The Early Spring - Extra Chapter 1
Side Story 1 - Liang Chengmin
At twenty-seven, Liang Chengmin was still unmarried, which made her a distinct oddity in 1970s China.
Whenever Liang’s mother saw her daughter, she would start nagging: "Are you getting married or not? Give me a straight answer! So many people have tried to introduce you to young men, but you won't even spare them a glance. It's not that your family can't afford to keep feeding you, but the neighbors will gossip!"
"Let them gossip then~" Liang Chengmin replied in her usual slow, unhurried cadence. "Their mouths belong to them, we can't control what they say!"
She was born in Jiangsu, raised in Shanghai, and had gone to Anhui to work as an intern doctor. After running that full circle, her professional knowledge had grown, but her accent had become a mismatched blend.
Looking at her, Liang’s mother felt her blood pressure rising just a bit: "You're not in a hurry, but your grandmother is!"
"Tomorrow, no matter what that man is like, I'll marry him!" Liang Chengmin threw out the sentence and sprinted off.
The next day, after coming out of the hospital, she rode her bicycle to the library and loitered around the area for a while. Though she was twenty-seven years old, she still had the temperament of a child and did not care much about anything. She only cared about the human body and pathology, wholeheartedly wanting to become a legendary female physician.
The man standing at the entrance of the library seemed somewhat out of place. He wore a crisp white shirt and black trousers, his posture impeccably straight and his brow furrowed, making him look like someone who was not easy to get along with. The matchmaker had said this man was handsome and that countesses of young women had their eyes on him. Liang Chengmin couldn't tell whether he was handsome or not; she only cared whether people were healthy. This one looked quite healthy.
She ran over, two thick braids hanging down over her chest, holding a book in her arms like a total nerd. Breathing slightly heavily as she reached him, she asked, "Luan Mingrui? I am Liang Chengmin."
Luan Mingrui had a bad temper. He glanced at his watch and said, "You are late. By three minutes."
Liang Chengmin couldn't very well say that she had been sizing him up from around the corner, so she merely offered an embarrassed smile.
"Something came up at the hospital, so I left late."
"It's fine."
"Shall we take a walk?"
"Mm."
Luan Mingrui gave a casual response, and the two walked along the road. In those days, there were very few people on the streets, and the air carried the scent of seawater. Every morning, fishing boats would return carrying boatloads of seafood. Liang Chengmin had been in poor health since childhood. As she grew older, her parents heard that eating shrimp and crab would strengthen the body, so they tried every possible way to procure them, making mashed shrimp and scraping out crab meat for her every day. Over time, her frame appeared slightly larger than that of an average southern girl, and her skin looked vibrant and supple. Yet with a stature like hers, she still appeared small and delicate standing beside Luan Mingrui. He was tall, with a straight, broad frame, and wore a pair of glasses. Liang Chengmin stole a side glance—not bad, the prescription wasn't too strong.
The two discussed their respective situations. Neither had their heart set on blind dates, so after exchanging a few casual words, they called it a day.
Just as Liang Chengmin stepped through her front door, the matchmaker arrived, pulling Mother Liang outside the window to talk. At first, Mother Liang seemed quite excited, but after a couple of sentences, her spirit deflated somewhat: "Oh, he feels it's not a good fit? It's fine, it's fine, these things require fate. If it's not a fit, we shouldn't force it. Their family background is indeed slightly better than ours. A starved camel is still bigger than a horse, after all."
Liang Chengmin cleared her throat: "Mom, my window is open, so I can hear everything you're saying loud and clear. What's there to feel bad about? I didn't take a fancy to him either!"
Hearing this, the matchmaker stuck her head through the window: "You didn't take a fancy to him?"
"Nope. He's four-eyes."
"Aren't you a four-eyes too?" The matchmaker pointed out the fact.
"I'm not. My vision is under a hundred degrees; I don't even need to wear glasses. His prescription is way stronger."
Upon hearing this, the matchmaker clicked her tongue: "Tsk tsk, young people these days, each more picky than the last. If you keep picking like this, you'll stay at home until you're old." She had completely forgotten that it was the other party who had rejected her first.
Liang Chengmin didn't take the matter to heart. If she didn't marry, she didn't marry—what was so good about getting married anyway? Plenty of doctors and nurses at the hospital were married, and people often came to work crying their eyes out!
She was usually carefree, like a girl who refused to grow up, but the moment she sat down for her shift, she became extremely serious. White coat on, hair put up, medical cap on—she was as solemn as could be.
On this day during her shift, a patient arrived claiming he had a broken bone.
The moment he entered, he started wailing loudly, refusing to listen to anything Liang Chengmin said. Liang Chengmin grew annoyed. Keeping a stern face, she threatened him: "If you keep shouting, I'll sew your mouth shut!" As a young doctor, that was the extent of her scare tactics. But when these words fell into the ears of Luan Mingrui—who had been notified by his parents to come take care of his younger brother—he instantly developed a bit of a prejudice against this doctor.
Liang Chengmin examined the patient earnestly. The leg had swollen to the thickness of a tree trunk, but it really wasn't fractured.
"Stop screaming. Listen to me, your bone isn't broken."
"If it's not broken, why does it hurt so much? Bring in an experienced doctor!"
"I am experienced!"
"You look like a novice half-wit at first glance!"
...Liang Chengmin's face turned red with anger. She asked, "Where is the family member?" Looking up, she saw Luan Mingrui standing there with a stern face.
Liang Chengmin felt this person looked somewhat familiar. After thinking for a long time, she remembered he was that young master who had looked down on her family's background. However, she didn't bring up the past and pretended not to recognize him: "Are you the family member?"
"Mm. My younger brother."
"Your brother doesn't have a fracture. Tell him to stop screaming. I'll prescribe some medicine, then take him next door for physical therapy."
"Can we switch doctors to have another look?" Luan Mingrui asked her, clearly showing his lack of trust. She was only twenty-eight; what kind of experience could she possibly have?
"Sure. Walk out the door and register for another appointment." Liang Chengmin gave him a cold look—if he wanted to switch, then switch. She didn't even raise her head, her temper exceptionally stubborn.
Luan Mingrui took Luan Mingcheng to register again with an old doctor. But the old doctor gave them the exact same routine as Liang Chengmin, telling them: "No fracture. Take the medicine and go for physical therapy."
"Then why is his leg so swollen?"
"It's a sprained tendon. A tendon injury and a broken bone are two different things, young man. You shouldn't let your mind run wild."
Luan Mingrui suddenly felt that he had wronged the girl earlier. He thought for a long time but couldn't remember her name, so he went to the outpatient clinic to ask. By the time he went back, Liang Chengmin had already off-shifted. Having changed into a floral shirt, she was walking toward the hospital entrance.
Seeing Luan Mingrui, she scoffed in her heart and passed by him without looking straight ahead.
Luan Mingrui didn't know if she remembered him or not, so he decided to act as if she didn't and blocked her bicycle: "Doctor."
"Oh, so you do know I'm a doctor? When I was treating your brother, why didn't you believe I was one? You even switched doctors—well, after switching, was his leg broken after all?"
Liang Chengmin's mouth rattled off like a machine gun at Luan Mingrui: "And another thing, how old is your brother? What was he throwing a fit in the hospital for? Isn't that embarrassing?"
Luan Mingrui had originally intended to apologize, but seeing how unrelenting she was, he stepped to the side and uttered a sentence capable of infuriating Liang Chengmin to death: "It was just safer to get a second opinion. I was afraid of a misdiagnosis."
Arrogant and infuriating.
A breath of frustration stuck in Liang Chengmin's chest. She glared at him and rode away.
When she arrived home, the anger still hadn't dissipated, so she said to Mother Liang: "In the future, if anyone introduces a matchmaking candidate to me again, anyone wearing glasses is strictly out."
"Why won't it do?"
"They look sinister!"
The next morning, arriving early at work, she saw Luan Mingrui bringing Luan Mingcheng for physical therapy in the hospital corridor, and she passed right by without looking at them. Luan Mingcheng remembered her, so he greeted her: "Hello, Doctor!" He was no longer acting like the bear-like brat wailing from yesterday.
Liang Chengmin stopped and looked at him: "Who are you?"
She turned around and walked away.
"This doctor is really frightening," Luan Mingcheng whispered.
Luan Mingrui said to him: "In the future, if you get injured again, endure it a little. What were you screaming in the hospital for? Isn't it embarrassing?"
After being scolded a bit by his brother, Luan Mingcheng didn't dare to speak. He had been afraid of Luan Mingrui since childhood, always feeling that sunshine had never been seen on this older brother's face. Luan Mingrui felt very fortunate that he had turned down the matchmaker that day; with Liang Chengmin's temper, let alone living together, the two of them would end up in a fight after just a few interactions.
While Luan Mingcheng was inside getting his dressing changed, Luan Mingrui sat on the wooden bench outside waiting. He heard Liang Chengmin in the adjacent consultation room scolding someone in turns high and low: "You only came after it reached this state? What were you thinking?"
"Did you treat my words as wind blowing past your ears? Didn't I tell you to restrict your diet? Look at your wound!"
A moment later, she turned very gentle again: "Don't cry. Your husband needs someone to take care of him right now, and you're pregnant, so you must control your emotions, do you understand?"
At such a young age, her face changed expressions as fast as turning pages in a book.
Luan Mingrui was twenty-nine years old. Quite a few young women liked him, but he didn't like any of them. As time went on, he became a major headache for his family regarding marriage. The Luan family had been in business for generations, experiencing three rises and three falls—they had had their property confiscated and had also voluntarily made donations, gradually declining as a family. But the Luan family members were also strange: by the time it reached Luan Mingrui's father, in his old age, he caught a good break, as his reputation was rehabilitated during this year, and life gradually improved again. The family had been poor and had been rich, but the older generation's habits were never lost. Even if they were eating a simple dish of stir-fried greens, the plate had to be arranged neatly and beautifully. In earlier years, when two sons and two daughters stood outside wearing patched clothes, those clothes were washed spotlessly clean. They exuded a sense of decency rarely seen among the residents of a small town—or in the words of the neighbors: pretentious.
Luan Mingrui was precisely like that.
Not only was he pretentious, but he also had a terrible temper, scaring off countless girls with his stern face every day. Yet he was smart and maneuvered through the government system smoothly, holding a steady, guaranteed iron rice bowl.
A young man who was sharp-looking, well-educated, from a good family background, and wealthy—combined with being picky—made him the cinnabar mole in the hearts of the town's young women.
Liang Chengmin knew none of this.
She had loved books since childhood, then studied medicine, leaving the small town for several years to do so, leaving her unaware of this newly prominent figure in town. In her heart, Luan Mingrui was just a big foolish dummy who thought too highly of himself. He looked down on her family background, but she looked down on him for being a four-eyes! Besides, how was her family background bad? Both her parents taught at school, making her family at least half an intellectual household.
However, Liang Chengmin didn't hold grudges either; once something passed, it was over.
More than half a month later, one evening, she was sent by Mother Liang to buy soy sauce. There were two long queues at the supply and marketing cooperative. Estimating that it would take time, she simply decided to queue up peacefully, standing there reciting book passages from memory. As fate would have it, Luan Mingrui also went to the cooperative that day, standing in the line right next to her. Someone called his name, and when he turned his head, he saw Liang Chengmin. Having gone on a blind date together, her standing there motionlessly made her look a bit haughty.
Finally, it was their turn. Liang Chengmin rummaged through her pockets for a long time, but she hadn't brought any coupons. A clean hand reached out from the side: "Use mine." Looking up, she saw Luan Mingrui.
Fearing that her mother would scold her for being a nerd upon her return, Liang Chengmin nodded: "Alright, thank you. I'll return it to you tomorrow."
After getting the soy sauce, she walked straight out.
Luan Mingrui followed behind her and asked, "How are you going to return it to me?"
"?"
"Do you know where I live? Do you know how to find me? How are you going to return it when you know nothing?" Seeing Liang Chengmin stunned by his questions, he continued: "You weren't planning on returning it to me, were you?"
Liang Chengmin grew anxious: "Are you sick or something? Who cares about your single coupon! You don't have to humiliate people like this! When I said I'll return it to you tomorrow, I'll return it to you. If I don't know where you live, can't I ask the matchmaker? How was I not planning on returning it to you?"
"You remember we went on a blind date, right?"
"..."
"Then why did you act like you didn't know me? I thought you had bad eyesight."
He had told the matchmaker that he felt the girl was quite good, but didn't suit his temper. The matchmaker told his parents: "It's fine, the girl didn't take a fancy to Mingrui either; she complained that Mingrui is a four-eyes."
Today, he finally vented this pent-up annoyance.
Seeing Liang Chengmin's face turn red with anger, he added another sentence: "Tomorrow evening, 7 o'clock, right here. Return the coupon to me. If you don't, I'll go to your house to get it."
He turned and walked away.
Under the water-like moonlight, the mischievous smirk at the corner of his lips was seen clearly by passersby.