Chapter 11

Yang Qiujin didn’t want to deal with Tian Chunlian, but the knocking continued. Not wanting to wake Chen Shengqing, she reluctantly opened the door and handed Tian Chunlian a portion of the gifts already distributed. “This is from Shengqing for his second brother,” she said, then quickly shut the door.

Tian Chunlian opened the package and found a can of malted milk, compressed biscuits, fruit candies, and two sausages. These items were rare and valuable at the time. Tian Chunlian rarely had such treats, and her mouth watered. However, she felt it wasn’t enough. She complained angrily to her husband, Chen Shenggui, “Your third brother is back, but didn’t even visit you. His wife only gave us these small things. It’s like charity!”

Before Chen Shengqing came back, Tian Chunlian had been envious of the money and checks he sent to Yang Qiujin every month. Now that he was promoted and had returned with many packages, she felt cheated by what he gave them.

“So, what do you want?” Chen Shenggui, weaving a backpack under the eaves, didn’t even look up. “Back then, you refused to help my stepmother with her treatment, insisted on separating from my third brother and his wife, and caused a rift. Now, my third brother doesn’t hold a grudge and gave us a gift to maintain appearances. What more do you want? Do you want all the money from the third wife’s family and to become the head of their household? Are you even worthy?”

“How dare you say that!” Tian Chunlian snapped. “You say I’m unworthy, but who am I doing this for? When I married you, you were penniless. Your father cared only about his youngest son. Your stepmother acted kind but kept your father’s money to herself. If I hadn’t fought for it and separated from them, we would’ve been kicked out long ago. We wouldn’t have this big house or land!”

“My father would have given me the land and house without you causing trouble,” Chen Shenggui replied, not wanting to argue. He gave her a warning look. “I’ve tolerated your behavior all these years because you gave birth to the eldest and second children. But now that my third brother’s back, don’t stir trouble in his household. When the time comes, my third brother and his wife will deal with you. Don’t blame me then.”

“You!” Tian Chunlian was furious but was interrupted by knocking from outside. Ignoring her anger, she stormed out to check.

To her shock, a group of Red Guards had arrived, ransacking homes just like when they first entered the village. In the chaos, a young Red Guard, no older than 17 or 18, approached Tian Chunlian’s house. He kicked the gate and shouted, “Why are you hiding from us? What anti-revolutionary or ‘four olds’ (old ideas, culture, customs, habits) are you hiding in your home?”

“No, no,” Tian Chunlian stuttered, her fear palpable as she broke into a cold sweat.

“Whether it exists or not is not up to you to decide.” The leading strong black little red soldier snorted coldly and led his team directly to her house.

“Stop! This is a military family home. You’re not allowed to search here.” Chen Shenggui heard the noise, put down his backpack, and spoke up to stop the little red soldiers who were aggressively entering.

“Military family?” The leading little red soldier looked at Chen Shenggui suspiciously, then glanced at a short-haired female student from the commune hiding in the crowd to confirm the truth of what he had said.

“Yes, his family is military.” The female student replied after thinking. “He’s the second brother of Battalion Commander Chen. We saw Battalion Commander Chen earlier, riding a jeep back home. His family lives next door, and they’re brothers.”

Despite their aggression, the little red soldiers dared not touch the military families. The military and the government operate separately, and anyone who joins the army has their background thoroughly reviewed. Only those without issues are allowed to join.

Similarly, military families, even if some of their members have problematic backgrounds, are left alone as long as they haven’t committed serious mistakes.

Once the black-clad soldier confirmed that this family was military-dependent, he muttered, “You’re lucky,” waved his hand, and signaled his group to leave.

After they left, Tian Chunlian collapsed to the ground, trembling, unable to speak for a long time.

“Look at you, acting so tough to your own family, but trembling in fear in front of these little Red Army soldiers. They haven’t even grown all their hair!” Chen Shenggui grew angrier upon seeing her, and, suspicious, asked, “Are you hiding something in this house that shouldn’t be hidden?”

“It’s nothing! Just some old things my grandmother left for my mom. I couldn’t bear to throw them away.” Tian Chunlian patted her chest in fear. “If it weren’t for my third brother, our family would’ve been ruined!”

Last year, when the political movement started, she went with her parents to watch the chaos. She saw those with problematic backgrounds being tied up by the Little Red Soldiers, their heads shaved in a Yin-Yang style ^[1]refers to a method where hair is shaved in a way that one side of the head is shaved while the other is left long., and having guilt signs hung around their necks. They were paraded through the streets like animals, spat on, and covered with rotten vegetables. Then, they were dragged to the Revolutionary Committee Square, made to kneel in front of the public, and insulted. They were eventually sent to labor camps.

At the time, she thought it was just a spectacle, but after seeing it more often, she realized how serious it was. If the little red soldiers found anything wrong with her, she could face even harsher consequences.

So, when the little red soldiers came to check her house, she remembered how she had ignored Yang Qiujin’s advice to dispose of her grandmother’s old items that had “feudal remnants,” and she was so terrified she almost fainted.

Luckily, Chen Shenggui stopped them, or the consequences would’ve been dire.

“What are you thinking, woman?” Chen Shenggui was furious. “You could’ve ruined our whole family! Get rid of those old things of your grandmother! If it weren’t for my third brother’s identity, our family would have been finished. Stay away from the third room and don’t cause any more trouble there!”

Tian Chunlian, embarrassed, realized her mistake.

Though reluctant, she eventually wrapped up the items and secretly ran to the river behind the village to throw them away.

The village was still buzzing from the disturbance caused by the Little Red Soldiers, and Chen Shengqing was naturally awakened by the noise. He got up, squatted next to a clay pot filled with water in the corner of the yard, and slapped his face. Then, Li Xiu’e called him to eat lunch.

“Where’s Qiu Jin?” Chen Shengqing noticed Yang Qiujin wasn’t there.

“She went to visit her mother.” Li Xiu’e placed the food on the table. “She should be back by now.”

Just then, Yang Qiujin walked in carrying a basket. “Mom, you don’t need to cook tonight. My mom gave me some big steamed buns and cooked taro. We’ll make do with that tonight.”

“That’s good. We don’t need to make staple food. We can just stir-fry two dishes.” Li Xiu’e scooped fine rice for her son and daughter-in-law and ate the leftover rough rice from the day before. She picked up some bacon fried with garlic sprouts for Chen Shengqing and smiled. “Try it. This is the meat the team distributed after the pig slaughter last year. Qiu Jin’s bacon is much better than mine.”

Chen Shengqing frowned slightly when he saw her action and swapped the white rice in front of him with Li Xiu’e’s. He took a bite of the bacon, smiled, and said it was delicious, but when he ate the rough rice, it was hard to swallow and scratched his throat.

In areas where rice is the primary crop, people have a standard monthly supply of rice and flour. Children receive one pound of fine rice, while adults get five pounds. The rest are brown rice and coarse flour, which can be rough on the throat. To fill their stomachs, people often eat vegetables like sweet potatoes, radishes, and pumpkins instead of rice.

Since Chen Shengqing had been in the army, his food and living conditions had been much better than in the countryside, so he found it uncomfortable to eat such rough food.

“Why are you stealing my food, kid?” Li Xiu’e tried to get her rice back.

“Mom, it’s just a bowl of rice. Let him eat.” Yang Qiujin said calmly. “If outsiders see this, they’ll think I’m abusing you. As a daughter-in-law, I eat the good rice, and you, as the mother-in-law, eat brown rice.”

This was a common dynamic in many families, where the mother-in-law acts sacrificially in front of her son, saying it’s fine for her to suffer as long as her children are happy. But when the son isn’t around, she eats all the good food behind his back, leaving the daughter-in-law to take the blame for being seen as the cruel one.

Li Xiu’e understood this and no longer insisted on changing the meal. She simply kept putting meat and vegetables into Chen Shengqing and Yang Qiujin’s bowls. “Eat more.”

This type of self-sacrificing behavior, where parents let their children eat well and eat leftovers themselves, is a common issue for many mothers of this era. Yang Qiujin was used to it because her mother behaved similarly.

However, Yang Qiujin didn’t take it for granted. She put all the food from her bowl back into Li Xiu’e’s (Li Xiu’e: her mother-in-law) bowl and said, “Mom, we have hands and feet, we can serve ourselves. Just eat your food, don’t worry about us.”

Chen Shengqing also returned the food to Li Xiu’e’s bowl. “Mom, just take care of yourself. I’m not a three-year-old anymore. I’m grown up.”

Li Xiu’e looked at the bowl full of food and felt a bit disappointed. She sighed, realizing her son had really grown up and refused the food she selected for him.