Chapter 70

Chapter 70

Ji Yunshu did not go directly to Liu Mingzhe, nor did she try to persuade Liu Aimin again. She knew that Liu Aimin's temperament was not something that could be changed in a day or two. No matter how much she said, Liu Aimin would only nod tearfully and then go back to eating her white porridge and pickled radish. This matter needed someone with more authority to step in—Ji Yunshu naturally thought of Wang Yulan.

As the go-to mediator of the compound, Wang Yulan was very experienced in handling family relationships.

That afternoon, Ji Yunshu left the two children with He Qiuxia and rode her bicycle to the Family Members Committee.

Wang Yulan was sitting in her office organizing the list of activities for the next month's family members. Several sheets of red paper were spread out in front of her, and she held a writing brush in her hand. When she saw Ji Yunshu push open the door and come in, she set down the brush and asked with a smile, "Xiao Ji, come in, have a seat. What brings you here? Are your two little ones giving you any trouble?"

"Auntie Wang, I left them with my mom. I came today because I have something to tell you." Ji Yunshu sat down on the chair across from Wang Yulan and told her the whole story about Liu Aimin.

Ji Yunshu omitted the part about Liu Aimin's childhood, only saying that Liu Aimin was in poor health and that this pregnancy had not come easily, so she was very anxious about the baby. Then Ji Yunshu recounted the recent events—how Liu Aimin had been vomiting severely after becoming pregnant, how Liu Mingzhe was so worried he had blisters on his lips, and how he had called his mother from the countryside to help take care of the pregnant woman. Then she described what happened after Liu's mother arrived—how she would boast to everyone in the courtyard about how well she treated her daughter-in-law, claiming she made chicken soup for her every day, when in reality Liu Aimin's meals were nothing but white porridge and pickled radish, not even an egg in sight. This was already seriously affecting the health of both Liu Aimin and the baby in her belly.

By this point, the smile on Wang Yulan's face had faded. She set the brush down on the brush rest, folded her hands on the desk, and furrowed her brow, motioning for Ji Yunshu to continue.

Ji Yunshu went on to tell her how Liu Mingzhe gave most of his monthly salary to Liu's mother to buy nutritional supplements for Liu Aimin, but Liu's mother took the money and sent it back to the countryside to subsidize her younger son. She even bragged to the neighbors about how hard her life was, calling Liu Aimin a "barren hen," saying she was acting like she had some serious illness just because she was pregnant, and that her son's money was wasted on Aimin since she couldn't eat much anyway—better to save it for her younger son's kids.

"This morning I went to deliver fish soup to Comrade Liu. Her mother-in-law wasn't there—probably off visiting someone. Comrade Liu was leaning alone on the sofa, with a bowl of white porridge and half a dish of pickled vegetables in front of her. The porridge had gone completely cold, with a skin formed on top. She's almost five months pregnant, her belly just beginning to show, but her arms are as thin as bamboo poles and her face has sunken in. I asked her what her mother-in-law feeds her every day. She said just porridge, sometimes stir-fried vegetables or steamed egg custard. I asked about the supplements—what had the money Deputy Battalion Commander Liu gave his mother been used to buy for her? She kept her head down and didn't say anything. I asked several times before she finally said 'I've been eating them.' Eating them? If she'd been eating them, how could she be this thin? Then she started crying and finally told me the truth—she said she didn't dare tell Deputy Battalion Commander Liu, afraid his mother would make a scene, afraid he'd be caught in the middle. Auntie Wang, you should have seen her in that moment—holding a bowl of cold porridge, tears dripping one by one into the bowl, saying 'I don't need to eat meat anyway, I just throw it up, and throwing up makes me feel worse.'"

Ji Yunshu took a deep breath, placed her hands on the desk, and continued with barely contained anger: "Auntie Wang, I've tried everything I can, that's why I came to you. I've talked to Comrade Liu several times. She cries every time, then goes right back to eating her white porridge. You know her mother-in-law—she's known around the compound for being sociable, always telling everyone how much she dotes on her daughter-in-law. When Deputy Battalion Commander Liu comes home, there are decent dishes on the table, so he never sees what his mother does to Comrade Liu during the day. This can't keep going on. Comrade Liu's pregnancy wasn't easy to begin with. If something happens because of malnutrition, she'll suffer, and so will the baby. You're the commander's wife—your words carry more weight than mine do. I'm asking you to talk to her mother-in-law."

Wang Yulan stood up and paced the office twice, her face ashen. In all her years as the commander's wife, she had mediated countless family disputes. She had seen plenty of parents who played favorites, but she had never seen anyone as brazen as Liu's mother. Taking her son's salary to subsidize her younger son was bad enough, but making her pregnant daughter-in-law eat white porridge and pickled radish while playing the saint in public—what kind of mother-in-law was that? This was exploitation! This was oppression!

Wang Yulan said immediately, "Comrade Xiao Liu is too meek for her own good. How can she let herself be bullied like this and not say a word? What's she afraid of? Afraid her mother-in-law will make a scene? So what if she does? What's the worst that could happen?" Then Wang Yulan couldn't help adding a few words of criticism for Liu Mingzhe. "And what kind of husband is Liu Mingzhe? Can't he see his wife is skin and bones? He hands over most of his salary to his mother without asking where it goes? He eats plain vegetables and steamed buns for lunch himself, and lets his wife eat the same—what kind of life is that? Don't worry, I'll handle this. You go home and take care of the kids. I'm going to find Old Lu right now. Liu Mingzhe is his soldier. If the commander won't handle it, who will? If a man can't take care of his own wife, can't manage the relationship between his mother and his wife, how can he ever lead troops?"

Less than an hour after Ji Yunshu left, Wang Yulan found Commander Lu, who was reviewing documents in his office. Commander Lu listened to her account, sat in silence for a moment, then screwed the cap back on his pen, set it beside the documents, and stood up. "You handle the Liu family side. I'll talk to Liu Mingzhe myself."

So Wang Yulan went directly to the Liu residence.

That day, after training, Liu Mingzhe was summoned to Commander Lu's office.

Liu Mingzhe had no idea what was going on. He stood before the desk, military cap in hand, back ramrod straight, his heart racing as he wondered if something had gone wrong with the training recently.

Commander Lu sat in his chair, leaning back as he looked at him, his tone carrying the natural authority of a senior officer: "Liu Mingzhe, when's the last time you actually watched your wife eat?"

Liu Mingzhe was stunned. He opened his mouth to say "I watch her every day," but before the words could leave his mouth, Commander Lu's next question hit him like a ton of bricks: "Do you know where your salary went this month?"

Liu Mingzhe's expression changed. It wasn't that he hadn't thought about it—he just hadn't dared to think too deeply. These past few days, he'd been eating just one vegetable dish with steamed buns at the cafeteria for lunch, and when he came home at night to see a few decent dishes on the table, he'd secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that with his mother there, Aimin's meals were finally being taken care of. His mother being willing to come help look after Aimin meant at least the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had improved. But now, with Commander Lu asking him this, he suddenly realized—he had never once known what Aimin ate during the day.

Meanwhile, Wang Yulan knocked on the Liu family's courtyard gate. Liu's mother was in the yard picking vegetables, sitting on a small stool with a vegetable basin on her lap, humming a tuneless little tune. When she saw Wang Yulan enter, her face immediately broke into a broad smile. She set down the basin and stood up, saying eagerly, "The commander's wife is here! Come in, please sit down." Then she called toward the house, "Aimin! Come out and pour some tea for Sister Wang."

Wang Yulan did not sit down, nor did she take the stool Liu's mother offered. She stood in the yard, her gaze passing over Liu's mother's shoulder, sweeping across the bowl of white porridge and half a dish of pickled radish that hadn't been cleared away yet in the main room, then landing on Liu Aimin, who was leaning against the sofa, pale-faced with red, swollen eyes.

Liu's mother noticed the direction of Wang Yulan's gaze. The smile on her face froze for a moment, then returned as if nothing had happened. She stepped forward half a step to block Wang Yulan's view and said in a low, ingratiating voice, "Sister Wang, are you here about something? Did Aimin say something to you? Her temper's been a bit off since she got pregnant. If she said anything out of line, please don't take it to heart."

Wang Yulan withdrew her gaze and fixed it on Liu's mother's face. Her tone was calm but carried authority: "Auntie Liu, I'm not here for small talk today. Someone has reported to me that your daughter-in-law is almost five months pregnant and eating nothing but white porridge and pickled radish every day—not even an egg in sight. Comrade Liu Mingzhe gives you most of his salary to buy her meat, chicken, and pork liver for nourishment. Has she actually eaten any of it?"

The smile on Liu's mother's face completely vanished. The corners of her mouth twitched, and a flash of panic crossed her eyes, but she immediately put on a wronged expression. "Who's spreading rumors behind my back to set me up? I make soup for Aimin every single day. It's Aimin herself who can't drink it—she takes one sip and throws it up. I feel bad watching her, but I can't exactly force it down her throat, can I?"

"Aimin, you tell Sister Wang yourself—doesn't Mom make you delicious food every day? Isn't it you who can't eat it? You can't go around saying things that make Mom look bad. God knows, I've lost several pounds myself taking care of you." Liu's mother turned her head, her murky eyes fixed on Liu Aimin, a hint of menace in her voice.

Liu Aimin, now put on the spot, flinched as if she'd been pricked by a needle. Her body shrank slightly, her lips moved several times, but all that came out was a single word: "Yes." Then she lowered her head, and her eyes reddened again.

Wang Yulan took all of this in. Without acknowledging Liu's mother further, she walked straight into the main room, closed the door behind her, and shut Liu's mother out. "Wait outside for now. I have something to say to Comrade Liu Aimin."

Wang Yulan sat down beside Liu Aimin, bent over, and took her hands. They were ice cold, fingers as thin as a few chopsticks, the veins on the backs of her hands clearly visible.

"Comrade Liu Aimin, look at me." Wang Yulan gently squeezed Liu Aimin's hand to help her relax.

Liu Aimin slowly raised her head, tears already welling in her eyes.

"It's not your fault that you can't eat meat or drink soup. But you need to understand something—the baby in your belly needs nutrition. If you eat nothing but white porridge and pickled radish at every meal, what is the baby supposed to grow on? This pregnancy didn't come easily for you. You and Xiao Liu both treasure this child so much. If you let the baby suffer from malnutrition, who are you failing? You're not eating for yourself—you're eating for that child in your belly." Wang Yulan's voice was gentle but carried strength. "Your mother-in-law mistreats you, and you don't dare speak up. You let her get away with everything, thinking that's filial piety. But have you thought about this? If you keep swallowing your grievances like this, and the baby is born frail and sickly, catching colds every other day—that would be the greatest unfilial act of all. You wouldn't just be failing yourself; you'd be failing this child that came so hard-won."

Liu Aimin's tears finally fell, one by one landing on the hand Wang Yulan was holding. She bit her lip, her shoulders trembling slightly, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz: "Auntie Wang, I... I don't want to fight with Mingzhe. He's been so tired lately..."

"You think not telling him is doing him a favor?" Wang Yulan squeezed her hand firmly, her voice even softer, but every word seemed to carve itself into Liu Aimin's heart. "If you don't tell him now, and something happens to the baby when it's born, he'll only suffer more. If you truly care about Liu Mingzhe, you should let him know the truth. If he can't handle even this, can't protect even you, then he's not the Liu Mingzhe you know. Remember, you're not alone. You have us neighbors, you have me, you have the entire family compound standing behind you. You have nothing to be afraid of."

Liu Aimin nodded, but her shoulders were still hunched, looking very timid.

Wang Yulan finished speaking, released Liu Aimin's hand, stood up, and opened the door, turning to face Liu's mother. Liu's mother appeared to have been eavesdropping at the door. Wang Yulan opened it so abruptly that Liu's mother nearly fell over.

"Sister Wang, has someone been whispering in your ear? You can't believe them. I treat Aimin with all my heart... She is my eldest son's wife after all..." Before Wang Yulan could speak, Liu's mother began wailing as if she were the one who had been grievously wronged. "Is it that woman surnamed Ji next door? I heard before that she's the daughter of a capitalist, bad family background..."

"What are you saying? Spreading rumors like that can get you arrested!" Before Liu's mother could finish, the warmth on Wang Yulan's face had vanished completely, replaced by a sharpness honed from over a decade as the commander's wife, mediating countless family disputes.

She stepped forward twice, stopping right in front of Liu's mother, her voice ringing with authority: "Auntie Liu, you are a military family member. You live in military housing and eat grain supplied by the state, so you must follow military rules. Mistreating a military family member, withholding food from a pregnant woman, taking your son's salary to subsidize your younger son—this has never happened in our compound, and I won't allow it to happen. This is exploitation! This violates socialist principles! If I hear even once more that Comrade Liu can't get an egg to eat, I'll have the logistics department deliver eggs directly to Comrade Liu, with neighbors supervising her to make sure she eats them. If you do it again, I'll report you to the Political Department and have your status as a dependent revoked. Your younger son's hard life back home is his own problem—it's not Liu Mingzhe's responsibility, and it's certainly not Liu Aimin's. Do I make myself clear?"

Liu's mother's face went through shades of green and white, the corners of her mouth twitching several times. She opened her mouth repeatedly before finally squeezing out: "Yes, yes, yes. I'll take good care of Aimin."

Her voice was dry and hollow, clearly forced into submission by Wang Yulan's authority.

Wang Yulan's voice grew colder: "And one more thing—Comrade Ji's family is not capitalist. That has already been investigated by the military. If you can't keep your mouth shut and spread rumors again, Comrade Ji can really have you arrested and thrown in jail!"

At the mention of going to jail, Liu's mother finally panicked: "I was wrong, I was wrong. Look at this mouth of mine. I only heard it mentioned once before. I won't say it again, I promise..."

Wang Yulan didn't bother saying anything more to her. She turned back to look at Liu Aimin one last time. "Remember what I told you. Don't be afraid. It's your life—if you want to live well, you have to stand up for yourself."

Liu Aimin nodded. "Thank you, Auntie Wang."

After that, Wang Yulan went home.

But the matter was far from over. After Liu Mingzhe left Commander Lu's office, he didn't go straight home. He stood on the steps outside the office building, letting the sea breeze wash over him for a long while, then turned and walked toward the supply cooperative. He bought eggs, red dates, and a small piece of lean meat, spending every last cent of the money he had on him. By the time he carried these things through his own courtyard gate, dusk had already fallen.

Liu's mother was sitting in the main room stewing in her anger. When she saw him come in, she began slapping her thigh and crying, saying how the commander's wife had wronged her today, how she'd slaved away taking care of her daughter-in-law only to be scolded for it, how she'd never suffered such humiliation in her life, how she was a respected person back home and didn't know how she'd show her face again. She cried and pressed a handkerchief to the corner of her eye. The tears were real, but her eyes kept darting to Liu Mingzhe's face, watching for his reaction.

Liu Mingzhe set the things down on the table and stood before his mother. His eyes were red, his voice hoarse, but every word was laced with barely contained anger: "Mom, I have a question for you. Last month I gave you most of my salary to buy supplements for Aimin. Did you buy them? Where did that money go? Don't cry at me. Just answer me directly."

Liu's mother's crying stopped abruptly. She looked up at her son, her lips moving several times: "The money... the money I used to buy food for Aimin. How can you talk to your mother like this? Do you think I'd swallow your money?"

"Then why is Aimin still this thin?" Liu Mingzhe's voice suddenly rose—the first time in his life he had ever raised his voice at his mother. "I eat just one vegetable dish with steamed buns for lunch every day, saving money to give to you so you can buy her meat and eggs. You told me she was eating well. Eating what? Half a month of white porridge and pickled radish! I went and asked Auntie Zhang next door. She said the only soup smell she caught every day came from Comrade Ji's house! Mom, where's your chicken soup?"

Liu's mother was struck speechless. Her expression shifted from wounded to guilty, then from guilty to an ugly, humiliated rage. She shot up from her seat, pointing at Liu Mingzhe's nose and shrieking: "You ungrateful thing! I worked myself to the bone raising you, and you're screaming at your mother over a woman? What am I supposed to do if she can't eat? Force it down her throat? She drinks the chicken soup and throws it up—isn't that just wasting it? Your brother back home has three kids who can't even get a proper meal. You won't help your own brother, but you're here settling accounts with me! I raised you for nothing!"

"You raised me?" Liu Mingzhe's voice suddenly went flat—so flat it made Liu's mother freeze. There was a strange quality to it, rising from a deep well of exhaustion. "Mom, from the year I joined the army at sixteen, you took all my allowance, saying it was for younger brother's school fees. Back then, my monthly allowance was enough to feed myself properly, but I ate nothing but vegetables and steamed buns every day because you said the family was poor and younger brother was growing and couldn't go without. When I was promoted at nineteen, you took the money I'd painstakingly saved and gave it to younger brother to build a house, saying he needed to get married and I should wait a little longer. I waited. I waited from being a nobody platoon leader to deputy battalion commander, waited until I'd saved up enough again to afford furniture before I dared to get married. When you sent away my salary and allowances, did you ever think I was your son? Now you want to send Aimin's supplement money to younger brother too—Mom, you didn't raise me. I raised myself."

Liu's mother's lips trembled violently, tears glistening in the lamplight. She opened her mouth to speak but couldn't get a single word out. She had never been confronted like this by her son before. Liu Mingzhe didn't look at her again. He turned and walked into the bedroom to find Liu Aimin.

Liu Aimin was leaning against the headboard, a bowl of white porridge that hadn't been cleared away sitting on the small table before her, the porridge already cold. When she saw Liu Mingzhe come in, she frantically tried to hide the bowl away, but he caught her hand and stopped her. He crouched down in front of her, looking at her, and gently touched the back of her hand, which was nothing but skin over bone. "I'm sorry."

He should have noticed long ago. It was his own longing—longing for his mother and him to live well together, longing for his mother to accept Aimin, for the whole family to live in harmony. He had wanted to be a filial son.

He could clearly see that Liu Aimin had lost a lot of weight. Or rather, she had swollen unnaturally, her whole body nothing like Ji Yunshu's when she had been pregnant. But he hadn't dared to think too deeply.

Liu Mingzhe knew he had been running away. And it was his running away that had made him blind to Liu Aimin's suffering. Now that Commander Lu had exposed it, Liu Mingzhe realized how terribly wrong he had been—yes, Liu Aimin was the one who treated him with the most sincerity. She was carrying their child. Their child and he were the closest of kin. What had he been doing!

"Why didn't you tell me? You eat this every day—why didn't you tell me?" Liu Mingzhe's eyes reddened.

Liu Aimin's eyes reddened too. She kept her head down, looking at her hands resting on the blanket, silent for a long, long time—so long that Liu Mingzhe thought she wouldn't answer. Then she finally spoke, her voice so soft it seemed a gust of wind could carry it away: "I wanted to tell you. But you come home so tired every day. Your mother always tells me how hard you work in the army and says I shouldn't bother you with household matters. She said you gave her a lot of money and I could order whatever I wanted to eat. But when I asked for things, she wouldn't buy them, saying I wouldn't be able to eat them anyway, saying I was throwing away your hard-earned money. When she first came and cooked for me, she did make chicken soup twice. But every time I took two bites and threw up, and then she'd sigh and say, 'See, you've wasted it again'... I didn't dare tell you. I was afraid you'd think I was picking a fight with your mother. She's your mother. I didn't want to make things hard for you. You'd already sacrificed so much for our marriage. I... I know you've always wanted your mother to accept me. I..."

"I'm sorry, Aimin. I've neglected you. It won't happen again." Liu Mingzhe wiped away his tears in one swift motion, stood up, and walked into the main room. He said to his mother, who was still pretending to cry, "Mom, pack your things. I'll take you to the dock tomorrow morning. You're going back home."

Liu's mother's tears dried up instantly, her face twisting into an expression of disbelief. Her voice turned shrill and piercing: "What did you say? You're kicking me out? You'd drive your own mother away for a barren woman? Liu Mingzhe, your conscience has been eaten by dogs! I changed your diapers and wiped your ass to raise you—"

"You gave me life, and I'll repay that debt." Liu Mingzhe cut her off, his voice carrying the weary finality of something that had been stretched to its breaking point and finally given way. "But Aimin is my wife, and she's carrying my child. If you stay here any longer, this family will fall apart. If you won't leave, then I will. I'll move with Aimin into the barracks dormitory. My entire salary will go to Aimin—not a single cent sent home, not to you, not to my brother. So you figure it out yourself."

Liu's mother's mouth twitched convulsively, her expression shifting from fury to panic, then from panic to a venomous silence. This son of hers was no longer the little boy she could manipulate at will!

Liu's mother stomped her foot, turned, and stormed into her room, slamming the door so hard the whole house shook. From behind the door came her shrill, tearful curses: "Unfilial! My son is unfilial! God above, open your eyes—I raised this son for thirty years, and he's driving me out for a woman!"

Liu Mingzhe was genuinely torn up inside. He knew that once he did this, his relationship with his mother would only deteriorate further. But in the end, he held himself back from his old habit of caving in. No matter how she wailed and screamed, Liu Mingzhe pretended not to hear. He went to the kitchen to make soup for Liu Aimin.

Early the next morning, Liu Mingzhe saw his mother onto the ferry. She stood on the pier, still clutching an old hen—one she'd insisted Liu Mingzhe give back to her before she left that morning.

Her hair was a mess, whipped by the sea breeze, as she wiped her tears and shouted at the people on the dock: "Unfilial! My son is unfilial! His wife turned him against me and kicked his own mother out!"

A few neighbors waiting for the early ferry exchanged puzzled looks, unsure what the old woman was crying about. Liu Mingzhe stood on the dock, his back ramrod straight, not saying a word the entire time. When the ferry had sailed off into the distance, he turned and strode briskly back toward the family compound.

The news spread quickly through the compound, and many of the residents who had been "harassed" by Liu's mother breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

Li Shu ran into Ji Yunshu at the supply store entrance and held her hand for a long while, expressing her gratitude, saying that without her and Aunt Wang, Comrade Liu would have been eating plain porridge for who knows how much longer. Huang Paimei brought over her own steamed red date cake to visit Liu Aimin, and when she came back, she quietly told Ji Yunshu that Comrade Liu finally had eggs in her bowl today.

Upon hearing that Liu's mother had finally left, He Qiuxia was very satisfied with Liu Mingzhe's attitude: "That boy's not a lost cause after all. If he'd let his wife suffer just to please his mother, then he'd truly be beyond hope."

"Aunt Wang's words weren't wasted." Ji Yunshu sighed as she leaned back on the sofa, holding Sheng Sheng, who was dozing in her arms. Huajuan was curled up beside her knee, its tail draped over her ankle.

"It's just a shame Comrade Liu suffered for so long. She needs to nourish herself properly. I have to tell her—even if she can't stomach it, she has to eat. Otherwise, the baby will be born with deficiencies, and that's a lifelong problem. That won't do." He Qiuxia said, then remembered she had an unopened pack of white fungus at home. "Tomorrow, take that pack of white fungus to Comrade Liu. Have her cook it into white fungus and red date porridge. It's good for pregnant women—sweet, and she probably won't throw it up as easily."

"Alright." Ji Yunshu looked down at Sheng Sheng's little face, silently thinking about the child in Liu Aimin's belly—Comrade Liu Aimin, you must bring this child into the world safely and smoothly, or everything I've done will have been for nothing. This time, everyone must come through safe and sound.

Author's note:

None.