Chapter 0004: A Fiancée Falling from the Sky

What is nostalgia?

We like a musical instrument, but we don't persist to a professional level, and we can't bear to give it up, so it becomes nostalgia. We miss our hometown, but we have to leave it, so it becomes a kind of nostalgia. We like someone, but we can't fully embrace them, so it also becomes a kind of nostalgia.

Unable to pick up yet unable to let go, a half-closed door, tiptoed feet, grapes just out of reach, a plum that never quenched thirst—all become a kind of nostalgia.

In a weary life without heroes or dreams, people need something to hold on to.

Once in a while, when Zhao Fusheng saw the glamorous Fan Baobao on TV, he would recall how naive the two of them were as children, but that didn't mean he wanted such a fiancée.

It's like everyone thinks the野蛮女友 (My Sassy Girl) played by Jun Ji-hyun is pretty, but who would want their girlfriend to act out for no reason and slap them in the face?

But if Zhao Fusheng's ears weren't mistaken, it seemed, perhaps, maybe, probably, that his mother and Aunt Li Yuan had actually arranged an engagement for him and Fan Baobao!

This was truly a sad story.

What was sadder was that the only person who could stop this, Zhao's father, after listening to Zhao's mother, thought for ten seconds and actually hummed in agreement, nodding: 'That is one way to handle it.'

At that moment, Zhao Fusheng felt a dark outlook on his own life.

He even wished it were a dream, a dream that could quickly wake up.

…

…

The same thought was shared by another person sitting on the sofa across from the Zhao family at that very moment.

The girl was just over twenty, with obvious tear troughs under her eyes, which in folk terms are called 'pouty flesh,' but she didn't have a sweet, coquettish face. Her makeup-free face was youthful yet spirited, very pleasing to the eye—a face that truly soothed a man's heart.

But at this moment, her eyes were red as she looked at her weeping mother: 'Mom, you and Dad should get a divorce.'

Li Yuan was stunned, looking up at her daughter. She never expected her eldest daughter to say such a thing.

Fan Baobao revealed a bitter smile: 'With Dad like this, there's no point in you continuing to live with him.'

She was telling the truth. Ever since her father was laid off, he had become a different person—drinking heavily, gambling recklessly. He had sold off almost everything valuable in the house, and this time he had gone even further, nearly losing her in a bet.

'By the way, how much did my dad lose this time?' Fan Baobao asked with a frown.

She had rushed back from school upon hearing the news. By the time she arrived home, the mess in the house had already been cleaned up, and her younger sister was asleep.

'Fifty thousand,' Li Yuan replied with a bitter smile.

'So much!'

Fan Baobao gasped. She never expected her father to lose so much in one go. No wonder he had taken the night train and fled.

As they say, even a hero is stumped by a lack of money. Though money isn't everything, without it, you can't do anything. For an ordinary working-class family, fifty thousand yuan was a huge sum. Fan Baobao knew very well that even if she became an actress now, she couldn't earn that much.

The reason was simple: a green girl just starting out could at most play maids or extras, and a fee of three to five thousand was already good.

Fifty thousand? Ha, unless she chose to sell herself.

Even then, she might not get that much.

If people in the early 1990s still retained a trace of innocence, then a decade later, people gradually became vulgar. This was both the best of times and the worst of times.

People realized the importance of material wealth and gradually understood that fate was always best held in one's own hands.

Fan Baobao understood this too. It was said that poor children mature early. Besides, she was studying at a film academy, surrounded by more exposure to such things, so she naturally knew that in this day and age, without money, you truly couldn't move an inch.

Just as Fan Baobao was at a loss, Li Yuan whispered, 'Um, that kid Fusheng said he would pay this money for our family.'

'Ah?'

Fan Baobao was taken aback, then her face filled with shock: "Zhao Fusheng?"

Then she wore an expression of utter absurdity: "How is that possible? Where would he get the money?"

Li Yuan recounted the whole story, and finally, glancing cautiously at her eldest daughter, she murmured, "Your Aunt Zhao said that since Fusheng offered to help you pay it back, she and your Uncle Zhao agreed. After all, we're not strangers."

"What do you mean he's helping me pay it back? It's not my debt, I..." Fan Baobao snorted in displeasure, about to say something, when suddenly her expression changed and her voice trembled slightly: "Mom, you didn't agree to some condition of that bastard Zhao Fusheng, did you?"

After thinking it over, this was the only possibility.

If her mother hadn't agreed to some condition of Zhao Fusheng's, how could he be kind enough to help her pay back this fifty thousand yuan?

Not fifty, not five hundred, but a full fifty thousand!

"Well, your Uncle Zhao and his wife have always liked you. Fusheng, though he doesn't say much, has always looked after you. My health is poor, your father has disappeared to who knows where, and your sister is still young. I thought, if one day I'm gone, you and Beibei would have someone to take care of you." As Li Yuan spoke, tears began to fall.

Her health had never been good. Since giving birth to Fan Beibei, she had been constantly getting injections and taking medicine over the past two years. She even dared not go to the hospital for a check-up, afraid that if an illness were found, she'd have to spend money on treatment.

Marriage is the most instant makeup remover, stripping away the last remnants of disguise from countless men. Once upon a time, Li Yuan had been happy, but as her husband became addicted to gambling, the word 'happiness' began to drift away from her.

Fan Baobao's eyes were already red, tears streaming down her cheeks. Though she found it absurd, she knew her mother was telling the truth. She had always been well protected by her mother, but she knew that her father had already drained the family dry. Even her school fees had been scraped together by her mother through borrowing from here and there.

Where is the peaceful life? It's because someone is carrying the burden for us.

As a sensible daughter, Fan Baobao knew she couldn't let her mother be sad anymore. Nothing is more heartbreaking than a dead heart. A husband had ruined her mother's first half of life; if she herself didn't act sensibly, her mother might truly not be able to go on living.

"Mom, I agree." Fan Baobao nodded to her mother like a martyr facing execution. In her view, for her mother's sake, even if her whole life was ruined by that bastard Zhao Fusheng, she would accept it.

Little did she know, Zhao Fusheng's mood was no better than hers.

Inexplicably arranged an engagement by his parents, Zhao Fusheng had no way to argue, because it was he himself who had spoken up to shoulder that huge debt of fifty thousand yuan for the Fan family.

The truth was indescribable; all the bitter fruit had to be swallowed silently.

Fortunately, Zhao Fusheng cleverly thought of something and tentatively looked at his parents: "Dad, Mom. Our family doesn't seem to have that much savings, does it?"

The Zhao family was just a working-class family; supporting a college student was already quite a strain. Where could they scrape together fifty thousand yuan?

Just as he thought he had outsmarted them, Zhao Dad calmly glanced at his son and said flatly, "The factory is planning to buy out my seniority, exactly fifty thousand yuan. Originally, I wasn't going to agree, but since it's for you and Baobao's matter, I'll agree when the time comes."

Zhao Fusheng's vision went dark, and he felt utterly terrible.

But he also understood that his parents were doing this for his own good.

He didn't know when it started, but his communication with his parents had become less and less. When he left home, his parents shed tears; when he returned home, he suddenly realized that his parents had grown old, with more and more wrinkles on their faces, like candles burning themselves to give light, until one day, one of them leaves. Then, the other leaves as well.

The beloved is separated by mountains and seas, and mountains and seas cannot be leveled.

Standing up, he gently hugged his father and said softly, "Dad, I'll listen to you."

Having come back once, Zhao Fusheng could disregard where he was now, but he could not disregard the man and woman before him.

"Silly boy, you and Baobao are still young. Date first, and we'll hold the wedding for you in a few years." Zhao Dad patted his son on the shoulder, unconsciously realizing that the little guy who used to cry and follow him around had now grown taller than him.

Zhao Fusheng's face was bright red, but he couldn't explain, so he just grunted.

Such behavior, in his parents' eyes, was naturally a sign of their son's shyness.

"Let's cook. Since Fusheng is home, call Li Yuan and Baobao and Beibei over tonight. Our family will have a nice meal together." As the head of the household, Zhao Dad gave the order.

"Okay, I'll stew the old hen that Grandpa brought last time." Zhao Mom agreed.

"Alright, I'll go buy a fish."

Watching his parents bustle about preparing dinner, Zhao Fusheng sighed helplessly. Forget it, let them be happy. Later, he would find a chance to talk with Fan Baobao. He couldn't really marry that crazy woman.

Also, regarding his father buying out his seniority, Zhao Fusheng vaguely remembered that there was another incident that happened.