"How old? Are you telling the truth? Don't pull my leg. What man likes old women?" Mother Chen looked utterly incredulous.
"Some people might just like older women. They have a special, you know... That old woman looked to be about forty."
Special XP.
He didn't dare say it outright in front of his mother.
For all Mother Chen had seen and heard over most of her life, her mouth still fell open in disbelief.
"Forty! She could be his mother! Zhiwen is twenty-one already, so she's nearly twenty years older than him."
"She pretty much could be his mother."
"Could it have been too dark, and you mistook him for someone else?"
"No mistake. I'm not blind. How could I mistake that pretty boy Wang Zhiwen for someone else? I could even guess how old his old lover was, so how could I have seen him wrong?"
Mother Chen was struck like lightning, scorched on the outside and tender on the inside. She opened her mouth, but could hardly find the words.
Chen Haichao added, "We absolutely can't marry my sister off to someone like him. When the matchmaker comes later, turn them down outright. Just say they aren't suited."
"If it's true, she certainly can't marry someone like that."
"Of course. This is a question of character."
"Are you sure it's true? You're not deliberately lying to me?"
"Why would I lie to you? There's nothing in it for me. She's my sister. Of course I want the best for her. Would I want bad things to happen to her instead?"
"Then I'll listen to you and turn them down first."
"Yeah. I'll also call a couple of friends later, and we'll stake out his house tonight. One way or another, we have to catch him in bed with her."
A young man of twenty had plenty of fire in him. Once he'd had a taste of meat, how could he hold back? And with the production team on break and no physical labor to tire him out, he had even more energy with nowhere to spend it.
With no work during the New Year, they were sure to catch them.
An affair happened either zero times or countless times.
"Right. We can't let him ruin some other girl. Someone like that is so disgusting, carrying on an illicit affair, and with an old woman at that." Mother Chen's face was full of disgust, and she was so revolted her goosebumps were about to fall all over the floor.
Mother and son put their heads together, whispering and murmuring to each other.
Mother Chen adapted well. By the time they finished talking, she had already accepted it as fact. Although she secretly hated Wang Zhiwen for being such a scoundrel, she was more relieved and eager to gossip. After all, the two hadn't made anything official; they had only met as prospective partners, so it wouldn't affect their family.
More than anything, she was itching to act. She couldn't wait to expose the scandal and let the whole village watch the spectacle. Their family couldn't be the only ones who knew.
"That shameless thing! He's carrying on with an old widow who could be his mother, and he still came to our door wanting to marry your sister. That's outright marriage fraud and hooliganism. He should be arrested and shot."
"Let me catch him in the act first. Don't let anything slip yet, or there won't be a surprise."
"Okay. I won't even tell your dad yet, in case he jumps up and down with anger. Hurry and take a stroll around the village, look and listen everywhere, and find out what that old widow's name is."
"Okay."
Making money was important, but so was his sister's happiness. In any case, he only needed to watch Wang Zhiwen's door at night. The village was on holiday now, and there were people everywhere during the day, so there was no way they could meet in secret then.
It wouldn't matter after dark. The village didn't have a single streetlight, making it perfect for an affair.
As Chen Haichao walked out, the corner of his eye caught the dried shrimp spread out to dry all over the space in front of their house, and he was tempted. His family seemed to have quite a lot of it, with a whole pile drying at home. He wondered whether he could use it to make money.
Before the household contract responsibility system was implemented, it felt as though his hands and feet were tied no matter what he did. He was always afraid of violating policy and being reported. He was an honest, law-abiding citizen, and he didn't even know where the black market was.
These days, large numbers of educated youths were returning to the cities one after another, with no jobs and nothing to do. It was the most chaotic period, and the Strike Hard campaign would begin in another couple of years.
He didn't want to die before his campaign had even begun. Getting a chance to be reborn hadn't been easy.
If a law-abiding citizen wanted to earn money without worry, he could only rely on the village's local specialties.
He thought as he walked, turning over ways to make money.
Doing business these days counted as speculation and profiteering. If an individual obtained a little something extra, they could be accused of taking advantage of the collective and have their capitalist tail cut off. Even eating and dressing a little better could get someone accused of capitalist habits. It was fucking ridiculous.
Still, it was already 1980. After the college entrance examination was reinstated, many policies had been relaxed. Selling what one's household produced through sideline work, including home-produced agricultural and sideline products, didn't count as speculation and profiteering.
The red line for judging speculation and profiteering was buying other people's goods for resale in large quantities, hiring people to transport goods long distances for sale, reselling imported goods at high prices, and so on.
As Chen Haichao grumbled inwardly and started out, Brigade Captain Wang came toward him and called him to a halt. Four members of his family had come, including the child, and they were all carrying things.
"Haichao! Where are you going?"
"Nowhere. Just taking a walk. You're all..."
Brigade Captain Wang smiled and patted Chen Haichao on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go sit at your house."
They were carrying baskets of things and had come to thank him, so Chen Haichao had no choice but to follow them back home.
Mother Chen was just about to arrange lunch when she saw Chen Haichao return with Captain Wang's family. She hurriedly called out.
"Sidi, hurry outside and call your dad back. The brigade captain has come to visit. Pandi, come help me cook."
Hearing her call, the sisters quickly dropped their rags and came out of the room to help.
Mother Chen was already all smiles as she welcomed Captain Wang and the others, asking them to sit down and have some tea. "You're too kind, bringing so many things over. Haichao just happened to save him. We're all neighbors, and it was only right for him to do it."
Captain Wang chuckled. "There's no question of what he should or shouldn't have done. He saved my eldest grandson, and that makes him our family's great benefactor."
Li Lanxiang had also shed the fierce manner she'd had when fighting with her. Instead, she took her hand, apologizing and thanking her repeatedly.
"I'm so sorry, Hongmei. It was all my fault. Why did I have to fight with you? My rotten temper flares up too quickly. Luckily, you were magnanimous enough to overlook my pettiness, and you pulled my eldest grandson out in time. I really can't thank your Haichao enough."
Mother Chen held back the smug look on her face. That very morning, they had been exchanging greetings about each other's mothers, and by noon, Li Lanxiang had put away her fierceness and come to her door to lower her head, smile apologetically, and give thanks. It felt as refreshing as drinking an iced soda in the dog days of summer.
When someone showed her a foot of respect, she wouldn't take an inch and demand a mile.
She said politely, "It's nothing. We adults may argue, but it's not some great feud. Once we've argued and fought, that's the end of it. The child is innocent. We don't want to frighten him."
Brigade Captain Wang's son, Wang Zhiming, rubbed his son Aqi's head. "He's fine. After a bath and a tin of food, he perked right back up. Hurry and kowtow to your Uncle Haichao to thank him for saving your life."
Aqi immediately knelt before Chen Haichao and kowtowed. "Thank you, Uncle Haichao..."
Before Chen Haichao could stop him, he had already finished kowtowing. Chen Haichao hurriedly helped the boy up.
"Oh my, why such a grand gesture? Now that you've kowtowed, I'll have to get you a red envelope."
As he spoke, he pulled a two-mao banknote from his pocket.
Wang Zhiming hurriedly tried to stop him. "We can't accept that..."
In those days, two mao could buy a child plenty to eat. It was nearly half a day's wages.
A full day's work points came to only six mao, and only able-bodied adult laborers could earn the full amount. Women generally earned only eight or nine work points, and couldn't make eighteen yuan in a month, since they couldn't go to work and earn points every day.
"It's all right. We can't let him kowtow for nothing. Consider it a little something to settle his nerves. Survive a great disaster, and good fortune is bound to follow. Take it and buy some candy to sweeten your mouth. Once a child has something to eat, he'll forget to be scared."
Besides, he wasn't losing out. The brigade captain's family had been quite willing to spend: they had brought two tins of food, two packs of cigarettes, two bottles of liquor, two jin of egg cakes, and a large slab of pork belly that looked to weigh about ten jin. For the countryside at this time, these were already lavish gifts, probably worth around twenty yuan.
A mere two mao for the child to buy snacks would also make the family feel more at ease.
When the policy came out, he would still need approval from the brigade captain and the village Party secretary if he wanted to contract salt fields.
A hundred benefits and not a single drawback.
Sure enough, the smiles on Brigade Captain Wang's family's faces grew even wider.
This child was their lifeblood. Being good to the child made them happier than being good to the adults themselves.
The child seemed quite polite too. When offered the money, he didn't take it right away, but looked at the adults. Only after they nodded did he happily accept it.