Reborn in 1966

Chapter Seven: Xuan Gu

After the children fell asleep, Shen's mother whispered to Shen's father, "I don't find it strange that his second uncle gave the Party Secretary something, but I find it strange that the Party Secretary's daughter gave Peijun several pieces of candy. Could it be that the Party Secretary's daughter has taken a liking to his second uncle?"

After thinking for a moment, Mr. Shen said, "When the Party Secretary's daughter was little, she often followed Shengqin around. We haven't seen each other much since she grew up. I heard from my fourth uncle that she's going to work at the textile factory in the county. Although our Shengqin is helping out in the Workers' Propaganda Team, there's quite a difference between the two of them."

Shen's mother said, "If they really like our family, given our circumstances, I doubt the Party Secretary's family would be willing."

Mr. Shen said, "Forget it, let's not think about these things. Tell the children not to tell anyone. Let's just keep to ourselves and live our own lives."

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, many people in the village went to visit their maternal relatives. If everyone wasn't given a holiday, how many days a year would they have a break? Taking advantage of the less work in the fields during the first month of the lunar year, everyone went to visit relatives, and the village leaders turned a blind eye to it.

The sun was high in the sky when Pei Yin, lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), heard laughter and chatter coming from the courtyard. Pei Tian said to Pei Zhi, "Happy New Year! I hope Auntie can see Chairman Mao this year!"

A cheerful girl smiled and said, "Happy New Year to you all too, and I wish you all the best in seeing Chairman Mao this year."

Grandma said, "Xuanni is here, come inside quickly."

It must be my aunt who's here. My eldest aunt lives in Beijing, and my second aunt was sent down to the countryside in the south. My second aunt's two aunts live quite far away and can't come yet. It must be my aunt who married into a nearby village.

The curtain was soon lifted, and Shen's mother led a woman of about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, roughly the same height as her, to the front of the kang (a heated brick bed).

The person who came was my aunt. My older brothers and sisters told me to call her Aunt Xuan.

Aunt Xuan rubbed her hands together, picked up the little blanket holding Pei Yin, and said, "Oh my, this is our little Pei Yin, she's so pretty."

Aunt Xuan turned to Shen's mother and said, "Sister-in-law, Pei Yin looks a lot like my older brother. But people say that children change. When they are young, they look like their father, but as they grow up, they look like their mother."

Shen's mother said, "She's still so young, you wouldn't guess it. By the way, Shengxuan, why didn't her uncle come back with her?"

Aunt Xuan didn't reply. She gently put Pei Yin down, sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), and lowered her head. Seeing that Aunt Xuan looked unwell, Madam Shen sat down next to her and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"

Aunt Xuan said in a low voice, "It's all the same old stuff. I'm so unlucky to have such a meddlesome mother-in-law. She has to control everything in the family. Before the New Year, she was already saying that we shouldn't visit our parents' home after the New Year. She said it's time to destroy the Four Olds and establish the Four News, and that visiting relatives during the New Year is an old custom. I didn't pay any attention to her. Isn't it just because she thinks that you and my older brother were sent back to do manual labor that she feels ashamed of her proletarian status? She doesn't do any work all day and just follows a bunch of people singing revolutionary songs and dancing revolutionary dances. Sister-in-law, tell me, is there any mother-in-law like her in the whole area? I feel ashamed."

Shen's mother said, "It's a good thing to want to improve."

Aunt Xuan said, "She doesn't do any housework, saying she's not in good health. So she'll help us take care of the children. But instead, she just leaves the children with my mother-in-law and goes around performing shows in the village. She's over fifty years old, and it's really unbearable to see her jumping around like that all day."

Shen's mother said, "No matter what, they are your elders. You have to be more tolerant of them. You still have to make a living."

Aunt Xuan said, "She told me not to visit my parents' home, but I ignored her. When I saw her going to the propaganda team to rehearse a program, I brought my two children here."

The two sisters-in-law chatted about their children for a while, and then Shen's mother took Aunt Xuan to help prepare lunch.

Pei Yin, lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), was bored and looked around aimlessly when she heard a few disordered footsteps.

A moment later, several heads landed on Pei Yin's head.

My third brother, my older sister, a five or six-year-old girl with pigtails and wearing a floral cotton-padded jacket, and a three-year-old boy with a cotton hat and red cheeks from the cold.

Pei-Chih said, "Look, this is my little sister, isn't she pretty?"

The little girl said, "Yes, it's really pretty."

The little boy stretched out his finger, but before the fingertip could touch Pei Yin's face, Pei Tian stopped him, saying, "Grandma said that children's skin is delicate, and it's not good to poke like that. Let's just look at it."

The little boy said, "Why isn't she saying anything?"

Pei-zhi said, "She's still little. She'll be able to talk when she's older. Mom said that when Pei-yin is older, she'll let me take her to play in the river by the village."

The little girl said, "Okay, let's go together then, block up the water, collect the dried fish, and have Grandma fry them."

Peitian said, "Okay, I'll take you all with me then, and you'll all have to listen to me. Zhao Xiaohe, will you listen to me?"

The little boy said, "Listen, my mom says you're the older brothers and you have to listen to them. But my aunt's older brother always steals my things, so I don't want to listen to him."

Peitian said, "Is it Zhao Dajiang? Xiaohe, you wait, I'll avenge you."

The little boy said, "My grandma said I have a rightist uncle. Dajiang's maternal grandfather's family are all poor and lower-middle peasants, so Dajiang has to lead me."

The little girl, Zhao Xiaoxia, said, "My grandma said we should spend less time with you guys in the future, but Xiaohe and I won't listen to her. Grandma is so biased. She always secretly gives the good food to Dajiang and not to me and Xiaohe. My mom said she doesn't care about a bite or two. When we grow up and are capable, we can eat all kinds of good food."

Grandma lifted the curtain and came in, placing a small willow basket on the kang table. She said, "Xiaoxia, you and Xiaohe are both good children. Your mother is right. Don't listen to your grandma, but listen to your mother. If you work hard, you'll be able to eat all kinds of delicious food in the future."

There were some peanuts in the willow basket. Grandma said, "Eat some peanuts first. Grandma will cook something delicious for you at noon."

The children happily thanked their grandmother, who smiled and left the east wing. Inside, the children chatted while shelling peanuts.

Peitian said, "These peanuts were picked up by my second brother, Peizhi, and me in the field after the team harvested peanuts. Grandma said to save them for us to eat during the New Year."

Xiaoxia said, "When our team harvests peanuts in the fall, I'll go to the field to pick some too. Then I'll ask my mom to fry them for us to eat during the New Year."

Pei-Chih said, "My dad says the fruits of his labor taste especially good, and I think these peanuts are really delicious."

The eldest brother, Peihua, and the second brother, Peijun, entered the house. Peitian asked, "Eldest brother, second brother, what were you doing?"

Peihua said, "The team is repairing the ammonia tank, and I went to work with your second brother."

Peitian said, "My second uncle said he would buy us something delicious for lunch, but I don't know if he will actually bring it back."

The second brother said, "If you wait for your second uncle's good food, your teeth will be baring from hunger. You might as well talk to your grandfather about buying some good food from the supply and marketing cooperative."

Peitian said, "You need coupons to buy things at the supply and marketing cooperative. Our mother said we've used up all the coupons at home."

Peizhi said, "Why don't we wait for Sister Jinhua a little longer? Yesterday, Sister Jinhua said that her eldest uncle is coming back from Beijing for the New Year and will definitely bring them milk candy. She wants to bring milk candy back for us to eat."

Pei-Tian said longingly, "What does milk candy taste like? I really want to try it."

Pei-jun, the second brother, said, "The taste of milk candy is a combination of sugar and milk."

Xiaoxia asked, "How did Second Brother know?"

Peijun said, "We ate it before we came back. Sigh, it's been so many years. I want to taste the milk candy again now."

The eldest brother, Peihua, said, "Alright, stop thinking about food. It's almost time to eat. Go see what Grandma and Mom are making."

The children cheered and ran outside. Peijun pulled Xiaohe, who had stumbled, and said, "Slow down, or you'll fall flat on your face and cry."

Xiaohe replied, "I won't cry! I'm a man now, a young revolutionary!"

Hearing this, Pei Yin, who was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), was speechless. The child was only three years old, yet he was already touting himself as a young revolutionary. The control of thought was truly powerful.

Pei-yin's lunch was still a bowl of millet porridge. Her mother had no breast milk, so she simply fed the baby with millet porridge. Pei-yin was still chubby and healthy. Actually, Pei-yin felt that drinking millet porridge was a good thing. She was already quite old mentally, and going back to breastfeeding would be a big psychological challenge.

After dinner, the children went to play with other children in the village, while the mother and her children talked on the kang (heated brick bed) in the east wing.

Aunt Xuan said, "Neither of my second aunt's two older sisters came back, and I noticed that my second aunt and uncle didn't look too good either."

Grandma said, "Your second aunt only has these two daughters, and she's always been very protective of them. I wonder how they'll be doing during the New Year."

Shen's mother said, "Shengqiong and Shengjue are both good people, and our family will definitely live a good life."

Grandma said, "Shengqiong's family has a bad class background and many children, so they have always lived a very frugal life. After the New Year, it's the lean season. I think your second aunt is worried that her children have nothing to eat."

Aunt Xuan said, "I heard that Qiong's area has always been a model of learning from Dazhai, so the harvest should be very good, right?"

Pei Yin clicked her tongue. Since it's a typical case, it means they only care about appearances. Only they know what their actual lives are like.

Grandma said, "Who knows? Xuan, you and Tiezhu have to live a good life. Working hard and earning more money and food is more practical than anything else."

Aunt Xuan said, "Mother, I know. If I don't take good care of myself with a mother-in-law like me, we women will have no future."

Grandma said, "That's your mother-in-law, you have to be more tolerant and understanding."

Aunt Xuan said, "I'll be tolerant and forgiving. You see, she secretly slips some good things into her eldest grandson's arms. We live in the same courtyard, we're not blind, how could we not see it? We'll just not stoop to her level."

Grandma said, "Sigh, your mother-in-law seems like a sensible person."

Aunt Xuan said, "Mom, my mother-in-law has been a completely different person ever since she joined the Workers' Propaganda Team. Look at her, she's so old, yet she's still singing and dancing all day long. No one in the village is openly talking about it, but who isn't secretly gossiping about her?"

Grandma said, "Xuan, I have to tell you about this. No matter what people say about your mother-in-law, she is still your mother-in-law. You can do whatever you want behind closed doors, but you must protect your mother-in-law in front of outsiders. Remember, 'If husband and wife are not in harmony, even neighbors will bully them.' When it comes to outsiders, you must stand behind your mother-in-law. You are a family."

Aunt Xuan nodded and said, "Mother, I remember. Don't worry, I can still tell the difference between what's important and what's not."