Reborn in 1966

Chapter Forty-Three: The Eight Trigrams

Fourth Grandfather called two other senior grandfathers from the Shen family to come to Shen Peihua's house. After hearing the whole story, Fourth Grandfather asked Shen Peihua, "Peihua, you said you accepted betrothal gifts from a family in the mountains of Qinghe. Tell us, which village is that family in? How many people are in the family? What kind of business do they do? How much were the betrothal gifts? When did you accept them?"

Fourth Grandfather still held considerable prestige in the village. After hesitating for a while, Shen Peihua said, "In the summer, I went to Qinghe Mountain to visit an old friend. I got lost in the mountains and then encountered a flash flood during a rainstorm. I hid in a small cave and couldn't get out. A young man rescued me and even led me to my old friend's house. I thought the young man was a good person, so I told my old friend that I wanted to find a husband for my eldest daughter. Seeing that this young man was a good person, I asked my old friend to put in a good word for me, and he agreed."

Shen Peihong's wife asked, "Do you know what their family situation is like?"

Shen Peihong said, "I don't know, but I think the young man is quite nice, and he's a good match for our daughter."

Shen Peihong's wife was so angry that her face turned red. She said loudly, "You didn't even know what kind of family they were in, yet you accepted their betrothal gifts! Shen Peihong, I don't care what you do, you return the betrothal gifts you accepted. I've made the decision for my daughter. I'm going to let her marry someone from Zhao Family Village. Do you think finding a husband for your daughter is child's play? You dare to marry your daughter off to someone without finding out their family situation first? What if it turns out to be a pit of fire? Are you going to force your daughter to jump into it?"

Shen Peihong said, "I've already made an appointment with someone. They'll come to my house before the New Year so you can meet and get to know each other. We'll pick a date after the New Year and then get married."

Shen Peihong's eldest daughter burst into tears, saying to her great-uncle, "Great-uncle, how did I end up with such an unreliable father? I was about to discuss marriage when he pulled this stunt on me. What am I going to do?"

Fourth Grandfather also felt that Shen Peihong was being too frivolous, so he said, "Peihong, I think it would be more suitable for Da Nizi to marry into Zhao Family Village. It's close to your home, and if anything happens, she can come over in no time. Why don't you return the betrothal gifts from that family in the mountains?"

Shen Peihong's wife said, "Shen Peihong, tell the truth, what did you do with the betrothal gifts? You haven't mentioned this matter for so long. Did you use the betrothal gifts for something else?"

As luck would have it, a rather robust young man found Shen Peihong's house that day after asking around the village. The young man had a dark complexion, thick eyebrows, and big eyes; he seemed like an honest and kind person. More importantly, what the young man was carrying sparked speculation. He was about the same age as Da Nizi, and he was carrying things just before the New Year. His relationship with Shen Peihong's family was quite intriguing. So, some of the villagers, who were looking for some fun during the off-season, followed him to Shen Peihong's house to see what was going on.

As soon as the young man entered the house, he sensed that something was wrong. He called out "Uncle" to Shen Peihong. After carefully recognizing the young man, Shen Peihong said to his wife, "Mother, this is the man I arranged for Da Nizi."

To everyone's surprise, the young man said shyly, "Uncle, you drank a bit too much that day. I was planning to come and talk to you about this the next day, but I was too busy with work to come. I came to your house specifically to talk to you about it. I'm already engaged. The wolfskin rug that my uncle gave you that day was a gift for your grandmother because he said her legs weren't good. But you insisted it was a betrothal gift, and we couldn't persuade you otherwise."

Upon hearing this, Shen Peihong's wife slapped him on the back and cried, "You rascal, what reliable thing have you ever done? You treat such a big matter like child's play. We women must have done something terrible in our past lives to deserve being family with you in this life."

The young man hurriedly stepped forward to stop Shen Peihong's wife, saying, "Auntie, please don't blame Uncle. Uncle cried when he was drinking because of his younger sister's marriage. He said he had been struggling all his life, and his younger sister was capable. He needed to find her a reliable family. And because my uncle and I have been friends for many years, that's why we have this dowry."

When the young man said this, the fourth grandfather breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank goodness you came to say that. Da Nizi was about to get engaged, and her father only told the family that he had found her a husband and accepted the betrothal gifts. Our whole family was very worried about this. Now it's all right, it's all right."

Da Ni wiped away her tears and said to her mother, "Mom, we women have to stand up for ourselves. I think we should settle my marriage before the new year. You can take care of things at home from now on. Don't count on my father anymore, we can't count on him."

Hearing her daughter and daughter-in-law say this, Shen Peihong hesitated and didn't say anything.

After Chen Qiuping finished recounting Shen Peihong's family affairs, he said to Shen's mother, "Sister-in-law, these past few days, Shen Peihong's wife has been in charge of everything at home. Don't let her seemingly weak appearance fool you; she's actually quite shrewd. Now, with her in-laws supporting her and her children helping her, and Shen Peihong genuinely repenting, things should get better for her family in the future."

Shen's mother was working hard at the sewing machine when she heard Chen Qiuping's words. She stopped what she was doing, looked up and said, "It's a good thing that Pei Hong's wife can stand up. Although the important things in the family depend on the man, if the man can't stand up, the woman has to stand up, otherwise we can't live together."

Chen Qiuping nodded and said, "That's right. I've been married into Shenjia Village for almost a year now. I feel that a family needs a pillar, a backbone, otherwise it will feel empty and lost."

Peiyin fiddled with several chestnut-sized sandbags sewn by her grandmother on the kang (a heated brick bed), listening to the village gossip, and thought that the days when she couldn't go out to play in winter were quite pleasant.

The other children in the family were not like that. Peihua and Peijun were a little better as they got older. They would just chat together with other children of similar age, or they would go with Uncle Shengmin to the ridge to catch rabbits. Even though there was snow in the fields, their shoes and clothes would still be clean.

Peitian and Peizhi would play snowball fights or tag with the neighborhood kids. Every time they came home, their shoes were wet, and sometimes their cotton-padded trousers were soaked up to their thighs. When their grandmother saw this, she would say a few words, then take off their cotton-padded trousers and shoes, and the children would go to the kang (heated brick bed) to cover themselves with a quilt to keep warm. Their shoes and cotton-padded trousers would be left on the stove to kang, so that they could wear them dry and comfortable when they went out again.

After the Laba Festival, spontaneous markets appeared on the streets. Although they were not very formal, people still secretly brought their surplus items to the market to sell or exchange in preparation for the New Year.

Grandpa discussed with Shen's father about slaughtering the pig they owned, and invited a pig butcher surnamed Tian from the village to come and help slaughter the pig on the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Peitian was very happy. He got up early on the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month and helped the adults carry a table to the backyard to boil water. After breakfast, Master Tian came to the Shen family to help slaughter the pig.

Pei Yin didn't like bloody scenes, and her grandmother and mother were afraid of scaring the child, so they put Pei Yin on the kang (a heated brick bed) and gave her a few small sandbags to play with.

Slaughtering a pig is a very important event, and the neighbors would come to help. So Pei-yin listened to the commotion all morning, as well as the pitiful screams of the fat and strong pig as it struggled to its death.

Not many families in the village slaughter pigs for the New Year, so it's considered a very important event. My second uncle and aunt both came back. After the pig was slaughtered, my grandmother cooked a pot of pig's head and offal in a big pot to reward the people who came to help, and also shared some of the pork with relatives and neighbors.

There's a local custom of sending gifts to relatives before the Lunar New Year and then visiting them to offer New Year's greetings afterward. So, after slaughtering the pig, the grandparents discussed what gifts to give to relatives, how much to give, and what to give to those who had helped them. The word "passing" in "New Year's" encapsulates a lot; life goes on, and so do social interactions. Throughout the year, if someone has helped you, you have to reciprocate that favor by the end of the year. Otherwise, if you only receive help but don't reciprocate, who will help you in the future?

The temperature must be around minus ten degrees Celsius. Even if you put the butchered pork in a shady spot in the backyard, it will freeze solid. Farmers don't slaughter pigs every year during the New Year. The Shen family was able to slaughter this pig this year because of the good harvest. They didn't need to sell the fattened pig to buy grain.

During dinner, Tian Lingling showed little interest in the dishes on the table and appeared listless.

Grandma was quite worried about her youngest daughter-in-law's health and kept urging her to eat more. Then, after her second uncle whispered something in her ear, Grandma was stunned and looked at her youngest daughter-in-law with a happy expression. That night, Peiyin learned from her mother that her second aunt was pregnant.

The next day, neither my second uncle nor my second aunt went to work. They went to Secretary Tian's house and brought back a lot of things. In the afternoon, they returned to the city to prepare for work.

The next day, Secretary Tian's wife came to the Shen family with a bundle in her arms.

Grandma followed her in-laws into the north room. Peiyin was still playing with the sandbags on the kang (a heated brick bed). After putting the things down, Secretary Tian's wife said, "Sister-in-law, please don't think we're being nosy. My husband and I were relieved to hear that Lingling was pregnant. We were worried because all the women who got married around the same time as them are pregnant. Now we're at ease."

Grandma said, "Other things can be rushed, but this can't be rushed. Auntie, we have to let nature take its course. We'll be able to hold our grandson next year."

The bundle contained some soft, fine cotton cloth, which looked like it was for making swaddling blankets for an unborn child. After seeing off the in-laws, Grandma put the things into a large red lacquered wooden box on the kang (a heated brick bed) and muttered to herself, "Oh, I can finally relax. I'll have someone to take care of me now."

The elderly family members took out some pork to give to their relatives. They had to send some to the families of the two aunts of the second grandmother, but the aunt of the third grandmother lived too far away. The three grandmothers made two cotton-padded coats and sent them over as soon as winter came. Then, only the families of their own two aunts were left to send pork.