The days slipped by quietly amidst the daily farm work.
The rice has turned from green to a heavy yellow.
It's harvest season again.
With the arrival of Hua Mei this year, Fang Shugen's family has gained another valuable source of labor.
Every time they were almost done working, Fang Shugen's mother would say she was going home to cook, always asking Hua Mei to stay in the fields and work with Fang Shugen for a little longer.
Hua Mei was much more comfortable working in the fields with Shu Gen than at home with her mother; her brows were more relaxed.
As soon as Fang Shugen's mother left, Fang Shugen looked at Hua Mei and asked, "Hua Mei, are you tired? Why don't you rest for a bit?"
Hua Mei shook her head, bent down again, and with her left palm facing inward, she gathered several rice stalks in front of her, grasping the middle and lower sections. With her right hand holding a sickle, she pulled diagonally along the rice stalks below her left hand, and the rice was snapped clean at the root.
Then, with a flick of his wrist, he tossed the cut rice behind him.
After the autumn harvest comes the day to hand over the grain to the state.
Fang Shugen packed the dried rice into sacks and, together with Hua Mei, lifted them onto the cart.
Fang Shugen pulled the cart, with Hua Mei supporting it from behind. When they encountered an uphill section, she would stick her butt out and push hard.
The large iron gate of the grain depot was wide open, and the cement ground of the threshing ground was covered with golden rice, like a thick carpet.
The men carried sacks toward the scale, the corners of the sacks scraping the ground.
The steward, wearing a blue cloth jacket, squatted beside the scales, his pencil scratching across the ledger.
With a "whoosh," the sack was opened, the foreman rummaged through the pile of rice, grabbed a handful, held it up to the sun, checked the plumpness of the grains, and tossed it onto the scale: "Pass!"
Upon hearing that their family's grain had been harvested, Fang Shugen and Hua Mei relaxed their tense shoulders.
After delivering the grain to the state, any surplus grain could be sold to the grain depot.
Fang Shugen made 20 yuan on this trip.
"Let's go buy two bowls of wontons."
"Mmm!" Flower Girl happily followed the tree root above.
In the clear soup, a dozen or so wontons are squeezed together in the bowl, their thin, translucent wrappers encasing pinkish-white meat filling, with glimpses of green scallions mixed in.
The soup base was simmering with chopped pickled mustard greens, and the aroma made one's mouth water.
Fang Shugen took a spoon and gently scooped a few times from the bottom of Hua Mei's bowl.
"There's lard underneath; it'll make it even more fragrant when mixed in."
Hua Mei looked at the wontons in her bowl, then took the bowl next to Fang Shugen's bowl and scooped a few into Fang Shugen's bowl.
“You eat it, I have some.” Fang Shugen tried to scoop it back.
Hua Mei hurriedly covered the rim of the bowl with her hand, her eyes filled with stubbornness.
Fang Shugen smiled at her and nodded, "Okay, I'll eat."
Next to the small restaurant is a supply and marketing cooperative.
Fang Shugen glanced at the shoes on Hua Mei's feet; there was a patch on the front, and the edges were frayed.
"Come on, I'll buy you a pair of shoes after we sell the grain today."
"No, no," Hua Mei whispered in response.
Hua Mei doesn't interact much with outsiders; she only says a few words in front of Fang Shugen.
"Let's go!" Fang Shugen ignored her and pulled her straight to the supply and marketing cooperative.
Fang Shugen picked up a pair of maroon velvet-soled shoes. "Do you like these?"
Hua Mei glanced at the bright colors and nodded slightly.
The salesperson picked out the shoes according to the size and handed them to me, saying, "Here, try them on."
Hua Mei carefully put her foot in, slowly settling it in, looked down left and right, and slightly raised the corners of her mouth.
"Is the size right? Then these are the ones."
Hua Mei smiled and nodded emphatically.
Fang Shugen paid 3.85 yuan, wrapped the shoes in paper, and handed them to Hua Mei.
The cart heading back was now only filled with empty sacks of rice.
"Get in, I'll take you back." Fang Shugen flattened the sack in the truck bed.
Hua Mei hesitated beside him, holding the shoes, shifting her feet slightly before stopping.
Fang Shugen held Hua Mei's arm, trying to help her up.
Hua Mei bent down, held onto the edge of the car, and sat down.
The handcart made a rumbling sound as it rolled over the gravel road.
Hua Mei sat in the back of the truck, clutching her newly bought cloth shoes tightly in her arms. The edges of the paper wrapping weren't sealed properly, and she would peek at the shoes through the gaps from time to time, then quickly hug them to her chest as if they were some kind of treasure.
Fang Shugen pulled the cart in front, while Hua Mei sat with her back to him, but she would occasionally turn her head to look at his back, her face revealing a joyful smile.
The sun hung low in the west, casting long shadows that swept across the grass along the farm road. The leftover rice stubble smelled fresh, mixed with the sweet, earthy scent of the loosened soil.
Fang Shugen's mother was already at home cooking dinner.
Hearing the noise at the door, he came out of the house to greet her. "Today..." Before he could finish speaking, he saw Hua Mei getting off the cart and his face immediately changed.
"Can't you walk? You have legs, right? The tree roots are working so hard during this busy farming season, and you're sitting on it expecting them to pull you along?"
Hua Mei ignored her and walked into her room with her new shoes.
"You're out of your mind, not your feet." Tree Root Mom wasn't finished speaking when she asked, "What are you holding in your arms?"
Tree Root Mom reached out to grab it, and Flower Girl was so frightened that she dodged to the side, but one of her shoes was still torn off, leaving a gray mark on the ground from the maroon corduroy upper.
Fang Shugen quickly stepped in, "Mom, Hua Mei doesn't have anything decent to her name after she married into the family. She's very hardworking at home and does all kinds of chores. Let's buy her a new pair of shoes after we sell the grain."
"Do I have anything decent? Do I do housework? Your father passed away early, and it wasn't easy for me to raise you. Now that you have a wife... Oh God, why am I so unlucky!"
Fang Shugen's mother slapped her thigh and cried out at the door.
Hua Mei picked up the shoes from the ground and gently brushed off the dust with her hands, but tears fell "plop" onto the maroon cloth, spreading a small dark stain.
"You're crying and acting all wronged? You vixen, you go to bed early at night and seduce my son! I had to drag you back during the busy farming season. What did you do that made you so tired? I sold some money and I have to buy you things. Are you really crazy or just pretending?"
The more Tree Root's mother cursed, the angrier she became. She grabbed a broom and started hitting Flower Girl with it.
Hua Mei neither dodged nor made a sound; she simply hunched her shoulders, lowered her head, and tightly hugged her shoes to her chest.
Fang Shugen was sweating profusely with anxiety. He grabbed his mother's arm, "Mom! What are you doing! I'll buy you an even better pair!"
His mother wouldn't listen. "Buy it? How much money do you have to buy it?" His mother's eyes darted around and she looked at the shoes in Hua Mei's hand.
"I don't like this color. You can take it and exchange it for a pair of black ones."
Hua Mei stared wide-eyed and hugged the shoes in her hands even tighter.
"Mom, I sold them for fifteen yuan. These shoes cost three yuan. I need to keep some to buy pesticides. You can have the remaining five yuan, okay?"
“You got more than she did,” Fang Shugen added.
"I'm still cooking in the pot." Upon hearing this, Fang Shugen's mother stopped cooking and hurriedly ran to the kitchen.
Fang Shugen pulled Hua Mei into the room, took out money from his pocket, pulled out a 5-yuan note and stuffed it under the pillow, then took out another 5-yuan note and put it in his other pocket.
Hua Mei touched the shoe that had fallen on the ground again and again, then carefully wrapped it back in the paper.
"Alright, let's go eat," Fang Shugen called to her.
I put the shoes in the cabinet, walked to the door, and looked back one last time.
Hua Mei stepped out the door, hesitated, and dared not walk into the kitchen.
Fang Shugen patted his pocket, "I'll give my mother the money later and everything will be fine."
Only then did Hua Mei move her feet.
When they got to the kitchen, Fang Shugen took out five yuan from his pocket. "Mom, take this money. Go buy whatever you want."
Fang Shugen's mother snatched the money, rolled her eyes at Hua Mei, and said, "You spendthrift woman, don't go to town with me anymore."
Hua Mei, like a child who had made a mistake, lowered her head and ate her meal silently.
During the meal, Fang Shugen's mother would occasionally look at her with disgust.
After finishing her meal, Hua Mei used a gourd ladle to scoop water into a pot, preparing to wash the dishes later.
Fang Shugen's mother was still eating at the table. "Is it too late? Can't you see I haven't finished eating? What are you trying to do by rushing to wash the dishes?"
Hua Mei's hand froze on the water ladle. She stood by the stove, unable to move or retreat, as if she were nailed to the spot.
"Mom, she didn't wash, she just put the water on."
"You're taking her side now."
Hua Mei stood frozen by the stove.
Seeing that she was frightened by her own actions, Fang Shugen's mother looked smugly at the bowl and deliberately slowed down her eating.
After she finished eating, Hua Mei washed the dishes and tidied up the kitchen.
Start boiling water; it's getting cold, so add some hot water when you take a bath.
"Hua Mei, burn less, I can wash it with water," Fang Shugen called out.
“You can’t wash with cold water now, you need to use hot water. When you have time, ask Hua Mei to go up the mountain to chop some firewood. We need to stock up on firewood for the New Year.”
Fang Shugen's mother wouldn't feel sorry for Hua Mei's strength.
Before Hua Mei could even get to her room after finishing her work, Fang Shugen's mother called her back.
"Hua Mei, wash the clothes tonight, we need to cut pig feed first thing tomorrow morning."
Hua Mei came back to wash clothes again.
“Shugen, my daughter and I have been so busy lately that we haven’t had a proper chat. Now that we have some free time, let’s talk to each other.”
Fang Shugen was taken aback. They saw each other every day and lived under the same roof. Why did they have to say anything now?
But he still sat down next to his mother and listened to her rambling.
Hua Mei washed the clothes and returned to her room. She took out her new shoes, put her feet in, gave them a thumbs-up, and bent over to look at them from left to right.
He walked around the room a few more times.
Hearing a noise outside the door, she hurriedly took off her shoes, patted the soles together, and then put them back on.
Hua Mei took off her coat and lay down in bed. She glanced at the door; Fang Shugen hadn't come over yet.
“Shugen,” Fang Shugen’s mother glanced into their room, “Hua Mei went to her room so early, is there any sign of pregnancy in her belly?” Fang Shugen’s mother asked Fang Shugen.
"It seems not yet."
"It can't be another one that doesn't lay eggs?" Tree Root Mom became a little worried.
"Is she obedient to everyone now?" Fang Shugen's mother raised her eyelids and glanced at Fang Shugen.
"Mother, please don't ask about these things."
"If I don't ask? He's been coming to my room this early every night for months now, how can I not ask?"
"The doctor said last time that if you can't get pregnant for one to two years, you can go for a checkup to see if there is a problem. Hua Mei has only been here for a few months."
"It's because we listened to the doctor. We've been eating our food for so many years without laying any eggs, and he's still dragging your age out to this point."
Fang Shugen's mother looked at Fang Shugen's room again.
"Go to sleep."
Fang Shugen immediately got up and went to the room.
Watching Fang Shugen push open the door and go inside, and then seeing that the lights in their room were turned off, Fang Shugen's mother sighed deeply, hunched over, and hung her head.
A year or two after Fang Shugen's father passed away, some people introduced her to potential partners.
However, none of the families she had spoken to wanted her to bring Fang Shugen along, and she couldn't bear to abandon him, so she didn't remarry.
Later, Fang Shugen got married, and she also got older.
As soon as Fang Shugen lay down in bed, Hua Mei hugged him and pressed her body close to his.
This was the first time Hua Mei had ever hugged him on her own initiative.
Fang Shugen's Adam's apple bobbed, and a fire seemed to ignite in his heart.
In the darkness, he couldn't wait to take off his own and Hua Mei's clothes...
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