Chapter 13: Nine Years Old – Cherry Meatballs

At 7:30 in the evening, Grandpa finally finished watching his daily news broadcast.

Grandma chased after Xuezhu, who was unusually excited today, running around even while trying to eat.

“One last bite, finish it.”

A small half-bowl of rice was concentrated into that one spoonful by Grandma.

Xuezhu’s cheeks were puffed out so much she couldn’t speak, struggling to chew and swallow.

She mumbled to Grandpa, “Grandpa, I want to watch the children’s channel.”

Grandpa changed the channel but muttered, “Although you’re still young, you should pay attention to the country’s major events, you can’t just watch cartoons every day.”

Xuezhu pretended not to hear.

“The wisdom tree bears wisdom fruit, under the wisdom tree, you and I, in front of the wisdom tree, we play games, happiness for you and me. Children, welcome to the Wisdom Tree program!”

Yes, the children were happy, but the adults found it boring.

Meng Yuning wasn’t really interested and wanted to go take a bath first. Grandpa, fearing that Meng Yuning wouldn’t be able to carry the water by himself, followed him to help.

Grandma had nothing to do, so she stared at Xuezhu, who was fixated on the TV.

Xuezhu felt Grandma’s gaze and shrank her neck, asking, “Grandma, why are you looking at me?”

She had a bad feeling inside.

Sure enough, the next second, Grandma said, “Your hair is too long, let me cut it for you.”

Xuezhu: “!!!”

She immediately covered her head and shouted, “I don’t want to cut it!”

“Why not? What does a little girl need such long hair for? It’s long and hard to manage,” Grandma frowned, “And long hair will absorb your nutrition. If you keep it long, you won’t grow taller. Do you know your height is short because your hair is too long?”

Every year, she said the same thing when she cut her hair.

But Xuezhu would rather not grow taller than let Grandma cut her hair.

Since she was old enough to understand, she had never been to a hairdresser. Everyone said long hair looked good on girls, but Grandma, for some reason, seemed to really dislike her long hair.

A couple of years ago, Xuezhu had managed to avoid it, but this year, her hair had grown long enough to bother Grandma. She insisted on cutting her granddaughter’s hair.

In the end, Xuezhu, not daring to defy Grandma, sat dejectedly in the backyard. The dim tungsten light barely illuminated her weary face.

Grandma somehow found an old cloth and wrapped it around Xuezhu as if she were getting a proper haircut.

“Grandma, please don’t cut it too short,” Xuezhu repeatedly emphasized, “Just a little bit. I don’t want short hair. I want it long enough to tie up.”

Grandma hummed in response, “Got it.”

“Definitely don’t cut it too short!”

“I know, I know.”

Xuezhu used her fingers to show the length: “Only cut this much at most.”

Grandma was speechless: “Cutting this little is no different from not cutting at all.”

Xuezhu thought to herself, that’s exactly the point – there’s no difference.

Grandma picked up the scissors, grabbed Xuezhu’s hair from behind, and snipped it off with a snip.

The sound of the scissors startled Xuezhu, and she quickly turned around, staring at her long hair, which now lay on the ground, longer than a bug. Her mindset immediately shattered.

“Why did you cut so much?!”

“It’s not much,” Grandma thought her granddaughter was overreacting. “I only cut this much.”

“Wa! I’m not cutting anymore!” Xuezhu was so angry she almost jumped off the chair.

Grandma pressed her down: “Stay still and let me finish! You just cut a small part, it doesn’t look good. At least let me cut it evenly!”

The sound of the scissors snip-snip echoed. Xuezhu watched helplessly as her hair fell little by little, like abandoned creatures leaving their home.

Xuezhu continued to protest: “Don’t cut it too short.”

Grandma kept responding: “I know, I know.”

The painful haircut lasted a full eight minutes. After it was done, Xuezhu immediately went to find a mirror.

Finally, she found a plastic mirror hanging by the bed. She grabbed it, holding her face up to it, staring at her reflection in silence for a long time.

Meng Yuning, freshly out of the bath, walked into the room and happened to see her in a daze.

He looked at the back of the mirror, which blocked Xuezhu’s face just enough. He took a few steps closer and softly asked, “Xiao Zhu? What are you doing?”

In an instant, Xuezhu threw the mirror aside, covered her head, and ran out of the room, crying loudly.

“Grandma! Look at what you’ve done! You cut it so short! It’s like a boy’s haircut!”

Grandma, who was sweeping up the hair in the backyard, was startled and paused, feeling both guilty and a bit justified. She said, “It’s cooler in the summer to cut it short. If you keep it that long, your neck will get heat rashes, you know? I’m doing this for your own good, and your hair will grow back soon enough.”

“But I’ve kept it this long! I’ve spent so much time growing my hair, and you just cut it all off in one go!”

Xuezhu squatted on the ground, watching the hair Grandma swept into the dustpan, crying loudly in despair and regret.

Grandma, for a moment, didn’t know how to respond.

It was just a haircut, but it felt like she was taking her life.

Xuezhu pouted and walked to the faucet, wetting her hair, pressing down the remaining strands, wishing they would grow faster.

Even her bangs didn’t escape Grandma’s sharp scissors, and they were cut above her eyebrows, making her look both ugly and silly.

It was just a bowl-shaped haircut.

When it was time for bed that night, she kept covering her head with her hands, refusing to let them down.

Xuezhu didn’t know, though—her small hands were barely big enough to cover anything, and no matter how much she tried, it didn’t help. Grandpa didn’t dare to say anything to Grandma, but he also didn’t want to hurt his granddaughter’s feelings, so he pretended not to notice and started tidying up to go to bed.

Every time Meng Yuning looked over at Xuezhu, she immediately turned her head, only showing him the round back of her head. From behind, her new haircut looked like a mushroom.

He knew she was very sensitive about her appearance, so he pretended not to notice.

In order to comfort Xuezhu, Grandma, with a coaxing tone, asked, “Xiao Zhu, do you want to sleep on the rooftop with your brother tonight? Don’t you love sleeping on the rooftop?”

Xuezhu cast a quiet glance at Grandma, but didn’t say anything.

“Are you going to sleep on the rooftop or not? If not, I won’t lay out the cooling mat for you,” Grandma continued, trying to tempt her.

As expected, Xuezhu was still angry with Grandma, but she also really wanted to sleep on the rooftop. After a moment of hesitation, she puffed out her cheeks and said, “Okay.”

Grandma let out a relieved sigh, “Alright, then I’ll go lay out the cooling mat for you.”

Xuezhu silently scolded herself for being so spineless.

There were a lot of mosquitoes on the rooftop, so they needed to apply some flower-scented lotion to keep them away. Xuezhu, unable to rub it on her head, found a towel and wrapped it around her hair.

Grandpa saw this and laughed: “You look just like the working people from our generation.”

Xuezhu gave him a silent look.

Grandpa added, “I’m complimenting you.”

Xuezhu wasn’t impressed: “Tch.”

Grandma brought up the cooling mats and thin blankets, and also placed a mosquito coil beside the mat.

The elderly couple wasn’t sure about letting the kids sleep on the rooftop, but Xuezhu was still upset with Grandma and wouldn’t let her accompany them. Grandma had no choice but to nudge Grandpa, “You go up and keep them company.”

On a summer night, with the air finally cooling after the heat of the day, the stars shone so brightly it seemed like you could reach up and grab them. Xuezhu lay on the cooling mat while Grandpa fanned her with a bamboo fan to keep the mosquitoes away. She pointed at the pale, gray part of the moon and asked, “Grandpa, is there a osmanthus tree growing there? And the smaller part next to it—is that ^[1]Chang’e and the Jade Rabbit are figures from Chinese mythology who live on the moon, where Chang’e became a goddess after taking an elixir of immortality, and the Jade Rabbit eternally pounds … Continue readingChang’e and the Jade Rabbit?”

“No, that’s ^[2]Wu Gang is a figure in Chinese mythology who was punished to live on the moon, endlessly chopping down a magical laurel tree that heals itself every time he cuts it.Wu Gang. He’s watering and fertilizing the osmanthus tree.”

“Grandpa, what’s the name of the brightest star in the sky?”

“That’s the Morning Star.”

“Why is it so bright?”

“Because it’s closer to the sun.”

“But what does the sun have to do with it? The sun’s off work at night.”

“Some stars don’t shine on their own because the sun gives them reflected light, that’s why they look so bright.”

“Where did the sun go?”

“It went to the other side of the Earth.”

“Doesn’t the sun sleep at night?”

“It doesn’t sleep. It works 24 hours a day.”

“Ah? Then the sun must be so pitiful.”

“Yes.”

The little girl’s innocent questions and the elderly man’s warm and witty responses fell on Meng Yuning’s ears. When he was younger, he, too, was filled with curiosity about the sky. Later, after studying nature and geography, all his childhood questions were answered. The center of the universe wasn’t the sun, and Earth was just one of the nine planets in the solar system. These answers were rigorous and scientific, but they no longer felt as charming.

As they chatted, Xuezhu wasn’t yet sleepy, but Grandpa was.

“Grandpa, tell me a story,” Xuezhu said, pushing Grandpa’s arm.

Grandpa half-closed his eyes and asked, “What story?”

“Just tell me one I haven’t heard before.”

Grandpa thought for a moment and asked, “How about I tell you a story from when I was young, about me and Ningning’s grandpa?”

Meng Yuning instinctively turned his head.

Grandpa whispered, “When I was in my teens, the new China had just been founded. Let me ask you a question. Do you know which year the new China was founded?”

Xuezhu asked, “Wasn’t China already here thousands of years ago?”

Grandpa said, “China thousands of years ago wasn’t called China. Back then, it was the ancient times. It started as the Xia Dynasty, and then it went through many other dynasties. You’ll learn all about it when you study history. Ningning, do you know?”

Meng Yuning replied, “1949.”

“Correct, 1949,” Grandpa said, “As Chinese people, we must remember that year.”

At that time, they thought there would never be another war.

Until 1952, when fifteen-year-old  Pei Qingcheng and Meng Changfeng became volunteer soldiers, going far away to the borders. They were from the same hometown, but they didn’t know each other and weren’t in the same unit. It wasn’t until one time when  Pei Qingcheng was injured, lying half-buried in a pile of dry grass, struggling to breathe. A young soldier from the neighboring unit quickly bandaged his wound and carried him to find a doctor.

That’s how the two boys met.

After the war, they returned home, and they were both assigned to work at the same factory.

In the years following the war, with everything in ruins, education became a priority. The local schools lacked teachers, and at that time, teachers had to teach everything, which made it an extremely tough job.

Meng Changfeng’s family didn’t approve of him giving up his stable job to become a teacher, but only  Pei Qingcheng supported him, choosing to quit his job and become a teacher alongside him.

Later, life gradually got better. The small school they had started in the beginning, with the support of the government, slowly expanded and rebuilt. It eventually had bright lights, spacious classrooms, and a signboard that marked it as one of the key schools in the area.

Meng Changfeng and  Pei Qingcheng had both become outstanding teachers with a legacy of students spread all over the world. They finally retired honorably, quietly enjoying their old age.

By now, Meng Changfeng had already passed away.

But his grandson was quietly listening to  Pei Qingcheng finish this story. This marvelous blood connection felt like a reunion with that long-departed friend.

“It was very hard back then,” Grandpa said. “Many children didn’t even have rice to eat, let alone the chance to study, so you all must cherish the life you have now.”

Grandpa said these words with a solemn tone. He truly hoped the children would learn from his story, appreciating hardship and understanding the value of happiness.

The good life they have now wasn’t easily obtained. It was bought with sweat and lives, but sadly, when the story ended, the children only thought it was an old tale. Only the elderly man’s eyes became moist. He closed his eyes, intending to calm his emotions, but as he closed them, he drifted off to sleep.

Xuezhu saw that Grandpa had fallen asleep and turned her attention entirely to Meng Yuning.

“Big brother,” Xuezhu asked, “Do you think there will be a meteor tonight?”

“I don’t know,” Meng Yuning said, lying on his side. “Do you want to make a wish?”

“Mm, I wish that when I wake up tomorrow, my hair will be long again.”

Meng Yuning was amused, his eyes curving into a smile. “That wish might be a bit hard to make come true.”

“Ah? Is it impossible?” Xuezhu’s expression immediately drooped.

“You actually don’t need to make a wish,” Meng Yuning comforted her. “Over time, your hair will grow back.”

“But what if it hasn’t grown back by the time school starts? Everyone in my class will laugh at me for having such a terrible haircut,” Xuezhu said through gritted teeth. “Especially Chi Yue! He’ll definitely laugh his head off!”

Meng Yuning asked, “Who is Chi Yue?”

Xuezhu replied, “He’s a boy in our class. He’s really annoying. The teacher even makes him sit behind me. He always pulls my hair in class and kicks my chair with his foot, which makes it hard for me to pay attention.”

“Is he the one who argued with me outside the school gates? You’ve met him, Big Brother,” Xuezhu added.

Meng Yuning remembered.

“He will definitely laugh at me. He might even spread around the whole grade that I got a terrible haircut!” Xuezhu grew more worried the more she thought about it, her voice turning desperate. “I… I don’t want to go back to school.”

Meng Yuning suddenly tapped her on the head and gently said, “Take the towel off, and let me have a good look.”

Xuezhu widened her eyes. “What’s there to see? It’s really ugly.”

“Just let me take a look,” Meng Yuning coaxed in a gentle tone.

Xuezhu hesitated. “But you can’t laugh at me after you see it.”

“I won’t laugh. If I laugh, I’ll be a little dog.”

“Alright.”

Reluctantly, Xuezhu took off the towel from her head.

Meng Yuning looked at the new haircut for a long time, before getting used to it.

Actually, Grandma’s haircut was quite neat, it was just a little too short. The bangs were only two centimeters above her eyebrows, and Xuezhu’s long hair had been cut off, leaving her with a cute little mushroom-shaped head. Although it looked quite refreshing, it was understandable that the little girl was upset after all the hard work she had put into growing her long hair, only for it to be cut off.

“It’s beautiful,” Meng Yuning said, smiling. “Very cute.”

Xuezhu wasn’t quite convinced. “Is it true?”

“Yes, really,” Meng Yuning nodded and added, “You look like ^[3]Chibi Maruko-chan (ちびまる子ちゃん) is a popular Japanese manga and anime series created by Momoko Sakura. The story follows the everyday life of a third-grade elementary school girl named … Continue readingChibi Maruko-chan.”

“Brother, you’ve seen Chibi Maruko-chan too?”

“I watched it when I was little.”

“Okay,” Xuezhu reluctantly believed him, then pointed to her cheeks. “But Chibi Maruko-chan has two red spots here, and I don’t.”

“That’s exaggerated,” Meng Yuning said. “You look just right, and you’re the cutest.”

“Really? But will the boys in my class laugh at me when school starts?”

Meng Yuning calculated the time and figured that by the time school started, Xuezhu’s bangs would have grown to her eyebrows.

So he said, “They won’t laugh. I’m a boy too, and I think it’s really cute. Boys think the same way.”

Xuezhu finally relaxed.

She wondered why she had been so upset earlier.

“I can do the Chibi Maruko-chan dance! My teacher taught me when I was in kindergarten,” Xuezhu said, shaking her head and doing the movements with her hands. “Pili-pala, pili-pala—”

She got even more excited.

Meng Yuning applauded, giving her face: “Well done.”

After she finished dancing and singing, Meng Yuning asked, “Are you tired? Can we sleep now?”

Xuezhu giggled and lay down next to him.

She handed Grandpa’s fan to Meng Yuning. “Brother, can you fan me?”

Meng Yuning took it and covered her with the blanket. “Make sure you cover your belly.”

“Mm,” Xuezhu turned to face him. “Brother, will you come to Grandpa’s house to play with me every year during the holidays?”

Meng Yuning said, “I’ll come every year, but people might think I’m shameless.”

“How could that be?” Xuezhu countered. “Your Grandpa and my Grandpa are such good friends. My Grandpa is your Grandpa, too! Plus, Grandpa Meng was always so nice to me, so I want to repay him.”

Meng Yuning laughed helplessly. “So you’re just doing it to repay my Grandpa?”

“Not just that,” Xuezhu thought for a moment, then said, “Mostly, I like playing with you.”

“Why do you like playing with me?”

“No reason, I just like it,” Xuezhu began to act cute. “Just say yes, okay?”

Meng Yuning responded dismissively, “If you go to sleep now, I’ll agree to it.”

“I’ll sleep now!”

Xuezhu immediately closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep. In order to make it more convincing, she even imitated her dad’s snoring.

Meng Yuning: “…”

Perhaps it was because she was really tired from singing and dancing earlier, but during the time she pretended to sleep, Xuezhu actually fell asleep.

She still attracted some mosquitoes, while Grandpa slept soundly next to her. Xuezhu, however, couldn’t sleep steadily. She kept patting her legs, then her arms, muttering something incomprehensible but still keeping her eyes closed, determined to continue sleeping.

Meng Yuning gently touched her arm, noticing a bump on her soft, slender arm.

He lay on his side facing her, fanning her like Grandpa had, and also shooing away the mosquitoes.

When Xuezhu’s new haircut was revealed earlier, Meng Yuning had only just noticed that Xuezhu’s face was round, her eyes were round, and even her nose was round and cute.

Now, her haircut was also round.

But fortunately, Xuezhu was a little beauty, and this roundness made her look even more charming and delicate.

Meng Yuning smiled silently, curling his lips.

“Xiao Zhu, are you asleep?”

The only response was the sound of insects still chirping.

“Thank you.”

This peaceful, pleasant summer was a gift from Xiao Zhu to him, the year he graduated from the third year of middle school.

Grandpa and Xiao Zhu were both asleep, leaving only Meng Yuning still awake.

The boy tossed and turned, his clear eyes reflecting the colors of the starry sky. He didn’t know why he couldn’t sleep.

It seemed like he was just too happy.