◎ Sunbathing ◎

When Gu Qiao went shopping with her aunt, her first instinct was to check the price tags. After looking at the tags on several items, she told her aunt she might as well go to the wholesale market — she’d heard it was cheaper. Her aunt shot her a glance, and Gu Qiao understood perfectly well what that look meant: *I would never take you somewhere like that.* Once it was clear her aunt insisted on buying her something, she asked Gu Qiao what she liked. Gu Qiao had her eye on a bright yellow suit, but that was vetoed. She then spotted a moss-green dress, but that was rejected too. Her aunt finally decided to buy her a pale blue suit. Gu Qiao flatly refused — it was too expensive, she didn’t really like it, and it would simply be a waste. Since she didn’t particularly like any of the options being offered, she might as well choose the cheapest one and save some money. Among the clothes that fell within her aunt’s taste, Gu Qiao picked the least expensive one.

Her aunt ran into the parents of Luo the third child’s classmate at the department store. Young Luo and the girl immediately hit it off, and the adults on both sides knew each other as well, so they arranged to meet for coffee and ordered orange juice and cake for the children. Both his own sister and the other girl treated Luo the fourth child as if he didn’t exist. After finishing his cake, Luo the fourth child decided there was nothing fun about this and suggested going home. Luo Madam said to Gu Qiao: “Take the fourth one back with you. We’ll sit a little longer.”

Unlike her stepson, Luo Madam was responsible about it — she had the waiter call them a taxi and only relaxed once she had seen both of them into the car.

In the cab, Luo the fourth child asked Gu Qiao: “Cousin, once you start working, does that mean you won’t be able to make me fried chicken anymore?”

“Auntie Zhang will make you delicious fried chicken.”

“Auntie Zhang’s fried chicken isn’t good at all. Will you still make it for me?”

“Auntie Zhang just arrived — she still needs time to adjust. I wasn’t that good at it in the beginning either.”

Seeing that his cousin was no longer going to cook, Luo the fourth child reluctantly brought up his second brother: “Second Brother really loves the food you cook too. He used to say that even Grandma’s most delicious dishes couldn’t compare to yours. If you stop cooking, Second Brother will really miss out.”

“Our cousin doesn’t need me to cook for him.” Otherwise he wouldn’t have specifically suggested having meals delivered from a restaurant.

Gu Qiao thought about calling her mother as soon as she got back home, to tell her she had found a job and ask her not to worry. She also wondered whether Lou Deyu had gone home yet. Her letter of thanks had been published several days ago — if he had seen it, he should be headed back to the village by now…

The housekeeper hadn’t immediately connected the “Gu Jinghui” that Lou Deyu had mentioned with the lady of the household — she referred to the mistress of the house as Teacher Gu. It only occurred to her afterward that the master of the house called Teacher Gu something like “Hui,” which would make her Gu Jinghui. The visitor had introduced himself as Teacher Gu’s brother-in-law, and the housekeeper wasn’t quite sure whether or not to let him in.

Looking at the man’s face, the housekeeper didn’t dare let him in easily, yet she was also afraid of turning away someone who really was a relative.

Lou Deyu had guessed most of what was going through the housekeeper’s mind. Under normal circumstances he absolutely hated being looked down upon, but today he had more pressing matters, so he set everything else aside: “Is Gu Qiao here? Tell her that her father is waiting at the door and ask her to come out for a moment.”

Auntie Zhang did know Gu Qiao — Gu Qiao had helped her get familiar with the kitchen and taught her how to make coffee. This father and daughter really didn’t look much alike, but given his tone, it wasn’t impossible that he was Gu Qiao’s father. Auntie Zhang replied: “Gu Qiao went out with Teacher Gu.”

“When will they be back?”

Speaking through the gap in the door, the housekeeper said: “I’m not entirely sure about that.”

“That’s fine — I’ll wait outside. You go back in.”

If the visitor had a more refined appearance, Auntie Zhang would have invited him inside to wait. But she had only just arrived at this household and wasn’t very familiar with it yet. She had also been reading about home-invasion robberies in the newspaper lately, and with the look on his face, she truly didn’t dare let him in right away. She said: “Please wait for just a little while then.” At least there were other people inside — she could go in and ask whether this person was actually a relative.

Lou Deyu stood at the door waiting for Gu Qiao to return. In his younger days, he had been considered rather fair-skinned and good-looking in the village. He had earned some money in recent years and had kept himself reasonably well-maintained, but catching a glimpse of himself in the bathhouse mirror, he was startled — who on earth was this lump of black coal staring back at him? How had he ended up looking like this in just a year? He had hoped to make something of himself and wipe the smug looks off certain people’s faces. Instead he had come to this — a truly laughable state of affairs. After reading Gu Qiao’s letter of thanks in the newspaper and learning that the house back home had been taken over, he had immediately rushed to the train station, determined to buy a ticket and go back to reclaim it. He had no desire whatsoever to show up at Gu Jinghui’s miserable household, but at the train station, he had thought of Gu Qiao — she had come to the city looking for him, so he had a responsibility to bring her home. If something happened to a girl not yet twenty years old because she was out here looking for him, he would never be able to face Gu Jingshu again. Thinking this, he didn’t go to his cousin’s place — he went back and took on more porter work instead. He kept delaying his visit to the Luo household, telling himself he was earning a little more money so things would be easier at home. Then at noon that day, he thought again about the house being occupied and could wait no longer. By the time he came to the Luo household, he had already mentally rehearsed every possible humiliation he might face.

When it actually happened — being left standing outside the door — it didn’t hurt quite as much as he’d expected. Having lived through countless imagined humiliations in his mind, he had grown almost numb to the real thing.

Lou Deyu was still waiting when the door opened. Auntie Zhang smiled and said: “Sorry to have kept you waiting — please come in quickly. Would you like tea or coffee?”

“Don’t trouble yourself — I’ll just wait outside.”

“We were rude to you just now. Please don’t take it to heart.”

“I’m not taking it to heart. I just want to stand outside and wait. It’s a sunny day — I want to soak up some sunlight.” Lou Deyu looked up at the sun. “I’ve heard that wealthy foreigners go to the beach for their holidays to sunbathe — they call it a ‘sunbath,’ deliberately getting themselves deeply tanned. It’s only people with no money who shut themselves up indoors all day and go pale and flabby. With sunshine this good right in front of us, wouldn’t it be a waste not to use it?” As if his deep tan were the result of lounging on a beach with too much money and nothing better to do.

Auntie Zhang thought to herself: *You’ve already turned into a lump of black coal — perhaps enough sunbathing.* But no matter how many times she tried to coax him in, Lou Deyu insisted on standing outside for his sunbath.

Auntie Zhang came back and told Luo Peiyin: “He says he wants to sunbathe outside, and that wealthy foreigners sunbathe outdoors every day — though I really don’t see the connection. He’s probably still upset with me…”

“Go ahead with your work. Don’t worry about this.”

When Luo Peiyin opened the door and saw Lou Deyu, his first impression differed slightly from what he had imagined while reading the newspaper. These past months of physical labor had sweat away whatever shrewd, slippery quality Lou Deyu once had. The sun had dried up the last reserves of courage he had managed to accumulate, leaving him looking somewhat at a loss.

“Come inside and wait — Gu Qiao will be back shortly. Auntie Zhang only recently arrived here and doesn’t know the family’s relatives yet…” Luo Peiyin didn’t introduce himself. He figured that if Gu Qiao’s father had managed to find this place, he had either been in contact with someone back home or had read Gu Qiao’s letter of thanks in the newspaper — his name appeared quite prominently in that letter.

Upon seeing Luo Peiyin, Lou Deyu needed no introduction — he would have given none anyway — to guess that this must be the son of the three-times-married old man. There was no other young man of that size in the household. He had a vivid memory of the old man’s son, even if he still wasn’t very clear on the boy’s name.

Since the old man’s son had come out to invite him in, Lou Deyu stopped insisting and went inside.

Luo Peiyin didn’t ask Lou Deyu what he wanted to drink. Seeing that his face was covered in sweat, he went straight to the refrigerator, took out a can of cold cola, opened it, and set it in front of him. He also had Auntie Zhang slice some watermelon and bring it over. Then he took a few newspapers from the rack and handed them to Lou Deyu: “You can read while you wait. Gu Qiao should be back within an hour. She’s been looking for you the whole time.” Lou Deyu was just about to say something polite when he noticed that the other man had opened a book and started reading, showing no intention of further conversation.

*After all these years, this kid still can’t bring himself to call me Uncle-in-law!*

Lou Deyu had met Luo Peiyin when he was just a child, at the wedding. He hadn’t wanted to attend Gu Jinghui and the three-times-married old man’s wedding at all. He had said to Gu Jingshu: “They didn’t specifically invite us — that means they don’t want us there. Let’s just send some wedding gifts.” But Gu Jingshu, stubborn as always, had decided that Gu Jinghui hadn’t invited them because she didn’t want them to go to any expense, and she absolutely insisted on taking an overnight train with the wedding gifts. “Taking the train” was just an expression — in truth they stood the whole way. And sure enough, the hosts had not wanted them there, treating them practically as if they didn’t exist.

That son of the three-times-married old man had infuriated him too. He had reached into his pocket and pulled out ten yuan as a gift for the Luo child, smiling as he said: “This is a red envelope from your uncle-in-law.” Ten yuan could buy quite a lot back then. He had given it through gritted teeth — if it weren’t to save face for Gu Jingshu, he wouldn’t have acknowledged this child at all. And what did the child do? He coolly said “thank you, I don’t want it” and walked away as if Lou Deyu didn’t exist, without calling him Uncle-in-law even once. Lou Deyu had cursed inwardly: *So this is what a child raised by the so-called scholarly family Gu Jinghui always boasts about looks like. Some upbringing this scholarly family has — a hundred times worse than the children I raise.* Even as a little girl, Gu Qiao could greet people brightly and properly. If Gu Qiao had been raised by someone else’s family, who knows what kind of upbringing she might have had.

He was angry at the Luo child for not calling him Uncle-in-law — though there had been plenty of other things at the wedding to anger him as well. The point was that it was just one of many grievances; piled on top of everything else, this one thing that barely merited his anger ended up making him extremely angry. Gu Jingshu scolded him for being irrational about it: wasn’t it better that he hadn’t called him that, so they could keep the ten yuan and buy sweets and cakes for their own child? In the end, the ten yuan became toffee candy and a small cake. Gu Qiao had been learning addition and subtraction at the time and was very enthusiastic about counting, so she divided the cake and candy into seven equal portions so everyone could have a share. Gu Qiao’s maternal grandfather had still been alive then.

In Lou Deyu’s estimation, the old man’s son was now taller than the old man and better-looking too. If an old man like his could marry three times, this son of his was probably capable of an even more spectacular record.

Waiting was torment, and Lou Deyu was desperately thirsty. He tilted his head and gulped down half a can of cola. If the can hadn’t already been opened, he wouldn’t have touched a drop of it. The watermelon he hadn’t touched at all.

Lou Deyu kept his eyes fixed on the newspaper, but his thoughts had wandered far beyond its pages. Even though Gu Jingshu often spoke well of her cousin behind her back, she had never considered seeking Gu Jinghui’s help or riding on her coattails. This time, Gu Qiao coming to the city to find Gu Jinghui — she must have been left with no other choice. Someone as proud as Gu Jingshu had once again lost face in front of this snobbish cousin of hers, and it was all because of him.

The breeze from the living room was pleasantly cool. Now that he knew Gu Qiao was safe and well, Lou Deyu’s thoughts returned to his manners. He smiled and said: “I came in a hurry this time and didn’t bring anything. Next time I’ll bring you all some local specialties to try. Because of certain personal matters on my part, Gu Qiao has imposed on you all these days. Fortunately everything has been sorted out, and today I’ll be taking Gu Qiao home.”

Luo Peiyin asked one more question: “How was it sorted out?” From what he could see of Lou Deyu, it really didn’t look like things had been resolved at all.

“It will be sorted out very soon.” Once he got back, he would reclaim the house. What kind of moneylender demands that a borrower vacate the property after less than a year — especially when the debtor wasn’t even there? That was nothing but bullying the weak and defenseless. Besides, the land under that house belonged to the Gu family. People surnamed Gu owed those moneylenders nothing.

Luo Peiyin didn’t press further. He simply said: “Gu Qiao already has a job. She’s due to start the day after tomorrow.”

“What kind of job?”

Luo Peiyin didn’t go into detail. Having heard what Gu Qiao’s father had just said, he wasn’t sure whether Gu Qiao would want her specific situation disclosed to her father, so he only said: “University logistics.”

Lou Deyu sensed that this job hadn’t been found by Gu Qiao herself — it had most likely been arranged by Gu Jinghui. In the past, he would certainly have told Gu Qiao to go home and study for another year, until she could get into university. Whether raised in someone else’s household or in his own, she could make it into university. But now he hesitated.

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