Three or Two Things about Rebirth

Zhang Weijing looked up at Qiu Luming and said, "Actually, I've always wanted to say that your temperament is very similar to the female student in this photo. You look like someone from my grandmother's youth."

Qiu Luming's heart beat faster. When she saw Fang Yuan looking up at her, she smiled and said, "Second sister-in-law, what does Brother Zhang mean? Are you praising me?"

Zhang Weijing quickly explained, "Of course! I mean you have a very good temperament! The first time I saw you, I thought you looked a bit like a female student in the Republic of China. The second time I went, I thought you looked even more like one!"

"Don't explain. It's only making things worse." Qiu Luming didn't want to talk about this topic. She just wanted to finish looking at the photos quickly. If Sun Ning came and saw them sitting side by side on the sofa looking at photos, she might misunderstand them.

"This photo was taken at the gate of Southwest Associated University. My grandmother took it as a souvenir before she left for the United States. The man next to her is her first husband Duan Shengde. Mr. Duan's father was the chairman of the Yunnan Provincial Government.

My great-grandfather was an official during the reign of Emperor Guangxu, and was later invited by the Nationalist government to serve as an official. Several of my uncles also served as officials, studied abroad, or opened factories, and my aunts all married into families of equal status.

It turns out that his family background is so prominent.

"Excuse me, what is Grandma Zhang's maiden name..." Qiu Luming asked anyway.

"My grandmother's name was Lin Jiewei. She was very famous in Peking and Kunming. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, everyone just called her Madam Zhang, so many people didn't even know her last name."

Qiu Luming remembered that she had heard of this name. The love story between the most beautiful female student in Peking University and Mr. Duan from Yunnan Province was once a legend on campus, and everyone knew about it.

"My grandmother went to several universities in her life, but she never got a diploma." Zhang Weijing smiled and pointed at some photos Lin Jiewei took in the United States and said, "She didn't graduate from Peking University, and she didn't graduate from Southwest Associated University. When she came to the United States, she wanted to get a diploma, but Chairman Duan was assassinated. Master Duan rushed back to China to stabilize the situation. She followed him back, but still didn't graduate!"

Qiu Luming smiled bitterly and thought, after all, your grandmother studied until her senior year and even went abroad, but I only studied for three months.

"Later, my grandmother stopped going to college. She said that she was destined not to get a diploma. But a certificate didn't matter. As long as she had left her footprints on campus, that was enough.

She and Master Duan were very affectionate, and they had endless topics to talk about every day. They had a boy. However, Master Duan somehow became addicted to drugs and could not quit. Soon he killed a general who had always supported him..."

Qiu Luming interrupted Zhang Weijing, "Brother Zhang, are you sure you can say this?" After saying that, she looked nervously in the direction where the old lady left.

Zhang Weijing smiled, "What's there to be ashamed of? Even the photos are openly and carefully placed in the album, so what's there to be ashamed of? My grandmother is a very open-minded person. She said that people should not do those unnecessary cover-ups and just let nature take its course.

You will also be able to see my uncle later, he is the son of my grandmother and Master Duan.

After Mr. Duan died, my grandmother fled to Chongqing with my uncle, met my grandfather, and soon married him with her children. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, they returned to Beijing. My grandfather became an official. My grandmother had read a lot of books and knew a lot, but she never worked a day and never earned a penny. In the 1950s and 1960s, they suffered a lot, as did my father and his family, but fortunately they all survived. ”

Qiu Luming said "oh" and nodded, not daring to make any comment.

After finishing flipping through the first photo album, Zhang Weijing exchanged it with Fang Yuan and showed Qiu Luming the second one.

This album contains photos taken after the founding of the People's Republic of China. The clothing and photography styles have changed greatly, and the quality of the photographic paper has also declined significantly.

Zhang Weijing pointed to a group photo and said, "My grandmother gave birth to five children in her life. She and my grandfather gave birth to four of them. The first two were daughters. She finally gave birth to my father, and several years later, she gave birth to my uncle."

Qiu Luming said "oh" again. ——No matter how beautiful a woman is, she still needs to give birth to a child, and she must try her best to give birth to a boy.

Later, there were fewer single photos, but more and more people in family photos. By the 1980s, Lin Jiewei no longer had a partner.

***

Guests gradually came to the Zhang family. Zhang Weijing's two brothers came out to entertain the guests. Qiu Luming said to Zhang Weijing, "Just take care of your own business. Don't worry about us."

She and Fang Yuan sat in the corner, chatting in low voices.

Fang Yuan sat down and reminded his sister-in-law: Zhang Weijing is too close to you, stay away from him! He must not be a good person if he still does this with a fiancée!

Qiu Luming smiled and nodded.

The dinner hadn't started yet, but someone turned on a tape recorder and waltz music was echoing in the living room.

Lin Jiewei changed into a purple velvet cheongsam, wore three or four centimeter high heels, and put a golden hairpin in her hair. She looked radiant and only looked to be in her fifties.

Many people came forward to greet her, with familiarity and respect.

Fang Yuan suddenly said, "I looked at the second photo album first, and I found that after she lost her husband, she became more and more comfortable and smiled especially happily."

"what?"

"Really? My grandma was the same. I think they had a good relationship, but after my grandpa passed away, she was so relaxed, as if she could live to be a hundred years old!"

"Ha!" Qiu Luming couldn't help but laugh, and then was speechless.

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the room. Qiu Luming looked over and saw that it was Zhang Weijing's elder brother Zhang Weiguo who was inviting his grandmother to dance. The old lady gently placed her left hand on her grandson's shoulder, her body leaning back gracefully, a reserved and contented smile on her face, and her steps were surprisingly light under the cheongsam that had no waist.

Qiu Luming felt quite emotional. Lin Jiewei's beauty had always been bright and generous. In other words, she didn't look like the daughter of a concubine.

Her beauty is striking and eye-catching, but not invasive.

Judging from the photo albums, their lives were not very good in the 1950s and 1960s, but there are still quite a few photos left behind. At that time, she was dressed very simply, and even in her forties, she was still very young and beautiful.

She doesn't have many female friends. In her two photo albums, apart from her graduation photos, there is not a single photo of her with any women of her age.

Qiu Luming thought, but she is really free!

Sun Ning came and smiled slightly when she saw Qiu Luming and Fang Yuan.

Throughout the entire dinner, she had been taking care of Qiu Luming and her sister-in-law, but her attitude was not very warm. Fang Yuan sighed to Qiu Luming privately, "This is very sensible. She knows that we are the people invited by Zhang Weijing to compete with her, and she still saves face for the Zhang family and us in front of others. I can't do this!"

Qiu Luming also saw helplessness and sadness in Sun Ning's face and eyes. It was obvious that Zhang Weijing had hurt her.

Sun Ning probably loves Zhang Weijing, otherwise she wouldn't be so impulsive to ask him to invite her and her sister-in-law to the banquet. She seemed to want to prove something or vent something.

Now, Zhang Weijing really invited them, and they really came.

Is she satisfied or regretful?

In fact, the Qiu siblings were also in a difficult situation. Sun Ning told them about Grandma Zhang's birthday. No matter whether the Qiu siblings attended or not, given their relationship, it would be rude not to go, but it would seem like they were trying to curry favor if they went.

Qiu Moshi didn't come today, only the gift arrived.

Qiu Luming looked at the Zhang family banquet hall full of guests, thinking about what her third brother said, and felt a little annoyed. Even if Zhang Weijing was dissatisfied with the arranged marriage, even if he had some interest in her, it didn't mean that Qiu Luming would be moved. She was a principled person, and she had Fei Yuanhang who shared the same ideals and shared the same mind!

While she secretly hated her third brother for looking down on her, she also realized that she was out of place among these powerful and wealthy people, and felt a sense of inferiority that she was unwilling to admit but could not control.

She smiled at Sun Ning sincerely. Not to mention that she had no feelings for Zhang Weijing, even if she had deep feelings for him, she would not marry into such a family. Such a family was only suitable for people like Sun Ning who were willing to swallow their anger. She couldn't do that!