102. 102 Escape
Just before lunch was about to end, Ping An's grandparents and maternal uncle's families arrived. The two families, big and small, squeezed into three tables. Ping An opened the red envelopes they gave him on the spot. His grandfather gave him ten yuan, and his grandmother gave him two yuan. Ping An put them together and divided them into two portions, handing six yuan to Xiao Yuan.
Ning Mancang, his face flushed from drinking, staggered over and pulled Ping An aside, boasting to others that this was his grandson, that he was successful and made him proud.
Ping An's face scrunched up from the smell of alcohol on his breath. He turned his head and saw his father standing at the door of the main room, arms crossed, staring at him in a daze, lost in thought. Ping An didn't know what to do. He wasn't close to his grandparents, and he wanted to leave but was afraid of embarrassing his grandfather. He also couldn't figure out what his father meant, so he could only grimace as he listened to his grandfather's boasting to the neighbors.
"Xiao Yuan, your mother must be blessing you to get into university. Remember to burn paper money for her and give thanks." Grandma Ping'an, her mouth full of oil, pulled his hand and rubbed it, trying to snatch him from Old Man Ning's hands.
“You’re wrong. I was able to get into university because of my teachers’ excellent teaching and my mother’s good example.” He pulled his hand away from hers, and finally couldn’t bear it any longer. He also pried open his grandfather’s hand and said to the neighbors, “Uncles, aunts, grandpa and grandma, please enjoy your meal. You’ve all gone through the trouble of hosting this feast. Please eat and drink well, and take whatever you need.” He dodged his grandfather’s outstretched hand, took a step back and said, “Grandma Wu has some guests at her house. I’ll go check on them over there.”
He strode away, leaving behind the squinting old man Ning, who mumbled, "This kid has become a bit arrogant now that he's gotten into university."
"Ping An is so sensible and speaks so politely. He's definitely not ordinary." Aunt Wu couldn't stand Old Man Ning's wicked behavior, so she shouted, "Old Man Ning, keep your dad on the table and let him continue drinking. The guests are still sober. This man is about to go crazy from drinking. Let's just get him drunk and make him slip under the table so as not to embarrass the family."
"One looks like he hasn't seen alcohol in eight hundred years, and the other looks like he's about to lie in the ground after filling his stomach. They don't act like elders at all," she said to herself, her eyes sweeping over Grandpa and Grandma Ping An.
Ning Laoda was so embarrassed that his face turned red. He pulled his father back to sit down. Ping An's maternal uncle's family seemed not to hear anything. From the youngest to the oldest, their eyes were fixed on the table. They picked up pieces of meat with their chopsticks.
After the banquet, Ping An's grandmother waited for a while, hoping to say some nice things to him and pour out her troubles, but she couldn't find him. She had no choice but to go back, regretting that she had handled things too badly in previous years and let this insignificant grandson go. Later, thinking that Ping An had gone to the Northeast, she wouldn't be able to benefit from any of the good things, so she reluctantly gave up her plan to contact him again.
Old Man Ning went home drunk and slept for the night. The next day, when he sobered up, he wanted to visit his promising college student grandson, but before he could even see him, Ning Jin turned him away.
"Dad, what are you planning to do? Seeing that Ping An is doing well, you want to take advantage of Grandpa's status? Planning for the future? Where is your dignity? If you had continued to ignore our family, I would have respected you more, but seeing you so eager to back out and try to curry favor, it really reminds me of one word—spineless."
Old Man Ning's thoughts were exposed by his youngest son. His grandson was more successful than his son, and the most successful of all his grandsons. He wanted to cultivate a good relationship with him so that Ping An could help raise the other grandsons in the future. He considered himself a man of principle, and that it was already a great honor for him to lower himself to speak nicely to his grandson. He didn't even think much of his youngest son, so his grandson should know when to stop and quickly take advantage of any sign of goodwill.
"Where's Ping An? I want to talk to him." He called into the house with his hands behind his back, "Ping An, is he home? Grandpa has come to see you."
"You're a fence-sitter, a hypocrite, wearing a veneer of falsehood. You fawn over anyone who shows signs of success, hoping to benefit from their success. You have no backbone. I really thought you were noble enough not to bow down to money or power." Ning Jin felt uncomfortable thinking about his son's shameful behavior of showing off to Ping An when he was drunk yesterday. He was also afraid that his son would get into trouble because of their family, so he deliberately picked out the harshest words to ridicule him.
Old Man Ning stared at him coldly, "Ning Jin, you'd better not speak so harshly to your father before you've ever fallen on hard times. Be careful that one day you're separated from your wife and children, then no one will take you in."
"Don't worry, your wife will definitely not leave you, and your children will not be separated." Su Yu came out from behind the door, took Ning Jin's hand, and said, "I think Ning Jin is telling the truth. I never thought you would come to visit Ping An. He is seventeen years old this year. This is the first time you have come to visit him in seventeen years, right?"
Ning Mancang snorted. Seeing that Ping An remained silent in the room, he knew that his plan was going to fail. He put on an air of not caring about them and turned to leave quickly.
“You don’t need to say those things, people will gossip about you if they hear them.” Su Yu pulled the man into the house, and Xiao Yuan came out of the house safely.
"You guys should leave. There's a lot of mess here. Anyway, we've already bought a house over there. Go live there. I'm going to work too. It doesn't matter if anyone's home or not when I leave." Ning Jin didn't respond to her words, thinking that maybe in a couple of days, Grandma Yuan would hear the news and come to snatch the child. It was better to leave quickly.
"When are you going to drive a truck in Northeast China? I want to take Xiao Hei and Xiao Hua with me."
"I'll go ask around. If there are any jobs over there, I'll trade with someone." He went to the Northeast because his wife and children were there, and he would benefit from it. He didn't care whether it was north or south; the main thing was that he would owe Lao Wang a favor. Now there were many private jobs driving trucks in the south. People from all over the country would go to the south to buy goods and then resell them. There were police officers patrolling the trains. When he and Lao Wang drove trucks, he would take people to the south, and they would wait for each other at the agreed place on the way back. Each person would get twenty or thirty yuan for a round trip. In a month, he could earn more than two hundred yuan from private jobs.
"Then should I go to my parents' house and bring Xiao Hei and Xiao Hua back?"
"Okay, I'll go to the factory and ask." Ning Jin glanced at her and turned to leave. He hadn't had a proper conversation with her since he came back. He didn't know when this would end. The factory's vehicles were all being dispatched. If only he had his own car, he could travel north or south as he pleased.
Su Yu was walking to Xinhe Brigade when she ran into Xiao Hu. He saw her and excitedly ran over to ask, "Aunt Su, where are you going?"
"I went to pick up Xiao Hei and Xiao Hua. What are you doing here? Are you all alone? Where are your older sisters?"
“My eldest sister is gathering firewood, my second sister is doing her homework at home, and I’m planting trees. My second sister made me plant them.” He smiled sheepishly and said, “Only the trees I plant in the spring will survive; the ones I plant at other times will all die.”
"What a good boy." Su Yu patted his head. The boy was clumsy and awkward, but you could tell he was clever just by looking at his eyes. She felt her pockets and found only a key. She said, "Go to your aunt's house at noon and your aunt will give you some candy."
Xiao Hu smiled and said, "Aunt Su, the candy you sent back is especially delicious, much better than the candy sold at the supply and marketing cooperative."
"If you like it, that's fine. You can continue playing here, but don't go to the water's edge. I'm going to pick up Xiao Hei and Xiao Hua."
"I'll go tell my older sister that I'll go with you to pick up Xiao Hei and Xiao Hua." He ran off quickly, leaving Su Yu stunned. This kid was really outgoing and not shy at all.
"Let's go. I've already told my older sister to gather the firewood and go home right away." He walked over, took her hand, and skipped along with her.
"Isn't this Xiaohu? What's he doing with you?" Yu Anxiu took a cucumber out of the vegetable basket and handed it to him.
"I met you on the way. Come with me to pick up Xiao Hei and Xiao Hua." She went into the yard to pull the excited dogs away from the tree stump, untied their leashes, and prepared to leave.
"Have a cucumber." The old lady handed her a washed cucumber and asked, "You took the dog with you, aren't you planning to come back?"
“How could that be? I’ll come back. My parents and sisters are still here. How could I not come back? Besides, I take my dad to see a doctor whenever I have time,” Su Yu said.
The old lady hesitated for a while, and seeing that she was about to leave, she hurriedly said, "Give me your home address. It's a house you bought, not a school. I have plenty of free time. If I make shoes, I'll send them to Xiaoyuan." Actually, she wanted to ask if Xiaoyuan had said anything when she gave him two hundred yuan yesterday, but she felt that if she asked, she would be scolded, so she swallowed the words back.
"No need, making shoes is hard on your eyes, don't touch the needle and thread." Giving to one but not the other could easily cause conflict, so Su Yu waved her hand and left, not giving the old lady a chance to speak again.
Xiao Hua was led home by Xiao Hu, who didn't complain about being tired. After dropping the dog off, he went back home with a bag full of candy. "Sister, here's some candy for you," he said, heading straight into the house to find his second sister.
"Where did this come from? Did Aunt Su give it to you?" Only she would give Xiao Hu so much candy.
The little boy nodded and stuffed all the candy into a jar under the bed, saying, "Eat it when your tummy hurts."
The stomach pain he mentioned was when she had her period. Last month, he saw her in pain on a hot day, wrapped in a quilt. He had seen her hurt herself and was bleeding when she cried. Her parents would always comfort her with a piece of candy. That day, he cried and went to ask for a piece of candy to give to her. She ate it and told him that the pain was gone.
“I only get pain once a month, so save a few dozen candies for me, and the rest are yours.” Er Ya put down her pen, poured all the candies out of the jar, counted out ten and threw them in, then stuffed the rest back into his pocket for him to eat himself.
"Good little brother." She praised him, seeing his eyes crinkle with laughter, and squeezed his hand, saying, "You're so thoughtful, you don't seem like your parents' son at all."
*
Su Yu rushed back and then rushed away again. She laid straw in the carriage. The two dogs were trembling with fear when she carried them onto the train. After a morning, they got used to it and even dared to stand up and look down at the carriage.
The day after they left, Er Ya heard an old woman banging on the door. She went out to see who it was and found a dirty old woman. She asked, "Who are you looking for?"
"I'm looking for my grandson, Xiao Yuan."
“Xiao Yuan has already left, they’ve all left. His whole family moved to the Northeast. You don’t need to come anymore, there’s no one here.”
"They moved to Northeast China? And they're not coming back?"
Er Ya nodded, "They took the dog away, so it's definitely not coming back."
"That heartless woman, she killed my son and then stole my grandson. She didn't even tell me when my grandson got into university, nor did she go back to visit my son's grave." She sat on the ground cursing for a while, feeling that there was no hope for her grandson. She stood up, picked up a stone, and threw it at the door, spitting, "You ungrateful brat, you got into university but you didn't even visit your grandma. You didn't even visit your father. You deserve to be struck by lightning."
Er Ya watched the disheveled old woman leave with her cane. After leaving the alley, she went to check next door. The lock was still in good condition. She kicked aside the stones piled up at the door and turned back into the house.
In another year, she will also leave, far away from those wicked parents.
It was early summer again. Xiao Yuan took Xiao Hei and Xiao Hua to the forest farm. They wore muzzles made of thin wire by Ping An, so they weren't afraid of biting people or other small animals when they went to school. He or his mother would bring the dogs with them when they went to the forest farm. The forest farm was too big, the trees were too tall, and the further you went in, the more deserted it became. Having a dog with you was a good companion.
"Su Yuan, there's a letter from your mother. Take it to her." The security guard called out to him as he entered the school gate.
"Okay." He took it and saw it was from his hometown. After handing it to his mother, he peeked out and asked, "Who is it? Did something happen at home?"
“No, it’s Er Ya. She said she’s changed her name to Zhang Baozhi. Write back to her after you receive the letter. She wants to fill in our mailing address for the admission notice.” Su Yu glanced at him, took out a piece of paper to write a reply, and asked, “Did the three of you discuss this with each other? Did you all send the letters to me?”
“No, she’s probably learning from us.” Xiao Yuan tapped the table. “She’s probably afraid that if she sends the acceptance letter back, her parents will get hold of it and use it against her.”
"Possibly." Su Yu tore up the letter she had just written, replaced it with eight words: "Study hard, good luck on the college entrance exam," folded the letter, threw it into an envelope, and handed it to Xiao Yuan. Having her son in the same school and major as her had its advantages; it wasn't as bad as she thought. For example, there were free errands for him to run errands for—walking the dog, mailing letters, getting meals, feeding the dog…
In Pingqiu Town, thousands of miles away, Er Ya took her college application home to fill out as her father asked. Her "cousin uncle" from the same clan would also visit her every six months.
"I filled in medical major and the capital city as the school." The man had requirements for both his major and the city.
"What business is it of yours how I fill out my college application? You're just a distant cousin, why are you meddling?" Er Ya lowered her head and ignored him, filling in "accounting" in the major section of her application form and a school in the capital city.
In a moment of distraction, both items were filled out.
The man narrowed his eyes, his face instantly falling, but considering the upcoming college entrance exam, he quickly put on a smile and said kindly, "You've got quite a temper, girl. I'm just thinking of you. But whatever you like, being an accountant is fine too." He watched her fill in her home address in the address field, feeling relieved. Although the majors were different, as long as she could get into university, any major was better than not going to university at all.
“Study hard. Uncle bought you a can of milk powder. Drink a cup every morning; it’ll help your brain.” He handed her the milk powder from the cloth bag, while giving her father a warning glance.
"Thank you, Uncle. I misunderstood you just now." Er Ya looked flustered and blushed, avoiding eye contact.
"It's alright, just get good grades." The man left satisfied with her obedient demeanor.
The next day, Er Ya took the application form back to school. Just to be on the safe side, she went to the teacher's office. Afterward, the application form was torn into pieces along with a stack of old papers, soaked in water, and thrown into the trash can.
She had already filled out her college application form and submitted it to her teacher while she was still in school. The application form she brought home was an extra one she had asked her teacher for.
In early July, Er Ya dug out the money she had saved for many years under a Chinese pistache tree outside the town, stole the family's household registration book, and on an afternoon that seemed no different from any other, she sent her older sister and younger brother away, walked alone to the outskirts of the town, got on a truck, and fled the town.
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