Chapter 9

Zhao Qinhua said it without a flicker of concern, and old Mrs. Chen's face went cold through.

"You shut your mouth. If that gets out you'll be paraded through the streets. This is the new society. You think it's the old days? That's a life."

She didn't know what to do with this daughter-in-law any more. When she found a wife for her eldest she had picked her out of dozens, and the first few years had gone smoothly enough. Then came the son, and the woman changed.

She had no more to say about it. She waved a hand. "Eat up, and clear off when you're done. The sight of you wears me out."

Zhao Qinhua couldn't hold her face together, scolded by her mother-in-law in front of the whole family. She put her head down and got on with eating. She wasn't going to miss a mouthful.

What Zhao Qinhua had said was vague enough, but Chen Yougong and Yao Shangqing both looked up and met each other's eyes.

He gave her a steadying look.

One way or another, breakfast was finished.

Zhao Qinhua took her son and went back to her room.

Li Yue'e went off to the fields to pick up a few work points.

Chen Yougong went to change into older, more ragged clothes. The machine for cutting timber had been brought over. It was the only one in the whole county and it was precious beyond words.

"When you're there, don't argue with Uncle Niu. Give way to him a bit. He's your elder, after all." Yao Shangqing talked to him while she played with Yuanyuan.

Uncle Niu was senior in the village by generation and he was the older man in the carpentry line as well. He was getting on, and he wouldn't back down from anybody. He and Chen Yougong had fallen out before over the choice of timber, and this time the brigade leader had put Uncle Niu in charge, which meant he was the one with the say and everybody else did as he told them.

Chen Yougong knew what his wife meant. "I know. Don't worry. I'll give way to him this time."

Yao Shangqing smiled. "Your dad's off to earn for this family. We'll have you plump and rosy before long."

She loved this child, plainly. Over these few days the baby seemed to have got even lovelier than when she arrived. Her eyes were round as little beans, her face fair and soft, and she was good with it, better than the three boys she had raised, hardly any bother at all. Yao Shangqing was soft as butter about her.

Chen Yougong came over smiling to look at her too.

And Yuanyuan's small fist opened and caught hold of his clothes.

Yao Shangqing couldn't pull hard. A baby's grip is weak and you can get free, but pulling hard would hurt her.

Chen Yougong saw he still had a little time, so he took her and held her.

He hushed her until she let go.

Yao Shangqing didn't want to make him late. "Quick, give her to me. Don't be late."

Chen Yougong said yes.

Then, for no reason anybody could see, Yuanyuan started to cry, and hard.

It startled Yao Shangqing. She held her and hushed her with everything she had and the crying went on. Sweat came out on her forehead. She felt the baby's bottom and she was dry, and it hadn't been long since her milk, so she couldn't be hungry.

Chen Yougong was worried too. "Let me try her."

Yao Shangqing hesitated a second, then handed her over.

The moment he had her, she stopped. The tears were still on her face and she lay there with her eyes open, looking about.

Yao Shangqing, who had been frightened out of her wits, simply stared. Then she poked the little cheek gently. "You. I carry you all day long, and in the end it's your dad you love."

Chen Yougong laughed out loud. He was thoroughly pleased. He felt strong all over.

"There. I'll hold her a bit longer and get her off to sleep."

Yao Shangqing could see there was nothing else for it. She couldn't manage that kind of screaming either.

"You'll be late, though. Uncle Niu won't like it."

Chen Yougong didn't care in the least. "It's fine. I'll apologize when I get there. The worst he can do is give me a telling-off, and I'll take it. For my daughter it's worth a telling-off." His mouth went up at the corners as he said it. Daughters were the best. Someone to keep you warm.

Yao Shangqing looked at the state of him and knew she could do nothing with him, so she stopped fretting.

Half an hour on she went to look. Yuanyuan still wasn't asleep.

"Now that's not right. She isn't a month old. She should sleep and sleep. Why won't she go off?"

Chen Yougong couldn't make it out either. He had done his share of hushing.

"Go on, you'd better be off. You're very late now. It doesn't look good." Yao Shangqing came to take her.

He thought she was right, and passed the baby over.

Before Yao Shangqing had her properly, the screaming started again.

He had no choice but to keep hold of her.

Yao Shangqing thought the whole thing very strange. "What's got into this child today?"

Chen Yougong shook his head. "Never mind. I'll hold her. She's our girl, isn't she."

Old Mrs. Chen had been feeding the chickens in the yard. The crying puzzled her too, and she pushed the door open and came in.

"What's all this?"

Chen Yougong got in ahead of his wife and explained.

Old Mrs. Chen looked at the pair of them and didn't know what to say. Spoiling the child like that. "Never mind, I shan't waste my breath on you. Get her settled, then get off to work. Don't give people a reason to talk."

He grinned and said yes at once. "Don't worry, Ma."

She went out again.

Another half hour and Chen Yougong finally had Yuanyuan asleep. He put her on the bed and patted her gently, and when she didn't cry he was easy about it.

"Right, wife, I'm off."

Yao Shangqing waved him away. "Go on, then. You're this late, you can expect a telling-off."

He laughed ruefully and went.

The carpentry was set up in an abandoned courtyard that had been given a quick clean out.

When Chen Yougong pushed the door open there were only a few apprentices in the yard, tidying up.

"Where's Uncle Niu? Why isn't he here?"

One of the apprentices, a boy called Wang, came over quickly to tell him.

"The technician from the county came to teach us how to use the machine, and Uncle Niu went off with him." Young Wang watched Chen Yougong's face as he said it. Everyone understood. Whoever mastered the only machine in the county stood to gain a great deal by it, and the technician wasn't going to teach just anybody. Brother Chen had come late, and he had lost out. Worse, the technician had asked for him by name when he arrived.

Chen Yougong understood all that well enough, and he didn't much care. Any work suited him. If he wanted to learn it, he would find a way later. Uncle Niu was getting on and he was afraid of being passed by the younger men. Chen Yougong could see it.

"Right, don't all stand about. We'll go through the drawings again. There'll be plenty to do when Uncle Niu gets back."

He took the apprentices through the drawings, picked the timber and marked the measurements out with a rule.

At last Uncle Niu came back.

He pushed the door open all smiles. "You're here, Yougong. I've just been learning the technique off the county man." There was a certain satisfaction in how he said it. It was lucky Chen Yougong had come late, or this good thing would never have come his way, and it was quick thinking on his own part that he hadn't sent anyone to fetch him.

"Then let's start, Uncle Niu. I've been through the drawings and the timber's all marked. It wants cutting now."

Chen Yougong was quite calm about it. He didn't hold on to things like that. He handed the work over openly.

Uncle Niu grunted. "Right, leave it there and go on marking the rest. Young Wang and I will cut it."

His meaning couldn't have been plainer. Chen Yougong was not to touch the machine. Now that he had learned it, nothing else gave the younger man an edge on him. Young people did better to keep their feet on the ground and know their place.

Chen Yougong took the other apprentices and went quietly on with the marking.

Uncle Niu put his gloves on and plugged the machine in. He thought back to what the technician had told him at the brigade office. He couldn't quite remember which button it was, but it should be this one. He pressed it and was about to have Young Wang feed the timber in, and his own hand was dragged into it. He let out a howl.

Chen Yougong heard it from the other side, looked round, and went straight for the plug. The machine stopped.

The apprentices were frozen with fright.

Chen Yougong didn't hesitate. He helped get Uncle Niu's hand out. The hand was ruined. He got the man on his back and ran for the gate.

"Young Wang, I can't run fast carrying him. Get the brigade leader to have the ox cart ready. We're going to the hospital."

Young Wang steadied himself and nodded hard. He looked at the blood on the machine, set his teeth and ran.

Yue Chuan hadn't expected anything this bad, and it gave him a jolt. Between them they got the man to the hospital.

The village had it already.

Young Wang came back from the hospital and went round by the Chen house, because Chen Yougong had asked him to.

Yao Shangqing didn't follow it at first, and when she had it straight the sweat came out cold down her back.

Old Mrs. Chen sat down heavily on a stool. "As long as he's all right. As long as he's all right."

"That's it, auntie, sister-in-law, don't you worry. Brother Chen is fine. It's Uncle Niu. His whole hand went in. If Brother Chen hadn't been quick he'd have lost the arm." Young Wang was only fifteen, with nobody at home but an old mother. Yue Chuan had looked at that thin frame, decided he was no use for heavy work, and set him to learn a trade instead.

Yao Shangqing had an education and a clear head, and she caught up with it now. "What happened to the machine? How could that happen?"

"The county's sent someone to look into it. There should be an answer this afternoon. Sister-in-law, auntie, I'd better go and get myself cleaned up." There was still blood on him.

Yao Shangqing got up and saw him out.

The family waited until evening before Chen Yougong came home.

Nobody had cooked. They were all waiting for him.

"Well?" Old Mrs. Chen asked the moment she saw him.

He explained and settled their minds, then went to his room to change and wash.

Old Mrs. Chen had no heart for cooking either. "Right, off you all go. No supper tonight." A grown person can miss a meal. As for the children, they all had something hidden away, so nobody would go short.

Zhao Qinhua pulled a face, muttered something and went back to her room, unwilling about it.

Once he was in his own room, Chen Yougong told his wife the rest.

"There was a small fault in the machine itself, and Uncle Niu got the order of it wrong today and wasn't paying enough attention, and that was that."