To Get Married - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

In early November, the weather grew colder.

Manzhu took Lu Yudong to the supermarket during the day on the weekend to pick out some winter clothes.

Warm thermal underwear, sweaters, jackets, and cold-weather shoes and socks—everything had to be new. It was no small expense.

In Lu Yudong’s view, since the school required her to wear a uniform anyway, the clothes underneath were just for warmth. Brand and style didn’t matter. Two of each for washing and changing would be enough.

The child was being sensible and trying to save money, but Manzhu didn’t want to deprive her. With a firm attitude, she spent half the afternoon walking around, adding many new clothes to Lu Yudong’s wardrobe, both outer and inner layers.

Manzhu initially wanted to buy Lu Yudong the best-fitting size, but Lu Yudong insisted on buying a slightly larger size.

She said, “I’m growing taller, you know. The clothes are all so nice and comfortable. It would be a waste if I could only wear them for one year!”

Manzhu knew the child was trying to save her money. She did indeed still owe a significant debt. After careful consideration, she ultimately conceded to Lu Yudong’s unspoken kind intention.

On the way home, Lu Yudong’s arms were full of, and her hands were carrying, all the new clothes Manzhu had bought for her.

In the cold wind of early winter, she closely followed Manzhu, who was also carrying many things, head bowed and eyes lowered, carefully keeping her pace consistent with Manzhu’s.

Back home, Lu Yudong rubbed her red, cold hands, turned on the space heater, and knelt beside it, unpacking the large bags of new purchases.

Manzhu turned on the television and sat down on the sofa.

Before long, Lu Yudong, like a little green frog, hopped and squatted in front of her, holding a pair of brown, fuzzy slippers with little bear ears. She insisted that Manzhu try them on.

The little girl’s eyes were full of anticipation. Manzhu naturally didn’t want to hurt her feelings. She immediately took off the clean cloth shoes she reserved for wearing inside the house and put on the cute, warm bear slippers.

“Is it warm?” Lu Yudong asked, looking up.

“Mhm,” Manzhu nodded.

Lu Yudong smiled happily. “Then wear these from now on, okay? Don’t let yourself get cold!”

“Okay.” Manzhu reached out and rubbed the wispy hair on Lu Yudong’s forehead, her eyes full of affection.

It had to be said that for someone whose pajamas were in an ancient style, suddenly wearing fuzzy slippers with little ears was unexpectedly cute, despite the sense of incongruity.

In the past three months, Lu Yudong had not seen Manzhu wear modern attire even once, suggesting she didn’t particularly like it.

But now, people outside were starting to wear down jackets, yet Manzhu still hadn’t bought any thick clothes for herself. Lu Yudong was constantly worried Manzhu would be cold but didn’t know how to bring it up appropriately.

Now, seeing Manzhu wearing the slippers she had chosen, she suddenly found the courage. She got up, sat on the sofa, looped her arms around Manzhu’s slender arm, gently smoothed the thin fabric over Manzhu’s chest, and said softly like a small cat, “It’s cold now. You bought so many thick clothes for me, so you can’t let yourself get cold either, okay?”

Manzhu frowned when she heard this. Her cool, soft fingertip gently poked Lu Yudong’s forehead.

“Ah!” Lu Yudong instinctively tilted her head back and closed her eyes. It took a while before she dared to open her right eye.

The hands hugging Manzhu remained firmly in place.

“You!” Manzhu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. It took her a moment to speak. “You don’t say anything when you’re cold, but now you’re worrying about me?”

She was a yāo. Having cultivated for so long, she had her own spiritual power to regulate her body temperature. If she hadn’t seen more and more people putting on layers recently, she wouldn’t have remembered to buy new clothes for Lu Yudong.

Such an absurd oversight had caused Lu Yudong to suffer the cold for quite some time. Fortunately, she hadn’t caught a cold, or Manzhu would have been consumed with regret.

Lu Yudong saw a slight hint of reproach in Manzhu’s tone, but no real anger, and she secretly bit her lower lip, giggling.

She gently leaned her head against Manzhu’s arm, whining softly in a spoiled way.

Manzhu had no choice but to indulge her. She shook her head, smiling silently, and agreed, “I’ll wear more, okay? You, now listen: you have to tell me immediately if you need anything in the future, understand?”

“Understood!” Lu Yudong replied with delight.

“Do you still have money on your meal card?” Manzhu asked.

“Yes, I do!” Lu Yudong answered.

“Did you finish your homework last night?” Manzhu asked again.

“Yes!” Lu Yudong nodded.

Manzhu nodded. “Then watch TV for a bit.”

“Mhm!” Lu Yudong finally let go of Manzhu’s arm, sat up straight, her face beaming with happiness.

A few days later, the closet indeed contained a few thicker jackets and cloaks.

Manzhu was finally no longer dressing so lightly. Lu Yudong watched her and felt a corresponding warmth spread through her heart.

Due to Lu Yudong’s insistence, Manzhu had recently stopped waking up early to make her breakfast and no longer picked her up or dropped her off on time.

During the day, Lu Yudong was at school, and at night, Manzhu was out working.

The only time they had together was Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings. The rest of the time, the early-departing or late-returning person could, at most, only peek at the other’s tranquil sleeping face in bed.

Both were careful to be quiet when leaving or returning, trying not to wake the other.

Because of this, Lu Yudong learned to make her own breakfast and always remembered Manzhu’s instructions to brew herself a cup of milk every night.

At school, she studied and took notes diligently in every class. With the help of her teachers and Zhang Ziyun, she slowly caught up on the lessons she had missed.

Time quickly moved to mid-November, and the school’s midterm exam results were released.

During the long break, the homeroom teacher, Ms. Mo, posted the results by the door and sternly announced that a parent-teacher conference would be held on Saturday afternoon, emphatically stressing that no student’s parent was allowed to be absent.

“Look at Old Mo’s expression, it’s terrifying,” Zhang Ziyun whispered to Lu Yudong. “The class results are bad this time, especially math. We’re ranked last in the grade. It must be driving him crazy.”

“Well, I won’t get scolded. My ranking went up compared to the last monthly exam.” Lu Yudong kept her head down, pen in hand, comparing her scores on the test papers, carefully copying each subject’s grade onto a sticky note, and writing a line at the bottom:

—Parent-teacher conference is Saturday at 2:10 PM. No student’s parent can be absent.

“I’m in trouble. My grade ranking dropped over sixty spots. I’m going to be yelled at…” Zhang Ziyun didn’t notice what Lu Yudong was writing. She sighed mournfully, speaking to herself, and then poked Lu Yudong’s arm. “Hey, who’s coming for you? Your dad or your mom?”

Lu Yudong was lost in thought for a moment. When she recovered, she smiled faintly. “Neither. My mom and dad… they can’t make it.”

“Huh? Is it an elderly person? Ms. Mo hates it most when students bring older relatives!” Zhang Ziyun said. “Last time Zhang Hao was called in for cheating, his grandma came. Ms. Mo was so mad that after politely sending his grandma off, he ripped into Zhang Hao.”

“It’s not an elderly person,” Lu Yudong shrugged. “It’s my Elder Sister.”

“Elder… Sister?” Zhang Ziyun looked astonished. “How old?”

Lu Yudong didn’t know how to answer. She had never actually asked Manzhu’s age. When questioned by her deskmate, she stammered, “She’s an adult. She has a job.”

Zhang Ziyun sighed in relief for Lu Yudong. “Well, that’s fine. If you don’t tell anyone she’s your sister, no one will be able to tell.”

Lu Yudong nodded, saying nothing more.

The boy named Zhang Hao came over to talk to Zhang Ziyun again. Lu Yudong simply rested her head on her desk and played the part of an invisible person.

That night, back home, Lu Yudong stuck the finished sticky note on the door.

Before school from Monday to Friday, her time with Manzhu was staggered. If anything needed to be communicated, she just had to write a note and stick it there. Manzhu would see it when she got back.

After placing the note and drinking her milk, Lu Yudong washed up and lay in bed, trying to fall asleep.

The next morning, the sky outside was still dark. She hit the snooze button the moment the alarm went off, carefully climbing over the sleeping Manzhu, and stepping into her cotton slippers.

Manzhu had left a reply by the door: Great progress, don’t slack off. I’ve noted the parent-teacher conference.

Lu Yudong stretched out her finger and gently traced the beautiful handwriting, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly.

Parent-teacher conference, parent…

Manzhu and she were family.

Normally, Zhang Ziyun and Lu Yudong ran to the cafeteria together.

At noon, they would both swipe for food. In the afternoon, Zhang Ziyun would swipe for herself, and Lu Yudong would accompany her, eating the leftovers from lunch, determined to stretch the two hundred and fifty yuan on her meal card for two months.

Lu Yudong didn’t have a phone, was extremely frugal with her stationery, was stingy with her food, and never bought snacks, not even having one yuan on her. Such a classmate, yet the clothes and items she used were of good quality—she didn’t look like a child from a poor family at all.

Zhang Ziyun thought that Lu Yudong’s family background must be decent, and her frugal behavior was likely due to her family being irresponsible.

Because of this, whenever they ate together, she would put some of her own food onto Lu Yudong’s plate before starting.

She claimed it was to lose weight, but in reality, she was worried that Lu Yudong, splitting one meal into two, wouldn’t eat enough.

Since meeting her deskmate, Zhang Ziyun couldn’t help but tell her family every weekend, “Lu Yudong is so pitiful. Her family doesn’t seem to care about her much.”

She never could have imagined that right before the parent-teacher conference started, the person Lu Yudong led back to her seat would be a young woman dressed in Hanfu (traditional Chinese clothing), with ink-black hair and flawless, exquisite features—a woman who drew every eye in the classroom the moment she appeared.

Zhang Ziyun felt shocked. She quickly dragged Lu Yudong into the girls’ bathroom and pressed her for details. She finally relaxed when she learned that Manzhu and Lu Yudong were not related by blood.

So, she wasn’t an older sister or a stepmother. She was just a person who was very good to Lu Yudong—a friend of Lu Yudong’s mom and dad.

Thank goodness. If such a beautiful older sister were Lu Yudong’s irresponsible family member, it would be utterly disillusioning.

Soon, the classroom filled up with parents, and the students were urged to leave by the homeroom teacher.

Zhang Ziyun’s mother took the opportunity to chat with Manzhu while the teachers were preparing materials for the meeting.

“You’re not Lu Yudong’s mother, are you?”

Manzhu maintained a polite smile and replied, “Her parents are unavailable, so I’m filling in.”

Zhang’s mother nodded, sighing. “I figured as much. You’re so young and beautiful, you don’t look like Lu Yudong’s relative. Hey, do you know her family?”

“I know them, yes.” She did attend their funeral, after all. Claiming acquaintance wasn’t too much, was it?

Zhang’s mother rolled her eyes. “You ‘know them’? So you’re not close. They’re asking someone they barely know to come to the parent-teacher conference? Ziyun was right. Lu Yudong’s family just doesn’t care about her. They had a child but have no sense of responsibility.”

Manzhu frowned. “Why do you say that?”

Zhang’s mother shook her head, closing her eyes. “Oh, you don’t know, but that Lu Yudong child is so pitiful…”

She said, “Any parent with a conscience wouldn’t let their child be so reluctant to eat a proper meal.”