Chapter 201 - 139: The Loveliest People of Those Years
"Shufen, you’ve gotten a bit darker lately, and you look a little plumper than before, too," Lin said as she gathered her things, glancing back at Zhang Shufen. "When you first married into the family, you were so careful about what you ate, afraid of gaining even a little bit of weight on your belly."
"With no man in the house, being darker and plumper means a lot less trouble. Look at me, I could probably flip over a grown man now," Zhang Shufen said with a smile. "My three kids are depending on me to survive. In these times, being a good-looking woman is a curse, not a blessing."
Hearing this, Zhou Yan silently clenched his fists, staring blankly at Zhang Shufen’s face.
’There was no Iron Maiden, only a mother forced to be strong.’
’So the old lady was this clear-headed even when she was young.’
...
The scene gradually blurred amidst the sound of a crying child.
The bustling streets of Jiazhou City slowly came into focus.
Zhou Yan instinctively looked up at the sky: September 8, 1939, Morning, 9:00 AM.
The flatbed cart was parked in an alley. Huang Silang was directing a few workers to carry braised meat from the cart to the back kitchen. There were eight baskets of braised meat on the cart, weighing several hundred jin.
Zhang Shufen, dressed in coarse cloth clothes, had only brought Zhou Qing with her. She watched from the side for a while, and only when Huang Silang was alone did she ask in a low voice, "Boss Huang, why do you need so much braised meat today? Is someone hosting a banquet?"
"You haven’t heard?" Huang Silang looked at her, surprised, and lowered his voice. "The Duan Family’s eldest son from the south side of the city is marrying the Qiu Family’s eldest daughter. They’re holding the wedding banquet at our Feiyan Restaurant today! All of Jiazhou’s high society will be there. I heard the supervising commissioner and the county magistrate are coming too. It’s going to be a full eighty-something tables!"
Zhang Shufen looked thoughtful. "The Qiu Family? The Qiu Family from near Yingchun Gate?"
"That’s right!" Huang Silang nodded with a smile. "Miss Qiu is a famous beauty in Jiazhou City. She absolutely loves your braised beef. She comes to our Feiyan Restaurant often, and every time, she orders the braised beef without fail."
Zhang Shufen fell silent. After a moment of thought, she asked, "Is the Duan Family’s eldest son a good match?"
Hearing this, Huang Silang chuckled. "Zhang, what a question. The Duan Family is the most prominent family in Jiazhou! Their eldest son studied abroad for eight years and just came back at the beginning of the year. He’s dashing and incredibly well-read.
I saw him at the Duan Family residence a couple of days ago and had the honor of exchanging a few words with him. He’s gentle with people and very refined in his speech and actions. You won’t find another young talent like him in all of Jiazhou City.
Some say he’s going to be a professor at National Central University, and there are rumors that he’ll continue his studies abroad after getting married. For Miss Qiu and Young Master Duan to marry, it’s truly a match made in heaven—a talented man and a beautiful woman!"
Zhang Shufen breathed a sigh of relief at his words and smiled as well. "That’s good. Then Miss Qiu won’t have to worry about being coveted anymore."
"Exactly. I heard an adjutant wanted to take her as a concubine and had pushed the Qiu Family to a dead end. The Duan Family’s marriage proposal was what resolved the matter. Otherwise..." Huang Silang glanced left and right before lowering his voice again. "That adjutant is in his fifties and supposedly likes to beat women. Two of the concubines he took have been beaten to death."
"What a bastard!" Zhang Shufen gritted her teeth, clenching her fist instinctively.
"Don’t say that, don’t say that." Huang Silang quickly waved his hands and discreetly slipped a heavy pouch into Zhang Shufen’s hand. "Count it when you get back. The cart will be fixed by tomorrow. I’ll have my cousin’s eldest son come pick up the goods, so you don’t have to deliver them anymore."
"Alright," Zhang Shufen replied, tucking the money pouch away safely before driving the cart away.
Zhou Yan was lost in thought. ’No wonder Qiu Qi made a special trip to Suji that day, carrying a Blue and White Porcelain Bowl to buy a jin of braised beef. Was that her way of saying goodbye to Wang Yu?’
’A beauty in a chaotic world, her fate was no longer hers to control.’
’After two years of devotedly waiting, did she ever receive a letter or any news from him?’
’At least she married a good man. In these chaotic times, not ending up as a warlord’s plaything could be considered lucky.’
’Looking at the outcome, if she had married Wang Yu, she probably would have died in the subsequent Wang Family fire, becoming a restless spirit.’
’Of course, this was just his perspective as an observer. Reasoning backward from the result is always a cold and impersonal exercise.’
Zhou Yan had thought the scene would shift again, but after the cart left the alley, it turned onto a main street.
Yutang Street was a sea of people.
The Duan and Qiu families were joining in marriage, and the wedding was being held today at the Feiyan Restaurant.
Many of the citizens of Jiazhou City had come to watch the spectacle, crowding both sides of Yutang Street.
The young master of Jiazhou’s most prominent family, the Duan Family, was marrying Jiazhou’s greatest beauty, Miss Qiu Qi of the Qiu Family. For a Jiazhou shrouded in the shadow of war, this was a rare and joyous occasion.
Everyone wanted to watch the festivities and soak in some of the happy atmosphere.
Servants from the Duan Family carried baskets of wedding candy, handing them out to the onlookers along the road.
"They’re coming! They’re coming!" someone shouted, and the people on the street all craned their necks to look toward the end of the long street.
Zhang Shufen tied up the horse cart, and holding Zhou Qing, she also squeezed her way to the side of the street to watch.
Zhou Yan floated up, his gaze passing over the crowd to a military convertible jeep slowly approaching behind the gongs and drums procession.
’The Duan Family really is rich and powerful, to be able to borrow even a military vehicle.’
"The fighting at the front is so intense, yet the son of a merchant is using a military vehicle for his wedding! It’s disgusting!"
"What the hell do you know! The Duan Family donated one million silver dollars to the war effort last month! This vehicle was specially approved by the provincial government to be their wedding car, precisely to commend the Duan Family’s righteous act of donating to save the country and to shut the mouths of people like you! Otherwise, why would the supervising commissioner and the county magistrate show up?"
"One million silver dollars!"
"The Duan Family is truly generous! They deserve to be rich!"
The onlookers were all stunned into silence, and their impression of the Duan Family improved dramatically.
Sitting in the back of the convertible were the newlyweds. Zhou Yan floated high above and could see them clearly.