Red Apricot's sky was bright again because she didn't have to marry Zhu Daxiu. She was not of an age to think more deeply about things. She just needed at most a sunny day for doing the washing and rain when it was too hot. She forgot Wu Xianggui's resentment and Zhu Daxiu's embarrassment and hostility. When she walked over the bridge, she didn't remember that she had ever jumped into the river. She might now and then tell an acquaintance she encountered that she tried to kill herself by jumping into the river but was saved by Lord Wang Tu. Actually, everyone in the village knew about it, but they always pretended they didn't know and asked her why she did it. She would giggle and say, "I thought I'd feel better in the river." She never said that it was all because Wu Xianggui was forcing her to marry Zhu Daxiu. She didn't forget it, but she didn't remember it either.
White Peony was still worried that Red Apricot might marry Wang Tu. Red Apricot said that she wouldn't, but she didn't believe it, even less so after Wang Tu saved her from the river. She didn't think that Red Apricot was lying but suspected that she might change her mind, especially as she knew that Wang Tu was still pursuing her.
Red Apricot understood White Peony's worries, so she tried her best to avoid both her sister and Wang Tu. She actually didn't feel any absence in her life in this way. She was still a servant of the Wangs, she did as she was asked every day and she ate better meals than Aunt Pear Flower because she was White Peony's sister. However, she would sometimes come across the cow Dahan and then she would be reminded of Wang He; that was when she felt something missing in her life. She was aware that she could think of someone every day, aside from her servant girl's work and slightly better meals than others. However, she only thought of Wang He but never speculated or anticipated whether or when he might come back. She only considered marriage because White Peony forced her to, not because she was old enough or emotionally prepared for it.
But one day two years later, she suddenly found that she did have some expectations and began to wonder when Wang He would come back. She had grown a little older, and so had he. Wang He finally came back to Flower River Village along with his troops. It was said that they had been driven away by the Liberation Army like drowned mice. The troop to which Wang He belonged escaped to Flower River. Wang He looked so embarrassed that Red Apricot couldn't stop laughing when she saw him, until she remembered to fetch water so he could wash his face.
"I thought you'd never come back," Red Apricot said. "Lord Wang Tu said you might have been reincarnated into your next life."
"I want to come back and marry you," Wang He replied.
Red Apricot was very happy to hear this. "Are you serious?" she asked. "I might die alone if you don't come back and marry me."
This was a piece of good news for both Red Apricot and White Peony. She told Wang Tu, "You should give up now. Red Apricot will be your nephew's wife after she marries Wang He."
Hiding his unhappiness with the news, Wang Tu replied, "You don't have to worry now."
"I should be happy for her. She's finally found her lover." "Wang He is unreliable. Did you hear they've had a tough time recently?"
"Then get him home from the troops."
Having washed his face and changed his clothes, he welcomed his troop in the street before even asking Wang Tu or Wu Xianggui for instructions. People knew about the troop even if they had never met them before. The troop had more than 30 soldiers, only ten of which were perfectly healthy. They brought an ichorous smell with them when they entered a room. As a result, Wu Xianggui arranged for them to stay in several vacant rooms that had been prepared in the backyard so as to keep them far away from her.
Red Apricot boiled five full pots of water for the soldiers to take showers. As salt was needed for their purulent wounds, she provided them with half a tin of salt, which was promptly reported to Wu Xianggui. She was annoyed but didn't say anything. As Red Apricot and Aunt Pear Flower were busy with the soldiers' wounds, the soldiers thought they might be the only two servants of the Wangs,and made some dirty jokes. Red Apricot didn't care about the jokes as she thought they were just teasing her, but Aunt Pear Flower felt deeply embarrassed, as though she were a young girl and Red Apricot were a middle-aged woman. Red Apricot was rinsing a wound in one soldier's leg when her hand was caught by its owner. He said, "This is also infected. Please rinse it."
"Where do you mean?" Red Apricot asked.
He pointed at his crotch and said, "Here."
Red Apricot said, "Take off your pants." He was just about to do as she said, his eyes staring at her like bulbs, keenly anticipating the enjoyment of making fun of her. He didn't know what would happen after he took off his pants, but he felt excited, hopeful and scared because it was unknown. Aunt Pear Flower turned her face away, thinking that Red Apricot was shameless. The other solders in the room all watched with their mouths open. The soldier took off his pants and exposed his penis. The room was very quiet and everyone was waiting for Red Apricot's reaction. She said, "I can't see the suppurating part?"
He said, "Wash it first and you'll see the wound."
Laughter burst out in the room but immediately stopped when Wang He rushed over and kicked the soldier over. They wrestled together. Wang He was perfectly healthy, so the conclusion of their fight was inevitable. He beat the soldier viciously and he began to wail unceasingly. Everyone in the room was looking at Wang He in surprise. He stood up and said, "She's mine. You'd better sharpen your eyes."
Wang He took Red Apricot away and refused to let her treat the soldiers, but he left Aunt Pear Flower there. The soldiers became bored and regarded her with half-dead expressions.
As it was no longer interesting there, they went into the street and discovered that it was easy to find some fun among so many people who were not associated with Wang He. Avenue Three descended into a rout.
Regardless of Wu Xianggui's willingness, she had to prepare the wedding for Wang He. He couldn't wait for their wedding and dragged Red Apricot to bed. He was better in bed than Red Apricot, so he laughed at her publicly for her"ignorance" and said that she knew nothing. Red Apricot said, "You mean there's someone who knows more than me?"
"Of course," Wang He answered. "At least she knew to open her legs!"
Red Apricot took off the gloves and asked, "Have you slept with someone else?"
Wang He laughed. He was proud about it. He said, "I've slept with two girls."
Red Apricot became sour. She was very jealous. She became angry and cried, "Then why don't you marry them?"
"Why? I didn't even know them. We just met them. We thought they were sexy, so we fooled around with them."
Red Apricot imagined the scene he described and nodded her head. She thought it may have been the same as when Wang He said he wanted to have sex with her. Wang He's expression also bore this out.
"Did you have sex frequently?" she asked.
"Of course not. We were caught in a war. In most cases, we wouldn't even see a sow in one or two months."
Red Apricot laughed with her special voice.
