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Wang Zhenhe blushed. “Well, uh…”
“Aunt, this is for relatives from my maternal family. We haven’t had a chance to deliver it yet. If you take it, how can we explain to them?” Wang Qian explained to Wang Mei while holding onto Wang Zhenhe. She was determined that, after her explanation, Wang Mei wouldn’t dare take it.
“Aunt, you can taste a few. After all, no one will count them one by one. But the whole basket, you have to leave it with me,” Wang Xuan stepped forward and snatched the basket from her. It was unbelievable to see someone so thick-skinned.
Since the children had spoken, Wang Zhenhe couldn’t say much more. “Zhi’er, that’s not mine to decide. You can taste a few; that’s enough. When I have time, I’ll go pick some for you.”
He couldn’t bear to be tough on his sister, so he could only go along with the children’s excuse. Otherwise, everyone would be unhappy. It was difficult for him to handle the situation.
“Oh, I see. I’ll take a few to taste. After all, they won’t notice,” Wang Mei said she would take a few, but she ended up taking a large handful. As she left, she reminded her brother to come by.
Wang Zhenhe didn’t rush to go. He had to wait for the children to come back for lunch. “Dad, is there something your elder sister needs you for?” His little daughter asked as she remained in his embrace.
“What could it be? She just came over a few days ago, so it’s probably nothing good,” Wang Xuan remained dissatisfied.
“Mom, Dad, we’re back,” the older brothers, who had gone to sell the chicken, returned running.
“Mom, we’ve earned a total of three yuan and eight cents,” Mingcheng handed the money he had clenched in his hand to his mother.
Zhang Lan took the damp money from her children, feeling a mix of emotions. Although it was just a few yuan, for their family, it was a substantial amount.
“Good sons, let’s eat quickly. You must be hungry after a busy morning,” she said.
For lunch, Zhang Lan stewed a pot of cabbage with the leftover clam meat. Although there was no oil, it was delicious. The adults and children, who had been hungry, ate heartily. If they could eat like this every day, they would be content.
After the meal, Wang Zhenhe hurried to see his elder sister. The children didn’t have time to tell him about what they had found on the mountain, but they did mention it to their mother.
“Mom, do you have time this afternoon? Why don’t we go together to gather more? Also, these bird eggs we found in the morning, let’s save them for dinner.”
Zhang Lan picked up the bird eggs without hesitation and began boiling them for the children. There were only eight eggs, so each of the two girls ate one, the two boys each ate two, and they let their mother have one. The remaining one was saved for Wang Zhenhe.
The children’s talk about the Chinese yam really moved her. She also hoped to bring more food to the family. “You wait at home. Mom will go spread the manure in the field and then come back to find you.”
Before the planting season, their community members had to carry manure to the mountains in the afternoon. They used carts to transport the accumulated pig manure to the mountains, then spread it evenly so the crops could absorb the nutrients.
After lunch, Mingyuan and the others went to gather a basket of grass to use for cooking later. When they returned, they heard a commotion coming from their grandmother’s courtyard. The children didn’t go in; as long as their mother wasn’t there, family arguments didn’t concern them.
However, each of the little ones pricked up their ears to listen to the voices next door.
They heard the voices of the eldest aunt and the second aunt, whom Wang Qian had never seen before.
“I don’t agree with this. You can find someone else to ask. We don’t have enough grain in our family. Who can I borrow from?”
“Big sister is right. We don’t have any surplus either. We divide our grain by the number of mouths to feed. Every family does the same. Your family is the same, isn’t it? How can you not have any grain? You even borrowed grain from us last year. Why haven’t you returned it yet? Your words sound good, saying you’ll borrow, but I think you’re trying to snatch it. We don’t have any to lend.”
Then they heard the eldest aunt’s sobbing voice. “Sob, big sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, our family really doesn’t have enough to eat. Haven’t you seen how thin and hungry our children are? Even if it’s just for the sake of the children, please lend me some. I promise to return it next year.”
“Hey, youngest sister, how can you say that? Your children might be thin, but have you seen the four children in Third Brother’ family? They are truly emaciated. They are so thin that they look like they’ll collapse at any moment. When the wind blows, I’m scared they’ll be blown away. Have you ever heard Zhang Lan ask for help? Your family doesn’t eat dumplings every day, do you? We can’t eat so extravagantly like you.” The eldest aunt-in-law rebuked Wang Mei sharply.
The obedient children couldn’t help but feel a sense of justice from the eldest aunt-in-law’s words. Her words were straightforward and honest, making the children feel relieved.
Currently, every family was short of grain, but by carefully rationing, they could make it to the end of the year. With the addition of vegetables grown in their own plots and a reduced amount of grain, they could manage to fill their stomachs. They wondered how the eldest aunt’s family was managing. If their mother hadn’t retained a portion of their grain, the family wouldn’t have to worry about this matter all the time.
The voice of the grandmother came from the courtyard, “What’s going on? Are my words no longer effective? All of you go back and prepare grain for me. Eldest and second child, fifty catties from each of your families. Third child, your family provides thirty catties. That’s settled. Go back and get it ready.”
The old lady issued her orders in a tone that brooked no argument, “Mom, Wang Mei is your daughter after all. If anyone should provide the grain, it should be you. Eldest sister, I’m sorry, but my family has something to attend to. I’ll go back first,” the voice of the second aunt was clearly audible.
Footsteps could be heard in the courtyard, indicating that everyone had left in a huff.
“Brother, I don’t think our eldest aunt’s family seems like they are short of grain. After all, uncle is a state worker, and he gets a monthly grain allocation. Why would they come here to borrow grain?” Wang Xuan turned to Mingcheng and asked.
“Yeah, how could we forget about that? Uncle gets a regular supply every month. We can’t compare to them. What kind of drama is our eldest aunt playing this time?” Mingcheng wondered.
The children weren’t entirely clear why their eldest aunt was acting this way, but they knew they had to protect their own grain. Mingcheng locked up all the grain in the large cabinet, while Wang Xuan packed up the worn-out clothes into bundles and placed them on top. Once the grain was secured, the children felt relieved and sat in the house, waiting for Zhang Lan to return.
This time, Wang Zhenhe didn’t return home but went directly to work in the fields.
Unaware of the commotion at home, Zhang Lan greeted others in the afternoon, saying she had some family matters to attend to and asked them to help with more work. It was nothing out of the ordinary, as everyone had their own family matters to deal with. After quickly arriving home, she was bombarded with the children’s detailed account of what had happened at noon, along with their own speculations.
“Mom, see, we’ve locked the grain in the cabinet, and I’m holding the key. I don’t think our eldest aunt can deceive us about our grain anymore,” Mingcheng jingled the key in his hand.