Reborn in 1966

Reborn in 1966

gaosping

·

Chapter One: The Shen Family

A clear sky after a snowfall on the North China Plain in winter, 1966.

The heavy snow fell for a night and a day, and finally the sky cleared. The small village seemed to be covered with a thick white quilt. The rooftops and the chicken coops and pigsties in the yards all looked like they were wearing white hats. Everything was covered up, and only this white expanse remained in the world.

A bright red sun hung in the west, casting a rosy glow on the knee-deep snow. Occasionally, people would come out of their thick cotton coats, hunching their shoulders, to sweep the snow in front of their yards. Others would be clearing snow from their roofs with tools. The snow on the ground was knee-deep, and the low thatched houses might collapse under the weight of the snow if it wasn't cleared.

In a courtyard house at the edge of the village, a boy of about fifteen or sixteen years old stood on the roof. He was thin and wore a cotton hat. He was pushing snow down with a long-handled wooden snowplow. In the courtyard, another boy of about eleven or twelve was leading a boy of about seven or eight years old and a little girl of about three years old to sweep snow.

At this moment, the thick cotton curtain of the east wing was suddenly lifted, and a grandmother in her sixties shouted to the boy on the roof: "Peihua, go and call your Aunt Hua. Tell her your mother is about to give birth, and be quick!" After saying this, the old woman flung the curtain down and went back into the room.

The boy called Peihua paused for a moment, then hurriedly climbed off the roof and ran into the village through the snow.

Seeing their grandmother's hurried and flustered appearance, the children in the courtyard followed her nervously into the east wing.

Upon entering the east wing, there is a large stove with a big iron pot on it, a small stove for stir-frying, and a stove for boiling water. Next to the stove is a door curtain covered with patches. Lifting the door curtain leads to the inner room.

The inner room had a large kang (heated brick bed) by the window, with a row of cabinets at the end of the kang. There was also a square wooden table in the corner with a long bench in front of it. Apart from that, there was no other furniture.

On the kang (a heated brick bed), a woman in her forties lay, her face covered in sweat from the pain, gritting her teeth and leaning against the wall. When the grandmother saw the children come in, she said, "Oh dear, my little darlings, why are you all here to cause trouble? Get out, get out!"

The little girl said, "Grandma, I want to stay with Mom."

Grandma said, "Your mother is fine. She's going to give you a younger brother or sister. Peijun, take your younger brother and sister to boil water and get some firewood ready."

Peijun, leading his younger siblings, agreed and took one in each hand as they left the inner room. He first had his siblings sit down in front of the stove, then washed the large iron pot. He went to the woodshed, fetched a large bundle of tangerines, struck a match, and lit a fire. The three siblings sat silently in front of the stove, watching the flames lightly licking the bottom of the pot.

In the inner room, Grandma, following Peihua's mother's instructions, found the swaddling blankets and other items for the child in the kang cabinet. She then went to the firewood room and carried a large bundle of dry wheat straw. After shaking it clean, she lifted the kang mat, first sprinkling a layer of wood ash, then laying down the wheat straw. The kang was already heated, so lying on it, she didn't feel cold at all.

Grandma wiped her sweat and said to the outside, "Peijun, go to the backyard and call your second grandma over to help."

The eleven or twelve-year-old boy stood up and went to the backyard. There was a moon gate to the east of the north house in this yard. Passing through the moon gate led to the backyard, where a large vegetable garden was covered with a thick layer of snow. There were three north houses against the east wall. Peijun walked along a cleared path to the door of the north house, knocked on the door, and called out, "Second Grandma, Third Grandma, my mother is about to give birth to a younger brother or sister. My grandma asked me to call you over to help."

The two elderly women, around sixty years old, who were sitting cross-legged on the kang doing needlework, looked up at each other and quickly got off the kang to put on their shoes. One of them said, "Second sister-in-law, you go first. I'll go to the kitchen to help boil water. It's not appropriate for someone of my status to go in."

Another elderly woman, who was already wearing shoes and standing on the ground, said, "Third Aunt, you just overthink things. Oh well, whatever."

After saying that, she quickly wrapped her scarf around her neck and went out of the house. The old lady put on her shoes, stood on the ground, sighed softly, and followed her out of the house.

Peihua went to the village to find the midwife, Aunt Hua. Aunt Hua was in her fifties, slightly plump, and Peihua had to pull and drag her all the way to Peihua's house. She was already panting heavily. When Aunt Hua saw the grandmother who came out to greet her, she took a breath and said, "Your eldest son wouldn't listen to anything I said and dragged me to your house. I'm so tired."

Grandma hurriedly said, "Aunt Hua, please don't be offended. Peihua's mother went into labor several days early. I didn't expect it to be so fast. Yesterday, Peihua's mother went to the fields to compost fertilizer. When she got home, she was so tired that she collapsed on the kang (a heated brick bed) and couldn't move. Who knew that she would complain of stomach pain today? Aunt Hua, please drink some water to calm yourself down. I think Peihua's mother will have to wait a little longer."

A bowl of sugar water was already on the stove. Aunt Hua picked it up and took a sip. Then she went to the cupboard next to her, took another bowl, scooped some water from the pot to cool, and pushed the bowl of sugar water toward Peijun. She whispered, "Peijun, this is for you and your younger siblings to sweeten your mouths."

Aunt Hua patted Pei Zhi's hair, and Pei Zhi looked up and gave Aunt Hua a big smile.

Aunt Hua slurped down half a bowl of boiled water, took her bundle into the inner room, checked on the mother's condition, and then went to the outer room to find a basin to wash her hands carefully. She said to Grandma, "Sister-in-law, find a few copper basins and prepare hot water. I think Peihua's mother is almost here. Oh, and let's get Peihua's mother something to eat first."

The mistress standing next to her agreed, then turned and went to the outer room to bring in the sweet soup and eggs that had been prepared by the stove. She said to Peihua's mother, "Peihua's mother, come and eat something first to build up your strength. Your Aunt Hua said it will be ready soon."

Peihua's mother helped her grandmother sit up, looked at the eggs in the bowl, ate two, and said, "Second Aunt, you can let the children share these two."

The grandmother next to her grabbed the small spoon from the bowl and said, "What are you saying? You've eaten all of this food. Giving birth requires strength. How can you give birth if you don't have strength? If you eat it all, the children are waiting for you to give them a younger brother or sister."

Peihua's mother nodded and ate the eggs and water from the bowl clean.

Aunt Hua had already put away all her tools. She bent down to check on Pei Hua's mother's condition and said to the two grandmothers, "Eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, light a few more oil lamps. We can see the baby's head now. Let's work harder. Pei Hua's mother has given birth to several babies already, so this one should be easy to deliver as well."

Grandma went to the other rooms to get oil lamps and lit them, making the room a little brighter. Grandma and Aunt Hua helped Peihua's mother lie down on the straw. Aunt Hua said to Peihua's mother, "Peihua's mother, I told you to push, so push. Come on, get ready to push."

Peihua's mother gritted her teeth and strained, her hair soaked with sweat and plastered to her face, but her body was too weak. She had worked in the fields with the team all day yesterday, her back aching from the exhaustion. She wanted to ask the team leader for leave, but her identity prevented her from speaking up. The child's father was a rightist, and these past few days he had been sent to be divorced. She wondered how he was doing in this cold weather. When the commune came to inspect, they said her family, being rightists, was living too comfortably, and the team assigned her the dirtiest and hardest work, completely disregarding her being six months pregnant. Thinking of this, Peihua's mother felt a pang of despair. Life was truly exhausting. Peihua's mother strained for a while, but then she couldn't move anymore. Grandma Hua, seeing Peihua's mother's condition, said anxiously, "Peihua's mother, don't give up! If you can't give birth, not only will the child be in danger, but you will too. Think of Peihua's father, think of your children. What will they do if something happens to you?"

Grandma, who was holding Peihua's mother's arm, also said, "Peihua's mother, I know you've been working too hard these days and you're weak, but you have to try your best. Even if you're exhausted, you have to try your best to give birth to the baby."

On the other side, the second grandmother said, "Peihua's mother, take a rest for a bit, and we'll continue. You've already given birth to several babies, so this one will definitely be easy to give birth to as well."

Peihua's mother felt her body was somewhat out of her control. She moved her lips, thinking of something to say, but didn't say anything. Third Grandma, who was helping to boil water outside, heard the commotion inside, lifted the curtain and came in, asking softly, "Eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, what's wrong?"

Second Grandma said, "Third Aunt, Peihua's mother is losing her strength." Her voice was filled with panic.

Third Grandma thought for a moment and asked Aunt Hua, "Aunt Hua, I have two ginseng roots left. Do you think they'd be good for Peihua's mother?"

Aunt Hua's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she said, "That's great, that's great, Third Sister-in-law, this is the best thing to use for childbirth."

Without saying a word, Third Grandma tiptoed back to her room in the backyard, took out a dark blue cloth bag from a dark red camphor wood chest, poured out two ginseng roots about the thickness of a finger, looked at them, put them back in, put the cloth bag in her bosom, and went back to the east wing of the front yard.

Aunt Hua looked at the ginseng rootlets and was somewhat astonished. How big must the ginseng be to have such rootlets? People say that the third son of the Shen family has a treasure, and it seems that they really do.

Grandma cut a few slices of ginseng and put two pieces in Peihua's mother's mouth. The slightly bitter taste stimulated Peihua's mother's taste buds and also her nerves. She turned her head slightly and looked at the child who was craning his neck to look into the room from the side of the curtain. Peihua's mother bit her tongue to keep herself awake and pushed hard as Aunt Hua had told her. Before long, she gave birth to the child in her belly.

Outside, after Peihua invited Aunt Hua over, he sat with his younger siblings in front of the stove to warm themselves by the fire. Peizhi whispered to Peihua, "Big brother, do you think Mom will give us a brother or a sister?"

Pei-hua said, "I don't know, does Pei-zhi want a younger brother or a younger sister?"

Pei-Chi tilted her head and thought for a moment, then said, "Let's have a little sister. I'm the only girl in our family, while other families have several."

Just then, a weak baby's cry came from inside the room. The sound was so faint that it could hardly be heard unless you listened carefully. Peitian said, "Such a faint sound. I wonder if it's a boy or a girl."