if Ji Yunshu was hungry, saying there was congee simmering at home.

Meng Guangze took her suitcase and walked quietly behind the mother and daughter, chiming in every now and then.

From the station, the three of them took a bus part of the way, then walked along a cobblestone road. Su City's old town was completely different from the capital, and Ji Yunshu was seeing this kind of city for the first time.

The capital's alleys were gray brick and gray tile, neat and square, always carrying that smoky smell of coal mixed with roasted sweet potatoes in winter. Su City, by contrast, had white walls and dark-tiled roofs, canals crisscrossing everywhere. Even in winter, some roadside trees were still green, and the air carried the faint, cold scent of plum blossoms.

Ji Yunshu followed Wang Wanru through a narrow alley, at the end of which stood a stone gate with vine patterns carved into the lintel. She thought this was home and was about to step inside when Wang Wanru pulled her along. They passed through a courtyard behind the stone gate, then through a moon gate, and suddenly the view opened up—a Western-style garden villa standing quietly in the morning light.

The house was three stories of blue brick, with a semicircular balcony on the front where a few withered potted plants sat. The front garden wasn't big but was neatly kept, with two tall ginkgo trees carpeting the ground with golden leaves. Withered ivy covered the exterior walls, and you could imagine how lush and green they'd be in summer.

Ji Yunshu sucked in a sharp breath.

"Mom, this is our home?" Ji Yunshu followed Wang Wanru through the garden path, asking in disbelief.

Even in the capital, this kind of place was rare—only families that had once been filthy rich could live like this. Meng Guangze and his forebears had studied abroad, which explained the Western style of the house.

"Yes, the street office said we could keep the ancestral home, but some of the cultural relics inside had to be handed over to the state. There were too many items to inventory at once, so the cultural relics institute sent a few comrades to stay here, working in the west wing and helping us catalog everything." Wang Wanru pointed to the windows on the side of the villa where lights were still on. Ji Yunshu followed her gaze and indeed saw lamplight spilling from the windows, with faint silhouettes of people bent over their desks.

She followed Wang Wanru through the front door of the villa. The ceiling of the main hall was higher than she'd imagined, with a Western crystal chandelier hanging from it. Though it was no longer wired for electricity, the diamond-shaped glass pendants still caught the morning light, shimmering with an old-fashioned glow. The floor was made of dark parquet wood that creaked slightly underfoot, and against the wall stood a set of rosewood furniture with a faded brocade tablecloth spread over the surface.

Several scrolls of calligraphy and painting hung on the walls. Wang Wanru pointed to one landscape painting, saying it was a genuine work by a Ming dynasty painter, already registered and waiting to be sent to the museum once the cultural relics protection comrades finished their inventory. Ji Yunshu looked at the yellowed landscape painting illuminated by the morning light, then at the blue-and-white porcelain vases and bronze incense burner piled in the corner, and suddenly felt that what she was standing on wasn't wooden flooring but an entire miniature museum.

"Mom, that garden next door..." Ji Yunshu pointed toward the faintly visible upturned eaves outside the window.

Wang Wanru followed her gaze and said calmly: "That's the garden your great-great-grandfather built, called Hechang Garden. It was the original ancestral home, not large—just over twenty mu. After we built this Western-style house, the family would go there to cool off in the summer. Later, during the public-private partnership, it was handed over to the state, and now it's the office of the street committee. But they've maintained the garden well—the rockeries and ponds are still there. If you want to see it, Mom will take you for a stroll this afternoon."

Ji Yunshu opened her mouth, not knowing what to say, and closed it again. She knew the Meng family was wealthy, but she hadn't known they were wealthy to this degree!

No wonder they were capitalists receiving over a thousand yuan in fixed interest payments every month—this wasn't just an "ordinary" capitalist family, but a "big capitalist" family!

Ji Yunshu drew in a sharp breath. No wonder the Meng family had been persecuted so severely in her dream... With this kind of family background, countless people must have been envious.

Wang Wanru led Ji Yunshu to sit on the rosewood sofa, poured her a cup of hot tea, and pushed a plate of osmanthus cakes toward her. Meng Guangze sat in the wooden armchair nearby, holding a cup of tea, saying little but quietly watching the mother and daughter.

Wang Wanru recounted everything that had happened at home over the past period. At first, the eldest brother and his wife had still been reluctant, but after the street office issued the commendation certificate, the eldest sister-in-law's attitude had softened considerably. The fixed interest payments had now completely stopped, and although the eldest brother, Meng Chongwen, hadn't been making a fuss about splitting the family these past few days, he still couldn't get over losing that income. Since the payments stopped last month, the household expenses had become tight. Though there was still a fair amount of savings, they couldn't just live off it indefinitely, so she and Meng Guangze had both gone back to work.

With the help of the street office, Meng Guangze had found temporary work at the Institute of Literature and History, organizing ancient texts and rare books. The pay wasn't high, but at least it was a stable job with a clean employment record. And since he knew about cultural relics, he could help the institute's comrades identify the dates and authenticity of ancient books. Wang Wanru herself helped out at the neighborhood committee, doing clerical work, and occasionally taught orphaned children to read at the community school as a volunteer. Though it was unpaid, she found joy in it, considering it as accumulating blessings for her future grandchildren.

"As long as we can shed the capitalist label and let your eldest brother and sister-in-law's children grow up to study and work with a clean record, without being ostracized, Mom will be satisfied." As Wang Wanru said this, her fingers unconsciously traced the rim of her teacup, her gaze resting on the commendation certificate issued by the street office on the coffee table. The certificate was framed in glass and placed in the most prominent spot in the main hall.

Ji Yunshu immediately said: "Mom, you've already done wonderfully. Once the cultural relics are inventoried and sent away, there shouldn't be any major problems for the family anymore. As for eldest brother and his wife, once the baby is born, they'll naturally understand."

Wang Wanru nodded, her eyes reddening again. She wiped the corner of her eye, took Ji Yunshu's hand, hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke: "Li Zi is getting married. Have you heard?"

"Mom wrote to tell me." Ji Yunshu nodded.

"Li Zi didn't invite me or your father to the wedding." Wang Wanru's voice was soft, and she let out a gentle sigh, her tone full of weariness. "She said the journey was too far and inconvenient. Mom knows she's ashamed of our family background, afraid she'd embarrass herself and the He family. Well, if she doesn't want us there, so be it. Mom sent her a set of jade jewelry to help her save face, and she received it and said she liked it very much."

Ji Yunshu reached out and took Wang Wanru's hand. Her hand was soft, her skin somewhat dry, with a few fine cracks on her fingertips—worn from working at the neighborhood committee these past months. Ji Yunshu suddenly felt a pang of sadness. It was clear that Wang Wanru had grown up in luxury, and now, in her later years, to protect her family's good name, she had not only given away most of her life's possessions but was also working hard like everyone else just to make ends meet.

"Mom, sending her jewelry shows you care about her. Her not inviting you to the wedding shows she doesn't care about you. You've never owed her anything. Nineteen years of raising her—if she were truly grateful, she wouldn't look down on your family background. If she's not grateful, that's her problem, and she's not worth being sad over."

"Mom knows." Wang Wanru gently patted the back of Ji Yunshu's hand. "Mom just wanted someone to talk to. Now that you're back, a big weight has been lifted off Mom's heart."

After a pause, Wang Wanru remembered something else and added: "Oh, and Mom also wrote to tell her about stopping the fixed interest payments. She wasn't too happy in her reply, saying that such a big decision should have been discussed with her first—after all, she did grow up in the Meng family. But Mom thought, since she's marrying into the He family and her household registration status will follow theirs, the Meng family's affairs no longer have much to do with her. So I didn't tell her in advance. I didn't expect her to react so strongly."

Ji Yunshu held Wang Wanru's hand but suddenly felt something was off. The Meng family shedding the capitalist label should actually be good news for Meng Li too. Although Meng Li's status wouldn't be much affected after marrying into the He family, she was still raised by the Meng family, and as long as the Meng family hadn't cleared their name, it wouldn't be easy for her to completely distance herself either. Now that Wang Wanru had voluntarily stopped the fixed interest payments and donated the family assets, Meng Li should have been happy—so why was she unhappy?

Author's note:

Thanks for reading. Sorry for the slight delay—here's a red packet as compensation.