Chapter 28 – Visiting Uncle’s House (Part 2)

In a few days, they would be heading to Yangliu Brigade, not because of anything major, but mainly to visit Mu Mian’s maternal grandparents in the mountains.

The two elderly folks had passed away on the same day, before Mu Mian was even born.

It had been during a torrential downpour when the nearby mountain collapsed, burying several people. Some were rescued because they had been buried shallowly.

When her grandparents were dug out, they were still breathing, but being elderly, they ultimately didn’t survive.

Mu Mian had never experienced this herself.  She had only heard about it from the adults.

The anniversary of their passing happened to fall on a Sunday.

Other than Zhao Meihua, the three of them planned to go together. Liu Shuangcui packed some yellow paper she had bought specifically for the occasion.

At this time, customs were not too strictly regulated, and it was still permissible to pay respects to ancestors.

Only Mu Mian knew that in a few years, such activities would have to be done in secret. Otherwise, one could easily be accused of practicing feudal superstitions.

Yangliu Brigade and Qingfeng Brigade were in opposite directions from the commune and were quite a distance apart. If the family didn’t have a bicycle, it would be a long walk.

As usual, Mu Mian squeezed onto the backseat with her mother. The family chatted along the way, and after about an hour, they finally saw the entrance to Yangliu Brigade.

Liu Shuangcui had grown up here, so she recognized almost everyone they met along the way.

“Oh my, Shuangcui, your family bought a bicycle? When did you get it?”

“It looks brand new! Must have cost quite a bit, right?”

“Is this your youngest daughter? I haven’t seen her in so long. She’s growing prettier and prettier!”

“And where’s your eldest? Oh, right, my memory is so bad. Your boy joined the army, didn’t he? Now I remember.”

…

With all the chattering, they ended up pushing the bicycle the rest of the way to Mu Mian’s eldest uncle’s house—Liu Dezheng.

Liu Dezheng currently lived with his eldest son, Liu Cheng. Since his wife had passed away, he never remarried and lived on his own quite comfortably.

Liu Tao usually stayed in the dormitory and only came home occasionally. Naturally, she was home today for this occasion.

Even from ten meters away, Liu Tao spotted her second aunt’s family and came running over. “I saw you standing there for ages. What were you talking about?”

Liu Shuangcui replied, “Nothing much. Goudan’s grandmother just likes to talk, you know how she is—same old things over and over.”

Liu Tao didn’t ask further. She turned to Mu Mian and took her hand. “Your backside must be sore from sitting so long, huh?”

Now that she mentioned it, Mu Mian immediately reached back to rub her little bottom. “A little bit, yeah.”

After all, she had been squeezed in for an hour on a bumpy road.

Liu Tao laughed. “I’ll make you something delicious for lunch.”

Mu Mian’s eyes lit up. “Then I’m in for a treat!”

With just a few words exchanged, they entered the house. Liu Cheng, who had been busy, stopped what he was doing and called out, “Second Aunt.”

Liu Shuangcui glanced around. “Big Brother isn’t home? He’s still out at this hour?”

Liu Cheng’s wife, Mei Haoli, was from Yangliu Brigade and was very familiar with Liu Shuangcui. “Second Aunt, have a seat. Dad went to the brigade leader’s house to discuss something. He said he’d be back in a few minutes.”

In those days, a brigade usually had only a few officials: the brigade leader, the village party secretary, the accountant, and the women’s director.

The brigade leader oversaw production, while the village party secretary handled miscellaneous affairs. They were always busy running around, worrying about everything.

Liu Shuangcui was used to her elder brother being like this. She acknowledged Mei Haoli’s words and went to help Liu Cheng prepare offerings for the memorial.

This was all adult business, so Mu Mian had nothing to do with it. She squatted in the shade, playing with her little niece.

Liu Cheng and Mei Haoli had two children. The eldest was a five-year-old boy nicknamed Nidan.

The younger one was a two-year-old girl named Xiao Xuehua.

At this age, little kids were just starting to babble, which made them all the more fun to play with.

Xiao Xuehua had thick, full hair, and Mei Haoli had tied a small tuft right at the top of her head. It bobbed adorably as she walked.

The little girl stared curiously at Mu Mian. The last time they had met was during the New Year, so the child had long forgotten who was who.

Xiao Xuehua showed her tiny baby teeth and called out, “Sister~”

Mu Mian pulled her into her arms. “Wrong, I’m your Aunt.”

But Xiao Xuehua didn’t care. She continued calling out, “Sister, come play~”

Mu Mian held the little one close and fished a piece of milk candy out of her pocket. “Here, repeat after me—Aunt, Aunt…”

The sharp-eyed Xiao Xuehua immediately reached for the candy. “Candy, want candy!”

Mu Mian dodged her tiny hands. “You have to say it right before I give it to you.”

Hearing that, Nidan hurried over. “I can say it! I can say it right! Aunt, Aunt, Aunt…”

Mei Haoli happened to be passing by and gave her son a light tap on the back. “You’re only three years younger than your Aunt, and you’re still calling her that?”

Nidan was a sturdy little boy. “Of course, why wouldn’t I? Even if it’s just three years, she’s still my Aunt! My real Aunt, super real! Right, Aunt?”

Mu Mian giggled. “Right, right.”

She took out two hard candies and handed them to Nidan. These were the ones Nie Sihui had given her.

Seeing her brother get candies, Xiao Xuehua became anxious. She immediately pronounced it perfectly, “Aunt!”

Mu Mian was delighted and ruffled the little girl’s hair. “Don’t rush. I’ll break it into smaller pieces for you. We don’t want you to choke.”

At two years old, eating candy still required caution.

Mu Mian carefully twisted the milk candy, trying to split it into two small pieces. Meanwhile, Xiao Xuehua stood beside her, staring eagerly, practically drooling.

Mu Mian broke the glutinous rice cake into two pieces before handing one to her little niece, reminding her to eat slowly.

Xiao Xuehua was indeed eating very slowly. Just how slow? Well…

She would take two bites, then take it out to look at it, take another two bites, and then look at it again.

When the little girl’s face and hands were covered in sticky saliva, Mu Mian silently withdrew the arm she had wrapped around her niece.

Hmm, she was quite adorable when she was clean, but when she was messy… well, she was just a normal kid.

Mu Mian called out to Mei Haoli, “Cousin-in-law, do you have a handkerchief? Wipe off Xiao Xuehua’s face.”

Mei Haoli was clearly used to this. She glanced over and said, “No rush, let her finish eating first. You better step back a little, or she’ll get you all sticky.”

As an eight-year-old girl who had always presented herself as obedient and sensible, Mu Mian had no hesitation in following her cousin-in-law’s advice. She immediately stepped three paces away from her little niece.

By the time Xiao Xuehua had finished eating and was cleaned up by her mother, Liu Dezheng had finally returned from the brigade leader’s house.

Liu Shuangcui complained, “We were all waiting for you. What was so important that you had to talk about it now?”

Liu Dezheng glanced at the sun. “Oh, there’s still time. Stop acting so anxious like Dongping.”

The three siblings had grown up bickering with each other, so Liu Shuangcui didn’t hold back with her older brother. “So you want me to be like you? Dragging things out all the time?”

Liu Dezheng was used to giving in to his two strong-willed Sisters. Ignoring their quarrel, he turned to his children. “Is everything packed up? If so, lock the door and let’s go.”

Liu Dongping had been away these past few days, traveling with a truck. That was just how it was with procurement work at the purchasing station—she was often away from home.

She had already mentioned that she would come back alone in a few days.

Liu Cheng came out of the kitchen carrying a basket. “It’s all set. Let’s go.”

Mei Haoli covered the basket with a clean cloth. “Cover it up. If dust gets in, the food will be ruined.”

In these times, supplies were scarce. So after offering food to their ancestors, people would take it back home to eat. Otherwise, if left on the mountain, it would likely be taken by someone else.

The local customs were simple. They would clear the grass around the grave, burn some paper offerings, pour a little wine, say a few words, and that would be it.

Liu Shuangcui and Liu Dezheng took the lead in tidying up. Their parents had passed away many years ago. With time, even deep sorrow had faded.

Mu Mian didn’t feel much attachment to her maternal grandparents since she had never met them. Her brother, on the other hand, had been quite close to them back in the day—but he wasn’t around now.

Liu Dezheng straightened up after a while, taking a break and mentioning Mu Zhuo, “Next time when Xiao Zhuo comes back, bring him here too.”

Liu Shuangcui didn’t even look up. “Got it.”

—

Meanwhile, at the Ningzhang City Army Base, the atmosphere was lively.

The joint training had concluded, and their team had emerged victorious in the competition. To help the soldiers relax, the leadership had organized a swimming race.

Everyone could participate, and there were prizes for those who placed.

At this moment, Mu Zhuo was standing at the finish line, catching his breath, wearing a deep purple pair of shorts that his grandmother had recently made for him.

There were a lot of competitors, and the race required multiple laps. But the rewards were worth it.

Mu Zhuo had set his sights on the third-place prize—ten feet of bright red fabric, five pounds of meat, and some ration coupons.

Red fabric was hard to come by, and he really wanted it.

His little sister was so fair-skinned—she would look amazing in red.

He could make her a whole outfit, and with the leftover fabric, he could sew a small vest for his grandmother. She would probably think it was too flashy to wear outside.

That was fine too. She could wear it underneath. For the New Year, he could add some cotton padding inside—it would be festive and warm.

As for the meat, he couldn’t send it home. But he could ask the cafeteria chef to cook it up so he and the guys could have a little feast.

Mu Zhuo was still daydreaming about the prizes when his platoon leader, Dong Chai, patted him on the shoulder. “You’re a beast! You just kept charging ahead and left everyone behind by ten meters. Have you trained for this before?”

Wen Zhan, who was following behind Dong Chai, plopped down next to Mu Zhuo, both of them still shirtless and wearing swimming trunks.

The ones still at the finish line were all resting, waiting for the next round of the competition.

Mu Zhuo scratched his head and grinned sheepishly. “Didn’t train specifically for it. But there’s a river near our village, and I used to go swimming to catch fish all the time. Guess I got good at it that way.”

Dong Chai laughed. “Bet your butt got smacked plenty of times, huh?”

Mu Zhuo laughed along. “Of course! My dad has a strong hand. One slap and half my backside would swell up.”

Wen Zhan chimed in with his own childhood troublemaking stories. As they chatted, his gaze fell on Mu Zhuo’s shorts.

“Hey,” Wen Zhan said, surprised. “There are words on your shorts?”

Mu Zhuo looked down and saw that the edge of his shortss had rolled up slightly, revealing part of the embroidered character that his little sister had sewn for him.

Hearing Wen Zhan’s question, Mu Zhuo flipped up the hem to show it off. “My little sister embroidered it for me. Looks good, right?”

“My family wrote in their letter that when my grandma turned sixty, my little sister sewed her a ‘Longevity and Prosperity’ embroidery. My dad said it looked amazing, but it’s a shame I couldn’t see it for myself.”

Whenever Mu Zhuo talked about his sister, he couldn’t stop. “Look at these stitches—so neat and tight. I bet in two years, my little sister could become a professional seamstress.”

Wen Zhan raised an eyebrow. The more he listened, the more something felt off.

Remembering what had happened in the communication room before, he hesitated before asking, “You have more than one sister?”

Mu Zhuo shook his head. “Nope, just one.”

Dong Chai asked, “The eight-year-old one?”

Mu Zhuo nodded. “Yeah! Isn’t my sister amazing?”

Dong Chai and Wen Zhan: “…………”

She was amazing, alright. But judging by how Mu Zhuo described her, she seemed less like an eight-year-old and more like an eighteen-year-old.

The last time Mu Zhuo talked about her, she sounded like an infant. This time, she sounded like an adult.

They weren’t sure if Mu Zhuo just didn’t know how to describe her properly or if this little girl was truly that incredible.