……
Refreshed Cheng Lang went to work early that day. After a busy night, he showed no fatigue. Just as he entered the Mine District, the accounting office was tallying wages for payout.
Wages for the month were issued on the last day of the month. Workers put extra effort into their jobs, pocketed the money quickly, and usually added a few meat dishes to celebrate that day.
The workers’ faces lit up with joy as they bustled about, arranging to head to a small restaurant outside that evening for drinks and a lively meal. They didn’t forget to call out to Zhou Yuejin: “Zhou Bro, come with us! You always turned us down before, but now your wife is busy every day at Feng’s, making good money. Don’t be stingy!”
“What go? Waste of money. I’m heading home to eat the meal my wife made.” Zhou Yuejin didn’t like eating out; it was too expensive!
“Zhou Bro, with your wife so busy now, does she even have time to cook for you?” He Chunsheng, the bachelor, wanted to join the group for the meal and drinks.
“Hey, watch your mouth, kid!” Zhou Yuejin shot He Chunsheng a glare and boasted proudly, “No matter how busy your sister-in-law is, she always makes sure to cook for me. Believe it or not, if I head home now, there’ll be a whole table of good dishes waiting.”
They had heard these words so often their ears had grown calluses. The crowd tsked twice in disdain, annoyed that Zhou Yuejin kept showing off in front of a bunch of bachelors. They shooed him away: “Go on, go eat your good food at home. All you do is embarrass us!”
Zhou Yuejin grew smug: “Tonight, I’ll have your sister-in-law make extra dishes. Tomorrow at noon, I won’t eat at the cafeteria either. I’ll bring my own lunch, and if I’m in a good mood, I’ll share a couple pieces of meat with you.”
No one could stand listening anymore. Jealousy made their eyes nearly shoot out sparks. Married folks were going too far!
Zhou Yuejin pocketed his hot stack of several hundred yuan in wages and headed home, eager to hand it over to his wife Yuan Qiumei and let her see just how much money that really was.
He gave all the money to her, had no demands for his own food, drink, or clothes, and let her spend it as she pleased. So why wouldn’t she settle down?
But when he got home from work that evening, the room was pitch dark. Zhou Yuejin waited hungrily, frowning in displeasure.
He comforted himself that his wife must have gone out to buy groceries and decided to give her one last chance to show up. Then the neighbor from next door relayed a message: “Zhou Bro, Qiumei told me to pass this on when I saw you. She got her wages today and is eating with the two bosses, then buying a few things. She said you’re on your own for dinner tonight.”
Zhou Yuejin’s face turned black as charcoal in an instant. This really was the world turning upside down!
……
Yuan Qiumei had gotten her wages that day too. With her salary in hand, the hard work of a month felt worth it. But when Dong Xiaojuan suggested the three of them go shopping and eat out to relax, Yuan Qiumei hesitated for a moment.
“My old Zhou’s dinner…”
Dong Xiaojuan sighed: “He’s a grown man. He won’t starve to death, will he? Don’t play old nanny to him!”
Feng Man couldn’t help but smile at her cousin-in-law’s blunt words, but Sister Qiumei had a soft personality, so she couldn’t push too hard.
This time, however, Yuan Qiumei gritted her teeth and agreed: “Alright, let’s go together. I’ve rarely been to the Department Store.”
After an afternoon nap that eased her fatigue, Feng Man bought a few pieces of clothing at the Department Store. Winter was approaching, and she hadn’t brought much when she came south. It was necessary to get some thick, warm items. She also bought two thick pieces for Cheng Lang without holding back.
She wandered to the appliance section and picked out an iron; it would be useful for pressing clothes. She couldn’t keep using the enamel cup filled with scalding hot water as a makeshift. After buying her things, Feng Man curiously checked out the new electric hair dryers but didn’t buy one since theirs at home was only a few months old.
Yuan Qiumei was spending big for the first time. Before, it had taken the couple over a year of deliberation to buy a TV. This time, hearing Feng Man and Dong Xiaojuan talk about the benefits of electric hair dryers—and having always let her hair air-dry after washing—Yuan Qiumei was tempted.
She gripped the handle of the hair dryer and tried it, feeling the rush of hot air. Her eyes lit up.
Around eight at night, Yuan Qiumei, who had splurged after getting her wages, finally headed home from her big shopping trip. She was greeted by the dark living room.
Suspecting her husband had gone to bed early, Yuan Qiumei carried her things toward the bedroom. She suddenly caught sight of the motionless figure by the dining table and jumped in fright.
“Aiya!” She nearly dropped her things. Yuan Qiumei cried out in surprise, “Old Zhou, why are you sitting here in the dark? The lights aren’t even on.”
“Yuan Qiumei, you still ask me? I haven’t eaten. You went out to have fun.” Zhou Yuejin had been hungry all evening, and now his anger boiled over.
“You haven’t eaten?” Yuan Qiumei was clearly surprised.
“I got home at 5:50. What was I supposed to eat? Was there rice or dishes in the house?” Zhou Yuejin’s face was darker than the night.
After venting his anger, Zhou Yuejin kept his face stern and resolved himself. His wife had to go make food right now, and he would give her the cold shoulder too. He wouldn’t touch his chopsticks unless she begged and pleaded!
This was the authority of the head of the household.
But Yuan Qiumei yawned, picked up her things, and headed to the bedroom: “Then go boil some noodles quick. I wore myself out shopping today. I’m going to wash up and sleep.”
Zhou Yuejin: “…?”
He stared in shock at his wife abandoning him and heading off to bed. He could hardly believe his eyes.
Before, if he was even a little hungry or thirsty, Yuan Qiumei would fret endlessly.
When he saw the bedroom door close tight and the lights go out, Zhou Yuejin huffed in fury. Things had truly turned upside down—this family was changing!
The next morning, still hungry from the night before, Zhou Yuejin maintained his head-of-household dignity and refused to back down. But while brushing his teeth, he remembered the boasts he’d made to his coworkers the day before. He cleared his throat: “Hurry and make me some food now. I need to take lunch with me.”
Yuan Qiumei had worked all day yesterday and shopped in the evening; she was truly worn out and got up late. “I don’t have time. I need to go pick up goods from the slaughterhouse. Eat at the cafeteria today. I’m heading out.”
“Hey!” Zhou Yuejin watched his wife’s retreating figure— no breakfast made, lunch refused too—and his temples throbbed.
In the end, he hurriedly finished brushing and washing, grabbed his empty aluminum lunch box, and headed out.
Zhou Yuejin sneaked off in the opposite direction from the Mine District, toward the market street. He found a breakfast stall, bought a serving of rice with six meat buns packed into his lunch box, and grumbled: “Fine, one last chance for her. I’ll put up with it this time.”
……
The Mine District workers had been busy all morning. At lunchtime, they set off in groups, either to the cafeteria for meals or out for a treat.
He Chunsheng and the others were heading to the cafeteria when they saw Zhou Yuejin with his lunch box: “Zhou Bro, your wife made you food again? Man, we’re so envious.”
Zhou Yuejin snorted: “A bunch of unmarried guys with no partners. Scram.”
He Chunsheng called Song Guodong and the others to follow: “You said yesterday you’d share some meat. No welching.”
The workers chatted and laughed. In the end, they fished two meat buns from Zhou Yuejin’s lunch box. He Chunsheng generously shared some meat he’d gotten from the cafeteria with Zhou Yuejin and praised: “Zhou Bro, these buns your wife made are delicious. So fragrant.”
Zhou Yuejin chuckled awkwardly twice: “Of course. Your sister-in-law worries I’ll be too tired at work, so she gets up before dawn to make the dough. She insists I bring buns to eat.”
The words made the coworkers unable to listen anymore. The bachelors nearly fainted and just praised Zhou Yuejin’s good fortune.
Cheng Lang had just arrived at the cafeteria when he heard his apprentice He Chunsheng say this. He glanced at the lunch box in front of Zhou Yuejin, and his eyes flickered.
If he remembered right, he’d run into Yuan Qiumei and his cousin-in-law busy in the courtyard that morning when he left. Yuan Qiumei had mentioned not having time to cook for Old Zhou last night or this morning. Now looking again…
Cheng Lang got his meal and sat across from Zhou Yuejin. He took a bite of a bun and smiled faintly: “Zhou Bro, your wife’s got great skills. These buns are just like the ones sold at shops outside.”
Zhou Yuejin, who had specially bought meat buns from a shop that morning to pass off as homemade, stiffened: “…”
That morning, Cheng Lang had also overheard Yuan Qiumei whispering to his cousin-in-law that Old Zhou said she did too much housework at home, which was embarrassing for a man. Cheng Lang smiled enigmatically.
Who was the one embarrassing himself?
That evening at home, Cheng Lang told Feng Man about how Zhou Yuejin had bought buns himself, passed them off as made by Yuan Qiumei, and taken them to the Mine District. Feng Man nearly popped her eyes wide.
“Zhou Bro is too…” Feng Man almost burst out laughing. “Too pretentious. Sister Qiumei skipped just one or two meals, and he has to pretend.”
Cheng Lang snatched the enamel cup from Feng Man’s hand and downed the remaining warm water: “Zhou Bro always cares about face. It’s not surprising he’d do something like this.”
“You didn’t call him out, right?” Feng Man figured with Cheng Lang’s upright and kind nature, he must have covered for him. “I won’t say anything either, to avoid affecting their marriage.”
Cheng Lang’s lips curved in a smile as he nodded without responding.
He hadn’t called him out, but he’d jabbed with a couple pointed remarks.
Who was really embarrassing himself as a man?
Early November brought colder weather. Feng Man put away her pretty dresses and switched to warm knit sweaters paired with jeans.
Considering the changing weather, the menu naturally needed refreshing. Feng Man had been researching winter-appropriate foods these past few days. After all, braised dishes cooled too quickly in winter, and the brine congealed easily—it was clearly a summer item that needed replacing. So she experimented and taste-tested repeatedly.
Forget the rest; Fan You Shan at least had a feast every day. He ate till stuffed, and his face had rounded out noticeably.
That evening, the whole family got off work early and gathered for dinner. Feng Man and Dong Xiaojuan made the meal. Afterward, the two men washed dishes and cleaned up, with clear division of labor.
Even little Fan You Shan wasn’t idle. He helped by carrying the washed bowls and chopsticks to the cabinet.
Feng Man busied herself in the room, jotting down a few new dishes she’d come up with on paper, planning to test them again.
Fan You Shan, having put away the dishes, ran back thudding: “Auntie, someone looking for you and Uncle.”
The Family Planning Office worker arrived beaming, timing it to give the young newlyweds another talk on family planning: “Comrade Cheng, Comrade Feng, you’ve probably used up those eight family planning supplies from before. Here’s a fresh month’s supply!”
A couple normally got two family planning supplies a month. Last time, Cheng Lang and Feng Man had gotten four packets total—eight items. The timing was just right now.
Feng Man had grown quite familiar with them lately and couldn’t bear to look straight at the yellow bag.
All sorts of unhealthy memories flooded her mind. It was too embarrassing.
Feng Man tried to put on a serious, proper face, but her ears turned red.
Her husband beside her, however, was utterly nonchalant and responded with his best attitude: “Thank you, Comrade Zhang. We’ll fully cooperate with the national family planning policy.”
Impressed by their awareness, Comrade Zhang happily handed over a yellow bag: “Thank you for cooperating! If you need more, just say the word.”
Many other families wouldn’t take them and resisted family planning. It was rare to find such ideologically advanced newlyweds. Comrade Zhang felt like he’d struck gold.
Feng Man: QAQ
She awkwardly turned her head and inadvertently glimpsed the roster in Comrade Zhang’s hand—a list of nearby young couples. Most others had notes like resistant to family planning, refused supplies, hard to do ideological work on, verbally abused staff, threatened to have ten or eight kids…
But behind her and Cheng Lang’s names was a prominent note: High ideological awareness, actively claims family planning supplies.
Feng Man: “…”
This praise didn’t sound pleasing at all.
Looking at the new family planning supplies in Cheng Lang’s hand, Feng Man smiled awkwardly. They’d just used some last night, and now more arrived.
With stockpiles already and new ones added, they couldn’t use them all!