A century of poverty

Chapter 44 Be Kind and Honest

My aunt's daughter, "Li Xian," was born in the same year as me in 1963, and she was born two months later.

My aunt's family had a "surrogate son" two months before me.

My eldest sister's firstborn daughter, "Yanmei," was born six months later.

In 1964, my aunt's family welcomed another daughter, "Daiying".

In 1965, the family welcomed a new baby boy, "Shuanglai." My eldest sister also had a daughter, "Yanwen." When the three of them came back to live with us, the house felt noticeably cramped.

The fourth sister, Qiulian, didn't remember her eldest sister and asked her mother, "Mom, why does she call you 'Mom'?"

Mom: "Are you crazy? She's your older sister, it doesn't matter what I call her, Mom!"

Father decided to tear down that old, dilapidated outbuilding and build three west wing rooms in front of the main house. He was an expert at building houses. There wouldn't be a shortage of stones inside or outside the yard, and one kiln of lime would be enough. They could raise money to buy purlins, rafters, and so on. The children were growing up one after another; they wouldn't have to worry about even a little famine.

In the spring of 1968, the old outbuilding in the southeast corner of the yard was demolished, the site was cleared, and usable and unusable materials were gathered together before the foundation was dug.

Many people came from the village. Aunt Daiying, seeing the excitement, also came to play. Her shoe was scraped off by a stone. She hobbled along, carrying a pig-shaped shoe with two big ears on the back, searching through the crowd. Finally, she came to her father and said in a childish voice, "Uncle, put my shoes on for me." Then she handed the shoe to her father.

The father put down his trowel and helped his third niece put on her shoes. The people around him laughed and said, "She's so young, yet she knows where she's from! She's looking for her 'big dad' and not anyone else."

Those who come to help are all kind-hearted, and to express our gratitude, we always try our best to make the food the best it can be.

The second sister helped Mom with chores inside and outside. When it was time to eat, the whole yard was filled with delicious aromas. Since they rarely had oily food, the smells whetted their appetites. The little brother, Shuanglai, who was still unsteady on his feet, saw the table full of delicious food, put his hands on the door frame, and lifted his thin legs to step over the threshold and go inside.

The second sister picked him up and pointed to the table: "This is for the workers. We'll eat after they've finished." She then carried him aside and told the fourth sister to watch him and not let him go over there again. The innocent little brother repeated, "I'll eat after he finishes eating, I'll eat after he finishes eating."

After the three side rooms were completed, my second sister moved in to live in the south room. Although it was a side room, the south room had a large south window, which was well-ventilated and well-lit, and was no worse than the main room.

Seeing the new wing room built here, the aunt from the west side of the alley came over to look around, and Mom accompanied her, talking as they looked. The aunt looked around and finally stopped at the south wing room: "Hmm—it's good to have a window in this south room, it'll be so bright!" Seeing a bundle of luggage on the kang (heated brick bed), she asked, "Who lives in this room?" As she spoke, she touched the kang: "This kang is so warm." Mom replied, "Chunlian lives on this kang, feeding the pigs, boiling water, doing chores, etc. There are so many of us, it's always warm."

Aunt: "It would be great if my second aunt could come and stay too. It would keep her second granddaughter company and save her from always sleeping on the same kang (heated brick bed) with you, which is so inconvenient."

The mother lowered her head and remained silent. How could she not want her mother-in-law to come and keep her daughter company on this kang (heated brick bed)? But she could only think about it secretly and couldn't reveal it. If she dared to say that she wanted her mother-in-law to live in this room, that would be terrible.

The garden outside the west wing belonged to the eldest aunt's family on the north side and the old aunt's family on the south side. At that time, there were still two west wing rooms in the south side, where Xiao Lin's family lived. Xiao Lin's mother was old and sick, coughing all night. Xiao Lin's sister-in-law and five daughters lived there. Xiao Lin's brother was not at home, working as a laborer. He was deeply moved by witnessing his father building two houses.

She came over to her father and apologized: "Uncle, I was ignorant a few years ago. When I was working at the cooperative, I didn't take care of my sister and always bullied her."

Father: "You were young then, and now that you've come to admit your mistakes, I don't blame you."

Xiaolin: "I need to ask you for a favor, Uncle. My brother isn't home, and we don't have a place to live. It's not good to keep borrowing places to stay. We're thinking of building a house. Can you help me with some planning?"

Dad patiently told him that he had to talk to the team leader first and ask him to approve a place for him. Then he could prepare the materials and put them there. Once the materials were ready, he could find someone to start construction.

Xiao Lin did as his father instructed during the day and would come to report back at night, asking for advice on what to do next. For two months, apart from his father helping him at the market during the day, his father came almost every night, burning through several jars of lamp oil for his affairs.

The commune members worked during the day and studied Chairman Mao's quotations at night, with each person having a copy of the Little Red Book.

By this time, my second sister had become a skilled worker in the production team. She wasn't afraid of hardship or fatigue, always taking on the heaviest tasks. She carried water to plant sweet potatoes and climbed trees to harvest walnuts. She was adept at everything, both on and off the floor. She was decisive and efficient, and had a particularly strong voice—a beautiful singing voice. The deputy team leader, Uncle Zhang Jingtang, lived relatively close to the team headquarters, so my second sister would often visit him if she went to work early. This uncle was very honest, but his wife was quite outspoken and straightforward. She often disapproved of her daughter's lack of ambition, pointing at my second sister and saying, "Zhang Chunlian, I'm supporting your education, so I'm sending you to earn work points for your family. Aren't you short of work points?" Her words revealed her fondness for my second sister. My second sister smiled without saying a word.

My second sister is an adult now. She's not only a skilled worker, but she also excels at everything. Although she's uneducated, she has a great voice, which led to her being recruited into the propaganda team. Following her father's instructions, she is kind and hardworking.

Zhang Shengsheng, a member of the team, was high-profile and went too far. He did things that displeased the villagers and aroused the dissatisfaction of many people. He also took the opportunity to steal a pair of "bold bottles" that his sister-in-law had given his mother as part of her dowry when she got married. Some of the older children watched as Zhang Shengsheng and his accomplices smashed all the porcelain they had taken on the stones on the west slope of Beiyuanzi, on the roadside leading to the brigade.

Sure enough, there were many more colorful porcelain shards there. Elementary school children would come here after school to find the colorful porcelain shards to play with and compare whose was the prettiest.

Someone came up with the idea of ​​making Zhang Fulin and Zhang Qiuye (Zhang Shengsheng's father), who had criminal records, parade around the village every morning. At first, they were guarded, but later, seeing that they behaved honestly, no one watched them anymore. But their shouts of confession and repentance to the villagers could not be stopped.

Early on, I heard Zhang Qiuye's voice coming from the direction of Xiaodongguan: "My name is Zhang Qiuye, Qiu as in autumn, Ye as in fallen leaves; his name is Zhang Fulin, Fu as in carrying, Lin as in forest, carrying fallen leaves into the forest—"

They even deliberately dragged out the "Lin" part. Zhang Qiuye called it once, and Zhang Fulin called it once, taking turns.

In the mornings, the children who were woken up by the "mute" knocking on their doors found it amusing and watched it like a show. Each time, five, seven, or eight children would follow behind the two, imitating their shouts as they walked. Whenever they shouted that the two had been knocked down, they would raise their arms and shout loudly, drawing out the "Lin" sound in their names.

Zhang Fulin had small eyes and was tall and thin. He raised his arm slightly, his voice was soft, and his face was gloomy.

Zhang Chunye, on the other hand, was of medium height, chubby with a ruddy complexion. He always had a loud voice and raised his arms forcefully. Sometimes, after shouting, he would knock himself down with a big smile on his face.

So the children who followed him also chanted his "lines" and imitated his mannerisms.

When they arrived at Xidang Street, they went over. Two old men squatting on the street corner chatted: "Zhang Fulin is a real fake village head, but Zhang Chunye is hardly a spy. He just ran a restaurant in Jinzhou for a few years."

"That silly boy Shengsheng offended someone, and they beat his father up as a spy."