Chapter 30: Ni Duan Answers Questions (Part 2)

""That's true. I guess our parents wouldn't agree to us skipping work and wandering around either. We should think it over again."" Zhang Guoqing burst out laughing after hearing this. What Jiaojiao said made sense—it was better to turn the money into goods first.

It was only now that Zhou Jiao remembered she hadn't had time to sort through their private savings since arriving here. ""Let's organize our private stash first. It's all in the secret compartment of the wardrobe. Take everything out.""

""There's quite a bit here,"" Zhang Guoqing said. ""Jiaojiao, let's put all the valuables away. Leave just some loose change and small bills in this compartment. It's not very secure.""

Zhou Jiao took the two wooden boxes and opened one, pouring out the contents. There were stacks of ten-yuan bills, some loose change, and various ration coupons. Most of the coupons had been given to her by Zhang Guoqing—there were a lot of cloth coupons, which would expire by the end of the year. They needed to be exchanged for cloth soon, just in time for her to make some clothes. These were probably given to her by Zhang's mother when they got married.

For her wedding, her grandmother had personally prepared a red top and black pants. Clothes sent by mail from time to time, and a few given by her aunt, meant she never lacked anything to wear, so she hadn't bought any herself.

There were also sugar coupons totaling two jin, and then a bunch of miscellaneous coupons. She handed all the ones that were about to expire to Zhang Guoqing—they had to be used up before they became worthless. Counting the cash, there was 2,886 yuan, nearly 2,900. She put 86 yuan in loose change back into the box. She checked all the coupons—they were mostly expiring by the end of the year. Good thing she thought to sort them out today.

She opened the larger box next. On the left were letters from her mother, Lin Lishan, most of them unopened. On the right was her grandmother's small box. She remembered this was the jewelry box her grandmother had secretly given her on her wedding night, but she had never looked at it closely, and her memory was a bit fuzzy.

Opening the small box, she found a pair of jade bangles wrapped in yellow silk, a string of round bead necklaces—vivid green, with a hint of blue, likely imperial jade. Another embroidered handkerchief wrapped a sapphire and diamond necklace and bracelet set, with matching ring and brooch. The last embroidered handkerchief held two dragon-and-phoenix white jade pendants. Taking out the three bundles, she found two pieces of silk at the bottom of the box. Unfolding them revealed two pieces of embroidery: one of peonies symbolizing wealth and prosperity, and the other of twin lotuses symbolizing harmony. The meanings were very auspicious. At the very bottom of the small box was a property deed and land certificate for a house in Shanghai, dated 1952 and signed in Zhou Jiao's name.

""Honey, I've never really looked at this box before. My memory of it is fuzzy. Grandma told me clearly that all the valuables she brought from home were sold off long ago—they were so poor they had to live off her embroidery. Even the housekeeper had to chop wood to sell for rice, and her personal maid, after getting married, would still help her out from time to time. If she hadn't met Grandpa, she would have starved to death.

Help me look at this property deed—it's for Shanghai, but Grandma was from Beijing and never went to Shanghai. How did she get a land deed from 1952? Five years ago, it was already in my name. Who handled it? Grandma never traveled far. In 1952, I was eleven, so it must have been bought for me when I was ten. It couldn't have been my mother—she already prepared a set in Beijing.""

Zhang Guoqing had been frowning ever since he saw the deed, hesitating to speak. Now, with the wooden box in hand, everything became clear—his suspicions were confirmed. The problem was, Grandma Zhou had secretly given this to Zhou Jiao; no one else knew, not even Grandpa Zhou. But did Grandma Zhou know who had given her these things?

He picked up the box, examined it, then carefully pried it open with a small knife. After a moment, the box came apart, and he peeled off a layer of paper from the bottom. Sure enough, there was something odd—two horizontal lines had been carved into it with a knife.

Zhou Jiao looked at him in surprise. ""What did you find in the box? Did you figure out who gave it to us? I'm becoming your fangirl! Could it have been one of Grandma's admirers? Even Grandpa didn't know about this box.""

""Jiaojiao, look at these two knife marks—what do they look like to you? And why would Grandma's admirer give you a house? If the things were sent to your grandma, she wouldn't have kept it from your grandpa. He knew your situation at home well—if he wanted you to have it, he could have given it to your grandpa to pass on. He also knew that only your grandma truly cared about you, so he gave it to you as a birthday present when you turned ten."" Zhang Guoqing explained slowly, giving her time to process.

Zhou Jiao stared at the two marks, her eyes brimming with tears. ""Honey, are you saying my father is still alive? He made these two marks and covered them with paper so he couldn't reveal his identity, but wanted Grandma to know he was alive? Two lines mean 'equals,' as in 'wait.' Five years have passed—could he still be alive? Is he in danger? How can we find him and help him? Should we go to Shanghai? If we go to that house, we'll definitely find him. In two lifetimes, he's the only father who's truly cared for me.""

Zhang Guoqing quickly wiped her tears, then got up to soak a towel in hot water and gently wiped her tear-stained face. ""You're still in confinement—you can't cry! Your dad will be back, definitely before the end of the year. Your mom will be coming to our house in the next couple of days, too. If you keep crying, I won't tell you how I figured it out.""

Zhou Jiao took the towel and wiped her own face. ""You bad guy! Tell me, how did you guess? Is there anything else I don't know? When you came back at noon and said you had a showdown with the shrews at the Zhou house, did they say something?""

""What I'm about to say is a bit complicated, and it will have a big impact on us—on the future path of our whole family. When I came back at noon, I said we should wait for my dad to come home before talking about it, right? This is what I meant. Before, it was just a suspicion, but now I'm sure. Pack everything up, and don't mention the box's secret or the property deed in front of our parents. If I'm right, your mom will arrive before your due date, to be with you when you give birth so your dad can see her motherly love. You have eight days until your due date. So, she'll probably arrive in the next two days. The baby's third-day celebration is the day after tomorrow. When she gets to the county, she won't come straight here—she'll first ask around about us. She doesn't have much time, so she'll rush to make it for the third-day celebration.

When she arrives, I bet my parents will be stunned. We should tell them our suspicions first, so they're prepared, and discuss how to handle things. If she wants to go to Beijing with us, how should we deal with it? That's our parents' decision. It's not that simple. This year alone, her family sent us 28 packages—they must have known your dad was coming back ahead of time. So why didn't they tell you? That's the interesting part.

Get dressed. The baby is asleep, so I'll carry you to the small living room. My dad never comes into our bedroom. Once you're settled, I'll bring the baby out and put him next to you, then I'll go out.""

Zhou Jiao nodded. She wasn't stupid—if others found out, it wouldn't just be about property, but also about ideology, and it could become a big issue. She also wanted to read her mother's letters carefully and see what they meant.

She got dressed, wrapped herself in a thick quilt, and let him carry her to the small living room. Then he went back to the bedroom, brought the baby out, and placed him by her side before finally leaving the room."