Chapter 48

"Then we'll get to share in the glory."

"Of course, of course." Lin Lianhua was all smiles.

After the meeting ended, Sister Deng stopped Liang Ying.

She sighed, looking at Liang Ying with helplessness in her eyes. "Liang Ying, how could you go and make a bet with someone without thinking it through?"

"Please don't worry about it for now, team leader. I didn't make the bet just to prove a point." Liang Ying helped put away the chairs. "If I lose, it's only ten yuan."

But was it really just about ten yuan?

Liang Ying and the Third Workshop had only just distinguished themselves. If they lost to the First Workshop and lost face, people would laugh at them.

Sister Deng sighed inwardly. Young wives were hotheaded, after all.

Still, there was nothing wrong with young people having some drive.

When Liang Ying returned to the workshop, Chen Xiuhong rushed up to her. "Group leader, the First Workshop says our workshop made a bet with them. Is it true?"

"Oh, you've all heard."

Liang Ying composed herself and put on an indignant look. "I didn't want to agree to it at first."

"Then why did you agree? You even bet money!"

Chen Xiuhong felt the sting on Liang Ying's behalf.

That was ten yuan!

They earned just over thirty yuan a month. Ten yuan was nearly a third of that, enough to put meat on the family table for days.

"Wasn't it because Lin Lianhua looked down on the women in our Third Workshop?"

Liang Ying discreetly pinched her thigh. The pain reddened her face and brought tears to her eyes. "I can put up with her looking down on me, but I won't stand for her looking down on everyone in our workshop. I had to take the chance and show her that the Third Workshop is every bit as good as the First!"

Her voice rang out. "So what if our coworkers in the Third Workshop are older than the ones elsewhere? That doesn't mean we're any worse!"

When everyone heard the reason, they were both angry and moved.

Lin Lianhua and her people had looked down on them far too much. True, the Third Workshop was full of older workers who often slacked off, but hearing someone else say it still stung.

What moved them was that they had thought Liang Ying looked down on them too. Instead, she had stood up for them!

The older women, so often called slow and past their prime, looked touched.

"Group leader, you..." Chen Xiuhong was deeply moved. Her lips worked for a moment before she gritted her teeth. "How about I chip in two yuan when the time comes?"

For the tightfisted Chen Xiuhong, that was a real sacrifice.

"There's no need, Xiuhong."

Liang Ying pressed Chen Xiuhong's hand, then looked up at everyone. "Coworkers, I don't care what people outside say. I've always believed the people in our workshop are as good as anyone else. They won't necessarily win this contest!"

"The group leader's right!"

The moment Chen Xiuhong heard Liang Ying didn't want her money, she breathed a sigh of relief and hurried to agree. "Don't worry, group leader. I'll work hard this whole month!"

"So will we!" the others chimed in.

"Director Wang, that Liang Ying is making such a fuss. What did she have to start a bet for?"

Sister Deng was grumbling to him in his office.

On the surface, she was complaining about Liang Ying, but she was really trying to smooth things over for her. "She's young and just had a little success, so she got carried away. She needs a good talking-to."

Director Wang held an enamel mug as he listened, a thoughtful look on his face.

Interesting.

He set down the mug. "Sister Deng, I understand. Don't worry. I don't think Liang Ying's side will necessarily lose. Even if they do, it might turn out to be a good thing."

"Huh?"

Sister Deng stared at him, bewildered.

One look at her told Director Wang that she hadn't understood Liang Ying's scheme at all.

Then again, Sister Deng was an honest person. Put less kindly, she had no knack for workplace maneuvering. She could manage as a team leader, but climbing any higher would be difficult.

Liang Ying, on the other hand, was quite shrewd. Between putting herself on the line and playing the injured party, she would have the Third Workshop pulling together as one.

Whatever the result, she would win the support of the women in her workshop. Lin Lianhua, meanwhile, had gone to all that trouble and probably didn't even realize she was doing Liang Ying a favor.

"It's nothing. Since they asked you to be the judge, find some time to do it. Come tell me how it went once there's a result."

Director Wang spoke kindly.

Sister Deng gave it no further thought and agreed.

Liang Ying was in especially high spirits when she came home from work that day.

Over dinner, she told the family, "I'm afraid I'll be pretty busy for a while. Mom, Jinshui, you'll have to keep an extra eye on the children."

"That's no trouble."

He Chunlian waited until she saw Gu Yousi happily eating from her little bowl before turning back. "I don't have many classes at school, so I come home once they're done. Jinshui's been going out for a little while each day and then coming straight back. Don't worry about things at home."

"Exactly. And our Second Girl is bigger now. She's easy to look after."

Gu Yinxing had recently started further training and was full of energy every day.

Of course, He Chunlian suspected she was going on dates with Yan Ren. That would explain why she came home so happy each day.

Liang Ying smiled. "Then I can set my mind at ease. Things will settle down once this busy stretch is over."

"Auntie, brother, sister-in-law."

While the family ate, Shanhu's voice came from the courtyard.

Gu Jinshui stayed seated and called out, "We're eating. Come in."

Only then did Shanhu lift the curtain and enter.

The moment he came in, He Chunlian nearly thought she had mistaken him for someone else. Shanhu was positively glowing today, grinning from ear to ear, with fruit and candy in his hands.

"Brother, you're having dinner?" Shanhu asked, merely to say something.

Gu Jinshui rolled his eyes. Wasn't that obvious? He was about to invite Shanhu to join them when he noticed something odd about him. Raising an eyebrow, he motioned for Shanhu to get himself a chair. "Something going on?"

Shanhu cheerfully brought over a chair and sat beside Gu Jinshui. "Yeah. Good news. I'm getting married."

"Cough, cough, cough."

Gu Yinxing covered her mouth with a handkerchief and coughed a few times before she recovered.

She stared wide-eyed at Shanhu. "Brother Shanhu, you're getting married? Why so suddenly?"

"It's not sudden." Shanhu scratched the back of his head and set the fruit and candy on the table. "I've been seeing the girl for a while. Her family says the fifteenth of next month is an auspicious day, so we should get our marriage certificate then and hold the wedding banquet two days later."

"That girl from before?"

Gu Jinshui's brow furrowed slightly.

Liang Ying noticed and put a hand on his, giving him a small shake of her head. Gu Jinshui swallowed the questions on the tip of his tongue.

Only then did Liang Ying say, "That's wonderful. Tell us about her. What does she do?"

She sent Gu Yinxing to fetch a bowl and chopsticks for Shanhu. Gu Yinxing hurried off and hurried back. She had no intention of missing the gossip.

The Fifty-Fifth Day of Being Overheard

Shanhu rubbed the back of his head, looking unexpectedly shy.

"Her name's Qi Zhenzhu. She lives behind our Compound. Her family's a little poor, but she's a good person. She does all the work around their house."

He Chunlian paused at that. "So she doesn't have a job?"

"That's right, Auntie. No one in her family has a steady job." Shanhu sounded quite sorry for Qi Zhenzhu. "There are four children. Her older sister is married, and her older and younger brothers earn money carrying luggage for people at the train station."

It was common work around the train station. They helped people carry things and might earn five or ten cents a job.

Someone willing to work hard could make two or three yuan in a day, though over a month, they might make only ten or twenty yuan at most.

It wasn't much, but it was enough to keep them from starving.

"That's good, then. The whole family knows how to work hard." He Chunlian nodded. "As long as they keep at it, they can build a decent life."

At that, Shanhu looked a little awkward.

Qi Zhenzhu's brothers were hardly hardworking. They worked at the station until they had some money, then rested until the family ran short again.

But that was a family embarrassment, and he could hardly tell outsiders about it.

"How old is she?" Liang Ying asked.

"She's nineteen," Shanhu answered quickly. "Nearly twenty."

Liang Ying smiled. "So young. She's three years younger than you. Why not wait a little before getting married? You've earned a fair bit, Shanhu. Wouldn't it be nicer to save up, get a place of your own, and then marry?"

Liang Ying never asked how much Gu Jinshui and the others earned, but Gu Jinshui told her of his own accord. She therefore had some idea of Shanhu's earnings.

Selling scrap and trading ration coupons and Foreign Exchange Certificates brought in more than a hundred yuan a month. Shanhu lived alone and spent little on food or clothes, so he could save around a thousand yuan a year.

That was more than enough to buy a small home.

Shanhu flushed. "Sister-in-law, please don't ask. Anyway, the wedding's settled. Come to the banquet on the eighteenth of next month."

"All right. The whole family will come and cheer you on."

When Liang Ying saw Gu Jinshui about to speak, she quickly held him back. She thanked Shanhu for the candy. Shanhu wasn't hungry and left after only a few bites, saying he was going to the Black Market to look for a watch coupon so he could buy Qi Zhenzhu a watch.

At last, Shanhu was gone, and Gu Jinshui could no longer hold back.

"I won't approve of this marriage!"

He Chunlian laughed as she ate her pickles.

"Son, I have to say, who are you to Shanhu that you get to approve or disapprove? They've already set the date."

"Mom, don't tell me you can't see that girl isn't right for him."

Gu Jinshui wasn't a snob who looked down on poor people. He was hardly a saint himself; in earlier years, he had hit people from behind with a brick more than once. But one look at Qi Zhenzhu had told him that she had no feelings for Shanhu.

Could a marriage without affection work?

It was bound to end in trouble.

He Chunlian sighed. "I'm no all-seeing Guanyin. How would I know whether she's right for him? But Shanhu's finally found someone, and he's so happy. Why insist on throwing cold water on it without even knowing the whole story?"

Liang Ying said, "Mom's right. And from the way Shanhu looked, there's probably a reason they're rushing the wedding. If he doesn't want to say, why should we pry?"

Gu Jinshui knew they were both right. But he thought of Shanhu as a brother, and Shanhu had had a hard life. Naturally, he wanted Shanhu to find a woman who truly loved him and would build a steady life with him.

The more Gu Jinshui thought about it, the more wrong it felt.

He got up to go out. He Chunlian said, "Don't do anything rash. You can meddle in other matters if you like, but if you interfere with this, even I won't stand for it!"

"I'm going out for a smoke," Gu Jinshui said sulkily.

Gu Yousi blinked as she watched her father leave.

It was the first time she had seen him so unhappy.

Come to think of it, why do I seem to remember Uncle Shanhu leaving Beijing later on?

Shanhu leaves Beijing?

He Chunlian and Liang Ying both froze.

Neither had ever imagined Shanhu leaving one day. He had been with Gu Jinshui for so many years that He Chunlian thought of him almost as a godson.

But if Shanhu really did leave, that would be his choice.

People talked about daughters leaving home when they grew up, but sons did too. If he wanted to go, they had no right to force him to stay.

By a utility pole in the alley, Gu Jinshui had just lit a cigarette and taken a drag.

He flicked the ash away. "How long were you planning to stand there if I didn't call you out?"

Shanhu emerged sheepishly from the corner. Gu Jinshui glanced at him. "What are you so scared of? Say what you came to say."

"Brother, I know you don't like Zhenzhu." Shanhu wasn't oblivious. He looked big and rough, but he could be perceptive. Before he left home, he had seen more than his share of disapproving looks from his brother and sister-in-law.

"It's not that I dislike her. She doesn't like you."

Gu Jinshui exhaled and crushed out his cigarette. "If she liked you even a little, I wouldn't say a word against this marriage."

Shanhu fell silent. A rare loneliness came over his face. He stood in shadow, with only his eyes clearly visible. "Brother, I know. But she might be carrying my child."

"Wh-what?"