Chapter 4 Turning Point
I got home and pushed open the courtyard gate.
Feng Xuemei, looking travel-worn, stood in the courtyard.
Nan Zhiyi's carefully maintained indifference and hardness crumbled, and she rushed over to Feng Xuemei, throwing herself into her arms. Fear, grievance, despair, and the excruciating pain of losing her parents surged forth.
"Aunt Feng... Mom and Dad... them..."
She cried her heart out.
"My child, you've suffered so much..." Feng Xuemei hugged her tightly and burst into tears as well.
After crying for a long time, Feng Xuemei finally managed to wipe away her tears and used a handkerchief to wipe away Nan Zhiyi's tear stains: "It's alright, you feel better after crying it out."
"Zhiyi, now is not the time to just cry. You need to talk to Aunt Feng and tell her what's going on. What did the neighborhood committee say? What about the work?"
Nan Zhiyi sobbed, leaning on Feng Xuemei's shoulder, and spoke intermittently about the threats of suspension from her job, impending dismissal, and being sent to the countryside...
Finally, she could barely continue, "The Zhou family... has broken off the engagement..."
Feng Xuemei's temper flared up instantly.
"Pah! Song Lanxin, that snob! And Zhou Zhengping, what a coward! They used to be so eager to be near your family, but now that things have gone wrong, they're hiding like rabbits. It's better to distance yourself from this kind of family! It'll save you from being disgusted for the rest of your life!"
Feng Xuemei was so angry that her chest heaved, and she cursed mercilessly.
After she finished scolding him, she looked at Nan Zhiyi with heartache: "Go to the countryside? Absolutely not. Is that a place you can go? If you go, it'll be all over. We have to think of something."
Nan Zhiyi shook her head, her eyes filled with despair.
"Aunt Feng, what else can we do? I've lost my job, the engagement is off, and then there's the neighborhood committee..."
"I have a way! Although your Uncle Zhang is only a deputy regimental commander and doesn't have much authority, he's not completely without options! The key is time!"
She pulled Nan Zhiyi down to sit, lowering her voice.
“Zhiyi, the only way out now is to transfer your personnel file directly from the school to the military region. The military system is independent, and the local revolutionary committee can't reach that far. Once your file is in the military region and you become a military dependent, they won't have the power to arrange for you to go to the countryside.”
“However,” Feng Xuemei frowned, “the most difficult part of this operation is twofold: First, time! The Revolutionary Committee is watching you closely, and the street office is mobilizing people to go to the countryside—it’ll be very fast. Once the school officially expels you, the notice to go to the countryside will be issued to you immediately. We need to get everything sorted out as soon as possible.”
“Secondly,” she said gravely, “the political background check. Your current family background… that’s a major weakness. The local authorities will hold a grudge, and it will definitely be recorded in your file. For the military to transfer files, a political background check is an absolute requirement!”
Nan Zhiyi's heart clenched again: "My parents... they donated most of their family fortune to the country. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Nan family also provided financial assistance... They were patriotic..."
In an era where "class composition" theory reigned supreme, her defense was weak and ineffective.
Feng Xuemei patted her hand to comfort her.
“I know, and your Uncle Zhang knows too. So, we need to be quick and bypass the local authorities’ assessment. We need to forcibly transfer your personnel file before the local revolutionary committee’s document assessing your character and expelling you officially takes effect.”
"The most crucial step is that you must become a military dependent before your personnel file is transferred, and that you must be a legal, compliant military dependent registered with the political department of the military region. Only in this way can the reason for transferring the file be legitimate and the political department be able to operate smoothly."
Nan Zhiyi was stunned: "Become a military dependent? With whom?"
"Blind date!" Feng Xuemei uttered two words.
"I'll make a call later and have your Uncle Zhang look for a suitable single officer in the military region. Time is of the essence, and there's no time to be picky. As long as the other party agrees, your Uncle Zhang can submit the report to the political department."
Looking at Nan Zhiyi's bewildered face, Feng Xuemei felt sorry for this girl she had watched grow up, but she didn't have a better solution at the moment.
"Zhiyi, Aunt Feng knows this is too sudden and too unfair to you. But right now, this is the only way to survive. Love and affection have to come later; only by living can there be a future..."
A blind date? Marrying a soldier you've never met? Exchanging a marriage certificate for the right to stay in the city?
This is utterly absurd, yet it may be the only way out.
Looking at Feng Xuemei's anxious eyes, and then thinking about her parents, and... the fear of going to the countryside.
She had to live. She had to wait for the day the Nan family's case was overturned and they were exonerated. She had to protect the last things her parents had left behind...
She nodded slowly.
"Aunt Feng, I'll listen to you."
Feng Xuemei told Nan Zhiyi to wait at home while she went to the street to call her lover, Zhang Jianguo.
When Feng Xuemei hurriedly returned, she saw Nan Zhiyi kneeling under the memorial tablets of her parents, her face covered in tears and her clothes soaked.
She hugged Nan Zhiyi tightly, tears streaming down her face, "Don't cry, Aunt Feng is here..."
Nan Zhiyi, barely audible, said, "Aunt Feng... I feel like I'm dreaming... Yesterday morning my mom said she'd make me a new dress for spring, and my dad said... he'd take me to the countryside for a spring outing and fishing. How could he just leave like that tonight?"
Feng Xuemei cried even harder.
"Don't say anymore, Zhiyi, it will all pass, it will all pass..."
"Zhiyi, don't think about it anymore... You have to look forward. Your parents... they want the best for you."
Nan Zhiyi was speechless and buried her face in her shoulder, which quickly became wet.
In the afternoon, Feng Xuemei asked Nan Zhiyi to take her to the outskirts to pay respects to Nan's father and mother.
There was no incense, candles, or paper money, only two cups of water.
Nan Zhiyi knelt down again in front of the yellow earthen grave.
The wind whips up the withered grass, swirling and howling.
Feng Xuemei wiped away her tears in front of the grave, saying, "Brother, sister-in-law, don't worry, Zhiyi, I'm here for you."
"Dad, Mom..."
Nan Zhiyi uttered two words, then her throat tightened, and she fell silent.
She kowtowed three times, her forehead covered in dirt.
As dusk settled on the way back.
Feng Xuemei took her to a state-run restaurant and ordered two bowls of plain noodles.
The soup was thin and watery, with noodles floating on top.
Nan Zhiyi poked at the food with her chopsticks, but had no appetite.
"eat."
Feng Xuemei pushed the bowl closer, "I'm going to the military region tomorrow, how can I manage without some strength?"
Nan Zhiyi cried several times, her voice hoarse yet calm: "Aunt Feng, I understand."
Feng Xuemei breathed a sigh of relief.
"Those I meet tomorrow, whoever they are, get them married first, and get their files sorted out. We'll get through this storm; things will get better eventually. If all else fails..."
She lowered her voice, "In a couple of years, we'll find an excuse to get a divorce. A living person can't be killed by holding their pee, can they?"
That night, the two of them squeezed into Nan Zhiyi's small bed.
In the darkness, Feng Xuemei held her icy hand.
"Aunt Feng will accompany you. Your Uncle Zhang will take care of things at the military region. Just go, be natural and confident. You're so good-looking and have such a good personality, there's no reason why you can't succeed."
Nan Zhiyi did not respond.
Her eyes were closed, and her eyelashes trembled gently in the darkness.
No matter what, you have to survive first.
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