Sisterhood
After turning the last stretch of narrow path along the fields, I could see a dim light shining from under the eaves of a house in the distance. The door was ajar, and the aroma of food wafted from the stove.
"It seems like Mother has finished cooking. We need to hurry up and go," Wen Chunhua said, pulling Wen Sheng's hand.
She knew Ye Caifeng's temper. If they returned late, it was one thing if there was less food, but more importantly, Ye Caifeng would use it as an excuse to say that they were dawdling and delaying their younger brothers' meals.
Wen Sheng said, "Chunhua, you don't need to pick me up next time. I've walked this road home from town so many times."
She paused, then added, "And I might not come back every month in the future; it's possible I'll only come back once every two months."
Wen Chunhua turned her head and looked at her, her eyes showing some dissatisfaction and some heartache: "Then you must write me a letter before you come back. I want you to have a hot meal when you come home."
"good."
The two walked briskly side by side across the last stretch of paddy field ridge. When they pushed open the courtyard gate, the dining table inside was indeed laden with food, steaming hot and fragrant.
Ye Caifeng was putting food into Wen Dongliang's bowl when she saw them come in. She frowned and said, "Why are you only coming back now? What if your brother had been starving if you had been any later?"
Chunhua walked ahead of Wensheng, throwing her schoolbag onto a chair. "The road is muddy, I can't walk fast."
Wen Dazhi was engrossed in his meal when he heard this. He looked up and scolded, "How can you talk like that? Is this how you treat your mother?"
“Father,” Wen Sheng said.
Wen Dazhi paused for a moment in mid-air with his chopsticks, then finally just grunted and slammed them back into his bowl: "Sit down and eat."
With that shout, the anger on the table subsided.
Wen Sheng gently patted Wen Chunhua's back, signaling her to stop arguing for her sake. Wen Chunhua turned her face away, remaining silent, but still pushed the bowl and chopsticks in front of Wen Sheng.
At the table, Wen Dongliang was engrossed in eating, a layer of rice grains scattered around the edge. His bowl was piled high, almost entirely with food that Ye Caifeng had personally placed there. As she watched him eat, she couldn't help but remind him, "Slow down, don't choke." Her tone was full of doting affection.
Wen Laifu, who was standing to the side, was still young and clumsily held his chopsticks, dropping them onto the table every now and then, which made him frown in frustration. Ye Caifeng glanced at him and simply said, "Take your time to learn." Then she turned her attention back to Wen Dongliang.
"Laifu, what would you like to eat?" Wen Chunhua asked gently, looking at her younger brother who was still clumsily picking up food.
Wen Laifu pursed his lips, his chopsticks unable to pick up any food from the table. He only glanced timidly at Ye Caifeng and Wen Dazhi before lowering his head again.
Ye Caifeng was only focused on adding food to Wen Dongliang's plate and completely ignored him.
As Wen Sheng watched this scene, she suddenly recalled a scene from a few years ago.
At that time, Nie Hong, who favored Wen Dongliang the most, was still alive. She protected him all day long, and even when drinking chicken soup, she would first serve it to him.
The two sisters are often the last to pick up their chopsticks, eating whatever is left on the table.
A week before she was to start high school, Nie Hong passed away. She thought life would get better, but it didn't. Ye Caifeng naturally took over her position, continuing the same favoritism, and even more so.
It's a lie; things haven't gotten any better.
Wen Dazhi just ate in silence, never interrupting. He would occasionally glance at the two sisters' empty bowls, but would quickly look away and put the meat from his chopsticks back into his mouth.
Regardless of whether she would be scolded, Wen Sheng took advantage of Wen Dazhi and Ye Caifeng's inattention, quickly picked up a piece of meat from the table, hid it in her own bowl, and covered it with rice.
She lowered her head, pretending to eat seriously, leaned forward slightly, and whispered, "Chunhua, open your mouth and face me."
Wen Chunhua was stunned for a moment, not knowing what she was going to do, and obediently opened her mouth.
Wen Sheng moved the bowl slightly under the table, and like a thief, quickly picked out the piece of meat with his chopsticks, along with a few grains of rice, and fed it to Chunhua.
"Shut up." Wen Sheng urged softly after finishing, secretly glancing at the person opposite her, afraid of being discovered.
Wen Chunhua quickly lowered her head and pretended to eat heartily, her shoulders trembling slightly as if she was trying to suppress a laugh.
Wen Laifu, who was sitting next to him, saw everything. He blinked, his little hand gripping his chopsticks, and said nothing.
Dinner was quickly finished, and Wen Dongliang put down his chopsticks and dashed out of the house.
Ye Caifeng hurriedly called out from behind, "Dongliang, don't stay out too late."
"Okay." The boy's voice drifted into the yard from afar, but was quickly drowned out.
Wen Laifu sat quietly on the stool, holding the bowl in both hands, not daring to move.
Wen Chunhua got up and took away the bowls and chopsticks. She rolled up her sleeves and went straight to the stove to wash them. Wen Sheng silently followed behind her, picked up a rag, and helped wipe the table.
The rain outside the window has completely stopped, the night is gradually deepening, and the chirping of insects in the yard is incessant.
As usual, Wen Dazhi squatted by the door after dinner, silently smoking.
After a long silence, he suddenly asked, "How's your reading going lately?"
The person wiping the table inside paused, stunned for a moment, before realizing that the question was directed at her.
"fine."
"It's good that the tuition wasn't wasted," Wen Dazhi said, exhaling a puff of smoke.
Ye Caifeng chimed in from beside the stove, "Can a girl put all that studying on the table? It's better to learn some needlework early on, so she'll have something to rely on when she gets married."
Wen Sheng looked up and suddenly felt that the person in front of her was becoming more and more unfamiliar.
Ye Caifeng's expression at this moment was becoming increasingly similar to that of her grandmother Nie Hong, who had once been most biased towards Dongliang, in her memory.
Even the contempt and indifference in his tone towards the girl's reading were almost identical. It was as if he had changed his face, continuing to show that favoritism.
It turns out that some things don't disappear just because someone leaves.
"Mom, I got first place in my class."
Ye Caifeng scoffed and sneered, "Good grades only mean you'll marry well. I think the village chief's son is pretty good."
Wen Sheng was not embarrassed or ashamed by Ye Caifeng's words. She calmly said, "The outside world is not just about getting married."
"If I can pass the exam and go abroad, I will meet different people and live a different life. Mom, I told you before that I study not for anyone else, but for myself."
The room fell silent.
Ye Caifeng didn't expect her to talk back; this was the second time someone had talked back to her today.
Her face immediately turned ashen, and her anger flared up: "You little brat, you think you're all grown up now? You're just like your sister all the time, talking back to yourself!"
Wen Dazhi was smoking silently by the threshold. When he heard the argument inside, he just took another drag of his cigarette and slowly exhaled without stopping it.
Wen Chunhua slammed the bowl down into the basin of water with a loud bang. The splashing water sounded particularly jarring in the silence. She said coldly, "Mother, she's right. She is capable."
Ye Caifeng was speechless for a moment, her chest heaving with anger. She turned around to clear the dishes, muttering under her breath, "Little brat, doesn't know her place. She's not good enough for a pillar of society."
At the threshold, Wen Dazhi took another deep drag of his cigarette, the smoke obscuring his face.
After washing the dishes, Wen Chunhua dried her hands with a cloth. Turning around, she saw Wen Sheng still sitting at the table, staring blankly at the flame in the kerosene lamp. Thinking that she was sad, she went over to comfort her.
"Er Ya, don't take your mother's words to heart."
Wen Sheng snapped out of her daze, stood up, and smiled faintly: "I didn't mind. Let's go inside and study."
Wen Chunhua was still worried: "Were you sad just now? Ever since you started high school, I've been like a different person, and I don't know why."
Wen Sheng looked at the other person and said in confusion, "I'm not sad. Her words didn't hurt me. I was just thinking about what to tell you."
Wen Chunhua raised her hand and gently tapped her forehead: "You silly girl, all you ever think about is studying."
Wen Sheng smiled, her eyes sparkling: "Of course, didn't you say you wanted to learn too? I specially brought back my school textbooks."
Seeing her sincere expression, Wen Chunhua realized she wasn't just putting on a brave face, breathed a sigh of relief, and nodded with a smile: "Okay, let's go inside."
The two of them pushed open the door and went back into the room one after the other, shutting out the wind and rain outside and all the favoritism.
“Chunhua, I’ve thought about it, and I still need to teach you something practical.” Wen Sheng took out a textbook from her schoolbag and placed it on the table. “So, I’ve decided to teach you high school English.”
“You dropped out of school before finishing junior high. Unlike Chinese and math, where you can still use the latter two subjects regularly, English is easy to fall behind if no one teaches you,” Wen Sheng explained.
She paused, then laughed again: "But it's okay, I'm in high school now, I'll teach you everything I've learned."
She opened her high school English textbook, turned to the first page, and saw a prominent title: Unit 1 Friendship.
Wen Sheng smiled and pushed the book between the two of them: "Chunhua, you are my first student, my older sister, and my best friend."
She pointed to the first line and read it softly: "Learning about language."
Wen Chunhua stumbled and struggled to learn, and laughed out loud after hearing her own pronunciation.
“Good, let’s do it again. This is ‘learning,’ meaning ‘studying.’” Wen Sheng explained patiently. “This is the present tense, just like Chunhua, you are studying right now.”
Wen Chunhua tilted her head and blinked in confusion: "What is the present tense?"
"It refers to something that is happening right now. For example, if you are reading with me right now, we should use the present tense."
"Oh—would it count if I wrote 'while eating' or 'while sleeping'?" Wen Chunhua recalled the English words she learned in junior high school and tried to write a few crooked letters on the paper.
"eating...sheepping..."
Wen Sheng tapped her forehead, pretending to put on a stern face: "How can you make up words like that! You even misspelled the original words."
Wen Chunhua stuck out her tongue and tossed her pencil aside: "Then I'll remember it my way, it's so much easier to remember."
Wen Sheng couldn't help but laugh out loud, then reached out and pulled the notebook over, patiently writing down the correct spelling: "Okay, your method of memorization will work too, but the premise is that you have to remember the correct way to spell it."
The two sisters went back and forth, their laughter mingling with the faint light of the kerosene lamp, making the little house feel exceptionally warm.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
