Chapter 7: Guests at Home

“Auntie, come home quickly. My uncle just fainted!” The person rushing in was Qian Dong, drenched in sweat and panting heavily.

“What?”

Liu Huiru immediately panicked, hastening to leave with Qian Dong, nearly forgetting her own small purse in her fluster. Qian Lai picked up the bag and followed closely behind, her heart sinking with a hint of disappointment: it seemed that, in Liu Huiru’s heart, Qian Jiangang still held a significant place.

The words that almost burst out of her mouth were swallowed back by sheer will.

At that moment, the Qian family’s small courtyard was cluttered with all sorts of scattered belongings, remnants of their preparations to move house. Liu Huiru was the first to rush into the bedroom, grabbing hold of the just-awakened Qian Jiangang, insisting he go to the hospital.

“What are you doing? It’s nothing serious. Dr. Xiao Hu from the factory already gave me some medicine.”

Qian Jiangang shook off her hand and pressed his forehead, his face filled with anxiety.

Just now, upon hearing that those people had been staying in the abandoned workshop for several days, Qian Jiangang had a bad feeling. The very thing he dreaded had come to pass! Every single treasure he had so carefully hidden away was now gone without a trace.

Yet, he could neither report it to the police nor confide in anyone—he would be suffocated by the secret. If those thieves realized what they had and sold it for money… or if the police confiscated them as stolen goods… Worse yet, if they traced things back to his past deeds…

He dared not imagine it! In the end, he was like a dumb man swallowing bitter herbs, unable to voice his suffering.

For a moment, he felt he finally understood Qin Hongxiang’s bitterness.

He pitied himself, having relied on those treasures to support the main branch of the family, always thinking that, with that stash as a cushion, his twilight years would not be too difficult.

Now it was all gone! Utterly ruined! It was as if his lifeline had been cut.

“What’s wrong with you? Is it your blood pressure again?” Liu Huiru still cared about her husband.

“What’s wrong? It’s all because of your precious daughter making me angry.” Qian Jiangang glared at Qian Lai, who stood behind Liu Huiru, his face etched with loathing. He turned over, presenting his back to them both. “I’m telling you, we’re out of money now. The bride price from the Gu family—you need to give it back.”

Qian Lai sneered. “Just half a month ago, where did your salary go? Oh, right. You gave it to Auntie. If you’re broke, why not ask her for money?”

“You!” Seeing Qian Lai’s schadenfreude, Qian Jiangang wanted to get up and thrash her. Alas, the moment he tried, his temples throbbed painfully.

“Liu Huiru, control your good daughter. Her father is this ill, and she still has the audacity to mock me. Hmph, I won’t be able to work for the rest of the month—I’ll have to take sick leave. Next month, we’ll be left to starve.”

“How could we starve? Qian Xiaozhen and Qian Dong both have salaries. Normally, you refuse money from the younger ones, but if the family really faces hardship, I think everyone could chip in a bit. It would certainly be enough.”

“Auntie, you don’t know. Yesterday my mother was taken away by the police! …She might have to pay a fine to get out. My uncle is worried sick because of this…” Qian Dong struggled to get the words out, his voice halting and embarrassed.

“A fine? How much?”

“At least two hundred.”

Two hundred!

Liu Huiru’s monthly salary was only thirty-six yuan and eighty-five cents, and Qian Jiangang’s was forty-five yuan and sixty-eight cents. Two hundred was more than two months’ wages for both of them combined!

“What if you can’t pay?” Qian Lai asked.

“Then they’ll extend her detention or even change it to a prison sentence.”

“Well, Auntie doesn’t have anything to do even if she gets out. In there, she gets free meals delivered at regular times—isn’t that great? Life will be more orderly.

She doesn’t work and doesn’t earn a wage anyway. This time, she’s earning two hundred for the family, so why worry?” Qian Lai smiled sweetly at Qian Dong, her rosy cheeks radiant.

“How—how can you be so heartless? She’s old now… It’s not as easy in there as you say.” Qian Dong, soft-hearted and timid, was almost in tears after Qian Lai’s rebuke.

Just then, the gate creaked open.

“Auntie, Sister Lai, you have guests!”

A young girl with a neat boyish haircut had just entered, shouting at the main house.

At the sound, Qian Lai’s face lit up, and she darted out like the wind, rushing straight into the arms of the visitor in the courtyard.

“Miss Yang, what brings you here!”

Overjoyed, she wrapped her arms around Yang Tinghua and spun her around.

During the years Qian Jiangang forced her to live with her grandmother in the countryside, it was Yang Tinghua who had stepped in for Liu Huiru and cared for Qian Lai in every way.

She was a university professor assigned to Houfu Village during the great upheaval.

At that time, children in the village didn’t go to school. Even in the city, schools were empty of students. Yet, Liu’s granddaughter always had a book in hand, quietly tucked into a corner for the whole day.

The girl was beautiful, with bright, lively eyes and long, curling lashes. Among the village children, she stood out.

But she was too timid by nature and often ostracized by the other kids.

This reminded Yang Tinghua of herself—similarly different, similarly rejected.

Two kindred spirits, bound by their shared loneliness.

The girl hated her birth name, “Laidi,” and wanted to change it. Knowing Yang Tinghua was learned, she sought her help.

That’s how she got her simple new name: “Lai.”

“Spring dew on Laiwu jade, lotus cleansed in clear water.” Miss Yang told her it meant “untainted by the mud, pure amidst the world’s filth.”

The girl loved her new name and was deeply drawn to the grace and wisdom of her teacher.

Two book lovers, their conversations grew ever more congenial.

In time, Yang Tinghua discovered the girl’s thirst for knowledge surpassed that of all her students.

One eager to learn, the other willing to teach—a perfect match.

In the protagonist’s lonely and helpless years, Yang Tinghua was more than a mother to her.

Even when the girl first came of age, it was Yang Tinghua who cared for her, teaching her how to protect herself and become strong and self-respecting.

“Sis, you didn’t expect me to bring Miss Yang, did you?” Cousin Liu Heqing beamed as she watched the two embrace.

“Heqing, Miss Yang, come in!” Liu Huiru took their luggage and led them inside.

“Auntie, as soon as I got my sister’s call, I dashed to tell Miss Yang. We packed up that very day and hurried over.”

“Mom, I’ll soon be leaving for the army. But with the main branch… I can’t leave you alone at home. And since Heqing will soon be coming to the city for school, I thought I’d bring her here early.”

Qian Lai knew Qian Jiangang felt a certain wariness toward the Liu family.

Though Liu Huiru was not their blood relative, she was the apple of their eye.

Her parents held considerable influence in the village, and her three brothers were bold and fearless.

Even the third-generation girls were raised to be brash and undaunted.

Ever since his engagement to Liu Huiru, Qian Jiangang avoided visiting his mother-in-law’s house unless absolutely necessary.

He dreaded it from the bottom of his heart!

A villain always meets his match, and the tomboy Liu Heqing was just the nemesis Qian Jiangang needed.

With her in the house, he wouldn’t dare bully Liu Huiru at will.

So, after her phone call to the organization, Qian Lai had immediately notified Liu Heqing as well.

“I heard you’re not going to university?”

Yang Tinghua looked at Qian Lai, her face stern. “Why?”

Qian Lai pulled her to a seat and handed her a cup of warm water. “Miss Yang, I knew you’d be worried as soon as you heard. But I really can’t go to university now. I have to join the army and settle my marriage with Comrade Gu Hanchuan. All thanks to my father’s arrangements.”

“Your father!? Attending university is a legal right of every citizen—no one has the right to interfere. Does he not realize this concerns your entire future?”

Yang Tinghua was furious.

To see such a promising student lose such a precious opportunity because of her family was infuriating.

“Miss Yang, please don’t be angry. What’s done is done, and I have other plans. Besides, the organization already knows about me and Comrade Gu Hanchuan.”

“What plans do you have?”

Qian Lai paused; she couldn’t very well say she knew the college entrance exams would resume in two years. After a moment’s thought, she smiled and said, “Since the organization needs me to care for Comrade Gu Hanchuan, I’m willing to join the army. When things settle down in a couple of years, I’ll go to university. Who knows, maybe I’ll even study in the capital by then!”

“Is that truly what you want?” Yang Tinghua’s tone softened. “If so, I support your decision. But two years is not a short time—whatever you do, don’t stop studying. If you need any review materials, write to me. I’ll send them to you!”

“You’ll send them to me?”

“Cousin, Miss Yang has had her status restored and will soon return to the capital and her old position! In the future, you could even aim for her university!”

“Really? That’s wonderful news!”

So unexpected! Qian Lai once again threw herself into Miss Yang’s arms, tears streaming down her face with joy.

“And one more thing,” Miss Yang wiped her tears and took a slip of paper from her pocket, handing it to Qian Lai. “I heard you’re going to Xinshi. Here’s my senior’s contact information. I’ve written to him and asked him to look out for you. If you need anything, go to him. Asking him is as good as asking me—don’t be shy.”

The main room was filled with laughter and cheer, which only made Qian Jiangang, sulking in the bedroom, feel all the more forgotten, as if the world had left him behind.

Only Qian Dong sat sniffling by the bedside as company.

One look at his not-so-impressive nephew made Qian Jiangang’s heart sink even further.

That wretched girl—ever since the accident, her whole nature had changed. Now, she seemed more and more like a “heaven-sent nemesis,” all her rebellious energy aimed squarely at him.

As Qian Jiangang struggled to turn over, a new wave of unexpected visitors arrived at the door.