On this first day of the New Year, while some happily ate black carp, others swallowed only anger.
Wang Jianhua’s pride had been thrown to the ground and trampled. What began as a joyful temple fair visit ended in utter humiliation.
Xia Ziyu kept running after him, even falling along the way.
Wang Jianhua finally stopped, helping her up and holding her in his arms:
“Ziyu, do you think I’m useless?”
Xia Ziyu shook her head firmly, “Jianhua, all difficulties are temporary. I’m not Xiaolan, but I’ll always support you. You must believe in yourself. You’ll achieve great things, and we’ll have a good future!”
Would they?
Even Wang Jianhua himself often lacked confidence.
If not for Xia Xiaolan’s encouragement to take the university entrance exam, Wang Jianhua believed he would have rotted away in a place like Big River Village, ultimately wasting his life.
He had doubted himself – whether he could change his fate and save his fallen family.
But Xia Ziyu trusted him completely, without reservation.
Wang Jianhua held the woman in his arms tightly – this was his woman, who trusted him wholeheartedly!
“Ziyu, I’ll give you a good life. We’ll marry after graduation!”
“Mm.”
Xia Ziyu smiled through tears.
Wasn’t this moment what she had been working for?
Today, Xia Xiaolan’s demand for money humiliated Wang Jianhua and severed any possibility of reconciliation between them. It hadn’t been in vain that she endured the temple fair crowd’s cold looks and publicly apologized to Xia Xiaolan. Let Xia Xiaolan be proud and arrogant for now – she would wait for the day when her rival fell and could never rise again!
Even the most beautiful person couldn’t rely on looks forever.
Xia Ziyu had never understood her thoughts so clearly.
She disliked Xia Xiaolan, envied her, even feared her… so she couldn’t let Xia Xiaolan succeed.
“Jianhua, let’s not tell our families about today’s events. It’s the New Year, and if they knew, they’d surely cause an uproar.”
Though angry, Wang Jianhua didn’t want to disturb the peace of the Xia family. The Xia family treated them well, and although he looked down on people like Wang Jingui and Xia Hongxia, he wouldn’t have to deal with them forever.
“Ziyu, are you still taking Second Uncle to see Principal Sun tomorrow? I doubt she’ll appreciate your good intentions!”
Wang Jianhua was still angry, refusing even to say “Xia Xiaolan’s” name, referring to her only as “she.”
Xia Ziyu spoke seriously, “Whether Xiaolan appreciates it or not, I owe her this. Our relationship did wrong her, but what’s done is done. I can make other compensation, but I can’t give you back to her… helping save her parents’ marriage is my way of trying to atone.”
Wang Jianhua thought Xia Ziyu was being too naive.
But who wouldn’t love their girlfriend for being too kind?
If being naive made Ziyu feel better, he would fully support her.
On the second day of the New Year, in rural Anqing, people visited their deceased elders’ graves, and women brought their husbands and children to visit their maiden families.
For someone like Principal Sun, after the national college entrance exams were restored, visitors bearing gifts would stream to her house from the first to around the tenth day of the New Year. Close acquaintances would visit around the second day, while those more distant should be considerate and wait until after the fifth day to avoid being unwelcome.
Xia Ziyu wasn’t particularly close to Principal Sun, but the principal always favored good students.
When Xia Ziyu visited before the New Year, she had mentioned she might come again around the second or third day, saying that since she studied in Beijing year-round, she didn’t want to let the teacher-student relationship grow distant. These were Xia Ziyu’s exact words, hitting Principal Sun’s sweet spot – though thinking carefully, Principal Sun no longer had teaching duties, so how much of a teacher-student relationship could she have with Xia Ziyu?
If Xia Ziyu truly cherished her teachers, she should have been visiting her former subject teachers.
This was where Xia Ziyu was particularly skilled – Principal Sun believed her anyway.
Early in the morning, Xia Ziyu took out the prepared gifts: “Second Uncle, I’ve prepared everything for you. Do you remember everything I taught you?”
Xia Dajun wore his newest clothes and the Liberation brand rubber shoes Wang Jianhua had given him, patting his chest as he promised:
“I’ve been memorizing all night, I definitely won’t forget!”
“Then let’s go to Principal Sun’s house.”
Zhang Cui couldn’t understand her daughter’s thinking. What was the use of worrying about Xia Xiaolan? Would it earn that nasty girl’s gratitude?
And why should their family pay for gifts to save Xia Dajun’s face?
Zhang Cui didn’t consider that the money Xia Dajun earned from manual labor went to Old Mrs. Xia, who then gave it to Xia Ziyu… When Xia Ziyu bought gifts, she was being generous with Xia Dajun’s money! But for someone as selfish as Zhang Cui, regardless of where the money came from, once it reached her hands, it became her family’s money, and spending it pained her.
Xia Ziyu took Xia Dajun to Anqing County and knocked on Principal Sun’s door.
Sun Tian opened the door and found Xia Ziyu standing there. “Hello, Teacher Sun. This is my Second Uncle, Xiaolan’s father.”
“Please come in, please come in. My uncle has been talking about you.”
Sun Tian had a good impression of Xia Xiaolan and shared a special connection with her, having proctored Xia Xiaolan’s placement test when she transferred to their school. The more outstanding Xia Xiaolan’s academic performance became, the more Sun Tian felt proud of the association.
She just didn’t know why Xia Ziyu had brought Xia Xiaolan’s father here. Sun Tian had thought Xia Xiaolan would come too, but no one else followed.
Xia Dajun gave himself encouragement – his niece had said that whether he could bring Xiaolan and her mother back depended on his performance today.
On the second day of the New Year, they were to visit Xia Xiaolan’s maternal grandparents’ graves. Incense, paper money, and candles were prepared, along with white pork, apples, and steamed buns as offerings.
In previous years, there were never any apples – having steamed buns was good enough. When the living couldn’t eat their fill, who could worry about how lavish the dead’s offerings were? The offerings had to remain at the grave, unlike the roosters offered to the gods before the New Year that people could eventually eat. It was a waste of food – you could tell who was rich or poor not by their boasting, but by what they placed at their ancestors’ graves!
Xia Xiaolan’s maternal grandparents had lived hard lives. Years ago, they had fled famine to Seven Wells Village, with her grandmother pregnant with her eldest son, and decided to stay.
With many people having died in the war, some houses in the village stood empty, and the village needed young laborers, so her grandfather settled down there.
A few months later, Xia Xiaolan’s eldest maternal uncle Liu Yong was born. Having endured fear and hardship during the long journey while still in his mother’s womb, he was born as tiny as a kitten. Though they thought he wouldn’t survive and he suffered frequent minor illnesses, they managed to raise him. When Liu Yong was a few years old, his mother became pregnant again, having two daughters in three years – Liu Fen and Liu Fang.
Because Liu Yong was sickly, his parents spoiled him, raising him to become an idle man who stole chickens and dogs instead of doing honest work.
While the two elders were still around to support the family, when Liu Yong was in his teens, Xia Xiaolan’s maternal grandfather died of tuberculosis. Her grandmother, already in poor health, couldn’t withstand this blow, and both passed away. They never saw their grandchildren being born – at that time, none of their three children were married, with Liu Yong only in his teens, and Liu Fen and Liu Fang still children.
“I’m worthless, never let your grandparents enjoy a single day of happiness.”
Before they even reached the burial ground, Liu Yong started wiping away tears, and Liu Fen cried too.
Xia Xiaolan didn’t know how to console them. The regret of wanting to care for parents when they’re no longer there was universal. Her maternal grandparents had died too young, both not yet fifty, never having the chance to enjoy their children’s and grandchildren’s success.
When they arrived at the graves with their offerings, they found a woman already crouching there, crying.
That voice, rising and falling dramatically – wasn’t it Xia Xiaolan’s younger maternal aunt, Liu Fang?
“Father, Mother, you left too early, not watching over us three siblings, open your eyes and see…”
Bah! What a drama queen!
Xia Xiaolan wanted to tell her aunt that if the deceased opened their eyes, she’d probably be scared enough to wet herself!
“Liu Fang! What are you doing again?”
Early in the morning, Liu Fang was putting on this show at their parents’ graves. If villagers saw and heard this, who knew what gossip they’d spread? Liu Yong’s head ached with anger at her behavior.