Chapter 18

The failed meeting with Chen Zai did not affect Shu Yuan’s mood. By the time the workday ended in the evening, she and her son continued selling lunchboxes in high spirits. There were only a little over three hundred left, and they expected to sell out today.

The electronics factory was large, with more than eight thousand workers. Everyone rushed over, scrambling to buy lunch boxes as if getting one was a great bargain, and missing out was a loss.

It wasn’t just the factory workers buying them. The factory gate was right by a main road, so people from nearby work units and passing pedestrians also joined in the excitement. Their stall was still surrounded by a packed crowd.

Second Aunt Tang Sufeng and her daughter had come to mock Shu Yuan, who had no job and could only sell food at a street stall. But instead of a sorry sight, they found a business so good it made people envious. Yesterday, they hadn’t been able to squeeze through the crowd, but today they finally made it to the front. Tang Sufeng stared at Xiao Man, her expression full of malicious gossip, and raised her voice deliberately as she said, “Shu Yuan, the child you brought from the East? Did you give birth to him in the countryside?”

Her voice was loud enough to draw everyone’s attention.

Shu Yuan glanced at Tang Sufeng’s face, her eyebrows flitting all over the place, and didn’t bother being polite. “If you’re not buying lunchboxes, don’t squeeze in. You’re blocking others.”

Tang Sufeng immediately felt embarrassed and retorted, “I’ll buy, of course I’ll buy. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Five yuan each,” Shu Yuan said coldly.

Provoked, Tang Sufeng was furious. “What? You sell them to others for just over one yuan, but to your second aunt it’s five?”

Shu Yuan nodded. “Aren’t you here to support me, Second Aunt? Five yuan. Hand it over.”

Tang Sufeng hadn’t expected Shu Yuan to talk back like that and was so angry her nostrils flared. Before she could say anything like how Xiao Man didn’t have a father, she was pushed out of the crowd by the throng of customers.

There had been a total of 1,400 lunch boxes sold, with a commission of over 210 yuan altogether. The final commission was forty-seven.

“This round of lunch box sales went really well. Too bad there aren’t more,” Yang Shengli said cheerfully.

All those lunch boxes had sold thanks to Shu Yuan and Xiao Man’s popularity as top attractions.

Even if there were more lunch boxes, they wouldn’t sell at the electronics factory gate. To sell more, they’d need to change locations, but if they did, the mother and son wouldn’t have the same draw.

The commission from this batch had already eased Shu Yuan’s immediate financial pressure. She was quite satisfied and said, “It’s pretty good. Let’s work together again if there’s a chance.”

Li Hongxia had been preoccupied with Shu Yuan’s meeting with the child’s father. When it was time to get off work, she immediately headed to the factory gate to wait for the mother and son. There were too many people on the road to talk, so she held back until they got home before asking, “So, how did the talk go?”

Shu Yuan spoke with an air of calm indifference. “It fell through.”

Li Hongxia immediately exploded, her voice rising several octaves. “He’s refusing to acknowledge Xiao Man or won’t pay child support? That dad is clearly not a decent person. What kind of decent man refuses to pay child support? But it’s also your fault. Who told you to ask for two thousand and four hundred? You just keep asking and asking. If it were me, I wouldn’t give it either.”

She concluded, “Neither of you are any good.”

Perfect. She scolded both of them in one go.

Seeing Shu Yuan’s expressionless, unmoved demeanor, Li Hongxia felt that only verbal attacks could make Shu Yuan take her opinion seriously. So she said, “What you’re doing, put nicely, is asking for child support. But to put it bluntly, it’s extortion. Do you understand? Xiao Man’s dad could take you to court.”

Shu Yuan: “……”

Great. Just like that, she had become an extortionist.

An educated mother was not easy to deal with. After all, her mother had been a high school student twenty or thirty years ago.

Shu Yuan treated her mother’s verbal attacks like wind past her ears and said, “Mom, you really scared me. Don’t go tearing down your own family. Save your energy and direct that firepower at outsiders instead.”

Li Hongxia was momentarily stumped, her words stuck in her throat.

Shu Yuan gently explained, “He wants to take Xiao Man to the northwest.”

Li Hongxia shot her second daughter a look, raising her eyebrows. “Then isn’t that perfect? Just hand Xiao Man over to him. Why exactly are you unwilling?”

She turned to Xiao Man. “Don’t blame Grandma for saying this. It’s not that Grandma dislikes you, it’s that Grandma doesn’t trust your mom. You’d probably be better off with your dad than with her.”

Shu Yuan remained perfectly composed and said, “Mom, do you remember when I was about one or two years old, Grandma wanted a boy and gave me away to relatives? Why didn’t you just let it happen and give me away too? Why did you go through all the trouble to bring me back?”

Li Hongxia let out a sigh. “Don’t bring that up as an example. How is that the same?”

Shu Yuan guided her patiently. “It’s the same in essence. I won’t give up Xiao Man, either. Let’s stop saying things like that from now on. Xiao Man is right here. Say too much and it’ll hurt his feelings.”

Xiao Man’s little heart was suddenly filled with warmth. He felt safe and grounded.

He ran over, pulled out a chair, sat down beside Shu Yuan, and held her arm with his small hand.

Li Hongxia was filled with worry and let out another sigh. “Forget it. I can’t control you. From now on, I won’t meddle in your affairs.”

Shu Yuan had no job, and the lunch boxes were sold out. Where would she earn money? How could she possibly raise Xiao Man?

Shu Yuan quickly said, “You said it yourself. Best if you really stop meddling early.”

When Shu He pushed the door open and came in, Li Hongxia’s face darkened and she was just about to speak when Shu He glanced around at everyone, took off her backpack, and asked, “Second Sister, how did the talk with Xiao Man’s dad go? Mom, I saw Xiao Man’s dad.”

Li Hongxia’s attention was temporarily diverted. “What kind of person is he?”

Shu He grinned and said playfully, “He looks really sharp. Seems like a decent guy.”

Just seeing Shu He’s grinning, unserious face made Li Hongxia furious. Of her three daughters, she didn’t trust a single one. She thought Shu He was lying to her, so she grabbed a feather duster and charged at her. “Who told you to skip class? If you don’t start taking school seriously, I’ll beat you to death.”

Shu He let out a shriek and ran out the door, with Li Hongxia chasing after her, feather duster in hand.

For once, the house was momentarily quiet.

——

After dinner, Tang Sufeng and her son came by again. They didn’t come into the house, just stood at the doorway talking, clearly intending to embarrass the Shu family. Tang Sufeng raised her voice and said, “Where’s Xiao Man? Hurry and let Second Grandma take a look. Shu Yuan, where’s Xiao Man’s dad, huh? Still in the countryside? Bring him here and let everyone see. Eldest Sister-in-law, look how lucky you are. You don’t have to worry about a thing, you already got a grandson and a son-in-law.”

Her cousin Shu Hongguo chimed in with her stepmother, saying, “Mom, don’t say it like that. Second Sister definitely doesn’t find it convenient to bring her husband home. I’m guessing Second Brother-in-law is working the land in the countryside and can’t come back to the city.”

Shu Yuan stared coldly at the mother and daughter pair. Sometimes, attacks from outsiders weren’t all that powerful. The real damage often came from so-called family and friends.

Li Hongxia’s face turned red with embarrassment, terrified that Tang Sufeng would say something even more awful to ruin Shu Yuan’s reputation.

She was shy, kind, and honest by nature, never one to argue with others. But ever since her husband passed away, she had learned that a widow’s doorstep attracted endless gossip. In order to fight off the rumors and slander, she had grown more outspoken, tough, and brash.

It wasn’t hard to imagine. Every household nearby had their doors open, listening in on what was happening at her place.

At this moment, she had to stand in front of her daughter. But Shu Yuan wasn’t someone easy to mess with either. To deal with someone like Tang Sufeng, who had come just to watch a joke, she simply used her own tactics against her. Smiling sweetly, she said, “Second Aunt, you still have the energy to meddle in our family’s business? You’d be better off worrying about your own Cao Lei. He’s gotten involved with the Ding family’s daughter-in-law. That woman already has a husband, you know. This scandal has been going around the factory for a while now, and it seems like you’re the only one who didn’t hear about it.”

Her voice was just as loud as Tang Sufeng’s. Everyone says family scandals shouldn’t be aired in public, but since Tang Sufeng had stirred things up first, so be it. Mutual destruction it was.

Tang Sufeng’s face instantly turned the color of braised pig liver. Her son got involved with a married woman? How could she not know? How could he do something so shameless?

Shu Yuan had clearly spoken loud on purpose, just to humiliate her.

Li Hongxia thought her daughter’s move was brilliant. She had struck right at the weak spot. She quickly chimed in, “Second Sister-in-law, that matter made me feel so embarrassed I didn’t even tell you. Better keep an eye on your younger son. Find him a wife soon and get him to settle down. If he keeps messing around, it won’t be good for your family’s reputation.”

Tang Sufeng could feel all the stares prickling her skin like a thousand wheat thorns. Without another word about Shu Yuan, she turned around in a rage and stormed off.

After the mother and daughter left, Shu Yuan said, “Don’t lower yourself to their level.”

She would deal with that family when she had the time.

Li Hongxia huffed angrily. “I’m going to ask around at the factory. I want to see their family become the laughingstock for once.”

The house finally quieted down. Li Hongxia was sewing the soles of shoes, making a second pair of cloth shoes for Xiao Man. Shu He was doing her homework. Shu Yuan and Xiao Man were lying on the bed counting money and keeping accounts.

Sheets of paper were spread out on the bed. All the loose bills had been sorted by denomination, lined up and counted by Xiao Man.

Once everything was totaled, Xiao Man reported to Shu Yuan, who was lying flat on the bed with composure, “Mom, it adds up to one hundred seventy-four yuan.”

This child had a sharp mind. No one had taught him arithmetic, but sometimes after collecting firewood, he would stand outside the classroom window listening in. That was how he learned.

Shu He spoke up. “Second Sister, not bad at all. Just a few days and you’ve earned that much. I bet even Mom doesn’t have as much in her savings.”

Shu Yuan rubbed her temples. That’s the point exactly.

The commission from selling lunchboxes was indeed substantial, but she had spent a lot too.

Now she understood just how hard it was for Li Hongxia to support the family on a bit more than fifty yuan a month.

No wonder her mom constantly worried about her.

Shu Yuan stayed lying down, issuing orders like a boss to her little employee. “Count out one hundred and twenty, then count out another fifty. Clip both bundles with binder clips and put them in the satchel. Put the remaining four yuan in Mom’s pocket.”

Xiao Man’s soft, milky voice rang out clearly. “Got it, Mom.”

——

In a deep, secluded courtyard, the night was quiet and still. The moonlight was fragmented into pieces by the branches of the osmanthus tree.

Chen Zai stood by the window like a finely carved statue, graceful and sculpted with care, unmoving for a long time. Eventually, he paced over to the table, stood silently for a moment, then bent his long legs and squatted down. He pulled open the bottom drawer of the sandalwood cabinet and took out a thick wooden photo album.

Inside the album were people he didn’t want to see. His long fingers flipped through the pages quickly, and his gaze fell on a black-and-white photo of himself as a child. He looked almost exactly like Xiao Man did now, nine-tenths alike. Unbidden, Xiao Man’s lively face surfaced again in his mind.

That little one had been in Shu Yuan’s arms as she strode forward with long strides, yet he turned his head to look back at Chen Zai for a long time. His star-bright eyes didn’t blink, as if there were so many things he wanted to say.

From Xiao Man’s eyes, he had seen a kind of indescribable hope. He slowly closed the album, thinking maybe he was just reading too much into it.

Just like how he had misunderstood his connection with Shu Yuan. She was simply outgoing, cheerful, and open-hearted, not just to him but kind to everyone.

At that thought, his once calm frame of mind turned sour.

He quickly put the photo album back where it belonged, walked to the bed, turned off the light, and buried himself under the quilt.

That night he did not sleep soundly, beset again and again by nightmares. In the dream, a boy of six or seven, still at the age when a child needs his mother, ran after a car that had started to pull away, crying and shouting, “Mom, can you not leave? Are you going because I’m not good enough? Did I do something wrong? Can you take me abroad too? Please don’t leave me behind.”

The car stopped. An elegant, fashionable woman opened the door and stepped out, the click of her delicate high heels sounding as she walked toward him. She lifted him into her arms and gently wiped his tears with a handkerchief, yet she did not change her mind. Her eyes held no warmth; her expression was resolute. She set him down again, turned, and walked quickly back to the car without so much as a backward glance.

The car pulled away, kicking up a trail of dust.

He had been abandoned by his mother.

The feeling in the dream was so real, it was as if he had lived through it all over again: despair, heartache, loss, and loneliness.

Back then, he couldn’t understand why his loving mother had to go abroad, why she had abandoned him and his father.

Soon after, he had a stepmother and a younger brother, four years his junior.

It wasn’t until many years later that he learned his mother had already passed away long ago.

——

The next morning, a little after eight o’clock, Shu Yuan brought Xiao Man to the canteen to find Shu Ping and handed her one hundred and twenty yuan. “This is what I owe you.”

“So much?” Shu Ping said in surprise and delight.

Shu Yuan lifted her chin proudly. “Earned it by selling lunchboxes.”

Shu Ping’s round, bun-like face was full of smiles as she said, “That money was meant for you to spend at the time. I never expected you to pay it back. You’re raising Xiao Man now and need the money, so just forget it.”

She wasn’t being falsely polite. She simply felt that Shu Yuan had it harder than she did.

Shu Yuan quickly said, “No, I have to pay it back. Back then, you didn’t expect me to return it because you thought I didn’t have the means. But now I do. Don’t refuse it. Take it.”

Shu Ping once again sighed with emotion. Ever since she brought Xiao Man back, Shu Yuan had become more mature and responsible.

Originally, Shu Yuan had wanted to give Shu Ping an extra fifty yuan as interest. But if she did that, she would only have four yuan left.

She felt that every expense she had made so far had been necessary, with no room for saving. Not just four yuan, even fifty could be spent in no time.

With no money left, she’d have to live on air. So she decided to hold off a bit before repaying the interest to Shu Ping.

Seeing Shu Ping put the money into her pocket, Shu Yuan added, “When your family has some free time, come over to our place for a meal. I’ll buy the groceries. Xiao Man should at least get to meet his cousin sister and cousin brother.”

“I’ll have to ask your brother-in-law,” Shu Ping replied.

Even though they lived in the same staff compound, she had never brought the kids over to play with Xiao Man. She didn’t want to cause Shu Yuan any trouble.

Shu Yuan said, “Alright, just let me know in advance once you’ve talked it over. I’ll go buy the ingredients.”

It seemed Shu Ping had no say at home at all. Living this close, she still had to ask her husband before going back to her maiden family for a meal.

If it were Shu Yuan, she’d think a marriage like that wasn’t worth having.

As Shu Yuan took Xiao Man’s hand and was about to leave, Shu Ping asked her, “How did the talk with the kid’s dad go?”

“It fell through,” Shu Yuan said calmly.

Seeing that she didn’t want to talk about it, Shu Ping didn’t press further.

She walked home with a light step. Paying off her debt had lifted half the weight off her shoulders. The remaining pressure was from the unpaid interest.

Xiao Man, very concerned about Shu Yuan’s financial situation, asked, “Mom, have we finished paying off our debts?”

Faced with such a grown-up question from her little one, Shu Yuan smiled and said, “Still need to pay Big Aunt the interest. And I owe your Dad a big sum too.”

With his soft, milky voice, Xiao Man encouraged her, “We’ll definitely earn enough to pay everything back soon.”

In high spirits, Shu Yuan gave his little hand a swing. “Of course we will, Xiao Man.”

On the road, they ran into Auntie Yang, who called out from a distance, “Hey, our pretty girl is right here. There’s a phone call for you.”

The woman shouted loudly, as if trying to draw everyone’s attention. “It’s that same man from the day before yesterday! Why does he keep calling you?”

Shu Yuan turned around with Xiao Man and headed toward the main gate, raising her voice as she said, “Thank you, Auntie Yang.”

“Hey, where are you going? Come to my place to take the call,” Auntie Yang called after her in a hurry.

Shu Yuan ignored her, holding tightly to Xiao Man’s hand as they walked faster and faster. After leaving through the main gate, they turned left, heading toward the Telephone Bureau.

“Mom, is it Dad calling you?” Xiao Man asked.

Shu Yuan nodded. “Yes.”

Xiao Man looked a little worried. “Dad’s not going to try to take me away, is he?”

He had a good impression of his dad, but he didn’t want to leave his mom.

Shu Yuan glanced down at the tense lines on the child’s face and said with a smile, “Not a chance.”