In the evening, the sky was foggy gray-blue, and the north wind was even more violent and biting. Nowadays, there are no rows of high-rise buildings and no urban heat island effect, so the winter in Shanghai is very cold.
It was not snowing, but the wind blowing on my face seemed to break my skin and bones.
There are fewer and fewer pedestrians on the street.
Zhan Aijia reluctantly carried a basin of dirty clothes out of the door. Perhaps because she was afraid that she couldn't wash them clean, Zhan Aiping followed her like a supervisor.
—It’s almost evening, you’re crazy to do the laundry.
It was so cold that no one wanted to go out at night. Every family had a fire in their stove, boiling hot water. Although the wind was cold, it occasionally brought the aroma of food.
When the two sisters went out, they saw someone in the corridor. This time, it was not the grown man Chen Jiabao, but his mother, Old Mrs. Chen.
The old lady came from the countryside. She didn’t speak standard Mandarin, nor did she speak Shanghainese very well. But she was a very enthusiastic person and always wanted to say a few words to people she met.
"What are you going to do?" she asked.
Zhan Aijia immediately said, "My sister asked me to help her wash clothes. Auntie, please judge for yourself. She is such a grown-up, but she still wants me, her younger sister, to help her wash clothes."
Old Mrs. Chen groaned, "I told you to do the laundry."
Zhan Aiping crossed her arms and said, "My sister is getting old. It's time for her to get married and learn how to do housework. Her mother asked her to learn how to do the laundry. Old lady, do you have anything to wash? Ask her to help."
Old Mrs. Chen's eyes lit up with joy. It was so cold, no one wanted to do laundry. "That's great. Yes, we have laundry to do. You, my good sister, should learn more."
The old lady was a shrewd person. She would take advantage of any opportunity she could get. Even if she had no clothes, she would still find a few to wash for her.
Zhan Aija’s eyes were as big as bells.
Zhan Aiping said, "Old lady, please come and watch my sister take a bath. She came to Shanghai to find a partner, but she doesn't know how to do things, so no one would like her. Old lady, you taught your daughter-in-law well before, so you can teach my sister as well."
"You have picked the right person. These delicate women can't wash clothes cleanly. I will watch over them and teach them to wash them cleanly. If she can't wash them cleanly, I will ask her to wash them again."
Zhan Aiping nodded.
Zhan Aijia was going crazy. Old Mrs. Chen was a mean mother-in-law. She used to dislike her young daughter-in-law from the city and gossiped about her every day. But now she was standing with Zhan Aiping.
"Madam, my sister is getting married soon. She should learn more about how to serve a man."
Old Mrs. Chen went home and brought three large basins of clothes. They were all the clothes that her family had saved. At that time, there was no one in the bathroom in the corridor. All six faucets were empty and no one was using them. Her basins took up an entire row.
Old Mrs. Chen was happy: "There's no one here now, so it's convenient to wash. Little sister Zhan, you should wash quickly."
"Your sister has already found a partner, how can you compete with her? You, who haven't found a partner yet, should show your virtue and ability, so that it will be easier to find a partner."
Old Mrs. Chen is a smart person. She must know who is the boss of the house next door.
She must be mentally ill to have offended Zhan Aiping.
As a human being, you should bully the weak and fear the strong! If you confront the strong head-on, you may end up losing more than you gain.
Only by pleasing Zhan Aiping can you take advantage of her and have a sip of hot soup.
"It's so cold, you should take a shower quickly. Little girl, you didn't go to college, did you?"
"Don't you think about what your sister's hands are like, and what your hands are like? Your sister is very young, but she is already a college student and a teacher. She is so outstanding and amazing. Her hands are precious."
"You should learn from your sister!"
Zhan Aiping asked Old Lady Chen to supervise Zhan Aijia washing clothes, while she herself practiced a set of boxing techniques on the side. Old Lady Chen watched and gave instructions to Zhan Aijia, teaching her how to wash the clothes cleanly.
The water from the faucet flowed out, and the sound felt like the cutting of an ice knife. The water was still a little warm when it first flowed out, but when it reached the basin and was blown by the cold wind, it became icy cold.
Zhan Aijia's hands were frozen red, but she dared not say anything.
Not only did Old Lady Chen not help her, she also became an accomplice to the evil. If she made a scene and was not in the right, the old lady would become unreasonable and ruin her reputation in the building.
Zhan Aijia didn't dare to make trouble with Zhan Aiping for the time being. She and her biological mother lived in Zhan Aiping's house. If Zhan Aiping drove them out, she would not be able to stay in Shanghai. How could she be willing to accept that
I can only endure it temporarily.
"Ah!" After seeing a mass of something, Zhan Aija was so scared that she dropped what she was holding.
Old Mrs. Chen was furious: "What are you doing? What are you doing? Why are you throwing my grandson's clothes?"
Zhan Aija’s face was about to crack: “That—” It’s all the child’s poop.
She is also asked to wash this? How shameless.
"What's wrong with it? You are so surprised. Aren't you a woman? Won't you have children in the future? Your sister is right. I think you should learn more. Pick it up and I will teach you how to wash it."
Zhan Aijia: "I won't wash."
"You don't want to wash it? Then let's let everyone judge. Do you think you are right to throw my grandson's clothes?"
"Your sister is an excellent female soldier and an excellent female teacher. How come you have a sister like you who is afraid of hard work and unwilling to endure hardships?"
Zhan Aiping saw Old Lady Chen scolding Zhan Aijia and suddenly thought of a saying: "Evil will be punished by evil."
Well, she's going to be the villain.
*
At night, Zhan Aiping changed the mattress. She slept on the big bed, while Zhu Jiaorong and her daughter slept on the boxes. Zhan Aiping didn't care how the two of them reacted. If they didn't want to sleep, they could just get out.
Zhan Aijia complained twice, hugged the quilt and squeezed together with Zhu Jiaorong. The mother and daughter looked at each other and decided to call Zhan Bo to complain tomorrow.
In the middle of the night, Zhan Aijia rolled on the ground and howled a few times. Zhan Aiping said lightly: "Do you know how I kicked people when I was an instructor?"
Zhan Aijia was silent.
Zhan Aiping was lying on the bed. She couldn't sleep at all. A lot of things were on her mind. She wanted to contact her brother Zhan Mingzhao, find Gu Sheng, and deal with that bastard He Mingzhang as soon as possible.
He Mingzhang's case was easy to deal with. He had an affair with a widow, and the widow had a "pregnant child", which was actually the product of their affair... In this day and age, he should be sent to a labor camp for having promiscuous relationships between men and women.
Gu Sheng, Gu Sheng should be in Shanghai now. Zhan Aiping roughly guessed where he was, but Zhan Aiping felt a headache.
How could she get Gu Sheng to marry her
If she married Gu Sheng, others would think that either she was crazy or Gu Sheng was crazy.
Let her be crazy, she will go find Gu Sheng tomorrow.
*
A military hospital in Shanghai.
Many people in the hospital recognized her, including the guard: "Hey! Doctor Zhan."
"Doctor Zhan, we can't recognize you in this outfit."
"Prettier than the girls in the art troupe."
After greeting many familiar faces, Zhan Aiping met a female doctor with short hair parted in the middle and reaching her shoulders. When the doctor saw her, she immediately stretched out her tone and said, "Oh, what a rare guest."
This female doctor is Xue Ningjia. She was in the same group with her and was always outshined by her. The two of them had many arguments. After Zhan Aiping withdrew, the position of Teacher Sun's assistant was left to her.
"Zhan Aiping, aren't you a teacher now? Aren't you going to get married? Why are you coming to the hospital instead of staying at home and being a good bride?"
Zhan Aiping said coldly: "Did He Mingzhang see my photo from you?"
Xue Ningjia, who was originally quite proud, suddenly looked flustered, she had not expected that Zhan Aiping actually knew about this. Yes, He Mingzhang was her distant relative, a man with some talent, but a hypocritical and... man. Zhan Aiping was pretty, and she was also the daughter of a martyr, with a good family background. He Mingzhang was attracted to her at first sight.
"Pa!" Zhan Aiping slapped her twice. She used all her strength in these two slaps. Xue Ningjia was stunned and there was blood at the corners of her mouth.
"You... you dare to hit me in the hospital!"
Zhan Aiping sneered: "You brought such a rubbish to get close to me?"
"It's a despicable move."
"I will tell Teacher Sun everything exactly as it happened."
"No, no, no, no... Zhan Aiping, I beg you, please let me go, I will never dare to mess with you again. Otherwise, just beat me up again to vent your anger." Xue Ningjia was already panicking at this time. She didn't know how much Zhan Aiping knew. She thought Zhan Aiping came to the hospital today just for this matter.
This matter is not a big deal, but Zhan Aiping is an outstanding person. She is the daughter of a martyr. If she makes a scene in the hospital and reveals what happened before, she will be finished. She will be completely finished.
"How about I give you compensation, you tell me the amount, and you let me go, I want to stay in Shanghai, I really want to stay in the hospital, Zhan Aiping, please."
Zhan Aiping looked at her with an extremely cold tone: "Xue Ningjia, you will be a good doctor, go away, and don't show up in front of me again."
Xue Ningjia took her place. Apart from anything else, she later became a famous surgeon and saved many lives.
When Xue Ningjia heard this, she hurried away. She tidied her hair and put on a mask and a hat, fearing that she would be seen.
Fortunately, they were talking in a corner of the hospital, so few people should have heard them.
Zhan Aiping looked at her leaving back and suddenly felt a little sad. She originally wanted to find Gu Sheng, but met Xue Ningjia and recalled the absurd and ridiculous past.
When she was little, they all said she was smart, but in fact, she couldn't be more stupid, naive, simple, and impulsive. Her mother always taught her when she was little that she should be like a man and stand tall and upright. Although she believed her mother's words,...
She did as her mother asked, but she felt conflicted inside, because she was also a little girl who loved beauty and wanted to be cherished. Her mother wanted her to cut her hair short and not wear skirts, but she actually envied the little girls from other families in the compound who wore pigtails and beautiful red skirts.
When she was a child, she was pushed down the stairs. She cried and complained to her mother, but she never got any comfort from her mother. She was only scolded:
"Why did he push you? It's because you are weak and easy to be bullied."
"With your skinny arms and legs, who else can I bully if not you?"
She was rarely treated gently, so when she was young she mistook arsenic for honey.
She is not as tough as she appears. She is very soft inside and longs to be cherished and protected.
—It’s terrible.
A person's life is both long and short. No matter how many people you meet, it is ultimately a lonely journey that belongs to you alone.
Her mother was right. People cannot be weak. In this world, they can only rely on themselves. She does not need to be cherished or protected by others.
The hospital environment was very quiet. Two unknown birds landed on the electric poles. The sky was gray and it began to snow. The cold wind changed the light and shadow of the sky and the earth, symbolizing that the snow-white of the hospital had turned into a dark gray.
Zhan Aiping stood alone for a while. She turned around and saw a man standing at the corner. The man stopped under the window on the first floor, wearing a military coat. His clothes were very new, and the green color was particularly bright in the gloomy winter day, like a thick stroke of oil painting.
He has prominent brow bones, deep eye sockets, prominent sword-like eyebrows, and a straight nose, which make his facial features deep and three-dimensional. Even though the light is not bright now, his handsome outline is still eye-catching.
Smoke rose, and he held a cigarette between his fingers. The man slowly lowered his eyes, and another puff of smoke spread in the cold wind.
Zhan Aiping's heart suddenly stopped. She didn't expect to see him at this time. Everything happened too suddenly, leaving her no time to react.
The young man in front of her was her sworn enemy since childhood, but also her partner who had slept in the same bed with her for ten years... when they were young.
Zhan Aiping strode towards him. As she walked faster, the wind around her picked up speed and she could hear the whistling of the wind in her ears.
She snatched the cigarette from his hand and put it out skillfully, then said, "Smoking is prohibited in the hospital."
Gu Sheng: "... you care about me?"
"You don't take good care of your broken hand. You will suffer in the future." Zhan Aiping's gaze stayed on his left hand which was still bandaged and frowned slightly. This time, Gu Sheng won the second-class merit, but his left hand was seriously injured and left with sequelae. Although his movement was not affected, it would hurt a lot when it was cold and rainy.
She raised her eyes and found that Gu Sheng was staring at her with wide eyes, or rather, staring at the stubbed out cigarette in her hand.
Although it was a long time ago, Zhan Aiping still vaguely remembered that the cigarette seemed to be quite expensive and was a special variety.
Zhan Aiping: “…”
Zhan Aiping thought to herself, I will take care of you. I have been taking care of you for ten years. The medical staff said that no one can control him, but she is there to help.
This guy smokes, drinks, and loves to eat meat. He is a stubborn old man with a lot of bad health problems, but he has never had lung cancer, stomach cancer, liver cancer, intestinal cancer, or pancreatic cancer. He is still alive and kicking at the age of 70, and his body is getting stronger and stronger as he gets older...
I can only say that this guy has good genes.
Although Gu Sheng is only 25 years old now, attending military school can be considered as military service, which means he has ten years of military service. He is a veteran and knows how to smoke and drink.
"Want it?" Zhan Aiping shook the half-smoked cigarette in her hand. The next second, she flicked it and it fell into the hospital trash can. She said calmly, "It's gone."
Gu Sheng: "Brother, do you want to fight?"
Zhan Aiping was speechless: "... Who wants to be your brother?"
(End of this chapter)