Chapter 17 Not a Seed: "Then I am the mountain, through which all things pass..."
Actually, on the day their son-in-law coldly pulled his daughter and grandson away, Miao Laohan and Dai Fudi wanted to follow them to the Tonggan Production Team. But they thought that as parents, they had to bow their heads to their daughter, and they couldn't bring themselves to do so. So they kept putting it off, but no matter how long they waited, Miao Suyun never came back.
For the sake of their youngest son's future, Miao Laohan and Dai Fudi had no choice but to grit their teeth and visit him.
“My dear in-laws, I’ve wanted to come and apologize for a long time, but I haven’t had the time until now, as it’s busy with farming.” Miao Laohan knocked on Zhong Lao Er’s door with a smile on his face. “My wife doesn’t know how to talk. She upset the children. After Chengzi and Siya left, she was actually very upset and knew she had said the wrong thing.”
Dai Fudi also came to the doorway, smiling apologetically at Miao Suyun who was walking over, "It's my fault, I shouldn't have blurted things out without thinking. You silly girl, you even blame your mother, you haven't come home even once in all these days."
The initial apology quickly turned into condemnation.
Zhong Chunsheng was displeased with what he heard. He was still bothered by Dai Fudi's words that his wife was a "she-devil" and his daughter was a "jinx." He was unwilling to let the couple in and just gave them a vague answer, saying, "It's almost dark. The roads are not easy to walk at night, so I won't keep you any longer."
Dai Fudi quickly raised her hand and pressed it on the door panel that was about to close. "In-laws, I really know I did something wrong. So, to make amends, I have been inquiring about the unmarried young men in our Liwangou these days. There are a few that are really good. I've come to talk to you about it, and you two should also consider it and see which family would be suitable to marry your daughter to."
After she finished speaking, she saw that Zhong Chunsheng in front of her was not happy at all, but instead frowned. Dai Fudi knew that she had made another mistake.
“Let me be frank, my daughter Yingni is beautiful and has a good personality. Her mother and I have never thought about her marrying someone hastily, nor would we want her to marry someone far away.” Zhong Chunsheng said unhappily, “I won’t trouble you with my daughter’s affairs.”
Miao Laohan gave him a strange look. He couldn't believe that this Zhong Lao Er was someone who could lie through his teeth. He could admit that his daughter was good-looking, but good-natured? She inherited her mother's personality. Who in the surrounding area could praise her as "good"?
Seeing that she couldn't get anything out of Zhong Chunsheng, Dai Fudi turned to Miao Suyun and said, "Daughter, I only said the wrong thing because I was worried about you. Why don't you stand up for your own mother?"
Miao Suyun pursed her lips before speaking, "You should go back now, it's getting dark."
Neither Miao Laohan nor Dai Fudi expected that their daughter's words would be a disguised way of driving away the guests.
The two men couldn't do anything about Zhong Chunsheng, but surely they could handle their own daughter?
Miao Laohan gave Dai Fudi a wink.
Dai Fudi immediately raised her voice and wailed, "This mother has come to apologize to her daughter, but she can't even get through the door! What kind of logic is this?!"
Her shout attracted the attention of the surrounding villagers.
Dai Fudi felt even more morally superior and became even more unrestrained, plopping down on the ground and wailing, "You are a piece of my flesh, how come you've grown up and become estranged from your mother..."
Miao Suyun was so angry that her lips turned white. It was always like this; her mother would always suppress her like this.
As the father-in-law, and with his son often away from home, Zhong Chunsheng couldn't speak up for his daughter-in-law. He also had to respect the proper boundaries between men and women, so he couldn't go to help Dai Fudi, who had fallen to the ground. He could only anxiously look at Miao Laohan, "In-law, why don't you quickly help your wife up? She's so old, how can she be like this!"
Old Miao stood there with his hands clasped behind his back, looking troubled, without moving an inch.
Zhong Chunsheng glanced at Miao Suyun, who was being blamed, and then at Dai Fudi, who was sitting on the ground wailing without crying. He felt helpless.
Although everyone says his wife Deng Xia is a shrew, Zhong Chunsheng has never seen his wife sit on the ground like this, throwing a tantrum and acting like a rogue. Deng Xia would just stand there and curse the other person out.
Seeing his youngest son return with his grandson, Zhong Chunsheng immediately gave Zhong Xin a wink.
Upon receiving the signal, Zhong Xin pushed Xiao Guoqiang, whom he was holding, towards the doorway, while he himself quickly ran to the riverbank to find his mother and sister.
Deng Xia and Zhong Ying quickly returned with the unwashed clothes, accompanied by a "big tail." The nosy Hu Wenting and other women, men and children who had just finished bathing, all came to watch the excitement. Even that rascal Li Linshi came along.
At this moment, the "battle" had changed. Zhong Guoqiang, the little bean, was quite clever. He pretended to be frightened by his grandmother and cried in his high-pitched voice while rushing into his mother's arms for comfort.
The onlookers, who had been whispering and criticizing Miao Suyun for disrespecting her parents, now urged her to quickly soothe the child, warning her that such wailing might damage her voice and that their ears were also suffering.
Deng Xia threw the basin she was holding on the ground, rushed over and pulled Dai Fudi up, her hair standing on end in anger. She glared at her and said, "You, Dai Fudi, how dare you come to my doorstep and cause trouble? And what about that time when you called me a shrew behind my son's back? You just wait and see if this shrew can eat you up today!"
When Dai Fudi encountered the even more formidable Deng Xia, her earlier arrogance vanished by more than half, and she reverted to her cowering demeanor, "Dear in-laws, I came here today to apologize..."
Seeing her like this, Zhong Ying knew perfectly well that the one behind all the evil was still the man. He had long used accusations and reprimands to confine women to a limited, square space. The only chance for women to grow was to become puppets who stood out with tacit approval. Afterwards, people would only say bad things about women, while he would disappear without a trace.
“Uncle Miao,” Zhong Yingcai wouldn’t allow the man to remain anonymous and directly pointed out, “Don’t you have anything to say?”
In an instant, all eyes were on Miao Laohan, making him feel uneasy.
Deng Xia immediately shifted her focus, launching a tirade against Miao Laohan, "You coward who only knows how to hide behind women! You think you're so noble by blaming everything on your stupid wife? I don't believe the idea of causing a scene at my doorstep today wasn't yours!"
Miao Laohan's face turned ashen after his pretense was ripped off. His wife had only said "she-devil" and "jinx," but Deng Xia retorted without backing down, calling him "turtle son" and "stupid woman."
"Alright, alright, Uncle Miao, look at your face. I won't force you to say anything, or you'll get so anxious you won't be able to speak and will jump over the wall again." Zhong Ying said sarcastically, acting as if she were a magnanimous adult.
Miao Laohan could easily tell that the little girl was calling him a "dog." He pointed at her, his finger trembling with anger, "You, you..."
For a moment, he couldn't tell whether Deng Xia, who spoke frankly, was more infuriating, or Zhong Ying, who cursed indirectly. In short, both mother and daughter were extremely hateful!
Zhong Ying blinked innocently, "What did I say? I was just afraid you wouldn't be able to get into my house, so I climbed over the wall. No way, you don't really think that, do you?"
She immediately feigned nervousness, rushed to her front door, spread her arms wide, and declared with an air of unwavering resolve, "Today I will absolutely not let you into the house and hit my sister-in-law! She's not just your daughter, she's a woman of the Zhong family!"
Old Miao was so angry he was panting heavily. When did he ever say he was going to rush in and beat his daughter? This girl had said all the right and wrong things!
Zhong Xin gave him a pitying look from the side: Why did you provoke her?
"Alright, stop pretending. Everyone in the surrounding villages knows who you are. You two are not the kind of people who care about their daughters. You married off your eldest daughter to some remote mountain village for the sake of the bride price, and your second daughter married a widower ten years her senior. Even my family only gave ten yuan as a meeting gift and eighty yuan as an engagement gift, plus the cigarettes and alcohol that you, Miao Laohan, demanded, and the cloth coupons that you, Dai Fudi, asked for." Deng Xia didn't hold back in exposing their true colors. "I haven't seen any of that money used for your daughters. You demanded cloth coupons but didn't even make them a new dress!"
Deng Xia spat, "Raising a daughter just to sell her stuff, and you have the nerve to come here at this time to get a disguised sample!"
She grabbed a washing stick from the basin on the ground and waved it around to chase them away, saying, "I hate looking at you all, get out of here! Miao'er is my daughter now! Don't try to act all high and mighty like a parent!"
Dai Fudi panicked and hid behind Miao Laohan, and the couple retreated repeatedly.
Miao Laohan didn't dare to provoke Deng Xia, that tigress, so he could only bare his teeth and threaten the younger one, "You sharp-tongued girl, be careful you won't be able to get married! Let's see which man will want you!"
His words were met with Zhong Ying's indifferent shrug and Deng Xia's furious throwing of a stick.
Zhong Ying rolled her eyes and hugged herself tightly in a pretentious manner. "Oh, no man wants me? I'm so scared."
If you're not gentle enough, you might not be able to get married.
Being too thin suggests difficulty conceiving, and you might not be able to get married.
Being too fat isn't pretty; you might never be able to get married.
If you can't cook, you might never get married.
You have to be diligent and good at housework, otherwise you won't be able to get married...
Why are men so confident that they consider being willing to marry someone the greatest reward in the world, and being unwilling to marry someone the most severe punishment?
Miao Laohan's threats wouldn't frighten Zhong Ying; she would only find them laughable. No wonder he was a man; he was just like that decades ago, thinking himself the center of the universe and the end of the world.
"Get the hell out of here—"
Deng Xia roared with a powerful voice, driving away the Miao couple who had come to cause trouble.
The Zhong family closed their doors, and the onlookers dispersed.
Too lazy to go to the river again, Deng Xia instructed Zhong Chunsheng to pump water from the well in the yard to wash her clothes.
“Go and see your sister-in-law,” Deng Xia said, taking the basin from her daughter’s hand. “Even if she’s heartbroken, they are still her own parents. It’s understandable that she’s upset. You young people can talk things out together. Go and comfort your sister-in-law.”
Zhong Ying didn't refuse, "Okay."
Miao Suyun, who was pushed back to her room to rest by Deng Xia, sat on the edge of the bed in a daze until Zhong Ying pushed open the door and poked her head in.
Miao Suyun smiled knowingly and beckoned to her, "Come in."
Seeing his mother finally smile, Zhong Guoqiang finally breathed a sigh of relief and stopped cautiously observing her. "Then I'll go out and play with my uncle!"
Miao Suyun didn't stop him, letting the little boy run out of the house.
Zhong Ying didn't stand on ceremony and easily dragged over a stool to sit down. "My mother asked me to come and see you because she was afraid you were keeping your pain inside."
Miao Suyun's eyes welled up with tears. "I know everyone was protecting me. Dad stood in front of me at the door the whole time, my little brother ran to get help, and Guoqiang deliberately cried at the top of his lungs. You and Mom both spoke up for me when you came back... They say girls are like weeds, destined to grow strong in fertile soil, but suffering a lifetime in poor soil. I'm lucky to have been born into our family..."
A tear fell onto the back of her hand, blooming into tiny water droplets.
Soon, a slender hand covered her tears and grasped Miao Suyun's hand tightly and firmly. She looked up and saw Zhong Ying's solemn face. She was stunned and momentarily dazed. She seemed to see Zhong Cheng, who had become more resilient and upright through the military training.
“It’s not grass seeds,” Zhong Ying said earnestly. “We women are like wild grass, growing wildly wherever we are; we are the earth, bearing new fruit generation after generation in the soil; we are the sun at seven or eight in the morning, holding up half the sky.”
“If you see yourself as a seed buried in the soil, despising yourself, then you will be trampled on. But you can also see yourself as a wild grass that grows again in the spring breeze, or as a pine tree, the land, a fish swimming in the water, or a bird that can fly freely in the sky. These are all different states of mind. Sister-in-law, do you still see yourself as a seed?”
Miao Suyun was stunned. She wasn't a grass seed; she was...
“I am a cloud.” Miao Suyun smiled. “I have this character in my name, so I want to be a cloud that is free and unrestrained in the sky.”
Looking out the window at Ying Mountain, its outline blurred by the night, Zhong Ying blurted out, "Then I am the mountain. All things pass by, yet I stand tall and majestic."
The two girls exchanged a glance and burst out laughing.
Zhong Ying stood up and pulled Miao Suyun up as well. "Come on, sister-in-law, I think we need to have a family summary."
You did a fantastic job defending against the enemy this round; you deserve an MVP award.
Zhong Ying called her family to the main room and begged her mother to find brown sugar in the cupboard. Deng Xia reluctantly pinched off a small amount of brown sugar and mixed it into the thermos.
"Everyone did a great job today!" Zhong Ying shook the thermos to mix the brown sugar water inside.
Everyone else held their own cups, their eyes shining as they looked at her.
"Father did a good job, he defended the home." He prevented the enemy from crossing the enemy's minion wave and taking the tower.
Zhong Ying poured brown sugar water into the rough porcelain bowl in front of Old Man Zhong.
"Nobuko is also good; she called for reinforcements very promptly." Make good use of heroes.
Zhong Ying also poured a bowl of brown sugar water for her younger brother, Zhong Xin.
Then Zhong Ying poured herself and Deng Xia a full glass, saying, "My daughter and I work together very well."
One deals damage while the other taunts, maximizing the overall damage output.
Zhong Guoqiang stared longingly, then held out his enamel mug with the words "Serve the People" written on it, calling out like a little bird, "Auntie, Auntie, Auntie, and me too!"
Zhong Ying also poured him a full cup of brown sugar water, saying, "You're not bad either! Remember to protect your mother in the future."
Zhong Guoqiang couldn't help but straighten his little body, his innocent face beaming with excitement, "I learned it from my aunt!"
Zhong Ying said smugly, "Not bad, not bad—"
"Grandma said that when my aunt was little, she would cry and throw tantrums to stop the bad guys who were trying to coax my dad away!" Zhong Guoqiang said loudly.
Zhong Ying: ...
She glanced at her mother silently, wondering if it was really okay to teach her child this way.
Deng Xia looked at her rough porcelain bowl, then leaned over to look at the bowl in Zhong Chunsheng's hand. "Why do I feel that the sugar water in my bowl is a lighter color?"
He looked left and right, but avoided making eye contact with Zhong Ying.
Zhong Ying let the matter drop and poured Miao Suyun a cup of brown sugar water. "Sister-in-law, you said it was your good fortune to be born into my family, but I don't think that's entirely true. What outsiders say isn't entirely wrong either. My mother and I aren't good-tempered. If you were someone who held grudges and couldn't stand my mother's favoritism towards me, life in this family would be quite chaotic. Thank you for your tolerance, for tolerating my mother and me."
Miao Suyun shook her head quickly, holding the cup, "No, Mother is fine, and you are fine too."
“I really think it’s great. It lets me know that there are still mothers in this world who love their daughters and daughters who are open and say what they want. Unlike me, I don’t dare to say anything or ask for anything…” Miao Suyun choked up as she spoke.
Deng Xia picked up the porcelain bowl with a hearty laugh, "Alright, alright, we're family, no need for formalities. I'm speaking from the heart today. Over the years, I've long regarded you as my own daughter. Your mother may not love you, but I, your mother, do!"
Miao Suyun smiled and nodded, tears welling up in her eyes as the corners of her mouth turned up. The tears of sorrow and pain from the past had all been shed; now they were tears of joy.
"We don't have much wine, just brown sugar water. Please make do with this and toast to our family." After Zhong Ying finished speaking, everyone laughed, thinking she was just being witty. Only Zhong Ying knew that she was telling the truth.
The coarse porcelain bowl and the enamel cup collided together.
"Respect your family—"
Zhong Guoqiang was still young and didn't quite understand many things. He just felt a warm feeling in his heart and the brown sugar water he drank tasted especially sweet.
Zhong Ying drank most of the bowl of brown sugar water, leaving the rest for the big black dog that had been squatting by her legs waiting for a long time. The brown sugar dog also loved the sweet taste of the brown sugar water. It rolled its big tongue around and finished the water in a few bites, and even licked the bottom of the bowl with relish, which made Zhong Ying laugh.
Li Linshi, who had been neglected and ignored all along, looked at the lively and happy scene of this family and smiled gently, revealing the first knowing smile he had shown since his death.
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The author says: I hate the "grass seed theory" the most.
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