“Some people, once they get a bit of advantage, start looking at the sky out of the corner of their eye. Just wait for the day she falls, she’d better not die from it!……”
Bai Shuhua took it in through her left ear and out through her right, completely not taking Aunt Bai’s sour, sarcastic, veiled jab at her into her heart.
Anyway, it was nothing more than incompetent rage.
Ever since the day before yesterday, when Mother Bai had shot back at Aunt Bai with the line, “You’re only fierce inside your own nest,” the two of them had nearly torn each other apart. They were stopped by Grandmother Bai, Bai Dad, and the others.
Aunt Bai was probably feeling she had been the one to suffer a loss, so she started making trouble.
Fortunately, Bai Dad could coax Mother Bai, and in their spare time the two of them stuck together sweetly, busy making creations. No one paid Aunt Bai any mind.
Bai Shuhua suspected it was because the two of them were too lazy to fight.
And since Mother Bai had not come out on the losing end last time, Bai’s parents were in such a good mood.
That did not stop Bai Shuhua from taking the opportunity to brainwash her parents. “Dad, Mom, Aunt is over there cursing again.”
Mother Bai did not care at all. “Let her curse then. It won’t cost me a piece of flesh. She only dares to mutter to herself secretly, she wouldn’t even dare aim it at me.”
Bai Dad asked, “Big daughter, is she cursing you?”
Bai Shuhua shook her head. “No. If she was throwing shade at anyone, it should be my mom.”
“She’s just jealous.” Mother Bai could not help but sound a little proud. “The day after tomorrow I’m going to town for rehearsal.”
With October here, autumn harvest was not far off.
“Dad, Mom, have you heard the story of Mencius’s mother moving three times?” Bai Shuhua did not wait for their answer, and used the simplest possible words to tell the fable. “When our family has money, let’s move house too.”
That was her real goal.
If they wanted to move, they had to have money. If they wanted money, they had to get moving and earn it.
She was afraid that once they made a little progress, her parents would be satisfied, and then lie flat.
She had to set them another goal.
Bai Dad wore an expression that said, This is way too hard. “Building a house isn’t a small matter, it costs a lot of money.”
Bai Shuhua said, “I never said now, or right away. Money can be saved up.”
She could not pile on too much pressure all at once, afraid her parents would just give up entirely.
This family would probably fall apart without her.
Bai Dad did not really want to talk about houses anymore, so he quickly changed the subject. “Big daughter, take a look at how the story your mom and I put together turned out.”
He handed over the notebook, clearly with a bit of showing off in mind.
Bai Shuhua took it. “Let me see.”
She read very seriously, and very quickly.
It was a story about a family being stripped of everything. Honestly, it was written really well. She even wanted to kick that entire household to death, they were too inhuman.
“Dad, Mom, did you come up with this story yourselves, or did you hear it from the newspaper or somewhere else?”
Mother Bai answered, “Heard it, it’s a real story! It’s from Miaopuzi, your dad just tweaked it a little.”
Bai Shuhua thought to herself, so this was the source of art, coming from life and yet higher than life.
Still, this story needed to be changed.
She guided them by saying, “Dad, Mom, when you tell this story, what are you trying to express?”
Mother Bai was a little confused. “Express what? Nothing. I just heard this story and felt like everyone would enjoy it.”
Bai Dad also nodded. “They’ll definitely enjoy it.”
Bai Shuhua coaxed them patiently. “Mom, you’re going to perform in town later, and tell it to many, many people. After they hear it, they’re supposed to be positively influenced. Like when I listen to red songs, every time I follow along and hum a few lines, I get all fired up, and I feel even more patriotic.”
Afraid her parents still would not understand, she used herself as an example.
“But after I finished reading this story, what I thought was that you have to have a son, then you won’t be stripped of everything.”
Bai Shuhua could not help sighing.
That should have been Mother Bai’s true feeling after hearing it.
Bai’s parents still had not quite caught on.
Bai Shuhua had no choice but to remind them, “Don’t forget, women can hold up half the sky.”
Bai Dad had read so many newspapers after all, so he caught on a little faster. “Right, right, the newspapers always say that.”
He turned to Mother Bai and said seriously, “Wife, this story has to be changed.”
They could not go against the newspapers.
Mother Bai was still confused. “How do I change it?”
That was just how she had heard it.
Bai Dad rested his chin on his hand. “Just change it… um…”
Bai Shuhua helped think too. “We can add a few more families.”
Bai’s parents immediately looked at her.
Bai Shuhua thought as she spoke. “We can write three families, and none of them have sons. In the first family, the parents think that having only daughters and no son means the family line is cut off, so they do not work hard at all, and the family ends up very poor. In the end, they are stripped of everything, and right before dying, they are still thinking that in their next life they must have a son. The second family also has no son, so they raise their brother’s son. Then, after they’re gone, their own daughter is married off to an old bachelor who beats his wife, and all the money and the house in the family become the younger brother’s. The third family also only has one daughter, but the parents are not disappointed. They nurture her with all their strength, support her in school, and in the end she passes high school, goes into the city, becomes a great worker, and finally brings her parents into the city to enjoy life. That’s roughly the idea, you can change the details yourselves.”
That way, there was no need to preach any grand truths. The listeners would naturally compare and think for themselves.
What they figured out on their own would leave a deeper impression than hearing the conclusion directly.
Bai Dad thought this idea was pretty good, and inspiration struck him. “I’m writing it now.”
Mother Bai muttered, “Where are there so many families without sons? But second brother’s family really doesn’t have a son. So do you think he and second sister-in-law… would want to become which one?”
Without even lifting his head, Bai Dad wrote on. “Even a fool knows to choose the third one.”
But Bai Shuhua sighed. “Not everyone has the far-reaching vision of the parents in the third family. Eldest sister told me something. She said Second Aunt Bai doesn’t want her to go to school anymore, thinks that being able to write her name, so she’s not a blind illiterate, is enough. She also said she’s not young anymore and can go work in the fields to earn work points. She also said they need to earn more money, because Second Aunt Bai needs to see a doctor and take medicine, and she still wants to have a son.”
Mother Bai frowned. “If she wants medicine, then let her take it. Didn’t they get money when the family split up? Big Girl isn’t that old, going to the fields would exhaust her to death. Besides, those two girls are pretty sensible, cooking, washing clothes, and they still have to cut pig grass, they can also earn some work points.”
Bai Shuhua knew then that in many people’s eyes nowadays, Second Aunt Bai’s wish to keep having sons was not considered wrong.
What Bai Dad said was also, “Second sister-in-law is really stingy. Back when the family hadn’t split up, it didn’t show, because she couldn’t get hold of the money. Now that she can make the decisions, she’d like the whole family to go out earning work points and let nobody spend money. Other things aside, look, have Big Girl and the other one put on any weight?”
Bai Shuhua thought back, and it really was true. Her eldest cousin was getting thinner and thinner.
You had to know that after the family split up, she and her younger brother ate much better than before, and had even gained a little baby fat.
As for why they could eat well, naturally it was because there had been quite a bit of grain when the family split.
When Grandmother Bai was in charge, even if there was a lot of grain, it would not all have been eaten, but Bai’s parents were different, their hands were a little looser. Mainly because they themselves also wanted to eat more and eat better.
“Dad, Mom, do you think if Second Aunt Bai heard this story, she’d still let Eldest sister and the others go to school?” Bai Shuhua was a little uncertain.
After a little thought, Mother Bai gave her answer. “Probably it depends on whether her illness can be treated. If the old doctor there can’t cure it, she might even go to the county. If it still can’t be cured, then she’ll probably give up, and maybe treat those two girls a bit better.”
Bai Dad also said, “Second brother is dead set on having a son too, I don’t think there’s much hope.”
Mother Bai thought from another angle. “If our family had two daughters, I’d choose to find a live-in son-in-law, wouldn’t that be the same?”
Bai Dad disagreed. “What good could there be in men who are willing to move in?”
As a man himself, he understood men’s thoughts better.
“Our daughter definitely doesn’t need a live-in son-in-law! Then Dad will find you a good one.”
Bai Shuhua directly ran off to the bathroom, what was there to say, she was still just a tender little bud of the motherland.