Reborn in 1966

Chapter Seventy-Three Zhou Qian

Pei Yin was somewhat taken aback by her second aunt's words. Nowadays, sometimes a careless remark can become a target for attack. Many people have been labeled as counter-revolutionaries because of a single sentence. Her graduate advisor was among the first batch of college students after the Cultural Revolution and was also an educated youth sent to the countryside. He said that when he was sent to the countryside, a villager who liked to joke made a few jokes about the director of the county's Revolutionary Committee, and as a result, he was labeled a counter-revolutionary and spent several years in prison until the end of the Cultural Revolution, wasting several precious years. After he came out, he was listless and lacked energy. When others talked to him, he would just nod, shake his head, wave, and wave his hand. He had lost his former spirit and vigor.

Uncle said, "It's best to say less of that. Now that we have Jingjing, we need to be careful about our words and actions, so that no one can find fault with us."

Later, my second uncle was transferred to the county's water conservancy bureau. He didn't work in the bureau, but at a pumping station. The pumping station was more than ten miles away from Shenjia Village, so my second uncle could often ride his bicycle home. This arrangement really showed the great care and effort of Secretary Tian and his colleagues.

The half-bag of flour that my second uncle brought home was rolled into hand-pulled noodles by my grandmother and second aunt. My third aunt said that since she was a widow, it was better for her to stay out of such things. So my grandmother and second aunt kneaded the dough themselves, moved the large cutting board to the yard, kneaded the large piece of dough until smooth, and rolled it into a thin, round pancake with a thick rolling pin. They sprinkled dry flour evenly on the pancake, stacked it up, cut it into thin noodles, and then used thin bamboo poles to hang it in a shady place in the yard to dry. They then stored it away, preparing to make it and give it to relatives and neighbors when the baby was a month old.

Whom to give the gift to depends on which family gives a gift after the baby is born.

In families where a baby has been born, besides the maternal grandparents sending gifts to encourage childbirth, relatives and neighbors might also send eggs, a piece of cloth, or even some handmade clothes and shoes. When the baby turns 100 days old, noodles are prepared and sent back to the family. Therefore, you can often see people in the village carrying large wooden boxes filled with steaming noodles, which means that a baby has been born and the family is sending return gifts to celebrate the baby's 100th day.

The noodles won't spoil if they're left to dry. Grandma said we should get things done before the autumn harvest, because the noodles taste best when they're rolled out now. Once the harvest is over and it gets cold, the noodles won't be as easy to roll out.

Then, the autumn harvest began, and the hearts of the villagers were filled with excitement. Just think, there were so many crops to be harvested in the fields—the fruits of a year's hard work. This year's harvest was so good; after the harvest, they would surely receive more grain. The villagers had such deep memories of the famines of previous years that they always felt that as long as they had grain in their hands, they could calmly do other things. Now, with the harvest about to begin, there was no time to think about anything else.

The corn and sweet potatoes planted in Shenjia Village this year are growing very well. Experienced farmers say that this year's yield per mu will definitely exceed last year's.

Last year's yield per mu was quite high. Last year, the villagers received the most grain in history. If the harvest is even greater this year, does that mean they will receive even more grain this year?

Because of the autumn harvest, the school was on holiday. Shen's mother came home and helped her grandmother with housework, helped her second aunt take care of the children, and washed diapers. Peiyin could also follow her mother around like a little tail. When her mother was doing housework, she would help hand her a spoon or a bowl. When her mother was washing diapers, she would help rinse them. Because she was at work, Shen's mother didn't have time to interact with her little daughter. This time, she felt that her little daughter was really easy to take care of.

When washing diapers, Shen's mother would carry a basin to the riverbank. The river was shallow and clear, with a patch of reeds on the riverbank. Because people often came to wash clothes, someone had placed several flat bluestone slabs by the river. When people came to wash clothes, they only needed to bring a small stool and a wash basin. Some more particular families would bring a wooden washboard, place stones at both ends, and sit on one end of the washboard.

Because of the autumn harvest, there weren't many people washing clothes by the river. The large riverbank was only occupied by Shen's mother, who had taken Peiyin, Peijun, and Peizhi to the fields with their older brother. After the children from the village school were on holiday, besides doing housework, cooking, feeding chickens and pigs at home, they would go to the fields with their families. So the fields must be very lively now.

Around 2 p.m., the autumn sun was bright but not scorching, and the heat of summer was gone when you were bathed in it.

Shen's mother sat on a small stool she had brought from home, washing the family's clothes. Pei Yin also sat on a small stool she had brought, scrubbing a small garment on the bluestone slab in front of her, looking quite professional.

Pei Yin looked at her mother from the side. She had short hair that reached her ears, a few crow's feet at the corners of her eyes, bright eyes that were slightly squinted, and a smile on her lips. Pei Yin felt that her mother was a person with a story. In all this time, she had never heard her parents mention her maternal grandparents' family. But she knew that they must have had a bad class background, otherwise, would the family not keep in touch?

Shen's mother turned her head and saw her little daughter looking at her very seriously. She smiled and asked her, "Peiyin, why are you looking at your mother like that?"

Pei-Yin said, "Mother looks beautiful, Mother is the most beautiful."

Mother Shen tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said, "What's so pretty about me? I'm getting old. Pei Yin is much prettier."

The river flowed quietly. Pei Yin looked at her mother with a smile. In her previous life, she had grown up with her grandparents. Her impression of her mother was the two bank deposit slips that were sent back from abroad during the New Year and her birthday.

Just then, a suppressed sob came from the other side of the reeds.

The stream was wide and shallow, and the reeds in that bend were not large. Hearing the sound of a girl crying, Shen's mother stood up and waded through the stream and reeds. She found that it was Zhou Qian, an educated youth from the village, sitting by the river crying.

Hearing someone approaching, Zhou Qian looked up and saw it was Teacher Ma from the elementary school. She stood up and said, "Hello, Teacher Ma!"

Looking at Zhou Qian's thin body, Shen's mother thought that her child was only fifteen years old and hadn't even grown up yet, but she had to support herself and go to work in the fields to earn a living.

Shen's mother said, "Is that Zhou Qian? What's wrong?"

Zhou Qian wiped away her tears and said, "I can't do the work in the fields, sob sob sob..."

Shen's mother said, "Come over here and tell the teacher what happened, okay?"

Perhaps it had been a long time since anyone had been so kind to her. Zhou Qian nodded and crossed the river on the stepping stones that the villagers had placed in the river for easy walking. She arrived at the place where Shen's mother and Pei Yin were washing clothes and stood somewhat awkwardly on the bank.

Looking at this short and thin girl, Pei Yin felt the cruelty of the world. For various reasons, many children like Zhou Qian left their homes and loving parents far away with the army of those sent to the countryside to earn a living. Some of them didn't even know how to cook or wash clothes. They left their most precious years in places that would leave a mark on them for the rest of their lives, places they even hated. How innocent and how unfortunate!

Shen's mother said, "Please sit down for a moment, I'll be done washing this dress."

As she spoke, Shen's mother rinsed the clothes in the river. The clothes had already been washed with soap powder, so rinsing them in the river water was all that was needed.

Pei Yin moved her small stool next to Zhou Qian and said, "Big sister, please sit down."

Zhou Qian said somewhat embarrassedly, "No need, you sit, I'll stand."

Without saying a word, Pei Yin pulled Zhou Qian to sit on a small stool and asked, "Where is your family from, big sister?"

Zhou Qian said, "My family is from the city."

Pei Yin knew that place; it was a very developed coastal city in later years. Pei Yin remembered that she had a college classmate from there who always looked down on people.

Seeing Zhou Qian's uneasy expression, Pei Yin asked, "Is it far from here?"

Zhou Qian nodded and said, "It's very far. We took a train and then a bus, and it took us almost a whole day to get here."

Pei-Yin said, "That's so far! Does your family have a younger sister?"

Zhou Qian said, "I am the eldest child in my family. I have a younger brother and a younger sister. My mother said that being a sent-down youth would allow me to earn my own living, so I came along."

Shen's mother had already washed the clothes, wrung out the water and put them in a basin, saying, "How old are you? You're already earning your own living."

Zhou Qian, looking somewhat distressed, said, "I went to work in the fields with everyone, but I never did a good job. Wu Jiajia said I was dragging everyone down..." Before she could finish speaking, Zhou Qian lowered her head, tears welling up in her eyes again.

Shen's mother knew that Wu Jiajia was a very progressive young girl. Of the ten educated youths who came to the village, she was the only one who gave advice to Secretary Tian, ​​saying that the class struggle in the village was not going well.

Pei-yin said, "But you're shorter than them all. Look, I'm the smallest and shortest in the family, so I don't do any chores. Right now, I help my grandma tend the fire and help my mom wash clothes. When I grow up, I'll be able to go work in the fields."

Shen's mother said, "Peiyin, don't talk nonsense. How can you compare to your sister Zhou?"

Zhou Qian sat on a stool with her head down, wiping away her tears. Shen's mother said, "Zhou Qian, we're not working fast now. When we grow up and get stronger, we'll be able to work as fast as them. Don't worry, take it slow."

Zhou Qian said, "We're almost out of food. Qi Xiangnan said that when we have some free time, we can follow the village aunties and grandmas to weave straw ropes to earn money. But right now, I don't think I'm good at it. Will I be able to earn money then?"

Shen's mother said, "Zhou Qian, the village is busy with the harvest right now. You have to work hard and fast. You've just come to the village and have never done this kind of work before. You don't have much strength. When you're a little older, you can work in the fields like the girls in the village. It's okay if you work slowly. We'll work steadily with the older women in the village. Once we're familiar with the work, we'll be able to keep up."

Zhou Qian nodded. Seeing that Shen's mother and Pei Yin were about to go home, she politely thanked them and said goodbye. Then she went back to the riverbank along the way she came. On the other side of the river was a sweet potato field in the village. Some villagers went to the cornfield to pick corn, while others went to the sweet potato field to cut sweet potato vines, preparing to dig up sweet potatoes, cut them into dried sweet potatoes, and dry them in the sun. Once the sweet potatoes were dried, they could be stored in the warehouse.