Chapter 26

Xie Tingyu returned home to find Miao Xiulan preparing lunch. Grandma’s health had improved significantly compared to three years ago, possibly due to her eagerness to marry off her grandson. She was in particularly good spirits, and Xie Tingyu took the initiative to stoke the fire at the stove.

The lunch consisted of only a stir-fried vegetable without any oil, a plate of leftover pickled radish from the previous day, and a bowl of mixed-grain rice boiled with sweet potatoes. The meal was even less satisfying than what she had eaten with the Xie family.

“Grandma, when I just got home, wasn’t there fish and meat in the house? My brother left just a few days ago. Why are you eating this?” she asked.

The pot was steaming with the mixed grain rice as Grandma lifted the lid of the rice barrel and said, “You can see for yourself. Our family has no money. Those fish and meat were brought over by your sister-in-law. We have always eaten like this. What’s wrong? Have you forgotten in just three years?”

“I haven’t forgotten,” Xie Tingyu extinguished the flames in the stove. “Grandma, isn’t my brother making money on the black market?”

“Don’t slander your brother!” Miao Xiulan slammed the table. “Brother Chuan has already faced enough hardships. Why are you trying to pin the blame on him? What do you mean by that?”

Xie Tingyu felt extremely wronged. Gu Qingchuan had said three years ago that he was going to resell some mountain goods. Where else could he go but the black market?

She took a bowl and chopsticks to serve herself some rice. The rough mixed grain rice was hard to swallow, and after forcing down a few bites, she set down her chopsticks.

Miao Grandma silently ate her meal and said, “I brought twenty eggs with me and asked Wang Ma to help find you some matches. There’s the third son of the Xu family from the textile factory, the grandson of the Shen family from the cement factory, and the second son of the Mo family. Of these three, the conditions of the Mo family are the best. However, their second son has just returned from being a sent-down youth in the countryside this year and is already twenty-six, which is a bit old.”

Xie Tingyu understood that these three families had dealings with the Gu family ten years ago. She thought to herself, how could such ordinary families be worthy of her? In terms of family background, they were even worse than the well-off family that the Xie family had found for her. What on earth was the old lady thinking?

Instead of refusing, she inquired, “Grandma, how much dowry do you plan to give me?”

“Our family is this poor; how could there be any dowry? I don’t want a bride price, nor do I have a dowry.” Miao Grandma scrubbed the pots and bowls, completely ignoring Xie Tingyu’s shock. “You are no longer my Gu family’s granddaughter. Even if I had money, I wouldn’t give it to you. Besides, our family has no money right now.”

Xie Tingyu felt her rationality crushed by Grandma. How could she be so cruel? If she was marrying off her grandson, there would be a bride price, but when it came to marrying off her granddaughter, she claimed to be poor. “Where is my brother? I want to see my brother.”

She and Gu Qingchuan had grown up together, so her brother wouldn’t just abandon her. “Where have you hidden my brother? I know that since I returned home, you don’t want to see me, so you sent him away, right?”

“Yes, I intentionally sent Brother Chuan away. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. Brother Chuan is about to marry, and you expect me to let you stay here and disturb the newlyweds? If you don’t want to get married, go find a job and move out alone!”

Grandma turned and left the kitchen. Xie Tingyu trembled angrily; she couldn’t return home and get nothing.

That night, while Grandma and her sister were asleep, Xie Tingyu rummaged through the house. Finally, she unearthed a small box hidden under a patch of disturbed earth in the backyard.

Inside, there weren’t many items. Four gold beads the size of pigeon eggs, the worth of which she had no idea, were secretly sewn into her belt. The remaining three scrolls, of various sizes, unfurled to reveal writings and paintings that she could not understand.

In the dead of night, she took advantage of the darkness to knock on Dong Hua’s door. A moment later, Dong Hua led Xie Tingyu to the municipal compound to find Liu Shirong.

Meanwhile, Miao Xiulan turned in bed, tucking in Xiao Tingxiang’s blanket. Xiao Tingxiang drowsily asked, “Grandma, why are you awake?”

Miao Xiulan sighed, “Xiao Tingxiang, you need to be good and not follow your sister’s dark path. But Grandma believes that you won’t go astray with your sister Xiao Ci in the future.”

…

“You guys are really out of control! Can’t you come find me tomorrow morning?” Liu Shirong was extremely dissatisfied but still took Dong Hua and Xie Tingyu to the already locked-up courtyard of Liu Cuilian.

He took out his key to unlock the door. Once the three entered and locked the courtyard door, they dared not turn on the lights and instead lit a candle on the table to illuminate the room.

Dong Hua smirked inwardly. Liu Shirong and Liu Cuilian were having an affair? Now, she had leverage over him. “The situation is urgent. Tingyu has found some of the old lady’s hidden scrolls at home. That old lady will discover them tomorrow morning, so hurry up and contact someone. We need to send these things out tonight.”

Xie Tingyu opened the three scrolls she had brought, and Liu Shirong pretended to appraise them. In reality, he didn’t understand much about them, but he recalled that two scrolls brought by Cuilian had sold for twenty thousand. These looked similar to him. “One thousand each, but we need to agree on how to split it first,” he said.

Both Dong Hua and Xie Tingyu showed expressions of surprise. They hadn’t expected such shabby pieces of paper to be worth so much. This year, they hadn’t even heard of anyone in Qincheng being a millionaire, let alone for one piece to be worth ten thousand! Dong Hua trembled with excitement. “Let’s just split it equally then; one for each of us will do.”

Xie Tingyu was unwilling to accept that. She had stolen the items and was taking on the most significant risk. “We can’t split it evenly. I brought the items, so I should at least get seventy percent. I want at least twenty thousand; you two can each take five thousand. Isn’t that enough?”

At that time, an ordinary worker’s monthly salary was only about thirty or forty yuan. Even just ten thousand was equivalent to a regular family’s entire lifetime of hard work. With that money, she wouldn’t need to depend on anyone or ask for help.

Liu Shirong thought the young girl was quite shrewd. Why should she take the bigger share? “You just said that these things were ‘stolen,’ so they aren’t yours. Without me, you wouldn’t be able to sell them. If you’re unwilling to take a ten-thousand cut, forget it. You can just take the things back; I’ll pretend I don’t know anything about it.”

Now that she had ‘stolen’ the items, Xie Tingyu didn’tno longer dared stay in Qincheng. If she didn’t sell them, they would be worthless to her. She could only rely on Liu Shirong. “Dong Grandma, you didn’t do anything, so why do you think you deserve one thousand?”

“Just because it was my idea to do this. If it weren’t for me, would you have had the courage to steal from that old lady? Young girl, you need to be honest,” Dong Hua replied, trying to get Liu Shirong on her side. “Shirong, how do you have the key to Liu Cuilian’s place? Does your wife know?”

Liu Shirong’s face darkened. “The buyers over there have always been connected through Liu Cuilian. If I don’t find her, who else am I supposed to find? Don’t jump to conclusions.”

He was still helping Dong Hua and said to Xie Tingyu, “Young girl, don’t be too greedy. Ten thousand is not a small amount. If you don’t want to sell, don’t; otherwise, wait for the ten thousand. Liu Cuilian is at the pearl market right now. You can go find her, and the money will be in your hands in two or three days. That’s better than running around and being scared all the time, isn’t it?”

Xie Tingyu bit her lip. She remembered that four gold beads were still sewn into her belt, each weighing at least two taels. Once she met the buyer, she could sell the gold beads for a few thousand more. “Okay then, I’ll take the items myself. But I don’t have any money; you’ll have to cover my travel expenses and give me a letter of introduction to stay at a guesthouse.”

“Alright, it’s settled then.”

Liu Shirong quickly prepared a letter of introduction. A hard seat ticket from Qincheng to the pearl market cost sixteen yuan, and he and Dong Hua each put in thirty yuan, along with some nationally accepted food coupons. By the time dawn broke, Xie Tingyu had already boarded the train. She didn’t take the direct train in the afternoon but instead went to Lingzhou first, waiting a few hours before taking another train to the pearl market. She didn’t dare stay in Qincheng for even a minute longer, fearing that Miao Xiulan would report her to the authorities.

Once she sold the items, she wouldn’t have to fear any repercussions.

Two days later, Xie Tingyu anxiously waited at the train station, clutching a photo of Liu Cuilian, hoping she would come to pick her up. However, instead of Liu Cuilian, several plainclothes officers approached her. “Are you Xie Tingyu?”

“Who are you?” Xie Tingyu asked nervously, her guard up.

One of the women, who looked to be in her thirties, replied, “I’m a friend of Liu Cuilian. She couldn’t make it, so we came to pick you up. Do you have the items?”

Since they knew Liu Cuilian’s name and that she had brought items, Xie Tingyu felt slightly relieved. “Yes, I have them—three scrolls.”

She then grabbed the hand of the woman and pressed her waist, saying, “Sister, I also have four gold beads, weighing over eight taels in total. How much do you think they can sell for?”

The woman was actually the female officer who had previously disguised herself as Liu Cuilian. She felt the four round beads and exchanged a glance with her companions, nodding in agreement. “There are too many people here; let’s go with us. We’ll talk more at the station.”

Once they arrived at the police station, they needed to clarify the situation. The three scrolls were all counterfeit, but Grandma had also thrown in the four gold beads. Gold was tangible and valuable, something that people who didn’t understand antiques would naturally prefer. Xie Tingyu’s greed flared up at the sight of the four gold beads.

Xie Tingyu never expected to find herself in a police station. In the interrogation room, she came face-to-face with the real Liu Cuilian. When confronted, she tried to defend herself fiercely. “I didn’t steal anything! My grandma asked me to take these out to sell.”

She couldn’t admit to stealing; as long as the police brought Grandma over, she could cry and plead with her, surely managing to soften Grandma’s heart.

The interrogating officer sternly reprimanded her, “Liu Cuilian has already told us everything. We knew when you contacted Liu Shirong that these three paintings were forgeries. The gold beads we found on you are genuine. Do you know how much these gold beads are worth? This is a significant theft and could land you in prison for life. You’d better be honest and confess to reduce your charges!”

“That’s impossible! How could they be fake? Our Gu family doesn’t have any counterfeit antiques or paintings! My grandma is from a wealthy Shanxi merchant family before the liberation; her dowry could never contain forgeries!” Xie Tingyu shrieked in despair, realizing that Grandma must have been wary of her from the beginning, setting a trap with fake items to ensnare her.

Why was her fate so cruel?

For the moment, she couldn’t afford to think about that. Xie Tingyu spilled everything she knew, repeatedly crying and claiming that Dong Hua had manipulated her, that it was all Dong Hua and Liu Shirong’s fault, and that she had acted foolishly in trusting them.

…

A week later, Jiang Ci and Sun Feifei returned to Qin Province with the inspection team. When they arrived at the train station, it was unexpectedly snowing outside.

“It’s so cold!” Sun Feifei puffed out her breath in clouds. She had already changed into her warm coat on the train. Her father and brother had come to pick her up, one strapping a large suitcase onto the back of the bicycle while the other handed her a pair of sheepskin gloves. As the youngest daughter, she was cherished by her four older brothers, her parents, and her sisters-in-law.

She climbed onto her father’s bicycle and asked, “How are you getting home, Xiao Ci?”

“I’m taking the bus back. The roads will be bad with the snow, so you all ride carefully,” Jiang Ci replied, watching the snowflakes float down from the sky, settling into a thin layer on the ground. He couldn’t help but wonder how things were at home.