Chapter 14: Embroidered Spring
Hang Liumei was actually very tired, but she just wouldn't sleep. When she heard no more noise outside, she got up and unfolded the unfinished painting "Water Moon Guanyin".
Things in this world are truly strange. When Lao Jiang died, she wished for something else to distract her, but no one came to visit her for ten days or half a month. Although she had her son, daughter-in-law, and grandson by her side, Hang Liumei still felt like a lost dog, dejected and alone in this world.
Now she is very busy, Zhang San, Li Si and Wang Mazi have all popped up, there are so many things to keep her busy!
But one was her biological son, the other a lifelong friend. Her ordinary life was marked by these people. No matter how much she tried to avoid them, Qi Xiuchun was someone Hang Liumei couldn't avoid. Back then, they were as close as sisters, but now she had to avoid them.
They were also old and half-dead, unable to even open their mouths to ask for reconciliation. Were they really going to take their grudges with them to their graves? Hang Liumei's eyes blurred as she continued to paint, tears streaming uncontrollably. She was afraid they would soak the paper, so she quickly reached out to wipe them away. Fortunately, the tears only landed on her reading glasses.
She took off her glasses and wiped them gently, half of her face reflected in the window, sometimes bright and sometimes dim. The first night in Dunhuang was also like this, with everything quiet and the lights dim.
The firewood in the kitchen was crackling. Hang Liumei sat beside it and warmed herself by the fire. Sister Xiuchun cooked noodles with poached eggs for her and chatted with her in her local accent with a nasal sound.
At that time, all the staff lived in adobe houses about ten miles south of the Mogao Grottoes, and Hang Liumei lived in the same room with Qi Xiuchun.
"Come, look! This is our kang, and this is your bedding and washbasin. This table, this cabinet, and this box are all shared by us. I have already cleaned them up during the day." Qi Xiuchun knew this palm-sized room very well. After pushing the door open with his knee, he lit the kerosene lamp and pointed to each item and introduced them to Hang Liumei.
People say the conditions here are poor, but what you need is almost enough. Although everything you see now is not as good as home, it is better than Hang Liumei imagined. She unpacked her clothes, books, and miscellaneous small items on the table and sorted them out one by one.
Qi Xiuchun rushed out the door grabbing something and came back a while later with an old silver-gray kettle in his hand. Seeing Hang Liumei still folding clothes leisurely, he urged her repeatedly: "Oh my god! By the time you finish cleaning, it will be dawn. Let's just leave it at that for tonight. Come on, I've boiled some hot water for you. You want to take a bath, right? Just use this to wash your hair and body."
Hang Liumei saw that her stuff had made a mess in the room, and her face flushed when she was yelled at. She obediently took off her cotton-padded jacket and untied the hair tie.
Qi Xiuchun pulled out the basin from under the table, added cold water first and then boiling water, stirring it slowly with his hands. When he felt the water temperature was about right, he put the basin on the stool and asked Hang Liumei to bend down and bury her head in the basin to wash.
"Um, Sister Xiuchun, could you help me get some soap?"
"Soap? If you wash your hair with soap, it will be so sticky that you can't comb it tomorrow." Qi Xiuchun said as he rolled up his sleeves and walked over to Hang Liumei. He took out a bag of laundry detergent from the cabinet, pinched a small handful with his fingers, sprinkled it on Hang Liumei's wet hair, and then helped her rub it. "The water in Dunhuang is very alkaline. You have to use laundry detergent to wash your hair to get it clean."
Hang Liumei then noticed a thin layer of white marks on the edge of the enamel basin and blurted out, "What a hassle! Sigh."
"That's nothing! This water tastes bitter, so you'll have to learn to be jealous when you get to Dunhuang. Luckily, you're from the north, so you'll adapt quickly."
"Sister Xiuchun, how long have you been here?"
"Me? I'm not that much ahead of you, maybe only half a year!"
"So how long did it take you to adapt here?"
Qi Xiuchun wrapped Hang Liumei's hair with her own towel, helped her stand up, shook the water off her hands, and smiled: "It didn't take any effort at all! I think it's great here, with food, shelter, and wages. It's just that the wind and sand are a bit strong, but my hometown on the Loess Plateau is about the same. Many people think it's hard here, but that's because they haven't experienced hard times. Anyway, I think the institute is better than home."
Hang Liumei wiped her hair with a wet towel and watched Qi Xiuchun busying around happily. She didn't seem to miss home so much anymore.
At night, they slept side by side on the earthen kang, snuggling comfortably under their quilts while chatting while looking at the old newspapers stuck to the ceiling. The quilts the institute had given them were heavy, and Hang Liumei took a deep sniff, smelling of fabric and sunshine. She knew Qi Xiuchun must have taken them out to dry for her during the day.
The wind outside made the windows rattle, but the room wasn't cold, thanks to the stove Qi Xiuchun had lit. Hang Liumei wanted to volunteer, but Qi Xiuchun said this stove was different from ordinary stoves and only she could do it. The fire couldn't be too strong, as it would use up too much charcoal; but it couldn't be too weak, as it would go out in the middle of the night and freeze people to death.
"Sister Xiuchun, is it this windy here every night?"
"Yes, it blows all the way into summer. You've seen sandstorms, right? A huge cloud of yellow sand rushes over and the sky becomes completely dark. Actually, this is nothing to us humans. The murals in the cave are most afraid of sand and water. The director is leading us to control the sand. You need to train your body more. You can't do physical work if you can't do it."
It seems that working here isn't so easy after all. Hang Liumei tucked the corners of her quilt tightly together. After running around all day, she felt sleepy.
At this moment, her stomach suddenly started to hurt. Qi Xiuchun beside her was already snoring. Hang Liumei didn't want to disturb her, so she carefully turned over and curled up, constantly comforting herself that she could just go to sleep quickly. Once she slept, the pain would go away and she could make it until tomorrow morning.
But her lower abdomen still ached, and the three large jars of tea Hang Liumei had guzzled upon entering the prison began to weigh on her. Hang Liumei twisted and turned in bed, wrapped in the quilt, and Qi Xiuchun was finally awakened by her: "Aren't you tired after a long day of traveling? I dreamed of a squirming squirrel lying next to me. Look, I fell asleep while talking to you. Go to sleep!"
Hang Liumei half-raised her body and said embarrassedly: "Sister Xiuchun, I—I want to relieve myself."
"Big or small? Just pee in the chamber pot next to you and empty it out tomorrow morning." Qi Xiuchun wrapped herself in the quilt and planned to turn over and continue sleeping. Seeing Hang Liumei behind her not moving, she sat up and rubbed her eyes and asked, "Are you going to pee again? That would be troublesome. Forget it, let's go quickly and finish early and go to bed early."
Hang Liumei quickly covered her with the quilt: "Sister Xiuchun, you just need to tell me where to go. It's the middle of the night, don't bother you——"
"No, I have to go with you. What if you can't find the place and get lost again?" Qi Xiuchun took out a flashlight from between their pillows, put on a cotton jacket, turned on the light in one hand and pulled Hang Liumei out to find a toilet with the other hand.
The public restroom was farther away than Hang Liumei had imagined. The two of them walked through the entire yard to the edge of the woods outside before they arrived. They could smell the odor from a distance. Qi Xiuchun stood at the door and handed the flashlight to Hang Liumei: "Take this and go in quickly."
Hang Liumei clutched her stomach and ran a few steps before turning back: "Sister Xiuchun, I'll leave the flashlight to you. It's so dark outside, aren't you afraid?"
"What's there to be afraid of? I'm more afraid that you'll step in shit and bring it back to our house."
Hang Liumei pinched her nose and squatted inside for a while, then came out with her head down, and walked back to the courtyard arm in arm with Qi Xiuchun.
Lying back on the bed, they both fell asleep soon. Hang Liumei slept so soundly that she didn't even dream. Halfway through her sleep, she was woken by a stomachache. The quilt was a little cold. Hang Liumei felt confused and felt the dampness under her body.
She suddenly came to her senses. Her period had always been regular, and it wasn't even due yet, so how come it came early?
Hang Liumei sat up with a jerk, flicked on the flashlight, and sure enough, her pants and mattress were stained with blood. No wonder she suddenly had a stomachache. It was all her fault for sleeping so soundly. Now the quilt was stained. She couldn't sleep tonight, and Sister Xiuchun would definitely be angry.
Hang Liumei was extremely anxious, but she had no other choice but to sulk at herself. She actually ended up crying while sitting on the bed. At first, she just shed silent tears, then sobbed softly, and then sobbed loudly. She was afraid of disturbing Qi Xiuchun, so she turned off the flashlight, shut up, and went to the bed. She had to change her pants first.
Hang Liumei stretched out one leg in the dark and stepped into an empty urinal. Her leg twisted and she fell down with a cry of "ouch".
Qi Xiuchun woke up from her dream and yelled, "What's going on? Sister, what are you doing? Are you going to tear down the house on your first night here?"
Hang Liumei sat on the ground, unable to hold back any longer, and burst into tears, "Sister Xiuchun, I'm so sorry! I ruined our kang! It's all my fault for not even noticing my period. How could I be so stupid? I came all this way, and why did I have to endure so much hardship? You couldn't sleep all night..." She cried so hard that her words became incoherent.
Qi Xiuchun was amused by her tantrum and pulled her off the ground to the edge of the kang. Before Hang Liumei could react, her pants were pulled by Qi Xiuchun. Qi Xiuchun got out of bed and brought her a towel and toilet paper: "Don't cry, this is nothing, every woman has experienced it. Here, clean yourself up and find a new pair of pants to change into. We can still sleep for a while."
Hang Liumei tidied herself up with sobs and stood aside, awaiting her fate. Qi Xiuchun was confused again: "I'm really not mad at you, so why are you using the self-torture trick?"
He lifted the quilt and motioned Hang Liumei to lie in. "I'll just take your quilt apart and wash it tomorrow. Let's just squeeze in and sleep tonight. Don't dawdle. It'll be dawn soon."
Hang Liumei, fresh from crying herself into a sweat, burrowed into Qi Xiuchun's warm blanket and shivered. She rested her head on Qi Xiuchun's shoulder like a kitten. Qi Xiuchun had a strong, large frame. Though completely different from Liu Zhu, it reminded Hang Liumei of her own older sister. When she soiled her pants during her first period, it was her sister who personally changed her clothes and taught her how to use a menstrual pad.
She didn't expect to be so unlucky on the first day in Dunhuang, but she met such a nice person. She had been resentful of Sister Xiuchun for not picking her up at the station. She felt really sorry for Sister Xiuchun.
Qi Xiuchun felt a stream of water flowing from her neck down her shoulders to her back. The wind blew a chill. She looked down and saw Hang Liumei leaning against her, crying again. Qi Xiuchun reached out and wiped her red eyes: "Is this your first time away from home? Why are you crying over such a small thing? I said I could wash it for you tomorrow. Don't cry. Your family must be very good to you, otherwise how could they raise a delicate Lin Daiyu."
Hang Liumei chuckled, sniffed, and said unyieldingly, "Then you must be 'Feng Lazi' Wang Xifeng, fearless and utterly ruthless. That's why you're so comfortable in this world!"
Qi Xiuchun was still arguing, but with a smile on his face, he was very pleased with the evaluation. He then asked Hang Liumei how old she was. Hang Liumei said she was nineteen.
"What month was your birthday? Fifth month of the lunar calendar, so I'm four years older than you. But you should still learn from Lin Daiyu. She was even younger than you are when she came to the Jia Mansion. Since you call me 'Feng Lazi', then I, 'Feng Lazi', will protect you. That should be all right, right?"
It was almost dawn, and the two of them hadn't slept long when they were awakened by the sound of "The East is Red" broadcast from the courtyard. Hang Liumei, her eyes swollen, was woken by Qi Xiuchun: "Don't sleep! You're going to Mogao Grottoes today, hurry up and get ready."
Yes, she had come here for the Mogao Grottoes, Hang Liumei jumped up. This was Dunhuang, she had already arrived in Dunhuang! She could see the sun shining on Sanwei Mountain as soon as she looked up. She had been waiting for this moment for so long.
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