Widow Remarries in Sixties

The family of four arrived in S Province on the fifth day of the lunar new year, reaching their destination at 4 PM and staying at a guesthouse near Jiang Mingchuan’s sister’s house.

Upon arrival, Jiang Mingchuan made a call to his sister’s adoptive parents, directly calling her adoptive father’s factory, as he had long memorized the number.

The phone was answered quickly, and the operator asked him to wait when he said he was looking for Liu Qin. After a while, a middle-aged man’s voice came on the line, slightly out of breath, “Hello, comrade. What can I do for you?”

“Hello, Uncle Liu. This is Jiang Mingchuan. I’m currently in S Province and would like to visit with my wife and children tomorrow. Would that be convenient for you?”

There was a moment of silence on the other end, followed by a somewhat awkward response, “Oh, it’s you. I suppose we can arrange that.”

Jiang Mingchuan pursed his lips and, feeling a bit nervous, asked, “Is Jingzhi at home?”

“She is. She’s been home these past few days.”

“That’s good. We’ll come by around nine in the morning then. Sorry for the trouble.”

“It’s no trouble at all.”

After hanging up, Jiang Mingchuan let out a sigh of relief. Jin Xiuzhu, who had overheard the conversation, couldn’t help but ask, “What kind of people are your sister’s adoptive parents?”

Jiang Mingchuan thought for a moment before answering, “They’re decent people. Her adoptive father, Liu Qin, used to be a laborer for my mother’s family. He was almost starved to death when he was young, but my grandfather, seeing him while on a business trip, kindly took him in. His father was a very good person.”

Jin Xiuzhu nodded. If they weren’t good people, her late mother-in-law wouldn’t have entrusted her biological daughter to their care.

“Liu Qin and his wife are hardworking and honest, but their biological daughter is a bit…”

Jiang Mingchuan didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t like speaking ill of others, especially when it came to a young girl. However, as Liu Jingzhi’s biological brother, he naturally favored his sister.

Seeing Jin Xiuzhu’s curious expression, Jiang Mingchuan explained, “Once, I bought different colored scarves and cotton jackets for her and my sister. When I visited the next year, I saw that the scarves and jacket I had bought for my sister were being worn by their daughter, while my sister wore ill-fitting old clothes.”

Jin Xiuzhu didn’t know what to say. No matter how good a person was, they would naturally favor their biological child more.

So, in her previous life, despite being highly favored, she never wanted to raise concubine’s children. She knew that no matter how well she treated them, it couldn’t compare to the bond of blood.

After settling in at the guesthouse, the family of four went out for dinner. Jin Xiuzhu couldn’t help but feel that this place seemed even more prosperous than the capital. After dinner, they went to the department store opposite, which was brightly lit and bustling with people.

Curious, they walked over to see. The first floor sold bicycles, televisions, radios, and even cars, with crowds gathered around them. The televisions were selling particularly well, with long queues of people holding tickets.

Jin Xiuzhu knew that televisions were expensive. In their county, televisions weren’t even sold. She had only seen them in the city, where there were only two displayed because almost no one bought them. But here, people were queuing to buy them.

Jin Xiuzhu felt the difference between the big city and the countryside.

The second floor was even busier, selling candies and pastries, while the third floor sold clothes and household items. There was even a fourth floor, which sold watches and fine items like glasses.

Jin Xiuzhu browsed the clothing section, finding the prices much higher than in the city. Clothes that used to cost thirty or forty yuan now cost seventy or eighty, or even over a hundred. She even saw a coat priced at over three hundred yuan, with the salesperson explaining it was made of northern mink fur.

Jin Xiuzhu, intrigued, took a closer look and found it to be of excellent quality, with a fine sheen, comparable to a white fur cloak she once had, from the underbelly fur of a white fox and worth a fortune.

Reluctantly pulling her gaze away, Jin Xiuzhu selected two hats based on Jiang Mingchuan’s description. Liu Jingzhi had fair skin and a tall, slender figure, resembling their mother, while her sister looked more like her father, with darker skin and a shorter stature.

She chose two identical red hats, perhaps because of the festive season, the store was stocked with clothes and hats in various colors. She also picked out a few identical hair ties and clips. The total cost was not much. After making her purchases, Jin Xiuzhu told Jiang Mingchuan, “Let’s prepare some red envelopes. Give your sister a larger one since she’s in college and living away from home, which must be expensive.”

Jiang Mingchuan agreed, appreciating her consideration for his sister. “I’ll leave it all to you.”

On the way back, Jiang Mingchuan bought two more bags of fruit.

Back at the guesthouse, Jin Xiuzhu distributed the money into red envelopes. She put a hundred yuan into his sister’s envelope, while the envelopes for her adoptive parents’ children contained only two yuan. The hundred-yuan note was a large denomination, thin and light, while the two-yuan notes were thick as they were in smaller denominations.

Jiang Mingchuan never thought it could be done this way. In the past, he was always afraid of causing resentment in his sister’s adoptive family, so he would only give the same amount of money.

Jin Xiuzhu glanced at him, “Don’t worry, apart from your sister, no one will notice.”

Jiang Mingchuan was just being naive. Knowing his sister had suffered, he didn’t dare to say it out loud and only thought about treating her adoptive parents better, which only fed their greed.

Now that the child has grown up and become successful, it should be the adoptive parents who are afraid and worried that the child will find out her true heritage and turn away from them.

Jiang Mingchuan nodded. On his way here, he had already thought about standing up for his sister if she suffered any more grievances. In the past, he always thought that since his sister already had a complete family, it was best not to disturb her. Even if they asked him to visit her as a relative, he would agree. But this trip back to the capital made him realize it wasn’t the case.

So, in the phone call, he was more assertive. Instead of asking if they could visit, he directly said they were coming.

The next day, after breakfast, Jiang Mingchuan took Jin Xiuzhu and the two children to his sister’s adoptive parents’ home. On the way, he introduced them, “Liu Qin works as a temporary worker at a machinery factory, and his wife, Song Xiaoru, is a temporary worker at a brewery. My sister is named Liu Jingzhi. ‘Jing’ as in ”beautiful scenery’ and ‘Zhi’ as in ‘fine jade.’ Her adoptive parents’ daughter is named Liu Aihua.”

Just by hearing the names, Jin Xiuzhu knew that Jiang Mingchuan’s mother must have chosen his sister’s name. She couldn’t help but praise, “That’s a good name.”

Jiang Mingchuan smiled, “My sister has a great personality. Every time I visit, she would clean my shoes or warm my gloves.”

These are small details that he wouldn’t have noticed if he weren’t focused on his sister.

Jin Xiuzhu guessed that his sister not only had a good personality but also suffered a lot of grievances at her adoptive parents’ home, so she asked, “When you visited, who poured you tea?”

If it was the adoptive mother, then there’s nothing to say. But if it was the adoptive family’s child, it would be worth noting.

If it was the adoptive mother, then his sister doing those things was just being considerate. But if it wasn’t, it meant the adoptive family’s child was oppressing his sister and taking the credit.

Jiang Mingchuan thought for a moment, “I don’t really remember.”

He truly didn’t remember. Every time he visited, he wanted to secretly look at his sister more. Blood ties are strange. Even though they didn’t grow up together, knowing she was his biological sister, he felt an innate closeness and a desire to be good to her.

Jin Xiuzhu said nothing more.

Liu Jingzhi’s family lived in a tube-shaped building behind the machinery factory. It used to be the dormitory for official workers, but after the factory built a new dormitory building, the official workers moved there, and this place was allocated to temporary workers. Liu Qin had worked in the factory for many years, so he was lucky to get a house, but they had to pay five yuan a month.

The wages for temporary workers were not much, but fortunately, both Liu Qin and his wife had jobs, earning a total of thirty yuan a month. With the ten or so yuan Jiang Mingchuan sent every month, their family of four was not struggling and could even be considered well-off.

Jiang Mingchuan’s sister’s family lived on the fifth floor. The walls of the tube-shaped building were made of red bricks, unlike their house, which had cement-plastered walls. Here, there was nothing, not even a kitchen. Each family placed their stove in the corridor, along with a small table, making it hard to walk through.

Jin Xiuzhu curiously looked around. Jiang Mingchuan, walking in front, suddenly stopped and knocked on the door. The door was opened by a middle-aged man. Seeing Jiang Mingchuan, he smiled awkwardly, “Cousin is here? Come in and sit.”

The man was not tall, with dark skin and a square face. When he smiled, his face was full of wrinkles. Seeing Jin Xiuzhu and the two children behind Jiang Mingchuan, he tried even harder to smile.

Jin Xiuzhu followed Jiang Mingchuan inside. In the small living room stood a woman wearing an apron and two girls. The mother and daughters looked very nervous, but upon closer inspection, one could see that the woman and the fair-skinned girl beside her were both honest and wore unnatural smiles. The short girl in the middle had eyes darting around, frequently glancing at the bags in Jin Xiuzhu’s hands.

Jin Xiuzhu had already formed a judgment. She turned her attention to the tall girl beside them. Jiang Mingchuan hadn’t lied. His sister was indeed beautiful, with fair skin. Perhaps because it was too cold, her cheeks and hands were slightly red, but her features were delicate. Especially her eyes, slightly round almond-shaped, were exceptionally striking, giving her a calm and serene demeanor.

She was tall and slender, and even though her new clothes didn’t fit well, she still looked very pretty.

The only difference was that she had cut her hair short.

Jin Xiuzhu instinctively looked at the middle girl. Her clothes fit perfectly, with no short sleeves or pant legs.

The woman introduced them, “This is the eldest daughter, Liu Jingzhi, and this is the younger daughter, Liu Aihua.”

Then she hurriedly told the two girls to greet the guests.

Liu Aihua pouted when she heard her name, looking somewhat unhappy.

Liu Jingzhi greeted, “Uncle, Aunt—”

Liu Aihua glanced at her sister, then turned to Jin Xiuzhu and shouted louder, “Uncle, Aunt.”

Jin Xiuzhu said nothing, but the woman beside her looked embarrassed.

Jin Xiuzhu told her two children to greet as well, “Say hello to sister—”

Liu Jingzhi looked at the two children’s fair little faces and smiled gently.

The woman urged them to come in and sit down. “I’ll get you some tea.”

Jiang Mingchuan put down the fruits and pastries he was carrying, while Jin Xiuzhu took out the gifts they had bought the previous night, the hats and hair ties. She also took out two red envelopes and handed them to the two girls.