Chapter 32 Ma'an Village, Staying Overnight at the Chen Family's House
The mountain wind was fierce, and the road was steep and narrow. Cheng Ying carried a mailbag on her back, gripped the hard rocks protruding from the steep mountain with both hands, and carefully stepped on the narrow mountain path, which was less than ten centimeters wide. She struggled to climb up a ten-meter-long mountain path near the top of the mountain.
To her left were mountain rocks, and to her right was a sheer cliff thousands of meters high. With each step she took, small rocks slid down the cliff, making a rustling sound.
The wind was strong on the mountaintop, making Cheng Ying's thin body sway precariously. The veins on her hands bulged, and she dared not look at the cliff to her right, afraid that if she looked too long, she would feel dizzy and involuntarily jump off.
Cheng Ying focused her attention on the rocks on her left, selecting the ones that looked very hard. She carefully climbed one rock after another, cautiously traversing the steep mountain path of about ten meters, and arrived safely at a flat area at a bend in the mountaintop.
She looked back at the cliff face not far away. The steep cliff was as sharp as a knife, stretching straight down into the unseen abyss. She could see several eagles flying and circling among the caves on the cliff halfway up the mountain. Standing on the edge of the cliff, she felt her feet were sinking into the void, her legs were weak, and she could easily fall into the abyss and be smashed to pieces.
Cheng Ying breathed a sigh of relief, remembering what Cheng Jiantong had said: this was only a small section of steep cliffs in the Ma'anshan Village mountain range, and as long as she walked carefully, there wouldn't be any major problems.
Once you reach Ayi Mountain, there will be even more difficult paths to climb. You'll need to be extremely careful during the climb, or you might fall down the mountain if you're not careful.
The mountain path that she and Cheng Jiantong found difficult to traverse seemed to go unnoticed by Da Huang. On that steep section of the mountain path without any trees to block the way, Da Huang kept rushing upwards.
With each step it took, its feet would slip, and the rocks beneath its feet would slide off to the edge of the cliff, but it didn't care. With one burst of energy, it rushed to the bend at the top of the mountain in less than a minute.
Then it stretched out its head, its dark, round eyes watching Cheng Ying's rock climbing movements with a worried expression, not daring to make a sound for fear of disturbing her.
Once she had safely crossed over, Da Huang barked happily twice, wagging its fluffy, tan tail, and circled around Cheng Ying, occasionally licking her palm as if praising her: "You're amazing! You managed to cross such a difficult road safely on your first try. You're incredible!"
Cheng Ying smiled and patted the dog's head again. "Let's go, Big Yellow. It's getting late. Take me to the village to find some lodging."
Big Yellow barked and led her down the mountain path.
Standing on the mountaintop, Cheng Ying could already see the scenery of Ma'anshan Village. Like Liangfeng'ao Village, this village had many black and gray houses with roofs of varying heights scattered from the mountaintop to the foot of the mountain, along the ridges of fields, in the woods, and beside the bamboo groves.
As dusk fell, many villagers were still digging in the fields with hoes, or three or five people were bending over, harvesting rice in the terraced fields. Nearby, others were holding bundles of rice and threshing them into large round buckets.
Dahuang led Cheng Ying down the winding mountain path to the mountainside, then ran to the edge of a terraced field, where golden rice ears filled every field. There, they met a beautiful eighteen-year-old girl wearing a bright blue short-sleeved blouse with diagonal buttons, matching trousers, long black hair braided into a long ponytail with a red ribbon tied diagonally above her head in a butterfly shape, and bangs that resembled the hairstyle of the heroine in "The Red Lantern." The girl had rosy cheeks like apples and was exceptionally pretty and charming. Dahuang barked at her twice, circled around her, and then sat down beside her and wouldn't leave.
The girl was harvesting rice when she saw it coming. She exclaimed in surprise, "Big Yellow, you're here! Is Uncle Cheng here?"
She straightened up, holding the harvested rice and sickle in one hand and wiping the sweat from her forehead with the other. Her bright eyes searched for the old postman's figure on the mountain path.
When she saw a young, beautiful, and slender woman carrying a mailbag walking down the mountain, the girl was stunned for a moment.
She put down her work and ran towards Cheng Ying. Standing in front of Cheng Ying, she looked her up and down for a while before reaching out to take the mailbag from Cheng Ying's back. "You're Uncle Cheng's eldest daughter, aren't you? I remember you. When you were little, you came to our village with Uncle Cheng to deliver mail. You stayed at my house with Uncle Cheng back then. We shared a room and a bed. My name is Chen Ling. We have the same surname but different given names, and we get along very well."
Her words reminded Cheng Ying. Looking at Chen Ling's pretty face, which was as red as an apple, Cheng Ying smiled and called out, "Lingling, it's you! I was wondering why Da Huang went straight down the mountain to get close to you. So it was you here."
Chen Ling's father, Chen Ding, originally had no connection with Cheng Jiantong. When Cheng Jiantong first ran this postal route and came to Ma'an Village to deliver letters to the villagers, one of Chen Ling's uncles' hunting dogs saw a stranger enter the village and rushed up to attack Cheng Jiantong. One of the dogs bit Cheng Jiantong's leg, causing him to bleed a lot.
The Chen family apologized for a long time. When they learned that he was a postman delivering mail, they took him to Chen Ding, who had learned some barefoot medicine and was the only barefoot doctor's apprentice in Ma'anshan Village, for treatment to stop the bleeding and bandage the wound.
After a brief treatment, the two chatted and Cheng Jiantong learned that he and Chen Ding had the same surname but different characters, and were about the same age. Chen Ding had also studied at a school in town before, but in different classes. Cheng Jiantong felt that the two were destined to meet and that's how they came together.
Chen Ding was a kind-hearted man. He felt that Cheng Jiantong had caused an injury to a postman because of his uncle's hunting dog. Cheng Jiantong did not want his uncle to pay money or apologize. He thought Cheng Jiantong was a very good person. From then on, he allowed Cheng Jiantong to stay at his house every time he delivered mail to Ma'anshan, and have dinner and breakfast there without paying.
Chen Ding was a barefoot doctor. Villagers would come to him for treatment if they had a headache or fever. After the treatment, those with money would give him money, and those without money would give him various coupons or some fruits and vegetables they grew themselves.
He also often went up the mountain to pick some medicinal herbs to exchange for money at the medicinal herb purchasing shop in town. His family was relatively well-off, and it wouldn't be a problem for them to have an extra person occasionally for a couple of meals.
Cheng Jiantong did postpone it, but since the route he was on to deliver mail took a long time and he did need to find lodging along the way, he didn't postpone it any further.
Chen Ding has three daughters and one son. Chen Ling is Chen Ding's eldest daughter, and Cheng Jiantong has watched her grow up. Every year on Chen Ling's birthday, Cheng Jiantong would buy her some small trinkets such as hair ties and mirrors as birthday gifts, treating her like a daughter.
Chen Ling liked Cheng Jiantong very much. Every time she saw Cheng Jiantong delivering mail to the village, she would warmly welcome him.
When Cheng Ying was a child, she followed Cheng Jiantong to run mail and stayed at the Chen family's house. She got along very well with Chen Ling. The main reason was that Cheng Ying was two years older than Chen Ling. Chen Ling was just like her, not only was she good-looking, but she also had her own opinions and temper. They were both the eldest children in their families and had to shoulder everything.
Both of their grandparents were sexist and favored boys over girls. They suffered a lot of mistreatment from their grandparents when they were young. The two hit it off immediately and felt like they had known each other for a long time.
The two little girls kept complaining about each other's grandparents, even though they slept in the same room and in the same bed.
After a night, the two women came to regard each other as sisters. Unfortunately, Cheng Ying never accompanied Cheng Jiantong to Ma'an Village again, and Ma'an Village was too far from the town. Chen Ling and her father rarely went to the town market, and when they did, they would rush home. As a result, the two girls did not see each other for more than nine years.
However, Chen Ling would often ask Cheng Jiantong about Cheng Ying's situation. After all, no matter how many children in the village were her age, Cheng Ying was the only one who shared her ideals and common interests. She regarded Cheng Ying as a sister and naturally wanted to know many things about Cheng Ying.
Chen Ling took Cheng Ying's parcel so familiarly, making Cheng Ying very uncomfortable: "Lingling, I can carry the parcel myself, you don't need to help me."
“It’s alright. In previous years, when your dad delivered mail to our village, Da Huang would always find me working in the fields, and I would help Uncle Cheng carry the mailbag to make things easier for him. You’ve been running up the mountain roads all day and carrying the mailbag all day, aren’t you tired?”
Chen Ling deftly took the mailbag off Cheng Ying's back, put it on her own, and affectionately took Cheng Ying's hand, calling out towards the terraced field where they had been working: "Dad, look who's here?"
A middle-aged man, about forty-seven or forty-eight years old, wearing a gray-white stand-up collar short-sleeved shirt, with a tanned face but fairly regular features, put down the rice he had just finished threshing and looked up at Chen Ling.
Seeing a young woman standing next to her wearing a green postal worker's uniform and a green wide-brimmed hat with a red five-pointed star, whose features looked somewhat familiar, she couldn't help but pause for a moment, "Who is she...?"
“This is Cheng Ying, Uncle Cheng’s eldest daughter. When she was little, she came to our village with Uncle Cheng to deliver a letter and stayed at our house for one night. Don’t you remember?” Chen Ling led Cheng Ying to the edge of the field not far from him.
Chen Ding suddenly realized, "Oh, it was her."
Cheng Ying greeted him with a smile, "Uncle Chen, it's been a long time. I'll be staying at your house tonight, I'm sorry to bother you."
“Oh, don’t bother me. Your dad has been staying at my house for over twenty years. We’re as close as brothers. Now that you’ve become a postman and taken over his job, you’re practically my daughter. From now on, you can stay at my house when you’re delivering mail. Don’t be shy, just make yourself at home.”
Chen Ding had heard about Cheng Jiantong's situation. When Cheng Jiantong was hospitalized, he brought him some ointment and medicine packets that he had made himself, so that he could take the medicine he had prepared and perhaps he would get better.
When he saw Cheng Ying appear in her postman uniform, he already guessed what had happened. Without Cheng Ying explaining, he knew that Cheng Jiantong was probably in a bad situation, which was why Cheng Ying had taken over his postman job, following in her father's footsteps and taking up this postal route.
After saying that, Chen Ding put down his work and called out to a short man in his thirties in a terraced field not far away: "Third brother, it's getting dark. We have guests at home. Lingling and I are going home early to entertain them. Don't let Lingling and me lose work points later."
The third brother he called was the scorekeeper of their brigade. In addition to his regular work, he was also responsible for recording the work points of the members of their brigade.
If members need to leave the work area early, they will inform him. In cases like Chen Ding and his daughter, who can finish work in half an hour, the scorekeeper usually will not deduct work points. However, if they leave after half an hour, work points will be deducted.
The third son exclaimed, "Is this the new postman? Does he have any mail for my house?"
Villagers working on the nearby terraced fields also asked, "Are there any mail or packages for my family?"
Cheng Ying replied, "Fellow villagers, don't worry. I'll go to the village committee in a little while. If you have any mail or packages, you can come and take them. If you don't have any, they might be delivered next time. If you have difficulty walking and can't come to the village committee to pick up your mail, I'll deliver it to your door."
The village committee is located behind a bamboo forest halfway up the mountain. After finishing their work, villagers return their farm tools to the farm tool storage room at the village committee.
In previous years, Cheng Jiantong would also go to the village committee overnight after arriving in Ma'anshan to distribute mail to the villagers who had finished their work.
If there are elderly people or other people with mobility issues in the village who have difficulty coming to the village committee to pick up mail or packages, he will personally deliver them to their door.
The villagers were used to Cheng Jiantong's approach, so when Cheng Ying said this, everyone responded, "Okay, I'll go to the village committee to find you in a bit and see if my eldest daughter has written me a letter."
Chen Ding led his daughter and Cheng Ying back to his home. Da Huang often went to his house and knew where it was. It would run happily along the ridge in front of the field, occasionally looking back to see if they were following. Occasionally, it would jump off the ridge and chase a flock of sparrows eating rice in the unharvested, waist-high golden rice fields, scaring the sparrows away in a flurry.
Seeing this, Cheng Ying couldn't help but shout, "Dahuang, don't jump into other people's fields! Be careful not to trample the rice and bury the ears of rice in the ground!"
When it's harvest season, the water in the terraced fields is drained in advance to make it easier for villagers to harvest and thresh the rice.
The unharvested terraced fields had a lot of water, and rice paddy fish were being raised in them. Da Huang ran and jumped around in the field twice, and his limbs and body were covered with a lot of yellow mud, making him look dirty.
With the rice harvest approaching in other villages, Cheng Ying was worried that Dahuang would crush the rice in those villages, making it wet and difficult to cut and harvest, and that people would scold it.
Chen Ding chuckled and said, "It's alright, Da Huang knows what it's doing. It won't knock over the rice. It's just like the dogs your dad used to raise; they're all very obedient and sensible."
Chen Ling also said, "Sister Xiaoying, everyone in our village knows Dahuang. Everyone likes it very much because when it comes, it means the postman has come to deliver mail. Even if it knocks over some rice, the villagers won't blame it."
The villagers were so tolerant of Dahuang not only because it was the dog of postman Cheng Jiantong and was obedient and sensible, but also because Ma'an Village was located deep in the mountains, where it was usually too quiet and there was nothing new to see. The few dogs kept by the scattered households in the village were too fierce and would bite people, which frightened everyone.
Unlike Big Yellow, anyone can pet its head as long as they don't have malicious intent towards it or bully its owner.
It has a very good temper and won't suddenly bark or yell to scare children. Many elderly people and children in the village like it and are very tolerant of it.
Upon hearing this, Cheng Ying breathed a sigh of relief and said nothing more. She followed Chen Ding and his daughter, walking along the winding ridges of the fields and then along a stone-paved path, until they arrived at the Chen family's house.
The Chen family's house is located halfway up the mountain, not far from the village committee. It is a stone house built of gray and white mountain stones, with four rooms, a hall, and a large courtyard.
As the three entered the courtyard, Cheng Ying saw a dozen or so large bamboo winnowing baskets filled with various medicinal herbs that Chen Ding had picked.
A clothesline stretched across the middle of the yard, with clothes hanging out to dry. Peanuts and soybeans lay drying on the ground beside it. In the corner of the yard, an old hen led a brood of half-grown chicks, clucking and chirping as they returned to their coop in the corner to sleep.
In the courtyard, a middle-aged woman, about forty-five years old, wearing a light gray diagonal-front short-sleeved blouse, sat under the eaves, kneading the scattered soybeans in a bamboo basket.
Beside her sat a little boy, a little over a year old, with his hair shaved off except for the area around his fontanelle, his bottom bare, sitting on the ground next to her, chewing on something and babbling incessantly.
Beside them sat two pretty little girls, aged 15 and 8, who looked quite alike, sitting on a bench in the yard, sewing multi-layered sole shoes.
Seeing Chen Ding and the other two enter the yard, and Da Huang running into the yard, the little boy excitedly made babbling noises and crawled towards Da Huang on all fours to grab its tail.
Big Yellow wagged its tail at him, letting his little hand grab it. Even though it hurt, it didn't make a sound and just endured it obediently.
The middle-aged woman and the two little girls looked up together and saw that it was Chen Ding and his daughter returning, followed by a young woman in a mail carrier's uniform whom they didn't recognize. Chen Ling's mother, Yu Guizhi, quickly put down her work, stood up, and came out to greet them. "Honey, you're finishing work so early today? Is it because of this woman?"
Chen Ding nodded, put down the hoe on his shoulder, and pointed to Cheng Ying, introducing her to Yu Guizhi: "You know, Old Cheng was pushed down the mountain by his eldest nephew and became paralyzed on one side. This is his eldest daughter, Cheng Ying, the one who was in the army. She has now come back to take over Old Cheng's job. From now on, she will be the one to deliver the mail for our village."
Yu Guizhi looked at Cheng Ying curiously. "No wonder she looked familiar. She looks just like me, as beautiful as a camellia in the mountains, bright and charming, a real beauty. But you're a young woman who took over your father's job as a postman, running such difficult mountain roads, aren't you tired? Come on, don't just stand there, sit down and rest."
The following words were spoken to Cheng Ying, her eyes filled with uncontrollable heartache.
Yu Guizhi is a kind-hearted person who treats Cheng Ying like her own daughter, caring for and cherishing her.
Behind her stood her two daughters. The older one looked frail and sickly, but she was very perceptive and handed Cheng Ying a stool, gesturing for Cheng Ying to sit down.
The smaller one stared at Cheng Ying with wide, curious eyes.
Feeling a warm current flow through Cheng Ying's heart at the praise and care she received. She thanked Chen Ying, the second oldest among the family, who had brought the stool. Sitting down on the stool, she looked up and smiled at Yu Guizhi, saying, "Aunt Yu, it's been a long time! You're still so young and beautiful, exactly as I remember you. Being a postman is alright. Today was my first time delivering mail, so it was a bit tiring, but I'll get used to it after a while, and it won't be too tiring."
"You little rascal, you've become much sweeter-tongued than when you were little." Yu Guizhi wasn't particularly pretty, but she had regular features, a delicate face, and skin that was fairer than the average peasant woman.
She has a very gentle personality. In addition, Chen Ding felt sorry for her because she had given birth to her youngest son and was still breastfeeding. He didn't let her go to work in the fields, so she stayed at home to recuperate for the past two years. She just looks much younger than her peers.
Hearing Cheng Ying praise her like that, Yu Guizhi was very happy. She pointed at Chen Ying and said, "Yingying, go and pour your sister Xiaoying a bowl of cold water to drink."
Then, pointing to her eight-year-old daughter, Chen Yue, she said, "Yue'er, you and your older sister take the bamboo baskets and go to our paddy field to catch some big rice paddy fish. Mom will make grilled fish and sour soup fish for us later."
The village has many terraced fields, and each household is allocated some small plots of land on the edge of the terraces for the villagers to grow their own food.
Many villagers raise fish fry when they grow rice in their private plots. When the rice ripens, the rice paddy fish, which eat rice scraps and rice flowers, grow very plump. After the rice is harvested, they can catch fish to reward their families who have worked hard for half a year.
Cheng Ying quickly stood up and said, "Auntie, there's no need to go to so much trouble. I've already eaten the pancakes. You don't need to make anything special for me."
“Your dry flatbread won’t fill you up. It’s rare for you to come to my house, so if I don’t cook something nice for you, your Uncle Chen will blame me for neglecting you. You should rest now, I’ll have the food ready in a bit.” Yu Guizhi said as she went to the kitchen to start a fire and cook.
Chen Ding took the sickle from Chen Ling's hand. He was about to carry the hoe and sickle to the village committee headquarters to return the farm tools when he heard this. He said, "Xiao Ying, you should rest well. You've walked all day on the mountain road. You must be very tired. Let your aunt and the others do their work. After we finish eating, I'll take you to the village committee to deliver mail to everyone."
Since he had said so, Cheng Ying could only go along with him. However, she didn't stay idle. She stayed in the kitchen, helping Yu Guizhi wash and chop vegetables and tend the fire.
Dinner was ready quickly and the meal was very plentiful. In addition to Yu Guizhi taking out the cured pork that her family was reluctant to eat and stir-frying it with wild scallions, she also took two fish weighing more than two pounds each, put some peppercorns and chili powder on the fish, grilled them over charcoal until they sizzled and dripped with oil, and put them on a plate. She also stir-fried eggs with chili peppers, two vegetable dishes, and finally a pot of Yu Guizhi's specialty, sour soup rice paddy fish.
The sour soup rice paddy fish dish contained a lot of pickled vegetables, pickled radishes, pickled chili peppers, pickled ginger, etc., which Yu Guizhi had made herself, along with the leftover tofu she made yesterday and some seasonal vegetables, making the sour soup fish dish.
The fish was a mix of carp and grass carp, sliced and cooked together. The fish slices were large and thin, curling up at the edges after a short time of cooking. The snow-white fish meat was tender and delicious, with a rich aroma of pickled cabbage. There was no fishy smell at all, and the aftertaste was slightly spicy and numbing. The soup base was milky white, with no visible chili peppers. It was delicious and went well with rice. The sour soup was also very appetizing. Cheng Ying ate two bowls of corn rice and drank two bowls of sour soup before finally putting down her chopsticks.
After dinner, it was completely dark.
Chen Ding lit an old-fashioned kerosene lamp with a glass shade, and carrying the lamp, led Cheng Ying to the village committee headquarters in the pitch-black night.
Da Huang and Chen Ling followed Cheng Ying, walking with her towards the brigade headquarters.
When they arrived at the brigade headquarters, most of the villagers were already waiting inside. Apart from about ten people who came to collect their letters and packages, the rest of them, like the villagers of Aimen Village, were there to watch the excitement.
News of Cheng Jiantong's accident has spread to several villages along the postal route he travels, and the villagers already know that Cheng Jiantong's eldest daughter has taken his place at work.
Everyone wanted to see what Cheng Ying looked like, whether she looked the same as the Cheng Ying they had seen when she was a child, and they were also curious about where she, a young girl and a woman, got the courage to run alone on the mountain road with a dog.
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