Chapter 68 Saving My Cousin in a Republic Era Drama
Although Li Huairou felt a little exaggeratedly-dressed in her own clothes, it was a dress that was very fashionable in this age. She leaned on the railing and sighed as she looked at the increasingly-clear port in the distance.
“What makes such a beautiful lady so sad?” a foreigner next to her asked in unfluent Chinese.
Li Huairou turned her head. “Did you know? There are only two kinds of things in this world.”
“I’m all ears!” the foreigner said humorously.
Li Huairou’s face turned cold. “One is none of my business, and the other is also none of your business!” Then she turned around and left without looking back, getting off the pier.
In the novel’s plot, the original owner of this body had been confused by the foreigner’s rhetoric. After disembarking, she hadn’t gone to Qingxi to pick up her cousin, instead taking the money and eloping with the foreigner. As a result, she was abandoned by the foreigner after being cheated of money and into sex, and she fell ill.
In the end, she lived on the streets, and when she was about to die, she was discovered by her cousin, Mei Xianglan, who took her back and let her spend the last moments before her death with dignity.
Mei Xianglan was the female supporting character in this plot. She was Li Huairou’s task objective this time. She was a traditional Chinese woman and had received a traditional education since childhood. She’d been engaged to her husband, Su Zhe, since childhood. When she grew up, she married into the Su family with a generous dowry. The elders of the Su family were frail and sickly, and Su Zhe was studying abroad, so Mei Xianglan took care of the elders and housework, all in an orderly manner.
Who would think that Su Zhe would come back and bring a woman who he said was the love of his life, wanting to divorce Mei Xianglan?
Mei Xianglan’s parents were no longer alive, and she only had one uncle abroad, who was the original Li Huairou’s father. Mei Xianglan wrote to her uncle for help, and her uncle asked Li Huairou to pick Mei Xianglan up.
Who would think that Li Huairou would become bewitched and not appear in time?
The two elders of the Su family had originally refused to agree to the divorce, but Su Zhe said that the woman was pregnant. Mei Xianglan had been married into the Su family for three years and had no children yet. The two elders of the Su family finally agreed to the divorce for the sake of the children, but they knew that the family could not live without Mei Xianglan, so they accepted Mei Xianglan as their adoptive daughter and continued to live together.
Mei Xianglan was an old-fashioned woman—”father at home, husband after marriage”. At this time, divorced and with no one to support her, she didn’t know where to go. As for the kindness of the elders of the Su family, she could only feel grateful.
[The full saying is “Father at home, husband after marriage, and son at death”. It means a woman must obey her father at home, her husband after marriage, and her son when her husband dies. These were the three obediences that women in ancient times needed to follow]
In this way, Su Zhe and Mei Xianglan were divorced. Su Zhe took his lover, spent the money earned by Mei Xianglan, and lived in a big house, drove a car, went to balls, and lived a prosperous life. On the other hand, Mei Xianglan stayed in her hometown and conscientiously took care of the elders and the Su family’s property.
Two years later, Su Zhe came back, leaving behind a one-year-old child and a single sentence. He and Wen Xin had found out that they were not suitable for each other and had already divorced. Now, they wanted to pursue true love separately. He had been studying abroad for many years, so she should have this child express his filial piety instead of him! Then he left gracefully.
That child couldn’t even walk—how could he be filial? It was clear that Su Zhe was selfish and wanted to get rid of his burden.
The two elders of the Su family were both over 60 years old. How could they take care of children?
In the end, it became Mei Xianglan’s affair.
Mei Xianglan did her best to serve the two elders of the Su family and take care of the child without any complaints.
The human heart was made of flesh; one was a selfish son, and the other was a filial ex-daughter-in-law. The two elders of the Su family said that Mei Xianglan was good, and even the child recognized Mei Xianglan as his mother.
If the story had ended here, Mei Xianglan’s life may not have been called happiness, but it could be regarded as seeking and receiving benevolence.
But things often didn’t go as planned. The two elders of the Su family passed away, and Mei Xianglan did her best to take care of the funeral for them. Su Zhe came back, took all the property and his son, sold the old house—leaving only a sum of money for Mei Xianglan—and then drove her away in the fine-sounding name of setting her free.
Mei Xianglan had stayed at the Su family house all her life and had nowhere to go. She expected the child she’d raised since childhood to speak for her, but the child surrounded Su Zhe with admiration and called another woman “mother”. All because Su Zhe had promised him that he would send him to study abroad.
Su Zhe met several true loves later, but he never had any children. He didn’t realize until he was middle-aged that the child he’d left in the countryside in his early years was his only flesh and blood. Even though Su Zhe was selfish, he still cherished his only bloodline. After returning this time, he found that the child was very smart but had been delayed in the countryside these years. He was determined to give his children the best education.
Mei Xianglan was driven out of the place where she had lived for decades.
Fortunately, Mei Xianglan was a very capable person. After a brief period of confusion, she quickly found the direction of her life. She used that money as capital and started a business. The business grew bigger and bigger, and she became a famous entrepreneur.
A few years later, Mei Xianglan inadvertently learned about Su Zhe’s current situation, and only then did she learn that Su Zhe was not good at business; he’d squandered all his money within a few years. The child’s studies were also interrupted, and he’d returned to China because he had no money.
After learning about it, Mei Xianglan took the initiative to help Su Zhe and his current wife. She also took money to help the child continue to study abroad.
Su Zhe was very grateful to Mei Xianglan for her kindness and righteousness after experiencing the fickleness of human nature and of the world. Inspiration sprung forth, and he wrote a novel based on his own emotional experience and serialized it in the newspaper.
Since then, various appointments had continued on. Regardless of career, even love also burst into the nth spring.
However, Mei Xianglan became controversial because of this. Some people thought that she was kind, generous, and had the beauty of a traditional Chinese woman, but some people thought that she was a woman of the old society, who had been seriously poisoned by corrupt ideas, and they did not know how to praise her. For a time, Mei Xianglan stood on the cusp of a storm.
Mei Xianglan was overwhelmed and depressed, and she soon fell ill. In fact, she also read Su Zhe’s novels. Although Su Zhe praised the character based on her, the bloody fact made Mei Xianglan realize that Su Zhe did not love her. Even after she’d done so much, Su Zhe still didn’t love her—there wasn’t even the least bit of respect! As if she, Mei Xianglan, were just an object, a decoration to prove the value of his existence.
Su Zhe said that he was grateful to her, and at the same time, he wrote out the past between them without reservation. Even the fact they hadn’t had a wedding night was made public, and even the details of how they’d only been together three times in three years of marriage were not withheld.
This was too much for Mei Xianglan to accept.
She eventually died of depression.
Before her death, Mei Xianglan donated all her inheritance to society, instead of leaving the money to the Su family’s father and son, as the outside world guessed.
This was probably Mei Xianglan’s biggest show of protest against Su Zhe! But what was the use? Su Zhe has become a literary celebrity with his book My Life, and he’d gained both fame and fortune, and was proud of his spring breeze. Although it was a pity not to get Mei Xianglan’s inheritance, so what?
[Chu fen de yi (春风得意), a Chinese idiom meaning that one has attained success and is well-contented]
Only God knew how angry Li Huairou was when she saw this plot. Lord, what kind of person was this?! So, this time, no one could stop her from saving Mei Xianglan. She would not let Mei Xianglan devote her life to the Su family, a family that was rotten and disgusting to the roots. In the end, she’d gotten nothing but a fishy smell!
Li Huairou eagerly looked at the port.
After getting off the boat, Li Huairou immediately drove to Qingxi without saying a word.
When they arrived at Qingxi, the Su family’s house, Li Huairou went straight to knock on the door.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Mei Xianglan’s cousin!” Li Huairou said.
“It turned out to be you, miss. Please come in.” The housekeeper said excitedly, “The first madam has been looking forward to you all this time. Isn’t your father here?” The housekeeper glanced behind Li Huairou. He hoped that the first madam could stay in the Su family more than anyone else. Therefore, he was very keen on Li Huairou’s arrival.
“To deal with such trivial matters, I alone am enough!” Li Huairou walked straight forward. “Where are they?”
“In the flower hall. Miss, if you please.” Seeing Li Huairou speak neatly, as expected of a girl who’d grown up abroad, the housekeeper suddenly felt confident. This cousin was so tough—maybe she could turn things around!
“Divorce is necessary! Wen Xin is already pregnant; Mom, Dad, don’t you want grandchildren?” came Su Zhe’s voice from far away.
Li Huairou stopped. “Don’t rush in. Let me hear what’s going on.”
The housekeeper nodded.
Sure enough, when the two elders of the Su family heard that Wen Xin was pregnant, they immediately hesitated. Even Mei Xianglan hesitated.
“You can make her the second wife!” Madam Su said hesitantly.
“Impossible! I am a woman with a modern education, and I will never be a concubine! ”
“I have made up my mind! Divorce!” Su Zhe’s attitude was very tough.
Mei Xianglan saw the faces of the two elders of the Su family, and she knew that the situation had been settled. She looked decadent and said nothing.
Madam Su stepped forward and took her hand. “Xianglan, for the sake of the child, you agreed! But don’t worry. My husband and I can’t live without you, and this family can’t live without you. If you get divorced, my husband and I will recognize you as our adopted daughter, and you can continue to stay here. From now on, you are my daughter!”
Mei Xianglan hadn’t expected Madam Su to say this, and she was full of gratitude.
Mr. Su nodded and looked at Su Zhe. “You can get a divorce. That’s the only condition. If you agree, you can divorce!”
As long as Su Zhe could get a smooth divorce, he didn’t care about Mei Xianglan, as they wouldn’t live in the old house.
“Okay! I promise!”
“Wait a minute! I do not agree!” Li Huairou said loudly, knowing that it was time for her to appear.
“You are?”
“Cousin, I’m Huairou!” Li Huairou walked up to Mei Xianglan and wiped the tears away from her face.
Mei Xianglan was a little excited. “Huairou, why are you here?” She only had one maternal uncle who was still alive, so when Su Zhe had wanted to get a divorce, she’d written a letter to her family. It’s just that she didn’t get a response for so long. She thought that her uncle hadn’t received the letter, or that he didn’t want to worry about it. Unexpectedly…
“My dad received your letter and was very anxious, but he was not in good health and couldn’t come, so he had me pick you up,” Li Huairou said with a smile.
Li Huairou pulled Mei Xianglan behind her. “Divorce, yes! But you must report the situation in the newspaper, saying that Su Zhe wants in with the new and out with the old, and that the new love is pregnant, so you divorced. Don’t pour this dirty water on my cousin. My cousin enters the door, hasn’t gotten pregnant for three years, and others don’t know the reason, don’t you know? Also, after the divorce, my cousin’s dowry will be taken away. From then on, they can marry others, unrelated to each other! As for becoming an adopted daughter, forget about it. Come on! My cousin doesn’t have no one in her family!”
