Asking for Connections

Zhang Changyao said he was thirsty, so he got up and took a sip of the cold tea from the large tea mug.

"and then?"

Yang Wuni couldn't wait any longer and pulled him back onto the kang (a heated brick bed) to make him continue talking.

"Then my uncle tried to find a way to ask someone to pull some strings."

My mother doesn't give face to anyone. As soon as the matchmaker says it's my father, she immediately kicks him out.

My dad is still causing trouble here, lying on the kang (heated brick bed) and refusing to eat.

My grandfather had no choice but to give my eldest uncle a death order.

If my mother isn't married into the family, my uncle won't be allowed to come home anymore.

My uncle was really out of options, so he came up with a last resort.

My uncle knew a company commander surnamed Wang under Commander Zhang.

Company Commander Wang was stationed in our hometown and had become sworn brothers with my uncle.

My uncle asked Company Commander Wang to bring his troops and go with him to my maternal grandparents' house to see my mother.

My uncle entered my maternal grandparents' house without saying a word. Company Commander Wang and my mother said that my uncle had taken a liking to her and wanted to marry her.

My mother blushed whenever my uncle stood there.

I nodded to my grandfather right then and there and agreed to the marriage.

On their wedding day, the bridal sedan chair was carried into the house, they drank the nuptial wine, and entered the bridal chamber.

When the two were about to have sex and the veil was lifted, my mother was dumbfounded.

Looking at the person in front of me, he was short, dark-skinned, and thin, and there was no comparison between him and my uncle.

My mother wouldn't let my father near her no matter what, and cried and begged to go home.

In the end, she still couldn't resist my father's forceful advances.

Since then, my mother has never smiled, and spends her days with her head down, doing what she is supposed to do.

My uncle was so frightened that he dared not go home, and moved out of the old house with my aunt and two children.

After Zhang Changyao finished speaking, he let out a long sigh, probably lamenting the injustice of his mother's fate.

"Zhang Changyao, I bet your mother really likes your uncle."

Unfortunately, your uncle didn't like her at all and even lied to her.

Lying on Zhang Changyao's arm, Yang Wuni also felt indignant on behalf of her mother-in-law, whom she had never met.

"I don't know much about what happened after that; my aunt didn't go into details."

I knew my dad never associated with my uncle's family.

My uncle felt guilty towards my mother, so he would occasionally send things to our family.

Later, my father tore the floral fabric that my uncle had bought for my mother into strips.

Have the person who brought the gift take it back to show my uncle.

Since then, my uncle has never contacted our family again.

Mother's heart was dead, and even her last glimmer of hope was torn apart and trampled underfoot by Father.

When my sister was six months old, my mother finally hardened her heart and left with her.

A bitter smile appeared on Zhang Changyao's face, for his mother's sake and for his own.

"Zhang Changyao, why didn't your mother take you with her?"

Yang Wuni took a liking to this mother-in-law, turned around, hugged Zhang Changyao's arm, and asked again.

"My mother came back once, trying to secretly take me away."

I was six years old then, too young to understand anything, so I ran back to find my aunt.

My mother was afraid my father would find out about her, so she slipped her address into my pocket and told me to look for her when I grew up.

Zhang Changyao turned to the side and hugged Yang Wuni, tears streaming down his face.

"Zhang Changyao, if I were you, I would go to your mother. She won't abandon you."

Yang Wuni used her sleeve to wipe away Zhang Changyao's tears and gently patted his back.

"Let's talk about it later! I don't want to trouble Mother; she's already suffered enough in the first half of her life."

Zhang Changyao stopped talking and stared blankly at the rat hole on the roof wall.

"Zhang Changyao, do you think we should go over and say hello to that widow Xing?"

Yang Wuni looked at the already bright sky and wondered whether she should go out.

"Wu Ni, let's not go out yet. Let's wait until that woman comes out to cook before we go out."

Unable to contain himself, Zhang Changyao moved a small stool and peeked through the doorway.

With a loud crash, the door to the large house, which had been pushed open, slammed against the wall as the wind blew it open.

"It's out, it's out..."

Zhang Changyao waved his hand, signaling Yang Wuni to come to his side and peek together.

"Cough, cough, cough, ptooey... ptooey..."

The person who came out was not Widow Xing, but Zhang Kaiju, who kept coughing and clearing his throat.

Zhang Kaiju changed into his old clothes, opened the door, and walked towards the woodpile.

"Zhang Changyao, is your dad going to start a fire to cook?"

Men are strange creatures; they don't cherish what they already have, but treat the junk they find as treasure.

Yang Wuni straightened up, swung the dishcloth in her hand, and started brushing the dust off the wall.

"Wu Ni, when you go out to collect firewood later, you mustn't say anything out of line."

We live our own lives, and they live theirs.

From now on, we are two separate families, living in the same courtyard and not interfering in each other's internal affairs.

Zhang Changyao straightened up, took a willow basket, and went to the garden to collect corn kernels to burn in the stove.

Yang Wuni waited a while before going out; she didn't want to run into Zhang Kaiju.

After dinner, Yang Wuni sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) looking at the old bed sheets and mattress covers that she had washed the day before, pondering what she could make from the materials.

Zhang Changyao lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), with his arms under his head.

With the Lantern Festival approaching, I'm thinking about what I can do to earn some money.

"Zhang Changyao, are you in confinement after giving birth?" There was a loud banging on the door from outside.

"Zhai Qingming, you're not being fair. You knew I was in postpartum confinement and you came to see me empty-handed."

"That's really kind of you, you should at least give me a few eggs to help with milk production, right?"

Zhang Changyao recognized Zhai Qingming's voice, so he sat up and looked at the door with a smile.

"Zhang Changyao, I'm coming in?" Zhai Qingming pushed open the door and came in, looking at Zhang Changyao with a smile.

"Zhai Qingming, you want something from me, don't you?"

Zhang Changyao and Zhai Qingming grew up together, and he knew everything about Zhai Qingming's every move.

"Zhang Changyao, you guessed right, something really did happen."

Zhai Qingming pursed his lips and stopped talking, looking at Yang Wuni with embarrassment.

"Zhai Qingming, you're a grown man, and we haven't had any affairs, so why are you afraid of my wife?"

"Spit it out if you have something to say, otherwise get lost and don't interrupt my daydreaming about the future."

Despite saying that, Zhang Changyao still pulled his legs back onto the kang (a heated brick bed).

Make room for Zhai Qingming and let him sit on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Say whatever you want, I'll pretend I can't hear you."

Yang Wuni followed up on Zhang Changyao's words and joked with Zhai Qingming.

"Well... there's nothing really secret, it's just... I want you to come with me to my blind date."

There's a woman at my aunt's house who says that twenty yuan is all it takes.

"I was scared, that's why I thought of asking you to come with me."

Zhai Qingming blushed, clutching his clothes and lowering his head, not daring to look at Zhang Changyao.

"Qingming, it's fine for me to go with you, but don't let them take a fancy to me later."

"It's already exhausting for me, a woman, to take care of her; adding another one would only make my back hurt."

Zhang Changyao patted his waist to show Zhai Qingming, a wicked smile on his face.

"What good is it for her to be interested in you? You don't even want her."

My aunt said that woman was short, stocky, and fat, with a head shaped like a gourd.