Zhao Shenggu noticed that Guan Yuan was staring at the sled, and assumed he wanted to try it too. So he took Guan Yuan over to a group of children. The village chief's son, named Guan Erzhuang, came from a well-off family and was stockier than the other kids.
"Erzhuang, lend me your sled," Zhao Shenggu said with a serious face.
Guan Erzhuang sniffed hard, his nose running. He was a bit afraid of Zhao Shenggu. Mustering his courage, he cautiously said, "What if I say no?"
Zhao Shenggu gestured for him to come over alone. Guan Erzhuang didn't want to go, but he was afraid Zhao Shenggu might hit him, so he told his sidekick to watch the sled, shuffled his feet reluctantly, and came over to Zhao Shenggu.
Zhao Shenggu broke off a small piece of the meat he had saved from a few days earlier. Guan Erzhuang's eyes went wide at the sight of it. "Meat!"
"Will this do?"
Guan Erzhuang nodded eagerly. He could ride a sled anytime, but meat was a rare treat. He took the meat and shoved it into his mouth without caring if it was cold. Guan Yuan had been about to say it wasn't necessary, but he thoroughly enjoyed the way Zhao Shenggu focused entirely on him, so he just stood there smiling and didn't stop him.
Zhao Shenggu pulled Guan Yuan onto the sled with him. He controlled the sled with one hand while firmly shielding Guan Yuan with the other. As the sled picked up speed, Guan Yuan felt his heart open wide. Racing across the vast expanse of white snow, he laughed with pure joy, so happy he felt like crying.
He had waited silently for a hundred years, and at last, he was reunited with Zhao Shenggu. In that moment, his heart was filled with gratitude—thankful that fate had given him a second chance to make up for the foolishness of his previous life.
---
The second day of the New Year was the day for married daughters to visit their parents' home. But the wives of the Guan family were kept behind by Yang Xiucui to cook and entertain important guests.
Yang Feifang and Li Yuezhi were clearly unhappy about it, while Zhao Xiulian, as always, went along obediently.
Guan Manxing and her family didn't arrive until just before lunch. With them came a middle-aged couple and a young man in his twenties.
The middle-aged couple looked neat and put-together, and the young man was tall and sturdy—not exactly handsome, but not bad-looking either. Guan Manxing introduced the man as Wang Erdao, who worked in the county government cafeteria, and the woman as Ma Xiuying, a factory worker. The young man was Wang Guohui, who worked at the county government office.
Apart from the wives, the rest of the Guan family was overjoyed. Guan Manyue blushed with shyness and kept sneaking glances at Wang Guohui.
Guan Yuan watched from the side, amused.A bunch of fools. Think about it — if their family was really that great and had no problems, why would they be looking for a wife out here in the village?
Zhao Shenggu had also figured it out and felt puzzled.
By the time the meal was over, the two families were as close as could be. Yang Xiucui shooed all the children out of the main room, and the adults chatted warmly inside.
When Guan Manxing left, Yang Xiucui not only packed food for her but also gave grain to Wang Guohui's family—and, as if she wasn't provoking enough resentment, even sent two slabs of meat.
That evening, the Guan family was buzzing with excitement, with Guan Manyue especially thrilled. After dinner, Yang Xiucui said, "I have to say, my eldest daughter really knows how to get things done. Not only did she marry a city man herself, but now Manyue gets to benefit too. My two daughters are just meant to be city people."
Yang Xiucui didn't stop to consider how her three daughters-in-law might feel. Li Yuezhi bit her tongue and tried to hold it in, but in the end, she just couldn't take it anymore: "Right. The whole family works ourselves to the bone, and everything we earn gets shipped right out the door. What a lucky fate indeed. And as for poor miserable me—I guess I'm just destined to be an ox and a horse for others."
[当牛做马 (dāng niú zuò mǎ): lit. "Be an ox, be a horse"; fig. To work extremely hard, often in a subservient or thankless role.]
Yang Xiucui was used to speaking however she pleased, so it took her a moment after Li Yuezhi's outburst to realize she was being called out for giving everything to Guan Manxing. She immediately exploded: "You're a member of the Guan family now! What kind of daughter-in-law talks to her mother-in-law like that? So what if I give things away? She's my daughter! I give when I want. You eat Guan family food and drink Guan family drink, and now you're telling me what to do? Stay if you want, get out if you don't!"
Guan Manku also thought Li Yuezhi was being unreasonable: "What does a woman know? You can't catch a wolf without risking your bait. If I want to move up in the world, having two capable brothers-in-law like that will come in handy when I need them to pull some strings."
Li Yuezhi wasn't the type to just take it lying down. She shot back: "Pull strings for you? You'll be waiting eight lifetimes for that. You've been a work-point recorder this long, and I haven't seen your precious brother-in-law lift a finger to help you."
Guan Manku was already frustrated about that very issue. The moment Li Yuezhi brought it up, he slapped her hard across the face. "Ignorant fool!"
Guan Manku thought of himself as an important official and liked to speak in a refined, impressive-sounding way.
Li Yuezhi immediately burst into tears and screams: "You bastard! You dare hit me? I'll fight you!" She lunged at Guan Manku.
The second branch's children were terrified and started crying. Guan He saw things had gotten completely out of hand and barked: "Enough! All of you, stop! What do you think you're doing? Causing chaos in the middle of the New Year! Second daughter-in-law, take the children back to your room!"
Guan He still commanded a lot of authority in the household, and Li Yuezhi didn't dare throw any more tantrums. She led her crying children back to their room.
Guan Yuan watched with great amusement. What a spectacular show.
After sending Li Yuezhi back to her room, Guan He said, "Don't feel so resentful. The match Manxing found for Manyue this time is genuinely good. When the time comes, won't their two aunts be able to help the girls in this family? And as for the boys—if Manyue's marriage goes through, Guohui works in the government. Getting him to find some city jobs for the boys would be a piece of cake, wouldn't it?"
After Guan He's speech, even the previously unhappy Yang Feifang secretly felt pleased, not to mention everyone else. Guan Manyue looked utterly smug.
Only Zhao Shenggu spoke up: "Grandpa Guan, if that family really is as good as Auntie says, why aren't they looking for a wife in the city?"
Guan Manyue felt insulted and shrieked: "What are you implying? That I'm just some country bumpkin not as good as city girls? I can tell you have bad intentions—you just can't stand to see me happy!"
Guan Yuan nearly laughed out loud at Guan Manyue's stupidity. Truly, the more foolish, the more they bring trouble upon themselves.
Zhao Shenggu didn't get angry at Guan Manyue's outburst. "I didn't mean anything by it. I just think it's wiser to find out more about a family before agreeing to marry into it."
At that, Yang Xiucui jumped up: "I knew it! I knew you were a sly one underneath. You're trying to ruin Manyue's engagement!"
Guan Manku was also displeased: "What does a kid know? Stop running your mouth."
Seeing their reaction, Zhao Shenggu said no more. He thought to himself: I've warned you, at least.
Having enjoyed the spectacle and finding it no longer interesting, Guan Yuan seized the moment and said to Zhao Shenggu, "Brother, I want to sleep!" Zhao Shenggu dropped everything immediately and carried Guan Yuan back to their room.
"Brother, don't bother with their affairs anymore. They can't tell good from bad—let them learn the hard way," Guan Yuan said, upset that Zhao Shenggu had been scolded.
Zhao Shenggu tucked Guan Yuan into the quilt and warmed his feet against his own belly. Only when he was sure they weren't cold anymore did he say, "We do share a table with them, so I thought I'd give them a heads-up. If something really goes wrong, at least I won't have a guilty conscience."
Guan Yuan pouted. Conscience? I don't have one of those anymore.
"Xiao Yuan, I've noticed you've gotten a lot smarter lately! You even know the saying about not telling good from bad," Zhao Shenggu said out of the blue.
Guan Yuan froze for a split second, then composed himself and said casually, "Of course! Who do you think I am—I'm your little brother!"
Zhao Shenggu was indeed amused and pinched his little nose with a laugh: "Whose little brother is this? How come he's so clever?" Then he tickled Guan Yuan's armpits.
Guan Yuan couldn't hold it together anymore. He wriggled under the quilt like a worm, trying to dodge Zhao Shenggu's hands.
"Ha ha—ha—Brother, stop—I can't—!" He was gasping by the end. Zhao Shenggu was also worried that Guan Yuan might roll right out of the quilt and catch a cold, so he stopped his teasing.
Guan Yuan didn't know what the Guan family was discussing in the main room, but he knew what was going to happen next. Not that it had anything to do with him.
---
The three days of the New Year passed in a flash. On the fourth day, the Wang family sent a matchmaker over to finalize the engagement details. On the seventh day of the new year, the Wang family delivered the betrothal gifts.
A wristwatch, a gold ring, and 300 yuan in cash—the betrothal gifts caused a stir throughout Guanjia Village.
Just the gold ring alone was worth no less than 200 yuan.
A steady stream of people came to the Guan house to see the gifts.
Guan Manyue's engagement made every unmarried girl and young wife in the village green with envy. These days, Guan Manyue was strutting around like a proud peacock, showing off to her heart's content.
"I told them not to buy a gold ring, but their family insisted. It's a bit light, but still acceptable, I suppose," Guan Manyue said, waving her left hand—with the ring on it—back and forth in front of the young women gathered around her.
"Manyue, this is small? Look around—which girl in our village gets a ring when she marries? Manyue, you're so lucky," said Guan Xiaoju, a pockmarked girl, with envy.
"It's alright. I mean, I could have found someone better, but I'm not the type to chase wealth. I only agreed because their family seemed nice," Guan Manyue continued, piling on the humblebrag.
Several girls rolled their eyes behind her back.
Regardless, Guan Manyue's engagement was settled. The wedding would take place after the fifteenth.
Zhao Shenggu thought about it more and more and found it odd. The whole thing felt rushed, since from the first meeting to the wedding day added up to less than a month in total.
But he had no self-destructive urge to meddle. After that night, he kept his opinions on Guan Manyue's engagement to himself.
With the engagement set, the Guan household only grew more turbulent. Yang Xiucui and Guan Manyue demanded a dowry of 500 yuan. The moment this came out, not only did the daughters-in-law kick up a fuss, but even Guan Mancang and his two brothers objected.
The money from Zhao Shenggu's grandfather had already been used to help Guan Manku secure the work-point recorder position, plus various other expenses over the years. All told, there was less than 500 yuan left. If they gave Guan Manyue a 500-yuan dowry, what would be left for the three brothers?
Yang Xiucui and Guan Manyue insisted on that much, while everyone else firmly refused. Then Yang Feifang had a flash of inspiration: "Doesn't that little brat Zhao Shenggu still have money? Li Yuehua's money went to him back then. And besides, wouldn't Old Man Zhao have left something for his own grandson? Let him cover the dowry."
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