24: Xia Shi’s Mother
And there were bugs too!
If you weren’t careful, they’d crawl onto you.
But her strength was nowhere near Chen Qifen’s. Never mind whether she could carry that much corn down the mountain steadily, she definitely couldn’t match the other woman’s speed going back and forth. So, when Chen Qifen suggested dividing the work that way, Lu Guoguo had no objections.
Lu Zaiyang listened to her complaints without changing expression, casually handing over the straw sandals he’d just finished weaving. Looking at the sandals being offered, Lu Guoguo’s mouth twitched. “I already have four pairs in my room. You and Dad wear through shoes faster than I do—these few pairs will last me two years.”
“This is the last pair.”
Lu Zaiyang said.
Fine then. Lu Guoguo took the straw sandals to her room and put them away, then came out with a book and handed it to Lu Zaiyang. “Quiz me.”
It wasn’t dark yet, so they could see without needing an oil lamp. Lu Zaiyang casually flipped through a few pages and started quizzing her.
Lu Laoba and Sun Zhaodi listened to her reciting with smiles on their faces. Every day recently, they’d witnessed this scene.
The task interface still hadn’t updated. Lu Guoguo stared blankly at that ten-yuan reward, thinking to herself that she’d known it wouldn’t be so easy to get.
But when the autumn harvest ended, right at the tail end of August, that ten yuan finally made its way into Lu Guoguo’s pocket.
“Guoguo, are you sure you don’t want to come?”
After the autumn harvest came the agricultural slack season. Lu Laoba and Sun Zhaodi were preparing to go browse around the county town, a rare treat they only did once a year. Sun Zhaodi was wearing the outfit Lu Guoguo had made for her, her hair neatly combed, looking very spirited.
“I won’t go. Brother and I are staying home to make chili sauce.”
It was still a bit hot out, and she didn’t want to walk that far.
“Alright, you two stay home then. We’ll bring you back something good to eat when we return.”
Sun Zhaodi said this with a beaming smile.
“Okay.”
Lu Guoguo responded, watching them leave through the courtyard gate before letting out a small yawn.
“Didn’t sleep well last night?”
Lu Zaiyang, returning from fetching water, noticed and asked.
“Mm, had a dream,” Actually, she couldn’t sleep from happiness over that ten yuan sitting in her space. Lu Guoguo looked up at the sky. “Another sunny day today. I’m going to take out the cotton-padded jackets and air them.”
Hearing this, Lu Zaiyang also went back to his room and brought out his winter clothes and shoes to sun. Every spot in the yard that could be used for drying was covered. After confirming nothing was left out, each of them shouldered a bamboo basket, locked the door, and headed toward the warehouse area.
They were going to exchange for some grain and chili peppers.
The warehouse was right next to the threshing ground, a few stone buildings.
It was probably around 7:30 in the morning, but people were already lining up there. Everyone waited in front of the warehouse, either carrying bamboo baskets or holding cloth sacks.
Lu Guoguo stood in line ahead of Lu Zaiyang, and in front of her was Xiao Shi’s mother, Lu Laoda’s third daughter-in-law.
The woman turned back to glance at Lu Guoguo, then moved forward with some disdain. When she bumped into the person ahead, she said in a voice loud enough to be heard, “It’s not that I’m crowding you, I just wanted to get a bit ahead to avoid touching anything dirty.”
Lu Guoguo was looking down, arranging her clothes, and didn’t quite catch what was said. But Lu Zaiyang behind her wore a dark expression. “Guoguo, do you know there’s someone in our production team having an affair?”
“What? An affair?”
Lu Guoguo looked utterly shocked.
Xiao Shi’s mother ahead stiffened all over. Because Lu Zaiyang’s voice wasn’t quiet, several people in the line ahead turned around to look.
“Someone from our production team, has kids—a son and a daughter. Around thirty-something. Ugly as sin, but she’s entangled with a married man from her natal family’s village. Just hearsay, of course, don’t know who it really is.”
“Lu Zaiyang, don’t you spout nonsense! Things you hear from gossip aren’t necessarily true!” Xiao Shi’s mother raised her voice, trying to suppress her panic.
“I wasn’t talking about you. Why are you so flustered?”
Lu Zaiyang crossed his arms and shot her a glance.
Lu Guoguo looked at Xiao Shi’s mother, then at Lu Zaiyang. A description from the original novel came to mind, a scene where after Xiao Shi deliberately played tricks on Lu Laoba, Lu Zaiyang seized the opportunity to catch Xiao Shi’s mother in the act of adultery, exposing her to nearly half the production team.
“Don’t you talk nonsense! Everyone listen—I was just advising him not to treat rumors as fact, and now he’s turning it around on me!” Xiao Shi’s mother forced herself to stay calm, though her voice grew louder.
“Lu Zaiyang, who told you this?”
“Yeah, if there really is such a person, don’t keep it to yourself!”
“Exactly, exactly! How awful for her husband to be wearing a green hat!”
“Lu Zaiyang, spill it already! You’re killing us with suspense!”
The people ahead called out loudly.
Although Lu Guoguo didn’t understand why Lu Zaiyang suddenly exposed Xiao Shi’s mother’s secret, she didn’t interrupt. She stood obediently in front of him and said nothing in response to everyone’s curiosity.
Lu Zaiyang glanced at the girl standing quietly before him, then cast a sidelong look at Xiao Shi’s mother, whose face had turned pale. “I only heard it from someone else. I don’t actually know who it is. But everyone has eyes—if she cheats again, she’ll eventually be found out.”
“That makes sense.”
“True! If someone does something like that, they’ll be discovered sooner or later!”
“I wonder who it could be.”
“It’s definitely not my wife—my wife treats me wonderfully!”
“And it’s definitely not my wife either!”
“Not mine!”
Listening to the men ahead loudly arguing that it couldn’t be their wives, Xiao Shi’s mother broke out in a cold sweat. She even considered forgetting about exchanging goods and just going home, but wouldn’t leaving now be an admission of guilt?
And how did Lu Zaiyang find out?
Wiping the cold sweat from her face, Xiao Shi’s mother didn’t dare turn around for a single glance.
Watching the woman ahead shiver every now and then, Lu Guoguo could tell she was terrified.
She took a step back, tilted her head, and whispered, “Brother, are you talking about…”
Her finger pointed subtly ahead.
Lu Zaiyang smiled. “I’ll tell you when we get back.”
“Okay!”
Lu Guoguo quickly nodded and obediently returned to her spot. The book only mentioned that Xiao Shi’s mother had a lover, without giving details. Now that the juicy gossip was right before her eyes, of course she was curious.
On their way back, Lu Zaiyang, being stronger, carried the grain while Lu Guoguo carried the chilies.
Once home, they put the grain away and worked together to wash the chilies, then chop, salt, and jar them.
While they were busy, Lu Zaiyang talked about accidentally discovering Xiao Shi’s mother’s affair. “The man looked unfamiliar, not from around here. Probably from her village.”
Lu Guoguo listened with great interest. “So, Xiao Shi… is he his father’s biological son?”
“No way to know that.”
“Why did you suddenly expose that earlier?”
Lu Guoguo asked curiously, not having heard Xiao Shi’s mother’s earlier remark.
Lu Zaiyang guessed she hadn’t heard that comment either, otherwise, this little firecracker would definitely have fired back. “Didn’t like the look of her.”
Lu Guoguo felt this answer was a bit evasive, but since he didn’t elaborate, she could only puff out her cheeks and drop the question.
Chopping chilies would leave hands burning. Just as Lu Guoguo was about to find something to protect her hands, Lu Zaiyang took over the task. So, she went to wash the jars, setting them aside to dry before they could be filled with chili sauce.
Unexpectedly, no sooner had she washed the jars than Xi Tong and Huang Chunfeng arrived.
“Sister Guoguo!”
Xi Tong ran up to her, calling out affectionately.
“Xi Tong!” Lu Guoguo was somewhat surprised but also happy to see her. “How do you have time to come over? School’s about to start—have you finished your homework?”
Xi Tong was still in school, her family was well-off enough to afford her education.
“I’ve finished. I came along with my mom. Do you have any extra grain? My mom wanted to buy some this time.”
She spoke rather quietly, since buying grain on the sly like this was unofficial business.
“Brother, do we have any?”
Lu Guoguo asked Lu Zaiyang.
“Our family’s grain isn’t for sale,” Lu Zaiyang shook his head, looking at Huang Chunfeng. “Your family doesn’t have enough?”
“Not enough this year,” Huang Chunfeng admitted honestly. “My grandmother was sick a while back, remember? To scrape together money for medicine, we sold some grain at the state purchasing station, so we don’t have much left.”
Xi Tong looked somewhat disappointed at this, but she was still happy to chat with Lu Guoguo about other things. The two girls even helped Lu Guoguo make chili sauce. They ate lunch at their house, though Huang Chunfeng insisted on going home to eat.
Xi Tong helped Lu Guoguo with the preparations, and it was clear from her unfamiliar movements that she didn’t do much housework at home.
Spotting the books on the table, Xi Tong picked one up and looked at it. “Sister Guoguo, you’re self-studying?”
“That’s right. I didn’t take my studies seriously back then, too busy playing. Even though I got into middle school, I didn’t want to go. Now that I hear the production team is planning literacy classes, I’ve picked up my textbooks again,” Lu Guoguo explained.
“Our production team is going to run literacy classes too. The team leader’s idea is to select teachers from among the sent-down youth. But we have over a dozen sent-down youths in our team, so the leader plans to give them an exam. Whoever ranks highest will become the literacy teacher. Sister Guoguo, how is your production team handling it?”
“Haven’t heard anything yet. They haven’t even held a meeting about running literacy classes.”
Lu Guoguo had just been discussing this with Educated Youth Chen yesterday.
“Probably in the next day or two,” Lu Zaiyang, who had been quiet, chimed in.
“Then Sister Guoguo, do your best! Even if you can’t beat the sent-down youths to become a teacher, you could still be a class monitor!”
“I’ll take that blessing!”
Xi Tong left after lunch, picked up by Huang Chunfeng to go home. When Huang Chunfeng came, she brought a few mountain pears that Xi Tong’s mother had asked her to pass along.
Lu Guoguo steamed rice and dishes for Lu Laoba and Sun Zhaodi, keeping them warm in the pot. Then she washed two mountain pears, handed one to Lu Zaiyang, and the two of them sat at the entrance of the main room eating pears.
Before they’d even finished one pear, Lu Laoba and Sun Zhaodi returned.
“We heard quite a commotion from that family at the village entrance. Did something happen?”
Lu Laoba asked with a smile.
Sun Zhaodi, washing her hands, also turned her head to look over. “Xiao Shi’s parents got into a fight, and a pretty serious one at that.”
Lu Guoguo instinctively glanced at Lu Zaiyang. Lu Zaiyang shrugged. “Probably not related to this morning’s business. Otherwise, they’d have come knocking to confront me by now.”
“What business?”
Lu Laoba was even more curious now.
Lu Zaiyang shot Lu Guoguo a meaningful look. Lu Guoguo picked up her little wooden stool, moved right next to him, and gazed at him expectantly.
Lu Zaiyang: “……What I meant was, go close the courtyard gate.”
Lu Guoguo’s face reddened. “I—I knew that, of course!”
With that, she ran off to close the gate. She had thought Lu Zaiyang meant she was sitting too far away to hear what he was about to say, so she’d eagerly moved closer.
How embarrassing!
**