Chapter 8: The Richest Family for Miles Around

Xia Xiaoqi practically tumbled and scrambled through the window. Outside, Qiao Ran rubbed her forehead, unable to watch.

Xiaoqi was in, but where was the money?

She was about to search the cabinet when Qiao Ran called instructions through the window. “Don’t look there. Only an idiot would put money somewhere that obvious.”

“Then where should I look?”

Qiao Ran surveyed the room, then pointed to a picture frame on top of the cabinet. “Take that down.”

Kneeling on the cabinet with one knee, Xiaoqi lifted the frame and accidentally scratched her hand on a nail behind it.

She was afraid of blood. Sniffling, she muttered to herself, “Nothing good ever comes of doing bad things.”

The frame was wooden, with glass in front and a wooden board at the back.

“There’s nothing here,” she said, looking at the back. “Nothing at all.”

“Bring it over. Give it to me.”

Xiaoqi passed it out through the window. Qiao Ran examined it for a moment, then asked her for scissors and pried out the nails.

There were two wooden boards at the back of the frame, with several banknotes tucked between them.

“How much?” Xiaoqi’s almond eyes sparkled.

Qiao Ran counted. “Seventy-five yuan.”

“That’s all?” Xiaoqi said in disappointment.

“All? Princess, don’t forget it’s 1978. Our family must be the richest for miles around.”

“Really?” Xiaoqi was skeptical. “What a miserable life for the richest family, eating coarse grain and vegetables every day.”

Qiao Ran took ten yuan, nailed the frame back together, and had Xiaoqi return it to its place. Then she told her to tidy up and wipe the footprints off the kang.

As she worked, Xiaoqi grumbled, “Anyone who didn’t know you went to National Defense University would think you went to thief school. You certainly know how to steal.”

She had to climb out through the window too. She lifted a short leg over the sill, only to end up dangling on the frame.

“Oh no, sweetie, I’m stuck! Help me!”

“No wonder your gaming username is Silly Beauty. You really are silly.”

Xin’an City was a small county town in the northeast, more than seventy li from Geshi Village.

The town’s No. 1 High School was where Lu Xiangnan worked. He taught math and was the homeroom teacher for Senior Year One, Class Two.

Compared with the school’s older scholars, twenty-two-year-old Xiangnan was like a tender new shoot in spring, fresh and handsome. Bright and eager to learn from childhood, he’d later been recommended for university by the town through a teacher’s connections. At twenty-one, he’d been assigned to teach at No. 1 High.

In autumn, when the leaves fell and the grass withered, the usual activity in PE was pulling weeds and sweeping the schoolyard.

Senior Year One, Class Three was no exception. During the second PE period that afternoon, Xiangnan led his forty students to the rear playground, carrying hoes and shovels.

Ms. Xiaomei, the music teacher, approached with her cup. “Mr. Lu, you’re the only one who personally brings the students out to clean every time. Look at all that sweat. Have some water.”

Chen Xiaomei was twenty-four and unmarried, one of the few young female teachers at No. 1 High.

“Thank you.” Xiangnan was thirsty, but felt awkward using a female colleague’s cup. He waved it away. “I’m not thirsty, Ms. Chen. Keep it for yourself.”

“It’s just boiled water, nothing precious. Why stand on ceremony?” Without waiting for an answer, she pressed the cup into his hand, then gathered her sleeve to wipe his sweat.

Frowning slightly, Xiangnan stepped back to avoid her. “There’s no need to trouble yourself. I’ll do it.”

He lifted his sleeve and rubbed it hastily over his forehead.

His damp fringe clung in strands to his skin, making him look even younger. Not only Chen Xiaomei but several girls in his class blushed and found themselves unable to look at him.

Just then, the gatekeeper, Old Liu, came over and called, “Mr. Lu, someone’s at the gate for you. Says she’s your wife.”

Heat rushed to Xiangnan’s face.

That woman had truly gone mad. Not only had she become talkative, but the things she said always embarrassed him.

Most people at school thought he was single. Xiangnan considered marriage a private matter, not something he needed to discuss with outsiders. Unless someone asked, he had no reason to go around announcing he was married.

Hearing that his wife had come, a few mischievous boys in the class hooted. Several girls whispered about what sort of woman was lucky enough to marry Mr. Lu. She must be beautiful.

Chen Xiaomei had heard he was married, but she’d also heard his wife was ugly, an illiterate village woman who wasn’t worthy of him.

She glanced at Xiangnan and, sure enough, saw him frown. He didn’t seem pleased to see his wife.

“All right, I’ll go over,” he said, handing his weeding tool to a student beside him.

Chen Xiaomei hurried after him. “I’ll come too. I’d like to meet your wife and see who’s lucky enough to have married you.”

At the school gate, Qiao Ran and Xiaoqi sat on stone blocks, dusty and bedraggled.

They’d thought setting out with ten yuan in this era was impressive, but they’d forgotten how inconvenient transportation was.

They walked and walked along the rutted gravel road until their mouths were dry and their feet blistered, without seeing a single vehicle.

Only when Xiaoqi had sat down on the ground and stubbornly refused to get up did someone finally come along driving an ox cart.

As luck would have it, he was going to town too. He was kind enough to give them a free ride.

The trouble was that the old ox could really empty its bowels. Every so often another wet splat of dung landed on the road, and it made Xiaoqi throw up twice.

Now she felt utterly drained and leaned against Qiao Ran’s shoulder, unwilling to move.

Qiao Ran craned her neck toward the school grounds and finally spotted her handsome young man.

“Princess, princess, sit up for a moment.” She patted Xiaoqi’s cheek gently. “Be good. Bear with it a little longer, and I’ll take you to a restaurant to build your strength.”

“Couldn’t we eat first? Why are you in such a hurry to see him? It’s not like he’ll sprout wings and fly away.” Xiaoqi was deeply dissatisfied with her friend for putting a man before her.

“I thought we’d take him to eat with us. We’re spending his money, so shouldn’t we show him a little basic respect?” Qiao Ran did her best to explain herself.

From a distance, Chen Xiaomei saw the two women at the gate but didn’t know which was Xiangnan’s wife.

Her eyes went instinctively to Xiaoqi. Though the woman was dressed in dowdy clothes, she was undeniably beautiful, with a delicate purity that stirred pity.

Even so, Xiaomei remained confident. She firmly believed Xiangnan would never like an illiterate village woman. What mattered to him wasn’t looks, but a meeting of minds.