Chapter 13: A Letter for Gu Yunze

Brother Liu’s eyes lit up, and he squeezed through the crowd. “Little sister, it’s you!”

He’d been thinking about the liangpi [cold noodles] he’d eaten that day, wondering when he’d get another chance to have it. He hadn’t expected to run into her again so soon.

Seeing that Brother Liu knew Jiang Yiyi, the man from earlier didn’t dare say anything more. He honestly took out three cents, “Give me one.”

With him leading the way and Brother Liu there to back her up, no one dared to say anything else. After tasting it, they all paid to buy some. Just like yesterday, in less than half an hour, almost everything was sold out.

Jiang Yiyi kept three servings: one for Jiang Jinzhong, and two for Brother Liu.

She cut and mixed a serving, handing it to Brother Liu. “Thank you so much today, Brother Liu.”

Brother Liu didn’t want to take advantage of her. A young girl selling liangpi must have a difficult family situation. He had a job and occasionally made extra money; he didn’t need this small amount.

“I’ll be selling here again, so I’ll inevitably need your help, Brother Liu. If you pay, it means you don’t want to help me.”

Brother Liu was a straightforward person. Hearing this, he put the money he’d taken out back. “It’s not easy for you, I can’t take advantage of you. How about this, I’ll take you somewhere.”

Brother Liu took Jiang Yiyi to a state-run restaurant. The original owner had been here many times to buy her favorite dishes for Bai Jun; Jiang Yiyi still remembered.

Brother Liu asked her to wait outside. He went in and soon called a man out, about forty years old and slightly overweight.

“This is my cousin, he’s the manager here. Let him try the liangpi.”

Jiang Yiyi cut the liangpi she’d saved for Jiang Jinzhong, put it in an enamel bowl, added cucumber and gluten, and handed the man a small spoon of chili oil.

The man understood what she meant, added a small spoonful himself, and Jiang Yiyi mixed it. She then gave him a new pair of chopsticks. The man picked some up and tasted it, paused, then ate several more mouthfuls before putting the chopsticks on the enamel bowl.

“This one is three cents, if you only want the liangpi, it’s two cents.”

The man glanced at Brother Liu. “Keep ten servings.”

“Today’s are all sold out. I’ll have to make them fresh. Can I deliver them tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow morning at ten o’clock.”

After speaking, the man looked at the enamel bowl. Brother Liu quickly stepped forward, picked it up, followed him inside, and quickly came out with four steaming buns for Jiang Yiyi.

His brother-in-law, the manager of a state-run restaurant, actually wanted to take advantage of a young girl. He wouldn’t let him get away with it, so he went straight to the kitchen and got four buns.

“Thank you, Brother Liu.”

After Brother Liu left, Jiang Yiyi went to County No. 1 Middle School. Jiang Jinzhong was already waiting at the gate.

Jiang Yiyi stopped her tricycle. “Today’s liangpi is all sold out. These are buns from the state-run restaurant. Eat quickly.”

Hearing that they were from the state-run restaurant, Jiang Jinzhong only took two, leaving the other two for Jiang Yiyi. “Sister, eat too.”

Jiang Yiyi was indeed hungry, but she only ate one, letting Jiang Jinzhong eat the other three. After watching him enter the school, she rode her tricycle to buy a large watermelon and took it home to let Gu Yunchi put it in the courtyard.

Seeing that everything was sold, Gu’s mother and Gu Yunchi were even more excited, but Jiang Yiyi had other plans. “Make two hundred servings tomorrow.”

The two were startled.

“Can… can we sell that many?”

“After selling them at the factory gate, I’ll go door-to-door.”

Street vending wasn’t her goal, and liangpi only sold well in summer. After summer, sales would decrease. She wanted to make as much money as possible during this time.

Gu’s mother felt sorry for her. “Actually, selling one hundred servings a day is pretty good. Don’t overwork yourself.”

It was indeed tiring; her wrists were almost numb, but she enjoyed it. She loved the feeling of making money. “It won’t be so tiring after a while.”

Gu’s mother didn’t understand why it wouldn’t be tiring after a while, but she didn’t ask further. Her daughter-in-law was decisive; she just needed to listen to her.

She went to cook, and asked Gu Yunchi to get some warm water to put in the bathroom, letting Jiang Yiyi take a bath first. After she finished bathing, she personally brought her food. “Yiyi, today I asked the villagers to write a letter to Yunze. Tomorrow you can help mail it.”

If Gu’s mother hadn’t mentioned it, Jiang Yiyi would have almost forgotten about Gu Yunze. She asked, “Mom, why did you suddenly think of writing to him?”

In the original owner’s memory, Gu’s mother hadn’t written to Gu Yunze for almost two years.

“He hasn’t come back in almost two years. It’s about time for a family visit.”

What Gu’s mother didn’t say was that she wanted Gu Yunze to come back and become a real husband and wife with Jiang Yiyi. She knew that there was no physical intimacy on their wedding night, but a military marriage couldn’t be easily dissolved. Besides, Jiang Yiyi had also asked for so much money. She wasn’t worried that Jiang Yiyi wouldn’t want to live with her eldest son. The reason she didn’t dare write to her eldest son to come back was that she was afraid that seeing her condition would make him worry and unable to stay in the army peacefully.

Now that Jiang Yiyi was wholeheartedly thinking of her family, and she felt her body was improving, she decided to have her eldest son come back.

Jiang Yiyi wanted to say that it didn’t matter whether Gu Yunze came back or not. If Gu Yunze didn’t come back, she would be more relaxed and could better manage her own business. If Gu Yunze came back and disagreed with her selling liangpi, she would have to get a divorce, which would be troublesome.

After thinking for a while, she said, “Writing a letter is too troublesome. I’ll call him at the post office and tell him that Ma misses him and ask him to come back for a family visit.”

Calling was faster, and Gu’s mother naturally agreed.

After dinner, Jiang Yiyi took a short nap. When she woke up, she felt that her right arm was numb. She lay still, slowly moving her right arm until she could lift it before getting up and swinging it vigorously by her side.

The two little girls were still playing under the shade of a tree, looking at her room as they played. When they saw her get up, they held hands and ran into her room with their big eyes sparkling, calling out in childish voices, “Auntie.”

No longer having to watch other people’s faces and eating well, the two little girls had become much more lively and no longer timid; they had become more spirited.

Jiang Yiyi’s heart melted. She kissed each of their faces. “Let’s eat watermelon.”

The two little girls clapped their hands with delight.

Jiang Yiyi moved a small table under the shade of a tree. The two little girls each moved a small stool. Their small bodies sat on large stools, wobbling as they followed behind Jiang Yiyi.

“Ma, Big Sister, eat watermelon.”

Hearing the commotion, the two came out of the room. Gu Yunchi was still holding a needle and thread; she had already bought the cucumbers she needed for tomorrow and was mending Gu’s mother’s kang mat. The kang mat had been used for several years and was already worn out. Yueyue and the other child would often slide off the kang, grabbing onto the mat and ripping holes in it.

Jiang Yiyi took the watermelon from the well; it was ice-cold. She cut three-quarters of it, leaving the rest for Gu Yunyang and Gu Yuncan. “Eat it. We’ll buy more tomorrow.”

“Watermelons are so expensive, we can’t eat them every day.”

Gu Yunchi said.

“We earn money to spend it. Why earn it if we don’t spend it? Besides, the more we spend, the more we have. We’ll earn more and more, Ma, don’t you think so?”

Jiang Yiyi gave the largest piece to Gu’s mother, who nodded repeatedly. “Your sister-in-law is right. We will earn more and more.”

They ate the cut watermelon clean, and the watermelon rind wasn’t thrown away. Gu’s mother washed it and pickled it; it could be eaten as pickles in a few days.