Chapter 2

After hearing about Chen Yongqing, Ye Qing immediately went to Zhang Saozi behind Li Xiufen’s back and slipped her thirty yuan. Zhang Saozi readily agreed to arrange a meeting between Ye Qing and Chen Yongqing.

She even offered Ye Qing a suggestion: “When you meet him, bring your father along. Once you’re engaged, your mother can’t force you to break it off just to give Ye Huan a chance.”

Ye Qing went to Ye Yongguo, bringing up their deceased mother and clutching her portrait as she wept. Tears streamed down her face, making her look utterly pitiful—a motherless child.

Ye Yongguo and his late wife had been childhood sweethearts, deeply devoted to each other. He also felt guilty that his two children had lost their mother so young, which made him favor Ye Mingliang and Ye Qing. Seeing his daughter crying while holding her mother’s portrait broke his heart, and he finally agreed to let Ye Qing marry Chen Yongqing.

His reasoning was perfectly sound: “Qingqing is the elder sister, and Huanhuan is the younger sister. We can’t skip the elder and let the younger marry first.”

As for Ye Huan, “We’ll just ask Sister Zhang to introduce someone else. With so many young men around, and Huanhuan being quite pretty, surely we can find someone suitable?”

The father and daughter kept their plans secret from Li Xiufen and went to meet Chen Yongqing.

Though Ye Qing wasn’t as striking as Ye Huan, she was still considered above average in looks. Chen Yongqing was quite satisfied with her, and Ye Qing had no objections to him either. And so, they became engaged.

……

By the time Li Xiufen found out, the wedding arrangements were already finalized.

She nearly flew into a rage, confronting Sister Zhang. The woman defended herself vehemently, “Your husband brought Ye Qing here himself, saying you were too busy. How was I supposed to know what was going on between you two?”

That night, Li Xiufen had a fight with Ye Yongguo, followed by a tearful outburst. But none of it could change the established fact. With the wedding so close, she couldn’t force Ye Qing to call it off.

She had no choice but to accept it.

In those turbulent times, formalities were often overlooked, and people feared that delays would only complicate matters. So the couple married less than a week after meeting. The bright red “囍” (double happiness) character still clung to the wall, a stark reminder of their hasty union.

Feeling betrayed by her husband and stepdaughter, Li Xiufen lost face. She confided only in her close friend, Sister Feng, keeping the truth from everyone else.

Mother Chi and the others mocked her, “Why would you prioritize your stepdaughter over your own flesh and blood? How foolish!”

“You can’t put pork on a sheep. Stepdaughters will always be stepdaughters. No matter how much you dote on them, there’s always a barrier. You can’t rely on them in your old age.”

Li Xiufen swallowed her bitterness, a burning resentment festering in her heart. She vowed to find Ye Huan an even better match, both to avenge her daughter’s humiliation and to restore her own pride.

But things didn’t go as planned. Each introduction was worse than the last, not even half as good as Chen Yongqing.

***

The original owner had shared a room with Ye Qing. Now that Ye Qing was married, Ye Huan had the room to herself.

The room was sparsely furnished, containing only a bed, a small wardrobe, and a small table.

Ye Qing’s belongings still lay on the table, her things on the right and the original owner’s on the left.

The tabletop was divided like the 38th parallel, each sister claiming her half with clear boundaries.

The wardrobe was similarly partitioned, a cloth divider separating their halves.

These were glaringly plastic sisters, making no pretense of affection in private.

It was understandable, given they had different mothers.

As Ye Huan rummaged through the original owner’s things, she heard voices outside. Peeking out the window, she saw Ye Mingliang approaching, Li Xiufen following behind with a basket of vegetables.

Ye Mingliang and his wife both worked at the city steel factory, where employees received good benefits, including housing in a communal dormitory upon marriage. After marrying, they moved out and usually ate separately, but on Sundays, they would come over for lunch. Li Xiufen would take the opportunity to buy better ingredients to improve the family’s meals.

Only Ye Mingliang came today.

Ye Huan emerged from the house to find Ye Mingliang already gone, likely off to find Chi Zi, his childhood friend.

She went to the kitchen to help Li Xiufen prepare lunch. Though she couldn’t cook, she could assist with simple tasks.

Fortunately, the original Ye Huan couldn’t cook either, so she didn’t need to worry about giving herself away.

Li Xiufen had bought some meat today—a rare treat. They usually reserved meat for Sundays when Ye Mingliang and his wife came for dinner, a time when the whole family gathered.

“Mom, where’s Dage’s wife?”

Li Xiufen replied flatly, “Your brother said her sister called her away. She won’t be joining us for lunch.”

Li Xiufen harbored deep resentment toward Ye Mingliang and Ye Qing.

She had raised both children single-handedly. Though their stepmother, she could honestly say she had never deprived them of food, clothing, or necessities.

Partly, she genuinely pitied the children for losing their mother. Partly, she feared gossip and criticism, so she had always taken good care of them.

Yet neither child had ever warmed up to her.

That alone might have been bearable, but they remained distant from Ye Huan and Ye Mingqiang as well.

Take the matter of finding Ye Huan a partner, for instance. Li Xiufen had mentioned it to Ye Mingliang and his wife several times, urging them to take it to heart.

After all, they were young and knew far more young people than she did. With a little effort, they should be able to find Ye Huan someone suitable.

Yet nearly a week had passed, and neither of them had introduced Ye Huan to anyone. They never brought it up unless asked, and when questioned, they’d simply say they hadn’t met anyone suitable.

How could they know if someone was suitable without even meeting them? This complete lack of effort was clearly just them going through the motions to appease her.

If Ye Mingliang were her own son, Li Xiufen would have slapped him upside the head long ago. “You can’t even bother to care about your sister’s future? What good is a brother like you!”

But he was her stepson—she couldn’t scold him, let alone hit him. She had to treat him well, feeding him well and keeping him comfortable, or risk gossip.

No wonder being a stepmother was so difficult.

Li Xiufen doted on her daughter. As soon as Ye Huan finished washing the vegetables, she shooed her out of the kitchen. “Go on, get out of here. You’ll smell like cooking oil all day.”

With Ye Huan gone, Li Xiufen swiftly began stir-frying the dishes. Just as she set the food on the table, Ye Mingqiang burst in, drenched in sweat. He rushed straight to the table. “I knew there’d be meat today!”

Li Xiufen smacked him on the head. “Go call your father and your brother for dinner!”

“How am I supposed to know where they are?” Ye Mingqiang retorted.

“Your older brother went to find Chi Zi. Where else would your father be except playing chess with Chi Zi’s father? Go get them now!”

Ye Mingqiang reluctantly went to call Ye Yongguo and Ye Mingliang for dinner. As he ran out the door, he turned back to shout, “Don’t eat all the meat! Save some for me!”

Li Xiufen scolded him, “As if everyone’s as greedy as you! Hurry up and get them!”

Ye Mingqiang dashed off. Soon, Ye Yongguo and Ye Mingliang returned.

Ye Yongguo, likely having won the chess game, wore a triumphant smile as he recounted his brilliant moves to Ye Mingliang.

Li Xiufen couldn’t help but grumble, “With the house practically on fire, you still have time for chess?”

“What good would panicking do?” Ye Yongguo retorted. “I can’t conjure a son-in-law out of thin air.”

Li Xiufen ground her teeth, but with Ye Mingliang present, she couldn’t unleash her anger. She forced herself to say, “Wash your hands and let’s eat.”

The family sat down. Ye Yongguo took a bite of food before remembering to ask, “Wasn’t Zhang Aiying here earlier?”

“What good did that do?” Li Xiufen snapped. “The men she introduced were all ugly and mismatched—each one worse than the last.”

“Don’t be too picky,” Ye Yongguo said. “As long as they’re decent enough.”

Li Xiufen retorted angrily, “At least they should be decent!”

In normal times, she wouldn’t have even considered someone like Chen Yongqing.

This was the daughter she had raised with such care, as delicate as a flower.

But these were extraordinary times. She had already lowered her standards for a son-in-law again and again, willing to accept anyone even remotely comparable to Chen Yongqing.

Yet the men Zhang Saozi had introduced were far below Chen Yongqing’s level.

She couldn’t possibly let her daughter marry just anyone.

Ye Huan picked up a piece of meat. It smelled heavenly.

“Mom, it’s okay if I have to go to the countryside. It’ll be fine.”

Li Xiufen countered, “Toiling in the fields? Your frail body can’t handle that.”

Besides, leaving was easy, but returning would be nearly impossible. Over the years, countless batches of young people had been sent to the countryside, never to be seen again.

Ye Mingqiang shoveled a mouthful of rice. “Let Second Sister stay home. I’ll go to the countryside instead.”

Li Xiufen snapped, “If you were old enough, would I even let your sister go?”

“Then I’ll wait until I’m old enough and replace her.”

“Do you think this is our family’s personal game? You can’t just swap places whenever you want!”

“I can definitely swap! I’m stronger than Second Sister. They’ll want someone with more strength.”

Throughout the meal, Ye Mingliang kept his head down, pretending to be deaf and mute.

Ye Yongguo could only repeat, “Tell Zhang Aiying to keep looking.”

Ye Huan stopped talking, too busy devouring the meat with Ye Mingqiang.

Li Xiufen couldn’t eat, and Ye Yongguo was reluctant to, not wanting Ye Mingliang to get all the benefits.

Ye Huan retreated to her room, collapsing onto her bed. After all, she currently lacked the power to change anything.

…….

In the next room, Li Xiufen and Ye Yongguo resumed discussing Ye Huan’s impending rural assignment.

“It seems there’s no hope with Zhang Saozi. Huanhuan can’t avoid this. We need to make plans quickly. Cai Feng told me that if we pull some strings, we might get her assigned to a better location, where she’ll suffer less. Your apprentice, Yang Shengbing, works at the city government, right? Go see him tomorrow and explain Huanhuan’s situation. See if he can put in a word with someone at the Youth Relocation Office.”

Since marriage was no longer an option, they needed to shift their focus and secure a favorable assignment for their daughter.

Li Xiufen immediately thought of Yang Shengbing. As Ye Yongguo’s apprentice, he would undoubtedly help if Ye Yongguo asked.

But Ye Yongguo loathed asking for favors—especially from Yang Shengbing.