The next morning, after breakfast, Mother Liu took Xuemei and the others back to her parents' home. Father Liu went out to pick bamboo shoots. He had some free time, so he could pick more bamboo shoots and send them to the purchasing station to earn more money.
…
"Grandma, Grandpa, we're here." As Qingya arrived at her grandma's house, she pushed open the wooden door in the yard and shouted inside.
Grandma's house was a one-and-a-half-story brick house built a few years ago. It was slightly larger than Xuemei's, with four main rooms and a main hall. The floors were all wooden. Next to it was a wooden kitchen and firewood shed. Behind the brick house, there was a toilet and pig pen. The house was also surrounded by an earthen wall, with doors at the front and back.
Ten meters diagonally behind the blue brick house was the wooden house my grandparents had built. It was also one and a half stories high, with four main rooms, a main hall, a kitchen, a woodshed, a toilet, and a pig pen. A small warehouse was also built nearby. Xuemei's second uncle, Wang Weimin, and her eldest cousin, Wang Zhiqing, usually worked there as carpenters. They now made almost all the furniture needed in the village. Villagers usually used their own household funds to pay for it, but sometimes people from nearby villages also ordered furniture. My second uncle's furniture was practical, beautiful, and reasonably priced, so people from other villages would trade it for grain or cash. However, my second uncle also had to help with the summer and autumn harvests, and he also had to repair the village's tools before the spring plowing. He earned eight work points a day, and the rest of the time he could work at home on his carpentry. My eldest cousin, Wang Zhiqing, was still an apprentice, learning carpentry from my father during the slack season.
A few years ago, after the Wang family's blue brick house was renovated, my grandfather decided to split up the family. It was mainly because of my second aunt's problems, and since there were so many people in the family, my mother didn't want to be involved. The original wooden house was given to my second uncle, and the family savings were divided equally between my grandparents and my eldest uncle's family. My grandfather would go to the post office to remit the money to my eldest uncle, who would send a total of five yuan per month for their retirement. My third and fourth uncles lived in the blue brick house with my grandparents, and for the time being, the family remained together.
However, because of my second aunt, my two cousins have been living with my grandparents since they separated from their family a few years ago, and they are under their care. My second aunt, Zhang Zhaodi, came here to escape famine. There were seven sisters in her family, but only one son. During the famine, my second aunt's parents sold all four sisters for food. Two of them were sold to two old bachelors, one was sold to an old man as a concubine, and one was sold to a brothel.
My second aunt, seeing what happened to her four older sisters, feared her parents would sell her and her two younger sisters as well. So, one night, she fled with her two younger sisters. However, her youngest sister was too young and frail, and it's unknown whether she died of starvation or illness along the way. Later, when my second aunt and her sixth sister arrived at Wangjia Village with the refugee group, they were starving beyond recognition and collapsed near their grandparents' home. My second uncle, on his way home from work, discovered them and called for help. He then fed the two sisters a bowl of rice porridge, which helped them regain consciousness.
After waking up, my grandmother realized from my second aunt's movements that she was a girl. Fearing discovery by her family and the possibility of encountering bad people, my second aunt shaved her and her sister's heads, leaving them both bald. They also used the money they had taken from home to buy men's clothing. They followed the refugees, keeping quiet as much as possible. So, the two of them arrived in Liujia Village, and what my second uncle saw were two boys with buzz cuts, both skinny and made of nothing but bones.
At that time, my grandmother had just gotten pregnant with my third and fourth uncles. The pregnancy was not going well. The family still had a lot of land, and my grandmother felt sorry for the two girls, so she asked them to stay and help with childcare, housework, and pig farming. That's how my second aunt and her two sisters stayed.
Later, my second uncle and my second aunt fell in love and got married. A few years ago, my second aunt's sister married the youngest son of a wealthy family in Wangjia Village, which was not far from my grandmother's house, just one mile away.
When my eldest cousin Wang Xinyan was five or six years old, my second aunt suddenly developed a strange illness. At first, she'd see my eldest cousin and her younger cousin crying from time to time. My second aunt's younger sister said it must be because my eldest cousin and her younger cousin looked like their younger sister, which made my second aunt sad. Then, gradually, she'd see my eldest cousin and her younger cousin, and she'd uncontrollably twist their arms and legs. When my second aunt regained consciousness, she'd hug the sisters and cry, filled with regret. My second uncle took my second aunt to the county and city hospitals, but neither could cure her. She returned with a worsening illness, with frequent flare-ups, sometimes even beating the sisters.
Later, my grandmother secretly consulted a fortune teller. After returning, my grandparents repaired the blue brick house and, when the family split up, sent my eldest cousin and her family to live with them. My second uncle and his family paid for the sisters' schooling, and now, every month, they send 40 kilograms of coarse grains and 10 kilograms of millet, plus the elderly provisions for the two elders. Since then, my second aunt's illness has gradually improved. Now, my eldest cousin and her sister rarely get sick, only three or four times a year. Now, when my second aunt is awake and not working, she makes shoes and food for the sisters, and if she has cloth, she makes clothes for them and sends them to them. She also stops by to visit the sisters, but she doesn't dare to stay for long. She just takes a look at the sisters, puts down her things, and leaves.
As soon as Grandma heard Qingya's voice, she stumbled out of the main hall. Due to the oppression of the old society, Grandma had bound feet, which caused them to become deformed and small, making walking very difficult. Grandma rarely left the house except during the summer and autumn harvests, when she would go to dry grain and rub corn. However, Grandma was a skilled sitter, making clothes and shoes. She made almost all the clothes for newlyweds in the village, and Liu's mother only learned a third of her skills.
"Mom, slow down. You don't have to come out. We'll be in soon." Mother Liu said quickly when she saw how her mother walked.
Mother Liu handed the things to Xuemei and helped her grandmother into the main room to sit down.
Xuemei and her brothers and sisters began to call for Grandma. Grandma quickly responded, "Okay, okay, okay, you are all grandma's good grandchildren. Grandma will make you some sugar water." After that, she went to the room to get some sugar, and Liu's mother hurried in to follow.
Mother Liu handed the things she had brought to her grandmother: a can of oranges, a can of chopped chili peppers, half a bag of crackers, and a bottle of white wine. She said, "Mom, this is what I brought for you and Dad. You like canned oranges, and Dad likes to drink, but you should ask Dad to drink less. These crackers are for Xinyan and her sister. And here are the chopped chili peppers I made. They're ready to eat, so I brought some for you to try."
Grandma took the food and said to Liu's mother, "You made great chopped peppers. Your father and I both like them. But next time, don't bring so many things. You and your son-in-law still have young children at home, and you have a lot of responsibilities."
"Mom, look at what you said. You only allow me to take things back from my parents' home, but not to take things back to my parents' home. Others will say that I emptied my parents' home to subsidize my own family." Liu's mother joked.
"You mischievous boy, I won't talk to you anymore. Come on, go out and make some sugar water for the children." Grandma said with a smile.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
