Chapter 49: Chapter 40: A Quarrel
Grandma shook her head. "I didn’t hear your grand-uncle mention it, and I don’t agree either. Xiaoju, you’re a big girl now, so you should understand what I’m about to say: We’ve just split from the main family and don’t have much food. You’ve seen that we’ve been eating nothing but congee these past few days..."
"That’s okay, we eat congee at my house too! I think my grand-uncle’s congee is fragrant and sweet, much better than ours. And my grand-uncle’s family has lard! When my family cooks, we just crush a handful of hemp seeds to put in. You can’t even see a speck of oil. It tastes awful. I want to live at my grand-uncle’s house!"
Xiao Man was speechless. ’Hemp seeds are good for you, you idiot! In a few years, they’ll be a super expensive health food, a prized local specialty. Hemp seed oil is actually delicious. You guys just don’t know how to prepare it, or don’t have the patience to, that’s why it tastes bad!’
Grandma spoke with Xiaoju a while longer, but she couldn’t seem to persuade the girl no matter what she said. Finally, Grandma gave up and fell silent. She had Xiao Man help her out to the courtyard to sit, then took out her sewing basket to do some needlework.
That’s right, Grandma was doing needlework. Even though she was blind, she could feel her way through it, pushing the needle in stitch by stitch. If a seam was crooked, she could pull it out and start over. She had all the time in the world, after all. Back at the Mo Family Courtyard, she used to mend Grandpa’s clothes herself. Whenever she needed a needle threaded, she would just call one of the children over. It was a task that took no effort or time, so no one would ever have the heart to refuse.
When Grandma did her needlework, she was completely focused and had no time for anyone else. Xiao Man went into the room, stripped the bedsheet and pillowcase, and took them to be soaked and washed. Liang Xiaoju blocked her at the doorway, her eyes red. "What did I ever do to you? Why can’t you stand having me here?"
Xiao Man looked at her. "Move. Let me soak the bedsheet first, then we can talk. Otherwise, it won’t dry after I wash it, and I won’t have anywhere to sleep tonight!"
Liang Xiaoju refused to move. "I’m still here, and you’re already stripping the bedsheet to wash it... I’m going to tell my grandma that you’re mistreating me, looking down on me, and trying to kick me out!"
Xiao Man laughed in exasperation. "Looking down on you? If you’re going to say that, then I really do regret it. I regret letting you share a bed with me! We didn’t get much grain when the family split, and the rice bin is already more than half empty. Because you’re here, we have to make sure there’s a meal of dry rice every day. We’ve scooped out all the pork cracklings from the lard jar to put in our dishes. Do you get to eat meals with this much oil every day at your house? Look at your little face, look at your skin. You’ve gotten fairer and prettier after just a few days at my house. Is that what you call mistreatment? Liang Xiaoju, you’d better check your conscience. If you stir things up and make the adults fight because of you, I guarantee you’ll never set foot in my family’s home again!"
Liang Xiaoju twisted the corner of her shirt in her hands, glaring at Xiao Man as she retorted, "This is my grand-uncle’s house! You were just picked up by my aunt. You’re not a member of the Mo family!"
"And you are? My name is Mo Xiaoman. What’s yours? Is your last name Mo? Is your household registration under Grandpa and Grandma’s name? It’s not, is it? So, Liang Xiaoju, just go back to your Liang Family where you belong!"
Liang Xiaoju burst into tears of anger. "I am! I’m Grandma’s... My grandma is Grand-uncle’s biological sister! We’re the real relatives! What right do you have to kick me out?"
"Of course I have the right. But have I tried to kick you out?"
"Yes! You must have been bad-mouthing me to Grand-aunt, making her kick me out!"
"Fine, then! I am trying to kick you out!"
Xiao Man pushed Liang Xiaoju aside. "I didn’t want to kick you out at first. It’s livelier with another person in the house. But you’re so hard to get along with. We have nothing to say to each other!"
"How am I hard to get along with? Make yourself clear! Make yourself clear!"
"Figure it out yourself. I’m younger than you, and even I know. How can you not understand?" Xiao Man decided to play dumb too, hugging the bedsheet and walking out.
Liang Xiaoju chased after Xiao Man, refusing to let it go. The two of them went out, through the courtyard, and argued all the way to the well. Grandma lifted her head and ’looked’ toward the sound of the commotion, shaking her head with a helpless sigh. ’See? They’re fighting after all. That old man of mine thinks too simply, assuming any two children can get along. Our Xiao Man is kind, but other people’s children aren’t necessarily so good-natured!’
While they argued, Liang Xiaoju started snatching the bedsheet from Xiao Man to wash it. Xiao Man just let her. It wasn’t like Xiaoju had anything better to do anyway. Xiao Man then went and gathered Grandma’s bedsheet to wash as well. She had originally worried the bamboo pole wouldn’t be long enough to hang everything and had planned to wash it tomorrow, but she figured she could just string up a rope in the courtyard later.
「Approaching noon.」
Everything had been washed and hung out to dry, and lunch was ready. Grandpa came through the door with a basket of medicinal herbs on his back and a dry log as thick as a head on his shoulder.
Xiao Man rushed over to take the basket. Liang Xiaoju followed, trying to take the log. Grandpa said, "You can’t handle this one. It’s mountain wood, it’s heavy! When I have time, I’ll split it for firewood. It’ll last a long time!"
Grandpa carried the log over and dropped it by the side of the house. Xiao Man fetched a basin of clean water and set it on the stone platform for Grandpa to wash his face. Liang Xiaoju rummaged through the basket and exclaimed in delight, "Whoa, a gray rabbit! It’s alive!"
Grandpa smiled and nodded. "It’s alive, but its leg is broken. It probably fell into someone’s trap and managed to escape. It was hopping onto the mountain path right when I caught it!"
Xiao Man ran over to pet the rabbit too, laughing. "Grandpa, you have such great luck!"
Liang Xiaoju clapped her hands. "Yay! We’re having rabbit for dinner tonight!"
Grandma came out of the kitchen and asked, "Is the rabbit fat? How many jin does it weigh?"
Grandpa hurried over to her. "It must be six or seven jin. I felt it, the meat is pretty thick. It’s been a while since you’ve had rabbit, hasn’t it, dear? I’ll prepare it in a bit and stew it. Our family can finally have a proper feast!"
Grandma’s expression didn’t change. "No need. Tie up the rabbit. You’ll take it with you when you take Xiaoju home in a bit."
Grandpa froze for a moment. He turned his head and saw Liang Xiaoju’s eyes were bright red. Her mouth trembled, and she started crying. "Grand-uncle, Grand-aunt and Xiao Man are trying to kick me out!"
"Did you do something wrong? Did you make your grand-aunt angry?" Grandpa asked.
"No, I didn’t do anything! I got up this morning, and for no reason at all, Xiao Man started scowling at me, and Grand-aunt was being disdainful and wants to send me home!"
Grandpa looked at Xiao Man, then at Grandma. Xiao Man was furious. "Liang Xiaoju! You were the one fighting with me. My grandma didn’t get involved at all. You’d better have a conscience when you speak. How did my grandma show she was disdainful of you? How did she try to kick you out?"
Liang Xiaoju wiped her face with her hand, smearing tears all over it. She sobbed, looking utterly wronged. "She said it herself! She said she didn’t agree to let me stay and that I should go home. Isn’t that the same as being disdainful and kicking me out?"
"You..."
Before Xiao Man could finish, Grandma waved her hand. "Alright, alright. It’s true. I said I didn’t agree, and I also said that Grandpa should take Xiaoju home today!"
Then she turned toward where Grandpa was standing and said, "Old man, Xiaoju asked you about staying here for school, but you never told me. Even if you had, I wouldn’t have agreed. We’re old. We can barely support Xiao Man as it is. How could we possibly take on Xiaoju too?"
Grandpa heaved a sigh. "I just saw that the two girls were about the same age and thought they’d have things to talk about. I just agreed without thinking too much... Alright, let’s eat. After we eat, I’ll take Xiaoju home!"
Liang Xiaoju cried even louder. "Grand-uncle, I won’t go! If I go back, Grandma will scold me for being useless again... I want to go to school in this village. The school for our village is so, so far away..."
