Chapter 50: Chapter 41: Something to Look Forward To
Grandpa wasn’t a man of many words, but once Grandma made a decision, he would carry it out without question.
Liang Xiaoju resorted to her usual trick: she paced all around the yard but refused to step out the gate. She even threw a hunger strike, crying and sobbing, refusing to eat lunch.
Grandpa went back to his room, found a one-yuan note, and gave it to Xiao Man. "Go to the supply store and buy some biscuits and candy. She can eat them on the way."
Xiao Man had little memory of the one-yuan notes from this era. She held it up to the light and asked, "Should I spend the whole yuan?"
Grandpa didn’t know what she was looking at, so he just glanced up at the sky before answering, "Spend it all. I think her family has six or seven kids... If you want some, just keep a little for yourself."
"I don’t want any of hers," Xiao Man said, pulling twenty cents from her pocket and waving it. "Grandpa, you gave me fifty cents last night, and I still have some left. I was just thinking about going to buy some biscuits for myself!"
Grandpa smiled and patted the back of her head. "My Xiao Man knows how to save money now. Such a good girl! Go on, hurry!"
Xiao Man felt a little awkward. ’Such a good girl... Okay, fine. I’m living a new life, so I’ll just have to be Grandpa and Grandma’s good little granddaughter again!’
She ran to the supply store and bought ten large yellow biscuits and fifty fruit candies. Including the four large yellow biscuits for herself, Lin Liuping carefully wrapped everything in newspaper for her, making three neat packages. Xiao Man clutched them to her chest and hurried back home, the whole trip taking just over ten minutes.
Back home, she put the two packages for Liang Xiaoju into Grandpa’s back basket. Then she went into the yard to take down the set of clothes she had washed for the girl yesterday after her bath, folding them and putting them in the basket as well. As for the clothes Liang Xiaoju was currently wearing, the new undershirt and underwear weren’t a problem. But the small floral-print shirt and blue work-cloth pants from Granny Han might be hard to explain if people asked about them later. However, Liang Xiaoju already considered them hers. She had snatched them up as soon as they were dry, putting them on right after her bath. Trying to make her take them off now would be like trying to skin her alive. ’Oh, well. She can just have them,’ Xiao Man thought.
Grandpa finally caught Liang Xiaoju. She wailed as if the world were ending. All along the road, Grandpa dragged the sobbing, tear-wiping little girl, looking more like a child trafficker than an actual one. Fortunately, there weren’t many people on the rural roads. If anyone came up to ask, he would offer a brief explanation. Most of the local villagers recognized him, so there was no real trouble.
Gongdao Village and Shangling Village were a few miles apart. Following the main road was the long way around; a shortcut through the fields and ridges could cut the distance in half. Grandpa, however, took Liang Xiaoju along the main road. He figured that once he got to Shangling Village, he’d have to argue a bit with his older sister. By the time he returned home, it was already evening.
Xiao Man was in the kitchen cooking. After feeding more firewood into the stove and putting the lid on the pot, she ran to the door to listen in. In the yard, she heard Grandpa sighing as he spoke to Grandma. "No wonder she didn’t want to go back. The house is too small, just a two-room thatched hut. Three big kids, four little ones, and two adults—there’s barely room to stand... I gave them ten yuan, but my sister snatched it away as soon as she saw it, so I had to give them another five... When I was leaving, Xiaoju followed me for a long way. It broke my heart."
Grandma sighed too. "But what can we do? You’re already supporting me and Xiao Man on your own. Can you really afford to raise another? Your sister brought two kids that day. If she sees Xiaoju living here comfortably, she’ll probably try to send another. She’s your own sister, and you’re too soft-hearted to say no. If this goes on, she’ll start trying to run our household for you like she used to, and I’ll never have a moment’s peace."
"This is our home. Who could run it for me? Not even my sister, not even back then! Don’t talk nonsense. What if the child hears you? What authority would I have left?"
Hearing this, Grandma couldn’t help but chuckle. "The head of the house is the one who needs authority. What do I need authority for? Oh, old man, you haven’t used that word in so long. Why do I feel like we’re living in the past again? Back when we were still young, when Guo Qiang and our second son were still little, and they still called us ’Dad’ and ’Mom’... Back then, you walked as if the wind were at your back, carrying such heavy loads so quickly. Whenever I was a little nicer to the boys, you’d always go on about your ’authority,’ but no matter how mischievous they were, you could never bring yourself to hit or scold them..."
"Sigh... why are you bringing up the past again? Those two animals... we raised them for nothing. We can’t count on them in this lifetime. But Ayue, I’ve been feeling something lately. It’s like I have more and more energy. Every morning, I haven’t even had breakfast, just a bamboo tube of water, but when I climb the cliffs and come back down, my arms aren’t sore and my legs don’t feel weak. The back basket doesn’t even feel heavy. I walk with a spring in my step, and my appetite is huge. I’ve been eating an extra large bowl at every meal these days, just like I did a few years ago... It’s so strange! I was talking with my fifth brother yesterday, and he said it’s because I have hope and a purpose now. It’s like a man carrying a heavy load on his shoulders—doesn’t he have to muster the strength to get it to his destination? If that’s the case, then it must be because we’re running a household again and taking care of Xiao Man. I just had to find the strength!"
Grandma readily agreed. "It must be! That’s exactly it! I also feel like since we split off from the family to live on our own, my body feels so much lighter. Every day, I think to myself: ’Get up, we have a child to care for. Do whatever you can.’ I just walk around inside and outside the house a few times, do a few small chores, and my old headaches and the aches and numbness in my back are all gone! Back in that little courtyard, when you weren’t home, I was miserable. I was just waiting to eat, waiting to be scolded, waiting to die. I used to think I’d just die one day and this life would finally be over... But I don’t think like that anymore! Amu, from now on, you give me the money. I’ll save it up, and I won’t give it to anyone except for Xiao Man’s schooling! I want to get my eyes treated. I feel like they can get better! We’re fifty-six this year, right? For Xiao Man’s sake, we have to live for another twenty years! She said she wants to become a university student for you, so we’ll watch over her. When she gets married, we can even help her take care of her children... What do you say? Can we do it?"
"Ayue, as long as you want to live, I’ll be right there with you. It doesn’t matter how long."
"..."
Xiao Man covered her mouth and tiptoed back to the stove. Staring at the flames roaring in the firebox, tears streamed down her face. In her past life, Grandpa had fallen off a cliff, and Grandma had followed him in death by eating Poisonous Grass. But in this life, Grandma wanted to live for a long, long time, and Grandpa would live alongside her...
Spreading open her left palm, Xiao Man felt incredibly fortunate to have received the wondrous Treasure Pearl World. She made a decision. So that Grandma’s eyes could heal as soon as possible, she would start practicing the Five Animals Qigong today. She would build up her physical strength, enter the Treasure Pearl Space, and even if she couldn’t bring out the Purple Lotus Seeds, plucking a small piece of a lotus leaf would be better than nothing!
After dinner, Grandpa left, carrying a kerosene lantern and his back basket. Inside the basket, Xiao Man had packed a change of clothes, a hatchet, a bamboo tube of spiritual spring water, and a paper package. The package contained one large yellow biscuit and two roasted sweet potatoes. She reminded Grandpa to keep it safe so he could have it as a late-night snack or for breakfast, and to make sure no mice or other critters got to it.
Summer nights were short, and with no movies or television, the villagers were used to sleeping early. But with the recent start of the rice harvest, the quiet summer nights were no longer quiet. On the large drying floor of the grain station not far away, several production teams had sent people to work overtime, pedaling the threshing machines and making a tremendous racket. A single hundred-watt lightbulb blazed, illuminating the entire area. Many children ran over to play, rolling and doing somersaults in the piles of straw. The air was filled with an endless stream of shrieks, laughter, and scolding voices. Because of all the noise, the entire village seemed to have postponed its bedtime.
