Offense - Chapter 44

Chapter 44

This downpour marked the end of summer.

The weather grew colder day by day, so much so that autumn felt exceptionally short. It seemed like there was only a fleeting autumn breeze that swept up the fallen leaves on the streets before the temperature plummeted, and everyone bundled up in thick clothes.

The day Zhou Yanqian woke up, Lian Wan had just left. Work picked up at the end of the year, and Lian Wan had been driving far for deliveries these past few days, making rounds in the nearby counties and cities. She would leave at the crack of dawn and wasn't always sure she could make it back for dinner in the evening.

The sun rose late in winter. It was still dark outside the window. Zhou Yanqian draped some clothes over her shoulders and got out of bed, standing by the window to look down. She could just make out the flickering beam of a flashlight at the stairwell entrance.

Everything around was pitch-black, as if the whole world was still asleep. There was only one source of light. Zhou Yanqian could see that the person holding the flashlight had bedhead, a messy tuft sticking up on top.

She felt a little like laughing. The early riser was wrapped in layer upon layer of clothing, and being tall, her silhouette looked like a bear-one that came with its own spotlight. Lian Wan was several years younger than her, but when it came to winter, she was surprisingly health-conscious. Every day at home, she would coax Zhou Yanqian into wearing socks, and she never forgot to bundle herself up tightly before heading out.

Even now, a glass of freshly boiled water sat on the bedside table, timed so that it would be perfectly warm by the time Zhou Yanqian woke up.

Watching the beam of light recede into the distance, Zhou Yanqian flopped back onto the bed. She stretched out her hand to feel the side of the glass, then held that bit of warmth in her palm as she kicked her legs and sent Lian Wan a message.

As she typed, she scrolled through their chat history. She saw that the conversation was a long stream of her own messages. Lian Wan rarely replied; she was too busy to look at her phone, and whatever needed to be said was said in person when she got back.

It was all just bits and pieces. The weather, lunch and dinner, the road conditions in the county, the cigarette the gate guard handed her. It was like clocking in for a job.

But on second thought, Lian Wan wasn't very talkative when she was out, anyway.

She only talked more at home.

At this thought, a small, smug smile secretly appeared on the woman's lips.

Winter mornings were dark and quiet, with only the tap-tap-tap of her fingers on the phone's keyboard.

By the time Lian Wan climbed into the driver's seat, she saw Zhou Yanqian's message. Just a few concise words: Woke up. Cold.

She's up so early today. A corner of Lian Wan's mouth lifted. The cold wind had made her face tense, but now it suddenly came alive. Her hair was still a mess, and the thermos she had filled with hot water before leaving was casually placed on the dashboard. She looked travel-worn, but a soft smile flowed from her eyes, like a river breaking through ice.

-Wear a few more layers. Go eat first, then go back to sleep after you've eaten.

The old building they lived in had no heating, and running the air conditioner made the air too dry, causing the woman to cough until she couldn't sleep. They could only turn it off. But with the body heat of two people and heavy blankets, it wasn't too cold at night. The mornings, however, were hard to bear.

Lian Wan was used to it, but the cold made Zhou Yanqian's store-keeping sporadic. Not only did she sleep early and wake up late, but she would also take a nap after waking up before slowly opening for the day.

Fortunately, the retirement community didn't have much foot traffic. Her customers were all old neighbors and nearby workers. She didn't sell breakfast or late-night snacks, so business was always lukewarm.

It made no difference whether she opened early or late.

Lian Wan didn't keep a tally of how much Zhou Yanqian earned. She only tallied her own earnings. In the past, she was alone; now, there were two of them. Sometimes, on her way back from a delivery in the evening, Lian Wan would calculate her savings over and over in her head, coming to the conclusion that even if Zhou Yanqian didn't earn a cent and spent her money, the two of them could still live well.

So she cared even less. There were many families in town where one person's job supported the whole household. They'd have several children, live in old houses, and couldn't save much money, but life went on all the same. On weekends, the whole boisterous family would still squeeze onto a single motorcycle and go for a ride.

They would talk and laugh loudly, swerving the motorcycle as they drove.

Previously, when Lian Wan was driving deliveries, her biggest fear was driving alongside this kind of motorcycle. A large truck already had poor visibility, and these people insisted on darting into her blind spots.

They wouldn't listen if you told them, the very picture of fearless ignorance.

She was still afraid of them now. But occasionally, she would imagine what Zhou Yanqian would look like sitting on the back of her motorcycle.

She was willing to spend her money on her, too.

Lian Wan's view on money was quite simple. First, have food and clothing, and no major debts. Second, don't spend on big things; save up in preparation for some major event or disaster, for emergencies.

The first large sum of money in her life came from her grandmother's savings. With that money, Lian Wan was able to pull some strings to learn to drive during the summer after her college entrance exams, to pay for her own utilities, and to buy enough food for one person. Her grandmother believed in this philosophy of money, and Lian Wan was its first and only beneficiary.

Now, Lian Wan had unilaterally decided on her new beneficiary. She was willing to spend her money on Zhou Yanqian.

In the small town, day after day seemed to repeat the same moments, and even people's senses gradually dulled. But when it came to money, everyone was quite sharp.

Where some gained, others lost. The final downpour of the summer had flooded the Vehicle Team's small meeting room. Wang Zhiqiang heard from somewhere that Lian Wan's house was empty. After some back and forth, Lian Wan rented the house to him for his office. The price was just a token amount, in exchange for better assignments.

The conflict from the failed loan attempt seemed to have vanished. Now, when Wang Zhiqiang ran into Lian Wan on the road, he was very polite, even rolling down his window specifically to greet her: "Xiao Lian."

His vehicle was stopped, and someone next to him was saying, "You can pull over here, there's still an empty spot here."

It wasn't strange to run into each other, as they had both been assigned jobs from the same factory. The gate guard was checking their entry slips, so Lian Wan decided to go over and say hello as well.

"Brother Wang." She had taken off her jacket in the truck, and the sweater underneath accentuated her tall, slender figure. She spoke as she walked over, but having driven all morning, there was no smile on her face, and her tone wasn't warm. "You guys got here so fast."

The sun was high in the sky; the winter sun seemed to have only just truly appeared, casting a warm glow on people.

It made Lian Wan squint slightly. "How long have you been waiting?"

They were loading goods inside. If the wait was long, she would go eat first.

"Probably a while longer," Wang Zhiqiang said, a cigarette dangling from his lips. He jerked his head toward the factory. "The workers all went to lunch."

"Then I'll also..."

But before she could finish, she was interrupted. "Let's go eat too."

Wang Zhiqiang said as he walked over. Only then did Lian Wan notice a thin young man following behind him. She opened her mouth, wanting to refuse, but the two of them had already reached her side, posturing as if they were all going together.

The words of refusal swirled in her mouth, but she swallowed them back down.

"Alright..." she agreed, but her gaze inadvertently met the stranger's. The man looked very young, with a dark complexion and a short stature. His assessing eyes held a touch of slyness that wasn't very bright.

Lian Wan returned his gaze, but he immediately looked away.

"Oh, this is my nephew," Wang Zhiqiang said. "He just came from home to work with me."

He was clearly in a good mood, and the atmosphere lightened slightly. Lian Wan smiled. "Hello, I work with Brother Wang too."

Now it was the other man's turn to scratch his head awkwardly. "...Hello, Sister Lian. Just call me A Di."

Lian Wan's mouth twitched.

This A Di seemed shy, but during the meal, he dropped a bombshell: he had gotten a female classmate pregnant. The moment Lian Wan heard this, she immediately regretted her decision to eat with them. But the two men talking didn't seem to care that she was there and continued their conversation.

"...Her family's idea is that we bring money over to pick her up, and then we'll get our marriage certificate." The young man, fresh out of vocational school, spoke while carefully holding his bowl of noodle soup. Lian Wan glanced at him through the rising steam, unable to see his expression clearly.

Wang Zhiqiang took a drag from his cigarette. "I see... That's a heavy burden for your parents. They raised you all this time, and before you've even started earning money, you have to plan for a wife."

"I know, Uncle." Another bowl of noodles arrived, and Lian Wan gestured for it to be placed in front of Wang Zhiqiang. "I'll work hard with you."

"Hey, no... Xiao Lian, you eat first." Wang Zhiqiang didn't answer him right away, as if he had just remembered there was another person at the table. He stopped the server from putting down the dish and managed a stilted phrase, grinning. "Ladies first."

"You eat, Brother Wang."

But Lian Wan didn't even look up, her eyes practically glued to her phone. Her words were casual. "I don't care about that. I've been busy all morning and I'm starving. A little longer won't make a difference."

"Oh." Wang Zhiqiang had been gently rebuffed. Seeing his nephew staring blankly, he grew even more irritated.

"So how much money does your family have now? How much is the betrothal gift? The nutrition fee, the three golds? Are you having a banquet? Which hospital are you planning to go to for check-ups? Getting married is one thing, but having a baby is another huge expense."

The barrage of questions caught the nephew off guard. A look of embarrassment crossed his face. "My family doesn't have much money left... and my sister's tuition for this semester hasn't been paid yet, so my mom told me to come out and earn some money first while they figure something out."

"What about your girlfriend's family?"

"Her family doesn't have money either..."

The third bowl of noodles was served shortly after. Lian Wan listened to the two of them talk while replying to messages, her mind filled with money, money, money. Zhou Yanqian wanted to call her, and she felt it would be inconvenient to refuse.

"Um... but she told me, the three golds don't matter. She wants to have a wedding, and then a honeymoon. The baby isn't urgent. She wants to travel a bit before her belly gets too big."

"The baby isn't urgent..." Wang Zhiqiang's brow furrowed. He was clearly astonished by these two unreliable young people. "What wedding...? Do weddings need so many frills these days?"

"Yeah, it's fine, Uncle. Last night, my parents calculated the family's finances. If we don't buy the three golds, the gift money we receive should just about cover it."

"But you still have to give them the money first. What about your sister? Is she quitting school?"

"My sister said she'll take out a loan herself. She doesn't need money from the family. She went back yesterday."

"Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Lian Wan finished one bowl of noodles and ordered another. The two were still talking. The conversation had extended from the wedding details to how greedy the girl's family was, asking for too much money, and whether they could try to negotiate, since she was already pregnant anyway...

In Wang Zhiqiang's words: "Without you, who else can she find?"

Lian Wan slurped her noodles, feeling as if she were in a bustling market where people were haggling over prices.

"The wedding dress has to be rented. Uncle, can you give me a ride then? There's a place in the county town. We won't buy a ring; we have a family heirloom. My mom gave it to me last night."

"Will that do?" A piece of scallion was stuck to the corner of Wang Zhiqiang's mouth. Hearing his nephew's words, he pursed his lips noncommittally. "Aren't diamond ones all the rage now? That's what I bought for my wife."

"It'll do." The dark-skinned young man was still holding his bowl carefully. He was very thin and slightly hunched. The way he bent over to eat his noodles looked awkward, but his face held a shy stubbornness. "It's a family heirloom. It's what my dad gave my mom back in the day."

His expression instantly reminded Lian Wan of those families on motorcycles who liked to ride close to her truck, weaving through the streets on weekends.

The same strained embarrassment of making ends meet, and that little bit of warmth amidst the stubborn ignorance.

In the future, they would probably have that same boisterous family atmosphere.

"True, traditional things aren't bad either." Wang Zhiqiang chewed his noodles, then looked up, his gaze meeting Lian Wan's, who was lost in thought. "Xiao Lian, you should come then."

"Oh... okay."

"Things are a bit difficult now, but it'll be better after you're married." Looking at the man who was so constrained now that he was away from home, perhaps out of pity for his nephew, or perhaps speaking from his own experience, Wang Zhiqiang suddenly sighed with emotion. "This is a necessary stage in life. It goes by quickly; in just a few short decades, a person gets old."

For some reason, those words burrowed into Lian Wan's ears like a small hammer, striking repeatedly and echoing.

Short? Lian Wan thought back on the first half of her life. It didn't seem short. Memory stretched out every moment of her life, laying it out clearly before her again. She had experienced so many things: her first time attending a funeral, her first time holding a steering wheel, her first time on a delivery run, and then her first kiss, her first time holding someone so close.

But it also seemed very short. These elongated moments poured down the torrent of her memory, as fleeting as the sensation of her first time touching a woman's lips.

Autumn passed and winter came. Many things had changed.

"In a few more days, I'll go make the marriage proposal," the nephew was still saying.

"Alright then. Once you have a wife, you have to work hard. After your parents get through this period and your sister gets married, things will be easier for them."

"Yeah."

"Doesn't it go by fast? I was just thinking you were new to the workforce, and now you're about to start a family."

"Yeah."

The nephew's words were filled with hope for the future. Lian Wan could hear it. Dropping out of vocational school, his girlfriend pregnant-to him, these changes were actually the start of a new life. A family squeezed onto a motorcycle, with marriage, children, and worldly kin-no wonder they were so lively.

And what did she have?

What did she have to sustain a relationship of two people that felt both so long and so short?

The noodles in her bowl were finished. The bowl and chopsticks clattered. The broth from two helpings of noodles was cloudy, no longer the clear soup it was when first served. For the first time in a long while, Lian Wan felt a sense of pressing urgency.

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