WRS – Chapter 48

While eating, Bai Jingzhi chatted about things that happened at her school. After dinner, Commissar Zhu left with Zhu Ying and Fang Min.

Even after they stepped outside, the voices of the five-member family could still be heard. It seemed that Bai Jingzhi had noticed Jiang Mingchuan’s injury and was asking worriedly if he was all right.

As soon as Zhu Ying entered her own home, she couldn’t hold back her curiosity any longer. She grabbed her younger sister-in-law’s arm and asked again, “That girl is really quite pretty, isn’t she? I wonder if she’s married yet.”

She had tried asking that little girl from the Jiang family earlier, but the child was too young to understand what she meant—just stared at her blankly.

Fang Min, being simple-hearted, smiled and said, “She’s still in school. Just a kid.”

That one line instantly blocked all the words Zhu Ying had wanted to say. After a pause, she muttered hesitantly, “Doesn’t look that young to me.”

After all, her own daughter got married at eighteen—and she herself had been even younger, marrying at sixteen while taking her younger brother along. Her first child hadn’t survived; counting from then, Ji Ling was actually her second.

Fang Min didn’t really catch the meaning and blinked.

“She’s still pretty young, I think.”

Sometimes Fang Min even felt like she herself was still a child. Compared to her, Bai Jingzhi was much younger—what else could she be but a kid?

Of course, she couldn’t say that to her sister-in-law. Zhu Ying was a good person, just a little too fond of talking.

Realizing she couldn’t reason with her, Zhu Ying quickly urged her to go rest. Fang Min obediently went back to her room.

Once she was gone, Zhu Ying turned and saw her younger brother standing there grinning. She reached out to pinch him angrily.

Commissar Zhu cleared his throat and said, “Alright, alright, I get it. I saw your intentions just now—your eyes were practically shining when you saw that girl. Aren’t you afraid of being found out and laughed at?”

Zhu Ying glared at him.

“You heartless thing! Your nephew’s almost thirty—if you’re not worried, can’t I be? At this rate, how’s that boy ever going to find a wife? People his age already have a bunch of kids! Look at An’an—she’s younger and already has two!”

“That stubborn brat is too hard-headed, always fixed on his own ways…”

Seeing his sister about to start another round of nagging, Commissar Zhu quickly interrupted, rubbing his temples.

“Alright, alright. I’ll sound out Commander Jiang in a few days.”

Almost thirty after the New Year? He had no idea how she came up with that number.

At that, Zhu Ying’s eyes lit up immediately.

But her brother quickly added, “Our two families are close. If it doesn’t work out, we can’t let it affect our relationship.”

After all, Fang Min and Jin Xiuzhu were quite close—he didn’t want any hard feelings over this matter.

Zhu Ying didn’t see the issue.

“What do you mean affect? My nephew’s perfectly fine! I think he’s better looking than Commander Jiang, if you ask me.”

Commissar Zhu didn’t respond. His nephew used to be handsome, sure—but better looking than Jiang Mingchuan? Not necessarily. When he’d seen the man a few months ago during an inspection, he’d been so tanned he was nearly unrecognizable—if that boy hadn’t called out to him first, he might not have known it was him.

Still, he said, “Commander Jiang’s family is well-off, and both husband and wife dote on that younger sister of his.”

Zhu Ying quickly replied, “I’ve got money! The money my nephew’s earned all these years—I haven’t spent a cent of it. It’s all saved for his marriage.”

Commissar Zhu didn’t know how to explain it to her, so he could only sigh helplessly.

“Alright, I know. I’ll see what I can do.”

Then he hastily said, “I’m going to read for a while. You go do your own thing.”

Zhu Ying nodded happily, feeling that the trip hadn’t been in vain—not only had she looked after her brother and sister-in-law, but she might even have found a potential daughter-in-law.

Thinking of this, she reminded him again, “You’d better put some effort into it—whether or not your nephew can get married will all depend on you.”

Commissar Zhu: “…”

That was a lot of pressure.

While Commissar Zhu was nursing his headache, the neighboring Jiang household was full of laughter because of Bai Jingzhi’s return.

After dinner, everyone gathered around her as she unpacked the gifts she’d brought home.

The first things she pulled out were for the two children—a scarf for He Yan and a hat for Fu Yanyan. Then there was a bottle of Snowflake Cream for Jin Xiuzhu, a shaving razor for Jiang Mingchuan, and a whole pile of snacks.

Jin Xiuzhu immediately opened the Snowflake Cream to try it. She’d heard about it—it was supposed to be quite expensive. Though she believed her own homemade balm was the best, she was still delighted.

Still, she asked, “You bought so much—did you have enough money?”

She worried the girl had been saving and skimping just to buy gifts for them.

Bai Jingzhi smiled even more brightly.

“Enough, enough! You gave me so much pocket money, I couldn’t even finish spending it. I bought these with the allowance my teacher gave me for helping with translations. I still have half the pocket money you gave me left!”

This semester, she’d earned twenty yuan helping her teacher translate a book—and spent it all on gifts.

She hadn’t touched the pocket money from her brother and sister-in-law—it didn’t feel right to use their money for presents, as if she were buying affection with their own funds.

On her way back to school that term, she’d kept thinking about what her sister-in-law had said. She’d prepared herself mentally for many possibilities—but when she got back to the dorm, she found that she couldn’t bring herself to act as planned. Eventually, she gave up trying to win people over and just lived her own life.

The only difference now was that she had family to back her up. When someone tried to bully her, she dared to speak up and express her displeasure.

At first, her dormmates made snide remarks about the new clothes and thick quilt her brother and sister-in-law had sent. But after a while, they got used to her eating well in the cafeteria and wearing nicer clothes—so the bullying gradually stopped.

Two of them even asked her privately where she’d bought her clothes. She told them from the department store. When they asked how she could afford it, she explained that her brother and sister-in-law had come to visit her during the New Year. After that, they didn’t say anything more.

Now her dormmates didn’t really hang out with her, but at least they no longer locked her out of the room.

Later, she took the initiative to approach her teacher and asked to try translating.

When Jin Xiuzhu heard this, she nodded approvingly.

“That’s wonderful—you’re earning money on your own now! But don’t rush. The most important thing is your studies. Don’t tire yourself out.”

Bai Jingzhi felt a warmth spread in her heart. If it were her foster parents, upon hearing she could earn money, they’d have told her to make as much as possible to contribute to the household. But her sister-in-law’s first reaction was to praise her and tell her to take care of herself and focus on school.

Even though helping with translations had been exhausting, she said softly, “It’s not tiring. It helps me strengthen what I’ve learned—I’ve gained a lot from it.”

Jin Xiuzhu didn’t really understand, but seeing her so earnest, she relaxed.

“That’s good then.”

Unlike his wife, Jiang Mingchuan didn’t say much. He held the new razor in his hands for a long time, then looked at his now bright, cheerful little sister with quiet pride and relief.

He wasn’t one for sweet words—he just decided he’d give her a bit more pocket money next semester.

That night, Bai Jingzhi slept with Fu Yanyan again. As they lay in bed, she couldn’t resist pulling the soft little girl into her arms. Fu Yanyan struggled several times but couldn’t get free, finally giving up and letting her aunt hug and kiss her as she pleased.

Bai Jingzhi didn’t know what happy thought had popped into her head—she even chuckled to herself, then said cheerfully, “It feels so good to be home.”

Fu Yanyan wanted to roll her eyes, but in the end, she held it in and only gave a small snort.

Then Bai Jingzhi remembered her brother and sister-in-law’s situation and turned to ask her little niece, “Is your dad’s injury serious?”

Earlier, when she’d asked, her brother said he was almost better. She’d seen him washing dishes with a crutch, so she figured it couldn’t be that bad.

Fu Yanyan said calmly, “It’s not serious anymore.”

Bai Jingzhi nodded. “There’s been a lot of rain lately—our school was even flooded.”

The next morning, Bai Jingzhi woke up early to cook. Normally, it was the neighbor, Zhu Ying, who made breakfast these days, but Bai Jingzhi didn’t know that. She was used to getting up early at school to go to the library and grab a good seat, so at five o’clock sharp, she woke up automatically.

She lay there for a while and, hearing no sounds from outside, quietly got up.

She went to the kitchen, picked up a basket, and got ready to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some groceries for breakfast.

But it turned out that even though she thought she was early, someone had beaten her to it.

At the cooperative, she saw the auntie who had come for dinner the night before and greeted her with a smile, “Auntie, you’re buying vegetables too? You’re up so early.”

Zhu Ying turned her head and her eyes lit up when she saw Bai Jingzhi. She’d just been thinking about what dishes this girl might like, and here she was already—it felt like fate.

She quickly said, “What a coincidence! How come you’re up so early?”

“I’m used to waking up early at school. I couldn’t sleep anymore.”

Zhu Ying nodded eagerly. “You’re just like my son. My Xiaoling’s the same—every time he comes back from the army, he’s up at the crack of dawn.”

Bai Jingzhi didn’t think much of it. Hearing that, she praised sincerely, “You have a son in the army? That’s wonderful.”

Zhu Ying’s eyes brightened even more. “Right? Xiaoling’s my eldest son. He enlisted at eighteen, and now he’s already a company commander! But he’s stationed at the base most of the time, so he rarely gets to come home. His younger sister already has two kids, but he’s still not married yet.”

Bai Jingzhi felt something strange about how detailed the woman was being but assumed this auntie was just naturally enthusiastic. She smiled and said politely, “Don’t worry too much, Auntie. Your son sounds very capable. I’m sure he’ll find an excellent wife in the future.”

Zhu Ying grew even happier, covering her mouth to laugh. “Oh, how can I not worry? My son’s great in every way, except he never gets to talk to girls. He’s grown up only ever talking to his sister—never to any other girls.”

Bai Jingzhi smiled and began picking some vegetables at the entrance of the cooperative.

When Zhu Ying saw that, she hurriedly told her to put them down and personally helped her pick the freshest ones. She even showed her which cuts of meat were good and how to cook them.

In the end, the two went home together. The entire way, Zhu Ying kept praising how wonderful her son was.

Bai Jingzhi didn’t mind. She could tell that this auntie was genuinely a kind person. As for her constantly bragging about her son—she could understand that too. After all, since reuniting with her brother and sister-in-law, she’d had the same urge: to tell everyone how great her family was.

It was obvious the auntie really loved her son.

At the door, Bai Jingzhi said goodbye and went inside, only to find that her brother and sister-in-law were already up.

Jiang Mingchuan was sitting in the living room, exercising his good arm by lifting a bucket of water up and down. From the kitchen came Jin Xiuzhu’s voice: “Jingzhi, did you go out? I thought I heard movement earlier.”

Jiang Mingchuan looked up. “She’s back.”

Jin Xiuzhu immediately came out of the kitchen. Bai Jingzhi greeted her with a smile and explained, “I’m used to waking up early at school, so I couldn’t sleep. I went to the supply store to get some vegetables and ran into the auntie next door.”

Jin Xiuzhu walked over. “Sister Zhu is a good person. She’s been cooking for us these past days, and she was the one who went to the hospital to bring your brother home.”

Bai Jingzhi set the basket on the table and took out the vegetables she’d just bought. Hearing that, she nodded earnestly. “Yes, she’s really warm-hearted. She even helped me pick out the vegetables and told me all sorts of things. She mentioned she has a son in the army—her whole family sounds amazing.”

A political commissar, a writer, a company commander, and a platoon leader—she said her son-in-law was a platoon leader and her daughter handled finances for the village.

Jin Xiuzhu’s hand froze as she looked through the vegetables. Then she lifted her head and glanced at her sister-in-law.

Her sister-in-law was beautiful. In the six months since they last met, her hair had grown almost to her shoulders. It seemed she felt hot this morning, as she had tied it back into a small ponytail with an elastic, revealing her fair, slender neck. Her eyes were big and dark, her nose high, her lips red—an unmistakable beauty even in the capital, and even rarer here.

When Jin Xiuzhu had spent time with Zhu Ying before, she’d occasionally heard her mention her son. Though Zhu Ying always brought him up casually, Jin Xiuzhu could sense something else in her tone—almost a regret that she had married too early, otherwise she might have introduced her son to her.

It had made Jin Xiuzhu both amused and exasperated.

Later, Zhu Ying stopped mentioning it, so she’d assumed it was just a passing thought.

But now that she’d heard Zhu Ying had run into her sister-in-law, it seemed she’d set her sights on her again.

Jin Xiuzhu raised an eyebrow, a little curious just how outstanding this eldest son of hers was.

But before Zhu Ying could make any formal move, Wang Ling came by bringing Jin Xiuzhu’s wages. The two chatted about factory matters for a while, then Wang Ling suddenly pulled her aside and whispered, “I actually came for another reason. You know Wen Jun, right? She told me she saw your sister-in-law yesterday and thought she was great. She has a younger brother, twenty-nine, unmarried, works as a manager at a state-owned restaurant. She wanted to ask if she could be introduced to your sister-in-law.”

Jin Xiuzhu looked at Wang Ling in surprise.

She knew Wen Jun. After Qi Min left, her husband had been transferred in, and rumor had it they lived quite well—lots of military wives liked to visit her, and her house was always bustling, like a tea party.

Back in the day, that kind of attention used to go to Wang Ling’s home, but she wasn’t the same anymore. She was now completely focused on the factory, busy almost every day. Qian Yufeng was the same—she used to know all the gossip among the military wives, but now she was busy running the mess hall. Whenever she had time off, she either slept in or chatted idly with Jin Xiuzhu, learning about what was happening secondhand.

Though Jin Xiuzhu had heard of Wen Jun, the two had almost no interaction. Even when they bumped into each other, they didn’t bother saying hello.

“Twenty-nine is a bit too old, isn’t it? My sister-in-law is still so young—and a university student at that. Sister-in-law, isn’t that just looking down on her?”

Jin Xiuzhu was clearly unimpressed.

Wang Ling hadn’t expected her to mind the age gap and was momentarily stunned. “Being a bit older shouldn’t matter, right? My Old Yan is several years older than me too. What’s important is that he’s capable. He’s already the director of a state-owned restaurant at such a young age—earns eighty to ninety yuan a month.”

“With a job that good, you can imagine how many people are trying to match him with someone. Plus, he’s good-looking, so his standards have probably gone up. After his first wife passed away, he never remarried and doesn’t have children. Wen Jun showed me a picture of her younger brother—he really is quite handsome, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, looks like a learned man. I truly thought he was a good match, that’s why I came over in person. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have bothered making the trip.”

“You have no idea how many young girls nowadays, just to marry into the city, would happily settle for a man who looks like an old toad.”

That made Jin Xiuzhu laugh.

But her mindset was completely different from Wang Ling’s. To most people, being the director of a state-run restaurant was a prestigious position—but to Jin Xiuzhu, that was just like being the manager of a tavern. Back in her day, she owned several shops; people like that were just servants to her. How could someone like that be worthy of marrying her sister-in-law?

Her little sister-in-law was a scholarly young lady—beautiful, well-bred, with an official for a brother and an artist for a sister-in-law. Why should she settle for a restaurant manager? Absolutely not.

Afraid of offending Wang Ling, she quickly explained, “It’s not that I’m looking down on him, really. It’s just that my sister-in-law is still in college. Even if she were to get married, it wouldn’t be for another two or three years. We’ve only just managed to bring her back into the family—we want to keep her with us for a while. My husband and I already discussed it: in the future, we’d prefer to find her someone from his old unit, maybe a comrade or one of his former soldiers—someone whose background we know and who won’t mistreat her.”

Wang Ling had only brought up the matter because she thought the man’s conditions were good. Hearing Jin Xiuzhu’s reasoning, she knew right away the woman wasn’t interested. All those nice-sounding excuses—clearly just polite refusals.

With some irritation, she said, “Such a good match and you’re not even tempted. If I had a daughter, I’d be thrilled.”

Jin Xiuzhu shook her head. “A good marriage isn’t just about good conditions. Wen Jun’s brother isn’t in the army, is he? For soldiers, it’s normal to stay single until their late twenties—they’re busy on the base. But for him, with such great prospects and still not married? You said yourself plenty of people tried introducing him. That’s not just being picky—he probably doesn’t have an easy temperament. Couples argue all the time, that’s normal—but my sister-in-law has a gentle nature. I don’t want her to end up bullied.”

Wang Ling fell silent, then nodded. “Alright then, I’ll find a reason to decline for you.”

“Thank you, sister-in-law.”

“Oh, don’t mention it. If you really feel bad, just paint me a few more pictures.”

“Of course.”

Wang Ling waved and left with a smile. But as she walked down the stairs, she thought more and more about what Jin Xiuzhu had said—and realized there was truth to it.

She had been dazzled by Wen Jun’s description of the man’s good qualities. Unlike her, Jin Xiuzhu could see straight through and think ahead—now that was a rare kind of insight.

When she got home, Wang Ling told her husband, Commander Yan, about it. Then she sighed enviously, “I really don’t know what kind of brain Jin Xiuzhu has—she reacts so quickly. If it were me, I’d have agreed right on the spot.”

Commander Yan shook his head. “You’d better focus on your factory work and stay out of these things. If you’re not careful, people will start resenting you. Like Xiao Jiang’s wife said, if the man were truly that good, he wouldn’t still be single at this age. He’s not in the military, after all—it’s not like he doesn’t have time to date.”

Jiang Mingchuan’s younger sister had only been back a few days, and already someone was eyeing her. Who knew what those people were thinking? His wife was just too simple-minded, rushing to meddle in a matter that would only bring trouble.

Wang Ling huffed impatiently, “Alright, alright, I get it.” She didn’t want to hear another lecture.

She turned and went into the study to review the factory’s recent accounts.

Commander Yan snorted, then turned to his son, who was sitting at the table eating. “Look at your mother—when she wants a favor, she’s all sweet and polite. Now that she doesn’t need me, she acts like that.”

Yan Xing curled his lip. “You should be grateful she even talks to you. You’re so annoying.”

Then he grabbed a pastry from the table and bolted—it was the one his mother had brought back from Auntie Jin’s house, his favorite.

“You get back here, you brat!”

——

When Jin Xiuzhu got home, she told Jiang Mingchuan about the proposal.

Bai Jingzhi and the two kids were in the living room and overheard, their faces turning red instantly.

Jiang Mingchuan frowned.

Jin Xiuzhu turned to Bai Jingzhi. “You’re not upset that I turned it down for you, right?”

Bai Jingzhi shook her head quickly. “No, no—I’m still young. I haven’t thought about that at all.”

Jin Xiuzhu nodded in satisfaction, explaining gently, “You’ve only been back for a few days. That Wen Jun person—I don’t even know her well, and she suddenly shows up trying to arrange a marriage for you. We should always be cautious.”

“Even if the man himself is fine, it’s not a good match. He’s so much older and already married once. It’s not like you’re desperate to marry someone—why settle for a picky old man? You’re in no way inferior to him. Even if your future husband isn’t more outstanding, he certainly won’t be worse. What matters isn’t just the family background, but also the man’s character and the temperament of his family.”

Bai Jingzhi nodded obediently. “I’ll listen to Sister-in-law.”

In her heart, she knew her brother and sister-in-law only wanted what was best for her.

Jiang Mingchuan added, “Your sister-in-law’s right. Whoever you marry, we’ll have to approve him first.”

Bai Jingzhi nodded again, not feeling controlled—just warm and cared for.

While they discussed her future, over at the Zhu household, Fang Min was laughing at the dinner table. “Jingzhi really is exceptional. She’s barely been back, and already someone’s come knocking with a marriage proposal.”

She said it proudly, since she regarded Bai Jingzhi as half her own student.

But her husband and sister-in-law both reacted oddly. The sister-in-law even asked cautiously, “Do you think what Jin Xiuzhu said was true? Why would she reject such a good match?”

To her, earning eighty or ninety yuan a month was incredible—her own son made a bit over forty, and she already felt like she could brag about it to everyone.

Fang Min didn’t realize what her sister-in-law was thinking and replied plainly, “Of course it’s true. Jin Xiuzhu and her husband aren’t the kind to care about money. Jingzhi went through a lot before—they probably just want to keep her close for a while.”

Hearing that, Zhu Ying felt a hollow ache in her chest. Her son was stationed in the north—so far away.

After dinner, the siblings started quarreling again in the kitchen.

Zhu Ying, keeping her voice low so Fang Min wouldn’t hear from the study, scolded her brother for being careless—how could he let others make the first move? Now everything was ruined, all chances gone.

Zhu Zhengwei kept his head down and took the scolding in silence. He’d been busy these past few days and had completely forgotten about it. Hearing her now, he felt wronged—as if his saying something would’ve made the match succeed.

Even after all that, Zhu Ying was still unwilling to give up. She told him to bring up the matter with Jin Xiuzhu again—who knows, maybe something could still come of it.

Zhu Zhengwei agreed.

But before he even had the chance, his niece called to say there’d been an accident at home. Liu Zaimin had been injured in a flood rescue mission, and both kids had fallen sick one after another. She was overwhelmed and begged her mother to come back and help.

Zhu Ying quickly packed after telling her brother and sister-in-law.

Halfway through, there was a knock at the door. Fang Min went to open it—and froze for a moment before recognizing the tall figure standing outside.

“Ji Ling? What are you doing here?”

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