Chapter 9 Coveted

The elderly woman’s blood even splashed a few drops onto Ma Hongmei’s cloth shoes, sending a chill up her spine.
Before she could react, Gu Shutong turned around and dealt her a resounding slap across the face. “Hurry — go to the villagers’ committee and get help. Get a cart to take Mom to the health clinic!”

“Ah.”
Ma Hongmei stumbled and nearly fell. Then she turned and rushed out in a panic.

A pair of fair, slender hands gently wiped away the blood from the corner of Gu’s mother’s lips. Gu Shutong raised his gaze and briefly met Su Niannian’s worried, apricot-colored eyes. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and his voice came out dry: “Sister-in-law… today’s incident was all due to my wife’s confusion. I hope you won’t hold it against her… I…”

Su Niannian’s feather-like lashes trembled slightly, interrupting him. “Mom’s health is the most important thing. Let’s not talk about the rest.”
Everything was already a foregone conclusion. If it had been Gu Shutong who came to Su’s home to propose marriage back then, she would certainly not have agreed — perhaps the couple might have become her way to leave Lotus Village.

When Su Niannian went in to help pack up the elderly woman’s belongings, she quietly slipped two dresses into a corner of the room.

…the elderly woman’s lungs were already in poor condition, and after suffering a strong shock, her condition had become much more precarious — there was much less air going in than there was going out. The doctor shook his head and quietly suggested that the family say their goodbyes.
Ma Hongmei fell to the floor, shaking. “I… I just said a few words of the truth. I didn’t mean to make her mad… I…”

The veins stood out on Gu Shutong’s forehead. He leaned down, grabbed his wife, and forced her up. “Weren’t you acting so tough just now? Where’s that spirit gone? If Gu Zhiye finds out you made his mother this mad, just wait — he’ll surely make you pay for it!”

“That’s all because you and Su Niannian messed things up! Are you denying that? Gu Shutong, search your conscience. From the moment I married into your family, I’ve been a dutiful wife — I’ve cared for you both without complaints. I’ve never held your disability against you. But you? You’re looking elsewhere while we suffer. What kind of life is this?!”
Ma Hongmei was terrified, and in the face of both of them, she began to weep openly.

The doctor furrowed his brows. “Comrade, this is a hospital. Please keep quiet.”

“Doctor, is there a phone here? I want to call home. My husband doesn’t know what’s happened yet…”
Su Niannian’s calm words made both the couple’s hearts leap into their throats — even Ma Hongmei fell silent, staring at her in alarm.

The doctor nodded. “Yes, follow me.”
Gu Shutong forced a smile. “Sister-in-law, you and Hongmei stay in there with Mom. I’ll make that phone call and see if I can get Zhiye back in time to see her for the last time.”

Ma Hongmei tugged at Su Niannian’s arm, and together the two entered the hospital room.
It was evening, and there were few people in the health clinic. Currently, there was only Gu’s mother resting quietly in the hospital bed — her weak breaths barely perceptible, but still there.
Her bony hand fell at her side, marked by needle pricks.
Ma Hongmei knelt by the bedside, crying bitterly: “Mom! Mom! It’s all my fault — I shouldn’t have said those things… I was just jealous of my sister-in-law…”

Su Niannian noticed the elderly woman’s eyes move. Then, that bony hand slowly rested upon Ma Hongmei’s head.
Mrs. Gu slowly opened her eyes, weak and barely able to speak: “Hongmei… I know you’re unwilling… but there’s something you must be clear about. It was Shutong who wanted to enlist, but Zhiye was the one who went for the physical and political reviews. Because of this, the two fell into a dispute, fell down the slope, and that’s how the elder fell and injured his leg. This is not anyone’s fault. It’s fate.”

Ma Hongmei had heard this from her husband, but why, then, was it Gu Shutong whose leg was injured? She felt bitter about it.

“Niannian, come here…”
Su Niannian was surprised by the elderly woman’s tone — then she saw her gesture to Ma Hongmei to leave.
Ma Hongmei reluctantly dried her tears, glared at Su Niannian, and walked out. As soon as she turned a corner, Gu Shutong rushed up to her. She grabbed his arm and whispered, “How’s it going?”
He sighed, reluctantly. “He’s gone on a mission — I can’t reach him.”
“Why aren’t you in there with Mom?”
“Mom asked me to come out. What… do you think she meant by that?”

The couple exchanged glances, both unhappy.
If there was anything left for the elderly woman to care about, it was the pension.
Her husband was a martyr — that pension was a substantial sum of money. The second brother’s family had gotten all the benefits.
How could they let them keep it all for themselves?

Subconsciously, the two pressed their ears against the hospital room’s door.

“Niannian… you… you must be careful of your sister-in-law and brother-in-law. After I’m gone… you should follow Zhiye to the army. He’ll protect you. You’re a good child… be kind to Zhiye… that night… I’m sorry for what I did to you…”
The elderly woman’s grip tightened on Su Niannian’s hand with a kind of unwilling persistence. Her voice was weak — a whisper — and Su Niannian had to lean close to hear. Listening to these words, her heart filled with guilt. After a moment, quietly, she said: “Mom… I’m not Su Niannian.”
Her gaze met the elderly woman’s turbid eyes. The latter smiled: “I don’t care who you are… you’re someone Wang Guifen sent… that makes us even. From now on, you’re a member of the Gu family. Come a little closer… there’s something else I want to tell you…”

Mrs. Gu finished stating her instructions and then fixed her gaze on Su Niannian: “I… I’ve never seen him so happy… you…” The rest of her words were choked in her throat. Her hand fell limply, and she drew her last breath.

She hadn’t gotten to see Gu Shutong again before her death. From her words, there seemed to be a deep disfavor toward her eldest son. The subsequent events left no time for Su Niannian to think — the funeral, the burial, the wake — all fell upon the family, tiring them to the point of exhaustion. The wedding and the funeral fell within the same period, fueling gossip in the village.

After returning to Lotus Village, Su Niannian repeatedly called and wired messages to Gu Zhiye, but there was no response — as if they fell into the sea without a ripple. Her wish to follow him to the army was temporarily put on hold.

Captain Song Aiguo glanced at the new wife who had just entered, dressed in black with a hemp rope tied at her waist — a weak and vulnerable image. It was no wonder Gu Shutong said he was worried about her being left to fend for herself in the Northwest. He sighed quietly. “Zhiye’s wife, go back home first. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear from Zhiye.”

Su Niannian pressed her lips together, understanding that at this moment, she was weak and solitary.
No one would believe her story about Gu’s mother’s death; instead, the villagers seemed to side with Gu Shutong and his wife.
In this difficult situation, it was hard for her to break free.
Feeling unsettled, Su Niannian decided to make a phone call to Xiangyang Village.

Walking back toward her home after leaving the community office, just as she stepped into the courtyard, she heard the sound of someone turning things over in her mother-in-law’s room.
“There’s nothing! The cabinet’s completely empty — aside from some nice clothes. Where did your mother hide the money? I even turned over Su Niannian’s room — not a cent in there…”

Before Ma Hongmei noticed, Su Niannian was already standing in the doorway, her pretty face icy. “Sister-in-law, what do you mean by this?”

“What do I mean? Oh, nothing.”
Ma Hongmei turned, casually stuffed the nice things she had found behind her back, tossed down the dirty mattress cover in front of Su Niannian, and said boldly, “Wash this mosquito net first. We don’t keep idle people in this family.”

Gu Shutong wanted to help, but after a moment of silence, he chose not to say a word — afraid he might push Su Niannian further into danger.

Su Niannian made no rebuttal. She lowered her eyes and quietly carried the mosquito net away.
When she reached the stream at the back of the hill, where there was no one else, Su Niannian used a sharp stone to cut a hole in a patch.
An old bank book fell out.
Mrs. Gu’s words echoed in her ears: “I have a gift… for you, my only daughter-in-law…”