Chapter 22

He was so furious he drove Gu Jinshui straight out.

Gu Jinshui was thick-skinned enough not to leave. He found a corner to squat in and waited. After a while, Elder Guan went out and Auntie Guan came to fetch water. Gu Jinshui went over. "Auntie, let me help you with that."

He took the bucket from her, filled it at the well, and carried it back to the Guan home. After two trips, he had filled every water jar in the courtyard and worked up a sweat.

Auntie Guan looked embarrassed. She wrung her hands and poured him a bowl of water. "Young man, you don't need to keep at it. When my husband says he won't sell, he means it. I can't persuade him either."

"Don't worry, Auntie. I won't force anyone."

Gu Jinshui wiped his sweat with his sleeve and gulped down the water. "Actually, I wanted to ask about your granddaughter. Is your family going through some trouble?"

Auntie Guan let out a startled sound and stared at him.

Gu Jinshui smiled, showing a neat row of white teeth. "I know Mr. Chen, you see. He worries about your family, and as someone younger, I couldn't hear that and pretend I hadn't."

So that was it.

Auntie Guan sighed and sat down on the bench.

She had troubles weighing on her and rarely had anyone to talk to. Now that someone was here, she couldn't help pouring her heart out. "There's truly nothing we can do. I don't know what sins our Guan ancestors committed. Years ago, my daughter-in-law had a difficult birth. She gave birth to our granddaughter, Da Ya, but the child's legs weren't right from the moment she was born. She couldn't walk properly. A few years later, her father died too, leaving just us two old folks and the little one. Da Ya's had such a hard life..."

Gu Jinshui listened closely.

He felt for her. People with disabilities had always faced prejudice, especially when they had been born that way. Folks didn't understand what had happened and simply called them ill-fated. Da Ya was twenty now, old enough to marry.

Finding her a match was terribly hard. Any family with even modest means, or any decent young man, was unwilling. The elderly Guans were getting on in years, and they couldn't help worrying about what would happen to Da Ya when they were gone.

In the countryside, there were plenty of scoundrels who went knocking on widows' doors at night. As long as her grandparents were around, Da Ya could get by. Once they were gone, though, those people might devour a girl alone down to the bone.

Elder Guan had found a family with several sons who were dirt poor. He thought that, rather than bring a husband into their household, they could marry Da Ya off to one of them. Then at least the two of them could rest easy when they died.

That family was the Bai family.

But ever since the engagement, the Bais had grown more and more brazen. Spring had come and the ground had thawed. This was when country folk turned the soil. If they were industrious, they could plant some potatoes or peppers—something for the table, at least.

The Bais made Da Ya work their fields. They left her to tend seven or eight mu alone while the men of their family lounged at home.

Auntie Guan wiped away tears as she spoke.

Gu Jinshui couldn't bear it. He took out his handkerchief and offered it to her.

"Didn't Da Ya's fiancé say anything?"

"That's just it. He didn't."

Auntie Guan slapped her thigh. "That man's face is covered in pockmarks, and our Da Ya never held it against him. Yet he looks down on her because of her legs."

Gu Jinshui opened his mouth.

He wanted to say that if the man treated her this way before the wedding, marriage would only make things worse. The man was no good. But the Guans knew that already. They simply couldn't find Da Ya anyone else.

If they had another choice, they would have changed the groom long ago.

After a moment's thought, Gu Jinshui took a banknote from his pocket. "Please don't be too upset, Auntie. There's always a way through. Your family has good hearts, and heaven will look after you. It isn't much, but take this and buy yourselves something nice to eat."

"No, we can't. How could we take your money for no reason?"

Auntie Guan saw that it was a whole yuan and hurriedly tried to refuse it.

Gu Jinshui smiled. "Please, take it. You remind me of my own grandmother. Besides, I do have a favor to ask. If the old gentleman changes his mind about selling, please have someone go to the third compound courtyard on Mao'er Hutong and ask for Gu Jinshui. We can discuss the price."

Auntie Guan's lips trembled for a long while before she nodded, hesitant and red-faced.

"Don't worry. I'll remember."

The old woman was true to her word. Not long after Gu Jinshui left, Elder Guan and Guan Daya came home one after the other at dusk. Neither said a word.

Auntie Guan served sweet potato porridge and stir-fried pickled vegetables with meat.

At the sight of the meat, Elder Guan's brows shot up. "Where did the meat come from?"

"I bought it myself! I didn't steal it!"

Auntie Guan sounded angry too. Seeing Da Ya's sallow face, she felt a pang and put some meat in the girl's bowl. "Eat more, Da Ya. You don't have to go over there tomorrow, do you?"

Da Ya shook her head without speaking and ate the meat. When her grandmother offered her more, she refused. "You and Grandpa eat it," she said hoarsely. "I don't want any."

Hearing her voice made the old woman's heart ache.

That night, Da Ya went to sleep.

When Elder Guan came in from outside, Auntie Guan said, "Guan Dechang! You're selling that Snuff Bottle whether you like it or not!"

"What's that supposed to mean? Are you rebelling against me?" Elder Guan glared at her.

Auntie Guan covered her face with a coarse cloth and burst into tears. "So what if I am? What's that Snuff Bottle worth compared to your granddaughter? The Bais push our Da Ya around every day because she has no dowry! Your Guan family has sold off more things than we can count. Why hold on to this one?"

"My poor Da Ya!"

Afraid Da Ya would hear, Auntie Guan muffled her sobs behind the cloth.

The anger slowly drained from Elder Guan's face, leaving him pale. He set his hands on his thighs. The Snuff Bottle was something to hold on to. As long as he had it, he could almost believe he was still the young master of Guan Mansion.

But an object could never matter more than a living person.

"All right, all right. I'll sell the damn thing."

Elder Guan sighed and set aside his tobacco pipe.

His face went blank. "That bastard's after our Snuff Bottle. He gave you a way to contact him too, didn't he?"

Auntie Guan lowered the cloth and looked at him. "You really mean it?"

"We can't keep it even if we don't sell it." Elder Guan coughed. "When we're gone, leaving it to Da Ya would only hand it to the Bais. So be it. I'll answer to our ancestors for this."

Gu Jinshui wasn't too disheartened after Elder Guan turned him down.

He Chunlian was due back at work, and the old lady was terribly busy. She had to warm up her voice early each morning, practice her movements, and rehearse with her colleagues at the school. Apparently, they were staging Qin Xianglian for the new term. She was so busy every day that looking after the child was out of the question.

Liang Ying and Gu Yinxing both had work too, so the job fell to Gu Jinshui.

Gu Yousi was in for a rough time.

She had been lying comfortably in bed, basking in the sun and enjoying herself.

Then her father came in with a radio. "Want to listen to some opera with me, sweetheart? Today's storytelling is a good one. It's The Complete Story of Yue Fei..."

On and on he went.

In short, he refused to leave Gu Yousi in peace.

Just as Gu Yousi grew so fed up she nearly told him to get lost, someone called from outside, "Is Gu Jinshui home?"

Gu Jinshui heard the voice, switched off the radio, and went out. "Oh, the mail carrier. Have you got a letter for me?"

"Not a letter," the mail carrier said. "A message. Elder Guan in Beizang Village says he wants to sell something. If you want it, go over tomorrow morning and talk to him."

Having passed on the message at the door, the mail carrier turned to leave.

It was only a favor he was doing while on his rounds. He still had letters to deliver.

Gu Jinshui hurried down the steps. "Wait, comrade. Did Elder Guan say anything else?"

"No." The mail carrier looked at him. "That was all."

Stubborn as a mule.

Gu Jinshui muttered to himself. He feared Elder Guan would ask a steep price this time.

Noticing the mail carrier eyeing the cigarettes in his pocket, Gu Jinshui took out his half-finished pack of Daqianmen. "Sorry for the trouble. Here, a little something for you. Don't be shy."

"Thanks, then."

The mail carrier took the pack with delight.

A pack of Daqianmen cost only forty-eight cents, but most people still couldn't bear to smoke anything that expensive, especially since it required cigarette coupons. Given the money and coupons, they would rather buy meat.

The mail carrier rode off happily.

Gu Jinshui went back inside to think it over. He was glad the old gentleman had relented, but he knew this would probably cost him dearly. He doubted he could get the Jade Snuff Bottle for less than five or six hundred yuan.

To be safe, he dipped into his private stash and managed to get hold of a sewing-machine coupon as well.

Elsewhere.

The mail carrier, Xiao Zhang, had just finished work when Song Jianshe stopped him.

"Brother Song? What brings you here?" Xiao Zhang looked awkward. After all, he had been covering Song Jianshe's route these past few days.

Song Jianshe smiled and offered him a cigarette. "Xiao Zhang, how have I treated you over the years?"

"I've got no complaints. You helped me plenty when I first joined the post office."

Xiao Zhang knew how to play along.

The postmaster had written Song Jianshe up and suspended him for a month to reflect on his mistakes, but he hadn't fired him. For all Xiao Zhang knew, Song Jianshe might be back at work before long.

Xiao Zhang didn't dare offend him.

"Given how close we are, could you tell me something?"

Song Jianshe asked with a smile.

"You went to our compound courtyard this afternoon, didn't you? You brought Gu Jinshui a message. Where does the family who sent it live, and what's their name?"

Xiao Zhang paused and blinked.

Something about this didn't feel right.

He didn't want to get involved, so he rattled off Elder Guan's address.

As for what Song Jianshe intended to do, Xiao Zhang couldn't be bothered to think about it.

"Can I go now, Brother Song?"

"Sure. Off you go." Smiling, Song Jianshe watched Xiao Zhang ride away. Then his face twisted into a sneer.

That bastard Gu Jinshui!

He tricked me into buying a fake. He can't blame me for getting even.

Beizang Village was remote. Getting there from Beijing took two or three hours by bus and on foot. If Gu Jinshui was willing to travel all that way, there had to be something good there.

This time, I'll get there first.

Let's see him smile after that!

The Twenty-Sixth Day of Being Overheard

Early the next morning.

After breakfast, Gu Jinshui took his money and coupons and went out. Liang Ying was on the night shift and could look after the child, so he had nothing to worry about.

He set off early and endured a bumpy trip to Beizang Village. Before he even reached Elder Guan's house, he heard a familiar voice inside.

"Sir, this is a fine piece."

The Jade Snuff Bottle gleamed, its surface covered in delicate carvings. Even a blind man could have told it was valuable at a glance.

Gu Jinshui's heart sank, and he quickened his steps.

The man sitting in Elder Guan's main room was none other than Song Jianshe.

"You!" Gu Jinshui's face darkened.

Elder Guan sat smoking his tobacco pipe. An awkward look crossed his deeply lined face, but he soon hid it.

"You two know each other?"

"Of course. We're neighbors in the same courtyard."

Song Jianshe put down the Snuff Bottle and gave Gu Jinshui a warm smile. Seeing the sour look on Gu Jinshui's face only made him happier.

He hadn't made the trip for nothing. Judging by Gu Jinshui's reaction, the Snuff Bottle had to be something special.

Gu Jinshui shot him a cutting look.

"Have you turned into a bloodhound? Your nose is so sharp you followed me all the way here."

Song Jianshe didn't get angry. He put on a magnanimous air. "Come on, Jinshui. There's no need for that. However I heard about it, everyone has a chance to buy something good. Isn't that right, sir?"

Song Jianshe looked at Elder Guan.

Elder Guan coughed and tapped his pipe against the table. "I don't know either of you. It makes no difference to me who buys it. All I care about is the money. Whoever offers more gets it."