TPW – Chapter 27

“We’re hosting a wedding banquet for relatives today. After the meal, we plan to go to a photo studio to take a family portrait, so I dressed up a bit,” Qiao Lu said shyly as she tucked a few stray hairs behind her ear. She had expected this dress to attract some attention, but everyone’s enthusiasm still caught her off guard.

Qiao An stood beside her, holding his mother’s hand, proudly wearing a new cotton-padded jacket. Surrounded by adults and children, he surprisingly wasn’t shy at all. In fact, he stood even straighter, especially after noticing the envious looks on the other children’s faces—his  expression was full of smug pride.

Auntie Tian clicked her tongue and teased, “Wearing that to a wedding banquet? She’s definitely going to be the center of attention.”

Qiao Lu blushed and smiled, standing by the courtyard gate and glancing around. Xu Haizhou had gone out early to pick up guests and still hadn’t returned.

It was a weekend, so the students were all home. When they saw how Qiao Lu was dressed, admiration and awe filled their eyes—they couldn’t hide it.

Chen Jiamei’s classmate, Fan Junjun, grabbed her arm and excitedly stomped her foot. “Oh—Jiamei! Doesn’t your neighbor’s outfit look just like the ones we saw in that American movie at Zhao Kuihua’s house the other day? What was it called—something about the Atlantic. One of the women in the show wore something like this. It’s so pretty!”

At the end of 1979, the American TV show Man from Atlantis aired in mainland China and immediately took the country by storm. Aviator sunglasses and bell-bottoms became trendy thanks to that series.

A couple of years ago, Xu Haizhou jumped on the trend and made seven to eight hundred yuan just from selling sunglasses. Back then, those glasses were all imported—you couldn’t get them without the right connections. Luckily, one of Xu Haizhou’s friends managed to source a batch, and he made a fortune.

It wasn’t until this year, after spending money on betrothal gifts, buying a sewing machine, a bicycle, a large wardrobe, and other small things, that the remaining savings were handed over to Qiao Lu.

Many of the costumes in that TV show were very different from local styles, but some, like the coat Qiao Lu was wearing, exuded grandeur, freedom, and elegance.

Chen Jiamei thought for a moment and vaguely recalled something similar, but her face didn’t show much happiness. She shoved her hands into her pockets and snorted disdainfully, “So it’s a copy. I thought she came up with it herself. We have a sewing machine too. Let’s get some fabric and make one ourselves.”

Madam Chen gave her daughter a glare and snapped, “Buy fabric? Do you have money?”

So easy to say.

“Hmph, I don’t, but Junjun does.” Since the two of them were such close friends, what’s wrong with buying a bit of fabric to make clothes? Adults were such a hassle—they didn’t understand the bond between technical school students.

Fan Junjun gave an awkward smile. “I only have a little pocket money. I can’t afford that much fabric.”

Besides, the material on Qiao Lu’s clothes looked expensive. Some of it, she hadn’t even seen at the department store. Her father might be a team leader at the food factory’s production line, but her allowance was only slightly higher than Chen Jiamei’s by a few mao…

Quickly changing the subject, she pulled Chen Jiamei away. “Come on, let’s go to Kuihua’s house to watch TV.”

Xu Haizhou left home at 8:30 a.m. and only picked up the Qiao relatives by 10. Qiao Lu arrived at the state-run restaurant at 10:30, just as the relatives had begun to arrive.

The moment her sister-in-law Niu Qiaoli saw her, she let out an exaggerated scream.

“Heavens! Is this the little sister?” She quickly pulled over Qiao Guobin. “Guobin, look! Look! Is this your little sister?”

Qiao Guobin and his father were fiddling with a three-wheeled cart at the entrance, which held two camphor wood trunks. They were going to deliver them to Xu Haizhou’s home after the meal. Hearing her, he looked up and rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

“Little sister? You’ve changed so much!”

“Qiao Lu?” their father called out hesitantly.

It was still the same eyes, same nose, same mouth—so why did she look so much more striking?

“Auntie! Auntie!” Qiao Minjuan came running over, excited to hug her. But little Qiao An beat her to it, climbing up her mother’s leg and getting scooped into her arms.

“Auntie, you’re so pretty!” the little one cheered and bounced with excitement.

Holding her son in one arm, Qiao Lu ruffled her niece’s hair with the other. “Minjuan, you’re here! You’re wearing a little floral cotton jacket today—so pretty. Did your mom buy it for you?”

Qiao Minjuan shook her head and pointed behind her. “My dad bought it!”

To attend the wedding banquet in the city, a few days ago Qiao Guobin had taken her to the town to buy ready-made clothes. Her mother had complained that buying ready-made clothes was more expensive than buying fabric, and even scolded her father when they got home. Since that meant no new clothes for New Year’s, today’s cotton jacket was as good as the New Year outfit.

Looking up again, Qiao Lu met all the stunned gazes of her relatives and couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation.

“Uncle, Auntie, Little Aunt, Second Aunt, Big Uncle…” After greeting everyone, she took a deep breath and said, “Dad, Mom, Big Brother, thank you all for making the long trip. You must be tired. Please have a seat—I’ll go check if the dishes are ready.”

“Alright, alright, it hasn’t even been that long, but now that she’s married, she’s changed so much we almost didn’t recognize her!”

“If Qiaoli hadn’t said something, I would’ve thought I was seeing things.”

“Yeah, such a big transformation, huh.”

“It must be the city’s water, really does wonders for a person. Qiao Lu, when you have time, you should introduce your cousin to someone in the city too!”

“Sure, I’ll definitely help if there’s a chance.” Qiao Lu responded politely to everyone.

This was also the first time Xu Haizhou saw his wife dressed up in new clothes and with makeup. A flash of amazement passed through his eyes, and even his steps became slightly unsteady as he approached her.

“You look really beautiful today. Just now I almost didn’t recognize you.”

As he took her hand, even his hand was trembling—how nervous must he be? They shared the same bed every night, and yet seeing her like this, he reacted like a shy young man on a blind date. It was almost funny.

But for Xu Haizhou to say such a thing, it really showed that Qiao Lu looked stunning today. After all, they’d been together for quite a while. They’d seen each other without clothes—how could she look more beautiful now?

Cough cough—Forgive the brain for accidentally wandering into some colorful thoughts again.

Xu Haizhou swallowed nervously. His wife being too pretty was starting to feel like a pressure in itself.

Worried and delighted, all at once.

At the wedding banquet, Xu Haizhou got to meet most of Qiao’s relatives, and he also introduced his own friends to Qiao Lu.

Five came in total. Aside from Li Hongjun, whom they had met before, there were three male comrades and one female comrade. The woman’s name was Miao Hui, and she was the wife of a man named Li Yu. They were both locals and worked in the shoe business. They’d been married for three years and had a half-year-old child.

When Xu Haizhou first arrived in Lian, it was Li Yu who helped him find supply channels. Later, Xu Haizhou met Li Shunliang and even managed to snag a house for free.

The couple raised their glasses together to toast the bride: “Sister-in-law!”

“Sister-in-law, a toast to you!”

Qiao Lu couldn’t handle alcohol, so she used tea instead. Thankfully, everyone here had good relations—there was none of that toxic forcing people to drink.

After a few cups of tea, she started feeling the urge to go to the bathroom.

After the toasts, people played around with Qiao Lu’s son, though emotions were a bit mixed.

On one hand, they were happy their friend had gotten married. On the other, his wife was a “divorced woman” with a child. Who wouldn’t have thoughts about that?

Still, on the surface, they were all full of praise, saying how beautiful Qiao Lu was, how adorable and well-behaved Qiao An was, how lucky Xu Haizhou was. Being their first time meeting, no one really knew what kind of person she was, so they just showered her with flattery.

Yang Lidong, though, didn’t think being divorced was any issue. What caught his attention was just how beautiful Xu Haizhou’s wife was—not only beautiful, but very stylish too.

Yang Lidong was a petite man, wore a sheepskin hat, and had a hairstyle like Detective Yashimura from Manhunt. He wasn’t wearing a cotton jacket like most, but a black fleece-lined leather coat. Below, he had on flared pants—tight at the top, wide at the bottom—and didn’t even wear long underwear. Who knew how he braved Lian’s winter like that?

And those shiny, polished big leather shoes… Though he was just over 160 cm tall, he was still the kind of person you’d spot right away in a crowd because of his trendy appearance. Xu Haizhou said he was in the clothing business.

“Sister-in-law, I’ll toast you too. Wishing you and Haizhou a happy marriage,” he said with a grin. His small features scrunched together, making him look rather comical.

“Thank you.”

After the drink, Yang Lidong looked Qiao Lu up and down with admiration in his eyes. “Haizhou, your wife’s clothes are really something. Where’d you get them?”

If there was a source, he wanted to buy a few himself to try selling.

Xu Haizhou chuckled and wrapped his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Wasn’t from me. She figured it out herself.”

“What? She made them herself?” That impressive? He’d scoured all of Lian’s markets and hadn’t seen a design like this. But he had seen something similar in Hong Kong and Taiwan videotapes—some of the female celebrities wore outfits like that.

Qiao Lu smiled modestly. “I’ve read a few books and just came up with it casually.”

“Tsk, that’s seriously impressive.”

Qiao Lu just smiled and didn’t say anything more.

Qiao An looked at the uncle named Yang Lidong with a bit of fear. The man was dressed all in black leather, with a strange hairstyle, and didn’t look like a good person at all… the more he looked, the more scared he felt. Hugging his juice tightly, he burrowed into Qiao Lu’s arms.

But Qiao Lu was busy making toasts and greeting guests, no time to hold and comfort him. Seeing this, Xu Haizhou reached over and effortlessly lifted the child into his arm with one hand.

“Daddy will introduce you to a few uncles,” he said, pointing them out one by one. “This is Uncle Li, this is Aunt Miao, this is Uncle Yang…”

When he pointed to Uncle Yang, the little guy clearly clung tighter to his father’s neck. His big misty eyes timidly stared at the man.

Yang Lidong, ever enthusiastic, grinned so wide his mouth nearly reached his ears. “So your name is Qiao An? What a well-behaved little cutie. If you ever come to Uncle’s stall, I’ll give you new clothes for free!”

“An’an, quickly thank Uncle,” Qiao Lu patted her son’s back, signaling him to say something.

The little one clung tightly to Xu Haizhou, looked at Yang Lidong, and said, “My mommy makes clothes.”

Then he pointed at the cotton jacket he was wearing and lifted his little face proudly. “My mommy made this for me.”

He even started showing off a little. The adults all burst into laughter.

“Uncle’s giving you clothes for free, don’t pass up a good deal! Your mom still has to use your dad’s money to buy fabric, doesn’t she?”

“Exactly. Do you even know how much a single outfit costs, little one?”

“Then… then I still don’t want your clothes. I have a daddy.” Daddy would give money to Mommy. Why take clothes from someone else?

Mommy said before: free things are the most expensive. They shouldn’t take advantage of others.

The adults were amused. “What a funny kid—he actually turned down free clothes!”

They all chuckled and laughed, and the atmosphere warmed up significantly.

At that moment, Li Hongjun was introduced. Holding his wine glass, he walked up and pinched Qiao An’s soft little cheeks—they felt amazing.

“I don’t need an introduction, right? He definitely remembers me.” Li Hongjun threw him a wink. “Right, little darling?”

The little guy bit his lip, puffed out his cheeks, and crisply said, “I don’t know you.”

Pfft—wow, didn’t give him a shred of face.

Lv Xiuhua saw that Qiao An was still in Xu Haizhou’s arms and walked over. “Let me take him. You two go finish the toasts, then we can eat.”

“Alright.”

Xu Haizhou handed Qiao An over. The little guy wasn’t afraid of his grandma—he was very close to her—and reached out to snuggle into her arms.

The last introduction was of Xu Haizhou’s old friend from his hometown, someone who had gone south with him five years ago. His name was Hou Caijun. He was a tall man, 1.78 meters, twenty-eight years old—three years older than Haizhou. The two had grown up together. But after coming to Lian, unlike most who started street stalls, Hou became a daoye (reseller/black market trader).

In fact, many of the good stuff that Xu Haizhou managed to get was all thanks to him.

In the early 1980s during the Reform and Opening-Up period, when planned and market economies coexisted, savvy individuals exploited information gaps in the market to resell goods for profit. These people were mockingly called daoye.

Daoye dealt in everything—from food coupons and meal tickets to bicycles and appliances. Eventually, it reached the point where they were jokingly said to be trading airplanes! Later, some even entered the European market, and someone even proposed reselling the Notre-Dame Cathedral and Eiffel Tower. Of course, that wasn’t actually possible—but still, one must say: what a wild era that birthed such legends!

Qiao Lu curiously observed him. When Hou Caijun spoke, he was courteous and well-mannered, like a cultured scholar. Nothing about him seemed like a daoye. She realized she might’ve had a stereotype in her head.

Hou Caijun smiled gently, raised his glass with both hands, and said, “I’ve always been curious about what kind of partner Haizhou would end up with. Now that I see you two, you’re a perfect match—talented man and beautiful woman! Congratulations! Wishing you a long and happy marriage, and may you soon have a child!”

“Thank you.”

But that last part made Qiao Lu a little embarrassed. Ever since they got married, she hadn’t really thought about having children. She hadn’t even asked Xu Haizhou about it. She had no idea how he felt about it.

Thinking that, she tilted her head to glance at him.

Receiving her gaze, Xu Haizhou smiled gently, took her hand, and gave it a light squeeze. “What’s wrong, tired?”

Qiao Lu shook her head, a faint, teasing smile playing at the corners of her lips.

She’d have to ask him about it tonight.