Early in the morning, when Wen Man left her house, her mother Xu Yu'e chased her to the door and said, "Manman, Yuanyuan needs two paintbrushes and a box of gouache paints. Please drop by the stationery store next to the art academy after work and buy some."
Having said this, Xu Yu'e didn't wait for her eldest daughter to agree, nor did she offer any money, but returned to the house.
It had always been like this since childhood, Wen Man was the eldest in the family, always making way for her younger sister Wen Yuan. This rule seemed to be taken for granted by her parents and her sister.
Wen Man opened her wallet and looked inside, less than a hundred yuan remained. Thinking of the art supply store next to the Academy, which was the most expensive in the city, she went back to her room and took out the salary envelope she had just received two days before, pulling out another two hundred yuan from it. Thus, after paying her contribution to the family expenses to her parents, she was left with no pocket money for the month.
At the company, her college classmate and close friend Chun Xia draped an arm over Wen Man's shoulder: "My husband isn't at home tonight, I don't feel like cooking, how about we go eat Japanese sushi together?"
"I don't have money," Wen Man said honestly.
"You just got your salary the day before yesterday," Chun Xia said with a hint of surprise, then understanding, sighed, "Manman, your uncle and aunt are really biased. Don't you ever resist?"
Wen Man smiled but didn't show her teeth, like a gentle, noble lady in a TV series.
Chun Xia knew that this friend usually wasn't very noticeable, except when she smiled, her shiny eyes curved like crescents, capable of capturing the hearts of men and women, young and old alike. However, Wen Man's smile was reserved only for those she trusted. To most people, Wen Man was all about her thin face and large glasses that covered most of it, preferring to hide in corners, almost like an invisible person.
She remembered once at a class reunion, she and Wen Man attended together. Toward the end, when the host was checking off the attendance list to distribute gifts, they exclaimed, "Hey, has Wen Man not come tonight?"
Wen Man quietly raised her hand from a corner, "Here."
The host was so embarrassed they nearly dug a hole in the ground to hide in.
…
"Chun Xia. I heard you're planning to go to Beijing to struggle alongside your husband," Wen Man said, interrupting her friend's reverie.
Wen Man's tone of voice was innately soft, like that of a young lamb. Some liked her voice, others didn't. Chun Xia liked it, but Wen Man's family, especially her younger sister, really hated her voice.
Often, after hearing her friend's voice, Chun Xia would be momentarily stunned before speaking, "What's up? Have you figured it out? Finally thought about leaving that home?"
Wen Man pursed her lips and didn't answer.
Chun Xia then drew her in for a hug, "If you want, come with us, the three of us can look after each other, it'll be good."
At dusk, Wen Man clocked out on time at the company. Chun Xia accompanied her to the city's most expensive stationery store, and they purchased two paintbrushes and a box of high-quality paints for Wen Yuan. The checkout took away two hundred and thirty-some yuan. Wen Man thought: It's lucky I brought an extra two hundred.
Chun Xia grumbled for her again, "The money you earn is all invested in your sister. Do you think she'll repay you once she becomes famous?"
"Our whole family has invested in her, not just me," Wen Man used this to parry her friend's concern.
"Tsk. With her kind of talent, I don't believe she can get into the Central Academy of Fine Arts," Chun Xia argued, unable to watch on any longer.
"She's better than me. I'm only from a second-tier university. She's from a key high school, she should be able to make it into a first-tier one," Wen Man said languidly.
"I really want to curse her into not getting into a first-tier university," Chun Xia swore with unwavering loyalty.
Wen Man pursed her mouth, "That's immoral."
Wen Man often had a knack for popping out witty remarks in quiet moments.
Chun Xia felt that, even after so many years of friendship, she still couldn't fully understand what kind of person Wen Man was.
Just as they were about to catch a bus to a Japanese sushi restaurant in the city center, where Chun Xia would treat, Wen Man's phone rang.
"Mom, what's up? Tonight I—"
"Hurry up and get to your second uncle's house. We're having a family gathering tonight, and all the girls must participate," Xu Yu'e finished speaking and without waiting for her daughter's response, hung up with a "snap".
"What's going on?" Chun Xia asked.
"My mom wants me to go to my second uncle's. We're having a big family gathering tonight," Wen Man made a pained face, "I'm sorry, Chun Xia."
"No worries. I save the cost of a meal; I couldn't be happier," Chun Xia said generously, grinning widely. Then she gave Wen Man's attire a once-over, "Can you go to your big family gathering dressed like that?"
Since Wen Man worked in the framing room, her clothes often got stained with paints and such, which is why she went to work in the most ordinary clothes. Like today, her polka-dot blouse already had some colored paste stains at the hem that couldn't be washed out, and her jeans were even smeared with a couple of ink marks.
"It's fine, it's just a family gathering," Wen Man looked at herself and shook her head, "If I go back to change, I'll be scolded for being late."
Thus, after parting ways with Chun Xia at the bus stop, Wen Man boarded another bus.
Wen Man's second uncle, Wen Shirong, worked as a civil servant in the city hall and was the most successful member of the Wen Family. Wen Shirong's house was located in Shengtang Garden, with a market price of ten thousand yuan per square meter, on the ground floor of the complex, featuring five bedrooms and three living rooms, plus a small garden.
However, if possible, Wen Man never wanted to set foot in her second uncle's home.
This was because Wen Man's grandfather had died early, leaving only her grandmother living in the old house. Wen Man's father, Wen Shixuan, was the eldest son of the Wen Family and should have become the head of the family to manage all its affairs after his parents' deaths. However, Wen Shixuan was not successful; he and his wife ran a small grocery store, barely making ends meet. Therefore, the de facto head of the family became the second brother, Wen Shirong.
Wen Shixuan could not hold his head high in the family, and his wife Xu Yu'e was likewise humiliated. The couple had failed to bear a son to carry on the family line, pinning all their hopes on their two daughters. Yet, among the seven girls of her generation in the Wen Family, Wen Man, who was the oldest, was the least successful. She hadn't made it into a key high school, had attended a second-tier university, and worked for a so-so company. Now at the ripe age of twenty-nine, she hadn't even managed to find a partner.
Xu Yu'e felt her eldest daughter was a disgrace and poured all her efforts into her younger daughter, Wen Yuan. At least she had gotten into a key high school, aiming for a prestigious university in Beijing.
Wen Man pressed the doorbell of her second uncle's home.
Ding dong, the door was opened by her second uncle's daughter, Wen Haoxue.
Wen Haoxue was twenty-two this year, studying at the local Communication University, with a look that leaned towards her mother, Zhang Qiuyan, round-faced with long wavy hair, and a pair of slightly phoenix-shaped beautiful eyes.
What surprised Wen Man was: that Wen Haoxue was at home tonight, so why was she wearing high heels and makeup, looking like she was ready to go out to a banquet?
"Sister Manman, didn't your mother tell you anything?" It seemed that Wen Haoxue was the one who should be expressing amazement as she took in Wen Man's stained clothes and pants.
"What's going on?" Wen Man asked, holding a plastic bag containing the pens and paints she had bought for Wen Yuan.
Seeing her expression, Wen Haoxue guessed that she didn't know anything. She pulled her into the house before explaining carefully, "My dad, he's brought over two of his colleague's sons."
"Huh?" Wen Man was pulled straight into the living room.
Inside, three layers of Wen Family men and women were gathered, the men uniformly in formal suits and ties, the women each dressed to the nines. This grand assembly frightened Wen Man quite a bit.
"Manman, how can you be dressed like this?!" Xu Yu'e was the first to see her daughter and jumped up to point it out. At her call, everyone turned their attention to Wen Man, and Xu Yu'e instantly regretted it, realizing she had made a huge embarrassment, and promptly sat back down.
Zhang Qiuyan came over, seemingly concerned as she asked, "What's happened, Haoxue?"
In front of everyone in the living room, Wen Haoxue said, "Sister Manman wasn't aware of what tonight's gathering was about. It seems Auntie didn't tell her."
Wen Man's brows furrowed, ready to speak.
Xu Yu'e jumped in, saying, "I did tell Yuan to call her sister and remind her to come home to change."
Wen Yuan, upon seeing her mother shift the blame onto her, kept her composure and said, "I did call my sister, but she didn't pick up. If you don't believe me, you can ask Shuya. I even had Shuya call my sister once."
Catching Wen Yuan's cue, Liao Shuya, who was flipping through a magazine with Pang Yunyun, chimed in without missing a beat, "I did call Sister Manman, but she must have been on the bus and didn't hear it."
The blame rolled from one person to another, eventually rolling back to Wen Man herself. Wen Man smiled weakly, smiling without showing her teeth.
Seeing her eldest daughter appear so unconcerned, Xu Yu'e was disappointed.
"Since that's the case, big sister, let Haoxue lend Manman an outfit," Zhang Qiuyan suggested, her tone generous and warm, deftly displaying the grace of a family matriarch.
Xu Yu'e frowned, thinking: If she accepted, she couldn't swallow the anger in her heart. But if she refused, others would say she only cared about her own face and not her daughter's. Whatever she said, she would have to swallow this bitterness herself.
Receiving her mother's look, Wen Haoxue tried to pull Wen Man to her room with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
But Wen Man pulled away and addressed everyone, "Thank you for the kind offer, Auntie. But Haoxue's clothes are a bit too big for me and won't fit properly."
Tssk—
The first to laugh was the youngest child in the Wen Family and the only boy, an unfortunate grandson named Pang Shaohan, thirteen years old, in the fifth grade, pampered by his parents like an emperor. He had a carefree nature, laughing when he wanted to laugh and crying when he wanted to cry—he could be considered tactless yet clever.
Seeing this, everyone knew what Pang Shaohan found funny. Among the girls, Wen Haoxue was the most voluptuous and Wen Man the slimmest. If not for Zhang Qiuyan spending big money on brand-name clothes for Wen Haoxue, with her figure, she would surely look worse than a pig in Wen Man's generic, brandless clothes.
Wen Haoxue and her mother's faces both darkened at the same time.
Wen Man didn't for a moment believe they had any good intentions in offering her clothes. In a way, her parents were simply daring but not strategic, while her second uncle's family were prime foxes. Having long seen this, Wen Man walked over to a bench near the balcony and instinctively faded into the shadows.
This matchmaking banquet, to put it bluntly, was held by Second Uncle Wen mostly to showcase his daughter Wen Haoxue. The other girls knew well what Second Uncle's family was up to but none wanted to miss the chance to rise from ashes to glory. Wen Man knew her place; if every corner of the world had a Cinderella and Prince Charming, there wouldn't be a Cinderella fairy tale.
Click—The door opened, and Wen Shirong led the way, followed by two handsome young men who immediately captivated the attention of the girls.
"The second one is clearly more handsome," exclaimed one of the girls.