Reborn in 1966

Chapter Fifteen: The Park

Uncle Shen didn't reply for a while, then said in a low voice, "Lingling, we grew up together. You should know what kind of person I am. Not to mention that my brother is still wearing a hat, our families are not a good match. Even your father's status is something our family can't reach. You're a worker now, and you're in such good shape. You should find a suitable man to marry in the city."

With tears in her eyes, Tian Lingling said, "Shen Shengqin, I'll be frank with you, I'm determined to marry you in this life. I'll have my mother come to your house to propose." After saying that, she ran away with hurried footsteps.

Pei Yin, who was being eavesdropped on in the courtyard, was stunned. She thought to herself, "Wow!" and exclaimed, "What a fierce girl! I like her!"

Uncle Shen walked into the courtyard with his head down. In the bright sunlight, his little niece sat in a wicker basket, smiling at him. Uncle Shen sighed, went over and picked up Pei Yin, tapped her nose with his index finger, and said, "You little thing, are you making fun of your uncle?"

Peiyin saw her grandmother about to enter the door, smiled sweetly at her second uncle, and the next second she slapped her second uncle's face with her little hand and burst into tears.

The second uncle, who was holding the child, was a little stunned. He didn't understand why the six-month-old baby's expressions were so changeable. Before he could react, the grandmother ran over on tiptoe, picked up Pei Yin and slapped the second uncle, saying, "I'll teach you to do nothing but bully a child all day long."

Uncle Shen said innocently, "Mother, I didn't bully Yinyin, I really didn't."

Grandma said, "I saw you tap Yinyin's nose with your finger, but you didn't? Oh, Yinyin is a good girl, don't cry."

Pei Yin, who was being held and rocked by her grandmother, sniffed and looked up at her second uncle with a small smile. When her second uncle saw Pei Yin's smile, he suddenly shivered. This child was too clever and mischievous. He should avoid messing with her in the future.

Pei-Tian and Pei-Chih followed their grandmother into the yard. When they saw their second uncle standing there, Pei-Chih asked, "Second Uncle, why aren't you at work?"

My second uncle said somewhat absentmindedly, "I have something to do today, I have to go to the commune later."

Peitian said, "Second Uncle, why don't you take me to the commune? I've never been to a commune before."

My second uncle said, "I'm going there to work. What are you going to do with me?"

Peitian twisted his arm like a pretzel and said, "Okay, Uncle, please take me to see it. I promise I won't interfere with your work. I'll just watch from the side, okay?"

Peizhi also grabbed Shen Ershu's other arm, calling out like Peitian, "Good Ershu, please take me there, good Ershu."

The second uncle was getting annoyed. Grandma, holding Peiyin, said, "Shengqin, you're not going to the commune for anything important. It's just the village propaganda team's business. Why don't you take these two kids to the commune today and broaden their horizons? Poor things, they're so old and have never been to the commune before."

Uncle Shen said, "Mother, this is inappropriate. It wouldn't be good if the leaders saw it."

Grandma said, "There's nothing wrong with it. Go to your brother Shengquan's house and borrow his bicycle. You can take one in front and one in the back with you."

Uncle Shen had no choice but to borrow a bicycle from Brother Shengquan. He led two cheering children out of the village and headed towards the commune.

Pei Yin was a little worried about her unreliable second uncle; she was afraid he might lose the two children.

Grandma put Peiyin in the wicker basket and sat her down. While tidying up the scraps of cloth she had brought from Aunt Shengquan's house, she grumbled to Peiyin, "Peiyin, your second uncle is such a worry. He's so old and doesn't care about anything. He's not in a hurry to find a wife. Look at the kids in the village who are his age, they're all grown up and can run errands. Who's like him? He just wanders around all day. Sigh, he's such a worry."

Grandma was just feeling pent-up and wanted someone to listen to all the messy things she was venting to. In her opinion, what could Pei Yin possibly understand? But Pei Yin just happened to be someone who understood.

Pei Yin twisted her little body, stretched out her short arms, grabbed one of her grandmother's fingers, and gently shook it.

Grandma smiled as she looked at her little granddaughter, who was staring at her quietly with her big eyes. A wave of warmth washed over her. She picked up Peiyin and placed her on her lap, gently patting Peiyin's back. "This little granddaughter knows how to care for her grandma," she said. "Sigh, Grandma gave birth to five children, and four survived. Your grandpa said he wanted the children to go out and see the world. Life is so short, just a few decades. How can you live those decades without seeing the world? Your dad and your aunt left, and they've been studying away from home. Grandma doesn't have much experience, but I just wanted the children to go out and see the world." "Then let them go. Your eldest aunt and your father left home in their teens to make their way in the world. Over the years, they've found their own way to make a living and built their own family. When their children left, Grandma's heart went with them. But when they came to live with your second uncle and Aunt Xuan, Grandma couldn't let them go. She found them families close to home. Sigh... I wonder how your eldest aunt is doing now. Luckily, your father is shrewd and brought your whole family home early, so Grandma has you sisters to look after her. Look at your second uncle, he's just unreliable. I hope he can find a wife and settle down when he does."

A mother worries when her child travels far. Grandma usually never talks about her two daughters with anyone, but today she talked about them with Peiyin, who is just over five months old.

Pei-yin stretched out her short arms and struggled to hug her grandmother's neck. Grandma looked at her granddaughter's thoughtful gesture, smiled and kissed Pei-yin's chubby cheek, saying, "Look at me, why am I telling you all this? You don't understand anything anyway. Okay, go back to your bed and sit down. If you get tired of sitting, lie down and rest. If you need to pee, just let out a sound. Pei-yin is such a good child, she doesn't like to wet her pants. Grandma has to wash so many fewer clothes than other grandmas."

Watching her grandmother busily tidying up with her bound feet, Pei-yin felt a warmth in her heart. Many years later, Pei-yin would still remember that early summer morning, the bright sunshine, the large sycamore tree, the emerald green sycamore leaves shielding her from the somewhat hot sunlight, her grandmother holding her and babbling about things she didn't want to tell anyone else, the two of them enjoying this quiet warmth alone.

When Shen's parents returned home for lunch, they didn't see Peizhi and Peitian, and asked their grandmother where they were.

Grandma said, "Shengqin went to the commune to handle some business, so I asked him to borrow your brother Shengquan's bicycle to take the two children to the commune chief's office."

Peijun said, "Second Uncle is unreliable. We mustn't let Peizhi and Peitian go."

Grandma said, "How could that be? Even if your second uncle is careless, how could he lose two children as big as Peizhi and Peitian?"

Pei Yin spent the whole afternoon worrying that her unreliable second uncle might cause her to lose her older brother and sister.

Around four o'clock, a crisp bicycle bell rang, and Grandma, who had been busy inside, came running out, saying, "You're finally back, you're finally back!"

Pei Yin found it somewhat amusing; her grandmother was also worried that her second uncle might lose his grandson.

Uncle pushed his bicycle directly into the yard. Peizhi sat on the front crossbar, and Peitian sat on the luggage rack behind. When they saw their grandmother, the two children happily called out, "Grandma!"

Grandma said to Second Uncle, "You're finally back! Why did it take you so long? I was afraid you'd lost my child."

My second uncle said, "How could I be so careless? After finishing my business at the commune, the two kids insisted on going to the park, so I took them there before we came back."

The Hongqi Commune, where Shenjia Village is located, is in the county seat, which is called Xiping County. Shenjia Village is about 20 miles away from the commune. In the next few decades, with urban expansion, the demolition compensation alone for Shenjia's small courtyard will be quite substantial.

Xiping County is located in the central part of the province, in a plain area. Pei Yin doesn't know what the original name of Hongqi Commune was, but now many communes have changed their names to something like Hongqi, which reflects the development of the times.

There is a Labor Park in Xiping County, which is just an artificial lake with a few small boats and some trees. There are no amusement rides or any particularly interesting attractions. When Peizhi and Peitian got home, they chattered on and on about what they saw and heard in the park to their grandmother. In Peiyin's opinion, her older brother and sister were so excited that it was as if they had gone to Disneyland.

After dinner, Peitian secretly whispered something to his parents.

"Dad, we ran into Secretary Tian's aunt when we went to the commune today."

Shen's mother asked, "What's wrong with meeting Aunt Tian?"

Pei-Tian said, "It was Aunt Tian who took us to the park. My second uncle wouldn't take us there, but he said we couldn't tell our family that Aunt Tian took us."

Shen's mother said, "Peitian, come and tell me what happened."

Peitian said, "At noon, my second uncle took me and Peizhi to the commune. When we came out after finishing our business, we met Aunt Tian. Aunt Tian said she would take us to eat steamed buns, so we went to a steamed bun shop and ate some. Aunt Tian said it was not easy for her to come all this way, so she took me and Peizhi to the park to play."

Shen's mother asked, "What about your second uncle? Has he been with you the whole time?"

Peitian said, "Second Uncle didn't want to go, and he didn't want the two of us to go with him either, but Aunt Tian insisted on taking us. Peizhi secretly told me that she was a little scared when she saw Aunt Tian."

Shen's mother said, "You and Peizhi, don't go out and talk about going to the park with Aunt Tian today. If anyone asks, just say that your second uncle took you there, understand?"

Peitian nodded and said, "Mom, I know. I've already told Peizhi that no matter who asks us, we'll say that Second Uncle took us there and that we just happened to run into Aunt Tian in the park."

Mother Shen sighed inwardly. Her youngest son seemed a bit dull, but he was actually quite thoughtful. She felt helpless; he should have been a carefree child, but reality forced him to think about things from an adult's perspective.

Shen's mother was a little worried that Aunt Tian would be seen taking the two children and her second uncle to the park today and that people would gossip about it. Who knew that in just two days, the Shen family and the Tian family would make a big fuss about it.