Zhao Mingyue was surprised that Shen Xuyue was so easy to talk to. She smiled and said, "Thank you, Secretary Shen. You don't think I'm talking nonsense."
"No, no, your insights are very unique and they surprise me. You are definitely not talking nonsense." Shen Xuyue stood up and waved his hand.
Zhao Mingyue said, "There's something else I'd like to trouble Secretary Shen with."
"you say."
"Secretary Shen, could you help me get a set of high school textbooks?" Zhao Mingyue thought about borrowing from others, but very few people in the village had gone to high school, so it would be quite difficult to borrow a complete set of high school textbooks. Shen Xuyue's group consisted mostly of educated youth, and since he was from the city, there were many people in his village who went to school, so getting a set of textbooks should be much easier for him.
Shen Xuyue was even more surprised: "You want high school textbooks?"
Zhao Mingyue nodded: "Yes."
Shen Xuyue pondered for a moment: "I should be able to get it. I'll contact you again once I have it."
"Okay, thank you, Secretary Chen. I'll head back now. Brother, let's go." After saying that, she tugged at Zhao Minglang, who had been standing silently to the side. At this moment, Zhao Minglang was petrified. He never expected that those grand principles would come from his sister's mouth. He turned around somewhat woodenly and mechanically followed her.
Shen Xuyue watched Zhao Mingyue and her brother leave. This woman was truly surprising and unexpected.
Zhao Mingyue's heart remained unsettled for a long time. She thought she was long past the age of shy infatuation, but seeing Shen Xuyue, she still couldn't help but blush and her heart race, just like a young girl in love. She had thought that being able to live a second life, not repeating the same mistakes, protecting her loved ones, and leaving fewer regrets was enough. Romantic love was no longer relevant to her weathered heart.
She walked quickly with her head down, completely forgetting her third brother who had been following beside her. Zhao Minglang was extremely suspicious. His sister seemed like a different person today, saying things he had never heard of before. How did she know all this?
"Mingyue!" Zhao Minglang shouted again, finally snapping Zhao Mingyue out of her reverie: "Third Brother, what's wrong?"
Zhao Minglang said, "What do you mean by 'sustainable development'? Where did you hear that from?"
Zhao Mingyue feigned ignorance: "Oh, I saw it in the newspaper."
Zhao Minglang fell silent. He knew his younger sister loved reading books and newspapers. If it weren't for the current situation, where admission required recommendations, getting into university wouldn't be a problem for her. "Mingyue, do you want to go to school?"
Zhao Mingyue was taken aback, probably because she had borrowed books from Shen Xuyue earlier. She thought for a moment and asked, "Third Brother, if you had the chance to go to school, would you still want to?"
Zhao Minglang gave a wry smile: "What's the point of me going to school? I'm already twenty years old, what school would accept me?"
Zhao Mingyue sighed. All of her siblings were promising students, but the times had held them back. None of them had made a living through education. Her eldest and second eldest brothers became farmers. Her third brother was a little luckier. When the coal mine came to their area to recruit workers, Zhao Minglang was recommended and worked as a miner for his entire life. When he was in his forties or fifties, the coal mine was depleted, and Zhao Minglang was laid off.
"Brother, if I manage to borrow the textbooks, let's study together. There might be parts I don't understand yet, and we can work through them together." Of course, Zhao Mingyue couldn't say that she could register for the college entrance examination next year.
Zhao Minglang smiled and said, "Okay." In this era devoid of spiritual life, people's minds are almost as numb as wood. There are too many boring days. Zhao Minglang has already flipped through his junior high school textbooks several times.
There was no moon in the sky, but the starlight was exceptionally bright. The stars in the night sky sparkled like diamonds scattered on velvet satin, illuminating the way home for the brother and sister. An oil lamp was still lit in the house, its warm yellow light shining through the window covered with white plastic film. Although dim, it was exceptionally comforting, and their parents were still waiting for them to return under the lamp.
Zhao Mingyue knocked on the door: "Mom, we're back."
A short while later, Zhao Mingyue heard a creak and the wooden door opened. Warm yellow light enveloped Zhao Mingyue and her brother. The dim light cast shadows on everything in the room. Zhao Mingyue was still a little unaccustomed to the dimness; electricity wouldn't be available for another two years.
The brother and sister went inside, and Zhao Mingyue saw her father still sitting under the lamp smoking his pipe: "Dad, you're not asleep yet?"
Hu Nianchun said to his daughter, "Your father and I are waiting for you. We want to discuss something with you."
"Oh." Zhao Mingyue sat down at the table.
Zhao Minglang also sat down.
Zhao Shunsheng took his pipe down from the table, tapped it against the table leg, and casually asked, "Mingyue is seventeen this year, isn't she?"
Zhao Mingyue was a little surprised that her father would bring up age. Before she could answer, Hu Nianchun replied, "He will be seventeen in November."
Zhao Shunsheng said, "Your mother gave birth to Mingliang when she was seventeen." Zhao Mingliang was her older brother.
Zhao Mingyue realized that this was about what Aunt Luo had mentioned earlier.
Zhao Minglang said, "Dad, this is a new society now. Women have to be twenty years old to get a marriage certificate."
Zhao Shunsheng said, "If you're going to get the marriage certificate at twenty, then you're twenty. I didn't expect your only daughter to get married so early. But we can find a good family for her in advance. Haven't you seen how many girls are already engaged? Girls should get married early, otherwise they'll be picked over."
Zhao Minglang laughed heartily: "A girl like my sister is the one who gets to choose who she wants; no one gets to choose her."
Hu Nianchun locked the door and walked to the table: "Then we should do it as soon as possible. If we wait until all the better families have settled down, there will be fewer options."
Zhao Shunsheng said, "Minglang, go to sleep. Stop joking around. Mingyue, Aunt Luo came to propose marriage to you today. She'll have your mother talk to you about it. See if you're interested."
Hu Nianchun said, "That family is from Chengjia Village next door. You should have seen that young man before. He is Cheng Yonggang, the eldest son of the village party secretary Cheng Maolin. He will be joining the army this fall during the military physical examination. The young man went to high school and is nineteen years old this year, two years older than our Mingyue. I have seen him. He is tall and thin, and a very spirited young man."
Zhao Minglang said, "Oh, Cheng Yonggang, I know him. He's a year below me. He even pooped in his pants when he was in elementary school."
Zhao Mingyue couldn't help but chuckle; she had never heard of this before.
Zhao Shunsheng yelled at him, "You little devil, can't you speak properly? If you can't, then get lost."
Zhao Minglang muttered, "I'm just telling the truth. He was so stupid when he was young, how smart can he be when he grows up? I'm just worried that our sister will marry the wrong person."
Hu Nianchun said, "He can go to high school, so he's an educated person. He can't be too bad."
Zhao Minglang said, "That's not necessarily true. Just look at Zhao Xiaomi. Is she smarter than my sister? Isn't it because she has a good father?" Zhao Xiaomi is Zhao Jinyun's daughter and a classmate of Zhao Mingyue. Her grades are average. When it came time to recommend students for high school, there were only two spots available in the village. One of them was taken by Zhao Xiaomi, and the other was taken by a classmate from the village who was classified as a poor peasant.
Zhao Shunsheng sighed: "They have impeccable family background and don't look down on our family's social status. They can join the army soon and will be able to eat government food in the future. If Mingyue marries into their family, she will enjoy a life of luxury. There's nothing wrong with that."
That's true. Although his family's class background wasn't terrible, his father, Zhao Shunsheng, was a "stinking intellectual" (a derogatory term for intellectuals who hold the lowest social class). These two factors combined made him look inferior to others. Zhao Minglang stopped talking. He believed he was no worse than Cheng Yonggang in any way, but if girls were to choose, they would probably choose Cheng Yonggang first before considering him.
Hu Nianchun said, "That's right. Wang Changfu's second daughter is so eager to marry him that she's even planning to ask Luo Wu's wife to be the matchmaker. But before Luo Wu's wife can even do that, Chengjia has already approached her and asked her to come to our house to be the matchmaker."
Wang Changfu's second daughter is Wang Qiulan.
Zhao Shunsheng smiled at his daughter: "Mingyue, tell me yourself, are you willing?" He was clearly very satisfied.
Zhao Mingyue smiled and said very decisively, "I don't want to." There was no hesitation at all.
Zhao Shunsheng and Hu Nianchun exchanged a glance: "What's wrong? Why don't you want to?"
Zhao Mingyue said, "I'm still young, and I don't want to talk about others so early. I've met Cheng Yonggang, and I don't like him."
For a moment, everyone fell silent. No one spoke. Zhao Shunsheng looked at his daughter and frowned.
After a while, Hu Nianchun said, "Then I'll go and talk to your fifth aunt and tell her that you feel you're too young and don't want to talk about it right now?"
Using her young age as an excuse is the best way to avoid hurting anyone and save face for herself. Zhao Mingyue used this reason to refuse in her previous life, but she didn't want to repeat the same mistake. She absolutely couldn't give Cheng Yonggang any hope. She shook her head and said, "If I don't like it, I'll just say I don't want to."
All three people in the room were looking at Zhao Mingyue. Zhao Shunsheng said, "This isn't a good idea. It's not good for him or for you." There was no room for negotiation.
"It's okay, let's just say that. Anyway, there's no way I'll marry Cheng Yonggang." Zhao Mingyue said, standing up. "I'm going to sleep."
The parents both sighed. This was their only daughter, so they cherished her and indulged her whims. Hu Nianchun said softly, "I'll talk to Luo Wu's wife tomorrow and tell her that Mingyue feels her family's conditions are too poor and she's not good enough for him, so she doesn't want to."
Zhao Shunsheng sighed, "Alright then."
Zhao Mingyue returned to her room, lit a lamp, scooped water from the pot in the kitchen, and went to take a bath. She was naturally clean, and her mother always prepared a large pot of water for her bath. However, the conditions were too basic; she could only bathe in a wooden tub, which made Zhao Mingyue miss the bathtub and showerhead.
But it was just a fleeting thought. Nothing is better than living life again, even if you have nothing materially.
Lying in bed, Zhao Mingyue recalled her meeting with Shen Xuyue that evening, overwhelmed with emotion. She had once secretly admired Shen Xuyue; he was the first person she liked when she first experienced love. He was handsome, cultured, thoughtful, and polite—hardly someone not to like. Zhao Mingyue had once thought that Shen Xuyue was like the sun in the sky, and she was like the moon; the two of them, like the sun and the moon, could never intersect. Therefore, she only harbored her love in secret, never uttering her feelings aloud, and never letting anyone know.
Shen Xuyue's father was a veteran revolutionary who once held a high position of power. After the movement began, Shen's father was isolated and investigated. Because of his father's connections, Shen Xuyue could only go to the countryside for reform through labor along with everyone else.
After the movement ended, Shen's father was exonerated, and Shen Xuyue returned to the city. Zhao Mingyue thought Shen Xuyue would pursue a career in politics, but he had gone into business early on and become a leader in his industry. His company was later nationalized, and he became the head of a state-owned enterprise. Zhao Mingyue's own business was quite well-known in Haicheng, but compared to Shen Xuyue, it was still insignificant.
The business world, while not huge, wasn't small either. Zhao Mingyue and Shen Xuyue's companies had business dealings, and the two had met several times afterward. Just as Shen Xuyue was at the height of his fame, a major maritime disaster occurred in China: a luxury cruise ship sank at sea, leaving 63 passengers missing or dead, causing a huge public outcry. The owner of this cruise ship was Shen Xuyue. As the person in charge, Shen Xuyue was directly held accountable, and due to the weight of his responsibility, he was ultimately imprisoned.
Zhao Mingyue felt extremely sorry for Shen Xuyue. It was said that Shen Xuyue's wife had invited friends to a lavish party at sea, with one or two hundred people in attendance. In the chaos, most of the tourists escaped, but about a third of them perished.
Zhao Mingyue initially thought this was just a hurdle Shen Xuyue was going to have to overcome; he might spend a few years in prison, but he would still be a good man after his release. However, Shen Xuyue never came out. He suffered a sudden heart attack in prison and died unexpectedly. This left Zhao Mingyue deeply saddened. How could such a healthy person just leave like that? Fate truly plays cruel tricks on people.
Thinking of this, Zhao Mingyue couldn't help but sigh.
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