Chapter 5 — Divorced and Reborn: My New Beginning

"Are you here to acknowledge your relatives, or are you here to claim my money?" The crowd erupted into immediate whispers. No matter how thick-skinned Jade Orchid was, she could not withstand the public scrutiny. She pointed a trembling finger at little Sugar and shrieked, "You useless girl! Why haven't you come over here yet? You carry the Lu surname; you are the flesh and blood of the Lu family!"

Sugar, terrified, hid behind me. My gaze turned glacial. This was my final boundary. She could insult me all she wanted, but she would not lay a finger on Sugar. I picked up the heavy cleaver from the cutting board, turned it over to the blunt edge, and brought it down against the wooden table with a resounding thud.

"Jade Orchid, if you dare to scold my daughter one more time, I will go straight to the military base right now and ask Lu Zhan how his mother treats the wife and child of a soldier."

Jade Orchid’s face drained of all color. Lu Fang, however, attempted to maintain her bravado. "Who do you think you’re threatening?"

I stared directly into her eyes. "Does your brother care about his future career? Does the family of the man you are courting know that you came here today to extort money from your divorced sister-in-law?"

Lu Fang’s complexion shifted instantly. She was currently in the midst of courtship negotiations and feared nothing more than the ruin of her reputation. The mother and daughter left, shouting curses as they retreated, but I knew they would not let this go so easily. Sure enough, that evening, Mrs. Fung came knocking on my door.

"Su He, something has happened. Someone dumped filth in front of your kitchen door."

When I rushed to the kitchen, the stench was nauseating. The threshold was piled high with rotting vegetable leaves and sour slop. Scrawled on the wall in dark coal ash were the words: "Vile woman, get out of this town." Sugar stood behind me; as she looked at the markings, her face turned sheet-white. She did not know every character, but she understood these were not words of kindness. I knelt down and covered her eyes. "Don't look."

Mrs. Fung trembled with rage. "How utterly wicked!"

I did not weep, nor did I lash out. I simply fetched a bucket of water and began to scrub the filth away. The more I cleaned, the colder my heart became. The next day, I did not open my food stall. Instead, I went straight to the police station. When the officer asked if I had proof, I replied, "I do."

The disturbance caused by the Lu women the previous day and the subsequent vandalism were not enough to serve as absolute proof. However, I had not relied on those things alone. For some time, I had noticed a man named Ma San lurking around the area. I had asked Little Sun, who worked at the repair shop next door, to keep a sharp eye out throughout the night. Little Sun had seen Ma San leading others to my door with his own eyes. When the police brought Ma San in, he was still defiant. "Who saw me? Are you really going to believe the word of a mere boy?"

I placed a cloth bag on the table. Inside was half of a rubber shoe he had dropped at my door. Ma San’s face turned ghastly; the foot he had bare was missing exactly that shoe. The officer slammed his hand on the desk, and the man crumbled. He confessed that Lu Fang had given him two coins to frighten me, and that Jade Orchid had been fully aware of the scheme. When Lu Fang was brought to the station, she wept until her makeup ran in jagged streaks. She screamed at me, "Su He, do you have to destroy me to be satisfied? I only wanted to vent my anger!"

I looked at her coldly. "You wanted to vent your anger by dumping sewage at my door. If you still weren't satisfied, would you have burned my house down next?"

She was silenced immediately. Jade Orchid arrived shortly after, attempting to create a scene the moment she stepped through the door. "My daughter has not yet married; you cannot lock her up!"

The officer replied firmly, "She is a suspect in a case of disturbing the public order."

Jade Orchid pivoted and lunged toward me. "Su He, I beg of you. Tell the police to drop this matter. You were once a daughter-in-law of the Lu family; you cannot be this heartless."

I studied her face. For six years, the previous soul who inhabited this body had begged her countless times. She had begged for a bowl of steamed egg for the child. She had begged for an extra blanket during the winter. She had begged her to write to Lu Zhan when the child was ill. And every single time, Jade Orchid had replied with the same question: "Do you think you are worthy?"