Zhao Meizhen walked over and snatched the cigarettes, lit one for herself, then pocketed the more than half-full pack of Ho Choi. "Bastard, you even knew to buy yourself a pack of Ho Choi. Your dad only buys Double Happiness, and he has to make those last. I'm taking these. I'm seeing your uncle tomorrow, so I can give them to him and see if he can help me find a way to scrape together three thousand dollars. You really are an idiot. Sooner or later, you and your dad will be the death of me."
When Song Tianyao heard that Zhao Meizhen was going to borrow money from his uncle to pay the debt, he rolled his eyes. "No need. I told you I'd handle it myself. If I say I'll have the money, I'll have it."
"If you said you were the governor of Hong Kong, would you take office tomorrow?" Zhao Meizhen muttered. Turning around, she climbed the creaking wooden stairs to the attic. "I'm making congee tonight. Help me get the fire going. Tomorrow, go to the docks and have A-Yip take you to look for work. The Big Brother he follows looks after him. If you keep your wits about you, you should be all right too."
Song Tianyao flexed his ankle and said, "I'm not eating at home tonight. I'm meeting a friend, so..."
Before he could finish, someone knocked on the wooden door. Zhao Meizhen nimbly jumped down from the stairs and went to the door. She peered through the crack before removing the bolt.
Outside were the Song family's neighbors, the Li family, who sold braised foods and pickles: Li Laoshi, his wife Auntie Hong, and their daughter Suzhen.
"Aren't you going out to sell braised food today? Good timing. I was just saying I'd make congee and stir-fried salted fish slices tonight. Since you're here, eat with us. That'll save you from having to light your own fire." Zhao Meizhen stepped aside and invited the three of them in.
The main reason she was so close to Li Laoshi's family was that his daughter Suzhen and Song Tianyao were childhood sweethearts who had grown up together. They had even gotten engaged last year, so Li Suzhen was as good as the Song family's daughter-in-law.
On an ordinary day, Li Laoshi and Auntie Hong would have agreed at once. Li Laoshi would have gone to slice up some braised food, while Auntie Hong and Suzhen, familiar with the kitchen, helped prepare the meal. Then the two families would have gathered around a table to eat, and the men could have shared a couple of drinks.
But today, Li Laoshi hesitated without saying a word, Auntie Hong wore an awkward smile, and Li Suzhen had shrunk behind her mother, her head lowered, not daring to look at anyone.
Song Tianyao, sitting on the bed and putting on his shoes, raised the corners of his mouth. Sure enough, he had never seen relatives bring charcoal in the snow, but there was never any shortage of neighbors throwing stones at someone who had fallen down a well.
Zhao Meizhen also noticed that something was wrong with the family, and her face darkened. "What? Are you here to demand back the three hundred dollars you brought over the day before yesterday too?"
"No, no. We already said those three hundred dollars were for A-Tian. How could we ask for them back? We're all neighbors." Auntie Hong smiled ingratiatingly at Zhao Meizhen. "We came today mainly because A-Quan from the fruit shop plans to marry Suzhen next month. We came to let you know. Remember to come have a cup of wedding wine."
"Fuck your mother..." The last thing Auntie Hong said made Zhao Meizhen's eyes widen in fury.
Chapter 3: Lu Yu Teahouse
"Your Suzhen and my Tianyao got engaged last year. You accepted an engagement gift of a hundred and twenty dollars, plus four sets of crimson silk clothes the groom's family gives the bride's family at an engagement. And now you're saying you want to break it off!" Zhao Meizhen took several deep breaths. "Never mind anything else. Last month, if Tianyao hadn't rushed into the fire to save Suzhen, her seventh-day mourning rites would already be over! And who are you marrying her off to? A-Quan from the fruit shop? Damn your mother, A-Quan's already an old man in his thirties, and he has a wife! You're sending Suzhen to be his concubine?"
Seeing Zhao Meizhen erupt, neither Li Laoshi nor Suzhen spoke. Auntie Hong plastered a smile on her face and said:
"Auntie Zhen, you can't put it that way. Last year, you said Yao was sure to pass the police exam. I wanted my daughter to find a good home too, so I agreed. But now the whole Squatter Area knows Yao failed the police exam and offended the interviewer, and he'll never be allowed to take it again. You're a woman, and so am I. We both know how important it is to marry a good man. From now on, Yao can only work at the docks or in a factory and toil his whole life. If Suzhen stays with him, who can guarantee she won't suffer? I have three sons and only one daughter. She's the apple of my eye, and I don't want her to be poor all her life like me. A-Quan brought this up a long time ago, and after he heard about Tianyao, he just sent a matchmaker to propose again. We thought it over and agreed. There's nothing so bad about being a concubine. At least A-Quan has a fruit shop, so Suzhen will have food and clothes and won't have to go hungry or suffer. Besides, A-Quan's first wife has no children. Once Suzhen marries him and has a son, that whole fruit shop will belong to Suzhen's child someday. Just deduct the engagement money and the crimson silk clothes from the three hundred dollars I brought over the day before yesterday."
"Suzhen, your parents are marrying you off to be someone's concubine. What do you think? If you don't agree, I'll stand up for you!" After hearing Auntie Hong out, Zhao Meizhen couldn't be bothered with her. Instead, she asked Suzhen, who had buried her head against Auntie Hong's shoulder.
Eighteen-year-old Li Suzhen lifted her head and first glanced at Song Tianyao, who was putting on his shoes in the room. She saw that he didn't seem surprised. For some reason, seeing how composed he was now, Li Suzhen was actually a little disappointed. Am I not important enough to Song Tianyao? I'm about to marry someone else, and he barely reacts?
She and Song Tianyao had known each other since childhood. He had always protected her from being bullied by the other children in the Squatter Area, and whenever he had something good to eat, he always remembered to save her a share. Li Suzhen had even thought it would be nice to spend her life with him like that. At least Song Tianyao truly liked her.
Last year, when Li Suzhen heard that Song Tianyao could pass the police exam, she had been delighted. She had seen girls her own age who had married old policemen as concubines. Every one of them wore fine silks and satins and was covered in jewelry; the scent of their perfume could drift from one end of the street to the other, and people flattered them wherever they went. She, meanwhile, could become a policeman's wife, which meant she would never be poor again or have to go without enough to eat.
But unexpectedly, everything changed that afternoon. People working at the docks brought back word that Song Tianyao had offended the interviewer, failed the police exam, and would never be allowed to apply again. For Song Tianyao, who came from the Squatter Area, the only prospects ahead were probably work at the docks or in a factory. Many dock laborers did that work for their entire lives. Marry a laborer? After a little persuasion from the matchmaker and her mother, Li Suzhen felt she couldn't marry herself off like that. She would rather marry thirty-seven-year-old A-Quan as his concubine than marry a laborer or factory worker and go on enduring hardship.