In 1994, Yang Wanwan was 15 years old and had just finished the second year of junior high school.
She sat on the bed, staring blankly at the words "July 15, 1994" on the calendar, lost in thought for a long time.
After a long while, Yang Wanwan slowly got up, walked out of the bedroom and through the main room, and saw Er Ye wearing a straw hat, dragging a rice rake, walking barefoot in the rice drying under the scorching sun, turning the rice.
Yang Wanwan slowly realized that it was the double harvest season.
This is the busiest time of the year in rural southern China. I should be working, not sleeping in bed.
Yang Wanwan thought for a moment, then realized, "That's right, she rescued a boy from the pond the day before yesterday at noon, and developed a high fever that afternoon."
I had a fever for two days and two nights until it just broke.
It was a little past two in the afternoon. Standing in the sun, the dazzling sunlight made it impossible to open one's eyes, as if a several-hundred-watt light bulb was strapped to one's forehead, causing dizziness and headaches.
A boy of about eleven or twelve was eating in the corridor. His trousers were rolled up to his knees, and he was covered in black from head to toe, but his eyes were bright and clever.
Seeing Yang Wanwan come out, he immediately ran over, "Big sister, you're up? I'll go get you some rice."
This is Shang Tao, the youngest of three siblings, and also the one who later suffered the most tragic death.
Yang Wanwan was stunned.
Shang Tao brought out the food, looking clever and mischievous, his bright eyes darting around: "Big sister, eat your food."
Er Ye wiped the sweat from her brow under the sun. "Sister, Shang Tao is so capable! He can cook now!"
The innocent smiles of her younger siblings pierced Yang Wanwan's heart. A sudden surge of intense sorrow welled up in her chest, and tears welled up in her eyes.
After sitting for a while, Yang Wanwan finally accepted this reality.
She, Yang Wanwan, has been reborn!
Her head was still spinning. She looked at Er Ye and Shang Tao, her mind filled with questions as she processed the fact that she had been reborn.
Er Ye dragged the rake along, saying, "Sister, it's good that you can eat. You should rest at home this afternoon. Shang Tao and I are going to the fields. We'll see you again tomorrow when you're fully recovered."
Yang Wanwan thought for a moment before understanding Er Ye's meaning. Just as she was about to speak, a caring voice rang out from the corner: "Wanwan, are you feeling better?"
Yang Wanwan then noticed that her grandmother was cleaning up the debris in the grain on the drying ground.
Yang Wanwan said, "Grandma, I feel much better."
Grandma Yang said, "You're not fully recovered yet, rest for a day first. Your grandpa and I will take care of things in the fields."
Yang Wanwan felt a warmth in her heart.
After finishing her work, Grandma Yang breathed a sigh of relief and sat under the eaves for a while. She then instructed, "Your grandfather and I are going to Dawanqiu this afternoon. Take care of yourselves and make sure you don't get caught in the rain."
Dawanqiu is quite far away, and Grandma Yang is worried that if there is a heavy rain, the three siblings will not be able to harvest the rice. Grandma Yang and her husband are also too far away to come back and help with the harvest.
Er Ye and Shang Tao agreed, and Grandma Yang, supporting her back and hunching over, stuffed the straw she had just separated into the carrying pole. Some rice grains would remain in the straw; Grandma Yang was going to take it to her own pond to feed the fish.
Just then, a woman in her thirties swayed over, speaking loudly and impolitely: "Hey, Er Ye, hurry up and bring out your rakes and rake my rice. How can you be so lazy? The rice is right in front of you, and you don't even know to rake it!"
Still dazed, Yang Wanwan then noticed that there were two patches of rice on her drying ground. One was what Er Ye had just been raking, and the other, she guessed, belonged to this woman.
Yang Wanwan recalled that this was her neighbor, Cao Guihua.
Yang Wanwan's drying yard has a cement floor, which makes it very convenient to dry things.
The neighbors often borrowed her drying ground to dry their things in their spare time, because most of the neighbors' drying grounds were still made of dirt.
During the double harvest season, most people wouldn't be so tactless as to borrow something, because they would definitely need it. But Cao Guihua, regardless of whether Yang Wanwan's family needed it urgently, insisted on interfering.
Er Ye glanced at Cao Guihua silently, ignoring her, clearly indicating that she did not like her.
Shang Tao, displeased with Cao Guihua's bossy attitude, said with a grin, "Aunt Guihua, we're just lazy. You're not lazy, so why don't you take it yourself!"
Cao Guihua pouted, found a stool, and plopped down unceremoniously: "When you were raking, you should have raked my house too. Look at how stingy you are, not generous at all."
Yang Wanwan remembered that Cao Guihua was always trying to take advantage of others. Because she and her brother were orphans and honest, hardworking people, Cao Guihua often took advantage of them.
It's likely they were just using their own drying ground without asking permission; it wasn't even a matter of borrowing.
Shang Tao snorted: "If we help you with the raking, will your family give us the rice they harvest?"
"Eat, eat, all you ever do is eat!"
Shang Tao made a face: "Auntie, don't you eat? Then what's the point of farming and harvesting rice?"
Cao Guihua: "Go away, go away, get out of here!"
Shang Tao didn't want to argue with her anymore, so he rolled his eyes and went inside.
Cao Guihua, cracking sunflower seed shells, said to Grandma Yang with a grin, "Auntie, your grandchildren are so lazy. My rice is right in front of your house, you can just rake it up. Look how lazy they are, they won't even help with such a small thing."
Upon hearing Cao Guihua's words, Grandma Yang's face darkened. She gave Cao Guihua a look of disgust and said rudely, "You know how lazy you are? Why don't you raft yourself?"
Cao Guihua snorted: "I'm giving them a chance, so they won't learn to be lazy at such a young age."
Grandma Yang knew that Cao Guihua was just like that, and besides, she had a lot of things to do at home, so she simply ignored her and left with her things.
Before leaving, she didn't forget to say, "You're not as lazy as Wanwan. Your Aunt Guihua is so fat, she needs to move around more. You guys shouldn't take her work away from her."
Shang Tao ran out and loudly replied, "Yes, Grandma!"
Cao Guihua didn't take it seriously. She thought the old woman was just all talk and not very strong in combat. There was no need to be afraid.
If it were Cao Guihua, with such a good drying ground, and now that the double harvest is in full swing and it's in urgent need of it, there's no way she'd give it to anyone else to dry their crops!
Seeing that Grandma Yang ignored her, Cao Guihua vented her anger on Yang Wanwan and the others, saying, "Your grandma is so biased towards your family! I've never seen such a biased old woman! Go out and see if there are any!"
Nobody paid any attention to her.
Cao Guihua rambled on for a while, then suddenly beamed with joy. She waved outside and, in a loud voice, said to the middle-aged woman walking over from a dozen meters away, "Sister-in-law Xinchun, am I right? Every grandmother treats everyone equally, but your old man and woman are biased towards these few! Look how lazy your nephews and nieces are, and your mother-in-law still spoils them. You, as their aunt, don't even do anything about it!"
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