I sold grilled fish in the 70s!

Chapter 1 Our Childhood Days We Were So Sweet

Before I knew it, I had reached the age of having a full head of white hair. Although I have a group of great-grandchildren around me, I feel very lonely.

Sigh, my two daughters haven't visited me for over a decade. It's not that they're unfilial or don't recognize me as their father, but rather that the unfortunate passing of my younger sister and mother has dealt them a huge blow.

"Grandpa! Grandpa! I'm here! Come and catch us!" The sounds of children playing outside the window sparked my imagination...

A mother who endured the pain silently

In my memory, my mother was a gentle and kind person. She always spoke softly, like a gentle breeze. Even when she was suffering from esophageal cancer and in great pain, she never uttered a sound. Her purpose was to prevent us children from being sad and shedding tears with her.

Child brides raised at home

My mother gave birth to me and three younger sisters: Jianmei (eldest), Bingying (second), and Jianying (youngest). Influenced by feudal ideas, my parents sent my youngest sister to a poor family in the next village to be a child bride. At the same time, my family also chose a child bride for me to raise in our home—Xie Guanzhu.

Historically, child brides were unfortunate. In their husbands' homes, they not only had to manage household chores and serve their parents-in-law, but also had to do things like bathing their husbands.

However, my childhood sweetheart lived like a real sister. We went to school together, and gathered pig feed in the fields together. My childhood sweetheart had everything her two younger sisters had. This made the other childhood sweethearts in the village extremely envious.

Fish nibbling at little feet

Childhood memories are always beautiful and carefree. "Squeak, squeak, squeak!" The cicada, the summer singer, always sang that annoying song around noon. My deepest impression is of a particular day at noon. My little sister, Jianmei, with her two pigtails sticking up high and wearing a creamy-white dress, was sitting by the ditch in front of our house, enjoying a slice of watermelon. The pale red watermelon juice stained her snow-white dress. Her bare feet were dipped into the cool water. Schools of little fish swam and bumped around her feet, chasing and nibbling at them, making her feel ticklish and giggling.

After laughing for a while, I gradually calmed down and began to observe these amazing little fish. I noticed that when they were "scratching" Jianmei's little feet, their mouths were pressed tightly against her toes, their bodies stood upright, and their tails swished back and forth—it was so funny! Jianmei couldn't resist touching them, but at first, she couldn't catch the slippery little fish. Later, she discovered that she had to wait until the fish were off guard and then sneak up to catch them.

Wow! She caught a cute little fish. It was so smooth, so she grabbed it. It kept wriggling in her hand, trying to escape her "clutches." Before she knew it, it swam away quickly, out of Jianmei's sight. But a moment later, it came back to "kiss" her little toes—what a clever little thing!

"You bullied me! I'll tell your wife!"

Jianmei was constantly playing and laughing with the fish in the ditch. Suddenly, "Doo------!" I yelled in her ear, "Little fat pig, are you stealing watermelon again? Are you letting the fish eat your stinky feet again?"

"You naughty Jianlin, you're bullying me again! I'll tell your wife!"

"Oh my! Now you actually have a backer! Don't forget, you two had a fight last week."

"So what? My sister-in-law spoils me and can't stand anyone bullying me! Hehehe, Gui Jianlin, just wait for your wife to teach you a lesson!"

"Hehe! You only call someone 'sister-in-law' when you need their help, but you call them by their first name when you don't need it. Mei'er, do you have to be so hypocritical!"

"So what? I'm being hypocritical!"

Jianmei's "watermelon skirt"

Just as we were arguing, my mother came over.

"What are you two doing? Instead of sleeping in the middle of the day, are you sitting in this ditch feeding the mosquitoes?"

Jianmei saw her mother and exclaimed, "Mommy, come and eat some watermelon! It's so sweet and delicious!" She took a bite of the watermelon as she spoke, and even winked at me. I saw this and gave her a sly smile. I nudged her hand, and she lost her grip. The entire watermelon shattered onto Jianmei's snow-white skirt, leaving it covered in tiny watermelon seeds. Hehe! Snow White is wearing a "watermelon skirt"!

"Jianmei, how could you be so careless! You ate watermelon and got it all over yourself! It's so bad! And you were even wearing the off-white dress your aunt gave you while you were eating watermelon. Don't you know that in a few days you'll be wearing this off-white dress to your grandmother's 50th birthday celebration?"

This afternoon you're coming with us to help plant rice seedlings in the fields! What are you being so vain about?

Dude, loving beauty is every girl's nature! Don't you also love handsome guys?

Hmm! My sister-in-law told me that you were wearing the little suit that your aunt gave you last night and wouldn't take it off, right?

Zhuzhu, that girl! Your mouth is so quick to shut up! (Jiangle dialect means very fast) You told you so quickly?

Haha! If I don't spoil my own sister, why would I spoil someone else?

But we can't air our dirty laundry in public! This is a little secret between my husband and me, and we can't tell anyone else.

Planting rice seedlings under blue sky and white clouds

Every noon was spent playing around with my siblings and me! In the afternoon, we would go to the fields to plant rice seedlings. At this point, you might ask, "Summers used to be very cool, right?" Well, there's a saying in Le County: "Mountains have their own winds, fields have their own winds, and sitting at home will drive you crazy."

Imagine how it must have been back then! In an era when fans were part of a dowry, let alone the small electric fans that hung around your neck, summer was our most dreaded time. The adults would come to their fields with farm tools and a pot of pre-brewed tea. They always liked to place the teapot and bowls together on the edge of the field, and to avoid getting the utensils dirty, they would always cover the teapot with the bowls upside down.

Back then, the water in the fields was crystal clear, reflecting the blue sky and white clouds. Occasionally, a few playful dragonflies would fly down to the fields, gently touching the water with their tiny tails, creating ripples. We children stood on the ridges of the fields.