Chapter 10: Telegram

Huo Qingshan immediately pulled Lin Yingying up to her feet, and in passing, snatched the handkerchief back and stuffed it into her hand. His gaze was sharp as he looked at Ye Zhiting, his voice cold and clear. “Educated Youth Ye, you had better watch your words.”

Lin Yingying had originally wanted to go over and scratch Ye Zhiting as payback for speaking nonsense, but seeing Huo Qingshan defending her, she instantly hid behind him, putting on the look of a meek little victim.

In Ye Zhiting’s eyes, Lin Yingying’s behavior was simply a case of “there’s no silver buried here”^[1]“此地無銀三百兩” (there’s no silver buried here) is a Chinese idiom meaning that a person’s actions have inadvertently revealed their own guilty conscience or intentions, much like … Continue reading—a guilty conscience showing itself. Normally, he was mild-tempered and not easily angered, and the commune members all praised him for being friendly and unassuming. Yet when it came to matters involving Lin Yingying, he could not help but get angry, always feeling that she was either bullying Ye Manman or behaving willfully and without discipline.

And now she was even publicly declaring that she wanted to marry Huo Qingshan, whom she had only met once, shamelessly pursuing him despite his coldness. She followed him into the river to scrub a horse, brought him back to the educated youth point to cook, and then trailed along after him here to harvest wheat.

This Lin Yingying, who only dared to bully her own people! She did not even understand the tactic of playing hard to get that men used. Could she not see that he was toying with her?

Her family background was good, and her father was a high-ranking officer. Someone like Huo Qingshan, a minor cadre in the army, could work his whole life and still never be able to reach someone of her status. Now that she was throwing herself at him, how could he possibly resist playing some tricks on her?

See? It had only been one morning, and here they were in the wheat field, in broad daylight, already in each other’s arms.

Shameless!

A scoundrel!

He gave a cold snort. “What do you mean, I should watch my words? Am I not allowed to speak about what I see, or am I not allowed to say what I feel? You keep stringing Lin Yingying along without rejecting her. Don’t you know yourself what kind of shameful thoughts you’re harboring?”

Huo Qingshan’s expression grew even colder, his gaze pressing down on Ye Zhiting, making the latter’s heart falter for an instant. Yet anger kept him from backing down in the slightest.

Huo Qingshan glanced at Lin Yingying behind him, then looked back at Ye Zhiting. Since she had someone to protect her, his own anger subsided. He said to Lin Yingying, “You’ve tried, you’ve had your fun. Now it’s time to give up.” After that, he paid them no more attention, picked up the sickle, and strode off to another part of the field.

Lin Yingying watched his tall, upright back. Under the blazing sun, the sweat running down his spine reflected a dazzling light. She raised her voice and called out, “Huo Qingshan, you can’t get away from me!”

Huo Qingshan’s steps seemed to pause for a moment, yet it also seemed as though he did not stop at all, continuing to walk farther away.

Only after watching him go into the distance did Lin Yingying turn to face Ye Zhiting, whose face was full of anger. She tried to speak in as calm a tone as possible. “Brother Ye, I’m serious. I want to marry him.”

Ye Zhiting narrowed his eyes. “Just because he saved you? There are many ways to thank someone. You don’t have to repay him with your body…”

Lin Yingying said, “Of course not. The person I marry will only ever be someone I like.”

“Like? Ha, ha ha…” Ye Zhiting let out a mocking laugh. “He saved you, so you feel grateful and have some fondness for him. That, I can understand. But to say you like him so much you want to marry him—don’t you find that ridiculous?”

Lin Yingying’s expression grew serious, and her tone became earnest. “I’m talking about something very serious. This is the most important matter of my life. As the brother who grew up with me, can’t you be a little more serious?”

Ye Zhiting put away his mocking smile and looked at her intently. “So now you’re turning the tables on me? Go on, let’s hear what you have to say.”

He felt something was off about Lin Yingying.

In the past, if he had come storming over in such a fury to confront her, she would have immediately exploded with rage, her temper even worse than his, scolding him until his head spun, or even rushing forward to scratch him. But today she was speaking so calmly. This was not like her at all. Could it be the influence of that man…? Impossible!

“The hardest thing to explain in this world is feelings. No one can truly understand what love at first sight is, yet I have fallen in love with him at first sight!” Lin Yingying spoke slowly. Her voice was soft, yet her attitude was incomparably firm.

Ye Zhiting said, “You fell in love with him at first sight—what about him? Do you think he would like a pampered woman who can’t cook, can’t work in the fields, and can’t take care of his widowed mother and younger siblings?”

Every word he said struck at the foremost concerns rural people had when choosing a partner—it was never about whether the woman was pretty, but rather about her family background and whether she could work.

Lin Yingying let out a dismissive snort. “You’re shallow. Who says that if I marry him, I must be able to cook and work in the fields? Besides, what’s so hard about cooking? He’s already taught me, and I’ve just about learned it.”

Ye Zhiting had never seen Lin Yingying reason so earnestly before; it was as if he did not know her. “He’s only after your beauty and your family background. You’re being too foolish.”

Lin Yingying replied, “My family background and beauty are simply there; they can’t be changed. I’ve never suspected that you or any of my friends were only close to me because of my family background and beauty, so what right do you have to suspect that he would marry me for my background and looks?”

He hadn’t even agreed to marry her yet, and this bastard Ye Zhiting was already here stirring up trouble—was he afraid things might go too smoothly for her?

What a tiny, teacup-sized friendship! Overturned!

Because Huo Qingshan had left, she lost the comfort of being surrounded by his presence, and inevitably felt a bit agitated. The restlessness in her blood was surging, and if this bickering went on any longer, she would not be able to stop herself from blowing up in anger.

Ye Zhiting said, “You are becoming more and more unreasonable. To marry on impulse, you—”

Lin Yingying cut him off. “Enough. This is the first and last time I will accept your questioning, because I think of you as my makeshift older brother. If you keep spouting nonsense in the future, I won’t be polite!” She waved her little claws at him in warning. She no longer expected him to help with farm work, and if that flimsy childhood friendship toppled, then so be it.

Ye Zhiting looked at her as though he did not recognize her, then after a moment said, “I won’t let you be so willful, and Uncle Lin will not agree either.” He turned and walked away.

Lin Yingying called after him, “I’ll tell my parents myself…”

But Ye Zhiting was already far off. He did not head back to the educated youth point, but went straight toward town. He was going to send a telegram to Uncle Lin, telling him that Lin Yingying, this fool, had once again started acting crazy and willful. It would be best if Uncle Lin tied her up and dragged her back for a proper lesson.

He ran quickly and soon saw Ye Manman coming toward him from the opposite direction, panting heavily.

“Brother Ting, you… you slow down. You didn’t quarrel with Sister Yingying, did you? Did she scratch you?”

Ye Zhiting said, “I can’t be bothered to argue with her.”

Ye Manman replied, “Don’t be so anxious. Sister Yingying has been spoiled since she was little, always getting her way. She won’t listen to your threats.”

Ye Zhiting said, “I’m going to send a telegram. You go back first.” Then he dashed off again.

Ye Manman watched his hurried, fiery figure with a complicated feeling in her heart. Every time something involved Lin Yingying, he would rush in like this without a second thought. He scolded Lin Yingying on one hand, yet still wanted to protect her on the other. What a… fool.

Ye Zhiting ran all the way to the town several li (1 li = 0.5 km) away in one breath, his throat feeling as if it were smoking. He first went to get a large enamel cup of water and gulped it down, then went to the counter to fill out a telegram form: Uncle Lin, Yingying has gone crazy and is trying to marry without permission, urgent! Urgent! Urgent!

After sending the telegram, he paid the fee but did not leave. Instead, he stayed there waiting for a reply.

If Uncle Lin saw it, he would surely give him instructions right away. Ye Zhiting guessed the first step should be to restrain Lin Yingying so she could not run around, and absolutely not allow her to have any intimate contact with that man, then wait quietly for someone from above to come.

But he waited and waited, and still no telegram came. Ye Zhiting was waiting to the point of feeling half-crazed, as if the moment he turned around the telegram would arrive, so he could not bear to leave, nor did he dare to.

He could not just watch Lin Yingying go astray, no matter how spoiled, rude, and fond of bullying others she was.

She had bullied him since they were children!

Even though they were both three or four, four or five, five or six, even seven or eight years old, she could still manage to push him over, then sit on top of him and whip his backside with a willow branch!

Later, when Ye Manman and her mother appeared, she completely lost control. When Uncle Lin decided to let that mother and daughter stay, she had even grabbed a rattan switch and chased Ye Manman around, raising a ruckus day and night, insisting on driving that pitiful pair away.

Thin and pitiful, Ye Manman had fled from her blows and crashed right into his arms. That was the first time he had fought back against Lin Yingying, the “fierce shrew”, and he had shoved her so hard she fell over.

From then on, she no longer bullied him, yet she also stopped being as close to him as before, preferring instead to give him sly, mocking smiles.

And since he and Ye Manman shared the same surname, the two of them found common ground in being “fellow sufferers” and joined forces to oppose her. That, too, seemed to be its own kind of fun.

But while he opposed her, he had never wanted to harm her, and he certainly did not want to watch her fall into ruin. For all her willfulness and arrogance, she was also pure and innocent. Aside from bullying him and Ye Manman, she had never bullied anyone else, and she even held a great deal of sympathy for certain people.

He knew that she had once secretly saved a few people, had helped several scholars who had been labeled as active counterrevolutionaries, and had also aided widows and orphans who had no food to eat. Like her grandmother, she was full of compassion for those who had met with misfortune.

She really was a good person.

She should not be schemed against by some man, only to end up becoming a woman as commonplace as the village wives.

He could not imagine Lin Yingying being like those rural women—hair disheveled, complexion sallow, always carrying a dirty baby on her back that needed to be fed, spending her days either hovering around the stove or working in the fields, or else waiting on her mother-in-law, and still having to struggle against her husband’s younger sisters and brothers…

Just picturing the beautiful, delicate Lin Yingying no longer as the pampered flower of wealth and status, but instead as a withered, dried blossom, turned into one of those vulgar and miserable farm women, made Ye Zhiting’s heart ache as if someone had snatched it away.

Meanwhile, Lin Yingying returned from the wheat fields to the educated youth point, casually ate a couple of bites of cornbread, and found the coarse texture scraping her throat. She had to keep her neck straight and force it down with water.

Compared to the pancakes Huo Qingshan made, these cornbreads could practically choke a person to death.

In the end, she forced herself to eat half a cornbread, then ate two biscuits to appease her picky appetite.

After eating, she put half a box of biscuits into her small handbag, put on a sun hat, and, ignoring Ye Manman’s attempts to dissuade her, still set out wearing Huo Qingshan’s shirt to go find him.

“Sister Yingying, wait until Brother Ting comes back.” Ye Manman stubbornly held onto the doorframe, her eyes rimmed red.

A few educated youths who had come back at noon to rest nearby did not even dare to breathe too loudly. They secretly snuck glances at her, exchanging frantic looks.

Educated Youth Lin had come back wearing Huo Qingshan’s clothes! She was serious about this, she really meant to marry him! Educated Youth Ye had gotten jealous, fought with Huo Qingshan, and then run off to the commune to make a telegram and tattle?

Lin Yingying cast a glance at Ye Manman. That hibiscus-like face, usually smiling, was now covered with a layer of frost, and her voice was colder than ever before. “I am formally announcing that I’m going to marry Huo Qingshan. You don’t need to hear it as gossip or spread rumors. When I get married, I will naturally invite everyone to have wedding candy. But if anyone dares to speak ill of Huo Qingshan, don’t blame me, Lin Yingying, for being impolite!”

That one sentence made the few educated youths fall completely silent, while Ye Manman clung to the doorframe and began crying outright.

Ignoring them, Lin Yingying lifted her bright and beautiful face, stepped lightly in her little leather shoes, and happily went off to find Huo Qingshan.