Chapter 2008 - The Choice
In Du Yibin's personal view, this treatment was appallingly low. But for now, this was the most the Senate could provide. Even the domestic service vouchers had only been reluctantly agreed to by Civil Affairs after he'd fought for them several times. He'd already thought about it—like volunteers in later generations, he could organize soldiers, Fangcaodi students, and workplace colleagues to come help with housework weekly or biweekly, minimizing the burden on disabled families at low cost.
"As for the widespread concern about abuse by husbands and in-laws, we've said we'll institutionally protect their legitimate rights. Also, arranging work for them is precisely so they'll have their own income. So even those who can't go out to work—women marrying severely disabled naturalized citizens—we'll still give them a minimum living allowance. Having their own disposable income will make their position in the household different. Women's status is ultimately an economic issue."
This refrain was something Lu Cheng had heard many times in Du Wen's classes. She nodded silently in agreement.
"With this income, neither husbands nor in-laws will dare look down on them. The probability of abuse will be much lower too. Also, when arranging housing, we'll try to group them in adjacent areas—so they can help each other. Aren't people bolder in numbers?"
Lu Cheng couldn't help saying: "The Senate has thought of everything!"
This was her heartfelt praise. For Du Yibin, it wasn't anything special—he'd pondered these matters for many days.
"As for those with children, it depends on whether the men are willing to accept them. If willing, the children will take their surnames." Du Yibin said. "Actually, some disabled naturalized citizens have lost their fertility. We suggest women with children consider them—acceptance would be higher."
"Senator, perhaps we should hold an on-site meeting where you speak directly. That would be more convincing." Lu Cheng said.
Lu Cheng gathered all the candidates on the list. Before the crowd, she addressed each of their concerns one by one. Because Du Yibin was also present, essentially directly endorsing her words, everyone's worries were quickly dispelled. Finally, Lu Cheng asked them to register voluntarily. Over two hundred were willing to marry—far exceeding Du Yibin's expectations. He was very pleased, nodding repeatedly and praising them, then delivered an "enthusiastic" speech encouraging everyone to "bravely embrace new lives."
After speaking, Du Yibin distributed the relevant materials to the "single women" willing to marry.
These materials had been carefully prepared by Civil Affairs. One set per disabled naturalized citizen, including not just headshots but also full-body photos—to give the women an opportunity to actually assess the other party's physical disability. The information was very detailed; everything a woman might care about was listed.
The "single women" carefully examined them. There were over two hundred candidates' materials. Just looking through everything once would take a long time, and they were almost all illiterate. Though they'd been through literacy training, reading the materials was still laborious. So most just looked at the photos.
Those who found a match wrote the number on a slip of paper and put it in the basket. Those who didn't find anyone suitable could choose not to select.
Soon the room filled with chattering voices, discussion, laughter, and exclamations. Du Yibin sat above, feeling quite satisfied. Clearly, they were all looking through those materials with expectations. He'd originally thought many would give up as soon as they opened the materials. Instead, quite a few people were repeatedly studying the photos, occasionally asking nearby cadres to read the materials and explain the terminology. Most didn't understand the Senate's currency units and wanted to know what the listed income figures meant in terms of "how much money." Others didn't understand the nature of the "work"—in their view, men's "occupations" were just craftsmen, farmers, merchants, or clerks. But these materials listed a bewildering variety of job types that were incomprehensible without explanation.
Though they knew the men they were choosing were all disabled, everyone still wanted to find "someone better." Naturally there would be picking and choosing, occasional critiquing with close friends, secretive giggling, and some would blush. Where was the look of haggard "chaste widows" with dead hearts from not long ago? They looked more like young girls regaining their youth.
This made the photo matchmaking activity quite lengthy. Du Yibin was young and couldn't sit still, so he quietly stepped out. He took a deep breath, thinking...
Lu Cheng quickly followed.
"Senator..."
"It's nothing. I felt a bit stuffy, came out for some air." Du Yibin said. "How are things on the students' side?"
"All ready." Lu Cheng said. "Everyone's spirits are high. Those not on the candidate list are eagerly waiting for the next round. Who doesn't want a proper family, a husband and children, to live a normal life?"
"Of course there'll be more opportunities, but they also need to work hard themselves, don't they?" Du Yibin's own mood was also quite elevated. "In the future, we'll give more people opportunities—let everyone live good lives."
"Indeed." Lu Cheng noticed this young Senator seemed overly happy—there even seemed to be a gleam of tears in his eyes. She was secretly surprised. Whether widows or those disabled naturalized citizens, not a single household was his relative. Why was he so happy? She recalled something Mao Xiuyu had mentioned: Senator Liu San had personally carried a sick child out from a pile of corpses here, then fed him food and medicine. "Even parents couldn't do better, let alone strangers who are people above others," Mao Xiuyu always added at this point. "Only someone with great compassion could do this."
This noble Senator had traveled thousands of li to Guangzhou just for such a small matter. Truly "the old, weak, widowed, orphaned, disabled, and young—none are beyond the Senate's benevolence." Lu Cheng was deeply moved and said softly: "The Senators are all people of great compassion. The common folk are nothing but grateful."
Unlike other dispatched Senators who'd grown accustomed to praise, Du Yibin felt his face warm slightly hearing this young woman's words. He said: "You flatter me."
Just as the atmosphere grew slightly delicate, Lu Weijia walked in from outside and called out: "Senator Du! A shipment of goods has arrived. Please come and inspect."
"I'll be right there." Du Yibin knew it was probably the supplies Wang Jun had gathered for the matchmaking conference. He immediately went to the gate, where several naturalized citizens were pushing windlass handcarts laden and strapped with standard boxes. To his surprise, Wang Jun had actually come too.
"Why are you here? Isn't the matchmaking conference tomorrow?"
"It's tomorrow, so I'm here today to set up the venue." Wang Jun pointed to the convoy. "I made another round of the various Guangzhou municipal offices soliciting donations. Got quite a lot. This is our first matchmaking event in Guangzhou—we should make it grand." He waved his hand. "Everyone hurry up and unload."
The matchmaking conference venue was set up in the assembly hall—actually a former temple hall that had been preserved relatively well and was now used as an auditorium. Inside, there was nothing except three tables and several dozen long benches. Wang Jun directed the naturalized citizen workers to sweep the hall clean and decorated it with festive colors. Temporary tables were gathered from around the shelter and arranged in facing pairs. Each table was set with snacks and tea. Paper slips and pencils were prepared. Finally, there was a small sheepskin drum from who knows where.
"Wang Jun, why arrange them in this face-to-face formation? It looks like everyone's sitting around a conference table for a meeting." Du Yibin didn't understand. In his concept, everyone should sit in the audience, then men and women would take turns going on stage to introduce themselves. Then everyone would make mutual selections, writing down numbers of people they fancied. Finally, matching would be done—successful matches would be considered settled, unsuccessful ones would proceed to the next round.
"This is called the 'pass the flower' style matchmaking," Wang Jun said. "Efficiency is higher."
In this matchmaking model, men and women sat facing each other. Each conversation lasted five minutes. If both agreed to match, they could stand up and leave together. If not interested, when the drum sounded, they'd each move one seat in opposite directions to the next person.
"Civil Affairs has held several matchmaking events in Lingao. I've attended—this is roughly the format. The pairing success rate is quite good. The key is saving time."
"What can you talk about in five minutes? Not much foundation for emotional connection." Du Yibin thought of his own romantic history: his past relationships, short ones lasting three months, long ones over a year, and none had reached the point of discussing marriage.
"Looking at photos is even less reliable," Wang Jun laughed. "Did you develop feelings when you bought your life secretary?"
"True," Du Yibin nodded. "Free love is still a luxury for this generation. Perhaps it'll be mainstream for the next generation."
Everyone bustled about and quickly set up the venue. Du Yibin remembered the photo matchmaking session hadn't ended yet, so he pulled Wang Jun along to check on the situation.
Quite a few people had already found suitable matches and registered with the cadres. But many were still flipping through the folders on the tables. The Senators looked—at least half had already found suitable matches. Wang Jun picked up the files of those "already claimed" naturalized citizens and glanced through them. Moderately disabled naturalized citizens were the most "popular," especially those missing one limb. This type of limb disability was relatively minor—they could mostly manage daily life independently. Because they still had labor capacity, most also had work. So they were especially sought after among the candidates. Next came those who had lost hearing on one or both sides, or vision on one side—since limb function and daily self-care weren't affected, they were also quite popular.
By comparison, severely disabled naturalized citizens—those who'd lost both lower limbs, were paraplegic, or had lost all vision—drew little interest. Only a few women with children had chosen them.
(End of Chapter)