Reborn in 1966

Chapter Fifty-One Speaking

Peitian brought Peiyin out, and several little girls in the village looked at Peiyin's little smock with envy. Peizhi was playing hopscotch with some little girls when she saw Peiyin and quickly ran over, saying, "Third brother, you brought Yinyin out? Oh my, Yinyin's clothes are so pretty."

Pei Yin looked at all the children's clothes. There were almost no new clothes. They were all old and patched up. If there were no patches on the clothes, they were considered good clothes.

In the middle of the main north-south street of the village, there is a slightly narrower east-west alley. The children play at this small intersection. If you walk east from this intersection to the small bridge by the river, your aunt's house is on the other side of the bridge.

Shen Jinhua was talking to Meng Ruolan and a few girls who were about thirteen or fourteen years old by the wall when she saw Peitian bringing Peiyin over. She said, "Peitian, let's take Peiyin to play. You can go find your friends."

Peitian said, "The old lady is at our house. When I came out, she told me to take Peizhi and Peiyin with me and go back for lunch."

Shen Jinhua said, "I understand, you can go and have fun."

Peizhi watched Shen Jinhua and the others talking, then ran off to play hopscotch with her friends. Hopscotch involves drawing lines on the ground to create squares, and then jumping back and forth. Peiyin had seen the village children play it when she was very young, but she hadn't played it much herself, so she couldn't quite figure out how it worked. She just saw several little girls in worn-out cotton-padded jackets and trousers struggling to jump back and forth. In Peiyin's memory, the little girls who played hopscotch or jump rope wore two small ponytails with colorful, flowing hair ties, and wore brightly colored, pretty floral dresses. As they jumped back and forth, the hair ties would flutter in their hair, making their nimble bodies as light and graceful as butterflies. Sigh, look at these older girls; their drab, old clothes already set them apart.

Shen Jinhua, holding Pei Yin's hand, went to the base of the wall with Meng Ruolan, completely unaware that the little girl she was holding had such a quirky idea in her mind. She went back to continue talking to the other girls.

Pei Yin looked around and saw that the girls were not dressed very well. This is how it is in the countryside now. A piece of clothing is worn by the eldest child in the family and then passed on to the next child. When it is torn, it is patched up and worn again. It is often "new for three years, old for three years, and patched up for another three years".

A little girl looked at Pei Yin curiously and asked Shen Jinhua softly, "Jinhua, is this Shen Peijun's little sister?"

Jinhua said, "Yes, she's the youngest sister, only a little over a year old."

Another little girl looked at Pei Yin's little smock with envy and said, "This dress is so pretty. I've never seen such a pretty dress before."

Shen Jinhua said, "This was made by my mother for Peiyin." Her tone was filled with pride.

A little girl next to me said, "Jinhua, your family is so kind. You can even make new clothes for your child for the New Year. Among all the children in our village, your family is probably the only one that makes new clothes for you for the New Year."

Shen Jinhua said, "I'm an only child in my family. So I think your family is better. You have several brothers and sisters who can help each other when something happens. Isn't that great?"

Another little girl said, "Hey, Ruolan, tell us about your place. The farthest I've ever been is the commune."

Meng Ruolan said, "Our place is not as good as ours. I think our place is the best."

A little girl said, "What's so great about it? We work so hard every day, and we can't even get new clothes for the New Year. I think the big city is better than here. I heard that you can get food just by using your ration book and you don't have to work in the fields."

Meng Ruolan said, "Of course, you need to have a job. Without a job, you won't have food to eat. I've been in our village for so long and I think our village is pretty good."

A little girl said, "I also think our village is better than other villages. Last year, my aunt's village had good weather but didn't harvest much grain. I heard from my cousin that the villagers were busy with political movements and no one was doing the work in the fields. The harvest was not good in the fall. My grandma said that crops don't lie. They will treat you the way you treat them. If you work hard, you will definitely have a good harvest."

Another girl said, "I've also heard about your aunt's village. I heard they have a denunciation meeting every night. There was a family where no one could work, and the elderly, weak, sick, or disabled were out of food. The child was so hungry that he ate a raw corn cob, but they were discovered and they were denounced that night. Someone almost died. I see that their village is in such a mess that girls from nearby villages are afraid to find husbands there."

A little girl next to me flicked her nose and said, "Diudiudiu, she's only a few years old and she's already thinking about finding a husband."

The young girl said, "Last winter, when my sister was looking for a husband, she had already inquired about the family. Grandma Hua secretly told my mother that my sister didn't go to the family in their village to meet the man, but instead went to Zhao Family Village."

Pei Yin immediately understood. This was Shen Pei Hong's youngest daughter. Last winter, their eldest daughter was looking for a husband, but Shen Pei Hong had caused such a misunderstanding.

This little girl is called Er Ya. Pei Yin doesn't know her real name. In the countryside at that time, children usually called each other by their nicknames. So, when you heard villagers calling their children by their nicknames, names like "Da Ya," "Er Ya," "Gou Dan," and "Gou Sheng" were quite popular. As for their real names, those were used when they went to school or after they got married. Pei Yin's children and Shen Jinhua all had their real and nicknames together, which was quite rare in the village.

Shen Jinhua asked, "Er Ya, is your sister planning to get married after the New Year?"

Er Ya said, "Yes, my brother-in-law is getting old, and my aunt is in poor health. My mother said that since we'll have to get married sooner or later, we might as well get married early and start earning a living."

A little girl said, "Er Ya, if your sister marries into the family, won't you have to help your mother with the chores?"

Er Ya said, "Yes, I'll be a year older after the New Year, and I'll be considered an adult, so I'll have to help my mother with chores."

The girls, thinking about their own situation, nodded with a sense of sympathy and said, "We'll have to help with the work too. Sigh, we probably won't have many more opportunities to talk like this in the future."

There aren't many girls in the village who are thirteen or fourteen years old still in school. Most of them finish primary school and then help with the work at home. After a few years, they find a husband and continue working in the fields, year after year, day after day.

Jinhua said, "While we can still talk to each other now, let's have a good talk and say something happy."

A little girl said, "What makes me happy is that this year's dumplings at dawn had a lot of meat, and there were plenty of dumplings to eat. I wish it could be like this every year."

Er Ya said, "That's right, our village has such a good harvest this year. I wish it could be like this every year."

A little girl surnamed Tian said, "It's really good that the officials in our village are leading us. If our village were like Guihua Dagu Village, we wouldn't even be able to eat meat dumplings during the Spring Festival."

Meng Ruolan tugged at Shen Jinhua's sleeve. Shen Jinhua hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "Meixia, you can't say things like that. If someone catches you, the village officials will be criticized and struggled against in the commune."

The girl named Meixia, whose surname was Tian, ​​turned pale and said in a trembling voice, "Oh dear, I didn't mean to."

Er Ya looked around and whispered, "Don't be afraid, we're all in this together. No one can tell anyone. If anyone does, we'll cut ties with them." Her words carried a hint of ruthlessness.

It seems that Shen Peihong's second daughter is a capable person.

The girls all nodded, shrugging their necks. The conversation quickly died down, and everyone lost interest, so they said goodbye and went home one after another.

After watching Pei Yin walk away, Shen Jinhua and Meng Ruolan whispered, "Ruolan, let's be more careful with our words in the future. Don't say everything that comes to mind. Although our village isn't very strict about this, who knows when someone might catch us doing something wrong?"

Meng Ruolan said, "I know, Jinhua, you can't imagine what I went through in sports." Her words, though low, carried a sense of relief at surviving a disaster.

Shen Jinhua said, "Let's go home. My mother said she'll cook something delicious for us at noon."

The two of them held Pei Yin's hand and called out to Pei Zhi, who was still playing hopscotch, as they walked home together.

When they arrived home, Grandma and the others were still talking in Second Grandma's room. The first day of the Lunar New Year is a day for talking and chatting. Second Grandpa went to the village to find acquaintances to play chess and chat. Peiyin lifted the curtain and went into Grandma's room.

Grandpa sat alone on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), puffing away at his large eye bags. He rested one arm on the kang table, head down, his expression inscrutable.

Pei Yin knew that her grandfather was worried about her aunt's situation. Due to the circumstances, he didn't know where to inquire about it. Even if he did find out, he couldn't inquire about it because of his aunt's current status. Her eldest son's whole family was still here. What if inquiring about her aunt's situation caused trouble for her eldest son's family as well?

The grandfather, deeply troubled, frowned, only the "puff puff" of his cigarette easing his unspeakable worries.

Peiyin climbed onto the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and sat down next to her grandfather.

When Grandpa saw Pei-yin come in, he tapped the pot under his eye bags, put it away, and then picked Pei-yin up and put her on his lap, saying, "Pei-yin is back. Is the street lively?"

Looking at her taciturn grandfather, Pei Yin didn't know what to say to comfort him. She touched her pocket and found a piece of fruit candy that Pei Tian had put in there. So she took it out, unwrapped it, and held it to her grandfather's mouth, saying, "Grandpa, have some candy."

Grandpa looked at the piece of fruit candy in his granddaughter's hand, his heart aching. He blinked and said, "Grandpa won't eat it. Peiyin, you can have it. It's New Year's. Eating a piece of candy will sweeten your mouth and keep it sweet all year round, okay?"

Pei-Yin said, "Grandpa's sweet words bring him sweetness all year round."

Grandpa sighed, licked the candy, and said, "Okay, Grandpa's heart will be sweet all year round."

Pei-Yin said, "Grandpa, I'll eat half and you can eat half, we'll both eat it."

Looking at his granddaughter, the grandfather bit the candy in half, put one half in each of their mouths, and said, "Okay, we'll listen to Peiyin."

At this moment, Shen's father entered the room. Seeing his father and daughter together, he called out "Dad," took Pei Yin, hugged her, and then put her on the kang (a heated brick bed).

Shen's father looked at his father and said, "Dad, has something happened? I feel like your spirits have been lower since my fourth uncle came."

Grandpa looked at his eldest son and said, "Your fourth uncle came to tell me that your eldest sister and brother-in-law moved out of the cadre school and went to Qinghe."