Chapter 57

Chapter 57

When Ji Yunshu finished speaking, she got up and went straight to the dresser, pulling out the ration coupons for non-staple food, sugar stamps, cloth stamps, and a stack of bills in different denominations that she had saved up over the past year or more. She counted out all the non-staple food coupons, then counted out a few ten-yuan bills and stuffed them all into an envelope.

"Send these non-staple food coupons along to Comrade Qiu, and have him pick up a few cans of condensed milk while he's at the store, along with some brown sugar, white fungus, and white sugar. The brown sugar and white fungus are for Mom to help her get her strength back, and the white sugar can be mixed into the rice cereal for Yuanyuan. Then I'll head to the supply co-op to get some nice seafood for Comrade Qiu as a thank-you. These stamps are useless just sitting here anyway—might as well have Comrade Qiu buy more stuff in the capital and ship it all at once, save the hassle of sending things back and forth." Ji Yunshu handed the envelope to Pei Yufeng, then thought of something else and asked him, "Should we send some cloth stamps too? Kids grow fast, and there's a lot of clothes to sew."

Pei Yufeng took the envelope and pulled out a few more notes from his own pocket to add in: "Alright. I'll call Old Qiu first thing tomorrow morning and have him go to the capital's department store to buy everything—milk powder, condensed milk, white fungus, brown sugar, white sugar, a bit of each—and send it all in one express package. That should be enough to keep Mom and Yuanyuan going for a good while."

Early the next morning, Pei Yufeng went to the post office to call Qiu Jinghuan long-distance and also mailed a registered express letter stuffed with the food stamps and cash. Ji Yunshu, meanwhile, sat down at her desk and wrote back to Wang Wanru, saying she'd already asked someone to buy the milk powder and condensed milk, and once they were bought, they'd be mailed straight from the capital to Suzhou, so she should keep an eye out for the package. She thought for a second, then packed up the rest of the white fungus she had at home and sent it off with the letter.

The letter and package took nearly a month to arrive. By the time Wang Wanru's reply made it back to the island, it was already the end of September. The handwriting on the envelope was much neater than last time, and you could tell from Wang Wanru's letter that she was doing a lot better.

In her letter, Wang Wanru said the package had arrived and everything was in one piece—the milk powder was even a brand she'd never seen in the stores, and it was great. Comrade Qiu had sent so much that it would last Yuanyuan until the New Year. She said that since Yuanyuan started on the milk powder, she'd put on a good bit of weight, her face was rounder, and her arms and legs had those little chubby creases like lotus root—she felt heavy in your arms now. Ever since switching to milk powder and condensed milk mixed into rice cereal, the baby slept much more soundly at night and didn't wake up crying from hunger in the middle of the night like before. She said the neighbors were happy for them when they found out Yuanyuan had milk powder now, and Granny Chen, who'd helped them before, had even brought over a basket of eggs. At the end of the letter, Wang Wanru wrote a long string of thanks, saying that if it weren't for Ji Yunshu and Pei Yufeng, Yuanyuan would still be drinking rice cereal for who knows how long.

After reading the letter, Ji Yunshu set the paper on her lap, leaned back in her chair, and let out a long sigh of relief. She immediately picked up her pen and wrote back, saying family shouldn't be thanking each other, and that she and Pei Yufeng would come see Yuanyuan when they had the time.

By mid-October, a faint hint of coolness had finally crept into the island breeze, no longer as muggy and sticky as it had been in July and August. Ji Yunshu received a letter from Meng Yunzhen.

Ji Yunshu hadn't heard from Meng Yunzhen in a long time. She'd learned from Wang Wanru's letters that Meng Yunzhen had been run ragged over her job assignment lately, and she could understand that she really hadn't had time to write.

Because of the Great Movement, not only had job assignments for Meng Yunzhen's graduating class been delayed by a full three months, but even the positions that had been confirmed were being reassigned. Things on the island were relatively better, but Ji Yunshu could still pick up on some of the policy changes from the occasional chatter among the military wives. She found it disheartening, and it made her worry even more about Meng Yunzhen.

Ji Yunshu tore open the envelope and sat down at home to read it. In it, Meng Yunzhen said she'd decided to go through with marrying Yue Ling after all. The movement at school was getting more intense by the day, and graduates who hadn't been assigned jobs had already been told: either find your own unit and work as a temp, or accept a unified assignment and go down to the countryside. She'd been told that if she couldn't secure a unit by the school's deadline, she'd be assigned to a rural area in the southwest. Just when she was about to give up hope, Yue Ling came to her again and asked if she was willing to answer the question he'd asked before. He spoke just as directly as always—even though they hadn't seen each other in four or five months, he seemed to still be standing there waiting for her to turn around.

Meng Yunzhen said that in the end, she agreed.

In the letter, Meng Yunzhen wrote a passage. She said it wasn't that she couldn't take hardship, but that she'd worked so hard to get into a university in the capital, and to be sent down to the countryside before she'd accomplished anything—she just couldn't accept it. She'd seen a classmate from the neighboring department, an exceptionally brilliant student who also came from a family background that wasn't considered good, who'd been assigned to the countryside and wrote back saying she lived in a mud-brick house with a leaking roof and had to get up at three or four in the morning to start work. She felt so bad for her—such a talented person, with such a bright future ahead, forced to be stuck out in the countryside...

Toward the end of the letter, maybe feeling like she was being too "opportunistic," Meng Yunzhen asked Ji Yunshu if she thought she was a coward—she'd rejected him so firmly before, yet now she'd agreed because she was afraid of hardship.

After reading that passage, Ji Yunshu felt nothing but deep sorrow. Meng Yunzhen was such a proud person—she'd firmly rejected Yue Ling even at the risk of getting kicked out of her research project. Clearly, she was no coward. It was just that circumstances now forced her to bow her head.

Ji Yunshu wrote back: "Sister, you're not a coward. You chose the path that would let you keep going when faced with two tough options. If you went to the rural southwest, you wouldn't have the means to continue your medical studies. If you marry him, with his status as your backing, you'll have better hands-on opportunities at a good unit, and the chance to help more people. That's what you really need to do right now. When you achieve academic success later, your work will benefit even more people."

After Ji Yunshu sent her letter, another half month passed before Meng Yunzhen's reply came. She said she and Yue Ling had already gotten their marriage certificate, and Yue Ling treated her very well, agreeing to everything she asked. But given the special circumstances of the current environment, the wedding had been kept extremely simple—only Yue Ling's parents and a few of his closest comrades-in-arms were invited. She'd originally wanted to invite Ji Yunshu and Pei Yufeng to the capital to witness it, but under the current circumstances, it wasn't convenient for them to travel all that way just for a wedding—she said she hadn't even dared to invite Wang Wanru and Meng Guangze, for fear of causing them trouble. She said they could meet when Ji Yunshu came back for a visit, and she'd make up for the wedding candy then—as much as she wanted.

Ji Yunshu found the letter a bit strange. She felt like Meng Yunzhen was hiding something. If Yue Ling truly treated Meng Yunzhen well, why hadn't even Wang Wanru and Meng Guangze been invited to the wedding? The Meng family's situation was already precarious—if they had another son-in-law who was a military officer as backing, at least it would make things a bit better for her parents back home.

But Ji Yunshu set aside her doubts for the moment and continued reading.

In the final part of the letter, Meng Yunzhen once again brought up Meng Li. She said that Meng Li had somehow learned about her marriage to Yue Ling. Yue Ling currently worked at a grassroots naval unit—only a deputy battalion-level cadre, but with a good family background, considered a respectable household in the capital's official circles. Meng Li had proactively contacted her, her tone on the phone as warm and intimate as if the past had never happened, saying that they had grown up together and been sisters for over a decade, and shouldn't let a misunderstanding sever their connection.

Meng Yunzhen said she couldn't help but retort on the phone: the announcement severing ties with the Meng family was still printed in the newspaper—those were words in black and white, not something that could be wiped away with a "misunderstanding." She told Meng Li that she had only one sister now, and that was Ji Yunshu. Meng Li had been silent for a few seconds on the phone, then said, "Don't you regret this," and hung up.

At the end of the letter, Meng Yunzhen wrote: "Xiaoshu, the more I think back on those words, the more unsettled I feel. Does she still have some other leverage over Mom and Dad? Did she know something before she published that announcement? If she tries to harm Mom and Dad again, I'm really worried. Should I not have been so decisive in rejecting her?"

Ji Yunshu didn't think Meng Yunzhen had done anything wrong, but she could understand her concerns. What Meng Li had done was utterly heartless, and now that she saw Meng Yunzhen had also married a military officer and had a way out, she wanted to come back and claim kinship again—to put it bluntly, she had no shame!

Ji Yunshu didn't want to use the kind of language the village aunties used to curse people, but what Meng Li had done was one thing more despicable than the last!

But didn't this also prove that in the original dream, Meng Li hadn't known that Meng Yunzhen would later marry a military officer either? Otherwise, she wouldn't have been in such a hurry to publish that announcement severing ties with the Meng family.

As for whether Meng Li still had any other leverage over the Meng family... Meng Chongwen had already been sent down, Gan Tang had gone with him, Wang Wanru and Meng Guangze had proactively cut ties with their son, and the street office had acknowledged the Meng family's stance. Apart from the ancestral home and the salary from the Cultural History Museum, the Meng family had almost nothing left—what leverage could there possibly be?

Ji Yunshu mentally ran through every potential hidden danger she could think of, and each one she dismissed, yet none of them gave her complete peace of mind. Because this was someone who could completely crush her adoptive parents' family for the sake of a letter of allegiance—since she had already burned that bridge, she wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

That evening when Pei Yufeng came home, Ji Yunshu recounted Meng Yunzhen's letter to him.

After listening, Pei Yufeng was silent for a moment, then pulled Ji Yunshu over to sit on his lap. With one arm around her waist and the other gently patting her back, he said, "The Meng family's records are clean now, and the street office has acknowledged them. Even if Meng Li wants to file another report, she has no leverage—unless she fabricates facts, but fabricating facts carries consequences."

"I'm just a bit puzzled why Sister Yunzhen didn't invite Mom and Dad to witness her wedding either." Ji Yunshu rested her face against Pei Yufeng's shoulder and sighed softly. "From her letter, I can tell she misses Mom and Dad. Her marrying Yue Ling should be a good thing for them too..."

"Maybe it's because Yue Ling's family situation is complicated." Pei Yufeng said to Ji Yunshu. "When I had Old Qiu look into it before, he mentioned it in passing—Yue Ling's family is a blended family. He has a half-brother from his father's second marriage, and his relationship with both his father and his brother isn't great. Beyond that, I don't know much more."

Having lived in the capital for many years, Ji Yunshu knew that many families had friction because of numerous siblings, but what did that have to do with Meng Yunzhen? Divorce wasn't permitted these days—if a couple separated, they'd be called in by their work unit and the street office for criticism. Meng Yunzhen might only have this one chance to marry in her lifetime, and at such an important moment, she was all alone. Ji Yunshu simply couldn't feel at ease.

Pei Yufeng seemed to read Ji Yunshu's worry. He said softly, "It's November now, and the typhoon season is over. Let's go back for a family visit. First to Suzhou to see Mom and Dad and Yuanyuan, then to the capital to see Mom and Grandma. The end of the year is busy with combat duty rotations, so this month is actually the easiest to arrange."

Ji Yunshu lifted her head from his chest, met his eyes, and a smile curved at the corner of her mouth. "Then go request the leave early. I haven't been back in over a year, and I have so much I want to say to Mom and Dad."

Pei Yufeng nodded. The next day when he came back, he told Ji Yunshu that he had already submitted the family visit leave application to the Political Department that day.

The annual family visit leave was about thirty to forty days. Considering that this was Ji Yunshu's first year on the island and she must be homesick, the commander simply waved his hand and approved forty days for him—he could take a longer break.

Once the leave was approved, Pei Yufeng went to buy the ferry ticket and train tickets. The ferry was for November 16th, transferring to a train at Yuecheng, first to Suzhou, staying there for four days before heading to the capital.

--

On the day they left the island, Ji Yunshu and Pei Yufeng entrusted Huapao and Shen Shen to Huang Paimei's care.

Before leaving, Ji Yunshu moved both cats' food bowls, cat beds, and the pre-cooked cat food to Huang Paimei's house, and left two cans of fruit as a thank-you gift for the children. Huapao wasn't the least bit shy at Huang Paimei's place and immediately hit it off with Xiaogong and Xiaocheng, chasing after the two boys' pant legs. Shen Shen, as usual, stayed hidden in its cage and wouldn't come out. Huang Paimei said it was fine—it would adapt on its own when it was ready.

After the ferry docked, while waiting for their train at the Yuecheng railway station, the two of them first went to the state-run department store in Yuecheng. The store had a wide variety of goods, and there were many types of milk powder on the counter, with quite a few people queuing up to buy—though each person was limited to two cans at a time.

Ji Yunshu asked the sales clerk, compared carefully for quite a while, and finally bought two cans of the highest-rated domestic milk powder and two cans of condensed milk. She also bought two jin of brown sugar and a package of white fungus, packed them in a cloth bag, and carefully placed them into the rattan suitcase she carried with her.

Before leaving, Pei Yufeng also made sure to take Ji Yunshu to buy a thick woolen overcoat. They would be spending December in the capital, and once it snowed, the weather would be cold—Ji Yunshu needed to dress warmly.

The train arrived in Suzhou on the evening of November 18th. The wind on the platform was strong. Ji Yunshu wrapped her woolen overcoat that Pei Yufeng had bought her tightly around herself, carried her rattan suitcase, and stepped off the train. She scanned the platform and spotted Meng Guangze standing alone under the dim yellow light of the platform, wearing a navy blue cotton jacket that had been washed somewhat pale, his back more stooped than a year ago, his hair almost entirely white.

When Meng Guangze saw Ji Yunshu step down from the train car, he hurried over to meet her. His lips moved several times before he finally managed to say, "You've arrived—good. Was it cold on the way?"

"Not cold. Where's Mom?" Ji Yunshu walked quickly over and reached out to support his arm.

"Your mom is at home watching Yuanyuan—she can't get away." Meng Guangze took the rattan suitcase from her hand and nodded at Pei Yufeng. "Yufeng's here too. Good, good."

Looking at Meng Guangze's almost entirely white hair under the platform lights, Ji Yunshu's heart ached terribly. The last time she had returned to Suzhou, Meng Guangze had only had gray at his temples. Now there wasn't a single black hair to be found even on the top of his head. So much had happened in the past year—the eldest son sent down, the daughter-in-law forced to follow, the newborn granddaughter nearly losing her household registration, the Meng family nearly destroyed by a single report. Every one of these things weighed on this quiet, taciturn old man's shoulders, yet he still came to greet her with a smile.

Back at the house, Wang Wanru was holding Yuanyuan and pacing in the main room. Yuanyuan had just woken up and was sucking on her own little fist, resting against Wang Wanru's shoulder, her round, dark eyes curiously examining the strangers coming through the door. Wang Wanru had lost a good deal of weight, and the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes were deeper than a year ago, but her spirits seemed fine. Her hair was pinned up in a bun with a wooden hairpin, and her face wore the gentle smile of someone soothing a child.

"Mom, we're back." Ji Yunshu stood at the doorway of the main room. Seeing the plump little baby in Wang Wanru's arms, her feet suddenly refused to move. Yuanyuan was smaller and thinner than Ji Yunshu had imagined, though her face was still round. Her two little hands were clenched into fists against her chest, and she was staring wide-eyed at Ji Yunshu.

"This is Yuanyuan. Yuanyuan, this is your little aunt." Wang Wanru brought the child over for Ji Yunshu to see, her eyes red-rimmed but her mouth smiling, her voice still that soft, gentle tone.

She placed Yuanyuan into Ji Yunshu's arms. The child was very light, like a warm ball of cotton candy in her embrace, carrying a faint scent of milk mixed with baby powder. Yuanyuan looked up at Ji Yunshu for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled, revealing two tiny teeth that had just begun to emerge.

"This child is quite affectionate with people." Ji Yunshu walked a few laps around the main room holding Yuanyuan. The baby was very well-behaved. Ji Yunshu's holding posture wasn't quite right—it was even a bit awkward at first—but Yuanyuan didn't fuss, just kept looking at Wang Wanru with a pleading expression.

Seeing the child looking at her with that pitiful, wide-eyed gaze, Wang Wanru quickly checked Ji Yunshu's holding posture and personally taught her how to adjust it. Ji Yunshu learned quickly, and once Yuanyuan was comfortable, she began making "ah-ah" sounds against Ji Yunshu's chest.

Yuanyuan couldn't talk yet, but she could make sounds—some understandable, some not. Ji Yunshu walked and talked to her at the same time, saying things like "I'm your little aunt," "You're much prettier than in the photos," and "Your hands are so small."

Though Yuanyuan couldn't understand, she clearly enjoyed being carried around by Ji Yunshu, waving her little hands in the air and letting out giggles from time to time. Wang Wanru stood nearby watching the scene, her eyes reddening again.

"Have Mom and Dad been doing alright this past year? Is the household budget enough? Has Yuanyuan been adjusting well to the milk powder?" After dinner, Ji Yunshu opened the rattan suitcase and set out the milk powder and condensed milk on the table.

Wang Wanru sat in the chair beside her, answering her questions as she watched her unpack, her voice still in that soft, gentle tone: "Everything at home is fine, don't worry. The fixed interest payments have stopped, but your father's salary from the Cultural History Museum is enough for household expenses. I do voluntary work at the street office—it doesn't pay, but at least no one comes to make trouble at our door anymore..."

There was a sense of relief after surviving a disaster in Wang Wanru's voice: "All I hope for now is that you and Yunzhen stay safe and sound, and that Yuanyuan grows up healthy. When I go to my voluntary work, the neighbors help watch Yuanyuan. Our neighbors are good people—even those who had some friction with your father before have set aside old grudges and are willing to help look after Yuanyuan now..."

After that, Wang Wanru also said that the ownership of the ancestral home had been preserved. The street office had said that as long as they continued to actively demonstrate good behavior, the house wouldn't be taken away.

After that, the mother and daughter also brought up Meng Yunzhen.

Wang Wanru said she felt a bit regretful that she couldn't attend Yunzhen's wedding, but it made sense, given how far apart their families were in status—it was only natural the Yue family had concerns about their class background. She didn't want anything else, just for Meng Yunzhen to have a good life.

Ji Yunshu could sense her mother's disappointment. The words she wanted to say churned in her mind, but in the end, she didn't speak them. She had wanted to say that maybe Sister Yunzhen had her own difficulties, but saying it would only make Wang Wanru sadder. It was better to wait until she had seen Meng Yunzhen herself before bringing it up.

Meng Guangze sat nearby. At dinner, he had brought out the last remaining bottle of yellow wine he had kept for years. After drinking a bit, the usually quiet man loosened up and chatted on to Pei Yufeng about how the colleagues at the cultural relics preservation office were recently organizing a batch of newly unearthed bamboo slips and had asked him to help decipher them. He said the writing on those bamboo slips was so faded it was barely readable, but one slip contained a family letter written over two thousand years ago, with four characters: "Are parents well?" When he saw those four characters, he sat in his office at the preservation office for a long time, but he couldn't allow himself to think about his son in the distant northwest countryside.

When Meng Guangze got to this part, his voice trembled a little. He raised his glass and took another gulp.

Wang Wanru quickly patted him: "What are you going on about? You always talk nonsense when you've had a drink."

Ji Yunshu saw the look of alarm on Wang Wanru's face and felt a bitter ache in her chest. Wang Wanru missed Meng Chongwen just as much, but now that they had cut ties, and Meng Chongwen was still undergoing reform, for Yuanyuan's sake, it really wasn't the right time to mention him.

Pei Yufeng raised his glass and clinked it with Meng Guangze's, saying, "Dad, from now on, Xiaoshu and I will come back every year to see you and Mom."

Meng Guangze: "Good, good."

They stayed in Su City for four days. Ji Yunshu helped Wang Wanru take care of the child, gave Yuanyuan a bath, and helped Wang Wanru pull out the winter clothes to air them in the sun.

Four days passed too quickly. When they left, Wang Wanru carried Yuanyuan to the train station to see them off. Yuanyuan seemed to pick up on the sadness of saying goodbye and burst into loud sobs in Wang Wanru's arms.

Ji Yunshu took Yuanyuan, kissed her forehead, handed her back to Wang Wanru, then turned and boarded the train with Pei Yufeng. As they departed, she waved at Wang Wanru and Yuanyuan on the platform.

The train arrived in Jing City at noon on November 25th. Ji Yunshu stepped out of the carriage and stood on the platform of Jing City station, keenly aware that after being away from home so long, the cold here was truly hard to get used to.

Pei Yufeng walked beside Ji Yunshu carrying the suitcase. Every time they spoke, their breath came out in white puffs. It wasn't like this at all on Qiongzhou Island. Ji Yunshu quickly pulled her scarf tighter.

After being away from home for over a year, Ji Yunshu had thought she'd be so overcome she'd cry, but standing here now, she found her mood surprisingly calm. She just really wanted to see He Qiuxia and Ji Haiguo, to check if Grandma was doing okay, and then eat the food He Qiuxia and Grandma cooked.

Taking the bus from the train station back to the compound, they passed by Chang'an Street along the way. The atmosphere on the streets was completely different from before. Seeing the plainly dressed passersby hurrying by, Ji Yunshu finally felt the truth of it: the Great Movement was even more intense than in her dreams.

At the entrance of the compound, Pei Yufeng walked on Ji Yunshu's left carrying the rattan suitcase. Along the way, they politely said hello to people they knew. Ji Yunshu gradually noticed new faces in the compound, but some familiar cadres and their families had also moved away.

The two walked back along the familiar path. Passing one of the small courtyards, they saw Mother He standing at her own gate, impatiently twisting Meng Li's arm, and hard.

Meng Li's arm was twisted painfully, her face a mix of hurt and anger. Mother He screeched, "Your clothes have been piled up for three days and you still haven't washed them? Did our family marry you in to be some pampered young missus? I thought you'd be more sensible than that capitalist's daughter, but turns out you're just a hen that won't lay! If you don't wash them, then get the hell back to your Ji family—the He family doesn't keep freeloaders!"

Meng Li was about to retort when her peripheral vision caught two figures approaching from the slope below. Her expression changed instantly. She quickly straightened up and tucked her sore arm behind her back.

Mother He followed Meng Li's gaze and saw Ji Yunshu and Pei Yufeng as well. Her impatient expression switched to a genial smile almost in an instant. She let go of Meng Li's arm and instead smoothed Meng Li's collar, saying affectionately, "You silly child, if you don't know how to wash clothes, why didn't you say so earlier? Mom will teach you."

Ji Yunshu: "..."

The way Mother He treated Meng Li in reality gradually overlapped with how she treated her in Ji Yunshu's dreams, and Ji Yunshu froze in place.

Meng Li stood there, watching Ji Yunshu and Pei Yufeng walk up the slope side by side, arms linked, looking every bit the inseparable revolutionary couple. The expression on her face shifted from humiliation to anger, and from anger to resentment.

Ji Yunshu left that gaze untouched by the roadside, ignored her, took Pei Yufeng's hand, and continued walking home.

Author's note:

Thanks for reading. Sorry I'm late again—I went back to the hospital for a follow-up today, and the doctor said the recovery from last Monday's surgery wasn't looking great, so I had to have another minor supplementary procedure. Everyone, please take care of your teeth—gum surgery really hurts. This chapter still comes with a compensatory red envelope.