Chapter 23: Taking the TV as Payment

Zhao Lingling suddenly looked up sharply, glaring at the man she had long admired. A mocking, cold smile crept onto her lips:
“Who was it? That precious little sister Zhou Yanyue of yours!”

“Impossible!”

Lu Zhixing instinctively denied her accusation.

Zhao Lingling laughed through her tears. “You’re disgusting! You’re married, yet still tangled up with other women. You’re so protective of Zhou Yanyue, but then you come here acting all righteous for Xie Yunshu? I must’ve been blind to once think you were so high and mighty! Pah!”

She no longer cared about anything. After all, she had already lost her job—what else was there to fear?

Lu Zhixing’s face turned extremely grim.
“I’ll personally investigate this matter!”

Only after he stormed off did Zhao Lingling collapse to the ground, completely drained. Then, she broke down in sobs. What a fool she had been! She had actually believed Zhou Yanyue’s words—that Lu Zhixing hated Xie Yunshu!

She had been used like a weapon by Zhou Yanyue!

Beneath the weak streetlight at the entrance of the old apartment block, two figures stood—one tall, one short—both peering anxiously down the alley.

“Jie!” (Big Sis!)
The taller one, Xie Mingcheng, brightened up and rushed forward. “Why are you back so late?”

Xie Yunshu was bundled up tightly, only her smiling eyes showing.
“I went to pick up some things. Took a bit longer than expected.”

Li Finlan (their mother) came up as well, seeing the two large bundles on the back seat and noting her daughter’s healthy appearance. She let out a sigh of relief.
“You’re really coming back to stay?”

Though her daughter had already been back for two days, Li Finlan still wasn’t fully convinced. Was Yunshu really willing to get divorced from Lu Zhixing? She remembered clearly the shy and tender look her daughter had when she first got married—she had truly liked him.

Xie Yunshu blinked playfully.
“Mom, you’re not planning to kick me out, are you?”

“Of course not!” Li Finlan quickly reassured her, speaking gently as she followed behind.
“Even if you’re getting divorced, this will always be your home.”

Even if it’s small, even if it’s humble.

Xie Yunshu pushed those stressful thoughts aside and linked arms with her mother while letting Xie Mingcheng push the bicycle behind them.
“Mom, from now on I’m staying with you. I’m not going anywhere!”

Li Finlan frowned.
“Don’t be silly. Once things settle down, you’ll still have to remarry. What girl lives alone her whole life?”

“Then I’ll take you with me when I remarry!”
Xie Yunshu grinned mischievously like her teenage self.
“I can’t bear to be without my beloved mother!”

Xie Mingcheng locked up the bicycle and followed behind with the bundles. He immediately chimed in,
“Jie, what about me? Will you take me too?”

This brat!

Before Xie Yunshu could reply, Li Finlan smacked him on the head.
“Talking nonsense again! What kind of sister brings both her mom and her brother when she remarries?”

Xie Mingcheng pouted.
“I don’t want to be separated from my jie!”

Ever since his sister got married, he still hadn’t gotten used to it. That Lu Zhixing guy always acted so high and mighty. Even after so long, he’d only visited once during Chinese New Year! It’s not like their homes were far apart, both in the same city! Wasn’t that just looking down on them?

And if he looked down on their family, could he really treat his sister well? Mingcheng didn’t believe it for a second!

When they opened the rusty iron door and turned on the light, the warm glow instantly filled the small room.

Xie Yunshu sat down and took a sip of hot water, keeping the night’s unpleasant events to herself. Instead, she started counting off tomorrow’s business plan on her fingers:
“I’ve thought it through. Tomorrow I’ll prepare enough food for forty people. If I sell out, I can make four yuan in one day! I’ll scout around some more in the afternoon, maybe I can pick up something else in the evening.”

Xie Mingcheng’s eyes widened slightly.
“Jie, four yuan in just one morning?”

Fresh university graduates only made forty or fifty yuan a month. Even with bonuses and all, seventy yuan was already the ceiling! Compared to that, his sister was making more!

Xie Yunshu knew her little brother too well and immediately glared at him.
“You focus on studying. Making money is not your concern! Only if you get into college will you have more options. I’m selling boxed lunches because I have to!”

If it were just about money, construction workers made decent wages too—but would anyone willingly choose that if they could avoid it? That kind of money was literal blood and sweat. Every penny earned through pure hardship!

Xie Mingcheng scratched his head.
His sister seemed fiercer now, but he liked it. He liked getting scolded by his big sis!

Since he had school the next day, they made him go to bed at nine. After he went outside with a basin to fetch water, Li Finlan finally asked,
“Yunshu, did he agree to the divorce?”

Xie Yunshu answered calmly,
“He has no reason to refuse. I already filled out the application. We’re just waiting for Lu Zhixing to pay back the money and sign the papers. If he drags things out, I’ll go to his work unit and tell his superiors everything.”

But would the hospital leadership really care?

Li Finlan looked uneasy.
“Is it about that 3,000 yuan? If Lu Zhixing refuses to pay, then…”

Xie Yunshu proudly pulled out a savings book.
“Mom, I didn’t go back for nothing today! There’s 1,800 yuan in here—I’ll withdraw it tomorrow. And this is Lu Zhixing’s salary card. When the money’s all paid off, we’ll go get the divorce certificate!”

Lu Zhixing made about 60 yuan a month, with bonuses and welfare subsidies. It would probably take most of the year to repay that 1,200 yuan.

Li Finlan was shocked.
“He gave you his salary card?”

“Why wouldn’t he? Even if we’re divorcing, he owes me money!”
Xie Yunshu snorted coldly. The food and expenses from the past year—ten yuan a month wasn’t nearly enough for him to eat, drink, and clothe himself!

If she didn’t want to get rid of him as soon as possible, she’d make sure to do a full reckoning!

But then…

Xie Yunshu’s eyes lit up with a new idea.
“We still have a color TV at his place. Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll go get it to settle part of the debt!”

Televisions were already becoming common, but they still didn’t have one at home. In their entire building, only Uncle Zhang on the third floor had one. Too bad his wife was obsessive about cleanliness and never let anyone come over to watch.

She still remembered during the August holiday when The Legendary Fok was airing. Their father had just passed away. Li Finlan had gone to the factory to deal with things, and she and Mingcheng were left behind like helpless chicks under a tree, scared and lost, like the whole world had gone dark.

It was Granny Zhang who brought over food and rice. She walked over in her tiny bound feet, opened their iron door, and brought light into that darkness. Zhang’s wife had reluctantly led them upstairs and said curtly,
“Just watch the TV show. Don’t overthink. If the sky falls, the adults will hold it up!”

Though they weren’t in the mood to watch TV, she never forgot that splash of color, nor the theme song:

“The Great Wall of Ten Thousand Miles Shall Never Fall…”