Chapter 12

With the ox cart, Xiang Dagen wasn’t in such a rush anymore. On the way to Shangyang Village, they passed through a small market, where a few grocery stores and a pork butcher’s shop were located, allowing them to buy some things.

The ox cart traveled for about an hour, reaching the market. The children, who had been excited all the way, finally settled down as they saw their father stop the cart. Xinghua asked, “Dad, are we almost at Grandma’s?”

Xiang Dagen smiled and patted her head, saying, “We’ve only gone halfway. Let’s get down and buy something for your grandmother.”

He then gently lifted his youngest daughter off the cart, while Erniu jumped down on his own. Daniu turned to his father and said, “Dad, you two go buy things. I’ll watch the cart.”

Xiang Dagen had originally planned to say it was only a short distance from the shop, but seeing how considerate Daniu was, he nodded and said, “Good boy, keep an eye on the cart. I’ll be quick.”

Daniu, honest and simple, reminded Xiang Dagen of his own childhood, filling him with affection. However, he still couldn’t understand why his parents were so harsh toward him compared to his siblings.

But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. He went with his wife and children to the shop to buy the goods.

After some discussion, it was Xiang Dagen who made the final decision. They bought ten jin of pork belly, one pig’s head and two trotters, twenty jin of white flour, twenty jin of rice, half a jin of sugar, and some snacks. With all the items, they climbed back onto the cart.

Altogether, these goods cost about five large coins. Mrs. Xiong then took out ten copper coins and handed them to Pear Blossom, saying, “Last time when your mother was sick, you borrowed ten wen from Fubao’s mother. Go ahead and pay it back now.”

Pear Blossom scratched her head and said, “Hey, sister Dong said I don’t need to pay it back. She said it’s just for the hard work I did running errands for her.”

“That won’t do,” Mrs. Xiong insisted. “What’s that worth? Take it.”

Pear Blossom obediently accepted the coins, secretly pleased. Now she had an excuse to go visit sister Dong again.

Xiang Dagen laughed and said, “There are still a lot of good people in our village.”

Pear Blossom immediately retorted, “As long as it doesn’t include our grandparents.”

Everyone fell silent, as that was the truth.

The cart moved faster than the people, and in an hour and a half, they arrived in Shangyang Village. When the villagers saw the ox cart entering, they poked their heads out, wondering who had come to visit.

Erniu and Xinghua were young and had never been brought by Mrs. Xiong before, so they didn’t recognize anyone from the Xiong family. 

But Pear Blossom had been here a few times and, with her good memory, waved at a man who was picking up manure by the road, calling out, “Second Uncle—Second Uncle.”

Xiong Laoer heard and, squinting to see, grinned. “Ah, it’s my niece Pear Blossom coming.”

He waved at the people on the cart and turned to his wife and mother in the field. “Mom, it looks like my sister and brother-in-law are here. Let’s hurry home.”

He grabbed the children and the manure bucket and ran toward the cart.

Mrs. Xiong, seeing her second brother, couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time, and tears welled up in her eyes. She asked her husband to stop the cart.

Pear Blossom immediately jumped off the cart and ran to Xiong Laoer, saying, “Second Uncle, let me help you with the manure bucket.”

Xiong Laoer laughed. “How can you? This is too heavy for you women to carry. You’ve grown so tall! Almost as tall as me now!”

Pear Blossom chuckled and went to pick up the little child he was holding. “Is this Huzi? Does Huzi remember his cousin?”

Xiong Laoer laughed. “That’s not Huzi anymore! Huzi is all grown up. This is your eldest cousin Leopard’s son, your little nephew, Goudan.”

Pear Blossom pinched Goudan’s little cheek, and as he sniffled and sucked up his snot, she couldn’t help but laugh.

At this moment, Mrs. Xiong and Xiong Laoer’s wife, who had been finishing up their work in the field, walked over. When Xiong saw her mother, her nose tingled, and she rushed over, calling, “Mom!”

Mrs. Xiong, feeling sorry for her daughter, had not seen her in years. She had heard many things about the Xiong family and couldn’t interfere with her son-in-law’s family matters, but she was always anxious. Now that she finally saw her daughter, how could she not cry?

Xiang Dagen quickly greeted his second brother-in-law, second sister-in-law, and mother-in-law.

Mrs. Xiong had only seen Xiang Dagen when he came to fetch his bride, so it had been years since they last met. She could barely remember his appearance, but now seeing him again, she couldn’t help but feel a mixture of emotions.

The second sister-in-law hurriedly said, “Let’s go home first; we can talk once we’re there.”

The group then walked toward the house.

The Xiong family had three children: Xiong Laoer, Xiong Laoer’s younger brother, and Xiong. 

They owned little land, and the two brothers worked as bricklayers and carpenters, sometimes doing odd jobs. They should have had a decent life, but Xiong father was a chronic patient and spent a large amount on medicine each month, which made their life difficult.

Xiong father usually did light work around the house. Seeing his son-in-law come, he was taken aback, but remembering that Xiang Dagen had left his daughter and grandchildren at home to join the army for many years, he couldn’t help but feel resentful and didn’t greet him warmly.

Xiang Dagen, feeling guilty, lowered his head and tried to please his father-in-law by unloading the meat and rice from the cart. Only then did the father-in-law’s expression soften a little.

Mrs. Xiong looked at the pile of things being unloaded from the cart, her heart aching. “San Ya, I know the life you’ve been living, but why buy so much stuff? What will your mother-in-law say when she finds out?”
Xiong smiled and replied, “Don’t worry, she won’t know.”

She then pulled her mother aside and told her everything that had happened in the last couple of days. Mrs. Xiong listened with a mixture of sympathy and anger, heartbroken about her daughter’s difficult years and furious that the Xiang family had treated the first wife’s family so unfairly.

“Dagen said that from now on, all the military pay will no longer be sent to them. Life should get easier.”

Mother Xiong sighed and said, “It would be great if we could separate the households. Living with them, we don’t even have enough to eat.”

eldest Aunt couldn’t help but scold, “We should have separated long ago. Even if the eldest son has to go serve in the military, we shouldn’t let them take advantage like this.”

Xiong said, “Dagen and I are just worried. Daniu is still young, and if we separate and something happens to Dagen, Daniu, at such a young age, might have to serve in the military too. We won’t be able to bear that, so we haven’t insisted on separating.”

There was also the family tradition the elderly Xiong couple often mentioned.

eldest Aunt shook her head, “In my opinion, even if something happens to Dagen, these black-hearted people will still force Daniu to serve in the military.”

Xiong said, “But Daniu is only thirteen now.”

“Nowadays, there are plenty of fifteen-year-olds serving in the military. Although Daniu is skinny, his body is sturdy, so pretending to be a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy isn’t hard.”

Xiong immediately grew anxious and said, “How dare they!”

“I’m just afraid that when the time comes, you won’t be able to stop them even if you want to.”

Xiong felt heavy-hearted listening to this, but for now, her husband was still with her, so she could only comfort herself, telling herself to relax for the time being. 

Her husband said he would find an opportunity to take leave after this trip to the military camp to deal with this matter, but she didn’t know if there would be a better solution later.

The second son and his wife brought the meat and rice flour into the kitchen. Xiong was about to help when Mother Xiong grabbed her hand and said, “Let the second son and his wife do the work. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other, let’s have a good chat.”

Pear Blossom was having a blast playing with her sister-in-law and the children of her uncles, and Mother Xiong, looking at Pear Blossom’s increasingly mature figure, said, “Pear Blossom is fifteen now. It’s time to find her a husband, right?”

Xiong didn’t dare tell her mother about the matter of selling Pear Blossom to the city. “She’s simple-minded, and I don’t want her to marry so early. Let her stay for another two years.”

Given Pear Blossom’s recent changes, Xiong was even more reluctant to marry her off now.

“At most another year or two, and we can’t keep her. Otherwise, she’ll be left as an old maid. But I think she doesn’t seem as foolish as before, right? She’s smiling, and if she doesn’t speak, she looks no different from other girls.”

What mother doesn’t love her own daughter? Even though Pear Blossom had once been called a fool by the villagers, Xiong never felt her daughter was any different from other children. Hearing her mother’s words, Xiong couldn’t help but smile and say, “She’s just a little wiser than before.”

On the other side, Dagen talked with his brother-in-law and father-in-law about things in the military camp. Though the Xiong family was cold towards him, when the food was served and the wine flowed, they became much friendlier, and the atmosphere relaxed.

Over the years, the Xiong family’s money had been used to support Xiong’s father’s medical bills, and it had been rare for them to have such a big feast with meat and wine.

The pork head was braised, and the pig ears were sliced into strips, tender and chewy. There were stir-fries of pork belly with bamboo shoots, chili, and green beans, and a stew of pig trotters. They also made dumplings and flatbreads from white flour, fried crispy and fragrant. Everyone ate their fill.

The children were especially happy, as it had been a long time since they had such a meaty meal. Their eyes sparkled, and they devoured the food eagerly.

The men enjoyed their drinks in a different, relaxed mood.

By sunset, Xiang Dagen got up to say his farewells.

Mrs. Xiong pulled the couple aside and said, “The sun is already down, and it’s getting dark on the road. It’s better to stay the night and leave tomorrow.”

Dagen replied, “It’s fine. I’ll take a few torches, and you don’t need to worry. The ox cart is borrowed from Old Qin’s family, and it’s not good to leave it overnight. I also need to return to the military camp tomorrow. If I leave early tomorrow, I might not make it back in time.”

The Xiong family had no choice but to bid them farewell with tears.

On the road, Xiang Dagen lit the torches, and Mrs. Xiong sat next to him to light the way. The four children played and messed around in the cart shed. Erniu patted his round belly and said, “Grandma’s house is really great. Grandma, Grandpa, uncles, and aunts kept giving me more food. I couldn’t eat fast enough.”

Xinghua nodded in agreement, “We’ve never had a meal like this at our house.”

Xiang Dagen instinctively turned to look at Xiong, who patted his hand and whispered, “You’ll have plenty of meals like this.”