Zhang Zhijun and Xie Jinghu were married in the same year. After the wedding, Zhang Zhijun and his wife Lu Meishu had a son, Zhang Hua, who was a few months older than Xie Qian.
Old Master Zhang had spent decades working in forestry-related fields, so the younger generation of the Zhang family all had names incorporating the “wood” radical. Zhang Zhijun’s son was called Zhang Hua.
Most of Zhang Zhijun’s business was overseas, and Zhang Hua had been sent abroad to study at an early age.
Lu Meishu’s health had been poor these past two years. Western medicine had brought little improvement, so the family suggested she return to China for traditional Chinese treatment and recuperation. That was why she had been staying in the country for some time.
Zhang Hua was a boy and had been extremely well brought up by his parents. Despite the family’s wealth, he had never developed any spoiled or playboy habits, so Lu Meishu felt perfectly at ease letting him live alone abroad.
When Zhang Zhijun suddenly produced an illegitimate daughter, even his niece Zhang Nan was utterly revolted. Naturally the family would not keep this from Zhang Hua.
He booked the earliest possible flight home.
Zhang Nan was the pampered darling of the household. All her cousins, male and female, willingly indulged her. When she saw Zhang Hua, her eyes were still swollen from crying.
Zhang Hua gently patted his cousin’s head. “Why the tears? A person like that isn’t worth it.”
“But Uncle said—”
Zhang Nan choked up.
According to Zhang Zhijun, the woman surnamed Zhuo was determined to send the illegitimate daughter back to the Zhang family.
If they refused to accept her, the woman threatened to sue Zhang Zhijun for child support… The girl was younger than Zhang Nan and not yet an adult.
Zhang Hua cut her off. “He has his difficulties. We have our own way of handling things. One man’s mistake should not drag the entire family down. I have only one little sister, and that is you.”
Zhang Hua was worried about his mother’s health. After comforting Zhang Nan briefly and greeting the elders, he set down his suitcase and went straight upstairs.
Upstairs, Zhang Zhijun was pacing outside the bedroom door. When he saw his son, guilt flashed across his face.
“This whole thing… I…”
“Dad, I respect whatever choice you make. First I’m going to see Mum.”
Zhang Hua clearly had no wish to discuss it further.
There was nothing to discuss anyway.
A teenage illegitimate daughter would not simply vanish because Zhang Hua said a few words.
He fully respected his father’s decision.
Of course, he also hoped his father would respect his mother’s decision, his own decision, and the decision of every member of the Zhang family.
Lu Meishu lay in bed looking drained of life.
She had run a high fever.
The fever had broken, but she still had no appetite.
The whole family supported Lu Meishu and condemned Zhang Zhijun, but what good did that do?
When she saw her son, Lu Meishu managed a faint smile and struggled to sit up. “Why have you come home?”
Zhang Hua hurried to the bedside and took her hand. “Grandfather called me. He told me everything. He said I’m already a little man now and must shoulder the responsibility of being a son. Mum, let’s get divorced. Once it’s done, I’ll take you home.”
The “home” Zhang Hua meant was Lu Meishu’s natal family.
It was not prosperous, but it was the place she knew best.
On the flight back, Zhang Hua had thought the matter through. In similar circumstances, Zou Weijun and Xie Qian had fought for years before finally winning a great victory.
Zhang Zhijun was not as wealthy as Xie Jinghu, but he was still far richer than most.
If Lu Meishu refused to divorce, she would be preserving the family fortune for her son.
It was only one illegitimate daughter. While Zhang Zhijun still felt guilty, Lu Meishu could seize control of the finances and at most throw a few scraps to the girl.
Many original wives did exactly that.
Their children, as beneficiaries, naturally hoped their mother would cling to the position of legal wife.
Yet before the plane even landed, Zhang Hua had made his choice.
Other original wives could win great victories. He would not force his own mother to do the same.
He had weighed the pros and cons.
The woman surnamed Zhuo had borne two children in total: an elder son by Xie Jinghu and a younger daughter by his father. With Xie Jinghu in the picture, the woman had no chance of marrying into the family. If his father actually married her, the entire Beijing elite would laugh at them, and the Zhang family would never agree.
Since the woman could never become the legal wife, if Lu Meishu stubbornly held on to her position, the woman would use the daughter as an excuse to extract money from Zhang Zhijun and continue their clandestine relationship.
That was the worst possible outcome.
As long as Lu Meishu turned a blind eye, she could remain Mrs Zhang.
Other wives could turn a blind eye. That was their choice.
At the very least, those wives were in better health than Lu Meishu. They had the energy to fight.
Zhang Hua did not want his mother to live like that.
Pretending to be magnanimous and forgive, or screaming and fighting every day, suspicious of every little thing, getting upset at the slightest provocation.
Lu Meishu’s body could not withstand that kind of torment.
They say health is the capital of revolution. Only with health can one fight. His mother had no strength to battle a mistress.
Divorce was better.
Once divorced, whatever his father chose to do with the mistress and the illegitimate daughter would have nothing to do with his mother.
Money was important.
Compared to his mother’s health and life, money suddenly seemed far less important.
Zhang Hua patiently explained everything to Lu Meishu. At first she was too sunk in grief to take it in, but the more he spoke, the clearer his reasoning became. Lu Meishu looked at her son with astonishment.
“You…”
Zhang Hua dropped to one knee beside the bed and clasped her hand tightly. “For at least half my life I’ve lived abroad. I wasn’t raised under Grandfather and Grandmother’s eyes, so their affection for me isn’t as deep as for Nan Nan. I completely understand that. Right now they’re furious with Dad. Given time they might forgive him and no longer stand firmly on our side. After all, a grandson or daughter-in-law can never be as close as a son. I’m not as clever as Xie Qian either; I may not be capable of holding up the Zhang family name. I may not be the best, but I am your son. Dad might betray you, but I never will.”
Lu Meishu, who had been forcing a smile moments earlier, burst into tears.
Zhang Zhijun had been begging for her forgiveness, promising over and over that he would never bring the illegitimate daughter home and would have nothing more to do with Sara Zhuo.
Did Lu Meishu care whether the girl came home or not?
Of course not!
What she cared about was Zhang Zhijun’s betrayal. Once, ten times, it made no difference. He had betrayed their marriage. That was the knife plunged into her heart.
The knife had shattered her.
Yet it had also let her see her son clearly for the first time.
Zhang Hua was still young, yet he already carried real responsibility.
He supported her getting divorced!
He had even promised to take her away from the Zhang household!
He did not press her for an immediate answer. He glanced at the untouched food on the bedside table and released her hand. “Mum, you should eat something. I’ll warm some congee and a couple of light dishes, all right?”
Looking into her son’s hopeful eyes, Lu Meishu found it impossible to say no.
When she nodded, Zhang Hua smiled.
“Eat a little first. We’ll talk about the rest when you’ve got your strength back. I’m here.”
He paid no attention to Zhang Zhijun waiting at the door. He went downstairs and fetched a bowl of congee and two light side dishes.
Zhang Nan’s eyelids were still swollen, but her face lit up. “Auntie’s willing to eat?”
Zhang Hua nodded.
“No wonder Grandfather insisted on calling you back. Auntie only listens to you.”
Zhang Nan cautiously made a request. “Can I go see her?”
These past two days Lu Meishu had shut herself in her room and refused all visitors. Zhang Nan had wanted to go in, but the adults worried a child might say the wrong thing and upset her further.
Zhang Hua felt the same, but he phrased it differently. “In a couple of days, when she’s feeling better. You love looking pretty, and so does Mum. Let her freshen up first.”
Zhang Nan’s concern was genuine, but Zhang Hua did not want her to see Lu Meishu in such a wretched state.
Zhang Nan knew when to be good.
She would wait, but she asked Zhang Hua to pass on her stance.
She would never, ever acknowledge that illegitimate daughter!
If Zhang Zhijun insisted on recognising her, Zhang Nan would disown even her uncle.
“I only want Auntie.”
Zhang Hua could not resist ruffling her hair again. “I know. You’re the family’s minister of justice.”
He carried the congee and dishes back upstairs himself.
This time Lu Meishu drank most of the bowl and managed several mouthfuls of vegetables.
Zhang Hua was delighted. He even drew back the heavy curtains. “If you feel cooped up, come to the window for some air and look at the view.”
Summer in Beijing was lush and green.
Verdant trees, a gentle evening breeze, it swept away the gloom that had filled the room.
Lu Meishu gazed at the greenery in the courtyard, suddenly aware how sticky she felt. She murmured, “I should take a shower. After a shower and a good sleep, tomorrow will be a new day.”
Zhang Hua finally breathed a sigh of relief.
They talked a little longer. Only then did he take the empty dishes and leave the room.
He still had to discuss the divorce with the rest of the family.
Since the woman surnamed Zhuo had declared she would send the illegitimate daughter back, she would certainly would.
Zhang Hua had no wish to meet the girl, nor did he want his mother to. Let his father deal with that rotten mess. The quickest and cleanest solution was divorce.
Zhang Zhijun stood at the far end of the corridor, smoking from worry. Seeing his son, he stubbed out the cigarette. “How is your mother? Has she eaten? Xiao Hua, about this whole thing, I can explain—”
Zhang Hua remained perfectly polite. “Let’s go then. We can explain everything clearly in front of Grandfather and Grandmother while everyone is here.”
In front of the elderly Zhang couple and the rest of the family, Zhang Hua laid out the divorce plan.
“Mum’s health is fragile. She cannot keep suffering these shocks. I believe divorce is the only real solution.”
Old Master Zhang’s face flushed crimson. “Is this what your mother wants?”
Zhang Hua nodded. “Yes. It’s what she wants, and it’s what I want.”
Zhang Zhijun did not want a divorce. Old Master Zhang pointed at the door. “Then get out. Get out as far as you can and never set foot in this house again. Even when your mother and I are dead, you are forbidden from coming back to mourn!”
Zhang Hua had predicted this perfectly.
The scandal had only just broken. The entire family was furious. Considering Lu Meishu’s poor health, they would naturally back her decision.
Zhang Zhijun resisted divorce, so Old Master Zhang forced him to accept it.
Zhang Hua asked for no property at all. He left everything to Grandfather to decide.
By the end of negotiations, Zhang Hua himself drafted an agreement.
Zhang Nan, terrified that Lu Meishu and Zhang Hua would be short-changed, secretly urged him to hire a lawyer. Zhang Hua only smiled gently. “It’s fine. I don’t care about that, and neither does Mum. As long as we can divorce, that’s enough.”
The following morning, Zhang Hua wanted to show Lu Meishu the draft agreement. He knocked repeatedly, but no one answered.
The commotion upstairs brought the rest of the family running. Zhang Zhijun and Zhang Hua forced the door together and found Lu Meishu hanging from the bathroom pipe in the bathroom.
“Mei… Meishu…”
Zhang Zhijun’s hands shook as he tried to untie the rope. The divorce agreement Zhang Hua had been clutching scattered across the floor.
