Shen Yuchu frowned as she woke up, then let out a yawn.
She had to head into town today. Now that she had finally regained her freedom, there was no point in staying at the Lin family home. As for what would come next, she would just have to take things one step at a time.
After rising, Shen Yuchu saw someone sitting in the driver’s seat. Lin Xuan?
When had he gotten in?
And why was he in the car?
Shen Yuchu stared at Lin Xuan and asked, "What are you doing in the car? Why aren't you sleeping in the house?"
Lin Xuan frowned and opened his eyes. "Who’s there? Making trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night—anyone would think you’d fallen into the pit. And then, to go and sleep in the car."
Shen Yuchu felt quite congested; she pinched her nose and stepped out of the car.
Lin Xuan followed her out.
The sight of them—preferring the car to a perfectly good bed—wasn't lost on Shen Chunfen, who had just woken up. "Did you two sleep in the car last night?"
Shen Yuchu looked at Shen Chunfen but said nothing, walking right past her. She went to wash her face, though the icy water made her feel miserable.
"Ah—achoo!" After Shen Yuchu sneezed, Lin Xuan turned his head to look at her.
"Mom, go boil a bowl of ginger tea with brown sugar for her."
Seeing her sneeze, Shen Chunfen felt annoyed. "She sneezes once, and you want me to..."
"Mom!"
For the sake of her son, Shen Chunfen went out to fetch an armful of firewood, grabbed some brown sugar, and sliced up a few pieces of ginger.
Then, using a water scoop, she broke through the thin layer of ice on the water vat, drew a scoopful, and went to prepare the tea for Shen Yuchu.
Shen Yuchu felt as though her head were heavy. After washing her face, she slowly walked back to the bedroom.
Lin Xuan brought the ginger tea to her.
Shen Yuchu was already lying on the bed, covered by a quilt.
Yesterday, she had fallen into the river and spent half the night freezing on the ground before eventually sleeping in the car. Her body was finally giving out.
Lin Xuan used a small spoon to feed her, bit by bit.
She frowned, finding it difficult to swallow. Seeing that she couldn't take it, Lin Xuan set the bowl down. "Mom, go to the clinic in town and bring Dr. Wang here."
Shen Chunfen replied, "You want to call a doctor? That costs money."
"Mom, how can you be like this?"
"Fine, fine, I’m going, okay? She’ll be better after sleeping for a couple of days. Ever since you got back, she’s become so delicate." Shen Chunfen muttered to herself as she walked away.
When she reached the end of the street, she ran into a neighbor.
"Mrs. Lin, where are you headed?" the neighbor asked.
Shen Chunfen pulled a long face. "Where am I headed? To fetch a doctor for my barren daughter-in-law. Now that our Lin Xuan is back, she’s really putting on an act. Caught a cold and can't get out of bed, so she makes me go all the way to town to get Dr. Wang!"
"A cold isn't a serious illness. Just tuck her in bed under a thick quilt for two days and let her sweat it out. Isn't that how we all handle it?"
Since it was Lin Xuan who had told her to go, Shen Chunfen was just complaining to vent her frustration.
She wouldn't dare disobey him, so she kept grumbling as she walked off. "Exactly! She’s just counting on my son’s allowance to spend money recklessly. The nerve of her!"
With that, Shen Chunfen continued on her way.
Before long, Dr. Wang confirmed that Shen Yuchu had a fever from catching a chill and hooked her up to an IV drip.
Shen Chunfen had made noodles that morning; she gave Lin Xuan a bowl topped with two eggs.
However, the bowl she set down for Shen Yuchu was nothing but thin broth—there were hardly any noodles, and certainly no eggs!
Lin Xuan set his bowl down and looked at his mother. She had noodles in her bowl, though no eggs either.
She was eating the eggs herself; she ate the noodles while Shen Yuchu got nothing but broth.
Lin Xuan moved one of the eggs from his bowl into his mother's, and kept the other in his own.
Shen Chunfen quickly tried to move it back. "You eat it, you eat it. It makes no difference to me what I eat. You eat!"
Lin Xuan looked at his mother. "Mom, is this how you treat her? Whenever I’m not home, is this how it always is?"
"Her own family doesn't want her anymore. It’s enough that she gets a meal at our house."
Lin Xuan didn't say a word; he simply set his chopsticks down.
Seeing her son’s dark expression, Shen Chunfen moved the egg from her bowl back to his. "Eat while it's hot, don't let it get cold. I’m going into town to sell some vegetables."
As she spoke, she took two steps, then turned back and handed the three yuan in change she had in her pocket to Lin Xuan.
"I don't need this money, Mom. You take it and keep it on you."
Lin Xuan looked at his mother.
"You're a man, how can you go around without any money? I'll be fine no matter what!"
Lin Xuan wanted to say something, but thinking of Shen Chunfen’s temper, he took the money instead.
He didn't want to argue with her.
Because Shen Chunfen had always been this way.
Shortly after, Lin Xuan went to the restroom. Shen Yuchu hadn't woken up anyway.
He spent quite a while in the restroom and even smoked a cigarette. When he returned, he saw that the bed was empty.
"Shen Yuchu!" Lin Xuan instinctively shouted.
Had she gone to the restroom? Impossible; he had just been there!
Lin Xuan went to the car, but found no one there. The IV bag was still hanging by the head of the bed, unfinished.
Where had she gone?
Both bowls of noodles were still sitting where they had been; she hadn't even eaten.
"Shen Yuchu!"
"Shen... Yu... chu!" After calling out a few more times, he returned to the room. In the front hall, he saw a brick sitting on the table.
Under the brick was a note written in neat, elegant script.
*Lin Xuan, I have left.*
*Since we are divorced, there is no reason for me to continue staying with the Lin family.*
*The money below covers the cost of my meals for the past three years, as well as the one-thousand-yuan dowry. I have calculated it roughly; there is about twenty-eight hundred yuan here, which is more than enough.*
*The wedding quilt, the silks, and the other gifts from our marriage... keep them for your next wife.*
*We shall go our separate ways. Let us never meet again!*
*Signed, Shen Yuchu.*
Lin Xuan folded the paper with one hand. Beneath it lay a thick stack of hundred-yuan bills and smaller notes, all wrapped in newspaper.
Lin Xuan weighed the stack in his hand, his gaze drifting toward the gate in the courtyard.
Left?
Divorced?
When—when had they gotten divorced?
While Lin Xuan stood in the courtyard, deep in thought, Shen Chunfen returned. "Shen Yuchu! What time is it? Are you not going to move the cabbages to the market for me? If you don't move them, what am I supposed to sell?"
Her voice was so loud it drowned out Lin Xuan's thoughts.
"Mom, she’s sick! How can you ask her to do chores? It’s just a few cabbages—why didn't you load them yourself when you went to town?"
Shen Chunfen looked at her son. "You don't need to feel so sorry for her. You’ve forgotten how she hurt you and how she hurt our family. She could work like a beast of burden for the rest of her life and still never repay us."