The Broken Betrothal

(Born in east China's Jiangsu Province in 1928, Gao Xiaosheng began writing in the 1950's. He is best renowned for his writing on rural life, and his prose is considered both rich in content and succinct in style. He explains the important rural issues through the lives of the characters, often in a humorous way. And he has developed a school of writing of his own. This story, written in the mid 1950’s, describes how two open-minded young people happily break the engagement arranged by their parents.)

There were only the two of them, father and daughter, in this family. Mother had died long ago. The daughter Zhang Cuilan was nineteen, a capable, clever, good-looking girl. She knew that her father, Zhang Aoda, who was over fifty, had suffered great hardship in his life before New China was born and she was always attentive and considerate towards him. The old grannies in the village often said, “Whoever gets Zhang Cuilan for a daughter-in-law will get a blessing!” strictly speaking, according to old customs, she was already engaged. When she was still only a child, Zhang Aoda betrothed her to a young peasant called Chen Baoxiang who came from a village nearby. She didn’t even know if she’d ever set eyes on him, or he her, so there was no question of any emotional attachment. But in her own village, there was a young man called Li Gengliang. He and Cuilan had grown up together. They knew one another very well.

Temperamentally they had a lot in common, and, in a nutshell, they had become quite drawn towards each other. In fact, you couldn’t exactly say when it was that the neighbors began to look upon them as destined for one another. No one could say, either, when it was that Cuilan and Gengliang tacitly decided that they had each found their ideal partner in marriage.

Father Zhang was greatly disturbed by this development. He was in a quandary. On the one hand, he knew it was “unfashionable” for parents to arrange marriages for their children. On top of that, Cuilan had always been a most affectionate and good daughter to him, and he knew he would never have the heart to force her to marry anyone against her will. On the other hand, he himself was solemnly bound to this contract with Chen Baoxiang. What could he say to the Chen family if it were to be broken off? He would lose so much face! He could think of no way out of this dilemma.

Poor father Zhang racked his brains day and night. Finally, he hit upon an idea which seemed to him to be quite “fashionable” and at the same time likely to bring about the desired end, from his point of view at least. So without a word to Cuilan he went off early one morning to see the matchmaker who had been the go-between for the engagement and asked her to invite Chen Baoxiang to come over to his home. He told the matchmaker that he wanted to meet his future son-in-law. In fact, what he wanted was to arrange a meeting between Cuilun and her supposed fiancée. He had heard that Chen Baoxiang had the reputation of being a promising indeed, an outstanding and promising young man. Might it be that his daughter would be favorably disposed and impressed? That would be fine---it would prove that her old father had not made a mistake.

The night before the arranged visit, Zhang Aoda told Cuilan about it. It seemed to him that Cuilan, though somewhat reluctant, took it quite well and was by no means positively against it.

In any case, she had made her decision long ago. Nobody could separate her and Gengliang in life, and that was that.

Chen Baoxiang was twenty-one. His father and mother had died eight years earlier. He lived with his married elder brother. Their life was better in many ways since the birth of New China. They were hardworking and frugal. Baoxiang was an upright, straightforward lad, and very intelligent. By now he was quite indispensable in his native Chenjiaqiao village. He had a hand in all village activities, and was always full of energy and enthusiasm. He was kept very busy indeed. He hadn’t much time to think about getting married. It was only recently that the subject had begun to cross his mind. At first, he only vaguely recalled that before his parents died they had entered into an engagement contract on his behalf. But he did not take such an engagement seriously. He considered himself still very young. Why hurry to get a wife? But his sister-in-law seemed to be quite concerned, and often talked to him about his marriage. One of her relatives came from Cuilan’s village, and she used to praise Cuilan to the sister-in-law, who passed on all the praise to Baoxiang, half in earnest, half in jest. After a bit of this Baoxiang began to feel well disposed towards Cuilan, and little by little thought of her possibly as an ideal wife.

So when the matchmaker suddenly brought him Zhang Aoda’s invitation, he took it for granted that the girl’s family wanted to see what kind of a person he was. He had nothing to worry about, he felt. So Chen Baoxiang accepted the invitation and on the fateful day went to Zhang Aoda’s home, accompanied by the matchmaker.

The moment they entered the room, the matchmaker moved forward and greeted Zhang Aoda effusively.

Cuilan stood up politely, blushed, and smiled at him. The conversation did not flow freely. It was all they could do to find something to say, to while away the time. With difficulty, they managed to continue some sort of conversation until after the midday meal. The matchmaker made his excuses and hinted to Cuilan’s father to leave the room with her.

So now at last here were only Cuilan and Baoxiang in the room. They felt relieved, yet tense. He wanted desperately to say something to Cuilan, but no adequate words would come out. Then, to let her know about himself, he talked about his life, his interests, how he became a member of the Youth League so on and so forth. Cuilan listened attentively. While Baoxiang was talking, she again and again made a mental comparison with her boy friend Gengliang. She kept silent and made no response to Baoxiang.

Finally, she blushed in embarrassment and said:

F2: Comrade Baoxiang, let’s break the marriage contract! I don’t know how to express myself properly.

M2: What did you say? Break the contract, but why? Why? Aren’t I good enough for you?

F2: It’s not that.

M2: What are your objections to me?

F2: I have no objections to you as an individual. I think you’re a very good person.

M2: Look here, You want to break the contract. Mustn’t this mean you have some objection to me?

F2: I don’t like a contract made over my head by my parents.

M2: Do you think it’s quite right to look at the problem like that? The marriage Law doesn’t necessarily overthrow everything that belongs to the old system. Some things we can still use from it, surely. Perhaps we can cultivate love.

Cuilan shook her head.

M2: Am I wrong? What is your reason then? Tell me the truth!

F2: Isn’t there somebody you’re in love with already?

M2: No, there’s no one.

F2: What you’ve just said is quite right. And you are a very good person. But you’re not the only good person in the world. I cannot love everyone good that I meet. You see, I strongly disapprove of fickleness. I’m not one to change my mind.

Baoxiang came to realize that Cuilan was already in love with somebody else. He felt terribly hurt, thinking how she had dared, while in love with someone else, to ask him to come here to guess her riddles. Then Cuilan asked “Are you angry with me?” Baoxiang shook his head, not wanting to explain. Cuilan asked again “You don’t agree with my views?” Poor Baoxiang was silent. He was sad. How could he answer such dreadful questions? Then after a short while, he came back to being the normal Baoxiang. She’s quite right, he realized. How can I blame her? Is she my fiancée? She’s quite right. Today we shouldn’t let parents arrange marriages for their children! He was the one to blush now, with a scarlet patch on each cheek as though he had been slapped in the face.

With an excuse that he had other business to do, he left Cuilan’s house.

With a blue sky above, a gentle wind blowing and the sun warm on his back, Chen Baoxiang walked on. The road was smooth. Every step brought him nearer home and very soon his own village would come into view. He felt comfortable and at ease.

“Oh well! That problem’s settled and off my mind!”