Chapter 13: Making a Phone Call

Lin Yingying unceremoniously pushed Ye Zhiting aside and said to the female telephone operator in an indigo uniform behind the counter, “Comrade, I’d like to make a call.”

She handed over Huo Qingshan’s military ID.

The female operator was briefly stunned by her beauty, took the ID, glanced at it, and asked, “What is he to you?”

Lin Yingying replied, “He’s my fiancé. I’m calling my parents to apply for marriage.”

Ye Zhiting let out a derisive snort from the side. “Shameless!”

The female operator, however, broke into a smile and asked Lin Yingying where she was calling. Hearing that sweet, soft voice report the address, she froze again, unable to help sneaking a glance at Lin Yingying, her face betraying an irrepressible look of surprise.

Lin Yingying kept a sweet and well-behaved smile, politely asking her to hurry.

The female operator picked up the receiver and began cranking the phone to connect to the switchboard, but the switchboard was busy, so she had to wait before cranking again.

Lin Yingying rose on tiptoe to peek inside. “Comrade, don’t we have rotary dial phones here?” Hand-cranked phones didn’t work all that well.

The female operator said proudly, “Don’t be fooled by how old our phones are. Some communes don’t even have telephones.”

Lin Yingying said, “Impressive! Then crank it again, and tell the switchboard directly that it’s an urgent call from the daughter of a chief to her home.”

The female operator gave her a glance, half believing and half doubting, but followed Lin Yingying’s suggestion. Sure enough, the switchboard immediately transferred the line. She handed the receiver to Lin Yingying. “Comrade, please.”

Lin Yingying gave her a sweet smile and began waiting for the call to go through.

Ye Zhiting stood to the side, gritting his teeth with a cold sneer. “Once this call goes through, it won’t take an hour before everyone in the compound and the entire military camp knows about your willfulness. You think those female soldiers in the communications company can keep their mouths shut? Do you know what they call you?”

Lin Yingying was starting to feel a bit impatient from the wait, so she casually asked, “What do they call me?”

Ye Zhiting gave a snort, then turned his head away and ignored her.

Lin Yingying lifted her foot to kick him. Just then, the operator on the other end said the call had gone through, so she spoke into the receiver, “Hello.”

A timid, ingratiating voice came over the line. “Yingying? You finally called back…”

Lin Yingying’s expression instantly darkened. In an icy tone, she asked, “Why are you at our house again? Where are my parents?”

“Lin… your father went down to the Second Military Region, and your mother took the troupe down to gather material and experience life. I… I’m helping your parents water the vegetables and flowers. Yingying, are you and Manman doing well? Our Manman isn’t like you, so…”

“Alright,” Lin Yingying interrupted coldly. She asked a few more questions about her parents, and seeing that the woman still wanted to bring up Ye Manman, she slammed the phone down with a sharp click.

Normally, if her mother wasn’t home, she would entrust a neighbor or an orderly to look after the house. But Mother Ye always claimed to be a relative from Father Lin’s hometown and would take over every time.

Thinking about the days when her parents weren’t home and how Mother Ye would drift around her house like a ghost, Lin Yingying felt an urge to bully Ye Manman.

Ye Zhiting looked at her with gloating delight. “Heh, no one at home.”

Lin Yingying shot him a glare. “You’re really getting more and more in need of a beating.”

Over on the other side, Huo Qingshan noticed Lin Yingying losing her temper, so he walked over to ask what was wrong.

Lin Yingying immediately demonstrated what it meant to change expressions in an instant. Her frosty face turned into a sweet smile. “It’s nothing. I just need to make another call.” She pushed Huo Qingshan aside to wait.

Huo Qingshan gave her a suspicious look. “If there’s any difficulty…”

“There’s absolutely no difficulty!” Lin Yingying tilted her head up at him, acting spoiled. “Wait for me, okay? Be good.”

She quickly ran back and asked the operator to connect her to her maternal grandmother’s house.

Grandmother would definitely be home, and if she was lucky, her younger uncle might be there too.

The call went through, and the moment Lin Yingying heard her grandmother’s slightly hoarse voice, she began speaking in a stream of coquettish tones, expressing her longing as vividly as if she were right in their arms. She was practically clinging to them through the telephone line like a twisted strand of candy, and as she spoke, she even started wiping away tears, her voice thick with nasal emotion.

She had been close to her maternal grandparents since childhood and always called them Grandfather and Grandma in person.

On the other end, the two elders were deeply distressed upon hearing her voice. The old man, his voice booming like a bell, began reproaching Father Lin. “That Xiao Lin knows how to dote on his wife but not on his daughter. Why didn’t he have his wife go down for re-education back then?”

The old lady said, “Oh now, old man, don’t stir things up. If he’d sent your daughter down for re-education, wouldn’t you have fallen out with him?”

She fussed over Lin Yingying with heartfelt concern, then asked what had happened.

Lin Yingying straightforwardly told her about how she had taken a liking to Huo Qingshan and wanted to marry him.

The old lady let out an “Oh dear,” and said, “Baby, you haven’t just let that little head of yours get overheated, have you?”

Lin Yingying replied, “Grandma, I swear, your baby’s little head is perfectly cool, not the least bit overheated.” She covered the mouthpiece with her hand and said in a small voice, “Grandma, when I’m with him, I feel especially comfortable, not the slightest bit irritated.”

Ye Zhiting gave a derisive snort. “And who was it just now that slammed the phone down?”

Lin Yingying glared at him. That was because you were standing right there!

From the other end of the line came a clear, magnetic voice. “Tell me, Yingying, who was it that, as a child, kept saying she wanted to marry her little uncle?”

Lin Yingying burst into giggles. “Back then, Little Uncle, you were the most handsome, the smartest, and had the best voice—so good it could make someone’s ears pregnant!”

She was the best at showering her little uncle with flattery.

Over the phone came his unrestrained laughter. “So you’re saying the son-in-law you’ve found is even more handsome than your little uncle? Why is it that I don’t believe that?”

After bantering back and forth for a while, Lin Yingying felt as if she had gone back home.

Ye Zhiting poured cold water from the side. “The switchboard operator can hear everything, you know. Don’t you have any shame?”

Lin Yingying ignored him and went on chatting with her family about how wonderful Huo Qingshan was. “Little Uncle, can you help me get in touch with my parents and have them send me a telegram tomorrow approving the marriage?”

“Oh? Which one of you is the monkey here?” Little Uncle teased.

Lin Yingying wasn’t the least bit embarrassed. “The two of us are perfectly evolved. Ye Zhiting is the monkey.”

Ye Zhitin: ………… What the hell…

Little Uncle said, “Come on then, Little Monkey, tell me which one of you is in such a hurry.”

Lin Yingying knew her little uncle was tactfully asking why she was in such a rush to get married and whether it was Huo Qingshan’s idea.

She had always liked her little uncle; he was much easier to talk to than her parents. So she told him everything, word for word. She especially emphasized how, when she was with Huo Qingshan, she felt happy, her emotions were calm, and she wasn’t the least bit irritable.

Like her mother, they firmly believed that the strange illness she had contracted was real. It wasn’t, as her father and foster grandmother thought, that she had been spoiled, nor was it, as her second aunt believed, that she had some kind of mental illness.

Hearing her say this, her little uncle clicked his tongue on the other end, clearly intrigued.

Lin Yingying then told them how Huo Qingshan refused to marry her, thinking she was acting on impulse, rebelling against her parents in pursuit of excitement and fun, and how he had even laid down three ground rules.

She began acting spoiled. “Grandfather, Grandma, Little Uncle, he really is wonderful. He saved me and never tried to use that to make me repay him. You tell me, after I finally like someone, shouldn’t you all help me?”

Little Uncle said, “From the sound of it, this fiancé of yours seems a bit domineering.”

Lin Yingying laughed. “More domineering than the old man at home? More domineering than your big brother? They’re the real male chauvinists!”

“Alright then, just wait. I’ll go buy a ticket right now…”

“No, no, no, Little Uncle. Your research institute is so busy, you mustn’t waste time on me. Besides, if one of you comes and then another, you might scare him.” Of course, she didn’t actually think Huo Qingshan would be scared. She just felt there was no need to make such a big fuss over her getting married—everyone’s work was important.

These days, weddings were kept simple. Her eldest brother and her cousins had all gotten married on their own while away from home.

There was a moment of silence on the other end, no sound at all—she guessed Little Uncle must have covered the receiver to discuss it with her grandparents.

After a while, his pleasant voice came through again. “Come over tomorrow at noon and wait for a call.”

That was as good as having an insurance policy! Lin Yingying happily blew a kiss into the receiver. “Little Uncle, you’d better be giving me a big gift~~”

There would be no wedding banquet, but she still intended to collect all the gift money she could.

Her little uncle was a returned overseas student and now a top-ranking technical expert. His salary and benefits were excellent, and he even had access to special supplies, including regular allocations of imported liquor.

That trunk of tin-box biscuits she had brought with her to the countryside, along with imported chocolates and over twenty jin (10 kg) of white sugar, had all been prepared for her by her little uncle.

From the other end came a string of fluent English—her little uncle’s way of teasing her—followed by his laughter. “Of course. Little Uncle will prepare your dowry.”

Hanging up the phone, Lin Yingying felt completely at ease, brimming with confidence as if she had just won a battle.

She thanked the female operator, then turned to Ye Zhiting with a provocative look. “You ill-evolved tattletale!”

Ye Zhiting was so angry he retorted coldly, “Don’t celebrate too soon. Tomorrow they’ll drag you back.”

Lin Yingying said, “You’re overthinking it. My dad only has the authority to let go, not the privilege to transfer a single educated youth.”

Ye Zhiting mocked her. “You still won’t admit you’ve been spoiled. And what now? Your little uncle actually lets you have your way?”

Sure enough, only someone who had been eroded by the capitalist sugar-coated bullet could understand her! He didn’t like Lin Yingying’s little uncle at all—that overly handsome, overly refined, and highly calculating man!

“Wrong! It’s because they trust me. As for you… tch~” She was still speaking when Huo Qingshan had already come over, his arm reaching past her to pay directly.

Lin Yingying immediately gave him a sweet smile. “A telegram will come tomorrow. Your father-in-law and mother-in-law aren’t together, so as long as one of them sends it, that’s enough.”

Huo Qingshan: “…………”

Ye Zhiting rolled his eyes to the heavens.

Lin Yingying was confident about her mother. As long as her mother understood her daughter’s special condition, her opinion would be no different from that of her grandmother and the others.

As for her father, Lin Yingying wasn’t quite as sure. By rights, he should like a grassroots officer like Huo Qingshan, but her mother had once said that there had been a time when her father was extremely anxious that his precious jade cabbage at home would be rooted up by some pig outside—he saw everyone as a thief.

Sweat dripped down…

When they came out of the post office, the sun had already set. The evening breeze brushed against her hair and the scarf at her chest, as light and buoyant as her mood.

Ye Zhiting caught up, fixing Huo Qingshan with a cold stare.

He didn’t trust Huo Qingshan. Being a man himself, he knew exactly what men were like. For such a beautiful girl as her, the moment she showed even the slightest opening, there would be countless men pouncing on her, leaving nothing but scraps behind.

He didn’t believe Huo Qingshan hadn’t done anything to her.

Seeing his face puffed up like an angry pufferfish and his expression looking unwell, Lin Yingying asked in surprise, “Have you not eaten since you ran out at noon until now?”

Ye Zhiting gave a cold snort.

Lin Yingying pulled out a rather squashed vegetable bun and the smallest tomato from her shoulder bag, shoved them into his hand, and said with a smile, “Here, have a wedding bun. When I get married, you’d better give me a big red envelope.”

She swiftly hopped onto the back seat of the bicycle and urged Huo Qingshan to hurry back.

Watching their figures recede into the distance, Ye Zhiting: “…………”

He stood there holding a bun in one hand and a tomato in the other. The moment his anger flared, he wanted to throw them away. But when he raised his hand, he couldn’t bring himself to do it—wasting food would bring heaven’s wrath and lightning strikes.

So he took a fierce bite of the bun, as if biting into Huo Qingshan’s flesh.

As he ate, Ye Zhiting angrily realized that the bun was damn delicious!

On the road, Lin Yingying started acting spoiled and fishing for praise with Huo Qingshan again. “Brother Qingshan, I want to sit in front~”

Huo Qingshan: “……” There was a perfectly good back seat and she refused to sit there, insisting on the top bar—this girl… so willful!

Lin Yingying spread her arms in a mock embrace. “Hold your waist, or sit in front. Pick one.”

Huo Qingshan pressed his lips together without a word.

Lin Yingying smiled triumphantly, drawing her slender arms around his lean waist and resting her chin on his broad back. She breathed in the fresh, clean scent that flowed toward her in waves, and her mood grew even better.

Huo Qingshan, on the other hand, was so tense his whole body stiffened. If not for his strong self-control, he might have sent both himself and the bicycle tumbling straight into the ditch.