Chapter 38: Chapter 29: Encountering Liu Fengying
Liu Ping looked at Mo Xiaoman and smiled, her lips pressed together. "It’s much better for you to live with Grandpa and Grandma. Look at you, you’ve learned your manners, you’re more talkative, and you have so much more color in your cheeks! The last time you came to buy kerosene, your little face was all pale and covered in soot. Now you’re all clean and fair. You look so pretty!"
Mo Xiaoman gave a goofy smile. "Sister Liu Ping is the pretty one!"
Liu Ping reached out a finger to brush aside a sweat-dampened lock of Mo Xiaoman’s hair. "Your hair has gotten quite long. On a hot day like this, it’ll be cooler if you tie it up!"
Without waiting for a reply, Liu Ping placed her hands on Mo Xiaoman’s shoulders and turned her around. From her side of the wooden counter, Liu Ping took a comb from a drawer, along with two rubber bands wrapped in red yarn. She deftly combed Mo Xiaoman’s hair until it was neat, then tied it into two short pigtails. After examining her handiwork from both sides, she smiled.
"Xiao Man, you have an oval face, so braids look very good on you. Ask your cousin if you don’t believe me. Don’t cut your hair anymore. Just let it grow out, and I’ll teach you how to braid it!"
Liang Xiaoju glanced at Mo Xiaoman and nodded in agreement. She also wore two braids, but hers weren’t well-combed; they were asymmetrical and lopsided, one higher than the other.
Mo Xiaoman said, "Thank you, Sister Liu Ping." Liu Ping was just about to enthusiastically offer to fix Liang Xiaoju’s braids as well when a group of people walked in. She stopped and went over to help the customers.
The group consisted of adults and children, all chattering noisily. They came in wanting to buy oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. Liu Ping took the various bottles and jars they handed her, weighed the salt, ladled the oil, and filled the soy sauce, all while taking their money. She was busy but not flustered, chatting and answering questions all the while.
Mo Xiaoman and Liang Xiaoju listened to them talk. Liang Xiaoju suddenly grabbed Mo Xiaoman’s hand, saying excitedly, "There’s a movie tonight! We didn’t even know!"
’Of course we didn’t know.’ They were living in the Knowledge Youth House on the far eastern edge of the village, nearly a kilometer from the center. The movie posters were usually put up around noon on the wall by the elementary school gate. It was just a large sheet of white paper with the movie title, showtime, and location written on it. People living in the middle of the village found out quickly, while those on the outskirts would only get the news later.
But Mo Xiaoman wasn’t very interested. In the past, whenever there was a movie, she would be kept at home doing chores. The joy of watching a film didn’t belong to her. She could only sneak out to catch a few glimpses after it was more than halfway over. Perhaps she’d grown used to it, become numb, and just couldn’t get excited. ’Besides, the movies are still in black and white; there isn’t much to see anyway.’
Then she heard a few children pestering the adults to buy them some sunflower seeds, saying they were to eat while watching the movie that night.
Liang Xiaoju grew even more excited and pulled on Mo Xiaoman. "Let’s hurry back! Grandpa must be home by now. We can ask him for twenty cents to buy some sunflower seeds. Otherwise, we won’t have anything to snack on during the movie, and we’ll fall asleep!"
Mo Xiaoman was speechless. ’Getting this excited over a movie, and you’re worried about falling asleep? Comrade, are you kidding me?’
The group did indeed buy some sunflower seeds and left.
Just as Mo Xiaoman was about to say goodbye to Liu Ping and head home, the light at the doorway dimmed as several more people entered.
Mo Xiaoman looked over, and her heart sank. It was Liu Fengying with her daughters, Mo Xiaofeng, Mo Xiao Zhi, and Mo Xiaohua. Mo Xiaofeng was carrying a soy sauce bottle, and Mo Xiao Zhi was holding a small bowl, probably for fermented bean curd. Liu Fengying and her daughters all liked fermented bean curd but never bought much at a time—just two small cubes.
The mother and daughters were in high spirits, discussing their plans for the evening just like the previous group: they needed to cook and eat dinner early, decide who to send to save seats, and after buying salt and soy sauce, use the remaining money to buy candy and sunflower seeds for snacking on during the movie...
The supply cooperative wasn’t very big. As soon as Liu Fengying and her daughters came in and turned around, they saw Mo Xiaoman and Liang Xiaoju.
Liang Xiaoju had never been to Gongdao Village, so Liu Fengying didn’t recognize her. But she was clearly well-informed about the situation at the Knowledge Youth House. She swept her gaze over Xiaoman, then looked at Liang Xiaoju, and said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes:
"Xiao Man, this girl must be the one from Shangling Village, right? That so-called great-aunt of yours... she only cared about living her own good life when she was young and never gave a thought to her family back home. Now that she’s old, she knows to come back and stir up trouble. So old and yet so foolish, short-sighted, and greedy. Doesn’t our Mo family have children? What need is there for her to meddle in our affairs!"
Liang Xiaoju was displeased to hear Liu Fengying talk like that. Although she didn’t know who this woman was, she could guess. So, not daring to talk back, she simply pulled on Mo Xiaoman’s left hand. "Xiao Man, let’s go home!"
Mo Xiaoman had only taken two steps with Liang Xiaoju when a sharp pain shot through her right wrist. She turned to see Liu Fengying’s vicious face. Xiaoman could feel the force of her mother’s grip—it felt as though, with a single thought, Liu Fengying could snap her wrist bone!
"What are you doing? Let go of me!" Mo Xiaoman couldn’t help but grow tense. ’I’m too weak right now. If Liu Fengying wants to hurt me, there’s no way I can escape!’
From behind the counter, Liu Ping tapped a long-handled spoon against a porcelain jar, making a CLANG-CLANG sound. She called out loudly, "Sister-in-law Fengying, your soy sauce and fermented bean curd are ready! Come and pay up! Are you buying anything else? Hurry up, I need to get off work and go home for lunch!"
Liu Fengying answered verbally but didn’t release her grip on Mo Xiaoman. She looked at her out of the corner of her eye, her gaze dark and sullen. "You tell me, child, what’s gotten into you? I’m your mother! Why do you act like a mouse that’s seen a cat whenever you see me? It’s not like I’m going to eat you. Remember this: you’re living with Grandpa and Grandma now to fulfill your filial duty to them on behalf of your father and me. We are still one family, understand? Be a good girl from now on. Mom will come visit you often, and you should come home to play with your younger brother and sisters, too! Come on, there’s a movie tonight. Xiao Feng and the others want sunflower seeds, so Mom will buy a bag for you, too. You can snack on them while you watch the movie tonight. They’re delicious!"
Having said her piece, Liu Fengying dragged Mo Xiaoman to the counter and smiled at Liu Ping. "Dear, weigh out a jin of sunflower seeds for me. Divide them into six bags. I have six children, so it’s one bag for each of them!"
Liu Ping gave Mo Xiaoman a sympathetic look. As she went to open the burlap sack of sunflower seeds, she said, "Sister-in-law Fengying, children’s bones are fragile. My nephew broke his arm just from falling down the other day, and the whole family was sick with worry! Look at Xiaoman’s arm, it’s as thin as a twig. Aren’t you worried it’ll break when you pull on it so hard?"
Liu Fengying was unmoved. Watching Liu Ping weigh the sunflower seeds, she laughed. "My Xiao Man is tough. She’ll be fine!"
Then she said to Mo Xiaoman, "After we buy the sunflower seeds, come home with Mom. You can have dinner at our house tonight. I’ll even fry a nice, fragrant egg for you! Your little brother and sisters have missed you these past few days while you’ve been away. Isn’t that right, Xiao Feng, Xiao Zhi? Xiaohua?"
Xiao Feng and Xiao Zhi, standing nearby, didn’t make a sound. Only after Liu Fengying shot them a glare did they reluctantly reply, "We missed you so much, Sis. When you’re not home, Xiaohua won’t even sleep at night. She just cries and cries, it’s so annoying!"
Mo Xiaohua was completely engrossed in the small bowl of fermented bean curd cubes in Mo Xiao Zhi’s hand. She was pressed tightly against Mo Xiao Zhi, sticking her tongue into the bowl for a lick from time to time, completely oblivious to what was happening.
