Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Stay Far Away from the Wan Family Mother Qian stood at the doorway, a rectangular wicker vegetable basket at her feet, its rim overflowing with the fresh green of vegetables. Seeing Qian Qing drenched in sweat, Mother Qian's heart ached.

"Where have you been? Running around in this scorching heat instead of staying properly at home?"

Qian Qing hugged her mother's arm, acting coquettishly.

"How can I answer so many questions at once, Mom? Are you hungry? It's already noon; let's go eat at the canteen."

Mother Qian gently tapped her arm, then lowered her voice after checking that no one was nearby.

"Just because Zhou Hao left, you've stopped cooking? Eating at the canteen every day will make people say you're wasteful and extravagant while your husband is away. Cook at home. I brought some vegetables grown at your brother-in-law's place."

Qian Qing obediently opened the door. The moment her mother stepped inside, she began frowning.

"Look at this room! Clothes thrown everywhere! Why isn't your skirt hung up? And this table—why are things just spread out without being put away?"

To be fair, Qian Qing was quite tidy, but Zhou Hao had obsessive-compulsive tendencies. Ever since they got together, Zhou Hao had handled most of the organizing. Back when Qian Qing was in school and would scatter her books and homework haphazardly, Zhou Hao would meticulously arrange everything daily, smoothing the corners of her books and sorting her notebooks by size. Recently, Qian Qing had been extremely busy, and without Zhou Hao's compulsive orderliness at home, the house had naturally become a little messy. Mother Qian pushed Qian Qing into the inner room.

"Go, go! Hurry up and change your clothes and wash. Don't stand there annoying me!"

Qian Qing touched her nose sheepishly and went. By the time she emerged, refreshed and neat, the room had transformed completely, spotless and tidy. Mother Qian was already preparing vegetables for cooking. She had brought a small piece of pork, a handful of edamame, a few cucumbers and loofahs, and a bunch of sweet potato leaves. She shelled the edamame, smashed the cucumbers, sliced the pork into thin strips to marinate briefly, and snapped the sweet potato leaves into small segments. Then, pulling out a hand-cranked noodle press from beneath the cutting board, she cranked it with a squeaking sound to produce a batch of fresh wet noodles. Qian Qing fetched a small stool and sat beside her mother, listening to her chatter while keeping her eyes fixed on the pot. Heating oil in the wok, Mother Qian quickly stir-fried the pork strips, then added the edamame, stirring until the aroma drifted lazily through the balcony window, filling the apartment building.

After covering the edamame and pork to simmer, she smashed more cucumber with her cleaver, minced garlic over it, added salt, vinegar, sugar, and finally drizzled sesame oil. Once the dish was ready, she boiled water for the noodles, tossing in a handful of sweet potato leaves just before draining. The noodles pressed by the machine were wonderfully chewy. Mother Qian poured garlic sauce only over her own bowl and placed the edamame stir-fried with pork in front of Qian Qing. The scent alone made Qian Qing unable to resist; her mother's cooking skills were top-notch. Whenever her family cooked during her childhood, children from the entire building would crowd outside their door. There was no helping it—the fragrance was irresistible! Friends close to her mother would ask how she made such delicious food, and her mother never kept secrets, explaining everything thoroughly. Others could replicate the dishes fairly well at home, yet none ever matched the unique flavor of her mother's personal touch.

The shredded pork was evenly cut, the edamame carried a fresh fragrance, the cucumber was crisp, and the noodles delightfully chewy. Qian Qing ate with great enjoyment, unaware to her mother that her daughter's life had recently undergone earth-shaking changes. As they ate, Mother Qian continued chatting.

"You really should visit home sometimes. Zhou Hao is on a business trip, but you aren't. Your father may be stubborn, but nobody says a daughter who doesn't return home promptly after marriage won't be welcomed back later. Instead, you merely sent a message and then disappeared entirely. That's why your father asked me to stay with you for a few days, so you wouldn't feel scared living here alone."

"Also, why did you bother Zhou Hao's colleague that day, making him take such a long detour to deliver things to our home? His new wife looked absolutely terrible that day. Your father said you lacked sense. Isn't that Wan family girl your neighbor again? Why didn't you ask her to bring it back for you? She lives much closer…"

At the mention of Wan Zhenzhen, the food in Qian Qing's mouth suddenly lost all its flavor.

"Don't mention it. When you get home, tell Dad to keep his distance from that family."

Even before she married, she had never liked Wan Zhenzhen's parents, especially her mother. Mrs. Wan always claimed to be in poor health and complained endlessly about how hard life was; yet whenever Qian Qing's family cooked meat, Mrs. Wan would immediately send her son over to beg for some. Her own parents, being too concerned with saving face, never dared to say anything. What angered her most was the dream: she "saw"

herself bedridden with illness, while her parents, desperate to raise money for her treatment, went to their neighbors, the Wan family, to borrow funds. Dressed in a fine woolen outfit, Mrs. Wan arrogantly refused them, hurling filthy insults and accusing Qian Qing of suffering from a "dirty disease,"

an outburst that nearly caused her parents to collapse from shock. Mother Qian looked slightly bewildered.

"What's all this about? Why are you suddenly saying such things? Your father even mentioned that since you and the Wan girl married into the same neighborhood, you could look out for each other in the future."

Qian Qing's eyes sparkled mischievously.

"You'll understand by this afternoon."

Fortunately, her mother had arrived, so she no longer needed to seek help from anyone else. Last year, her mother's health had been somewhat frail. At that time, she had intended to pass her job at the match factory to her elder sister, but her grandmother cried and pleaded until her father ultimately gave the position to his nephew instead. Since then, her mother had remained idle at home. Qian Qing spoke plainly to her mother: "Mom, since you have nothing pressing to do back home anyway, why not stay here and give me a hand? I'll pay you wages."

She planned to earn money and buy a house soon, and naturally wished to lift up her father, mother, and elder sister as well. In the dream, she had seen clearly that during times of hardship, none of her family members had ever abandoned her. Her aging parents had dragged themselves out to collect scrap, and even though her sister's own life was difficult, she still sent money to support her. In that dream, she had been both unfortunate and blessed. Therefore, this time, she resolved not only to board the train of the era herself but also to bring her entire family along on this journey of opportunity! Initially worried, Mother Qian became flustered upon hearing her daughter mention paying wages.

"Nonsense! How much can you possibly earn? If you give it all to me, won't Zhou Hao object? Helping you costs me nothing; there's no need to pay me. It's just this business of yours… Qingqing, being an individual vendor doesn't sound respectable. Perhaps you should sell less. Whatever others sell, you sell the same amount. Don't end up getting caught again for speculation and profiteering like before…"

Qian Qing understood her mother's caution. Although reform and opening-up had already progressed for four or five years, significant differences remained between north and south. Development varied greatly across regions. Y City was not a provincial capital, and the oilfield industry dominated local affairs, causing changes to unfold particularly slowly here. Nevertheless, regardless of pace, most people still believed that working as an individual vendor was disgraceful, earning money labeled as "capitalist,"

which wouldn't last long. Shifting mindsets required both time and strategy. Instead of arguing with her mother about these issues, Qian Qing gently took her arm and persuaded her: "Mom, just come sell with me this afternoon, and you'll see. Though ice pops seem small, the profit margin is quite substantial. Besides, how long can I keep selling these? Autumn will arrive soon enough. By then, I'll team up with my sister to earn money in other ways."

Mother Qian fell silent. In truth, having lived to her age, few things truly worried her. The greatest concern remained her elder daughter, Qian Yu. Qian Qing had married into the oilfield community, and her husband was a decent man. However, Qian Yu had suffered bad luck, catching the last wave of educated youth sent down to the countryside. Had she remained unmarried while rural, matters might have been different. Unfortunately, Qian Yu married during her first year下乡and gave birth to a daughter the following year. Her mother felt deepest guilt toward this eldest daughter, which was why she had attempted last year to transfer her job to Qian Yu, hoping she could bring her child to the city. But her mother-in-law caused trouble, and Qian Yu's in-laws refused to allow her move to the city. After much pushing and shoving, the opportunity ultimately benefited the second branch of the family instead.

With her mother now convinced, Qian Qing felt even more empowered. Taking advantage of the midday lull, she used ration tickets exchanged over the past few days to purchase an oscillating electric fan from the supply and marketing cooperative, along with a power socket and a wind-up clock. The gatehouse where she stayed had many advantages, except for one flaw: its low height. Being a single-story building, it easily became uncomfortably hot. Having suffered greatly from the heat these past few days, Qian Qing decided to buy a fan to place inside her small room.Having an extra person really makes a difference. In the afternoon, Qian Qing restocked early and still managed to step away twice to deliver goods to the office building. Mother Qian, seeing that Qian Qing had brought in no fewer than ten boxes of popsicles, was nearly frightened out of her wits. She had assumed selling popsicles meant just one box, or at most three to five; how could there be so many?

If they ended up losing money, how could she possibly explain it to Zhou Hao? Why was Qingqing so bold? Qian Qing kept reassuring her, "It's alright, Mom. They sell quickly when school lets out. Today is especially hot, so they'll definitely sell even faster!"

Just before dismissal time, Mother Qian tugged nervously at Qian Qing's sleeve, "Qingqing, look, look! Why is there a popsicle cart coming here?"

With a popsicle cart around, could Qingqing possibly sell all those she'd stocked today? Without even lifting her eyes, Qian Qing replied, "Mom, didn't you ask me why I told you to stay away from the Wan family? Look—who is that?"