Chapter 13

Chen Zai lived in a modest one-bedroom apartment with simple furnishings. The white walls were bare, and the room contained only essential furniture: a bed, a wardrobe, a desk, and a bookshelf.

According to his position as the hospital director, he should have been allocated a three-bedroom apartment. However, since he had no plans to marry or have children, a one-bedroom was sufficient. All the larger apartments had been given to doctors with families.

The small room was kept extremely tidy. Apart from the books, his personal belongings were well organized. If not for the presence of a living person, one might have mistaken the room for being uninhabited.

He folded his quilt into a perfect square, washed up, changed into workout clothes, picked up a basketball, walked out of the building, and jogged toward the basketball court near the hospital under the dim morning light.

During his time in the countryside, he had fully realized that the body was the foundation of revolution. Once he began working in the county and had the means, he started exercising daily and had kept up the habit ever since.

After finishing his run, still radiating body heat, he headed to the basketball court to shoot hoops.

“Good morning, Director Chen,” a few young men arrived at the court one after another, greeting Chen Zai. “Director, let’s have a match today. We’re definitely going to beat you.”

Someone laughed and said, “Quit bragging. When have you ever managed to beat the director? If you can’t win, breakfast’s on you.”

The one who had just suggested a match immediately backed down. “Director, go easy on me, will you?”

Their respected and admired director was known for his aloof demeanor. In the workplace, he was serious, meticulous, and extremely disciplined. Only during exercise did he become more easygoing and willing to blend in with them.

Their jobs kept them busy, and most of them hadn’t developed the habit of exercising. But their director not only had superior medical skills and a more handsome appearance than they did, he was also incredibly self-disciplined. He worked out every day, stayed healthy, and had a great physique, making them feel they could never catch up.

Motivated by Chen Zai, they too began coming to the basketball court to play.

The court soon became lively and bustling with energy. Chen Zai dribbled and made layups, his movements agile and graceful. But at exactly 6:10, he glanced at his watch and said, “There’s a major surgery today, I’ll stop here. You all keep going.”

He took out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat and headed to the canteen. Since the surgery was scheduled for the morning, he avoided having anything too soupy for breakfast. Steamed buns and boiled eggs were his usual choice.

On the way back to his dormitory, for some reason, Chen Zai’s right eyelid kept twitching. It wasn’t from eye strain. Could something be about to happen?

He silently reviewed the patient’s medical record in his mind, going over the surgical steps and key points. He didn’t think anything unexpected would occur. Hopefully, the operation would go smoothly.

——

There were many people making long-distance calls, and more than a dozen were ahead in line.

Xiao Man asked anxiously, “Mom, do you think Dad won’t acknowledge me?”

Shu Yuan replied lightly, “As long as he pays child support, that’s enough.”

Xiao Man thought: What Mom said actually makes a bit of sense.

He placed his small hand on Shu Yuan’s shoulder. “Mom, I’ll earn money and support myself in the future. I won’t need Dad or Mom to pay for me.”

Shu Yuan reached out and tapped his delicate nose. “Mm, not only should Xiao Man support himself, he should also take care of Mom.”

Xiao Man nodded seriously, a sense of boyish pride welling up in him. His voice was cheerful. “Okay, Mom.”

Li Hongxia listened from the side, feeling a headache coming on. It was all her fault, she had raised her second daughter crooked. The second daughter was planning to rely on her elders above and squeeze the younger ones below, and now she even wanted to ask Xiao Man’s father for money.

Making a long-distance call these days was such a hassle. You had to wait for the operator to connect the line several times before finally getting through. The number they had was for the hospital’s telephone room. The operator said she would go call someone, then the line was disconnected.

Less than ten minutes later, the phone rang back. The operator at the Telephone Bureau called out loudly for Shu Yuan, “Booth number twelve!”

Li Hongxia nudged her. “They’re calling you. Go quickly.”

Shu Yuan was skeptical. Could it really be going this smoothly?

The call was from the hospital’s telephone operator. She said, “Try calling again tomorrow. Director Chen has a surgery today and is already in the operating room. It’ll take several hours.”

Shu Yuan: “……”

Chen Zai was still young, was he already the hospital director? Did they get the wrong person?

She quickly told the operator not to hang up. “The surgery takes several hours?”

The operator replied, “It’s a heart surgery, probably four to five hours.”

Shu Yuan: “……”

A long-distance call cost seven mao (0.7 yuan) per minute. Without even getting through to Chen Zai, she had already spent one yuan and four mao (1.4 yuan). For a family already struggling financially, this only made things worse.

Back in the waiting hall, she explained the situation honestly to Li Hongxia. The latter didn’t believe her at all and questioned, “What kind of surgery takes that long? Are you sure he’s not just avoiding you?”

But Shu Yuan was certain that Chen Zai was really in surgery and didn’t have time to answer the phone.

Besides, she had clearly stated who she was, saying she was Chen Zai’s cousin and that there was a family emergency. Surely he wouldn’t refuse to take a call from his own cousin.

“He’s a doctor? Which hospital does he work at? How old is he?” Li Hongxia was eager to know more about Xiao Man’s father.

Then a troubling thought occurred to her. “Xiao Man is already five. After all these years, could he have already gotten married?”

If he was married, would he still take responsibility for Xiao Man?

“Mom, just stop asking for now.”

Shu Yuan didn’t want to say more. If Chen Zai refused to acknowledge Xiao Man, then let Xiao Man’s father remain a secret.

Things were off to a rough start. Li Hongxia let out a sigh. She was in her forties or fifties, still graceful and charming, yet in just a single day, deep wrinkles had already formed on her forehead.

After they got home, Li Hongxia and Shu He discussed the matter heatedly and came to the same conclusion: Xiao Man’s father simply didn’t want to contact Shu Yuan.

Meanwhile, Shu Yuan was quite busy. She sat by the window with Xiao Man, flipping through the original host’s notebook.

She didn’t know much about Chen Zai and hoped to find some details about their past interactions. However, the notes began from the point where they had parted ways. The descriptions were vague and sparse, mostly related to the writer, which Shu Yuan wasn’t interested in. What did catch her attention were some of the numbers recorded.

One glance, and she was shocked. During the period when she gave birth to Xiao Man, Shu Ping had actually given her 120 yuan.

A few years ago, Shu Ping’s salary was only a little over thirty yuan and had only recently increased to a bit over forty.

As for the 2,400 yuan that Chen Zai gave her, aside from paying the foster care fees and a small amount for herself, she had scattered away 1,600 yuan to the writer.

In other words, not much had actually been spent on Xiao Man. The money Chen Zai had given had essentially gone to supporting that writer, a man who lived off a woman.

Shu Yuan quickly recorded the date and details of every expense. When she had time, she would go confront the writer and get that money back to return it to Chen Zai.

Right now, she only had twenty-three yuan on her. She still owed Shu Ping forty-two yuan. Even though Shu Ping had said she didn’t need to repay the earlier 120 yuan, Shu Yuan still intended to return it.

How could she earn such a large sum of money as quickly as possible?

On top of that, Xiao Man only had one set of clothes. She needed to buy him clothing, a toothbrush, and other daily necessities, which would also be a considerable expense. Where was the money supposed to come from?

For now, she set aside the problem of money. After lunch, Shu Yuan took Xiao Man to nap with her, planning to rest well so that by evening, she could sell off all the pine nuts in one go. She might be able to make a dozen or so yuan from it.

They were woken up a little after two by a commotion. Aunt Liu, who lived nearby, came rushing over to find Li Hongxia. “My eldest son just saw your younger daughter at the train station. She was about to buy a ticket to go out of town!”

Li Hongxia panicked immediately. “That damn girl! She said she was going to do her homework. What’s she doing at the train station?”

Shu Yuan was fully awake in an instant. What was Shu He doing at the train station? Heading to the northeast?

Could that girl really be trying to go to the northeast to look for Xiao Man’s dad?

She quickly slipped on her shoes and headed to the living room, stopping Li Hongxia, who was about to rush out. “Mom, don’t worry. She won’t be able to leave. If she’s trying to go to Bingcheng, the train was at one something. She won’t make it. I’ll go bring her back.”

Hearing that, Li Hongxia calmed down a little and said, “Then go quickly. I’ll watch Xiao Man. That girl, what, is she planning to drop out of school tomorrow or what?”

Shu Yuan put on her shoes while reminding Xiao Man, “Stay home with Grandma.”

Xiao Man obediently said, “Okay, Mom. Go quickly.”

When Shu Yuan arrived at the entrance of the train station, she happened to run into a dejected-looking Shu He. Beside her was a familiar-faced kid from the residential compound. Shu Yuan smiled and said, “Didn’t get the ticket? Why didn’t you ask me beforehand what time the train leaves?”

Shu He: “……”

Now that Li Hongxia was looking after Xiao Man on her own, she finally noticed that all of his clothes and shoes were new. When she learned that they had all just been bought, she cursed Shu Yuan in her heart.

This money-waster had no experience raising children. Just look at that sweater she bought: blue and white plaid. How could that possibly stay clean? And white shoes? She’d have to scrub them every few days!

Besides, the clothes Shu Yuan had bought were obviously expensive. If she kept spending like this, just a few sets of clothes for the child would wipe out her entire month’s salary.

Li Hongxia decided she had to start preparing clothes for Xiao Man herself. So she began rummaging through boxes and drawers for fabric, even pulling out the cloth that had been set aside for Shu Yuan’s dowry. She planned to make a set of clothes and pants for Xiao Man, and use some leftover fabric to sew him a pair of black cloth shoes.

By the time Shu Yuan and Shu He got home, everything in the house was calm and peaceful.

Warm sunlight was streaming into the bedroom. Li Hongxia had spread the fabric out on the bed and was using scissors to cut the cloth. Xiao Man sat quietly beside her, watching Grandma do her handiwork.

The peaceful moment didn’t last long. Li Hongxia started by scolding Shu He harshly, then turned to Shu Yuan. “We need to go make another call to Xiao Man’s dad. It’s three-thirty now, so his surgery should be done.”

Shu Yuan: “……”

At least let the man catch his breath first.

“The factory gets off at five, and we still have to sell the pine nuts. Let’s just go now,” Shu Yuan said. When it came to making money, she was even more anxious than Li Hongxia.

Li Hongxia was busy sewing clothes, so this time she didn’t go with them. Shu Yuan took Xiao Man straight to the Telephone Bureau.

Having gone through the process once already, Shu Yuan didn’t find the wait frustrating. She called the hospital’s telephone room again and asked the operator to help find Chen Zai.

Chen Zai’s surgery had started at eight in the morning and lasted until two in the afternoon. Although his right eyelid had twitched nonstop that morning, the surgery had gone smoothly and was a success.

When he returned to his office, the first thing he saw was a note left on his desk. It said that his cousin had called him in the morning. But he didn’t have a cousin.

All his relatives on his mother’s side were overseas. There were female cousins, but no younger female cousin.

He first called his grandfather and, upon learning that everything was well at home, had no intention of returning that earlier call. After finishing the meal that a nurse had reheated for him, Chen Zai began handling various hospital affairs. Around four o’clock, the gatekeeper came to find him, saying that his cousin had called again.

After thinking for more than ten seconds, Chen Zai decided to return the call.

A voice came through the line. “Hello, is this Chen Zai?”

It was a voice he had buried deep in his memory, one he believed he would never hear again, and one he had no desire to hear again. It struck like a thunderclap in the midst of his otherwise calm and orderly life.

After a few seconds of silence, he replied, “This is.”

His voice carried not the slightest ripple.