“Make way, make way. Let me go first, let me go first…”
Widow Hu’s booming voice echoed through the courtyard compound. No one even glanced at her; they were all fixated on the ten wild ducks as if they were treasures.
Someone had already pulled Father Bai aside to ask where the ducks came from. Father Bai didn’t keep them guessing and simply said a friend had procured them. He’d specially asked for a few extra, keeping five for his own family and leaving the other five to share with everyone else.
The moment they heard only five ducks were up for grabs, the scramble grew even fiercer.
There were eleven households in the compound — not enough for even one per family. Someone asked if Father Bai could spare two more, but he refused. Of the five he kept, two were for his family to eat.
One was for Xu Jianbei. The young man was his youngest daughter’s boyfriend and had helped run errands back and forth. Besides, the lad was a good catch. Father Bai figured there was a good chance he’d become his future son-in-law. Naturally, family came first.
The remaining two… his eldest daughter was divorced, so the Qin family was out of the question. But he still had old friends from his days learning to cook — gourmands with real skill. The wild ducks were fine specimens, perfect for sending to them.
Seeing that Father Bai absolutely wouldn’t budge, everyone had no choice but to fight even harder over the only five wild ducks available.
Bai Lan was alarmed by the frenzy. She was afraid they’d tear the ducks to pieces fighting over them. Just as she was about to shout at everyone not to push, she saw Widow Hu, with the strength of ten, break through the crowd and clutch a quacking duck to her chest.
With one arm holding the duck, she used the other to shove people back, yelling as she pushed: “Don’t push, don’t push. Everyone gets some, everyone gets some.”
Bai Lan was dumbfounded to see such a troublemaker actually helping keep order.
The other neighbors were equally stunned by Widow Hu’s outrageous move.
“Oh, Sister Hu, since when did you become so kind-hearted!”
Aunt Wan, who lived next door to Widow Hu, sneered. She was one of the people who wanted a duck the most. Her son and grandson hadn’t had meat in days — it was driving her crazy.
Others chimed in agreement. With too many monks and too little porridge, whoever got ahead first naturally became everyone’s target.
Bai Lan knew meat was hard to come by in these times, but she hadn’t expected a few wild ducks to fill the whole compound with such tension. Everyone looked ready to fight to the death for a duck.
Widow Hu was unfazed by becoming the target. Holding the duck in one arm and resting her other hand on her hip, she sprayed spittle as she ranted: “My Aimin is about to meet a potential match. When the girl comes to our door, shouldn’t we have something good to feed her family? What — you all watched Aimin grow up, but you won’t spare a single duck?”
Everyone fell silent for a moment. Marriage was a major life event. No matter how much they hated Widow Hu hogging the prize, they knew better than to spoil someone’s chance at a union.
But someone still grumbled unwillingly: “When’s the matchmaking? You never said. The moment wild ducks show up, suddenly you’re talking matchmaking!”
“Hmph, if I’d said it sooner, I’d be afraid some of you would steal such a good girl away. All right, all right — it’s in the next couple of days. Once the matchmaking succeeds and the girl agrees to come eat, you’ll all know for sure.”
Big Head muttered under his breath: “I wonder what kind of good match Widow Hu can find for Skinny Pole.”
Skinny Pole was Hu Aimin’s nickname. The guy was so thin and short he looked like a clothes pole. All his peers called him that.
Bai Lan: “What — you looking for a match too?”
Big Head waved his hands frantically: “No, no, no. With a family like mine, finding a match would just ruin some girl’s life.”
With that, Big Head stole a quiet glance at Qin Yan. Seeing her looking at the ducks without a care in the world, he felt a bit disappointed but mostly relieved.
Xu Jianbei noticed the whole exchange but said nothing.
—
Meanwhile, Widow Hu finally gave in to everyone’s badgering: “The girl’s family is in a production brigade under Sanhe Commune.”
As soon as everyone heard she was from the countryside, they lost all interest in asking further.
In everyone’s mind, the best match was naturally a city girl — preferably one who was a doctor, nurse, or shop assistant. The second tier was still a city girl, just with a worse job. The third tier was a city girl with no job at all. Rural girls were basically out of the question.
The reason was simple: because of the household registration system at the time. For a rural person to live in the city, they had no grain ration book. That meant marrying a rural girl was like marrying a burden. The girl’s food, drink, and daily needs would all have to come out of the husband’s family’s rations. Everyone’s rations were meager to begin with. If they got used up, the family would have to spend extra money on the black market for grain. Families without money would simply have to tighten their belts.
So, marrying a rural girl was something only families in particularly bad circumstances did. Since they couldn’t find a match in the city, they had to look to the countryside.
Someone kindly tried to advise her: “Why are you finding a rural girl?”
No matter how bad Hu Aimin was, he was still a proper factory worker — an electrician, no less!
Widow Hu curled her lip: “The girl works at the commune office!”
True, she worked at the commune office — but only as a temp. Earlier, when she’d seen Bai Lan’s grandmother come by, she’d thought about going over to ask if the old lady knew anything about this girl. Too bad the old woman had run off so fast.
Seeing Widow Hu being so stubborn, everyone stopped arguing with her and turned back to fighting over the remaining four ducks.
In the end, it was Bai Lan who proposed that two or three families go in on one duck together. Only then did the ridiculous wild duck scramble come to an end.
Of course, the reason everyone caved so quickly was that neighbors from the whole alley had come running to watch the commotion. If they didn’t divide the ducks soon, they wouldn’t even get a feather.
——
“This duck is really good — plenty of fat on it. I’ll make some duck soup, and stir-fry the breast meat. I’ll render down all the fat for oil. Then I’ll fry up some food for you and your sister to eat.”
Widow Hu kneaded the duck’s fat belly, a very satisfied smile on her face.
“Mom, is all that really necessary? It’s just a matchmaking visit. Why do we have to kill a duck for them to eat?”
Hu Aimin loved meat, but meat was hard to come by at home. They’d finally managed to snatch a fat duck, and now it was going to be killed and fed to outsiders during the matchmaking. This made him very unhappy.
“This match was introduced by your Uncle He — it’s very reliable.”
Uncle He was the stationmaster of a nearby recycling depot. Widow Hu’s daughter, Hu Aihua, worked there. He’d been a good friend of her late husband’s. Over the years, he’d given their family a lot of help. Hearing that the match came from him, Hu Aimin’s expression finally improved.
“That’s true. Uncle He is reliable. Maybe this time it’ll work out.”
What the neighbors in the compound didn’t know was that he’d been secretly meeting various female comrades over the past couple of years. But every single one ended after just one meeting. Since Uncle He was the one making the introduction this time, it was sure to succeed.
Hu Aimin puffed out his chest, where every rib was visible, and a mysterious smile appeared on his face.
That day, the aroma of wild duck drifted through the entire No. 3 Compound. Well, except for the Hu family’s place. Their wild duck carried the heavy responsibility of Hu Aimin’s future happiness!
—
The next day was another workday.
Bai Lan got up early to get ready for work. Yesterday had been quite pleasant, so she woke up in a particularly good mood.
But as soon as she stepped outside, she ran into Qin Yan, who was also up. She was a bit surprised to see the other girl up so early again.
Then she saw Qin Yan nod toward Widow Hu’s east wing: “That Skinny Pole came to our place last night, asking my brother to give him some courage.”
Bai Lan raised an eyebrow. “Courage for what?”
Qin Yan: “To go meet his matchmaking prospect. He said the girl wants to meet the guy privately before she brings her family over for the formal visit.”
Bai Lan understood immediately. If she didn’t like what she saw, the home visit would be called off.
Just as they were talking, Qin Yan’s older brother, Qin Tang, also walked out of their house.
Qin Tang was 20 years old, 180 cm tall, with a handsome, sunny face. When he saw Bai Lan, he smiled, showing a row of big white teeth.
“Brother Qin, are you off today?” Otherwise, he wouldn’t have time to accompany Hu Aimin to meet the girl.
Qin Tang scratched his head and nodded a little sheepishly: “Yeah, I actually wanted to sleep in. But Aimin insisted he didn’t dare go alone.”
Bai Lan was a bit speechless. Not only was Hu Aimin skinny and short, but his courage seemed to be just as small.
Just as they were talking about him, Hu Aimin opened his door and came out. Seeing the three of them standing in the yard, he immediately called out to Qin Tang.
Hu Aimin, at 168 cm, standing next to Qin Tang at 180 cm — one with a gloomy look, the other with a sunny one — the contrast was so brutal that Bai Lan couldn’t help but put a hand to her forehead.
She marveled at Hu Aimin’s inexplicable confidence. Wasn’t he afraid the girl would end up taking a liking to Qin Tang instead?
Qin Yan watched her brother leave with Hu Aimin and couldn’t help griping: “I really can’t with him. Skinny Pole actually dares to bring my brother along as a foil.”
—
That little episode passed, and the two of them went off to work.
When Bai Lan came back after work in the afternoon, she heard that Hu Aimin’s meeting with the girl had been quite successful. The girl had already agreed to bring her family for a formal home visit that weekend. Mainly, they wanted to see if Hu Aimin’s family circumstances matched what the matchmaker had said.
According to custom, once the home visit passed, marriage wouldn’t be far off.
That was lightning-fast.
Hearing Bai Lan’s remark, Mother Bai laughed. “Matchmaking is always that fast. Not like the kind where you and Jianbei found each other on your own. That efficiency can’t compare. Look at your third sister…”
She stopped abruptly. The family didn’t really like talking about Pingping anymore. When Pingping had come by yesterday, she hadn’t brought it up either. But just now, it was an old habit. She didn’t know why Pingping had come to mind.
Seeing Mother Bai like this, Bai Lan quickly changed the subject with some banter: “I wonder just how good the girl’s qualifications are. When I came in, I saw Widow Hu’s face all flushed and glowing. The girl must be pretty excellent.”
“Right, right, right — everyone in the yard has been talking about it all afternoon.”
Mother and daughter tacitly continued chatting about the topic. Then Widow Hu came to their door to borrow some white flour.
“Didn’t you say the visit isn’t until the weekend? Today’s only Monday — that’s still early! We haven’t even picked up our flour ration yet.”
Mother Bai directly refused Widow Hu’s request. It wasn’t that she was stingy — it was that Widow Hu had a habit of borrowing without returning.
Widow Hu curled her lip at this, thinking how petty. Then she went off to borrow from someone else, using the excuse that they shouldn’t hinder the child’s marriage prospects.
Sure enough, someone else fell for the excuse and lent out half a bowl or a full bowl of flour.
This shameless move once again broadened Bai Lan’s horizons.
Over the next several days, the talk of the entire Xinghua Alley was all about Hu Aimin’s matchmaking prospect coming for a home visit.
And just like that, amid all the excitement, the weekend quickly arrived.
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