. . .
Niu Yueqing and Liu Yue went to the mayor’s house that afternoon. He was busy with meetings, so his wife and son gave them a warm welcome before proposing that the wedding ceremony be held a month from that day. “Liu Yue will no longer be a guest here, but a host to Madam, our matchmaker.” The comment brought a smile to Niu Yueqing’s face. “Liu Yue’s parents aren’t here, so you’ll be her family, since you’ve been so nice to her.” The mayor’s wife continued, “On the wedding day, the bride’s family will have to follow the custom of providing a dowry, and we will send a car to pick her up at your house.” The mention of a dowry concerned Niu Yueqing, who nonetheless kept smiling and said that was the way it should be done. The mayor’s wife smiled happily and said, “But it shouldn’t be. People would laugh at us if you spent money on her after you’ve made such a wonderful match. You don’t have to spend a cent on the dowry. Dazheng will have everything delivered to your house in advance, to be brought over properly on the wedding day.”
Niu Yueqing cried out cheerfully, “Ai-ya! We would never marry her off empty-handed, whether Dazheng sends the dowry over beforehand or not. But since you’re being so considerate in order to make us look good, Zhidie and I would be happy to be her family forever.” The two women continued their conversation as in-laws, chatting about things that concerned women: furniture styles and colors, which relatives and friends to invite, the location and cost of the banquet, who should be the bridesmaids, who should serve as the master of ceremonies and the witness, and so on. That went on for most of the afternoon, until Niu Yueqing took a moment to broach the main purpose of her visit. Trying to remain casual, she gave a detailed account of the origin of the lawsuit and related the suffering brought on by the case, before repeatedly stressing that they were coming to the mayor for help because they were simply at their wits’ end. She talked fast without looking at the mayor’s wife, but when she was done, she thought she might have sounded incoherent, so she repeated herself. I can’t care about saving face now, and I can’t look at her face, Niu Yueqing said to herself. If she shows a hint of hesitation, I won’t be able to say what I need to say. If she hems and haws when I’m done, I will get up and leave. Her face was flushed when she finished, but she added: “Ai-ya! Listen to me. My husband told me again and again not to bring this up. Why did I tell you all this? It’s so embarrassing. Everyone’s gossiping about him, and he can’t sit still at home. You probably will laugh at him now that you know about it.”
“What’s embarrassing about that?” the mayor’s wife said with a smile. “Lawsuits aren’t unusual. Writers like your husband care too much about saving face. That’s why he didn’t want to mention it to Dazheng’s father.”
“Ai, he knows only about writing and nothing else. He’s a total incompetent away from his desk. A few days ago someone said to me, ‘Writers know so much that your life with Zhuang Laoshi must be very exciting.’ In fact, he knows nothing about real life, and we lead a boring existence. You can ask him what else he knows besides making up stories. He can’t compare with a section chief, not to mention the mayor. Excellence in one area covers up all other deficiencies, as they say.”
“But neither you nor I can make up stories, can we? And a mayor must run for office, while you can’t elect a writer. He is our city’s treasure.”
“Ai-ya! You make him sound so special, and yet Jing Xueyin is suing with the intention of ruining him.”
“Let me tell you this: No one can defeat you but you yourself. Xijing can’t do without Zhuang Zhidie, so the mayor won’t sit idly by if someone is trying to bring him down.” She wiped off a tea stain on the table. “I’ll talk to Dazheng’s father.”
That brightened Niu Yueqing’s mood, but, afraid that the woman might forget, she reminded her of the possible serious consequences if the mayor didn’t help.
“I won’t forget,” the mayor’s wife said. “Liu Yue, why don’t you go make a glass of lemonade for Dajie?”
Liu Yue brought the drink over and said, “You’ve insulted Zhuang Laoshi today, Dajie. He’s a famous writer, and yet you make him sound worthless.”
“She isn’t insulting Zhuang Laoshi. Every word from her is a compliment.”
“I said long ago that I would never, ever marry a writer if I were born a woman in my next life,” Niu Yueqing said.
“Ah-ha! If you let that be known,” the mayor’s wife said, “you’d be shocked to see how many women would fight to marry him.”
“Who would want him? Only a foolish woman like me agreed to marry him years ago. Now I will hand him over to anyone who wants him and count that as a blessing.”
“Really? Are you sure?” Liu Yue said, which earned her a glare from Niu Yueqing.
At dinnertime Niu Yueqing insisted on going home, and she signaled Liu Yue with her eyes to help her out. So Liu Yue said that Dajie was worried about Zhuang Laoshi, and they needed to go home to cook for him. “He’ll have to eat out if we don’t. Restaurant utensils are dirty, and it would be terrible if he caught something.”
“Don’t worry. If something happens to him, I’ll find you a section chief. Didn’t you say you’d rather marry one of those?” Niu Yueqing laughed. “I’ve always heard that you are a good wife; now I see it’s true, so I won’t keep you. Dazheng, come see your matchmaker off.”
He called for Liu Yue from his room instead. Staying put, she asked him what he wanted. Niu Yueqing nudged her to go inside while she chatted with the mayor’s wife about clothes and food. It was some time before the girl came out. “What’s the matter, Liu Yue? Your lips are so pale.”
“Nothing,” Liu Yue said, as Dazheng lurched out with a flushed face.
“Mom,” is all he said.
The mayor’s wife slapped her forehead and said to Niu Yueqing, “I’m afraid we’re getting old.”
It was dark by the time the two women were out on the street. Niu Yueqing wanted to eat at the night market, but Liu Yue said, “Aren’t we going home? What about Zhuang Laoshi?”
“Don’t worry about him. He doesn’t care about me, so I’m not going to worry about him.” They ordered two bowls of wontons and four flatbreads stuffed with meat.
“One’s enough for me. How many can you eat?” Liu Yue asked her.
“We can take the leftovers home for our next meal,” Niu Yueqing said.
Realizing what was going on, the girl said, “I’m so stupid. Why did I ask that question?” Niu Yueqing rapped her on the head with her chopsticks.
The living room was dark when they got home, but a light was on in the study. Niu Yueqing went to the kitchen, where the cold pots and stove told her that Zhuang had not cooked anything. Liu Yue went to the study and said to Zhuang, who was lying on the sofa under a blanket, “Guess where we went today? We took care of it.”
“Really?”
“Dajie said she wouldn’t go, but then what needed to be done was done,” Liu Yue replied.
“Are you being a bigmouth, Liu Yue?” Niu Yueqing commented from the living room. “What did you tell him? Do you want him to laugh at me for being so hopeless? Where do you keep the enzyme pills? Bring me some. You ought to take some yourself. We ate so much meat tonight, we might get heartburn.”
“You haven’t eaten yet, have you?” Liu Yue said to Zhuang with a smile. “We bought two meat flatbreads for you.”
“I ate already,” he said.
“Are you being a flirt in there, Liu Yue?” Niu Yueqing called out. “Go to bed.”
“I’m going.” Liu Yue turned to Zhuang when she heard Niu Yueqing go into their bedroom. “Are you sleeping here again tonight? She cried her heart out at noon but went for your sake later. You ought to go show her some gratitude and make her feel better.” She went to her room.