Chapter 4

Liu Yiqiang’s village was, to put it plainly, famous across the province as a poverty-stricken village. It had only been taken off the poverty list two years ago.

Back when there were no roads and no vehicles, it was not easy to get to the county seat, and even going to the town meant walking for half a day after crossing the high mountains. The whole village was basically cut off from the outside world. Even now that a road had finally been built, hardly anyone came here except villagers returning home or government officials on official business.

Because of the poverty-alleviation program, the highway had now opened up at a point not far from the town, and that had made the village a little livelier. Some young people also started looking for work in the town instead of going farther away to the big cities to work.

Along with that came a few seasoned outdoor hikers who liked to travel and play in the wild, visiting the village for leisure.

Liu Yiqiang drove Su Hui to the highway entrance in town, where they waited for his in-laws’ car.

Su Hui’s father was named Su Fuxuan. He was 50 this year and ran his own security company. The business was not huge, but the company still employed forty or fifty people.

When Liu Yiqiang and Su Hui first got married, Su Fuxuan had asked Liu Yiqiang to come work at his company, maybe as a technician or a sales manager. But Liu Yiqiang knew he was just a kid from the mountains. The fact that his father-in-law was willing to marry Su Hui to him already meant he had gotten the better end of the deal, so he did not accept his father-in-law’s arrangement. Instead, he stayed at his current company writing code and working as a programmer.

Su Hui’s mother, Liu Fen, was 49 this year. Though she was already in her late forties, she took such good care of herself that she usually looked eight or nine years younger than her actual age.

If she put on some makeup and dressed herself up properly, standing beside Su Hui, no one would believe they were mother and daughter.

On top of that, the two of them were similar in build, and they often swapped clothes to wear. That made it so that when Liu Yiqiang stood behind them, he could not be completely sure which one was Su Hui and which one was his mother-in-law.

A quick word about Liu Yiqiang’s parents as well: people in the countryside got married and had children relatively early. Liu Yiqiang’s father, Liu Changsheng, was 45 this year.

His mother, Liu Meijuan, had only just turned 17 when she gave birth to Liu Yiqiang, and she was 43 this year.

As mentioned earlier, Liu Yiqiang also had a younger sister named Liu Fangrui, 22 this year, who had just married into another province.

Liu Yiqiang’s father was the village head in their village and also ran a small supermarket there, so life in the village was fairly comfortable for the family.

Liu Yiqiang and Su Hui did not wait long at the highway entrance before they spotted the red BMW X6 driven by Su Hui’s mother.

Liu Yiqiang walked over to the driver’s side and exchanged a few simple words with his father-in-law, then took the wheel and led his in-laws home.

It was not surprising. This was the first time Su Hui’s parents had come to Liu Yiqiang’s home.

Their village was located inside a sinkhole. The newly built poverty-alleviation road had bored a five-kilometer tunnel through the mountains, and Liu Yiqiang’s car came out of the tunnel first. After another kilometer of driving, they entered the village.

It had just passed Qingming Festival. Rapeseed flowers were still blooming along the roadside, and beneath the tung trees all over the village lay fallen tung blossoms beaten down by the rain. If no one stepped on them, it would have been a picture of exquisite beauty.

Liu Yiqiang parked in the small square in front of the family’s small supermarket. As soon as he opened the car door, his mother, hearing the sound, had already run out from the shop.

She hurried to the front passenger seat, reached out to support Su Hui as one of her legs had just poked out of the car, and said with a smiling face, “You’ve had a hard trip. Come inside, come inside.”

Liu Changsheng, who was busy cooking in the house, also kept wiping his wet hands on his pants as he came out to greet them. He took Su Fuxuan by the hand and led Su Fuxuan and Liu Fen into the house.

“Sorry about this, in-law. Our place is pretty crude. Don’t laugh at us.”

Su Fuxuan and Liu Fen stood in the courtyard, taking in Liu Yiqiang’s home.

It might have been described as crude, but it was still a small three-and-a-half-story building. There was a modest courtyard in front of it, kept very clean and tidy.

Liu Yiqiang had originally been allotted a plot for a house as well, but since he and Su Hui had settled down in the city, Liu Changsheng had built a single-story house on the plot assigned to Liu Yiqiang. That became the current small supermarket. The business could not be called good, but it was enough to support the old couple’s daily life and meals.

Liu Changsheng and Liu Meijuan took Su Fuxuan and Liu Fen around the house, floor by floor. On the first floor, right in the center, were ancestral tablets dedicated to the Liu family’s forebears, and it was also where the family usually ate, gathered, and chatted.

The second floor had three rooms. One was the bedroom of Liu Changsheng and his wife, while the other two were prepared for their daughter and son-in-law when they came back to visit, serving as guest rooms.

The third floor was entirely the room Liu Yiqiang and Su Hui used when they came back, designed and decorated according to Su Hui’s requirements.

The top floor was fitted with photovoltaic panels and served as the family’s drying area.

Su Fuxuan wore a stern face and said nothing as he looked over the house from top to bottom.

“In-law, let’s sit downstairs.” Liu Changsheng had been village head for many years, so of course he could see the displeasure on Su Fuxuan’s face. But displeasure was displeasure. According to the traditions of the village, Su Hui had already married into their Liu family, and that made her a member of the Liu family. Besides, the one who could not have children now was Su Hui, not Liu Yiqiang.

“Brother Liu, you know why we came here today. By rights, her mother and I should never agree to this. But Hui is already married and not young anymore, so what we say can only be taken as a reference. That’s why her mother and I came here: to respect the traditional customs of your village. You don’t need to be too polite with us.”

“Understood, understood. It’s already lunchtime anyway. Let’s just eat something simple downstairs and talk while we eat.” Liu Meijuan linked arms with Liu Fen and led her downstairs.

By the time they reached the first floor, Liu Yiqiang and Su Hui had already brought out the dishes from the kitchen and set them on the table. Su Fuxuan and Liu Fen also noticed that there was another unfamiliar woman helping carry the dishes out of the kitchen.

“In-law, let me introduce her. This is the wife of the fourth brother in our clan, Liu Yiqiang’s Fourth Aunt. For what we’re discussing, we need a matchmaker in the middle. Fourth Aunt came specifically to help as the matchmaker this time.”

The few of them sat around the table and ate while talking about unrelated things.

When everyone had almost finished eating, Liu Meijuan finally looked at Su Hui with a gentle expression and asked, “Hui, what are you thinking about this?”

Su Hui had already made up her mind, but with her mother-in-law asking her directly, she still felt a little embarrassed.

“Ask me what I’m thinking? I want to be with Yiqiang without any pressure, let things take their course, but you all didn’t agree to that either.”

“Hui, it’s not that we don’t agree, it’s just that this is the atmosphere in our village and there’s nothing we can do. Besides, Yiqiang’s father is the village head and also one of the Liu clan elders. Face and reputation are not things we can control. A bad reputation is hard to bear.”

“So then, either I agree, or I divorce Yiqiang.”

“Divorce? I don’t agree.” As soon as Liu Yiqiang heard Su Hui mention divorce, he objected loudly at once.

“See that? Dad, Mom, you need to understand one thing. If I agree, it is absolutely not because of your little face issue. I agree only because I love Yiqiang.”

“Hui, we all understand. You’ve been wronged. So do you agree to borrowing a man’s seed, or do you agree to borrowing a womb?”

“I don’t want either of those. I only agree to an exchange marriage. Borrowing seed means I’d be together with another man, and personally I can’t accept being with a man I don’t know. Borrowing a womb means Yiqiang would be together with another woman, and I also can’t accept Yiqiang doing that with another woman while I’m unable to do anything. So the best way I can accept, the one I think is best, is an exchange marriage.”

The word “exchange marriage” shocked everyone present except Liu Fen. It had not been part of Liu Changsheng and Liu Meijuan’s plan at all.

None of the people they had selected had been suitable candidates for an exchange marriage, and Su Hui’s proposal immediately put the Fourth Aunt, who was acting as matchmaker, in a difficult position as well.

“Hui, an exchange marriage is usually between unmarried brothers and sisters swapping partners. Of course, there have also been couples exchanging spouses in our village before, but that was many years ago now, and it won’t be easy to find someone on short notice. Besides, couples who exchanged spouses usually did so only after they had already had children. This...”

“I don’t care. I only agree to an exchange marriage. If you want me to sleep in the same bed with a man I don’t know, I can’t accept that.”

“Hui...”

“Mom, if there’s no suitable person for an exchange marriage, then you and Dad shouldn’t put pressure on Yiqiang and me. Let’s just let things take their course.” Su Hui let out a long breath, then looked at Liu Yiqiang and curved her lips triumphantly.

Only then did Liu Yiqiang understand what Su Hui was planning. He kept his expression calm, while under the table his hand secretly pinched Su Hui’s calf.

The room fell silent at once. Su Fuxuan and Liu Fen lowered their eyes and quietly rested with their eyes closed. Liu Changsheng exchanged a few soft words with his wife, while Su Hui and Liu Yiqiang both bowed their heads and played on their phones.

At that moment, Fourth Aunt said suddenly, “Xiaohui, what you mean is that aside from an exchange marriage, none of the other methods are acceptable?”

“Yes. I really can’t accept Yiqiang and me separately having that kind of relationship with another person of the opposite sex. Of course, I know Fourth Aunt, you and Yiqiang had that sort of thing before... but at that time I didn’t know Yiqiang yet, and I wasn’t Yiqiang’s wife, so I’m not qualified to care about those past matters.”

“Xiaohui, you may have some misunderstanding about this custom in our village. Borrowing seed, borrowing a womb, exchange marriage, this kind of thing is commonplace here, yes, but the men and women in our village are all very proper. Even when it comes to borrowing seed, borrowing a womb, or exchange marriages, everything is handled according to custom. After people are married, a man and a woman absolutely will not do that kind of wild, illicit thing.”

“Mm, I didn’t mean anything else, Fourth Aunt.”

“I know. Xiaohui, these are just the customs in our village, customs that have slowly evolved over hundreds and thousands of years. You also know our village is very remote. Since you married Yiqiang, and Fourth Aunt also believes the two of you truly love each other, then the situation is this: you agree to use the exchange marriage method, right?”

“Right.”

“Then what if Fourth Aunt suggests a pair of spouses to you?”

“Fourth Aunt, you have someone in mind?” Liu Meijuan, who had been discussing a solution with Liu Changsheng, hurriedly asked when she heard that. “Which family is it?”

Fourth Aunt did not answer Liu Meijuan. Instead, she looked at Su Hui and asked, “Xiaohui, what do you think?”

Su Hui had thought she had already neatly resolved this matter, never expecting Fourth Aunt to actually have a candidate in mind.

Still, Su Hui figured that since she rarely came back to the village, there probably would not be anyone she knew who fit the bill. “I’m not doing this with someone I don’t know.”

“It’s fine if you don’t know them. You can get to know them slowly,” Liu Meijuan interjected.

“Get to know them slowly? Are you in that much of a hurry? You can’t wait to hold a grandchild next year, and you’d have me slowly get to know another man?”

The moment Liu Meijuan heard that, she immediately fell silent.

“Xiaohui, don’t worry. Fourth Aunt won’t randomly introduce anyone.”

“Then... then... then tell me who it is. Let me see whether I know them or not.” Su Hui glanced guiltily at Liu Fen, then at Liu Yiqiang.

“Then I’m saying it. If I tell you and you know them, then you’ll agree, right?”

“You... you... what good would my agreeing do by itself?”

“Xiaoqiang, what do you say?”

“Fourth Aunt, Hui and I already discussed this. It’s up to her. If she agrees, I agree.”

“Xiaohui, give Fourth Aunt a straight answer. If the person Auntie mentions is someone you know, do you agree or not? If you agree, I’ll handle the rest. If you don’t, then I won’t say who it is, so you won’t feel awkward when you meet.”

Su Hui did not believe there was anyone she knew in the village who fit the conditions. She had not even known many people in the village to begin with. So she stiffened her neck and agreed in one breath. “Fine, Yiqiang and I will agree in principle first. But then again, even if the person you mention is someone I know, if they don’t meet the conditions, that won’t do either.”

“What conditions do you have?”

“At the very least, they need to be healthy.”

“Mm, that fits.”

“They need to have had children before.”

“Mm, that fits.”

“They can’t be old men or old women, can they?”

“Mm, no, not old men or old women. By your city standards, they’re still in the prime of life.”

“Mm, and they also can’t be poor-household cases or anything like that. We’re not here to do poverty alleviation.”

“They’re not a poor household. What else do you want?”

“You... you... who is it, then?”