Liu Mengyao had never expected Liu Bing to say something so cruel. Her heart was clogged with grievance, and she gritted her teeth as she spoke, one word at a time.
“Do you think I wanted things to come to this? Don’t you know better than anyone how I ended up with Huang Yuanqing?”
“If your mother hadn’t gone out of her way to arrange it, would I have gone to the city to work as their servant?”
Back then, the Huang family wanted to hire a servant, but because of Huang Yuanqing’s position, they could not do so openly. His wife, Liu Suzhen, could only return to the village to look for someone. She offered a monthly wage of fifteen yuan and promised that after three years, she would help the girl find a husband in the city. Liu Bing’s mother then began matchmaking and recommended Liu Mengyao.
Liu Mengyao’s family also had a younger son. Her parents could hardly refuse the chance for their daughter to go out and earn money—and perhaps marry a city man in the future. That very day, they sent Liu Mengyao into the city with Liu Suzhen.
On the day she left for the city, she wore a patched plaid shirt and straw sandals that had worn through before she even arrived. She followed closely behind Liu Suzhen, not daring to lift her head. When they reached the residential compound, Liu Suzhen told everyone they met that Liu Mengyao was her niece, who had come to see the world in the city and hoped to find a husband there someday.
Liu Suzhen was one person to her face and another behind her back. She did not skimp on food or drink, and she even praised Liu Mengyao in front of outsiders.
But whenever no one else was around, Liu Suzhen found fault with her in every possible way, pointing at her nose and cursing her day after day. Huang Yuanqing was rarely home at the time, and whenever they happened to meet, he did not even spare her a glance.
Back then, Liu Mengyao told herself that if she worked hard for three years, she would be able to marry a man from the city.
“Cousin, wasn’t my mother trying to help you? Who could have known that you’d climb into someone else’s man’s bed in your second year? Because of you, my mother was cursed out by Liu Suzhen’s family.” Liu Bing’s face was full of mockery.
Liu Mengyao hated it most when people said she had seduced a married man.
“Liu Bing, was your mother really helping me? She did it for the ten-yuan matchmaking fee Liu Suzhen gave her, didn’t she? You ungrateful bastard, and you still have the nerve to criticize me for sleeping with him? If I hadn’t done it, would a country bumpkin like you ever have gotten a job in the Revolutionary Committee? Dream on! Besides, I didn’t do it willingly.”
It happened once when Liu Suzhen had taken her children back to her family home. Huang Yuanqing came home drunk that day, complaining of a headache, and told Liu Mengyao to massage his temples.
Before long, Huang Yuanqing’s hand slid onto hers. Liu Mengyao hurriedly pulled away in fright, but Huang Yuanqing immediately took a ten-yuan note from his pocket and slapped it down on the table.
At the time, Liu Mengyao had to hand her monthly wages over to her family, leaving her with only one yuan in her pocket. She stared at that ten-yuan note and thought that all she had to do was let him touch her hand, and she would have ten yuan. Bewitched by the prospect, she stopped resisting.
The money on the table grew thicker, and Huang Yuanqing’s hands grew bolder.
At Huang Yuanqing’s insistence, she drank several more glasses with him. The liquor was fiery and made her eyes water, but Huang Yuanqing laughed and told her that every cup was worth ten yuan. She wanted to buy pretty clothes and save up a dowry for herself. She did not know how much she drank, nor did she know what happened afterward.
When she woke the next morning, she sat on the disheveled bed and stared at the smear of red on the sheets. She knew that no matter what she said, it was too late.
Huang Yuanqing said nothing. As he left, he placed a stack of money and ration coupons beside her pillow.
She sat on the bed for a long time, holding the money and coupons, before finally leaving the house.
She followed the streets and passed through two alleys before entering a department store for the first time. Even now, she could not forget the way the sales clerk had looked at her—with contempt and disdain. But after Liu Mengyao bought a jar of the same Snow Flower Cream that Liu Suzhen used, the clerk’s attitude changed completely.
She bought a pair of leather shoes and the kind of corduroy clothes Liu Suzhen’s daughter wore. She even bought some new fabric, but she could only hide everything in her bundle and did not dare take it out.
Three months later, she became pregnant. Huang Yuanqing found her a house and hired someone to look after her. No one had expected her to bear a son—the Huang family’s only male heir.
After that, Huang Yuanqing treated her like an ancestor, granting her every request. After all, she had given birth to the only boy in the Huang family.
When Liu Suzhen found out, she went to Liu Mengyao’s family home and caused a huge scene, even bringing people to smash Liu Bing’s house to pieces. No one knew what Huang Yuanqing had said to Liu Suzhen, but from that point onward, Liu Suzhen was left in the countryside and never returned to the city.
At the time, Liu Mengyao had been truly happy. Everything Liu Suzhen had, she now possessed as well.
To thank Liu Bing’s family, Director Huang arranged a job for Liu Bing. With Liu Mengyao as his connection, Liu Bing flourished and soon became Director Huang’s most capable assistant.
“You weren’t willing?” Liu Bing sneered. “You wanted to be a homewrecker and still set yourself up as some kind of virtuous woman.”
“Now you keep claiming you’re pregnant with Lin Guoan’s child, so what is this man you’ve brought home?”
“You bring men back here every day. Sooner or later, someone’s going to report me. If something happens, I’ll lose my job. If you can’t stand being alone, why don’t you go to that man’s place?”
His right eyelid had been twitching constantly over the past two days, and he had felt that something bad was about to happen. Then he had walked through the door and found Liu Mengyao there again. He immediately knew that she had brought another man to his place to fool around. She had been doing it for several days in a row. How could he tolerate it any longer? No matter what, he could not let Liu Mengyao continue using his home for such activities.
Liu Mengyao’s chest felt stifled, and her eyes reddened. Yet she could not come up with a single word in her own defense.
She shoved Liu Bing hard. Her voice was shrill and hoarse.
“Liu Bing, remember this. From now on, don’t ever come begging me for anything.”
With that, she turned and ran toward the door.
The wooden door slammed shut with a bang, shaking Xiao Mandong’s ears until they rang inside the space.
“Crazy woman,” Liu Bing muttered. He locked the gate and left as well.
The sound of his footsteps gradually faded. Only after the courtyard had fallen completely silent did Xiao Mandong emerge from the space.
The house was fairly large. It had three spacious rooms with tiled roofs: a central main room, a bedroom on either side, and a small kitchen attached nearby.
Xiao Mandong walked inside and took a rough look around. There did not appear to be anything valuable on the surface. She believed that after following Director Huang for so long, Liu Bing could not possibly have failed to get his hands on some benefits. But she had no intention of taking anything. She did not want to alert anyone. These things were better left behind and turned over to the authorities.
Xiao Mandong placed two foreign-language books on top of the wardrobe. She had found them earlier in Director Huang’s secret room.
Then she put two talismans inside the kang cabinet.
Finally, she wrote a few lines of counterrevolutionary slogans on a piece of paper and stuffed it inside the pillow. She was just about to leave, satisfied with her work, when the courtyard filled with the sound of faint footsteps.
Peering out through the window, she saw Liu Mengyao walking toward the house with a man, the two of them making out as they came.
