“The tobacco factory has allocated housing to the Shi family. I visited Mother Shi and told her about it. She readily agreed and happily started packing, but Sister Wei…”
Kang Wei sighed.
He couldn’t blame Mother Shi for failing to control Wei Juanhong.
Mother Shi was elderly after all. Shi Kai and Shi Ping weren’t her only children – her earlier ones had all died young. She had Shi Kai late in life, followed by Shi Ping.
With Shi Kai gone and Shi Ping unreliable, what would happen to the two children if Mother Shi didn’t accommodate her daughter-in-law?
Kang Wei had secretly met Mother Shi twice. She was reasonable despite being illiterate, not one of those difficult old ladies. She was understanding and repeatedly expressed gratitude for Zhou Cheng’s help, making even Kang Wei feel embarrassed.
Kang Wei knew why Zhou Cheng cared about whether the Shi family would move.
Zhou Cheng certainly couldn’t let Wei Juanhong have her way. Regarding compensation for the Shi family, the main concern wasn’t Wei Juanhong, but Mother Shi and Shi Kai’s two children.
If necessary, Zhou Cheng would separate Wei Juanhong from the Shi family.
He would continue looking after the Shi family but stop managing Wei Juanhong’s affairs!
The job transfer was done – if she couldn’t perform, what could Zhou Cheng do?
Kang Wei couldn’t decide for Zhou Cheng. Since Zhou Cheng had asked for his help, he could only relay what he knew.
“…Let’s see how it goes.”
Zhou Cheng said vaguely on the phone, then changed the subject:
“Just keep an eye on the Shi family’s situation. As I mentioned before, come to the academy soon, I’ll hand over the items to you.”
Kang Wei agreed.
Before hanging up, Kang Wei chuckled: “Sister-in-law still hasn’t forgiven you?”
Zhou Cheng slammed down the phone.
That Kang Wei knew how to hit where it hurt, deliberately poking at his sore spot. How could he face Xiaolan before resolving the Shi family situation?
Xiaolan wasn’t joking this time.
The situation was even more serious than last year when he proposed marriage and she refused.
Zhou Cheng felt uneasy.
When Xiaolan said they needed time to cool off, how long did she mean? Zhou Cheng felt he had calmed down, but now he felt like he was in solitary confinement, not knowing when Xiaolan would release him!
…
Moving?
Wei Juanhong had no intention of moving.
She had seen the factory-allocated housing – cramped and small. Even combined, the two apartments weren’t spacious, and they had to pay rent, deducted directly from wages.
She had clearly stated she didn’t want to move. Though Xia Xiaolan and Guan Hui’e had agreed that day, now the factory housing allocation had come through, forcing her to move.
Housing allocation required application and registration, which Wei Juanhong had never done. The factory notified her only after the allocation… Xia Xiaolan and Guan Hui’e must have been saying one thing and doing another.
Wei Juanhong harbored anger, saying nothing about it at home.
Unexpectedly, her mother-in-law Mother Shi seemed to know everything, having packed their belongings at home: “Juanhong, I’ve found an auspicious date. While you’re off duty, we’ll move. The timing is perfect with your work unit’s housing allocation.”
The Shi family didn’t have much luggage.
When they came to Beijing for medical treatment, not expecting to stay, they’d only brought two changes of clothes for the family.
After Mother Shi’s surgery and Wei Juanhong’s learning that Shi Kai died saving Zhou Cheng, they changed their minds about returning home.
Their current possessions – pots, bowls, ladles – were all provided with the Zhou family’s help.
When the Shi family moved into this courtyard house, even the bedding was ready. Kang Wei, running errands for Zhou Cheng, had bought hundreds of honeycomb briquettes and all necessary daily items.
Moving now was simple – just packing personal clothing would suffice.
Wei Juanhong kept her head down, silent.
She had just returned home and hadn’t said anything, yet her mother-in-law already knew about the factory housing allocation. Her brother-in-law Shi Ping was simple-minded and couldn’t have told Mother Shi, so someone else must have. Wei Juanhong knew who that someone was.
Under Mother Shi’s repeated urging, Wei Juanhong finally looked up:
“Mother, the Zhou family says one thing but does another. I don’t want to move.”
They said they’d transferred her to office work, but maybe they were deliberately making things difficult, waiting to laugh at her. With her work not going smoothly, her temper wasn’t improving either.
Mother Shi cried in anger:
“How heartless you’ve become! How else should they treat our family… Juanhong, you weren’t like this before. What’s gone wrong?”
What belongs to others stays with others.
Don’t take advantage you shouldn’t.
Owing nothing to anyone lets you sleep peacefully at night!
The small unit-assigned apartment certainly wasn’t as nice as having its own courtyard house, but it was according to policy. Their current residence was taking advantage of the Zhou family. Mother Shi felt deeply ashamed and troubled by this.
Holding her young grandson, Mother Shi took an unusually firm stance: “If you won’t move, go back to our hometown. Quit the factory job, we’ll all go back!”
Wei Juanhong stammered: “Mother, hometown jobs aren’t as good as those in the capital…”
But Mother Shi fell silent, having made up her mind.
Jobs in the hometown certainly weren’t as good as in the capital. If they quit their good jobs here and returned to Botong County, they couldn’t trouble the Zhou family again.
But if they hadn’t come to Beijing, her daughter-in-law wouldn’t have become so stubborn, shamelessly relying on the Zhou family in Beijing. Better to return home! Even without work, her eyes were healed now – they could return to farming.
When Wei Juanhong showed disbelief, Mother Shi held her grandson tighter: “If you won’t listen, go back to your parent’s home. Remarry if you want, but you can’t take the children. Even if I have to eat chaff, I’ll raise these siblings!”
Return to her parents’ home?
After Shi Kai’s death, Wei Juanhong herself had chosen to stay with the Shi family.
She had never thought of leaving.
When her family came to persuade her, she’d driven them away, swearing never to remarry. She’d even rejected her family’s attempt to claim the job position, seriously offending them.
If Mother Shi drove her away, Wei Juanhong had nowhere to go.
The factory job was only available because she was a martyr’s widow, contingent on her remaining the Shi family’s daughter-in-law… If Mother Shi went to the factory and denied her as Shi Kai’s wife, the factory would certainly dismiss her.
Wei Juanhong collapsed to the ground.
Crying while clutching Mother Shi’s trouser leg.
Mother Shi also cried, stroking Wei Juanhong’s head:
“Juanhong, no matter how good others’ things are, they belong to others. You only see Shi Kai’s sacrifice, not how his comrades suffer. Captain Zhou isn’t much older than Shi Ping. He wants to help the Shi family, but we can’t burden him for life…”
Mother Shi felt they might have truly made a mistake coming to Beijing.
They should have returned after her eyes were healed.
The Zhou family were all good people, and Juanhong was nearly destroying all their goodwill.