Chapter 09

The night Shu Yuan left Lucheng, Shu Ping made a trip to her parents’ home and told Li Hongxia that Shu Yuan had been staying at her house the past few days.

It was not a clever excuse, but Li Hongxia didn’t suspect anything. The problem lay with Shu Yuan’s second aunt, Tang Sufeng.

After receiving word from the neighborhood office that Shu Yuan had gone to the Northeast, Tang Sufeng, like a cat catching the scent of fish, immediately rushed to her eldest sister-in-law’s house to inquire. That did it—Li Hongxia’s heart immediately sounded the alarm. After Tang Sufeng left, she stormed over to Shu Ping’s house in a rage.

The moment Shu Ping saw the look on Li Hongxia’s face, she knew things had gone wrong.

Li Hongxia demanded sternly, “Shu Ping, how dare you lie to me? Shu Yuan went to the Northeast? What is she doing there?”

Shu Ping quickly wiped the smile off her face. Her round cheeks gave her a particularly cheerful appearance. “Mom, don’t get upset. She just said she was going to the Northeast, I don’t know what for either. Don’t worry, she’s a grown woman, she won’t get lost.”

It was up to Shu Yuan to tell the family about picking up Xiao Man herself, not for her to spoil it in advance.

Li Hongxia’s throat tightened. This wasn’t a matter of whether she’d get lost or not—sneaking off and lying about it couldn’t possibly mean anything good.

Shu Ping had to calm her mother down. She coaxed, “She’s not a child anymore, so stop worrying. Maybe it’s something good.”

Li Hongxia didn’t buy it. Ever since her husband died in a work accident, nothing good had ever happened in their family.

But Shu Ping’s pleasant, round face somehow made her words sound convincing. Against her better judgment, Li Hongxia asked, “What good thing?”

Shu Ping had never talked such nonsense in her life. She was being pushed onto the stage like a duck driven onto a perch, and could only follow one lie with another. “Maybe she’s fulfilling one of your wishes.”

“What wish?” Li Hongxia asked angrily.

Of course, it was the wish to push Shu Yuan to get married and have grandchildren as soon as possible.

When she saw a grandson suddenly appear out of nowhere—and a biological one at that—wouldn’t their mother be overjoyed?

Shu Ping spoke gently and kindly, “Mom, just wait for her to come back. She’ll be back soon, and you’ll understand everything then.”

Nothing much could be gotten out of the usually honest Shu Ping, and her calm, full-figured appearance somehow had a soothing effect. By the time Li Hongxia left Shu Ping’s house, most of her anger had already dissipated.

Tang Sufeng wanted to provoke her, wanted to see her family become a joke—precisely because of that, she should remain calm and treat her daughter even better.

——

Shu Yuan and her son had no idea that back home in Lucheng, the family was in chaos. After finishing the sweet potato porridge and the savory meat buns, the exhaustion from days of travel hit them hard. Without delay, Shu Yuan took Xiao Man back to the room to sleep.

Xiao Man was very capable of taking care of himself. He took off his winter coat on his own, folded it neatly, and placed it beside the bed. His movements were careful, clearly showing how much he treasured the coat. Then he took off his padded jacket and single-layer pants, shook open the quilt, and crawled into bed.

All of Xiao Man’s clothes were old, dirty, and caked with grime. His pants were full of holes, some even exposing his bottom. He had no socks and wore shoes barefoot. The black cloth shoes were worn through at the toes and barely stayed on his feet.

There were even ants crawling on his skin—he clearly needed a bath. But Shu Yuan wasn’t about to bathe him in such a cold room. That would have to wait until they were back in Lucheng.

The stove in the room had already been removed, and the temperature at night was still quite low. Shu Yuan asked the attendant for another quilt and tucked it over Xiao Man.

“Mom, I have to take my medicine,” Xiao Man reminded her.

Shu Yuan smacked her forehead. “How could I almost forget something so important? Good thing Xiao Man reminded me.”

After spending most of the day together, Shu Yuan still hadn’t fully adapted to the role of a mother. She treated taking care of Xiao Man like playing a child-raising game, which somehow made it easier to accept.

She quickly rummaged through her shoulder bag for the medicine, then used her own canteen to help Xiao Man take it. Once he swallowed the medicine, she tucked him back under the covers, smoothing down the quilt edges as she said, “With two quilts now, you won’t be cold anymore, right?”

“It’s really warm, not cold at all.” The two quilts were a bit heavy, and Xiao Man’s body was completely buried underneath, leaving only his head exposed. He replied in a crisp, clear voice.

The child was dirty, but his little face was quite handsome. Once he was cleaned up, he would probably be unbelievably adorable.

“Then go to sleep, Xiao Man. We don’t have to wake up early tomorrow. A good night’s sleep will help for the journey. You definitely won’t sleep well on the train.” Shu Yuan sat by her own single bed, taking off her shoes as she spoke.

Shu Yuan fell asleep shortly after lying down, but Xiao Man didn’t drift off so quickly.

The little one felt incredibly content. In the past, he had to sit under a kerosene lamp at night, picking pebbles out of sorghum rice. The room would be filled with the stench of liquor, and Zhang Laocai would often lash at him with a broom. But now, he was lying in a soft, warm bed, and his mom was in the room too.

Xiao Man lay on his side facing Shu Yuan, carefully listening to the slightly heavy sound of her breathing. Worried that he might be afraid of the dark, Shu Yuan had intentionally left a small gap in the curtains. The light streaming through the slit landed right in his eyes, making his grape-like black eyes sparkle.

He wanted to brand this feeling—this sense of security and joy—deep into his heart. Just in case it all turned out to be an illusion, when he awoke from the dream, he could rely on this beautiful memory to get through a bitter life.

At five o’clock the next morning, Xiao Man woke up. He was used to getting up at this hour to boil pig feed. He couldn’t fall back asleep right away today either, but when he saw Shu Yuan still sleeping soundly, he didn’t want to get up and disturb his mom. Besides, there was nothing for him to do once he was awake, so he stayed in bed, and within a few minutes, he drifted back into sleep.

Shu Yuan slept straight through until after eight o’clock. When she woke up, she stared at the ceiling, momentarily overwhelmed with questions like “Who am I?” and “Where am I?” It took her a while to piece together everything that had happened over the past few days. She turned to look at Xiao Man and saw the little one lying obediently on his side, his small face resting on the pillow, bundled up under the quilt in a tiny lump. When he saw Shu Yuan looking at him, he greeted her in a cheerful voice, “Mom, you’re awake!”

Still under the covers, Shu Yuan stretched lazily, her voice full of relaxed drowsiness. “I still want to sleep a bit longer.”

Xiao Man was very understanding and well-behaved. “Mom, go ahead and keep sleeping. We’re leaving for Bingcheng at eleven. I’ll wake you up at ten, okay? I can go downstairs to check the time.”

Shu Yuan wanted to stay in bed, but then she thought about Xiao Man’s ragged clothes—grimy and stiff with wear, his pants full of holes letting the wind in from every side. If that alone was still tolerable, the shoes truly weren’t. They didn’t fit at all. And with his synovitis, walking was already difficult. What he needed most were proper shoes.

“Nine o’clock then, Xiao Man,” Shu Yuan said.

She thought having a kid wasn’t so bad after all—he could even help wake her up in the morning.

Just as she was about to fall back asleep, she suddenly remembered that Xiao Man hadn’t taken his medicine yet. It was moments like these that made her realize being a mom wasn’t easy. Every little thing about the child had to be taken care of.

He couldn’t take medicine on an empty stomach, so Shu Yuan quickly got dressed. After washing up, she went down to the first-floor canteen to see if there was any breakfast left.

The staff treated customers who had been specially noted by the bureau chief with exceptional courtesy. With a warm smile, the server told her they had saved breakfast for her and her son.

Shu Yuan was instantly wide awake. She went back to the room to fetch the already dressed Xiao Man and brought him downstairs to eat. Seeing how chapped his little face was, she brought him back to the room afterward to apply some snow cream.

His face was rough and dry. Only after slowly rubbing in the snow cream bit by bit did the skin under her fingertips become soft and moisturized.

“It smells so good,” Xiao Man said, the corners of his mouth lifting into a smile.

Breakfast was fried dough sticks and soft tofu pudding. After they ate, Shu Yuan gave Xiao Man his medicine. Then, after asking the attendant for directions, they set off on foot for the department store.

There weren’t many customers at the department store in the morning, so it felt like the place was reserved just for the two of them.

Shu Yuan treated raising Xiao Man like playing a child-rearing game. Right now, it was time to buy clothes for her little one.

She first bought him a set of thermal underwear and some underpants and socks. The fitting room was located behind the counter. The two of them went behind the counter and entered through a small door, walking into a room stacked with merchandise where she helped him put on the new thermal set and socks.

Xiao Man’s face turned bright red. His body full of ants had been seen by his mom? But she hadn’t shown the slightest disgust toward this dirty little boy.

Next, she bought him a sweater—blue and white checkered—which made him look sharp and full of energy.

She also got a thick pair of corduroy pants to wear over the thermal underwear. It would do for now.

As for shoes, she wasn’t sure what kind to buy, so she spent a whole three yuan—a hefty sum—to get him a pair of little white sneakers.

“Mom, white shoes get dirty easily,” Xiao Man said. Holding the white sneakers in his hands, he was reluctant to put them on.

Shu Yuan spoke lightly, “Go ahead and wear them. Lots of kids have white shoes. Xiao Man should have a pair too.”

After all, what childhood would be complete without a pair of little white sneakers?

Xiao Man obediently put on the white sneakers. These shoes were really nice—clean, soft, with springy soles that made the ground feel less hard beneath his feet.

A relative’s child of Zhang Laocai once had a pair of white shoes, and all the kids in the production team were jealous. Only Xiao Man ignored him. That child, who had come from the city to visit relatives, had called him a stray nobody wanted, just like the others.

When his shoes got dirty, he even made Xiao Man scrub them for him.

But now Xiao Man had his own pair of little white sneakers—bought by his mom! He wasn’t a stray nobody wanted!

These few clothes and shoes cost ten yuan altogether.

Raising a child was really expensive.

Shu Yuan had originally brought sixty yuan. The bus ticket cost one yuan, she gave two yuan to the uncle who gave her a ride to Xiaohe Village, spent eighteen yuan on clothes for Xiao Man, three yuan for the doctor visit, and sixteen yuan for the train ticket. Now she had twenty yuan left.

Money had been flowing out like water these past few days.

She still owed Shu Ping over forty yuan.

One set of clothes for Xiao Man definitely wasn’t enough. If she had more money, she would have bought several sets at once to save trouble. But with only a small amount left, she had to keep some in reserve for emergencies and make sure they returned to Lucheng safely.

The original host had stayed at home freeloading like a rice weevil, depending on Li Hongxia to support her, while the latter still had to pay for Shu He’s tuition. It hadn’t been easy. Once she returned to the city, she had to find a job and stand on her own two feet.

Poor as she was, the clothes she bought for Xiao Man were all one size too big—so he could still wear them come autumn.

Despite being in a state of extreme poverty, she still threw all those filthy, worn-out clothes away at the garbage collection point.

After changing into new clothes, Xiao Man looked completely transformed. A thick dark blue winter coat, brown corduroy pants, and white sneakers—the little one looked absolutely adorable.

Xiao Man was surely happy, but he also felt a lot of pressure. His mom clearly didn’t have much money, yet she spent so much on clothes for him.

His mom still wore old clothes herself.

At five years old, he knew he couldn’t just eat plain rice anymore. Once they got to Lucheng, he had to earn money on his own. He’d heard that there were more opportunities to make money in big cities.

He was going to buy his mom new clothes.

The clothing mission in this child-raising game had been successfully completed.

After returning to the guesthouse and resting for a bit, they had lunch as part of the first group once the meal was ready. Shu Yuan gave Xiao Man his medicine, refilled their canteen (water bottle) with water, and packed the dry food the guesthouse had prepared for them—flatbreads, salted duck eggs, boiled eggs—so they wouldn’t need to buy food on the way, saving two or three yuan.

In addition, she asked the guesthouse for a length of rope.

Shu Yuan carried her shoulder bag, a netted sack full of dry food, and a woven plastic sack of pine nuts. She loaded everything into the police car that had come to take them.

“Comrade Shu, here’s the proof of parent-child relationship you requested,” Officer Wu said, handing her a thin piece of paper stamped with a red seal.

Shu Yuan took it and glanced over it, then thanked him.

Right now, Xiao Man was undocumented. Once they returned to the city, she needed to get him registered in the household system so he could receive grain and oil rations. This paper might come in handy.

Another stretch of travel awaited them. In three days, mother and son would arrive in Lucheng.