Chapter 230: Two Flowers Bloom

In the summer of 1958, against the backdrop of hunger and toil, we struggled to paint a stubborn streak of green belonging to life.

The days in the Siheyuan were like a tightly drawn bowstring, stretched to the limit, yet there were always stray branches that quietly unfolded unnoticed.

In the Xi Kua Yuan, the crabapple blossoms had long faded, bearing unripe small fruits hidden behind the dense foliage.

Li Ping'an watched his sister Li Pingle busy by the Stove; she stood upright, moved deftly, and her brows and eyes had completely shed the childishness of a girl, revealing the resilience and calm unique to a working woman.

He recalled the conversation at the beginning of the year about his sister's lifelong matter, and knew clearly that it could not be delayed any longer.

In chaotic times, a drifting reed always needs a support.

That night, while Lin Xueqing rested in the inner room, Li Ping'an called his sister after she had finished clearing the dishes.

"Pingle," he gestured for her to sit, his tone calm yet solemn, "How have you thought about what I mentioned at the start of the year? Have you found anyone you like? Or should I go find Wang Meipo?"

Li Pingle's face flushed "swish," her fingers twisted the hem, she lowered her head, and remained silent for a while.

Li Ping'an did not press her, just waited quietly.

"Brother..." after a long pause, Li Pingle finally spoke in a voice like a mosquito, "I... I haven't found anyone myself. Maybe... maybe I'll listen to you and ask a matchmaker."

She was, after all, a thin‑skinned girl, shuttling all day between the factory and home, with limited contact with the opposite sex, making it truly hard for her to find a partner on her own.

"Alright," Li Ping'an nodded, "Then what kind of family are you looking for? Tell me more so I have a clear picture in mind, and I can discuss it with the matchmaker."

Li Pingle lifted her head, glanced at her brother swiftly, then quickly lowered it again; her voice grew a bit louder yet still shy: "Just... just as we said before. A person who is honest and upright, willing to work, knows how to be gentle. As for the family... wealth doesn't matter, as long as they're respectable."

She paused, mustered courage and added, "Preferably... preferably a family with a simple household, and a mother‑in‑law who is sensible."

That latter clause clearly stemmed from having witnessed the many hardships of mother‑in‑law and daughter‑in‑law relations in the courtyard, leaving lingering fear.

Li Ping'an understood; his sister's request was simple and clear, bearing a deep yearning for a stable life and a hint of fear toward complicated family dynamics.

He felt a little relieved; as long as his sister's mind was clear, she wouldn't be easily taken advantage of.

"Alright, I understand," he said warmly, "I'll keep this in mind and first inquire with a reliable matchmaker. Don't feel any burden; whether it works or not depends on your own wishes."

Li Pingle blushed, gave a soft "mm," and felt as if a stone had been set down in her heart while another rose, a nervous flutter, chaos mingled with a vague yearning for the future.

Just as Li Ping'an began to quietly attend to his sister's marriage, in the back courtyard Xu Damao's once seemingly stalled "high‑reach" match had, in an unexpected way, reached its final conclusion.

Xu Damao returned from a blind date at Beihai Park, his mind restless from Lou Xiao'e's coldness and the Lou family's delayed response, like ants on a hot pan.

He pressed his father Xu Fugui several times; when Xu Fugui went back to the Lou family, he still received Lou Zhenhua's same Tai Chi routine of "young people should look everywhere first" and "no rush".

Xu Damao wasn't a fool; he gradually sensed the flavor—that they simply hadn't taken a liking to him!

A wicked fire burned hotter in his heart. Xu Damao, after all, was a formal Projectionist at the Steel Rolling Mill, had an urban household registration, a separate home; why should he be dangled by a faded capitalist's daughter? The more he thought, the more resentful and humiliated he felt.

That day, he could no longer hold it in and ran to his father Xu Fugui to complain: "Dad! What on earth does the Lou family mean? Give me a straight answer! This indecisiveness—what's going on? I think they just look down on people!"

Xu Fugui felt a simmering anger, thinking Lou Zhenhua gave him no respect, yet he had to keep his son steady: "Why are you so anxious? Lou Zhenhua is extremely cautious; doesn't he need to look around more? Moreover, given his family's background, being able to take a worker like you now is like burning high incense!"

"Burning high incense?" Xu Damao sneered, his tone cutting, "I think they're still dreaming of being a lord and lady! Look at that daughter—cold as a wooden post; if it weren't for their little family fortune, who would be willing to serve?"

That remark actually revealed a bit of his true feelings. He held little affection for Lou Xiao'e herself; it was more a covetousness for wealth and status, and a compulsive belief that "I must have it."

Now, seeing no hope of attachment, that feigned "sincerity" was completely torn apart, exposing the underlying scheming and resentment.

"Wait a bit longer, I'll think of a way," Xu Fugui massaged his temples, also somewhat at a loss.

However, before Xu Fugui could even "think of a way," a clear message arrived from the Lou side through a convoluted channel.

The words were very courteous, thanking the Xu family for their regard, but stating that Lou Xiao'e was still young, wanted to stay a few more years, and was not considering personal matters for now—a standard, respectable excuse.

When the news reached Xu Damao's ears, he was stunned for a while, then his face turned iron‑blue, and he grabbed an empty tea cup from the table and smashed it to the floor!

"Damn it! Giving face but not taking it!" he snarled through gritted teeth, his chest heaving violently, "A stinking miss from a capitalist family, still putting on airs in front of me! You look down on me? I don't even care! Just you wait, I'll definitely find someone a hundred times stronger than her!"

"Damn it! No face, no face!" he cursed through clenched teeth, his chest heaving, "A stinky capitalist miss still dares to play games with me! She looks down on me? I don't care! Wait and see, I'll find someone a hundred times stronger than her!"

He was like a beast trapped in a cage, pacing irritably in the room, turning all his resentment toward the Lou family and the defeat of the blind date into deeper cynicism and twisted ambition.

He swore he would make a name for himself, marry a wife everyone envied, and repay today's humiliation with interest!

From then on, Xu Damao and Lou Xiao'e's brief intersecting match was definitively concluded.

One continued to chase an unrealistic high‑society dream, the other grew slicker and more pragmatic in his anger.

Two lines that should never have intersected each slid toward different trajectories.

In the Xi Kua Yuan, Li Ping'an was spreading out stationery, preparing to write a letter to an old comrade, asking him to watch for a suitable, upright youngster in the troops. Meanwhile, in the back courtyard, Xu Damao's room was suffused with the resentful, unwilling air of a loser.

Under the crabapple tree, light and shadow mottled. Each family bore its own sorrows, each person their own calculations.

Li Pingle's lifelong matter had just entered the schedule, while Xu Damao's life, because of this failed high‑reach, quietly shifted toward an even more unpredictable direction.