"Hui mei, I am really sad to hear this but at the same time I am impressed by how much you have grown. It is clear that you have grown up. As for my mother, I think it is best to let her make own decision. Honestly, not only she but also I have felt that our two families have become like one for many years. Although it is New China, it won't break the bond between our families. So I want to let her to decide. As for you, your husband has left China. What are your plans? Do you intend to spend the rest of your life just raising your child alone?"
Shen Hui smiled and replied:
"My father asked me the same question. Well, I have no idea what I will do right now. Actually I had planned to meet my husband in Hongkong but seeing my father like this, I can't bring myself to leave. If I go now, I'm an unfilial child. So first I just want to stay home, take good care of him and be there for him. I just want to give him the chance to enjoy family happiness in his later years. Apart from these, Xue'er is still too young to leave now."
"You're right. My mom told me that the master's health has been getting worse ever since the madam was gone. And he missed you so much and worried about you all the time. Even though he scolds and hits you when you come back, I can tell you how much happy he is. My mom is the same. You have seen how busy she has been tody, cooking all your favorit dishes. And I can see she really likes your child. What's her name?"
"Xue'er, Shen Xue."
He could tell she was a bit tired so he said gently:
"It is getting late. You have had a long day so you must be so exhausted. Get some rest."
She smiled at him and replied:
"Good night!"
Then she turned and walked back to her bedroom. She glanced at her sleeping child, kissed her gently on the forehead as usual and finally lay down to rest.
You Tao glanced at her leaving. Just then, Nanny You came over and patted him on the soulder gently, saying:
"Don't blame her. You had been away for many years without a single word. When she were looking for you, you treated her like that. Actually it hasn't been easy for her to stay alone in Peking. I know you still love her so take it easy. Don't push her. Give her some time."
He looked at his mother with a bitter smile and said:
"Mom, don't worry about me. I will never blame her. She will always be my Hui mei."
She said softly:
"My son, good boy! It's late. Go get some sleep. You have got a lot to do tomorrow, haven't you? Good night."
Watching her son walk away, Nanny You let out a deep sigh before returning to her own bedroom.
During more than half a year that Shen Hui had stayed home, Peking was renamed Beijing, becoming the capital of the New China. The new government held the Founding Ceremony on October 1st, where Comrade Mao Zedong solemnly declared: "The people's Republic of China (PRC) is founded. From this moment on, the Chinese people have stood up." This marked that the war completely over and there would be no more fighting. From the First Opium War in 1839, China had endured more than 110 years of almost uninterrupted warfare, foreign invasion, internal strife and political turmoil until it finally came to an end with the founding of the PRC in 1949. It was a moment of great joy celebration for the entire nation.
However, amidst this joyous occasion, Shen Hui was surprised to notice that there was something unusual with Xue'er, not a physical illness, but rather her eyes. The color of her eyes were a striking shade of green, unlike the typical dark eyes of most Chinese. This made Shen Hui deeply worried. She was afraid that Xue'er might run into trouble in the future because of this. So she asked You Tao what she could do for Xue'er. You Tao comforted her:
"Hui mei, don't worry. In the New China, everyone is equal and no one will be discriminated against because of such differences. In fact, it is said that there are people living in Xinjiang who naturally have different colored eyes ."
As for You Tao, it was rarely for him to come home. According to Nanny You's words, the New China had just been established. Everything was in ruins and needed to be rebuilt. And there were still many things unknown. Not only You Tao but also everyonge had much to learn. So there was an overwhelming amount of work to do. He simply didn't have time to come back.
The life seemed to continue on quietly without turmoil. Shen Hui had never forgotten her promise to John, which they would meet again in Hong Kong but she didn't make the final decision to leave whenever she saw her aging father. And so, time passed and they welcomed the arrival of the Chinese New Year in 1950.
One day about a month after Chinese New Year, there was suddenly a knock at the
door, followed soon after by Nanny You's voice calling out with urgency:
"Hui, come quickly. Someone is here to see you."
Nanny You had insisted on staying with the Shen family so Shen Hui. Out of respect and affection, both Shen Hui and her father had asked her to stop calling them "Miss" and "Master", and to use their names instead.
Shen Hui was taken completely by surprise. Ever since she had come home, she had mostly kept herself, rarely appearing in public. Apart from taking care of Xue'er, she had spent her days helping Nanny You with housework, being her father company and reading. Who could possibly come for her? So she walked to the door and to her astonishment, she saw a PLA soldier standing there and beside him, unexpectedly, was Liu'er. The moment Liu'er saw her, she burst into tears and rushed into her arms, crying out:
"Aunt Hui, Grandma is gone... She is gone."
Shen Hui was completely stunned at this news. In her memory, Madam Li had always been in good health. How could she be gone so suddenly? Just as she was about to ask for more details, the soldier spoke:
"I can rest assured that you're her relative. That's great. Little girl, I have to go now. Goodbye!"
Shen Hui and Nanny You had no idea what had happened but invited that soldier for some tea when they saw him about to leave. He politely declined, insisting that he had to go. They thanked him sincerely and saw him off before returning inside. Only then did Shen Hui begin to question Liu'er about what happened.
It turned out that Madam Li had been in perfectly good health, but one morning, after getting up to use the bathroom, she suddenly suffered a heart attack and collapsed. Although the neighbors quickly called an ambulance and she was taken to the hospital, it was too late, nothing could be done to save her. As young as Liu'er was, she should have been sent to the orphanage. But she didn't want to go there so she told the staff at the Subdistrict Office that she had a relative, Aunt Hui, living in the south. She even showed them the address Shen Hui had left behind long ago. The office staff arranged for a soldier who was heading south to take Liu'er to the south. According to the address, they eventually managed to find their way here.
Hearing this, Shen Hui immediately comforted Liu'er:
"Don't worry, my little girl. Just stay here with us."
Then she explained the whole story about Madam Li and Liu'er and their relationship to her father and Nanny You. After listening, Shen Huanzhi said:
"She is a child with a hard life. Let her stay here. Nanny You, please ask Tao what we need to do. Maybe we should register her ID here first. It is time for her to go to school."
Nanny You replied:
"Yes, sir. You're right. I am on my way to Tao now. Hui, you go ahead and start preparing the material for lunch.We'll cook together when I come back."
After the Chinese New Year, You Tao asked Shen Huanzhi as the director of the TCM hospital (Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital). Shen Huanzhi rejected his requirement due to the poor health. You Tao had to persuade him many times before he finally agreed to work as a doctor there, just to help the younger. After all the hospital was a place for healing and saving lives.
Shen Hui also took up a position in the hospital's pharmacy. At first, she didn't have planned to work, partly because of the baby and partly because her thoughts were still with John and their promised meeting in Hong Kong. But seeing her father agree to work despite his age and health, and knowing that Nanny You had taken full responsibility for taking care of Liu'er and Xue'er, Shen Hui didn't have more things to do but accepted that job after You Tao's persuade. She was, after all, very familiar with pharmaceutical work.
From then on, they settled into the differet life in New China. Everyday Liu'er went to school and Nanny You took care of Xue'er but she didn't dare take her out in public because of Xue'er's unusual eyes.
However, after Chinese New Year, Nanny You began to sensed a clue: her son was coming home almost every day. When she had asked him about it, he simply said that he wasn't busy these days and missed his mother's cooking. But Nanny You knew that her son hadn't given up on Shen Hui. The reason that he had persuaded Shen Hui work in the hospital was his way of trying to get her settle down here and forget about the meeting in Hong Kong. Then he could have another chance to win back his girl who, in his mind, had always been his to begin with. She didn't make sure whether this was just his wishful thinking, but she did know that in Shen Hui's eyes, her son was nothing more than an older brother now. In addition, whenever You Tao came back, Shen Hui paid more attention to her child. There was no special affection or intimacy between Shen Hui and You Tao. Not only had Nanny You noticed this, even Shen Huanzhi was fully aware of it. Of course, Shen Hui was very clear that her husband, John, was not welcomed in this family. Since the day she came back and briefly mentioned him, she had never mentioned him again. Although sometimes she tried to talk more about John with her father, hoping him to change his bias against John's nationality, her father always cut her off or changed the topic immediately. Once he said to her:
"Hui, don't bring him up again. I understood what you're trying to do. I know he is a good person who treats you well. But you also know the reason that Taiwan doesn't have been liberated till now is because of the USA. No matter how good person he is, it isn't proper time to talk about him now. This is the sensetive time. Fortunately, only our family knows that your husband is from the USA. Once everyone knew this, I'm afraid it could cause troubles not just for you and Xue'er but also for You Tao. I know you want me to accept him. I can tell you that I don't have any personal prejudice against him. If you believe he's good for you, then no matter who he is, I will accept him."
Shen Huanzhi loved Xue'er a lot. Every time he came home from work, the first thing he did was to hold her in his arms. He had to admit that Xue'er was not only as fair as snow, but her pair of emerald-green eyes made her look as adorable as a porcelain doll. He couldn't help but kiss her soft little chee, which made Xue'er laught sweetly so as to make him dote on her even more.
However, in June, the Korean War broke out. The United States did indeed send its warships into Taiwan Strait, patrolling the waters to prevent the PLA from crossing over to liberate Taiwan. At the same time, under the banner of the "United Nations forces," the U.S. sent troops to Korea. On behalf of the Chinese government, Premier Zhou Enlai strongly denounced the United States for its aggression in Korea and Taiwan, and launched a nationwide campaign titled the "Week of Protest Against US Aggression in Taiwan dn Korea" to protest US actions.
Shen Hui had no longer dared to speak of John when the movement of the Resist America and Aid Korea was launched on a massive scale across China. But one day, Liu'er came home from school, crying and sobbing. Nanny You asked her with concern:
"What happened?"
Liu'er replied:
"The teacher in my class told us about how the US invaded Korea and Taiwan and let us overthrow US imperialism so I asked the teacher whether that meant I must overthrow Uncle John. He is a good person. The teacher asked me who Uncle John was. I told her he was Aunt Hui's husband and he's from the US. Then all classmates started calling me a trait and said they wanted to overthrow me too."
Nanny You was shocked when she heard this. A sudden sense of foreboding gripped her. She quickly said:
"Let's just stay home and take good care of Xue'er."
Liu'er, ever sensible, quietly sat down and began gently rocking the cradle, watching over the slightly drowsy Xue'er.
Nanny You's instincts were right. Something was indeed about to happen. That afternoon Shen Hui found herself deeply unsettled, unable to sit still. Around noon, she was suddenly summoned to the office of the hospital's Party Secretary. To her, Secretary Yuan was a high-ranking official whose she had never personally interacted with. She had always worked diligently and kept to herself. Although she didn't realize that You Tao also held the title of the Party Secretary, she had always regarded him more as her older brother than his position.
No matter what happened, she had no choice but to go to the office of the Party Secretary. What worried her even more was that she didn't know why she had to go there. When she stepped into the office, she was stunned. Apart from Secretary Yuan, there were two PLA soldiers present. Secretary Yan gestured for her to sit down and offered a few words of reassurance:
"They are the policemen. They just want to aske you a few questions about your marriage. Don't be nervous. Just tell the truth."
(In the early days following the libearation of China, the work of the public security polic was largely carried out by the PLA or related armed forces due to the historical context and practical necessities of the time.)
With a pounding heart, she sat down uneasily, her eyes filled with fear as she stared at Secretary Yuan and the two soldiers of the PLA. One of them got straight to the point:
"We would want to ask about your marital status."
Hearing this, she grew even more panicked. She lowered her head, unsure of how to respond and thought of John's nationality for a moment. So she said in a low voice:
"What do you want to know? My husband has already left."
"What's his name? Which country is he from?What did he do when he stayed in China?"
"His English name is John Ray and Chinese name is Lei Yuehan. He's...an A...American. He was a doctor when he was in China."
As she spoke, her tears streamed down her face. She knew that John's nationality could no longer be hidden. Secretary Yuan was visibly surprised at this. While one of the soldiers was writing down what Shen Hui said, the other continued:
"You can tell us how you two met each other."
Shen Hui began to recount briefly about how she had participated in the July 5th Student Movement in Peking, how she had been injured and how John had saved her life. Everyone in the office listened attentively as that soldier jotted everything down quickly. Then the questioning continued:
"Since you had already left him and didn't plan to keep in touch with him, why did you end up getting involved with him again later?"
She replied quietly:
"After I was arrested, he secured my release from prison through the support of his friend."
"Do you know who his friend is?"