Watching the train disappear into the distance, Gu Xiaoyu felt a hollow sense of loss. She left the platform and returned home in a daze. Her mother had come back from work and was cooking. She looked a little surprised to see her. "Aren't you working today?"
"No, I had nothing on this morning." Gu Xiaoyu shook her head, watching her busy mother and wondering whether to bring it up.
"Your brother's getting engaged in a few days. You'll have to come home for it." Fan Wenli spoke without looking at her daughter as she chopped Chinese cabbage. "I gave your dad some of the money you gave me. Together with our savings, it paid for a house he found near your brother's workplace. A single-story place, with an inner room and an outer room. It cost forty-eight hundred.
"After your brother's girlfriend heard, she told him they'd been seeing each other for quite some time and wanted to get engaged before New Year. Once spring comes, they can fix up the house and get all the furniture, and then they can get married."
At this, she stopped chopping and turned to look at Gu Xiaoyu. "Your brother isn't young anymore. You've played a big part in making it possible for him to marry this year. Don't blame me. That money was just sitting there. Better to take care of the urgent things first."
Gu Xiaoyu nodded. The whole five thousand had been meant for her mother anyway, so she certainly had no objection.
"I've saved the rest for you. When you get married, I'll take it out for your dowry." Thinking how obedient her daughter was, Fan Wenli softened her voice. "Your brother said he'd work hard to save up and give you a big-ticket item when you marry."