Chapter 29: Record of Moving to the City in the 90s 29

That was what Yu Zexiu had in mind. After discussing it with Su Huandan, he also spoke with Su Dakui and his wife, and they agreed that this year they would go to Shanghai to spend the New Year with his grandmother, then come back after the holiday.

Jiang Chunhua wanted to stop them, but this was important business. They couldn’t very well make the old lady come all the way here, could they?

So she could only take her daughter’s hand and patiently warn her, “You’re not married yet. Even holding hands is already a big deal, so absolutely don’t let him touch you any further. If this marriage falls through, how are you supposed to find a good match later?”

Su Huandan nodded seriously. Going to his grandmother’s place, she certainly couldn’t behave improperly anyway. Her mother could rest easy on that score.

Rest easy? How could she?

The moment Su Huandan left, Jiang Chunhua started losing sleep.

On the eldest son’s double bed, her son was sprawled out in the middle fast asleep, her husband was sleeping on his side right at the edge of the bed and still snoring loud enough to shake the roof, and as for her?

She sat on the other side of the bed, staring out at the starlight beyond the window. The longer she looked, the more awake she became. No matter what, she just couldn’t fall asleep.

Wouldn’t that boy Yu Zexiu take advantage of her daughter at a time like this?

If he really got her pregnant, oh heavens, dear Lord, if her daughter had to get married with a big belly, then after she married into the Yu family, wouldn’t people talk?

That was just how the world worked. If a man got a girl pregnant, it meant he was capable. If a woman got pregnant before marriage, it meant she’d brought shame on her ancestors.

Just ask any other mother in Jiang Chunhua’s position. Could any of them sleep?

Yu Zexiu’s grandmother was a very fashionable old lady. She wore a fitted qipao, her figure was long and slender, and though she was already over seventy, she had taken excellent care of herself. Not only had she not put on weight, but her snowy white hair was pinned up as well, making her look supremely elegant.

Where did Yu Zexiu’s air of nobility come from?

Only after meeting this Ms. Zhou did Su Huandan finally understand. It had come from her influence and example, from being raised by Ms. Zhou since childhood.

And then Su Huandan found herself puzzled by something else. How could someone like Ms. Zhou possibly have raised Yu Zexiu into a man with teeth like that?

“Good girl, come here, sit next to Grandma. I’m old now, and my eyes don’t work well anymore. Even with reading glasses on, if you’re too far away, I still can’t see you clearly,” Ms. Zhou said. Her bearing was so elegant that she looked like a painting.

No sooner had Su Huandan sat down beside Ms. Zhou than Ms. Zhou pulled open the drawer of the small kang table¹ on the Luohan bed² and took out a red lacquer box.

The lacquer box was not large. Inside was a lavender jade bracelet, not a rich purple, but the pale smoky violet shade found in Ice-type Lavender Jadeite³. About a third of it was pink.

Ms. Zhou slipped the bracelet onto Su Huandan’s wrist, then smiled at once. “This bracelet was part of my dowry. I wore it when I was young, but after that I never had the chance again. Either the occasion wasn’t right, or I had grown too old and it no longer suited me. It looks just right on you. In my whole life, I’ve had four sons and four grandsons, but not a single daughter or granddaughter. I originally thought that when I died, I’d leave this bracelet to Zexiu. But now that the two of us have this bond, I’m giving it to you.”

It was an antique, after all. There was no way she could just accept it.

“Take it, child. Don’t be fooled by the fact that I have four grandsons. Zexiu is the only one I raised myself. The others were all brought up by their own mothers, and they aren’t especially close to me. Zexiu is also the first grandson to bring his sweetheart to see me. This bracelet was meant to be yours,” Ms. Zhou said, and there was something rather bleak in her tone.

Yu Zexiu had three older male cousins. Although his father was the second son, he had married the latest and had children the latest as well. All three of Yu Zexiu’s older cousins were already married.

Married, and yet to this day, not one of them had brought his wife back to visit their own grandmother.

That kind of behavior…

Really wasn’t right.

“Don’t feel sorry for me. The bonds between people are wondrous, but they can also be cruel. I’m someone who made it through those years. I won’t boast about anything else, but my heart is certainly far broader than that of your generation. I didn’t have a good father, but I did have a mother who would risk her life for me. To have that kind of love in childhood means I haven’t lived in vain. When I was young, I married Zexiu’s grandfather. In those days, army officers were highly sought after. After marrying him, I lived a stable and peaceful life for half my life and gave birth to four sons. As a wife, I can’t say I lived in vain either. My husband and I didn’t grow old together, and the family broke apart halfway through. That can only be called fate. After the divorce, I wasn’t here all alone either. Zexiu’s father stayed by my side the whole time. Out of my four sons, I still have this one son willing to stay with a mother who can’t bring him much benefit. As a mother, my life is complete. Zexiu was sent to me right after he was weaned at one year old, and even now, his mother still calls me every day. As an elder, could you really say I’ve lived this life for nothing?”

Su Huandan thought to herself, if that was truly how Ms. Zhou saw things, then she had actually lived a very happy life.

Contentment brings happiness. That was probably exactly the kind of outlook on life Ms. Zhou had.

Ms. Zhou lived in a two-story Western-style villa. The front and back yards were both enormous. The front yard was a garden, with only a few winding paths through it. The back yard was a vegetable patch, and there was also a ginkgo tree.

There were three housekeepers in the home, and everything she needed in food, clothing, and daily life was fully provided. The son and daughter-in-law closest to her came by every so often to stay with her for a few days. Honestly, her life really couldn’t be called bad.

Meals here followed the old lady’s tastes and were fairly light. The housekeeper who cooked was extremely skilled, and her Hangzhou-style dishes⁴ were delicious too.

As soon as dusk settled, Ms. Zhou went to bed.

So Yu Zexiu took Susu out to have some fun.

They went to a bar owned by one of Yu Zexiu’s childhood friends here.

The two men were so close when they met that they gave each other a hug right away. The fair, plump man named Zhang Quan beamed at Su Huandan and said, “Sis-in-law, you’ve had it rough.”

Su Huandan was baffled. Rough in what way?

By the time the gathering ended, Yu Zexiu was a little tipsy. After they returned to the small villa, he finally muttered to Su Huandan, “I might be the only grandson Grandma personally raised, so she’s always spoiled me more. My temper isn’t very good. I’m impatient, and my personality isn’t that great either. People all say I’m selfish and only think about myself. But Grandma says that with my family background and the money my family has, it’s only natural for me to live a little willfully. As long as I don’t break the law or cause chaos, who has the right to say anything about how I live?”

So everyone knows you’re willful, a little tyrant, and hard to put up with, which is why your buddy Zhang Quan thinks it must be hard on me to be dating you?

So were your teeth just naturally like that before?

Yu Zexiu turned and headed straight for his bedroom, not wanting to bother with Su Huandan.

Did she really think he was drunk enough to let his mouth run wild?

Su Huandan was a little disappointed that she didn’t get an answer, but the next day, Ms. Zhou revealed the mystery.

“When he was little and changing teeth⁵, he loved licking them, and that’s how his whole mouth ended up like that. Everyone thought it was because I, his actual grandmother, didn’t take care of him, and that was why he grew a set of teeth like that. I was wronged to death! He’d been a little tyrant since he was young. Even if I said something, would he have listened?” Ms. Zhou absolutely refused to take the blame for that.

Su Huandan thought to herself, wasn’t Yu Zexiu’s little tyrant personality also spoiled into him by you?

So in the end, the root of it still lies with you…

Mm-hmm, better not say it, better not say it.

On the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, Yu Zexiu’s parents arrived too, and the festive New Year atmosphere in the little Western-style house grew even stronger!

Translator’s Notes