Ranobes » Ten Day Ultimatum » Chapter 379

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    Chapter 378 My name is Zhang Chenze



    My name is Zhang Chenze, and I distorted the truth.



    I’m thirty-three years old this year and have been trying to make a living in Chengdu for ten years.



    Were I to publish my experiences online, I could very well be lifted up as a role model of modern independent women. After all, a girl from a small mountain village who, through her own efforts, became one of the most renowned lawyers in Chengdu is, no matter how you look at it, someone worth learning from.



    But I don’t wish to do that.



    My desire is to discard all that once belonged to me, and to carve out a new beginning in this place untouched by my past. If it were possible, I would never have anything more to do with that village in the mountains.



    I have my own ambitions, and my own ideals.



    I want to become an outstanding person.



    For that goal, I am willing to do anything.



    Back when the law firm had just been founded, I couldn’t afford to rent a place, so I slept on the office sofa for three years.



    Every morning at five, I would get up to tidy the office, then wash up and put on makeup in the office restroom. In the evenings, I’d make an excuse to work late, then head to a public bathhouse that charged five yuan per visit.



    For three years, not a single subordinate knew I lived there.



    I endured all this hardship simply because I carried a dream in my heart.



    If I couldn’t become an outstanding person, I would be trapped in that mountain village forever—not just me, but my descendants too.



    Yet I often wondered whether I would ever even have descendants.



    If I could live my life in brilliance and splendor, that would be the best outcome possible.



    My childhood was so wretched that, in terms of fairness, my future ought to hold some measure of happiness. I didn’t dare hope for a luxurious life, I only wanted to muddle through in a way that felt comfortable to me.



    “Zhang jie! Zhang jie!!” Xiao Sun tapped me on the shoulder, startling me.



    This young man had been working at my firm for three years, helping me resolve more than a few thorny cases. Among all the young people, he was the one I had the highest hopes for.



    “What is it?” I asked.



    “Why are you spacing out?” Xiao Sun chuckled. “Look! The bride’s here!”



    Following the direction of his pointing finger, I saw today’s bride, Mengmeng, in a pure white wedding gown covered in sequins. Under the spotlight, she walked toward the stage step by step, arm in arm with her father.



    Aside from Xiao Sun, Mengmeng was my most capable partner—we had fought side by side for six years.



    Now, seeing her walking down the aisle, I truly felt happy for her.



    The handsome, gentle groom strode toward Mengmeng and her father with a bouquet in hand. The guests around them clapped and cheered, offering their sincerest blessings.



    But to be honest, I didn’t care for the next part.



    At the emcee’s request, Mengmeng’s father was to personally place her hand into the groom’s.



    Then, in front of Mengmeng, the groom, and hundreds of guests, he solemnly said to the groom, “From now on, Mengmeng will be in your care.”



    Quite a few guests dabbed at the corners of their eyes, as if wiping away tears.



    The emcee’s voice grew emotional: “From this day forward, this man will take the father’s place and care for you always—whether in poverty or wealth, he will never abandon you…”



    On stage, Mengmeng looked at her emotional father, then at the groom, and then at the tearful crowd nearby. She turned to me, shrugged, and gave a wry smile.



    I understood Mengmeng, and I knew exactly what she was implying.



    Were it not for the weight of convention and tradition, for the precedent set by all her kin, she would never have permitted this segment in her wedding.



    A handful of words all but negated everything Mengmeng had striven for in her life. As though without her father’s and her groom’s care, she would be no more than a helpless, mewling child—



    —someone who might starve to death at home at any moment.



    Why must marriage be about finding someone to rely on? Why can’t it be for love?



    All these years working with me, Mengmeng had been earning at least sixty thousand yuan a month. Even without anyone ‘taking care’ of her, she could still live perfectly well.



    Her efforts had been no less than mine. She was an exceptionally capable lawyer, and everything she had now was well deserved. That was only fair.



    She hadn’t asked for a single cent in bride price[1], nor caused either set of parents the slightest trouble.



    She and the groom had simply used the money they themselves had saved to buy a small apartment of just a few dozen square meters. Then, pooling their funds again, they bought furniture. With their combined efforts, they had officially begun the second chapter of their lives.



    In the days to come, they would continue to work hard together; until they could buy better furniture, until they could live in a bigger home.



    This, to me, was the finest form of love—like a perfectly balanced scale, steadfast and unshakable.



    When would people finally realize that the purpose of marriage is to give love its culmination, not to provide one side with someone to lean on?



    “Zhang jie! Zhang jie!!”



    Xiao Sun’s bright voice rang in my ear once again.



    I turned to him, snapped back to the present, and smiled. “What is it?”



    “Your phone’s ringing!” he said. “It’s been going off forever!”



    I glanced down at the number flashing on the screen. In an instant, all trace of joy vanished from my face, replaced by a chill as if I had plunged into an ice cellar.



    “Excuse me for a moment.”



    Phone in hand, I left the banquet hall. My gaze swept the area until I found a staircase exit. Only once I confirmed no one was around did I step inside and, with a heavy heart, answered the call.



    “Hello.”



    “Zhang Laidi*!!” Her shrill voice screeched through the speaker, making my brows knit tightly together.

    (TLN: 莱娣 (lái dì), this is an awful name usually given to daughters of highly son-preference families. It literally translates to ‘come younger brother’, as the parents want their next child to be a male. This son-preference behavior may be seen in very rural areas of China, in small villages cut off from society.)



    “Mom, my name is Zhang Chenze now.”



    “So ya still remember your damn surname is Zhang?!” she yelled through the phone. "Why ain’t ya answerin’ my calls?! Why didn’t ya pick up yesterday?!"



    “I was busy,” I replied.



    "Busy? Busy my ass! But ya ain’t stupid, ya know how to put yer strength inta takin’ a shit," she cursed. "Ever’body envies the Zhang family fer being blessed with both son and daughter, but they don’t know you, ya useless brat—can’t even fork over twenty thousand!"

    Heh, blessed with both son and daughter?

    In the village where I grew up, those with sons looked to them for support in old age, while only those with daughters longed to be ‘blessed with both son and daughter’.

    How ironic.

    “Mom, I don’t understand,” I remarked coldly. “When Chengcai gets married, I can give him a big red envelope, but why do I have to give him two hundred thousand?”

    “You’ve got money!” she shouted. "You make more’n Chengcai does, and you’re his big sister! Yer own baby brother’s fixin’ to get married, what’s so wrong with you buyin’ him a house?"

    “I don’t understand how you can see this as something that goes without saying,” I sneered. “The money I earn is mine, what does it have to do with him? Since childhood, you’ve given him the best food and clothing, more education than me—he should be able to earn his own money by now.”

    "Chengcai still ain’t found hisself no good job! Dammit…” Her tone grew even sharper. "You really fixin’ to nickel-and-dime yer own brother?"

    “Mom, I’ll be straight with you. I’m expanding the firm, all my savings are tied up, and I don’t have anything to give.”

    TL Note: In comparison to Zhang Chenze’s crude given name, her younger brother’s name (chéng cái; 成材) means ‘to make something of oneself’ or ‘to become a person who is worthy of respect’. The irony

    Footnote:

    [1] Bride price (彩礼) - Many people confuse this with ‘dowry’, which is the wealth a woman brings to her husband as a part of the marriage. The dowry is usually provided by the woman’s family at the time of the marriage; the idea behind the dowry is to aid the beginning of the new household, aiding the new husband in the provision for his wife. While the bride price is a specific price (property, money, etc.) paid by the bridegroom (or his family) to the bride’s parents. The custom serves multiple social functions: it acts as a test of the groom’s financial capability and commitment, a form of insurance for the bride in case of divorce or abandonment, and a way to establish goodwill between families. Unfortunately, the this concept gets taken advantage of, while this money should be handed to the bride, many selfish parents will keep it for themselves.
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      Chapter 379 Wicker Basket



      "Are you stupid or somethin’?" she hollered again. "Couldn’t ya grow yer firm at any other time? Why’s it gotta be right when Chengcai’s gettin’ hitched?"



      “Mom, be reasonable,” I replied. “I decided to expand first; he decided to get married after.”



      "What kinda nonsense you spoutin’?!"



      I frowned, holding the phone further from my ear to spare myself the noise.



      Her next words were so familiar, I could chant them from memory.



      She and the old man brought me up with bitter toil, tending to me through filth and tears.



      Bringing up one child alone would have been simple enough, but instead they carried the weight of two. Oh how weary they must have grown over the years.



      In her version, if not for their devoted care, I could never have been admitted to Southwest University of Political Science & Law, nor landed such a good job.



      But I remember clearly, after graduating middle school, I had cried and begged to go to high school.



      She refused.



      She sent me out to work, to earn the tuition for my dead-last-in-class younger brother.



      I had even overheard her and my father discussing marrying me off at seventeen, in exchange for a ten-thousand-yuan bride price, so they could send Chengcai to study in the city.



      If it hadn’t been for a teacher who came to our village as a volunteer and paid my tuition so I could attend high school, I would probably still be in that mountain village right now. At thirty-three, with children already in their teens, my days would be bound to a pigpen and chicken coop.



      Teacher once told me, if I wanted to change my life, I had to go out and see the world.



      She was the guiding light of my life.



      "Do ya know how much face you done cost me?!" my mother kept shouting. "You’re thirty-five! Thirty-five years old, ya hear?! How many more years ya even got left to make money?"



      “Mom, I’m thirty-three,” I replied.



      "You’re past thirty and still ain’t married! Yer dad and me can’t even show our faces! Anybody in this village over thirty still single? Nope! They all say somethin’s wrong with you, ya know that?"



      “That’s exactly why I don’t want to stay in the village anymore, Mom,” I said with a bitter smile. “I want to live a different kind of life.”



      "You might not wanna, but yer brother sure does!" she dragged the topic back yet again. "Hand us two hundred thousand so yer brother can buy hisself an apartment down in the county. After that, ya won’t have to fork over another cent, alright?"



      “No,” I reiterated my stance. “Chengcai is already thirty-two years old and has never held a single job in his life. What right does he have to get married? Does he even have the ability to plan for his own future?”



      “He’s got you!” she shot back. "Ain’t you some big boss man down in Chengdu?"



      “Mom, I’m not a boss. I’m a lawyer.”



      "So you can sue folks, huh? You know how to drag people to court, so all them bosses are scared o’ you, ain’t they?" she continued to feed me her twisted logic. "Go hit ’em up for money. If they won’t pay, then sue the hell outta ’em!"



      Utterly ridiculous.



      “Mom, that’s not only illegal, it’s also unfair,” I said. “When is Chengcai getting married?”



      “Next week. June sixth,” she grumbled. "Just one week left, so ya better hurry it up!"



      “Fine, I’ll make sure to give a red envelope then.”



      “A red envelope?! You damn—”



      I didn’t let her finish. I hung up.



      Even after all these years of hard work, no matter when or where it happens, a call from home still has the power to throw me into utter collapse.



      My family has never spared even the slightest thought for me.



      In their eyes, I serve only two purposes.



      Either I go back, get married, bring in a bride price, and become a childbearing machine with no further ties to them. Or I stay in Chengdu earning money, sending it home, and become a money-making machine that never stops.



      I pulled a pack of KZ from my bag, took out a cigarette, and clamped it between my lips.


      I was exhausted beyond belief.



      Dealing with my family is more draining than fighting a lawsuit.



      The moment I lit my cigarette, the safety door was pushed open. Reflexively, I tucked it behind me; after all, people often look at women smokers with hostility, and I wished to avoid that.



      “Zhang jie?” Xiao Sun poked his head in, eyeing me curiously.



      Seeing it was him, I put the cigarette back between my lips. “You scared me. What is it?”



      “I saw you were on the phone for a long time and thought something might’ve happened. Are you okay?”



      “I’m fine.”



      Xiao Sun, all too familiar with the motion, took my pack, tapped out a cigarette, and asked, “Zhang jie, you haven’t smoked in a long time. What’s going on?”



      “Nothing much.” I shook my head. “Family matters.”



      After a pause, I glanced at the way he was lighting his cigarette and asked, "Didn't you quit?”



      “Zhang jie, I told you before. If you quit, I quit. If you smoke, I smoke.” He took a drag, closing his eyes slowly. “If we’re going to take care of our health, we do it together. If we’re going to ruin it, we ruin it together.”



      I let out a helpless sigh, half amused, half exasperated. “What kind of logic is that? Tying your health to mine, do you think that’s fair?”



      “It’s fair.” Xiao Sun nodded. “Zhang jie, no matter what it is, I just want to do it with you.”



      He’d said similar things before. They always left me a little uneasy, so my approach had always been to simply not respond.



      Seeing I didn’t speak, Xiao Sun tried again, though this time his tone was a bit unnatural. “Zhang jie, there’s no work tomorrow. I accidentally bought an extra ticket to Richie Ren’s concert; I heard you really like him. Want to go together?”



      I pulled out my portable ashtray, gathered the ash, and raised my head. “Xiao Sun, you just happen to have no work tomorrow, just happen to have bought two tickets to Richie Ren, and he just happens to be my favorite singer. What are you trying to pull?”



      “I…” Xiao Sun hesitated, the tips of his ears turning red. After a long pause, he finally confessed, “Zhang jie, we’ve known each other for so many years. I don’t want us to stay in a boss-and-subordinate relationship. I want to know more about you.”



      Young men these days truly had courage. Even after all the storms I’d weathered in the courtroom, his words still made my heartbeat quicken.



      “But Zhang jie… you’ve always kept yourself closed off. I can never seem to reach your heart.” Xiao Sun’s tone grew tense. “Life is still long. Should we… walk it together?”



      I looked into his clear eyes, then lowered my head, slipping the cigarette into my portable ashtray.



      For some reason, hearing such words filled me not with joy, but with a deep sense of loss.



      I’m a wicker basket full of holes, unworthy of holding anyone’s tender affection.



      “Xiao Sun… you’re twenty-six this year, right?”



      “Yes, Zhang jie. After my birthday, I’ll be twenty-seven.”



      “I’m seven years older than you,” I said flatly. “You’re young, accomplished, and capable of finding a far better partner. Together, you’ll build a better life. But if you tether yourself to me, one day you’ll discover that I am marred by countless scars, and all you see now is but a façade.”



      A deeper quiet settled into the air, save for the faint, muted sound of wedding music far away.


      “I…I don’t care whether you’re battered or broken. I’ll give everything I have to fill in the cracks” Xiao Sun’s gaze grew resolute. “Zhang jie, I like you. I don’t mind your age, background, or past. I like your strength, your drive, your seriousness, your persistence. I’ve thought over every word I just said for a long time. Now all that’s left is your reply.”
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