Chapter 27: Worse Than the Jade Rabbit Spirit

The two had been fighting since childhood, and Lin Cuiping had never once gotten the upper hand. With eyes red from frustration, she stormed upstairs to the second floor.

Ling Finlan looked helplessly at the smug Xie Yunshu and sighed, “Already married, and still acting like children! Cuiping’s going to cry again tonight.”

The two families lived one above the other, with Lin Cuiping’s room directly above theirs. If the windows were shut, it wasn’t so bad, but if they were open, every little noise could be heard clearly. As kids, whenever Lin Cuiping and Xie Yunshu quarreled, Lin Cuiping would go upstairs and sob for a while…

Sure enough, soon a choked voice echoed from upstairs:
“Damn Xie Yunshu, serves you right getting sent back! No wonder that Dr. Lu doesn’t want you! With that shitty temper, only a dog would like you!”

Then came Lin Cuixiang’s conflicted voice:
“Jie, Journey to the West is so good! My classmate has a color TV at home—she says Sun Wukong’s golden staff is red, it looks so cool! And that Sha Monk wears purple clothes…”

“Yunshu-jie said I can’t watch TV, but she didn’t say I can’t listen…”

Lin Cuiping snapped, embarrassed and angry:
“You little brat, who’s your real sister, huh? One lousy TV and you’re sold out? What’s so great about Journey to the West, anyway?”

Lin Cuixiang retorted, unconvinced:
“If it’s not good, why do you go watch it at Uncle Chen’s every day?”

Downstairs, Ling Finlan frowned at hearing Lin Cuiping badmouth her daughter. She grumbled, “Cuiping’s temper is worse than yours. She’s got some nerve insulting you! My girl is pretty and smart. Cuiping’s short and chubby—not even a dog would be interested!”

That gentle motherly fierceness was actually kind of charming. Xie Yunshu slammed the window shut with a clack, turned and smiled at her mother, “Mom, I’m going to start the pork rib stew. When Qicheng gets back, we can eat early. Tonight I’m inviting Granny Zhang and Aunt Zhao over to watch TV.”

Ling Finlan shooed her away:
“Go sit on the sofa! You’ve been busy all day—aren’t you tired? I’ll make the stew. You fiddle with the TV. I don’t know how to work that thing!”

Xie Yunshu had studied the TV for a long time—of course she knew how to use it. By the time Ling Finlan got the stew going, there was already a picture on the screen.

It was still the commercials segment, but Ling Finlan was watching with great interest. After a while, she frowned in concern:
“Yunshu, when you brought the TV back, didn’t Lu Zhiwen say anything?”

“He wasn’t home,” Xie Yunshu reclined lazily on the chair. “Too bad we couldn’t fit the wardrobe too, otherwise I would’ve brought that back as well.”

Ling Finlan sighed:
“Forget the wardrobe. At the wedding, the Lu family gave the four big items. We only gave a wardrobe and bedding—already looked down upon. Now you’re taking things back after divorce—what would people think?”

“Whoever wants to gossip can stew in it themselves.” Xie Yunshu had figured it out after reliving her life: living under others’ judgment only brought pain to herself.

Now, her only connection with Lu Zhiwen was a single thing—a debt owed, and a debt collected.

After seven o’clock, Xie Qicheng came home from school. The smell of braised ribs filled the house. He noticed the color TV playing and walked over in surprise:
“Mom! Where did the TV come from?”

“Your sister brought it,” Ling Finlan replied as she set a large bowl of ribs on the table and started scooping rice. “Go wash your hands for dinner. Journey to the West starts at eight. Your sister said you can watch for a while tonight.”

Xie Qicheng smiled as he pursed his lips:
“She’ll rip my ears off again if I don’t do well on the next exam.”

Ling Finlan laughed too:
“You? Do badly on a test?”

Xie Qicheng was confident about his studies. He washed his hands in the basin and squeezed his long legs onto a small stool.
“I think I’ll do well. By the way, I haven’t seen Sis since I got back. How did business go today?”

“Great! Sold out. She said she’ll make more tomorrow!” Ling Finlan’s face lit up.
“She went to bring some ribs to Granny Zhang. She’ll be back soon.”

In these old-style tenement buildings, only the back had windows, so people often kept the balcony window slightly ajar even in winter. That’s how the delicious smell of ribs drifted up to the second floor.

The Lin family was also eating. The younger siblings were wolfing down their food and bolting from the table:
“I’m full! Going out to play!”

Mama Lin waved them off carelessly:
“Off to watch TV downstairs, right? That Yunshu girl sure has guts, bringing the TV back to her mom’s. That’s a big color TV, the picture’s got to be amazing!”

The two preteen kids had nothing but TV dramas on their minds and ran downstairs as fast as they could. It was 7:55 now—Journey to the West was about to start.

Lin Cuiping gloomily cleaned up the dishes and slumped into her chair, stewing in frustration from the smell of ribs.
“Just wait—when Lu Zhiwen dumps her, let’s see what she has to be proud of then!”

Mama Lin rolled her eyes:
“Always wishing bad on others. If Yunshu’s married to a doctor, and we get sick, wouldn’t we benefit too? If they divorce, what’s it got to do with you?”

Not that Lu Zhiwen would look at her daughter even if he were divorced!

Lin Cuiping went to the window to eavesdrop on the TV downstairs. If she couldn’t watch, she could still listen, right? That damn Xie Yunshu was insane. If she really got divorced, Lin Cuiping would be the first to set off firecrackers in celebration.

Why? Just pure jealousy!

As she fumed, cheers came from downstairs, followed by the familiar Journey to the West theme song. Her blood boiled. She missed yesterday’s episode, and now today’s too! She still didn’t know if the Jade Rabbit Spirit got beaten or taken away by Chang’e. In her heart, Xie Yunshu was worse than that fox-like Jade Rabbit…

Downstairs, Xie Yunshu was seated on a little stool, munching sunflower seeds. Watching the TV with her were neighbors from the same floor and a few kids. Everyone naturally threw out compliments while watching her TV.

A woman from the far end of the hall whispered,
“Finlan, your daughter brought her TV here—her in-laws are okay with that?”

Everyone knew Xie Yunshu and Lu Zhiwen had been fighting, but no one imagined divorce. After all, when Yunshu married Dr. Lu, every girl in the neighborhood was green with envy. How could she bear to file for divorce?

Plus, Yunshu had no formal job now. She was selling boxed lunches to earn a bit of money and still had to support her younger brother through college. How could she manage that without her in-laws’ help? College wasn’t like the old days—no more food coupons from the government. Now you even had to pay tuition! Supporting a college student was no small thing.

Ling Finlan glanced at Xie Yunshu, unsure how to respond.

But Xie Yunshu smiled openly and said,
“Aunt Liu, I’ve already filed for divorce from Lu Zhiwen. I won’t be going back to live there anymore. As for the TV—he owes me money, so I took it as repayment.”

The room fell silent for a moment. Everyone looked at each other in shock, doubting their ears.

Xie Yunshu is really getting divorced? Is she insane?!

Aunt Liu blurted out:
“Why would you want to get divorced? That’s… that’s…”