Chapter Three: Blind Date
"That's more like it," the director said cheerfully. "Your good days will only truly begin after you leave the family that bought you."
She nodded silently, unsure what kind of person she could introduce to them. She knew most of the people in the neighborhood and was familiar with their life trajectories. Suddenly, a figure popped into her mind, and she felt it was perfect.
"Sister, why did Su Xiangdong's relationship fall through?"
"Him?" The director knew that Su Xiangdong and the Sun family lived next door, so it wasn't surprising that she knew.
"Don't tell anyone I'm telling you, he has liver cancer. The woman was afraid of getting infected, so she ran away in a hurry. Su Xiangdong is a good catch, the head of the grain station, such a good job. Many women had their eyes on him before, but he said he wasn't in a hurry. I didn't expect that this would happen just when we were thinking of getting married."
The director's words were full of regret, but Shu Yao frowned. Something was wrong. In her past life, Su Xiangdong wasn't married, but he was alive and well when she died. How could he have liver cancer?
"Could it be a misdiagnosis?"
"No way. The examination was done at the First Hospital of the provincial capital, how could it be a misdiagnosis?"
"That's strange," she muttered to herself.
"What did you say?"
"Oh, no, it's nothing."
If she's too forward, Sun Yaozu might pin a grudge on her. No matter who she's with, she has to put on an act. She casually asked, and Director Hao pondered the single men she knew.
"If Su Xiangdong weren't sick, we could talk about it. But he's sick now." "You're so beautiful and in the prime of your life, it's such a pity you're so good-looking to be with him."
"Sister, please introduce me to someone as soon as possible, otherwise I'm afraid the Sun family will cause me a lot of trouble."
The woman nodded, understanding her situation as a fellow woman. After all, they had lived together for ten years, and that family had been particularly good at flattering her after the liberation. They had coaxed her into handing over all her income and into marrying into the Sun family, almost ruining her life. Her own clothes were patched, unlike Sun Yaozu's.
"Don't worry, I'll take it to heart and find you a suitable one as soon as possible."
"Thank you, sister."
After putting her belongings away, she frankly told her coworkers that she was divorced. "Child brides are all forced into it."
Everyone nodded in agreement. "I always said you shouldn't marry a younger man, especially since you've been married into the family for so long. You've been taking care of him all this time; do you want to take care of him for the rest of your life? It's so tiring."
“Exactly. You insisted on going to work even when you were sick, and I never saw him bring you a cup of hot water or come to pick you up. He's not like a husband at all.”
The other nodded and asked in a low voice, "Shuyao, did their family bully you before? I heard from my mother that child brides were bullied before liberation, and they didn't dare to after liberation."
She sniffed, lowered her head, took a deep breath, and said nothing. Silence spoke volumes; everyone understood without her saying a word.
"They buy you money and beat and scold you at will, but you work and earn money but don't get a single penny. This is simply too much of a bully."
"Exactly. That Sun Yaozu is dressed like a king, eating greasy food. You, on the other hand, are malnourished and wear patched clothes. You shouldn't have married him in the first place. You're independent now, you should have run away long ago."
"Of course, it's all thanks to Granny Sun's ability to manipulate people." The new worker knew the Sun family. "They originally bullied Shu Yao, but my mother told me that after buying her, they made her stand in the streets every day. After Liberation, they openly and secretly claimed that their family had done her a favor and that they bought her to save her, otherwise she would have been sold to a bad place."
"You bastard..."
Everyone was indignant. Shu Yao didn't say anything, but everyone sided with her. Now that they were divorced, she needed to gain the upper hand in public opinion to prevent the Sun family from smearing her or causing trouble for her.
Lying on the top bunk that night, she touched her stomach but couldn't remember when her period was. The twins were premature because she had to work. She wasn't even sure how premature they were, or if she was pregnant again.
Never mind, just in case, she needs to find another family quickly. She absolutely will not give this child to the Sun family. If she wasn't pregnant, that's fine too; it means her connection with the children is over. She returned to this era, ready to live her own life.
The next day, she took the night shift, and during the day she took the bus to the outskirts of the city. She walked a long way, then hiked into the mountains. In her past life, after being abducted, she hid her belongings and buried them in this very secluded place. A girl can't carry much on her, except for a small yellow croaker, which her mother had hidden on her person.
She didn't get back to the factory until evening. After putting her things away, she ate dinner and went to work. The next day, she noticed a slight, mild soreness in her breasts, like the feeling during puberty. In the morning, seeing fried dough sticks, she surprisingly found them greasy. In this era of scarcity, finding fried dough sticks greasy made her laugh.
Two children arrived, and she was pregnant. She needed to find a father for the children quickly, so the Sun family would have nothing to say about them later. That night, she went to the black market and exchanged her goods for money.
At that time, the international gold price was equivalent to about twenty yuan per gram, but the black market was only offering eighteen. She took a deep breath, knowing that finding buyers was difficult at this time; everyone was poor. So she nodded in agreement.
A small yellow croaker weighing 500 grams sold for a total of 9,000 yuan. That was a huge sum of money. In the early 1980s, it was rare to find someone with 10,000 yuan, let alone now that it's almost 10,000 yuan.
In her past life, she withdrew the money when her child was six months old and sick. Sun Yaozu saw that she had a thousand yuan from the sale and often found excuses to ask her for more. In this life, she will never wrong herself again. This money was given to her by her mother and belongs to her and her child.
After the reform and opening up, her mother asked someone to come to the mainland to look for her. Her parents and brothers had already made a very good living overseas and didn't care about such a small thing. When her mother heard her crying and saying that she had sold the small yellow croaker, which had her family's mark on it, she burst into tears and called her foolish.
“Without this as proof, how could Mom not recognize you?”
She and her mother look about 50% alike, but the daughter is a spitting image of her mother; it was through the daughter that they found her. It's okay, she knows her parents' mailing addresses.
There's no way to contact her now; the official channels are blocked. It's extremely dangerous to do it privately, especially since she's pregnant and a mishap could result in the deaths of all three. Once the reform and opening up policy is implemented, she can write a letter and get in touch.
She divided the money into several places for safekeeping. She deposited five hundred in the bank, and stored the six thousand in a clay pot wrapped in plastic bags and kraft paper, finding a safe place to store it. She also had one thousand five hundred on hand, which she hid in several other places.
The director was very efficient; he said he'd introduce her to someone and found her one the very next day. They arranged to meet at the factory office at 6 PM, but something came up and she had to be late.
The man looked quite nice, a refined gentleman with a pair of silver-rimmed glasses perched on his nose. The director, seeing that she hadn't arrived by the appointed time, went out to look for her. No sooner had the director left than a woman entered.
Wu Youliang assumed he was being introduced to someone and immediately stood up. "Hello, my name is Wu Youliang. I'm twenty-six years old and a doctor in the internal medicine department of the Second People's Hospital."
The woman paused for a moment, then realized this was the man the director had introduced to Shu Yao. She had overheard him yesterday. "Hello, I'm twenty-three, from the textile workshop."
The two chatted back and forth, eventually discovering they'd gone to the same junior high school. He'd gone three years earlier, so he hadn't met him before. This immediately bridged the gap between them, and by the time the headmaster returned, they were exchanging flirtatious glances.
"No, Zhou Aili, what are you doing here?"
"Director, I've come to deliver some documents."
After things were explained, it turned out to be a misunderstanding, but the man accepted it. "I think it's fine. If Comrade Zhou doesn't mind, we can try getting to know each other."
The director watched the two leave together and angrily drank water in his office. Soon after, Shu Yao arrived, and the director explained the situation to her.
"I'm so angry! Was she doing this on purpose? I was really happy to introduce Station Master Su to her. But as soon as she found out that Station Master Su was sick, she immediately broke up with me. I lost face in front of Old Su. Today, I was clearly introducing you to her, and she came and interfered."
"Never mind. That just means they're meant to be." Shu Yao smiled, unconcerned. "Your conditions are really good." "Sister, the conditions are good too, and you don't mind that he's been married before. There must be some problem with him, otherwise he definitely wouldn't be happy."
“Sigh, Su Xiangdong is a good match. He finished junior high school for a year, so he's educated. He's also a former soldier who became the head of a grain depot. That's a good job; he's in charge of the distribution of grain, oil, and non-staple foods for the entire city. He has a terminal illness, so if you marry him and take care of him, you'll still have a house after he dies.”
"That's great."
Director Hao was surprised: "Are you serious? His cousins are eyeing him like hawks, waiting to devour his entire fortune. It's actually quite frustrating. I was thinking of introducing him to someone, but someone spread the rumor that liver disease is contagious. Real estate is tempting, but life is more important."
Director Hao sighed and continued, "His illness is actually not contagious."
"Um."
"You're really willing?"
"It's true. I can't find my family, and I really want a home. Everyone in the dorm is nice, but I just feel lonely."
"That's right. Everyone else has family, they can meet and communicate. You must want a home of your own."
She lowered her head, seemingly heartbroken. Director Hao asked again, "Don't you regret it? This disease isn't contagious, but it's incurable. If he dies, you'll be a widow."
“It’s okay. We’ll take care of each other. I want family, and I also want my own space.”
“Okay, I’ll go and make the appointment. I was the one who introduced Zhou Aili, who used to work in the textile workshop. I don’t know where she heard that liver disease is contagious and deadly, but she immediately changed her mind and refused to agree.”
Since you don't mind wanting that little courtyard, I'll act as a matchmaker for you. You're both pitiful people; he's so young to have contracted this disease, any girl would be afraid of being infected. You're young and beautiful, but your life has been full of hardship; you're divorced and desperately want a warm home.
Sister Hao was very efficient and arranged the meeting that very day. Su Xiangdong was somewhat stunned when he heard about it. He was overjoyed to learn that she had gotten divorced. However, this joy was quickly followed by sorrow. How could he, a dying man, burden her?
“I’m sick, Sister Hao should have told you. If you have nowhere to stay, I can give you three rooms to live in. Go to the real estate bureau to complete the formalities, and those three rooms will be considered a sale to you. But the wedding… I can’t delay you.”
The two sat alone in the room, facing each other at the square table in Sister Hao's house. She wondered if she had misheard. This man had said he would give her three rooms; was she deaf? Or perhaps he thought he was going to die and, since he had no descendants, didn't care.
"I won't lie to you, I think I'm pregnant." Meeting his surprised gaze, she continued, "If the Sun family finds out, they'll definitely fight me for the child. I certainly won't give my child to them, so I'm thinking of finding a father for the child. I'm sorry, if you don't like it, then just pretend I didn't say anything."
She couldn't go on blind dates with men she didn't know, and she couldn't guarantee they would keep that a secret from her. But she trusted Su Xiangdong's character, so he was her first choice.
"No." He instantly understood what she meant; she was pregnant and desperately wanted a safe haven. This was perfect. After he passed away, the house would be left to her and their child, and the child would be officially his. Even if the Sun family had doubts, it would be difficult for them to take the house back.
"That's a win for me, I'll have someone to burn paper money for me in the future. That's great, I, Su Xiangdong, will have descendants now."
"You agree, right?"
"Yes. Let's get married as soon as possible and register our marriage tomorrow." They need to race against time to make it look real.
"Um, if your illness is a misdiagnosis, would you still be willing to accept it?"
“I would. Wouldn’t that be better? I could look after you.” He said, sounding a little downcast. “But that’s unlikely.”
A note from the author:
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