Liu Yue picked that moment to walk out. When she heard him, she spun around and went to her own room, locking the door behind her.
“I introduced Liu Yue to the mayor’s son; they’re getting engaged. What do you think of that?”
“Are you engaged in human trafficking? You promised her to Zhao Jingwu, and now you’re handing her over to the mayor’s son?” She was nearly shouting.
“You promised not to interfere when I sought the mayor’s help. So now you have to stay out of this.”
“So you’re getting cold-hearted, marrying her to the mayor’s son?” Niu Yueqing softened her tone. “We may win the case, but have you thought about what to say to Jingwu? We have to rely on him, since we can’t trust Hong Jiang anymore.”
“Would I have gotten into the water if I hadn’t measured the depth?” He went to his study to sleep.
As she sat in the living room, Niu Yueqing turned the news over in her head, wondering how her husband could have dreamed up such a scheme. He was not normally a decisive man, but this time he had shown that he knew how to handle a serious matter. Still, she was beset by apprehension. This had come about because she had more or less forced him to see the mayor, so there was nothing she could say now. She decided to look at it more positively: on the surface, they were being unfair to the loyal Zhao in order to butter up the mayor, but it was in fact to safeguard many people’s best interests by sacrificing those of one person. She asked Liu Yue to come out. “Are you really willing to marry Dazheng?”
“Sure, why not? He’s disabled, but I think that’s my fate anyway. If I married Zhao Jingwu, something might happen to him to make him lose a leg or an arm.”
The girl’s answer impressed Niu Yueqing; obviously she was facing reality, which pleased her. “It’s not that bad, you know. I’ve met Dazheng, and he’s much better than you think. On the other hand, even if he had no arms or legs, he’d still be ten times better than someone with ten arms and ten legs. When you marry him, you’ll be living like royalty. Thousands of people will be green with envy. But you can’t forget us.”
“Of course I’ll forget you. I’ll get the police to arrest you or chase you out of the city, because I can’t have you always telling people that I was once a maid in your house.” Then she laughed, as did Niu Yueqing.
That evening, as Liu Yue made herself up in front of a mirror, Niu Yueqing helped apply blush to her cheeks, watched by Zhuang, who repeatedly told Niu Yueqing to add more. There was nothing bright in Liu’s wardrobe, and Niu Yueqing’s clothes were all too plain, so Zhuang rode his scooter over to see Tang Wan’er. Tang and Zhou were both happy, for their own reasons, when they heard that Liu Yue would be marrying the mayor’s son. Tang gathered up a few items and climbed onto the back of the scooter. “Liu Yue was born with such good luck,” she said along the way, “for now she’ll rise above us all. She’s going to wear my clothes today, but who knows what luxury items she’ll be putting on tomorrow. She could toss her satin and silk clothes into a trashcan, and I wouldn’t be lucky enough to get even one. Obviously you like her more than you do me, for you’ve been thinking about her future, while no one cares whether I live or die.” She choked up.
“Would you accept it if I told you to marry a disabled man? Don’t be envious. You want it all — love, money, fun, beauty, and—”
“And what?”
“You know what I mean. If I knew a man better than me, I’d fix you up with him and wouldn’t even sigh over it.”
She thumped him on the back and said, “I don’t care about anyone else. You’re the one I want. I just hope you’ll marry me as soon as possible.”
Liu Yue, wearing only a bra and panties, was doing her hair with the bathroom door open, so she shrieked and shut the door when Zhuang and Tang arrived. Tang went into the bathroom with a pile of her clothes and said, “He wouldn’t dare look at you even if you asked him to. He’d be afraid the mayor would cut out his eyes.” The two women giggled as Liu tried on the clothes. “Come take a look, Shimu,” Tang said. “These look like they were made for her. The mayor’s son will probably dance around when he sees her.”
Liu Yue suddenly looked embarrassed, which prompted Niu Yueqing to glare at Tang, who turned her back on them, smiled, and said, “When she gets married, the photos will be on magazine covers. Schools have their campus beauties, so do colleges; Liu Yue would beat them all if Xijing were to hold a beauty pageant.”
“As for beauty queens,” Liu Yue said, “that would be Wan’er, the queen of Tongguan County.”
“Me? I’m not pretty enough to go in through the front door,” Tang said. Zhuang gave her the high sign and changed the subject, telling the girl how to behave and what to look for when she met the son. If she liked him, they would choose a date for the engagement party. But she and Dazheng would have to decide on a date for the wedding themselves. That done, he told Liu Yue they ought to get going. Tang went out with them, as she had to go home. Niu Yueqing walked them to the door, where she told the girl to act with modesty and grace. “Treat this place like your parents’ house, and don’t let Dazheng look down on us, whether it works out or not.”
“That’s enough, Zhuang said. “She’s better at this than you.”
After they emerged from the compound, Tang insisted on walking Liu Yue all the way to City Hall. Zhuang told Liu Yue he would pick her up in two hours, to which she responded with a wave before walking off.
“Liu Yue is meeting her future love,” Zhuang said to Wan’er, “so why don’t we have a little tryst of our own? Have you ever been to the woods outside Hanyuan Gate? When it gets dark, the area is swarming with couples. When I was younger, I didn’t have an opportunity to enjoy outdoor romance, but now I can make up for it, even though I’m not young anymore.”
“That sounds wonderful! What a great idea. You’re younger than them all. You know who makes you young, don’t you?”
The large wooded area outside the gate had already filled with young couples. They all tried to keep their distance from other couples as they happily whispered, cuddled, and fooled around. Zhuang and Tang walked on, feeling uncomfortable, as they couldn’t find a secluded spot, and they looked whenever they passed a couple.
“Where are you going? We’re too old, this place isn’t for us anymore,” she said as she guided him to a rock under a lilac tree, where she wrapped her arms around his neck. “The lilac smells wonderful,” Zhuang said as he looked around. She turned his head to face her, and they were soon in each other’s arms. Quickly getting into the mood, he sat her on his lap, took off her heels, hung them on a branch, and took her as if she were a cat or a dog.
“People are staring,” she said.
“I don’t care.”
“How bold you’ve gotten!”
“Now I know why so many couples come here and why they’re so uninhibited. A wooded area on such a beautiful night is the perfect time and place for romance. That’s why everyone turns mute and deaf.”
“What do you think Liu Yue and the disabled guy are doing now?”
“What do you think?”
“They might be having sex, too. But with polio, is that thing of his also disabled? That would be terrific. After she married him, she’d be eating ginseng and birds’ nests during the day, but crying like a dripping candle at night.”
“Don’t jinx her. She’s been nice to you.”
“Are you feeling bad for her? Didn’t I say she’s a white tiger? Now you see? Zhao Jingwu suffers, while the mayor’s son, who was destined to marry her, was stricken with polio.”
Zhuang would not let her continue, so she lost her temper.
“You always take her side,” she said. “I know what you’re thinking. You’re taken by her good looks, but you know you can only keep one woman. You don’t want anyone else to have her, so you’re giving her to a disabled man, and still you feel bad about losing her.”