Reborn in 1966

Chapter Three: The Return

What Peihua's mother didn't know was that the little baby girl with the furrowed brows was indeed troubled.

After Aunt Hua vigorously rubbed her hair with sesame oil, the child came back to life, but it was no longer the same child.

Now, the baby girl's heart is that of a 25-year-old young woman who has just graduated with a master's degree and has not yet started working.

This young woman's name is Liu Ru. After studying hard for more than ten years, she had just received an offer from a Fortune 500 company and was about to begin the white-collar life she had longed for. Who knew that she would end up here while taking a nap?

When Liu Ru regained consciousness, she had already been cleaned and wrapped in a blanket. She tried to move, but couldn't move at all. She wanted to see her surroundings, but an infant's eyes couldn't see things far away. Liu Ru could hear her grandmother and Aunt Hua talking. She had only heard the term "divorce" from her grandfather. She had spent many years in the countryside when she was young, back in the 1990s. At that time, the practice of "divorce" no longer existed in rural areas. Her grandfather had mentioned the term when he was telling her stories from the past. How tragic her life had become!

Thinking of this, Liu Ru let out a kitten-like cry. Her current mother, Pei Hua's mother, quickly sat up, hugged Liu Ru, and soothed her softly with "oh oh oh". Grandma happened to come into the room from outside and, hearing the noise, quickly got up and whispered, "Is the baby hungry? Pei Hua's mother, is your milk engorged?"

Peihua's mother rubbed her chest and said with some worry, "Mother, no."

Grandma sighed and said, "Give the baby some water first. Your second aunt cooked some millet porridge for you. Drink a big bowl of it. Tomorrow we'll stew an old hen and see if it helps with milk production."

Peihua's mother said, "Mother, why don't we feed the child some rice porridge first? The New Year is coming soon, so let's keep that old hen to lay more eggs for the New Year."

Grandma said, "It doesn't matter if we suffer a little when the child is born into our family. We can't let such a young child go hungry. Just listen to your mother."

Hearing the conversation between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, Liu Ru felt worried about her current situation. Although she came from the countryside, she had never been in such dire straits as to have to save an old hen for the New Year. Had she somehow ended up in ancient times?

Held in her grandmother's arms, with a porcelain spoon placed near her lips, Liu Ru took a sip. It was water. She drank some water with the spoon and drifted off to sleep again.

When I woke up again, it was already broad daylight. I was startled to see two children right in front of me. One of the little girls turned around happily and said to her mother, "Mom, my sister is awake and she looked at me."

Grandma was putting the kang table on the kang when she saw the two children lying in front of Liu Ru's face. She said, "You two, don't scare your little sister. Hurry up and eat your meal before going to the aftercare class."

When Liu Ru heard about the "Children's Training Class" and vaguely remembered seeing her older sister with two pigtails, she realized that her own attire wasn't too outrageous, especially since it was after the liberation.

The little boy said, "Grandma, the teacher in the preschool class said that if the road is difficult to walk on, we don't have to go to school. It's too cold in the classroom; it's warmer at home."

The little girl asked her mother, "Mom, why isn't my little sister crying? Erwazi said that when his little brother was first born, he cried a lot and couldn't sleep. I didn't hear my little sister crying last night either."

Grandma said, "Your sister is so thoughtful. She knows we're exhausted and wants us to get some sleep. Peitian, go check on your older brothers and tell them to come eat."

The little boy named Peitian answered and went out, lifting the curtain.

Grandma used a cloth curtain to divide a small portion of the small kang (heated brick bed) for Liu Ru and her mother. After setting up the kang table, Grandma carried Liu Ru to her mother's side, then pulled the cloth curtain closed, and the children and Grandma ate at the other kang table.

After a series of footsteps, a boy whose voice was going through puberty said, "Grandma, Second Grandma cooked millet porridge for my mom again. Could you take it to her?"

Grandma lifted the curtain and came over, asking in a low voice, "Peihua's mother, is your milk coming in?"

Peihua's mother shook her head with a worried look on her face. Grandma sighed, took a small spoon, scooped out a little rice porridge, and fed it to Liu Ru.

The little water last night didn't help much. Liu Ru was so hungry that she drank all the rice porridge that was fed to her until her belly was round and full before she stopped drinking.

Grandma handed the rest to Peihua's mother, saying, "We are so lucky to have such a child who knows when to be hungry and full." She picked up Liu Ru and gently patted her back until she let out a burp before gently putting her down.

After drinking the millet porridge, Peihua's mother saw her mother-in-law go to eat breakfast with the children. Her youngest daughter was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) with her eyes open, so she tightened the cotton-padded coat she was wearing and lay down with her.

After dinner, the eldest brother, Peihua, led his two younger brothers to clear the snow in the yard. Liu Ru heard the sound of snow being swept in the yard, and an elderly man's voice said, "Peihua, go and push the small iron cart out. We'll push the snow to the riverbank later."

Peihua agreed, and Liu Ru heard the clanging sound of shovels being used to load snow onto the iron cart.

The windows were made of paper, and when a cold wind blew by occasionally, a slight "clanging" sound could be heard. Because she was wrapped in thick swaddling clothes, Liu Ru did not feel cold.

After finishing her chores, Grandma took her sewing basket to the kang (a heated brick bed) to do needlework, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law chatted idly.

After a while, Grandma went out to look around, then came back and whispered, "Yesterday your Aunt Hua secretly told me that her husband is coming back soon."

Peihua's mother asked in surprise, "Really?"

Grandma quickly said, "Keep your voice down. Your Aunt Hua said that the team leader secretly told others that it snowed all day yesterday and it was so cold that the construction site was frozen solid. The work done in several days was not as good as the work done in the previous day. The higher-ups said that we should go home first to prepare for the New Year and go back after the New Year. Actually, that's true. We can't work on the construction site, and we still have to be fed. So the commune told everyone to come back first."

Peihua's mother said softly, "Peihua's father is so frail, and he was criticized twice before he left. I wonder if the weather there is cold. Oh, Mother, I'm really worried about Peihua's father these past few days."

The day passed uneventfully. Liu Ru said she was slowly adapting. Since her mother had no breast milk, her grandmother would skim off the rice gruel from the boiled rice and feed her with a spoon, so she no longer felt the embarrassment of breastfeeding. She stayed wrapped in her little blanket all day, sleeping with her eyes closed when she was sleepy and keeping them open when she wasn't. There were many children in the family, and everyone doted on the little ones. When they saw her with her eyes open, her older siblings would come and tease her. Sigh, the only problem was that she couldn't get out of bed to relieve herself and couldn't control it, which was quite a headache. Watching her grandmother change her diapers and say with a smile, "Our daughter really eats, drinks, and kicks a lot. Look at this big puddle of pee!" Liu Ru felt her face getting hot. There was nothing she could do; she had become such a little person, unable to take care of herself, and she felt helpless.

That evening, the village dogs barked merrily, and the sounds of a tractor and a cacophony of voices drifted from afar. Startled awake, Grandma sat up abruptly, got up from the other end of the kang (a heated brick bed) to get dressed, and said to Peihua's mother, "I have to go see if Peihua's father and the others have returned." She finished dressing and left the house in the blink of an eye.

Peihua's mother also got up, lit the oil lamp, and saw Liu Ru looking around and touching things with her eyes open. She gently patted the swaddling clothes wrapped around Liu Ru and said, "You little thing, why aren't you sleeping in the middle of the night? I'll give you a name when your father comes back."

A moment later, the courtyard gate was pushed open, and Grandma whispered in the yard, "Peihua's father, you two go to my room for a while to get rid of the chill. Peihua's mother is still in her postpartum period."

A slightly tired voice said in a surprised whisper, "Peihua's mother gave birth? Oh dear, did the delivery go smoothly?"

Grandma said, "Everything went smoothly. With your Aunt Hua here, what could possibly happen? You all go inside and warm up first, and we'll come back here to see the children later."

Grandma brought a roll of bedding into the house, placed it on the long bench in front of the kang (a heated brick bed), and said to Peihua's mother, who was eagerly waiting, "The divorced men have all come back. I heard they won't be going back before the New Year, so I feel at ease now."

Peihua's mother asked, "Mother, did Peihua's father suffer any injustice?"

Grandma said, "No, I heard this time it's just about digging a reservoir. The people from our village who went there are all shoveling earth. Oh, by the way, Peihua's dad brought back someone, saying he's your classmate. I'll make them something to eat first, so they can have something warm."

Grandma went to the outer room to start a fire and cook, while Peihua's father and a middle-aged man lifted the curtain and went into the inner room.

Liu Ru heard a refined and elegant voice say, "Yueran, look who this is?"

After taking a look, Peihua's mother said happily, "Hu Jiming, it really is you!"

Hu Jiming laughed and said, "Yes, it's me. It must have been several years since we last met. Look at you two, you already have your fifth child!"

Liu Ru heard her mother say somewhat embarrassedly, "Yes, this is Xiao Wu, she was just born yesterday."

Hu Jiming said, "Out of all the people in our class, you two have the most kids. Sigh, it's been twenty years already." His thoughts drifted into the distance.

Peihua's mother asked, "What brings you here?"

Hu Jiming said in a low voice, "I'm here to escort several teachers to labor reform. Alas, one of our teachers is among them."

Hearing this, Liu Ru could roughly understand the current era.

After a moment of silence, Liu Ru's current father quietly asked, "Ji Ming, what's the situation now..."

Hu Jiming said in a low voice, "The situation is not good. The students have all rebelled, and many teachers in the school have been criticized and struggled against. Think about it. You and Yueran were actually very lucky to be sent back for labor reform two years ago. We don't know what the situation will be like in the future. You have suffered less impact here. Remember what your old classmate said: speak less and do less attention-grabbing things."

The couple agreed, and Grandma brought out two large bowls of cornmeal porridge, cornmeal flatbread, spicy dumplings, and pickled vegetable shreds, saying, "There's nothing good to eat at home, just have some to tide you over and warm you up."

After dinner, the three adults chatted by the light of a kerosene lamp, and Liu Ru listened to them talk with her eyes closed.

Hu Jiming said, “The schools were not normal when the Great Cultural Revolution started. The students came to Beijing by themselves and started the ‘Destroy the Four Olds and Establish the Four News’ campaign. They smashed and burned a lot of good things. Alas, everything was in chaos from top to bottom.”

After a moment of silence, Hu Jiming continued, "When we were in school, we took to the streets to protest against feudalism and imperialism. Now, kids are different. They even take to the streets to criticize their own teachers. Seeing those white-haired teachers being twisted by their students and made to stand in the train carriages and march through the streets, I feel an indescribable bitterness in my heart."