“I really didn’t expect you to dare say things like this, big sister…”
Inside the Bai family’s main room, Bai Li shook the newspaper in her hand, utterly shocked.
The newspaper was an advance copy just delivered by the postman. The official issue would hit the streets tomorrow. The neighbors had already been buzzing about Bai Ping’s new job and her breakup with Qiu Chengcai.
Now that this advance copy had appeared, it was like pouring cold water into a pot of hot oil. Within less than a minute, the entire alley was crammed into the Bai family’s courtyard.
The commotion outside, however, didn’t interrupt the discussion inside the Bai household.
Bai Li had just finished reading the advance copy and hadn’t even had time to express her astonishment before Bai Ping, who had been pressing her lips together, snatched the newspaper away.
She scanned it briefly, then shot Bai Lian a reluctant, dissatisfied look. Finally, she said insincerely, “Big sister, saying things like this in the newspaper—you’re going to make enemies.”
Bai Lan had glimpsed some of Bai Lian’s earlier drafts and knew that parts of her conversation at the city Women’s Federation would be excerpted and published in the Women’s Newspaper.
But she hadn’t expected the published content to be so progressive.
Bai Lan had already read the advance copy together with Bai Li, and now she couldn’t help but silently applaud her eldest sister.
The core message of the article was actually quite simple: women need to learn to love themselves.
It was a very broad concept. Raising it in the current environment seemed especially out of place. Even more so when Bai Lian mentioned that married women who suffered oppression and bullying should know how to protect themselves using various methods, and that they should understand freedom of marriage—that women could get divorced. This kind of thinking was practically “heretical” in the present era, as it went completely against mainstream ideology. The fact that the newspaper dared to publish this article suggested that the responsible editors were quite progressive themselves.
Although Bai Mama felt that Bai Lian’s words, once seen by others, would subject her to considerable pressure, she still felt that Bai Ping’s comment was wrong.
“Pingping, your big sister’s words make a lot of sense. Shouldn’t a person love herself? Shouldn’t she fight back when she’s being bullied? You can’t just play deaf and dumb just because you’re afraid of offending people.”
Bai Ping felt her family was being completely unreasonable. Wasn’t she just saying this because she was afraid Bai Lian would offend people and, by extension, bring trouble to the whole family? Talk about good intentions being treated like dirt.
“Fine, I don’t care anymore. I’m moving out as soon as I finish packing.”
Seeing Bai Ping lose her temper like this, Bai Ping’s father wanted to ask if she needed help moving her things. But in the end, he held his tongue. With four daughters, he was finding this third one particularly difficult to handle lately.
—
Outside, the neighbors saw Bai Ping storm out. Immediately, a few people rushed over to ask what the newspaper had actually said.
How was it that the Bai family’s eldest daughter had managed to make the newspaper twice just by getting divorced? Since when did divorce become something glorious?
Bai Mama didn’t simply shoo the neighbors away. Although some had come out of pure nosiness, others were genuinely concerned. So she gathered her energy, went outside, and gave them a general idea of what the article said. Mostly, she wanted to prepare them. By the time the newspaper came out tomorrow, everyone would know the facts and wouldn’t misunderstand Bai Lian’s original intent.
Seeing this, Bai Lan turned to Bai Lian. “Big sister, have you thought about how you’re going to handle all the possible reactions you might face?”
She admired Bai Lian’s courage but also worried that she would encounter a lot of criticism.
Bai Lian smiled. “The city Women’s Federation has invited me to work there. I’ve already accepted.”
Bai Lan looked at her eldest sister in surprise. She hadn’t expected that twist.
“Then why didn’t you just say so?” If she had, their parents wouldn’t be so worried.
Bai Lian shrugged. “Bai Ping was here.”
Bai Lan understood instantly. She was afraid Bai Ping would kick up a fuss and start causing trouble again. Thinking this over, Bai Lan felt that her formerly gentle, harmless eldest sister seemed to have developed a bit of cunning. She laughed. “Now that you haven’t told her, when she finds out, she’s going to be absolutely furious.”
Bai Lian blinked. “Then let her taste what it feels like to be furious.”
Watching from the sidelines, Bai Li kept quiet. In the past, she might have spoken up to defend Bai Ping. But over the past few days, she had come to realize that she had never truly understood her delicate, weak-willed third sister.
—
Bai Ping’s departure was quiet and didn’t cause much of a stir. Everyone’s attention was fixed on the matter of Bai Lian appearing in the newspaper.
When the newspaper hit the streets the next day, it immediately caused a sensation. This time, it wasn’t just their own Xinghua Alley. All of Northern City—whether people read the Women’s Newspaper or not—had heard about Bai Lian’s views. Many people discussed it. Some agreed, some criticized.
And Bai Lian, after going through the divorce and Bai Ping’s betrayal, seemed to have become extraordinarily clear-headed. She carried herself with a kind of resilience and understanding—like bamboo that bends but doesn’t break: “A thousand grindstones and ten thousand strikes only make it harder; let the winds blow east, west, south, north.”
Bai Lan felt that her eldest sister now radiated an inspiring strength of character.
And with that strength, Bai Lian smoothly began her work at the city Women’s Federation. Almost immediately after starting, she took on a relief project for women suffering domestic violence.
It was deeply meaningful work. Bai Lan shared some of the measures she had learned about in modern times. In her free time, she helped Bai Lian look after her two daughters, giving her eldest sister more energy to devote to her job.
With her family’s support, Bai Lian only got better and better at her work.
Under such circumstances, Bai Ping’s side of things looked rather unimpressive by comparison.
—
Indeed, since Bai Ping had moved out of the courtyard half a month ago, she hadn’t returned once. The family knew very little about her. Most of what they did know came from Bai Lian, when people at the newspaper casually mentioned things to her.
Word had it that after Bai Ping reported to the Women’s Newspaper, she didn’t get the interview position she had hoped for. Instead, she was assigned to the archives room, responsible for organizing all the newspapers and periodicals published over the years.
The Women’s Newspaper had formerly been the Peiping Women’s Cooperative Newspaper, dating back to the Republican era. Its history was quite long, and the number of issues published was countless. Bai Lan heard that when Bai Ping first saw those several rooms full of newspapers, her face turned greener than a cucumber.
Bai Lan nearly died laughing when Bai Lian relayed this to her. No wonder Bai Ping hadn’t come home once during this time. If she were doing well, she would have been back ages ago to show off and rub their faces in it.
Now that Bai Lan knew Bai Ping was struggling, she felt even more refreshed than drinking two bottles of soda on a scorching summer day.
And what about Bai Ping? Her life was indeed a mess. Arriving at the newspaper, she was immediately shunted off to the archives room. Those old, yellowed newspapers were not only thick with dust but also carried a musty odor.
Bai Ping felt that after just one day in there, her entire being reeked of mildew. If she stayed there year after year, she’d probably grow mushrooms on herself.
Moreover, everyone at the newspaper had a terrible attitude. None of them were warm and helpful like the employees at the department store.
But Bai Ping didn’t stop to think: her department store job had been arranged by Qiu Chengcai’s father, who was the store director. As a relative of the director, of course the other employees had to treat her well! But the newspaper was different. At the newspaper, some people had real talent, and others had connections.
Unfortunately, Bai Ping had neither.
And Bai Lian, who had recently become quite famous, was her own eldest sister, yet she hadn’t asked anyone to look after Bai Ping. That alone told everyone that Bai Ping and Bai Lian must not have a very good relationship.
The people at the newspaper were sharp. They knew Bai Ping had nothing to offer them, so why would they bother with her—an outsider who had parachuted in?
Unfortunately, Bai Ping, who had coasted smoothly through twenty years of life, hadn’t yet figured this out. She was already being driven mad by the tedious task of organizing the archives.
What was even worse was that Bai Ping realized Bai Lian was walking the very path she had most longed to take.
This was something she simply could not accept!
But the rest of the Bai family had no time to spare for Bai Ping. Because early that morning, an unexpected group of guests had arrived at their home.
—
“This is the street. I remember it’s this street.”
“Oh dear, all the alleys in the city look about the same. Hard to tell one from another!”
Another weekend had arrived. Early in the morning, Xu Jianbei came to Xinghua Alley to find Bai Lan. They were planning to drive out to the suburbs to bring back some Jingbai pears. Autumn had arrived, and the Jingbai pears were starting to come off the trees.
To this end, he had even borrowed a car.
Just before entering Xinghua Alley, Xu Jianbei spotted a young man and an older woman with graying hair standing at an intersection, talking about something. He found the older woman’s face very familiar, so he slowed down and leaned out of the car window. “Comrades, are you having some trouble?”
The older woman was just describing the alley to the young man. Hearing Xu Jianbei’s voice, she chuckled happily. “Oh my, what a handsome young man!”
“Grandma…”
The young man scratched his head, a bit embarrassed, and looked at Xu Jianbei. “Comrade, we’re trying to find the Number 3 courtyard in Xinghua Alley. Could you tell us how to get there?”
Xu Jianbei laughed upon hearing this. “What a coincidence—I’m heading to the Number 3 courtyard myself. Do you want a ride? I can take you there.”
He Xuejun looked at the mud caked on his shoes and was about to decline. But his grandmother was more easygoing. “No need, no need. Just tell us how to get there. We’ve come from the village, and our shoes are covered in mud. We wouldn’t want to dirty your car.”
For some reason, Xu Jianbei had taken a liking to the older woman. He waved his hand. “Don’t worry about it. I’m about to take this car out to the countryside to pick up pears anyway. I hear this year’s pear harvest is abundant…”
The older woman didn’t hesitate any further. She nudged her grandson to get in the car and started chatting with Xu Jianbei. “We’ve brought two baskets of pears ourselves too. They’re not worth much, grown on our own land. We were coming to visit his aunt, so we brought some along.”
Xu Jianbei asked casually, “Oh, so you’re visiting relatives! You know, my home is actually in the Number 3 courtyard too. Which family are you going to see?”
The older woman slapped her thigh with delight. “Oh, what a coincidence! My daughter married into the Bai family. Her husband is Bai Xiaoniu. Do you know him?”
Xu Jianbei’s hands, resting on the steering wheel, paused. He thought to himself, What a coincidence! The random passerby he had picked up turned out to be Bai Lan’s grandmother. No wonder she looked so familiar. Bai Lan’s eyes and nose were about eighty percent similar to this older woman’s.
Thinking this, he felt even happier. He thought to himself, Isn’t this a case of “people who belong together end up in the same family”?
He wanted to introduce himself as Bai Lan’s boyfriend, but before he could get the words out, the car had already arrived at the entrance of the Number 3 courtyard.
For the first time, Xu Jianbei cursed the fact that the car had gotten there too quickly.
As for Bai Lan’s grandmother, seeing the large characters reading “Number 3” on the plaque at the gate, she beamed with joy. “Comrade, comrade, we’re here, we’re here! Thank you so much!”
Hearing this, Xu Jianbei had to suppress the twinge of regret in his heart. He quickly and carefully helped the older woman out of the car. Then, ignoring the young man who was trying to come over, he said, “Comrade, aren’t you going to carry your baskets of pears? Go ahead and bring them—I’ll help your grandmother inside. Just follow us.”
He Xuejun secretly marveled at how warm-hearted city people were. Then he hoisted the two baskets of pears onto his shoulder and trotted along behind them.
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