Chapter 31 Gao Yongfang

"You really are something, kid," said Zheng Xianghong as she kept holding Xia Xiao's hand. "Being so polite with your auntie, after all, today wouldn't have gone well without you. Otherwise, auntie wouldn't know what to do." As she spoke, Zheng Xianghong stuffed her share of the meal into Xia Xiao's hand, insisting that Xia Xiao take it home to eat.

Xia Xiao quickly shook her head and declined, "Auntie, I've already eaten. I had some noodle soup. You keep this for yourself, I have to get going."

Xia Xiao pushed the meal box back into Zheng Xianghong's hands and quickly walked away. Once she had exited the hospital's main entrance, her stomach began to rumble loudly. Xia Xiao thought to herself, fortunately her stomach hadn't growled back there. How embarrassing it would have been if her lie had been exposed.

Right then, Xia Xiao breathed a sigh of relief and thought about finding a secluded spot to step into her space and find something to eat. She had eaten something in the morning, but after consuming so many wild fruits, she was indeed hungry now.

In the hospital room, Gao Yongfang said after Xia Xiao had left, "Mom, don't tell me you're considering such a girl as a daughter-in-law for Jiazhi. So what if she's from the big city? There are plenty of poor people in the city."

Gao Yongfang's words were filled with disdain for Xia Xiao. It was clear that she looked down on her.

"What are you talking about?" Zheng Xianghong said discontentedly to Gao Yongfang. "Educated Youth Xia is still young. Besides, she's a person from the big city, would she even consider your brother?" "And don't mention it again in the future," she continued. "Be more polite in front of Educated Youth Xia and stop saying those odd and off-putting things. Your sisters are married far away and rarely come back, so I won't say anything, but you live so near, and we hardly even see you once a year."

"Mom, listen to what you're saying. It's not like I make the decisions at home. My mother-in-law doesn't like me coming back to my own family, what can I do? Although my place is under the county town's jurisdiction, it is located at the outermost part, one end to the collective farm's another, almost as far as my sisters' houses. It's good enough that I manage to visit you once a year."

"You didn't come back last year, did you?" Gao Jiazhi asked.

Gao Yongfang paused and responded, "Wasn't Xiao Mei sick last year?"

"What about the year before that? It was mom and dad who visited you," Gao Jiazhi pressed on.

"That was because Xiao Mei was still very small," retorted Gao Yongfang. "My mother-in-law wouldn't let me bring her back. What difference does it make if you visit us or we visit you?"

"So, when Jiazhi was in the hospital, was my older sister planning to invite mom, dad, and me to your place?" Gao Jiazhi pried.

Gao Yongfang glowered, "Are you trying to make things difficult for me? It's not like I'm the one calling the shots at home. I didn't birth a son, my mother-in-law already looks down on me. If you were to visit from the hospital during the New Year's, she'd be even more annoyed with me. I'm not relying on my own family to help, but nor do I need you to jab at me. If my mother-in-law looks down on my family, do you think I feel alright in my heart?"

"Ah, when it was the time for the matchmaking, I already said that your mother-in-law was not easy to deal with. Your dad didn't think highly of Zhiguang either, but you were fixated on him as the only choice," said Zheng Xianghong. "Wang Wei, whom your dad and I both liked, turned out to be decent. Now he has become a policeman, married a wife and had two daughters, and you don't see him complaining..."

As she listened to her daughter's complaints, Zheng Xianghong couldn't help but recount the old story of how her youngest daughter's matchmaking went. Wang Wei, then of the neighboring production brigade, had been interested in her youngest daughter, but she had refused, even calling The Wangs poor. Now, Wang Wei's wife had been introduced by Li Shenghong, and every festival without fail, Wang Wei would bring his wife and children to see Li Shenghong, the matchmaker. Meanwhile, Gao Yongfang didn't visit often, and Zheng Xianghong had received her fair share of sour comments from Li Shenghong because of it.

"Wang Wei, that ugly monster, how can he compare to Zhiguang?" Gao Yongfang proudly countered, the pride evident in her voice. "He's just a minor policeman. Zhiguang, on the other hand, is a key technician in the factory."

"He's not ugly, it's just a scar by his eye," Gao Jiazhi contended, revealing his dissatisfaction. "Wang Wei has responsibility, he never looked down on his wife's family. Just for that alone, he's better than your husband."

Jiazhi, lying in the hospital bed, remained silent, but he nodded in agreement with Gao Jiazhi's words.

"Jiazhi, why are you always picking on me today? In the future, it might just be the two of us," Gao Yongfang looked at Gao Jiazhi unhappily. Since their ages were close, the brother and sister had grown up playing together and were very close. Now, seeing Gao Jiazhi constantly prick her, Gao Yongfang's face showed her displeasure.

"Can I not say it? Your older sisters are married farther away but at least they visit once a year, and every time their husbands accompany them. You say your husband is busy, you have your own job too, but could you not at least send a message to check in from time to time? If Jiazhi and I hadn't gone to the county town to see you, we wouldn't know anything about you. Didn't you ever think that mom and dad would worry about you?"

Gao Jiazhi had been dissatisfied with Gao Yongfang for a long time. Since Gao Yongfang had gotten married and her husband's family looked down on the Gao family, Gao Yongfang was now airing her grievances, and Gao Jiazhi couldn't hold back either.

"Woo woo, I knew you all didn't welcome me. You resent me, blame me," Gao Yongfang started crying. "I finally manage to come out, and all you do is criticize me. You don't even ask if I'm okay."

"But have you ever cared about mom's situation?" Gao Jiazhi queried. "Grandma injured mom's hand. Did you notice when you were holding it just now?"

Gao Yongfang paused, looking at Zheng Xianghong's hand and said, "Mom and grandma's issues have been going on for so many years. It's also mom's own doing—when grandma wants to hit, she just stands there and lets it happen. And it's not like my mother-in-law hits her daughters-in-law. If she were like grandma, would you want me to be bullied like you?"

"Enough, enough. Let's not talk about these things," Zheng Xianghong interjected. "You just live your life well. If you don't come back to see me in the future, I won't say anything about it."

Zheng Xianghong felt bitter, regretting sending her daughters away to marry, but thinking of Old Lady Gao's temper, she shook her head. It was better for her daughters to be far from Old Lady Gao.

At this point, Gao Guoqiang chimed in, "A daughter is like water poured away after marriage. What's the use of saying so much? The life you have is one you chose yourself. However, it turns out, it's your own business. You can't blame others."

Gao Yongfang wiped away her tears and looked at Gao Jiazhi then said, "Mom, dad, I actually came today to talk to you about something. I had planned to return to my parental home tomorrow to discuss it, but since you are all here, I'll just say it."

Gao Guoqiang, Zheng Xianghong, as well as Gao Jiazhi and Jiazhi all looked at Gao Yongfang. They listened as she continued, "Zhigao, the deputy factory manager where he works, has a daughter who is a college-educated teacher at the county No.1 Middle School, recently divorced because her husband was into gambling. The deputy factory manager, after hearing about my two good brothers from Zhigao, mentioned that Jiazhi is just the right age and according to the saying, 'An older woman marrying a younger man is like finding a gold brick.' The deputy factory manager said he has only one daughter, already lost his son, and if Jiazhi agrees to marry into their family, everything of his will be Jiazhi's, he will even arrange a job for him and a residency in the city, with public grain supply for a lifetime, never having to worry about food or clothes again."

"Do I lack food or clothing?" Zheng Xianghong responded, already furious.