Chapter 1
On the eve of New Year's Day in 1990, Tong Yufei received a long-distance call from her husband Mo Daoyan in West Germany. He would be returning to China in two weeks, flying from Frankfurt to Hong Kong, then transferring to Beijing, and then taking a train from Beijing to Xicheng.
In 1985, the same year they got married, the country issued a policy on studying abroad, supporting studying abroad, encouraging returning home, and allowing freedom of coming and going. It also cancelled the qualification review for studying abroad at one's own expense, and the trend of studying abroad at one's own expense quickly heated up. Mo Daoyan responded to the call of the times. After graduating from Jiaotong University, he resolutely gave up the public funding to study in the United States, and went to the School of Engineering and Design of a top technical university in Munich, West Germany, at his own expense to further his studies.
According to most estimates, a master's program usually takes two to three years, and a doctoral program three to six years. For international students, the period may take one or two years longer due to factors such as language and environmental adaptation. Even if he is extremely talented, it will take at least six or seven years to complete his studies. However, he returned home just after entering his fifth year, and his new identity is the technical department manager of a German multinational optoelectronic device company.
New Year's Day fell on a Monday, and Tong Yufei's Xicheng Daily, where she worked, had two days off, including Sunday. As usual, she cleaned the house. After breakfast, she helped Old Mrs. Mo outside to bask in the sun while they listened to the radio. The People's Daily's New Year's editorial, "Welcoming the 1990s with Confidence," was playing: "As long as stability is maintained, even if development continues uneventfully for a few decades, fundamental changes will occur in China..."
Old Mrs. Mo sighed, "It's good to be stable. Only when it's stable can we live in peace and peace and live a good life."
Old Mrs. Mo not only listened to the radio, but was also a devoted opera fan. She listened to Guan Sushuang and Tong Zhiling perform, followed opera reviews, and never missed an issue of the early opera newspaper. Her eyesight was so blurry in her old age that she had to ask her granddaughter-in-law or grandson to read to her. Her rheumatism had recurred recently, and her muscle aches had worsened. Tong Yufei read the opera newspaper for a while, then stopped to massage Old Mrs. Mo's legs. She lay sideways in the rocking chair and pulled a coral-pink silk purse from the inner pocket of her light purple silk gown. She stuffed it into Tong Yufei's hand and said, "Don't just worry about me, an old woman. Go get some new clothes. We'll be reunited soon."
Tong Yufei smiled faintly: "Grandma, do you think I'm a country bumpkin and unworthy of your precious grandson?"
Old Madam Mo doted on her grandson, but she didn't neglect one for the other. "You're a beautiful and intelligent girl, but your clothes are too plain. Haven't you seen the pictures of foreign women posted in Daoxing's room? They're all dressed up, more ostentatious than the models on the calendars. Xiaoyan's character is impeccable, but I'm afraid she'll see too much of the flashy ones and won't adapt to the new environment."
Mo Daoxing is Mo Daoyan's younger brother. He is a junior student majoring in instrument performance at the Conservatory of Music, majoring in piano and minoring in cello. There are many posters of domestic and foreign musicians on the walls of his room, but the only two are of women, one of a popular Italian soprano and the other of a Swedish pop singer.
Tong Yufei was flattered to be compared to a celebrity: "Grandma, I don't have enough money."
Mrs. Mo asked seriously, "How much more do you need? There's still some birthday money in the cabinet that your parents gave me this year. I'll go get it."
Tong Yufei returned the money and said, "I'm in great need of something. Clothes alone aren't enough. I need to go to the temple on Niangniang Mountain and ask for a disguised immortal to come down and help me."
Old Madam Mo poked Tong Yufei's forehead and laughed, "How can you belittle yourself? If you had to disguise yourself, how could he come back so soon, even though he's been thinking about you day and night?"
Old Madam Mo cited her as the reason for Mo Daoyan's return, which was quite flattering. The old lady was old, and noble people tend to forget things, but she was the one involved, and she certainly wouldn't be unaware of it. She and Mo Daoyan had only met three times from the time they met to the time they married: a blind date, an engagement, and the marriage registration and wedding banquet, all separated by a month and a half. He passed away the day after the wedding, so all in all, they had spent less than three days together. Mo Daoyan had occasionally written to her while studying abroad, but he was a man of few words, and his letters were brief, briefly covering his recent situation, only mentioning good news and not bad news. The rest of the text was a general greeting. Apart from Old Madam Mo, she, her parents-in-law, and her brother-in-law were all omitted subjects in the "I wish you all the best, and don't worry." There was nothing special about them.
Only once did Mo Daoyan write to her alone. That was the first time he had enclosed foreign currency, Deutsche Marks, in a letter in the spring of the second year after he went abroad. He had come across the ocean to study in Germany at his own expense. The government did not provide subsidies, and his parents gave him the funds for the first semester and promised to continue providing them, but he declined. He said that he had asked for trouble by studying abroad, and he could not drag his whole family down with him. Since he was married, he should shoulder the burden of supporting the family. His wife Tong Yufei had a meager salary, and after paying for the family's living expenses, there would be little left. Therefore, after he managed to solve his own expenses, he took care of her share of the money, so that Mo Mo's family would not lack food for Tong Yufei. In his words, family affection is family affection, and rules are rules.
He ended the letter by writing: "Miss Tong is new here, please be considerate and take care of her."
Old Madam Mo took this as evidence that Mo Daoyan missed Tong Yufei, but Tong Yufei didn't dare accept it. Even the unfamiliarity in his address couldn't be concealed, so where did the thought come from? She was ashamed to admit that Mo Daoyan missed her, but she did acknowledge the protection of her dignity. Mo Daoyan was a man of integrity, but after all, he had just turned twenty. The only way for international students to make money was to work and study, and the hardship was self-evident. She was not ignorant of the ways of the world, but her salary of a few dozen yuan was not enough to make ends meet. She couldn't afford to show her integrity, so she could only do the trivial things within her ability.
Mo's mother, Meng Ruqing, is the acting deputy director of the Municipal Party Committee's Propaganda Department, in charge of the Arts and Literature Section and the News and External Propaganda Section. She's usually decisive and resolute, and as capable as any man. But when her son travels a thousand miles, a mother worries. Seeing the money Mo Daoyan sent, even the hardest heart softened. As if no one was around, her eyes reddened. "Xiaoyan has always been so strong-willed. No matter how much suffering he endures, he just endures it. He has family at home, and who cares about him outside?"
Mo Changlin, the director of the Honglian Machinery Factory, believed in the simple philosophy of "When Heaven wants to give a man a great responsibility, it must first test his mind and body." But he was soft-hearted. He kept saying that a real man must endure hardships, strive for self-improvement, and be responsible. Compared to the time when he went to the countryside, his son had caught up with a better time. He turned around and contacted friends overseas to find out about his situation. He promised his wife, "If he really finds himself in a situation where he can't eat enough or wear warm clothes, as his father, I will sell everything I have and fly over there to bring him back to you safe and sound."
The friend fulfilled his mission and soon returned triumphantly. He told Mo Changlin that gold shines wherever it is placed. Mo Daoyan was the favorite of the tutor. Not only did he become an assistant teacher, he was also recommended to work part-time in the school-run factory. In addition to the scholarship, he had two extra incomes, which was a hundred times better than other international students who spent their spare time washing dishes in Chinese restaurants.
Mo Changlin couldn't hide his pride: "You're a man. You didn't embarrass me."
Mo Daoyan sent more and more money, but his letters became shorter and shorter. Gradually, there were no letters but only money. Old Mrs. Mo read the old letters over and over again, sighing that Mo Daoyan had been gone for so long but he hadn't sent her a single photo, and she didn't even know his height, weight, or body shape. She urged Tong Yufei to go to the photo studio to take a photo, and wrote back to Mo Daoyan to exchange photos.
Tong Yufei, unable to resist her grandmother's repeated requests, went to take a photo. Unsure whether Mo Daoyan would want to see her amidst his busy studies, she didn't include the photo, but instead wrote a letter, relaying her grandmother's longing for him and subtly asking for the photo. Among the remittances Mo Daoyan sent back, there was a photo of him standing in front of the Berlin Wall. The photo was a distant shot of him, dressed in a white shirt and black pants, his face tilted to the side, gazing up at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin. His elegant figure perfectly complemented the desolate and majestic historical relics.
Still no letter, not a single word.
Old Mrs. Mo couldn't let go of the photo of her grandson, whose face was not shown: "Our Xiaoyan is very cool and handsome."
When she went to work on Tuesday, Tong Yufei wrote a note for leave to Sister Xin, the team leader of the proofreading group, and filled in "urgent family matters" as the reason. Since she started working as a proofreader, she has been working in all weathers and has never been absent from work without reason. Sister Xin trusted her and approved the leave readily. After get off work, she went to the department store and bought a woolen coat and a pair of Beijing Baihua brand leather shoes in the pastel color that Mrs. Mo loved.
Old Mrs. Mo's surname was Xu. Her ancestors had risen to prominence as high-ranking generals under the Qing government, and she had been the daughter of a textile magnate. Her father, a "glorious figure" in the anti-Japanese war, generously donated money and supplies, becoming a "glory of the nation." She rose to prominence as the daughter of a Red Army general. After liberation, as the nation's military was reorganized, her children, following their father's unit changes, became legitimate members of the Fourth Field Army, each a highly accomplished individual. Her eldest son was a factory director overseeing thousands of employees, her daughter a history professor at a normal university, and her youngest son, a martyr who died on the front lines of the counterattack, defended her country. For most of her life, the old lady was sheltered by her family, undisturbed by those turbulent years.
The pastel color and the ever-girly old lady Mo are a perfect match.
Meng Ruqing saw the clothes and shoes she bought and smiled knowingly: "You have always been likable. Perseverance is the most important thing for a person."
Perseverance can be used for many meaningful things. It may be a bit sarcastic to use it to please others, but it is the way she survives. She smiled obediently at her mother-in-law: "Daoyan has worked hard studying. When he comes back, I will take good care of him."
Meng Ruqing has been influenced by various new cultural trends for many years and is by no means a conservative feudal patriarch: "He has his hardships, you have your difficulties, and husband and wife should support each other."
Mo Daoyan returned home on a Thursday. Her parents-in-law held important positions, their work was incredibly important, and Mo Daoxing had final exams to prepare for. It seemed logical that she should be responsible for picking him up at the train station. After more than four years of not seeing him, her impression of him remained stuck in the past. To avoid a moment of uncertainty, she made a piece of white cardboard and wrote Mo Daoyan's name in small calligraphy. She then dug out some old photos of him, trying to imprint his image in her mind.
Mo Daoyan doesn't like taking photos. After he became an adult, he only has group photos and ID photos. The relatively new one is a two-inch black-and-white photo taken when he applied to study abroad. His face is square, handsome and clear, his eyes are slightly lowered, and the distinct edges reveal a bit of alienation.
Tong Yufei stroked those deep eyes and thought that she was probably a complete stranger to him now.
On Thursday afternoon, she put on new clothes and shoes and went to the train station. She held up the cardboard at the crowded exit from two o'clock to five o'clock, until the two trains from Beijing had finished boarding and disembarking passengers, one returned to the locomotive depot for maintenance, and the other was sent to Chongqing on another train. Then she went home. She guessed that the two people might have gotten lost.
Downstairs in the community, she met Aunt Lin, the nanny, who was walking quickly to look for her. The other party said that Mo Daoyan called again. A few days ago, Munich was hit by a sudden snowstorm, and the city had a large-scale power outage. Transportation hubs such as the airport and train station were closed. Power supply and communications had just been restored today. Due to the bad weather, his return had to be postponed.
Aunt Lin was afraid that she would feel disappointed, so she comforted her, "Good things take time. When the snow melts, Daoyan will surely come flying. How can a young man full of vigor and vitality not miss his wife?"
Tong Yufei breathed a sigh of relief and smiled sweetly, "No rush, safety first."
Mo Daoyan failed to return to China as scheduled, and the matter came to a temporary end. However, Tong Yufei did not return to the stable life track as she wished. One problem after another arose. When she and her colleagues were proofreading the manuscripts promoting stable development in full swing, her second uncle Tong Jianguo, who came to the city for business, brought a message from his father Tong Jianzhong, saying that there was something important and he urgently wanted her to go home to discuss countermeasures.
Tong Yufei asked: "Uncle, do you know what happened at home?"
Tong Jianguo scratched his head. "You know your father. He values his reputation more than his life. If he doesn't want to say something, even the tiger bench and pepper spray won't do anything. But I haven't seen that kid Tong Yi for a while. Could it be him again?"
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