June 1998.
An old minibus stopped at the provincial bus station. Yang Cairong disembarked with the crowd. It was her first time in the provincial capital. The bus station adjacent to the train station was teeming with people, her first impression of the bustling city.
She knew no one there, having come solely based on a job advertisement in the newspaper. After asking for directions and switching buses twice, she arrived at her destination, the Little Genius Toy Factory.
She was applying for an assembly line worker position, which only required installing toy parts—a job anyone could do, provided they weren’t foolish or mute.
While filling out the application form, her hand paused for a few seconds before she wrote down her name as “Yang Rong,” finding “Yang Cairong” too common.
Yang Cairong was strikingly beautiful, radiant and captivating, drawing attention wherever she went. In just half a day, her name had spread across the entire factory. Male workers, pretending to have work nearby, crowded around the workshop door just to catch a glimpse of her.
Men admired her, and women envied her. Two female workers deliberately made her job difficult, undercounting her output by thirty pieces, costing her a meal’s worth of wages. Not one to be bullied, Yang Cairong argued her case until it reached the workshop manager.
The workshop manager ruled in her favor, but she knew it was due to her allure.
Sure enough, the workshop manager began sticking to her like a plaster, summoning her to his office frequently—sometimes to scold, sometimes to “educate,” and sometimes to ask for help, always looking for excuses to be alone with her.
She couldn’t afford to offend him, yet she had to be cautious not to let him take advantage of her. Soon, rumors started to circulate. Spreading a yellow rumor about a woman took but a whisper, but for a woman to prove her innocence was as difficult as reaching the heavens.
How many had killed themselves throughout history to prove their innocence?
Her reputation tainted, the workshop manager became more brazen, locking her in his office with intentions of misconduct, confident she wouldn’t dare make a scene as it would only confirm the rumors.
But they had misjudged her. She could endure, but she was not weak.
She screamed for help, preserving her dignity while the manager counterattacked, slandering her as the seducer, even producing her intimate garments as “proof.” She claimed her garments were stolen, but people were more inclined to believe and revel in the image of a promiscuous woman—it gave the envious women some satisfaction and the lustful men an excuse to fantasize openly.
Unwilling to be subdued without a fight, she wanted to call the police, but someone informed the manager.
This was her first encounter with Liu Tianshi, who was unremarkable in appearance and didn’t capture her interest.
She thought Liu Tianshi would be like everyone else, either deceived by her beauty and believing her defense, or blindly siding with management.
Unexpectedly, Liu Tianshi did not show partiality or personal bias; he was not swayed by beauty. He even set up a three-person investigation team, leading it himself to look into the matter.
Three days later, she was proven innocent, and it was found that the workshop manager had stolen her garments. He was fired.
The new workshop manager turned out to be Liu Tianshi, who claimed he took the position temporarily as no suitable candidate was available.
Soon, Yang Cairong noticed Liu Tianshi often stealing glances at her, hurriedly looking away whenever their eyes met, his cheeks flushing to the tips of his ears.
Yang Cairong remained unimpressed; she had seen too many men infatuated by looks, and knew that taking them seriously meant losing.
She put on an expression as if someone owed her a hundred thousand yuan, her demeanor so frosty it could freeze the air around her, and Liu Tianshi only dared to admire her from a distance.
A month later, a turning point occurred.
She was promoted to team leader and went to deliver samples to the factory director’s office. By chance, she saw Liu Tianshi through the door crack, looking unusually close to the director, not like typical superiors and subordinates.
Impulsively, she hid under the window, unsure of her intentions, then heard Liu Tianshi call the man “Dad.”
It turned out Liu Tianshi was a hidden rich second generation, concealing his identity to temper himself.
From then on, her attitude toward Liu Tianshi subtly changed, drawing near yet staying aloof, enticing yet evasive, making Liu Tianshi pursue her even more fervently.
Yang Cairong was clear-headed and self-controlled; she was not blinded by love, nor in a hurry to latch onto Liu Tianshi, the golden bachelor. If his heart was not steadfast, their paths would inevitably diverge.
She sought a lasting future, not fleeting benefits.
After a year of scrutiny, she finally agreed to a relationship.
Liu Tianshi was ecstatic, likening his joy to that of Fan Zhongyan when he passed the imperial examination.
He eagerly introduced Yang Cairong to his parents. She feigned surprise and anger, causing a few days of awkwardness before accepting his identity.
Liu Tianshi’s father, Liu Baoren, had a very good impression of her, recognizing immediately the employee who had pointed out a mistake in a design drawing half a year ago.
Unbeknownst to him, this was all orchestrated by Yang Cairong, intent on making a good first impression on her future father-in-law.
However, no matter how much she tried to please her future mother-in-law, Liu’s mother took an immediate dislike to her, as if a mother’s instinct allowed her to discern whether the women around her son were sincere.
Yang Cairong came from a rural background, her family having been farmers for three generations. Her parents died when she was in her teens, and before reaching adulthood, she supported herself by farming and making paper boxes during the slack season. After becoming an adult, she worked in a match factory for a while.
Liu’s father pitied her orphaned state and praised her resilience. Liu’s mother, however, looked down on her background, seeing resilience not as a virtue but as a survival necessity.
Liu’s maternal ancestors were capitalists in the old days, and even during the most challenging times of New China, her family remained relatively prosperous. She had never suffered and couldn’t resonate with Yang Cairong’s life experiences.
Liu’s mother’s opposition only fueled Liu Tianshi’s rebelliousness. He was adamant about marrying no one but Yang Cairong, and there were several times she almost gave up, but Liu Tianshi showed remarkable determination, even sneaking out the household registration book to elope with her.
Of course, they didn’t succeed in eloping. Yang Cairong managed to leak the plan to Liu’s mother, who intercepted them at the train station.
Liu’s mother’s dislike and hatred for Yang Cairong grew from a spark to a raging fire.
Yang Cairong was fearless, fighting harder because she knew she firmly held Liu Tianshi’s heart.
A child is beyond a mother’s control.
On Mid-Autumn Festival, Liu’s mother finally raised the white flag and admitted defeat.
She instructed the housekeeper to prepare a table full of exquisite dishes, none of which Yang Cairong had ever heard of. Liu’s mother’s demeanor thawed, warming to Yang Cairong as if she were her own daughter.
Yang Cairong suspected it was all a setup, a feast at Hongmen.
During the meal, the naive Liu Tianshi laughed heartily, moved nearly to tears by the harmony between his mother and fiancée, completely oblivious to the undercurrents between the two women.
Liu’s mother personally poured wine for Yang Cairong, toasting frequently. Yang Cairong had to drink; to refuse would be disrespectful. After a few glasses, her head spun.
Liu’s mother mentioned that although Yang Cairong’s parents were deceased, relatives must attend the wedding. She asked about Yang Cairong’s hometown, intending to visit with Liu’s father.
Alarms went off in Yang Cairong’s mind. She had said her parents were dead to avoid having Liu’s family visit her hometown, but now Liu’s mother wanted to go—had she sensed something?
The delicacies in her mouth suddenly tasted like wax.
She claimed she had practically no relatives left, the few she could count having long since scattered to unknown places.
Liu’s mother seemed to sense her evasion and delightedly pressed for the name of her village.
If she kept evading, even the naive Liu Tianshi would notice something was amiss.
Yangjiazhuang. She said.
She left the banquet fraught with anxiety.
After a tense week, Liu’s mother invited her to dine at their home again.
She knew the storm was finally about to break.
The atmosphere was odd from the moment she entered. Liu Tianshi’s smile seemed forced, Liu’s father looked solemn, and Liu’s mother’s smile was the brightest.
After some initial small talk, Liu Tianshi rambled on until his mother kicked him under the table. He then hesitantly began, “Rongrong, a few days ago, our aunt met a fellow villager in the community. She started chatting with them, and you came up in conversation. The person said, said there’s no one from Yangjiazhuang with your name. What’s going on?”
Yang Cairong’s smile froze, her expression dimming with embarrassment, guilt, and a sense of being unjustly accused.
Under Liu’s mother’s persistent questioning, she confessed that her hometown wasn’t Yangjiazhuang but Yangzhuang, a single character difference but dozens of miles apart. She had hidden this because her parents were severely ill and disabled, a burden too heavy, fearing rejection.
Liu’s mother unleashed a torrent of sharp criticism, claiming not to care about her poor background but about honesty. Deception was unforgivable.
Having caught her in a lie, Liu’s mother was triumphant, and even Liu’s father, who usually sided with her, was disappointed. Liu’s mother ordered Liu Tianshi to break up immediately, declaring that the Liu family couldn’t accept a daughter-in-law of questionable character.
Embarrassed and tearful, Yang Cairong got up to leave.
Liu Tianshi stopped her, holding her hand firmly, shocking his mother with his words. He said Yang Cairong had told him the truth about her family situation long ago, and the idea to keep it from his parents was his, fearing his mother’s opposition. Yang Cairong was innocent.
Moreover, he had visited her hometown with her. Yang Cairong had cared for her parents meticulously, forced into city work by circumstances.
Thinking she held the upper hand, Liu’s mother was unexpectedly outmaneuvered and became furiously agitated, nearly crushing her own fingers.
She suspected this was all Yang Cairong’s doing, having told Liu Tianshi the truth to win his pity, knowing Liu’s mother would investigate and deliberately giving a false address, waiting for Liu’s mother to make a scene, playing the role of the wronged daughter-in-law, not only to gain her foolish son’s sympathy but also to drive a wedge between mother and son.
This woman was terrifying. The more Liu’s mother thought about it, the more frightened and agitated she became.
Yang Cairong, having sold the expensive watch Liu Tianshi gave her, arrived in Yangzhuang and stuffed the money into the hands of an old woman with a limp.
The old woman clutched the money as if it were her life, thanking her profusely but with a pounding heart. Although Yang Cairong had told her not to ask too many questions, she couldn’t help herself, “Girl, why did you have us pretend to be your parents?”
