Chapter 99

Xie Jun was indeed a little shaken.

Zhou Dongmei came to the Xie family when she was less than three years old and lived there until she was seventeen.

A person’s heart is made of flesh. Even if you raise a dog for more than ten years, you develop feelings, let alone Zhou Dongmei, who had been Xie Jun’s daughter for over a decade.

However, Xie Jun only looked for a couple of seconds before leaving, because Grandma Xie was watching him with a cold stare.

“Have you heard about Tingyu and his wife? Aren’t you going to say something?”

Xie Jun frowned and said to Grandma Xie, “Maofang has already mentioned it to me. Since you’ve handled it, let’s just drop the matter.”

The knot of worry on his brow hadn’t loosened since he found out about it.

Although his son and daughter-in-law were at odds to the point where they couldn’t stand living together, Xie Jun felt that Xu Maofang’s handling of the situation was too rigid, but not entirely wrong. The Xie family was not an impoverished one…

Xie Jun considered himself a relatively enlightened elder, allowing his daughter-in-law to do these things. If it were that old man in the Zhou family, he would have been puffing his mustache and glaring long ago.

“Qingshui is heavily pregnant. Is there anything more important than resting and taking care of the baby?” Xie Jun said.

Zhou Dongmei was somewhat pleased to hear this.

The Xie family finally had a normal person. It was excusable that the usually refined Xie Tingyu was no exception, but even Grandma Xie, who came from a scholarly family, was obsessed with these disreputable things. Anyone involved with Ye Qingshui seemed to be somewhat possessed.

Xu Maofang’s heart also warmed up a little. She quickly nodded in agreement and said, “Exactly!”

“Are we short of a yuan or two? We only wish for Shui’ya’s body to be well.”

If Grandma Xie were not still refusing to admit her age and wasn’t using a walking stick like the other old men and women in the complex, she would surely have raised it to strike.

“Is this a matter of one or two yuan?” Grandma Xie angrily demanded.

How could he not understand? That girl Ye Qingshui wasn’t just doing it for money; she needed a career, a sense of self-worth. It was the same as Grandma Xie still working at her age. Although the Xie family didn’t lack food or clothing, such a life could easily make a person unproductive and lacking in initiative.

In Grandma Xie’s view, earning what you want through labor was a hundred times better than relying on sweet talk for pocket money all day.

It was also a thousand times better than a housewife who only knew how to please men.

Last New Year’s, Grandma Xie gave her granddaughter-in-law a thousand yuan red envelope. Before leaving, the girl secretly left the money under the old lady’s pillow. Grandma Xie felt a warmth in her heart for a long time. The red envelope was given willingly, as a sign of her affection, but a thousand yuan wasn’t easy to come by.

This girl was sincere. If she were only trying to earn a yuan or two, why would she work when heavily pregnant? Wouldn’t it be faster to accept Grandma’s red envelope?

If that money were given to Zhou Dongmei, she would probably pocket it more readily than anyone else, wouldn’t she?

Xie Jun turned his head, choosing not to argue with the old lady.

Xu Maofang and her daughter exchanged a look. Zhou Dongmei glared unhappily at her stepfather and grandmother, and had no choice but to hold her nose and return to the kitchen.

She pestered her sister-in-law from the countryside, chatting idly, “Sister-in-law, are you tired?”

“Why don’t you sit down and rest for a while? You’ve been busy all morning.”

“Drink some water before you get back to work. This is tea I specially brewed for you.” Zhou Dongmei smiled, sincerely holding a cup of hot tea out to Ye Qingshui.

“Sister-in-law, let me do it.” Zhou Dongmei said, washing her hands and trying to get involved.

Ye Qingshui was surprised. She didn’t know what had happened outside. But it was clear enough from her perspective: this young lady was trying to show off, especially since Xie Jun was finally home.

Just a moment ago, Zhou Dongmei had looked disgusted, but in a blink of an eye, she could smile and do this kind of messy work. Ye Qingshui couldn’t help but be astonished at how quickly she changed her attitude.

However, Ye Qingshui was mixing the pork, which was a skilled job that Zhou Dongmei couldn’t do.

While she was bustling about, Zhou Dongmei brought a small stool and chatted with her beside her. Ye Qingshui drank the tea and gave her a few perfunctory replies.

Ye Qingshui quickly finished making twenty jin (about 10kg) of sausages and told Zhou Dongmei to take them out to hang.

Zhou Dongmei carried the heavy sausages. They didn’t look heavy, but felt like iron in her hands. Sweat broke out on her forehead, and her arms ached and trembled. She cursed Ye Qingshui a thousand times in her heart.

Ye Qingshui, however, stretched comfortably.

She didn’t rest but took out a jar of already cooled brine. She poked the meat in the brine with a chopstick; the meat was so sticky and soft it clung to the chopstick.

The cutting board sounded a rhythmic thud, thud, thud . After a while, a mouthwatering aroma wafted out of the kitchen.

Another guest arrived at the house. The guest weighed the sausages; they smelled fragrant just by sniffing. He smiled and handed the money to Ye Qingshui.

“I smelled the meat from far away. What delicious thing are you cooking up now?”

“It’s braised meat. I didn’t make much this time. Next time I make more, I’ll send some over for you to try.” Ye Qingshui swiftly took the money and took the braised meat out of the pot.

Since Grandma Xie had finally found time to visit the Xie family, Ye Qingshui naturally wanted to make something good to eat.

Wiping her sweat on the side, Zhou Dongmei saw the money Ye Qingshui collected and was stunned.

She didn’t expect Ye Qingshui to so easily accept a ‘Great Unity’ bill (Ten yuan note).

Grandma Xie affectionately called out to her granddaughter-in-law, “Shui’ya, what are you still busy with? Come, I’ll wash some strawberries for you to eat. The fruit is big and sweet, guaranteed to be your favorite sweet and sour taste.”

Zhou Dongmei and Xu Maofang’s faces changed when they heard this.

Grandma Xie actually was willing to buy strawberries for Ye Qingshui. Strawberries were precious and delicate, and in the capital at this time of year, the weather was still a little cold, and young seedlings could easily suffer frostbite without proper insulation. Early spring strawberries were unavailable regardless of the price.

Ye Qingshui sweetly replied, “Grandma, wait for me, I’ll be done soon.”

She brought out a basin of braised meat. She boiled a kettle of water and brewed a pot of tea using the tea leaves her mother had just sent.

“This is Maojian tea, a specialty from my hometown. The soil there isn’t good for crops, but it’s great for growing tea. Grandma, please try it. These are early spring new-picked leaves, specially sent by my mother.”

Grandma Xie looked at it. The tea soup was clear and bright, and the aroma was elegant and fresh. She took a sip, and the taste was mellow, with a long-lasting aftertaste.

She began to eat the braised meat. The plate contained braised pig trotters, braised pig’s head meat, and pig’s ears.

The flavor was indescribably mellow and delicious. The fat was braised to a soft, melting texture that oozed oil. Ye Qingshui patiently sliced the meat. When cut open, it was as moist as rendered fat, the dark red pig skin was soft and sticky, with a red and white marbling between the fat and the skin. A bite was a mouthful of mellow and delicious flavor. Dipped in the fragrant braising sauce, such an excellent taste couldn’t be exchanged for any amount of money.

At this point, a sip of tea, good meat with good tea, truly was a pleasure fit for an immortal.

The eyes of Xie Jun, Xu Maofang, and Zhou Dongmei were all fixed on Grandma Xie’s face, watching her expression of enjoyment. It was already past lunchtime, and the three of them couldn’t help but swallow.

Zhou Dongmei instinctively picked up her chopsticks, wanting to take a bite.

Grandma Xie moved the basin full of meat away and glared:

“None for you.”

They had just been looking down on Shui’ya; they shouldn’t think that because she was old, she couldn’t figure out their meaning. They all spoke nicely, but weren’t they looking down on Shui’ya’s money-making work? If they had the nerve, why didn’t they refuse to eat it?

Grandma Xie felt utterly satisfied seeing her son choked up.

She ate large bites of meat and small sips of tea, feeling indescribably happy. She beckoned her granddaughter-in-law to eat with her.

Ye Qingshui quickly shook her head, “Grandma, you eat. I’ll eat the strawberries.”

Xie Jun’s stomach began to rumble. Where was lunch?

Ye Qingshui didn’t cook lunch; lunch was naturally made by Auntie Wu. Thus, the family of a few people ate the simple home-cooked dishes made by Auntie Wu, while Grandma Xie enjoyed the fragrant braised meat all by herself.

The tempting aroma of the braised meat filled the dining table, but what they were eating were radishes and greens. Such a stark contrast made the meal feel like chewing on wax.

Ye Qingshui, on the other hand, ate with relish; pork was a beast to be avoided for her now.

After the meal, Zhou Dongmei asked her biological mother, “It seems like what Ye Qingshui is doing is quite profitable. Mom, did you see the guest who came to pick up the sausages? He gave Ye Qingshui ten yuan.”

Xu Maofang strongly disliked Ye Qingshui doing this. When the neighbors asked her about it, she wished she could crawl into a hole.

Why would she care how much money Ye Qingshui made doing this?

Even if Ye Qingshui earned a mountain of gold and silver, she wouldn’t care. In her opinion, this wasn’t about whether or not it made money; Ye Qingshui was no different from the farmers who carried vegetables to the city to sell.

“How much?” Xu Maofang asked carelessly.

“Ten yuan.”

Although ten yuan wasn’t a lot, if one could earn ten yuan every day, the monthly total would be truly astonishing.

Xu Maofang was also greatly surprised when she heard this.

Since marrying Xie Jun, Xu Maofang had never worried about money, but she had never had so much liquid cash on hand.

Xie Jun’s salary was only a little over a hundred yuan a month. The household allowance he gave her each month was at most thirty to fifty yuan, plus Xu Maofang had to give her daughter pocket money every month… How could she save money?

Three hundred yuan a month, Xu Maofang thought: Goodness, with that much money, couldn’t one do whatever one wanted?

If it were in the past, Zhou Dongmei wouldn’t have any concept of money.

She was always generous with her spending, even more so than Xie Tingyu. The ‘Snowflake Cream’ that girls her age had to save up to buy, she used like water without batting an eye.

After returning to the Zhou family, if it weren’t for her biological mother, Zhou Dongmei probably wouldn’t have new clothes to wear.

Zhou Dongmei gritted her teeth, “I’m coming again tomorrow.”

Xu Maofang understood the implication in her daughter’s words. On one hand, she felt sad that her daughter was forced by life to start thinking about earning money. On the other hand, she hated Grandma Xie for being so stubborn; otherwise, why would her daughter be so sensible?

That being said, Xu Maofang was completely unaware of her double standards. For Ye Qingshui to make sausages was vulgar, but for Zhou Dongmei to see that it made money and want a piece of the action was to be forced by life. She didn’t stop to think about how her daughter was taken away by the Zhou family. Was Zhou Dongmei innocently chased away by Grandma Xie?

April, more than a month after the start of the semester.

Li Rong came to Peking University to visit her son. Zheng Xiaoguo, a friend of Zhou Pinghuai, praised Zhou Pinghuai to Li Rong with a thumbs-up.

“Pinghuai studies very hard and doesn’t forget to exercise in his spare time. He joined the school’s soccer team, and we beat Tsinghua University in our match. Pinghuai also took first place in table tennis… A while ago, the math department held a competition, and Pinghuai participated.”

“He isn’t even a math major, but he took second place.”

Zhou Pinghuai’s roommates also admired him. As expected of the Capital City’s top scorer, he was truly different.

Not only did he master whatever he studied, but he also took first place in everything. The first-place winner in the math department was rumored to be the national top scorer.

The national top scorer was almost caught by Zhou Pinghuai, who was only three points behind. And that was the national top scorer who was a math major.

Li Rong’s cold face rarely showed a hint of satisfaction. She distributed all the fruit she brought to them.

“You are too kind.”

After dinner, Zhou Pinghuai returned from outside, steaming hot. He wiped the sweat from his head with a towel and his smile faded when he saw Li Rong.

Li Rong pulled her son outside for a walk and finally brought up the purpose of her visit today.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is recruiting a few students proficient in foreign languages to accompany leaders in receiving foreign guests. I estimate they will select from Peking University and Tsinghua University. You need to seize this opportunity…”

Zhou Pinghuai became interested and asked, “What foreign language?”

Li Rong said, “English.”

Zhou Pinghuai spread his hands helplessly, “I don’t know English. Have you forgotten I study Russian?”

In the 1950s and 60s, the Soviet Union was China’s ‘Big Brother’, and there was a national surge of enthusiasm to learn from the Soviet Union. Russian was naturally recognized as the most popular foreign language by the officials.

Li Rong looked a little disappointed but insisted, “This is a very rare opportunity. Go and try; we’ll see what happens later…”

Zhou Pinghuai interrupted his mother’s beautiful fantasy, “That’s a waste of effort. I won’t waste my time on it.

I’ve only been exposed to English for a month and a half. Language acquisition is not an overnight thing. If they were recruiting for Russian, I would go even if you locked me up. You don’t know how many outstanding students there are at Peking University.”

Zhou Pinghuai’s direct refusal made Li Rong’s face look terrible, and the atmosphere between the mother and son suddenly solidified.

Li Rong suddenly asked, “Who took first place in the math competition?”

Zhou Pinghuai parted his lips and scoffed, “It was Xie Tingyu.”

The three characters, Xie Tingyu, were like a fatal curse. The moment the words fell, even with the cover of the dark night, the change in Li Rong’s face was impossible to hide.

She didn’t say a word, turned around on her leather shoes, and left her son on the empty, tree-lined road.

Zhou Pinghuai shrugged indifferently and returned to his dorm.

…

The Xie Family.

After Xie Tingyu returned home, he diligently took on the role of tutoring his wife.

Ye Qingshui excitedly asked him, “I heard from Tingting that Yu’ge participated in the math competition and took first place?”

Xie Tingyu felt overwhelmed by the sparkling look of adoration in his wife’s eyes. He turned his head, coughed, and casually said:

“It was just a small competition.”

Ye Qingshui hugged his arm, “You didn’t even tell me. I heard it was a joint exam for eight universities, and students from every major could participate.”

Math competition. How familiar that sounded.

The development of mathematics in China had been interrupted during the sixties and seventies, but after the resumption of the college entrance examination, universities began enrollment. The important conference to be held at the end of this year would decide the resurgence of mathematics. This time, it seemed that universities were consciously starting to cultivate mathematical talents.

After the 1980s, China began to participate in the IMO, and the mathematical genius of Chinese students began to be fully displayed internationally.

Xie Tingyu could not link so many significant things to a small competition. He was so sleepy during the math competition exam that he nearly fell asleep, hastily filled in the paper, and handed it in.

The math department teacher was so angry at this student, who was so lackadaisical yet still managed to take first place, that he trembled.

Xie Tingyu hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in a long time. He said drowsily, “Shui’er, if you’re not going to study physics, how about we go to bed early?”

Ye Qingshui lowered her head, wrote a few problems, and then looked up to find that the man was already fast asleep, a hint of fatigue showing in his features.

She was a little puzzled. What had Xie Tingyu been doing lately that made him so tired?

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