Chapter 22: Mother Sheng’s Good Intentions
“Every time you come back, you see a clean and tidy house. It doesn’t get that way on its own,” Mother Sheng continued, her voice firm. “When your grandparents get sick, they don’t just magically recover. Someone is always working silently behind the scenes. The meat we ate today? Your sister bought it with her own money. Over the years, she has constantly subsidized this household and taken care of your grandparents, your father, and me. Her filial piety is worth every bit as much as the salary you’ve sent home.”
“Mom, I understand. I know it hasn’t been easy for my sister,” Sheng Wanze said, a little panicked. He felt as if his mother was about to physically attack him.
“So you don’t have to wonder why your father and I don’t favor our son over our daughter. You need to make this crystal clear to your future wife, too,” Mother Sheng instructed. “From now on, your sister will keep ten yuan of her monthly salary and hand over the rest to the family fund. When she gets married, she will leave half of her savings with the family—just like you are doing—and the other half will go toward her dowry.”
Mother Sheng laid everything out clearly. By settling the family finances this way, neither child would suffer any unfair losses. Although she knew traditional customs dictated that the son was the foundation of the family, she worried he might lose his sense of right and wrong once he married. If he let his new wife walk all over his own sister, how could Mother Sheng ever face the ancestors?
“Mom, everything you said is completely fair,” Sheng Wanze agreed, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. He felt his mother’s scolding was even sharper than usual.
“Yan’er, do you have any objections?” Mother Sheng asked, turning to her daughter.
Sheng Wanyan shook her head. The arrangement was perfectly fair. Furthermore, Father and Mother Sheng weren’t as rigidly controlling about money as other parents of this era. Simply put, they didn’t blindly favor sons over daughters like most families did.
Of course, some deep-rooted traditional ideas still lingered. Father and Mother Sheng desperately wanted a grandson to carry on the family line. It all depended on whether Sheng Wanze could provide one!
Sheng Wanyan completely understood their mindset. After all, Wanze was the only son, and he was a soldier. Every time he returned to the base, the family lived in constant anxiety. Naturally, they hoped he would marry soon and have sons so the Sheng family line wouldn’t die out. It was a harsh reality of this era: families with few or no sons were looked down upon and bullied. And cruelly, society always blamed the women for it.
Once dinner was over, Sheng Wanze immediately jumped up, eager to show his worth, and snatched the dirty dishes right out of Sheng Wanyan’s hands.
“Little sister, let me do it. You’ve worked hard enough.”
Sheng Wanyan gave him a confused look. He was acting so strangely. In reality, Sheng Wanze was now filled with a deep admiration for his sister. She had taken such good care of the family all by herself, and as her older brother, he felt incredibly guilty for not doing more.
After finishing the dishes, Sheng Wanze opened the heavy duffel bags he had brought back. Inside were five cans of preserved fruit, five tins of malted milk powder, three large bags of White Rabbit creamy candies, two boxes of mung bean cakes, and a brand-new radio.
Sheng Wanze handed the radio to his grandparents so they could listen to broadcasts and pass the time at home.
“Why did you buy something so expensive?” Grandma Sheng scolded. She felt a pang of distress over the money spent, but her heart was melting with warmth.
“Grandma, it’s just for you and Grandpa to listen to when you’re bored. It wasn’t that expensive.”
Grandma Sheng shot him a glare. How could she not know the price of such a luxury? She couldn’t even imagine how many favors this boy had called in to get his hands on it. It was infuriating, yet deeply touching.
Grandpa Sheng happily held the radio, trying to figure out how to turn it on. Sheng Wanze patiently walked him through the controls. It was actually quite simple once you got the hang of it. There were two knobs: one for power and tuning, and the other for volume. Grandpa Sheng was a quick learner. With a click and a turn, static faded into a clear broadcast voice filling the room.
“Grandma, Dad, Mom, little sister—divide all this food among yourselves. It’ll help build up your nutrition,” Sheng Wanze said.
“Alright,” Mother Sheng agreed happily. She divided the goods, taking care to hide the most valuable items in her bedroom. After all, neighbors occasionally dropped by; if someone saw this stash of luxuries, the gossip would be endless.
Mother Sheng handed a full bag of White Rabbit candies directly to Sheng Wanyan so she could have a sweet treat at work. The remaining snacks were set aside. They would be perfect for entertaining Wanze’s comrade tomorrow, and for when his future in-laws visited in a few days.
“Mom, here is my salary and my coupons from last month. Put them away,” Sheng Wanze said, handing over an envelope.
His pay for the previous month totaled eighty yuan. Seeing the extra twenty-five yuan above his base pay, Mother Sheng instantly knew he had been sent on a dangerous mission recently. A wave of worry and helplessness washed over her regarding his profession. She lived in constant fear that he would be seriously injured in the line of duty.
“By the way, Xiaoze,” Mother Sheng brought up, “the family is planning to buy two bicycles. Your father managed to trade for one bicycle coupon. Is there any way you could trade with your comrades to get a second one?”
Sheng Wanze nodded thoughtfully. He recalled that Gu Tingxiao often helped their unit secure rare coupons. He could easily ask him about it tomorrow. “Sure, I’ll ask around.”
The family chatted for a little while longer before checking the time and heading to their respective rooms for the night.
The next day at work, Sheng Wanyan brought a handful of the White Rabbit candies with her. Knitting her sweater while enjoying a creamy, sweet treat made for an incredibly relaxing shift.
Niu Fangli noticed her eating the famous candy. Thinking of her own children at home, she couldn’t help but ask. “Wanyan, where did you manage to buy those? Could you possibly get some for me?”
“Sister Fangli, my older brother brought these back from his base,” Wanyan replied.
Niu Fangli nodded understandingly. Glancing around to make sure the others were busy with their own tasks, she leaned in and whispered, “Could you spare some for me to buy? My kids have never had the chance to try them.”
Niu Fangli didn’t need to spell it out; Sheng Wanyan instantly recognized a business opportunity. She gave a subtle nod, and the two quickly negotiated a small, private transaction.
“I’ll bring twenty pieces for you tomorrow,” Sheng Wanyan promised quietly.
Niu Fangli looked at her with immense gratitude. Authentic White Rabbit candies were incredibly difficult to source outside the capital, so she was thrilled that Sheng Wanyan was willing to part with her own stash.
Sheng Wanyan spent the rest of the day coasting comfortably. On her way home, she remembered that a guest was coming for dinner tonight, and most of the household’s meat had been eaten the day before. Furthermore, Sheng Wanze’s girlfriend and her family would be arriving in a couple of days, meaning they needed to be fully stocked to entertain them properly.
Before reaching her apartment building, she found a secluded spot and pulled five pounds of fatty pork and a fresh, two-pound fish from her space, tucking them safely into her bag.
Meanwhile, Sheng Wanze had gone out to meet Gu Tingxiao. The two men headed straight to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. Wanze had checked the pantry that morning and knew he needed to buy some extra groceries to bring back for dinner.
Gu Tingxiao purchased two tins of malted milk powder and a large cut of pork. He was going to someone else’s home for dinner and absolutely refused to show up empty-handed. Every household was struggling with food shortages, and as a tall, broad-shouldered man, he knew he could eat quite a lot. Proper etiquette had to be maintained; if his strict grandfather back home found out he had freeloaded, the old man would probably march all the way to Chengdu with his cane just to beat him.
Sheng Wanze also swung by the State-Owned Restaurant to order two meat dishes to go. He had brought three bottles of good liquor back from the base, which would be more than enough for them to drink tonight.
Sheng Wanyan arrived home first. When Mother Sheng saw the fresh, fatty pork and the large fish her daughter had brought back, her worries about hosting melted away, replaced by a surge of confident relief.
