“The man my aunt married is called Pan Wen. He’s the director of Guangzhou’s Third Textile Mill.”
Ji Xiangtian was astonished to hear this. He knew some things about Yun Su’s parents’ generation. There was an uncle in the commune, a second uncle who lived across the way, and an aunt who had married into the city. But he hadn’t expected that aunt to have married a factory director. A fishing village girl marrying a factory director—that was truly surprising for the times.
Yun Su smiled when she saw Ji Xiangtian’s expression. To be honest, she’d been equally surprised when she’d learned about her aunt.
Every era has its social strata. Especially now, with strict household registration controls. For Yun Su’s aunt, a girl from a fishing village, to marry the director of a major Guangzhou factory—that was definitely something worth being surprised about.
“There’s a lot more to it, but I’m just the younger generation and don’t really know the details. After we get off the boat, we’ll drop off the things at her place first. Then we can go sightseeing.”
This trip to Guangzhou was mainly for leisure—delivering the items to her aunt was a side task. But the things were bulky, so it was better to drop them off early.
Ji Xiangtian understood there was more to the story. He didn’t press for details. Truth be told, his own parents’ generation had their own complications—things he didn’t plan to burden Yun Su with either. He just wanted to live a good, simple life with her.
The boat sailed for just over two hours before docking. After disembarking, Ji Xiangtian took Yun Su on a direct bus to the Third Textile Mill.
Fortunately, the mill wasn’t far from the dock. The bus ride took about forty minutes to reach their destination.
When she first got on the bus, Yun Su hadn’t thought Guangzhou was particularly bustling. But after getting off, she realized it was indeed much livelier than the island.
Probably because this area had many state-owned factories. There were many people coming and going on the streets. Lots of multi-story buildings too. Rows upon rows of family quarters, very similar to the dormitory buildings of later generations, lined the streets.
The original Yun Su had visited her aunt’s house once as a child. Now, she found her way by asking directions along the route.
When they knocked on her aunt’s door, it was already ten o’clock in the morning.
—
“Look at your mother—having you deliver things without even calling me first. I could have sent someone to pick you up.”
Before Yun Su could even step inside, her aunt started chattering away. Then the woman noticed Ji Xiangtian behind Yun Su. Her eyes widened: “This young man is your partner?”
Yun Su nodded.
“Come in, come in. I need to get a good look at what kind of partner you’ve found!”
Yun Su shook her head: “Auntie, we can’t come in today. We have things to do. We’ll come visit another time.”
With that, Yun Su set down the things she was carrying, took Ji Xiangtian’s hand, and headed back down the stairs. Yun Su’s aunt tried to chase after them, but then her son started crying from inside the house. She had no choice but to give up. She thought to herself that next time she visited her family back in the village, she’d get a good look at her niece’s partner.
—
Yun Su didn’t slow down until she reached the bottom of the stairs. Ji Xiangtian noticed sweat beading on her temples and took out a handkerchief to dab it dry for her.
“Why were you in such a rush to leave?”
Yun Su stuck out her tongue: “I didn’t want to go inside. That stepdaughter of hers really dislikes us.”
Yun Su didn’t hide anything. She gave him a general rundown of the situation in her aunt’s husband’s family.
Yun Su’s aunt was 25 when she married Pan, the factory director, who was nine years her senior. It was the aunt’s first marriage, but Pan’s second—he already had a daughter. That stepdaughter was just two years older than Yun Su. When Yun Su was little and came to visit her aunt, the stepdaughter had bullied her. She hadn’t been back since.
In the end, her aunt could marry whomever she wanted, but Yun Su wasn’t about to subject herself to mistreatment.
After hearing this, Ji Xiangtian reached out and ruffled her hair: “Alright. We won’t put up with that kind of nonsense.”
They walked and chatted, making their way toward the nearest Guangzhou department store.
—
Meanwhile, back at her aunt’s house, some commotion was brewing.
When the aunt opened the door, the stepdaughter, who had been eating breakfast in the living room, had spotted Yun Su—and the man behind her. By the time she processed what she’d seen, the two were already gone.
So she had no choice but to ask Yun Su’s aunt: “Auntie Yun, who exactly were those people who just came to deliver things?”
Yun Su’s aunt was bouncing her crying little son in her arms. Hearing her stepdaughter’s question, she silently rolled her eyes.
“You forgot? It’s the one who came to visit before and got chased away by you.”
The stepdaughter actually did remember chasing away several of her stepmother’s nieces. This stepmother had come from a fishing village, with a whole string of nieces back home. When she first married into the family, she’d brought a bunch of them over to play. Of course the stepdaughter hadn’t liked it. If she didn’t like them, chasing them away was only natural.
But that girl wasn’t her focus. The real focus was the man behind her.
But by the time she wanted to ask more about that man, Yun Su’s aunt had already taken her son into the bedroom to nurse.
—
Yun Su and Ji Xiangtian were unaware of this little interlude.
Only after entering the Guangzhou department store did Yun Su realize that material scarcity wasn’t uniform everywhere.
The department store in front of them had three floors. There were countless counters inside, filled with a dazzling array of goods. Almost anything that could be produced in this era was on sale here.
“There’s so much stuff…”
Ji Xiangtian watched the look of wonder in Yun Su’s eyes and couldn’t help but smile along. “Yeah, there’s a lot of stuff here. I brought plenty of ration coupons today. Whatever catches your eye, we’ll buy it.”
Yun Su turned to look at the man. His expression was utterly sincere. It reminded her of a saying from later times: if a man loves you, he’ll be willing to spend money on you.
While that saying might be somewhat biased, to a certain extent, it did hold some truth.
“I brought money too! But if I don’t have enough coupons, I’ll use some of yours.”
She had been writing and submitting articles, and had saved up over thirty yuan in writing fees. Added to more than ten yuan the original Yun Su had saved, plus the money her parents and older brother had given her, she had nearly a hundred yuan in total. Since it was a rare trip to Guangzhou, she’d brought it all with her.
Yun Su didn’t stand on ceremony with Ji Xiangtian. Whenever she wanted to buy something, she had him provide the coupons while she paid.
Soon, they’d bought quite a few things.
She also planned to buy some fabric for Ji Xiangtian, to try making him two “弓” print undershirts. Those could be worn at home. As for outside clothes—forget it. She didn’t have the skill.
Just as they were getting into the swing of shopping, they unexpectedly ran into Chen Xiangye at a fabric counter.
Yes, the same Chen Xiangye from the town supply and marketing cooperative.
Chen Xiangye was with her nephew and his mother, plus a young woman. That young woman had a matchmaker-type person by her side. No doubt about it—she was probably on a blind date.
Though holding a blind date at a fabric counter was admittedly a bit odd.
Chen Xiangye spotted Yun Su too. She recognized the girl—after all, she was exceptionally pretty. But no matter how pretty, that didn’t make Chen Xiangye happy. Because this was the girl who’d written that article praising their cooperative, ultimately getting both her and the manager transferred to that godforsaken mountain hollow.
Yun Su felt the hatred in the woman’s gaze. She raised an eyebrow and lifted her chin, wearing an expression that said she wasn’t afraid of anything.
No big deal. This was someone she’d already beaten. If she wanted to cause trouble, Yun Su wasn’t scared.
And Chen Xiangye indeed didn’t dare stir up any trouble. Her nephew had finally found a girl willing to date him. They were picking out fabric right now.
Seeing that Chen Xiangye wasn’t reacting, Yun Su didn’t say anything. She pulled Ji Xiangtian along to pick out fabric for her older brother.
Of course, while picking fabric, she couldn’t help but eavesdrop on the blind date next to them.
After listening for a bit, she got the sense they’d hit it off. She didn’t waste any more mental energy on them. Still, she thought it was quite something that the woman had managed to find someone. But the way that girl spoke felt oddly familiar.
Yes—she sounded a bit like Yun Feng.
—
Just as Yun Su was thinking of Yun Feng, Yun Feng, back in Yunjia’ao Production Brigade, was thinking of Yun Su too.
“Maybe we should just forget it. It’s not like Yun Su is acting that strange. Didn’t you find a boyfriend already? You should just behave yourself and get ready for marriage.”
At the edge of the village, Yun Feng was trying to persuade Hu Chunhua not to go see the witch doctor.
Yesterday, Hu Chunhua had muttered that Yun Su was possessed by a water ghost. Today, she was dragging Yun Feng along, saying she wanted to find a witch doctor to exorcise the spirit.
Never mind that the Four Olds had been abolished and no one dared to openly engage in feudal superstition. But in Yunjia’ao Production Brigade, a witch doctor did exist. She lived alone in a thatched hut at the edge of the village, an elderly widow with no family.
Hu Chunhua shook off Yun Feng’s hand: “I’m just going to ask. I’m afraid the water ghost on Yun Su might affect my luck…”
Yun Feng didn’t press further after that. After all, she’d said what she needed to say, given her advice. She’d just stand by and watch the show.
And so, Yun Feng followed Hu Chunhua to the witch doctor’s house. She thought to herself that the place was filthy and the woman never bothered to clean.
But before she could react, a sudden force came from behind her. Then she was surrounded and grabbed. A hemp rope bound her to a chair.
In less than a minute, Yun Feng couldn’t move at all. She could only stare wide-eyed at Hu Chunhua, who was standing in the doorway.
“Chunhua…” Yun Feng stammered. “What are you doing…”
The people who had tied her up weren’t gentle. When she spoke, they grabbed a stinky rag from the square table nearby and stuffed it into her mouth.
“Heh heh, don’t worry. She can’t figure it out right now. But she will soon…”
Yun Feng’s eyes went wide as she tried to see who was behind her. But her neck was also tied to the chair with a hemp rope. The only part of her body she could move now was her eyes.
This realization made Yun Feng tremble with fear. Then a warm stream leaked out.
Seeing this, Hu Chunhua’s eyes grew even brighter, even as she started cursing under her breath.
Few people lived at the edge of the village, and no one usually came around here. But today, Fuzai had led a bunch of kids to this very spot. His father and older brother were out at sea, and his mother had gone to the distribution outlet to fill in for his sister. Bored and alone, he’d decided to bring the kids here to dig for earthworms.
He didn’t find any earthworms. But he did find this—quite a spectacle.
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