Chapter 33

The room he shared with his wife.

Liang Ying had stayed up all night waiting for him. When he returned, she hurriedly glanced around and shut the window. She turned back to find Gu Jinshui pulling a heavy bag from inside his coat. It looked familiar, like one He Chunlian had received from her school years ago.

"Come here, honey."

Gu Jinshui breathed out a puff of white mist. He was hot from running home along back lanes, afraid his wife would worry if he kept her waiting.

Liang Ying stepped closer. "Is that Liang Renyi's stuff?"

Gu Jinshui nodded and opened the bag. Gold glittered inside.

One hefty gold bar weighed a full pound. On its back were the words "Minted by the Central Mint, Year 25 of the Republic of China."

It was quite old.

But Liang Ying's gaze fell on a gold hairpin inlaid with kingfisher feathers. She picked it up, her hands trembling. "This was part of my mother's dowry."

Seeing his wife's eyes redden, Gu Jinshui hurried to say, "Don't cry. We got it all back, didn't we?"

Liang Ying said nothing as she examined the pieces one by one. Sure enough, they were all from her mother's dowry. They were easy to identify. Pointing to the mark on the back of the hairpin, she said through tears, "Gold shops used to leave their marks on jewelry. My mother's dowry came from Hengfu Gold Shop. They made six complete sets for her, all gold."

Gu Jinshui clicked his tongue. "Your mother's family must have been rich."

Liang Ying laughed through her tears. "Rich? They'd fallen on hard times long before that. My grandfather gave her the money in secret. Back then, he liked that my mother's family had once held high office and had some distant marriage ties to a few princes."

That explained it to Gu Jinshui.

After a moment, Liang Ying gathered herself. Her mother had been gone for years, and there was only so much grieving she could do now. "Why did you bring the money too?"

"Why leave it behind? Besides, Liang Renyi has probably sold plenty of your family's things over the years. Consider this his way of making up for it."

Gu Jinshui made the decision. "Keep the money for expenses. We'll put the gold away for the children."

Liang Ying thought it over and agreed.

Even without counting the things Liang Renyi had sold, his family had borrowed plenty from the Gu Family over the years. This money could make up for that. She could buy a few big things for the household and give her mother-in-law and sister-in-law some spending money.

Dawn was nearly breaking.

Xu Fenglai sat on a stool by her front door, half asleep, when loud knocks jolted her awake.

She hurried over and opened the door. Liang Renyi stood there, pale and shaking.

Xu Fenglai's heart lurched. Something terrible must have happened. Before she could speak, Liang Renyi stumbled inside and collapsed to the floor.

Xu Fenglai almost screamed.

Liang Renyi waved frantically. "Don't shout. I, I..."

He fainted before he could finish.

It was several days later, when Xu Fenglai came to borrow money, that she said Liang Renyi was ill.

Gu Jinshui sipped his thin porridge. "How did he get sick? Wouldn't his medical bills be covered if he went to the hospital?"

Liang Renyi still had a job. They called him a sanitation worker, though he swept streets. Even so, it was a proper job with an official position.

Xu Fenglai rubbed her sleeve awkwardly. "Well, we were planning to go abroad, so we sold the job."

As if by agreement, every Gu Family Member looked up at Xu Fenglai.

"Sold it? Where's the money, then? You must've got nearly three hundred. Isn't that enough for his treatment?" He Chunlian smiled without a trace of warmth.

Xu Fenglai groaned inwardly. It wasn't enough. They had sold the job, but once relatives and friends heard Liang Renyi was sick and their departure date uncertain, many came asking for their money back, saying they would lend it again when the family was ready to leave.

Xu Fenglai couldn't refuse. If she did, people might realize they had nothing left.

They had used every bit of money in the house to repay those people. Xu Fenglai had even sold her own jewelry and the television they had bought in secret, and that had only covered part of it.

Now they had no money at all.

"Auntie, we just need help in a pinch. We'll pay you back as soon as we have the money. Could you lend us a hundred? No, fifty would do."

Xu Fenglai spoke quickly.

He Chunlian looked at Gu Jinshui.

Gu Jinshui smiled. "You really know how to put us on the spot, Xu Fenglai. When have you ever paid back the money you've borrowed from us? I'd say you came over just to have a laugh at our expense. How could your family be broke? Besides, don't you have a relative who lives overseas? Ask her to send money. She's leaving you her inheritance, isn't she? A few hundred dollars from her and you'd be set."

His tone was warm, but his words stung. Xu Fenglai felt utterly humiliated.

She had never put up with this kind of treatment. Flushing with anger, she stood. "Fine, don't lend us anything. Now I see how little our families mean to each other. Liang Ying, he's your only male cousin. How can you be so heartless?"

Liang Ying answered gently, "Don't worry. If he does die, I'll be sure to give him a generous funeral gift."

"Cough, cough, cough."

Gu Yinxing had been drinking porridge with her head down. She nearly choked.

Xu Fenglai stared at Liang Ying in disbelief for a long moment, then stormed out. At the door, she nearly collided with Huang Xirong, who was returning with breakfast, and got an earful from her.

"Liang Ying, that was incredible."

Gu Yinxing gave Liang Ying a thumbs-up.

Liang Ying smiled ruefully. "Don't praise me. I only said it because I doubt he's going to die."

She figured Liang Renyi's illness couldn't be that serious. Otherwise, Xu Fenglai wouldn't have been so composed. She would have come through the door crying, making a scene, and threatening to hang herself.

Liang Ying had Xu Fenglai figured out.

Liang Renyi wasn't seriously ill. He had caught a chill, and his fever had looked frightening that night, but he was more or less fine once it broke.

Losing everything the family owned, though, had left him unable to get out of bed.

He spent his days at home sighing. When Xu Fenglai returned in a fury, she heard him muttering in the room, "My money..."

"Money, money, money. Will repeating that bring it back?"

After having to sell her jewelry, Xu Fenglai's attitude toward Liang Renyi had changed completely. She entered with a long face and kicked a stool on the floor.

Liang Renyi sat up under his quilt, looking miserable. "Did you get the money, honey?"

"Get what money? That cousin of yours has no heart at all. Hasn't she thought about how she only has a daughter? She'll need our Liangliang to support her when she's old. I asked for fifty, and she wouldn't even give me that!" Xu Fenglai was furious.

The Thirty-Eighth Day of Being Overheard

Xu Fenglai had talked herself hoarse. She picked up the teapot on the table and drank straight from the spout, not caring that the water had gone cold.

After quenching her thirst, she wiped her mouth. "And the Song Family! When I went over, Auntie Huang came back with a whole pile of breakfast food. Steamed buns, youtiao, flatbreads. They must have money to burn."

"What?"

Liang Renyi threw off his quilt and stared at Xu Fenglai. "Who did you say bought breakfast?"

"The Song Family."

Xu Fenglai stammered under his furious stare.

The Song Family?

"Damn it! I may have fallen right into their trap!" Liang Renyi leaped up, red-faced with rage. A moment ago he had been lying in bed sighing; now he had plenty of strength to curse. "I extorted nearly two small gold bars from them. Why would they feel like spending money on breakfast now? Damn it, that mother and son must have taken my stuff!"

Xu Fenglai was doubtful.

She frowned. "Renyi, that can't be right. How could they know we'd go to the Black Market to exchange it for cash? And how could Song Jianshe and Huang Xirong pull off something like that?"

"If you don't know anything, keep quiet!"

Liang Renyi fumed, pacing the room with his hands behind his back. "It had to be them. They got the better of us last time too. Then I went and extorted money from them. They must have resented it and decided to rob us."

The more Xu Fenglai listened, the more plausible his rambling sounded. Her doubts began to waver.

Liang Renyi gritted his teeth. "If they can strike first, I can strike back. Come on!"

"Where are we going?" Xu Fenglai's heart tightened. She worried that Liang Renyi had lost his head and meant to kill someone. He certainly looked ready to tear someone apart.

"To their house. I'm going to sound them out. We can't just swallow this!"

Liang Renyi's face darkened, his eyes cold.

He put on his padded coat and wrapped himself up tight before leaving with Xu Fenglai.

By the time they reached the Compound Courtyard...

Only Huang Xirong, her son, and the two children were home at the Song Family's place.

Huang Xirong looked uneasy when she saw the couple. "Oh, did you come to the wrong place? The Gu Family lives over there."

"No mistake."

Liang Renyi planted himself at the table in the main room, took off his mask, and fixed Song Jianshe with a wolfish stare. "Song Jianshe, your family's come into money again, hasn't it?"

When Song Jianshe had received the bag the night before, the whole family had been beside themselves with joy.

But the couple's arrival made him uneasy. He smiled. "What money? Don't joke around, Renyi. I already gave you what you wanted. If you've come to extort more, my family won't just take it!"

"Exactly. We have nothing now, so go ahead and threaten to call the police. Call them if you dare."

Huang Xirong thrust out her chest as she spoke, full of confidence.

Liang Renyi had only been suspicious, but hearing the mother and son speak made his hands tremble with anger. "It was you. You really did steal my things!"

"Don't talk nonsense. When did we ever steal your money?" Huang Xirong shot back.

She was so flustered that she didn't realize what she had let slip.

Liang Renyi ground his teeth.

His gaze moved from Huang Xirong to Song Jianshe. "Fine. Just fine!"

"Renyi!" Xu Fenglai looked at him anxiously, afraid he would faint from anger.

But Liang Renyi was calmer than she expected. He took a deep breath and stood. "All right. Remember this, Song Jianshe. You'd better hope I never find proof. If I do, I won't let you get away with it."

He left as abruptly as he had arrived.

Song Jianshe felt uneasy, but Huang Xirong wasn't worried in the slightest. She dusted off the stool with a feather duster. "What are you afraid of? Let him try. Liang Renyi has nothing left. Why should we fear him? Who does he think he's fooling?"

Song Jianshe thought she had a point.

In the end, the money was too tempting.

The bag they had received the night before held several hundred in cash and seven or eight heavy gold bars. With that fortune, the family could live without worry for the rest of their lives, even if they could no longer work.

In the room next door, Liang Ying heard every word.

She lifted the cotton curtain, glanced toward the Song Family's place, then let it fall and shook her head.

Friday soon came around. Gu Yinxing returned home that day, her face bright with excitement, and began rummaging through the room.

He Chunlian had just come back from buying groceries. She stepped inside and stared. What a mess. Clothes and textbooks from years ago were strewn all over the bed.

The two big cabinets above the bed stood open, and Gu Yinxing had practically buried herself in one of them.

"What are you doing? Leave you alone for a moment and you turn the place upside down. This room was tidy this morning. You'd better clean it up later."

He Chunlian set the fish and tofu she had bought outside, then came back in to measure out some rice.

"Found it!" Gu Yinxing said excitedly.

She pulled a yellowed high school English textbook from the cabinet.

"Isn't that the textbook you used in school? What do you need it for?"

He Chunlian was baffled.

When the college entrance exam had been reinstated a few years earlier, He Chunlian had kept Gu Yinxing's books. But Gu Yinxing was too restless to study, and she had already been hired by the hospital, so she became a nurse. He Chunlian figured the books would fetch next to nothing if sold; she might as well keep them as mementos.

"Mom, we got—"