Chapter 17
◎ Bei Bitang said nothing. She stood in front of the washbasin by the window and soaped her hands.
Bei Bitang said nothing. She stood in front of the washbasin in front of the window, soaped her hands and rubbed them slowly.
Lin Bilan picked up the empty bowls and served rice to everyone. The little boy's bowl was filled with the pure white Chongming new rice, while the three adults' bowls were filled with dice-sized potato pieces with rice grains on them that could be counted with one hand. The potatoes were sent back by Bei Bitang from the northwest.
Miao Xiuxiu looked at the crucian carp rolling its eyes, but still couldn't help but miss Huang Dashan and said, "My uncle likes to eat braised fish. I thought the big black carp was too expensive to buy, so I bought two small crucian carps and braised them to satisfy my uncle's craving. Who knew that Bitang would cook them all and ruin my good stuff."
Bei Bitang said silently, "I bought these two crucian carps and thought of making soup with them. Everyone can drink a bowl of fish soup to nourish their bodies."
Lin Bilan searched for the tender piece of meat from the fish belly and placed it in the little boy's bowl. She said, "Don't worry, Mom. Dashan will definitely be back for dinner tomorrow night. Ask my little sister to buy some more."
After saying that, she clipped off the fish tail and put it in Miao Xiuxiu's bowl. Miao Xiuxiu said, "The fish tail has little meat and many bones. Besides, it's only a small crucian carp. What's so delicious about it!"
Seeing that Miao Xiuxiu didn't appreciate it, Lin Bilan threw down her chopsticks and said, "Then Mom, pick it up yourself, don't say I'm unfilial!"
Lin Bilan angrily cut off the two fish heads and put them both in her bowl.
Then, she smiled at Bei Bitang and said, "Little sister, pick up whatever you want to eat yourself. You're an adult, so I won't help you. Don't be polite. Look how polite you are when you eat."
Bei Bitang smiled, picked up the spoon, scooped some tofu cubes and fish soup into her bowl.
Lin Bilan said, "Eat fish. Those who don't eat meat eat vegetarian food. You can eat tofu anytime."
Bei Bitang shook her head and said, "No, you guys eat. I like soup."
It was a hot day, and Bei Bitang was cooking in the small kitchen. She felt full just by smelling the smell of smoke.
Hearing this, Lin Bilan ignored Bei Bitang and turned her attention back to the little boy. Seeing him eating rice, she pointed at the fish belly in his bowl with her chopsticks and said, "Eat more vegetables to get nutrition and grow taller. Eat fish first, then rice."
Miao Xiuxiu picked up a potato and took a bite. It was tender and soft. She sighed and said, "The potatoes Bitang sent back are really good. They're soft and sweet, and they're a good staple for people with bad teeth. It's worth wasting the postage to send these potatoes back, which are heavy and take up a lot of space."
It was rare for Miao Xiuxiu to praise Bei Bitang for doing things to her liking.
Bei Bitang finally had a chance to speak. She said, "The Northwest has strong ultraviolet rays, long sunshine hours, and the soil is suitable for growing potatoes, so the starch and sugar content of potatoes in the Northwest is high."
Her voice was steady and her pronunciation was clear, like a radio host disseminating agricultural knowledge.
Lin Bilan quickly took a bite of the potato, but she was too impatient and burned her mouth with a "sizzle".
The little boy looked at it eagerly and asked, "Mom, is it delicious?"
Lin Bilan glanced at Bei Bitang and said honestly, "It's delicious."
The little kid who loves to eat started to make a fuss, "Mommy, I want to eat too. I don't have any."
Lin Bilan swallowed the potato in her mouth and scolded him lightly, "What are you eating? Eat your white rice. Xiaokang, you must remember that you were born to eat white rice. You can't eat potatoes. You will eat yourself into poverty."
Hearing this, Bei Bitang paused and took back her hand, which was about to pick up a potato for the little boy, and stuffed the potato into her own mouth.
After being scolded by his mother, the little boy didn't dare to ask for potatoes anymore. He lowered his head and ate the fish maw obediently.
Although Miao Xiuxiu felt sorry for the little boy, she didn't care about how Lin Bilan, as a mother, educated her son. Besides, she felt that what Lin Bilan said made a lot of sense. Eating worthless things would make your destiny worthless as well.
Miao Xiuxiu took a sip of the delicious fish soup and suddenly recalled the good old days. She sighed deeply and said sadly, "What's crucian carp soup? It's something servants eat. We only tried it occasionally back then, and we ate it regularly during confinement. It had a strong earthy smell. Ocean fish is delicious, with fewer bones and more meat. The fishy smell is much better than the earthy smell. The brighter the color of the fish, the more tender it is. With a pinch of garlic clove-sized fish, it fills your mouth with smooth and fresh flesh."
"Not only from the sea, but also from the sky. Water chestnuts, shepherd's purse, spring bamboo shoots, wild rice stems, lotus seeds, prawns, and hairy crabs are the most common things on the table. I only eat the freshest. I have my own farm. If I want something, I just tell the kitchen, and they'll immediately send someone to the farm to pick it for me."
"Life back then was priceless. Just talking about food, my small kitchen at home had three chefs on staff, cooking local, Huaiyang, Cantonese, and even Western cuisine. If it weren't for later..."
Seeing Miao Xiuxiu's increasingly outrageous remarks, Lin Bilan frowned, slammed her chopsticks on the table, and said coldly, "Why are you still talking about that? Are you complaining that life is too easy?!"
Miao Xiuxiu shrank back at Lin Bilan's yelling, and said awkwardly, "I won't say anything more, Mommy, I won't say anything more, let's eat, eat."
Of Miao Xiuxiu's three husbands, the first two were from prominent families.
The first was to a childhood friend and brother-in-law, who had been betrothed to her since childhood. He had studied in the United States and worked in the government, but the government was old. This marriage did not last long. In the first year of their marriage, just a few months after Lin Bilan was born, he died of a sudden illness.
What kind of ordinary family could afford to study in the United States at their own expense, even with servants? Miao Xiuxiu's family was no ordinary family either; she attended a missionary school. Lin Bilan's father was the eldest son of a capitalist family, and her mother was the eldest daughter of a capitalist family. If things hadn't changed, she would have been a capitalist's daughter. But the Lin family dwindled, and with an incompetent heir, they quickly fell into decline. The Miao family suffered the same fate.
Miao Xiuxiu's feelings for her first husband were deepest. She believed that there was love between them, not just a marital relationship. Therefore, Miao Xiuxiu was obsessed with continuing the family line of her first husband and leaving roots for the Lin family, which only had Lin Bilan left.
If Miao Xiuxiu had no feelings for her first husband, she wouldn't have allowed Lin Bilan to stay home and find a husband. She was very traditional and, even without a son, she would have married off all her daughters. It was orthodox for men to marry women, and the world wouldn't have a good impression of families that kept daughters at home. They were so strong-willed that they disdained to interact with them.
Her second husband was an officer. Like her first, he was a figure of the past, a military officer of the olden days. Miao Xiuxiu's second marriage didn't last long either. It lasted just two months longer than her first, before her husband died in battle, though fortunately, on the battlefield.
Her third husband was Bei Bitang's father. Thanks to him, Miao Xiuxiu and her daughters were able to live a peaceful life for so many years. He was a boatman from northern Jiangsu, a poor peasant whose parents died young and who came to Shanghai from northern Jiangsu to make a living.
So there was a reason why Lin Bilan was so furious with Miao Xiuxiu. How could she not be afraid? She was terrified. Before she could remember, Miao Xiuxiu had remarried with her. She had once believed that she and Wei Bili were sisters with the same father and mother, sharing the same heroic father.
She had no feelings for her biological father, whom she had never met, or for the Lin family. However, Miao Xiuxiu kept bringing them up, and she became terrified whenever she did, fearing someone would overhear her and call her a bastard. She didn't even dare to tell Huang Dashan who her biological father was, keeping it a secret for fear that he would dislike her and divorce her.
Wei Bili and Bei Bitang were also afraid, but they were just afraid that someone would come and take their mother away.
Seeing Miao Xiuxiu calm down and eat in silence, Lin Bilan's anger subsided. She glanced at Bei Bitang, who remained calm, and asked, "Little sister, what did you do today? Mom told me that you went out early this morning and didn't come back for lunch. You almost didn't have time to make dinner."
Bei Bitang said without raising her eyebrows, "I went to see old classmates and also went to the street office."
Lin Bilan's eyes lit up, and she asked hurriedly, "Street Office? Have you found a job?"
Bei Bitang said calmly, "How can it be that fast?"
Lin Bilan frowned and said, "You have to hurry up. Jobs are becoming increasingly scarce. Even children of working parents don't have any quotas in my factory."
Miao Xiuxiu took credit and said, "Luckily, I left a job to pass on."
Bei Bitang scooped another spoonful of tofu and ate it silently. Lin Bilan glanced at her expression and said, "Yes, Mom is wise."
Miao Xiuxiu became excited again. She said to Bei Bitang, "You really need to hurry up with your work. Food is tight at home. Don't add to the burden on your brother-in-law and your eldest sister."
Bei Bitang raised her head, looked directly at Miao Xiuxiu, and said confidently, "Mom, I went to the police station to transfer my household registration on the first day I came back, so I have resident rations. I eat my own rations. I bought all the food for the family this morning, and I also do all the housework."
Miao Xiuxiu retorted weakly: "Nonsense, you didn't make lunch today, and that day..."
Bei Bitang laughed in anger, interrupting Miao Xiuxiu and saying, "Is that all Mom can say? I can't even go out if I have something to do. Do I have to stay home and work non-stop for 24 hours?"
Miao Xiuxiu's temper was just like Bei Bitang's. The harder Bei Bitang got, the harder she got. Miao Xiuxiu said quickly, "You only see the daily grocery bills. What about the water, electricity, and coal briquettes? And then there's the big favors. You and Eldest Sister haven't separated yet, so everyone treats you as family. But the gifts you return are all paid for by your son-in-law and Bilan."
Bei Bitang was confused and didn't react for a moment. All the gifts given to her family were pocketed by Lin Bilan and Huang Dashan, and she didn't get a penny.
Bei Bitang softened her tone and said, "What about Mom's retirement pay? I don't have any salary right now, so isn't it right for Mom to support me, your biological daughter, first? I'll be filial to Mom later."
Miao Xiuxiu sneered and said, "How could I count on you? You're counting on my coffin money now, who can you count on? I have my uncle, your elder sister, and my little one, so I don't need to count on you."
Bei Bitang's face flushed red. She was angry and embarrassed by Miao Xiuxiu's words. She said excitedly, "Okay, Mom will remember what you said today."
She turned her eyes and saw the silent Lin Bilan, and asked, "Big Sister, do you also think that my return has increased your burden?"
Lin Bilan turned her head and said, "Little sister, your return is more than just an extra mouth to feed. The little money your brother-in-law earns is just a drop in the bucket, not even enough for him to eat and drink. The little brat will have to rely on me as his mother in the future."
The redness from Bei Bitang's face faded away completely, and in an instant she turned back into the quiet Bei Bitang who rarely argued with others.
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