Chapter 31

Zhou Xingyue's tears would not stop either. The sight of her daughter hurt her past bearing.

"Get up, get up. What are you doing on your knees?" Yao Zhizhao's voice still shook. In his whole life he had wronged nobody, only this daughter of his.

Zhou Xingyue came forward crying and took her daughter in her arms.

Chen Yougong stood to one side, awkward. This was the first time he had met his wife's parents with her beside him, and he was nervous.

Yao Shangqing got up and wiped her eyes quickly. A meeting this hard to come by, and she didn't want it all in tears.

"Dad, Ma, sit down."

Chen Yougong seemed to have found a use for himself at last. He pulled the straw mats straight and put the things he was carrying on the table.

"Dad, Ma, my mother made these for you. Nothing fancy. The vegetable buns in here were steamed today, and there are eggs. Steam the buns again in the morning, and boil some hen's eggs and duck eggs. It's hot now, nothing keeps long, so we didn't bring much."

Yao Shangqing nodded along. Her parents had aged a great deal. As things stood, though, being alive was already something. Several of her father's colleagues had been sent down to the far northwest, where life was harder still.

Yao Zhizhao looked at the things on the table and did not know what he felt. This was a great deal to give.

A few years ago Zhou Xingyue had been a woman who never had to worry about ordinary goods. These last years, watching a village family of several get through a day, she had come to understand. She looked at her son-in-law. He was not a man she would ever have picked.

"Bringing all this over will cause trouble at home. You should have stopped your mother-in-law." Zhou Xingyue said it with a sigh. So long as her daughter was all right.

"It won't, Ma. My mother-in-law is good to me, and I get on with my sisters-in-law. They all know how things stand. There's no trouble." Yao Shangqing was smiling. She was content with the life she had.

Zhou Xingyue said no more. These days, a life like that was a good one.

Yao Zhizhao was well satisfied with this son-in-law. What you judged a man by was his character, and besides, the man had nerve and could think on his feet, and he was good to her. That was enough.

They talked a while, and then Chen Yougong and Yao Shangqing had to go.

Zhou Xingyue wanted to cry again. Years without seeing her, and now that she had, there was no knowing when the next time would be.

Yao Zhizhao tugged at her quickly and gave her a look.

Zhou Xingyue took a long breath. She must not cry.

Zhou Jiefang had not shown himself. He waited outside for the two of them to come out.

Yao Zhizhao and Zhou Xingyue waited until they were well away before shutting the door. They looked at what had been left on the table, and it pulled at them.

"I wonder if we'll ever get the chance to go back." Zhou Xingyue sounded helpless.

Yao Zhizhao thought of the old days, and could not help thinking of his two sons. Better to count those two as gone.

Once outside, Chen Yougong and Yao Shangqing couldn't stand at the roadside talking to Zhou Jiefang either. They had to part quickly.

Chen Yougong held Yao Shangqing's hand the whole way back.

"Your mother and father will be all right. Don't take it too hard. When there's a chance we'll go and see them together again."

Yao Shangqing nodded. She was content as it was.

The two of them walked fast and were home before long.

Old Mrs. Chen had been waiting in the main room the whole time, afraid something had happened again.

"You're back?" She hurried over the moment the door pushed open.

Chen Yougong was barring the door.

Yao Shangqing went ahead of him. "Yes. Come on, let's talk inside." Walls have ears, and the houses stood very close.

Old Mrs. Chen glanced carefully round, took hold of her and went into the main room, then shut that door too.

"Are your mother and father well?" She started asking the moment she was in.

Yao Shangqing nodded. "They're well. And thank you for making the food, Ma."

Old Mrs. Chen coughed. "What our house can put out is only that much. They'll have to make do."

Yao Shangqing shook her head. "It was more than enough."

Chen Yougong watched the two of them being polite at each other. "All right, that's enough of that. It's late. Everyone to bed. There's work tomorrow."

And they all went off.

Chen Shaoyuan and the others had been asleep a long while.

---

The next morning the Chens were all up as usual. They ate breakfast and went out to the fields.

These few days were all threshing and bagging, getting ready what had to go to the commune. Only what was left after that was shared out.

On the nineteenth of June Yue Chuan got people together and the village's state quota went off to the commune.

The village was excited. For one thing the grain was being shared out, and for another they were starting to share out the fish from the village river.

The fish didn't have to go to the commune. That was something to be glad about. In a whole year there weren't many days with any meat in them.

Chen Yougong was away working in the county. He had learned a new skill outside and the county timber works had asked him over to look at things, to put more patterns into the furniture going out so it could be sold further afield. Taken further, that was a question of how the county ran its money.

When old Mrs. Chen heard her Chen Yougong had been asked to the county works, there was no saying how proud she was. Her son had ability.

Old Mrs. Chen took the whole family out to gather at the threshing ground.

Yuanyuan ran about with Chen Shaoyuan and the rest.

Yue Chuan, the accountant and the secretary were all up on the platform with notebooks in their hands.

"Right, everyone stand still. When your family's called, come up quick. Don't hold up going home for lunch. We've still got the fish to share out this afternoon." Yue Chuan stood on the platform and shouted it through a big loudhailer.

The crowd had been noisy enough, but at the word fish they went quiet at once. Anyone who isn't keen on meat has something wrong with his head.

Old Mrs. Chen had already worked out how she would cook her fish when she got it home.

The Chens had split the household this year, so of course the grain was shared out separately. From the moment of the split, the work points of the eldest son and his wife counted as moved out.

The only one in the Chen house on full work points was Chen Yougang. Chen Yougong's weight was at the county timber works, which at least brought back money and coupons.

The harvest was good this year. Chen Yougang was given three hundred and sixty jin of grain. Nobody else would get that much.

The Chens had one thousand and eighty jin in all, and it was set aside.

Li Guilan watched her old friend enjoying herself.

"My word, that's a lot you've got. It pays to have a big family." She turned to look at her own share.

Old Mrs. Chen smiled, pleased with herself and hiding none of it.

"It does. Come on, let's get the grain home." She called it out loudly.

They started carrying, one shoulder-pole load after another, with old Mrs. Chen watching.

Zhao Qinhua looked at her own share. Chen Youliang was on full work points, three hundred and sixty jin. She wasn't, and when it was all counted the two of them came to about six hundred. She had never worried about grain before. Her mother-in-law ran the house and there was always enough, and good food too. Her face was a sight.

Old Mrs. Chen watched coldly from the side, without a word of sympathy.

Chen Youliang gave her a push. "What are you standing there for? Get the grain moved."

Zhao Qinhua pulled a long face and dragged her feet before she started.

"Oh ho, Chen the second, that's another trip for you." A woman nearby teased him.

Chen Yougang laughed. When the grain was shared out, it was all in who carried the most loads.

When the last trip was done, old Mrs. Chen went home very happy.

The Chens' cellar was dug on the east side. The sweet potatoes and the potatoes went into it, and the grain too, all of it dried.

At noon old Mrs. Chen had Yao Shangqing make a pot of noodles. This time there was plainly white flour in them, so the dough held together and they didn't turn to mush by the end.

---

In the afternoon the bell went and everyone gathered on the river bank.

Old Mrs. Chen had Chen Yuanyuan by the hand. It was the summer holiday and children were running everywhere.

By the time they got there people were already in the water, with Yue Chuan directing from above as the big net came in.

"Granny, Granny. Brother." Yuanyuan stood on the bank wanting to go down and play. She wanted to be with her eldest brother.

Old Mrs. Chen looked at the crowd on the bank and wasn't easy about it.

"Chen Shaoyuan, come here." She called him straight over.

Chen Shaoyuan had run himself into a sweat and came trotting up. "Granny, what is it?"

"Yuanyuan wants to go with you lot. Take her."

Chen Shaoyuan had no objection and put out his hand for her. "Come on then, come and play with me."

Yuanyuan beamed, her eyes curving.

"Take it slow." Old Mrs. Chen couldn't help saying it again.

Zhao Qinhua watched from the side and it rankled. A girl from outside, thought that much of. Anyone would take her for their own. She gave Chen Chengzhuang a pat. There was bound to be a good lot of fish today. "Go on, go to your granny. Say you want to eat at her house."

Chen Chengzhuang was over two now and at the age of not listening. He had wanted to go down and play himself, only his mother kept hold of him. He knew there was often good food at his granny's.

"Granny, Granny, I want to eat at your house tonight." Chen Chengzhuang ran over and wrapped himself round old Mrs. Chen's leg.

Old Mrs. Chen frowned down at him, then looked up and saw Zhao Qinhua standing there smiling. There was no knowing what this daughter-in-law kept in her head.

"All right. Come and eat at Granny's this afternoon."

Hearing his granny agree just like that, Chen Chengzhuang let go at once and went off skipping to play.

Zhao Qinhua heard it too. She only hadn't expected it to be so easy.

When Yue Chuan's people had finished catching, the fish were counted, written down and weighed, and the fry went back in.

It went by work points again.

The Chens got three big fish of four jin each and seven small ones.

Chen Youliang carried his basin home in both hands.

"Shaoyuan, you look after Yuanyuan. Remember to come home later." Old Mrs. Chen settled it with him.

Chen Shaoyuan nodded and nodded and led Yuanyuan away. They were going to the slope behind the hill. He remembered there were wild fruits over there, and they would be ripe now.

Chen Shao'er was keen on that sort of thing and ran on ahead. While his eldest brother was at school it had been him minding Yuanyuan, and now the holiday had started he didn't have to.

"Chen Shao'er, slow down." Chen Shaoyuan called after him.

Chen Shaozhi could run fast enough too, though he fell over easily. He didn't cry when he fell. He got himself up and went after Chen Shao'er again.

Only Chen Shaoyuan had someone by the hand and couldn't run.

By the time he got there with Yuanyuan, Chen Shao'er was sitting on the ground looking crushed.

"There's nothing. Dahe must have picked them all."

Chen Shaoyuan had a look as well. There really was nothing left.

"Never mind. Let's look further in."

That cheered Chen Shao'er up a little. He had wanted Yuanyuan to have some, and she hadn't got any after all.

Yuanyuan ran ahead on her own chasing butterflies, with the boys behind her.

They followed a small path to the edge of the forest. It was very big in there.

Chen Shaoyuan kept looking the whole way and really couldn't find the wild fruit he had seen last time. Next time he found something he was not going to let anyone else know.

Dahe had promised not to come and pick them on the quiet, and he had come anyway.

"Yuanyuan, come on, we're going home. Granny's making something good." Chen Shaoyuan saw the sun was nearly down.

Yuanyuan said oh and turned to go back, and went straight down on her face. Ow. That hurt. Something hard had dug into her.

The boys ran over.

"Yuanyuan, are you all right?" Chen Shaoyuan picked her up.

It really did hurt. Her eyes were full of tears, but she didn't cry.

"Fell. Over." Then her small hand went groping about in the grass, and she brought the hard thing out.

"Look." She shoved it in front of Chen Shaoyuan, fierce about it, and made him look.

He took it. It was a square bar. He was going to throw it away, then he saw the corner showing through and wiped it on his shirt. It was yellow. He put it in his pocket instead. He didn't know what it was, so he would take it home and let his granny see.

"Let me look at your leg, see if you've hurt it." He rolled her little trousers up, and she had scraped the skin right enough.

"Here, I'll carry you home." He crouched down in front of her. His sister was hurt, after all.

Yuanyuan pushed at his back. "No. Hurts."

Chen Shaoyuan would not have it. If he hadn't insisted on going further in, she wouldn't have fallen. It was his fault. He was the eldest.

"Yuanyuan, be good. Up you get. I'll carry you and we'll be home quicker."

Yuanyuan said oh and climbed on.

Chen Shao'er steadied her from behind and Chen Shaoyuan stood up in one go.

Chen Shaozhi came along after.

"She's gone and hurt herself. Who's been bringing Little Eight presents?" The earth god frowned at the mirror in front of him. This was his patch. Did people not think to tell him before they came with gifts?

The ginseng spirit stroked his roots and chimed in. "Quite. And no knowing which rich gentleman it was either. Gold, straight out. He must have money to burn."

The earth god patted his own pocket as though he wasn't thinking about it. Empty. A sad thing.

---

Chen Shaoyuan carried Yuanyuan the whole way home and met nobody on the road.

Old Mrs. Chen was at home gutting fish and scraping the scales off.

"What's happened? Why's he carrying her?" Li Yue'e was feeding the hens at the pen by the gate and saw them first.

Old Mrs. Chen heard it from the pump and turned to look at once. It was Yuanyuan on his back right enough. She put the knife down and washed her hands.

"Granny, Yuanyuan tripped over something and banged herself." Chen Shaoyuan set her down slowly and told it straight.

Old Mrs. Chen made a noise and went to look at the hurt. It was a graze, which put her mind at rest.

"It's not bad. I'll put some herbs on it in a bit."

The moment Yuanyuan was on the ground she started moving about. She thought it was fine. It didn't hurt at all now.

Yao Shangqing was working in the kitchen and heard her mother-in-law, so she didn't come out. The child was all right, and that was what mattered.

Zhao Qinhua heard them in the yard next door and pulled a face. A little girl banging herself, what of it.

"Go on, to your granny's. Wait for her to cook the fish. Look how big her fish are."

Chen Chengzhuang nodded and went pattering over.

Chen Shaoyuan was about to take the thing out of his pocket when he saw Chen Chengzhuang coming, and left it where it was.

Old Mrs. Chen saw Chen Chengzhuang arrive and remembered he was coming to eat. She stood up with the knife in her hand.

"Zhao Qinhua. Here a minute. I want a word."

To tell the truth, Zhao Qinhua was a little frightened of her mother-in-law looking like that. "What, what is it, Ma?"

Old Mrs. Chen pointed at Chen Chengzhuang. "He's come over. What about his grain? You're not sending him to eat for nothing, surely."

Zhao Qinhua was stunned.

"No, Ma, Chengzhuang's your grandson. Can't he have a meal? Don't Shaoyuan and Chengcai eat here?"

Old Mrs. Chen laughed shortly and wiped the knife. "Now that's not right. Shaoyuan and Chengcai eat their own parents' food. When did they ever eat mine? I'm kept by the second and third families now. You don't keep me, which I'll let pass, and then you send him over to eat mine. Zhao Qinhua, when I've the time I'll go and ask at your mother's house, and see whether that's what your mother taught you."

Zhao Qinhua blinked. How had it turned into this?

"No, I, I didn't mean that."

Old Mrs. Chen snorted and turned away with the knife. "If he's to eat, bring the grain over." It wasn't that she couldn't take one child at the table. How much could one child eat? It was Zhao Qinhua she couldn't stomach.

Li Yue'e went on sweeping the yard and listened without a word. As for Yao Shangqing, she wasn't going to be drawn into it either.

Zhao Qinhua was certainly not going to send grain over. She came and carried Chen Chengzhuang off. She saw now that she would never come out ahead with her mother-in-law.

Chen Shaoyuan had his own business on his mind. When he saw his aunt wasn't coming out again, he took the thing out.

"Granny, look. This is what tripped Yuanyuan up. I thought it looked odd, so I brought it back."

Old Mrs. Chen hadn't looked up. She was going to ask what he wanted to bring that home for.

Then she looked, and froze. "My word. That, isn't that a gold bar?"

Her voice had dropped right down.

She rinsed it clean, felt it over carefully and bit it, and came over a little faint. The third son's wife had seen more of the world, so she took it in to her.

"Here, have a look. Is this a gold bar?" Her voice went light on the two words.

Yao Shangqing made a sound and took it. Was it really?

"Ma, where did this come from?"

Old Mrs. Chen's eyes creased up with laughing. "Your Yuanyuan got it. Shaoyuan says this is what tripped her today."

Yao Shangqing had no words left.

"What do we do with it, then?"

Old Mrs. Chen took it back, delighted with herself. "Put it away, of course. It's Yuanyuan's. We give it to her when she's grown."