Extra Thirteen
My name is Lin Cuicui. I have never had a mother since I can remember. I have always lived with my father. My father is taciturn and doesn't like to talk. The year my uncle got married, my grandmother took our house away after crying, making a scene, and threatening suicide.
From then on, my father and I had nowhere to stay. At that time, I didn't quite understand what my grandmother meant by her curses. She would often come to our house while my father was working in the fields, saying things like, "You unwanted bastard! If it weren't for you, how could my son not be able to get married? How could our family line have ended?"
"If I had known you were a burden, I should have strangled you when the eldest brother brought you back. What use is a soldier's child to me? I did raise you, but my son will never be able to get married."
She pinched and twisted me, and cursed at me. I didn't know what I had done wrong, but I was too small to fight back. Every time I saw my grandmother coming, I was terrified of her large, withered hands.
Sometimes her father would rush back and pull her away, but he wouldn't always find out.
The day my father and I were kicked out of the house, snowflakes were falling. My father's face was full of sorrow, but I was very happy because I would never be bullied by my grandmother again.
My father carried a large bundle on his back, containing our cups, clothes, and some things that my grandmother didn't want. He took my hand and knocked on many doors in the village; some opened, some didn't. The only thing they had in common was that no one let us in.
My father and I stood at the village entrance, and he looked around blankly. I remember clearly that he murmured, "The world is so vast, isn't there anywhere for Cuicui and me to go?"
I smiled at my father and said, "Dad, let's go live in the mountains. There's firewood, wild vegetables, and wild fruits there. If we live in the mountains, we won't have to walk to find those things anymore."
My father looked down at me, and I don't know how to describe the look in his eyes. Finally, as the snow fell heavier and heavier, he led me into the mountains.
At first, it was in the mountains near our home, a place my father and I knew well. After crossing one mountain, there was a rather large cave. I excitedly ran back and forth in the cave, saying that we could make a kang (heated brick bed) here, put a table there, and make a kitchen there.
A smile finally appeared on my father's face. I followed him back and gathered a lot of firewood. My father even pushed several large stones to the cave entrance. I asked him what he was doing, but he just rubbed my head and didn't say anything.
Grandma didn't let Dad bring any food. I don't know if she wanted us to starve or just wanted Dad to admit his mistake and leave me alone on the mountain. Dad led me through the heavy snow looking for something to eat. There was so little to eat; I remember that Dad and I went to sleep hungry that night.
Of course, it would be even better if there was no danger at night. When I heard the wolves howling, my father had already been confronting the pack of wolves at the cave entrance for a long time with stones he had collected beforehand.
I don't know if my father was scared at the time, but I was terrified. My father turned to look at me and said, "Don't be afraid, Cui Cui, Dad is here."
Father didn't throw stones randomly; he always aimed precisely at the wolves' location before hurling them. After an unknown amount of time, the wolves left. The next morning, Father dragged two dead wolves into the cave.
That was the first time I ever ate meat to my heart's content. When I was wrapped in a wolf pelt, I had never felt so warm in winter. Those were the happiest days I had ever spent with my father.
Although wolves often came at night, my father became increasingly prepared, and the wolves never entered the cave. That entire winter, I gained a lot of weight and ate meat almost every day.
My father would occasionally take me down the mountain from the other side to trade wolf meat with the villagers there for some coarse grains. But the good days ended after spring.
I heard gunfire and cannon fire from down the mountain. My father retied our belongings and sat in the cave to wait. I thought we were waiting for the Japanese soldiers to attack, but my father said no, he was waiting for the people from our old village.
They went up the mountain not long after, including my grandmother and my uncle's family. My grandmother was furious when she saw my father, and she immediately started beating him, calling him unfilial and an ingrate. I don't remember anything else.
Later, Grandma knelt down and begged Father to give them the cave. Father seemed to have expected this; he carried our things on his back, and once again took my hand and left.
This time, we walked for a very long time in the mountains. The mountains stretched out one after another. Whenever we saw a cave, my father and I would rest there for a day or two before continuing our journey.
I think I grew up amidst all this running around. I don't know my own birthday. My father, being a man, isn't that meticulous, and he doesn't know exactly when I was born either.
But I remember it very clearly, I was 16 years old that year. My father and I found another cave, and this time my father said to me, “Cuicui, there is no more fighting outside now. This cave is not far from the village at the foot of the mountain. Let’s settle down here.”
I was happy and liked it here, so I agreed. The reason was that I knew my father couldn't walk anymore; his back was getting more and more hunched over as he carried the load, and his breathing was becoming heavier and heavier. I was scared.
"Dad, I've grown up. I'll take care of you from now on. I know the mountains well, and I'll bring you all the good food I find."
My father smiled with relief. That year, I met my third brother in the mountains; that year, I lost my father.
My third brother is a little better off than me, but he says he has a mother, not a father. However, his mother doesn't like him. She often kicks him out of the house in the dead of winter, and when he has nothing to eat, he goes up the mountain to catch pheasants and rabbits on an empty stomach.
We met while hunting the same pheasant. I noticed he was dressed lightly and asked him, "Aren't you cold? Why aren't you wearing more clothes?"
Third Brother's face, purple from the cold, remained expressionless. He stared at the pheasant for a very long time, so long that I thought he wouldn't share half of it with me. But he said, "You saw it first, so this pheasant is yours."
I was so happy. I had my eye on this pheasant first, and I was going to take it home to make soup for my dad. His health is getting worse and worse, and if we don't have anything good to eat, I'm afraid he won't make it through the rest of his life.
But as I bent down to pick up the pheasant, I heard my third brother's stomach rumble. I looked up at him, but he turned his head away and started to walk away.
I quickly grabbed him. "Don't go. You deserve credit for catching this chicken. How about this, you come home with me, and I'll make some chicken soup and give you half of the meat."
I could tell that Third Brother wanted to refuse, but he must have been really hungry, so he came back to the cave where we were staying with me.
The villagers knew that a father and daughter lived on the mountain. However, the father and daughter did not have any impact on their village, so the village chief allowed them to stay.
My third brother was very moved when he first came to my house. I heard him murmur, "I wish I had a home like this too."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
