“Who told you to move out!”
Auntie Zhang clicked her tongue. “What do you mean, ‘what’? You dared to do it, so why can’t I talk about it? Changsong, you’d better remember this: your mother said that if she ever dared come here and strip us bare again, she would be struck by heaven’s lightning. Everyone heard her say it. If she comes back in the future, we’ll all stand up for you!”
Lin Changsong lowered his head, his shoulders shaking. Anyone who didn’t know better would think he was grieving, but in truth, he was barely managing not to laugh.
Seeing Old Madam Liu so furious that smoke seemed to rise from the top of her head, Auntie Zhang laughed loudly twice. “I’ll just wait and see what kind of fate awaits you, Liu Guihua!”
“Ah! I’ll tear your mouth apart!” Old Madam Liu felt she had been stewing in anger for days and wanted to beat Zhang Sanmei to vent her frustration.
The battle was about to erupt. In an instant, the two old women were grappling and fighting in the courtyard. Not only did the onlookers gather around—even the chickens in the coop flew up to watch the commotion.
Old Madam Liu had not done any work for years and was covered in soft, flabby flesh. How could she possibly be a match for Auntie Zhang, who worked year-round? She was completely beaten one-sidedly. Auntie Zhang straddled her and slapped her several times across the face.
Xiao Liushi, who had been hiding inside the house all along, hurried out when she heard her mother-in-law’s screams and wanted to go forward to help. Unfortunately, she too had a body softened by idleness. Even when Auntie Zhang fought back against Xiao Liushi, she could remain firmly seated on Old Madam Liu, leaving her unable to move.
Old Man Lin wanted to come over and pull them apart, but as a grown man, it was not appropriate for him to intervene. The same went for his sons. The village had rules: when children or women fought, the adults and men were not supposed to interfere.
Lin Changsong’s hand trembled back and forth like someone with Parkinson’s, yet after a long while, he still did not reach out.
Lin Changgen anxiously slapped his thigh beside them, crying, “Aiya, aiya.”
Only after Wang Ya judged that they had fought enough did she pull the dazed Shen-shi forward to break up the fight.
After all, they still had to put on a show for others to see.
Once the women had been pulled apart, they discovered that Old Madam Liu’s hair was completely disheveled, and her clothes and trousers were covered in dirt. There was even a trace of blood at the corner of her mouth, yet she was still cursing and swearing viciously.
Apart from having somewhat messy hair, Auntie Zhang was otherwise unharmed. Like a victorious rooster, she spat on the ground in the Old Lin family’s courtyard before leaving.
By the time Old Madam Liu came to her senses, Auntie Zhang had long since disappeared. She was helped back into the house by her eldest son and eldest daughter-in-law.
Old Madam Liu touched her swollen red cheeks and loose teeth and viciously declared, “Once my grandson passes the xiucai examination, I’ll make Zhang Sanmei kneel before me, kowtow, and admit her mistake!”
Xiao Liushi had no time to worry about her mother-in-law. Auntie Zhang had also pinched her until it hurt terribly, and she had done so in places hidden from view, with an especially vicious hand. They were probably already bruised and swollen.
After the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law slept for a while and recovered their strength, it was already evening.
The courtyard was silent, and the kitchen was cold, with neither pots nor stoves in use.
When Old Madam Liu did not see Shen-shi or the three girls, she began cursing loudly in the courtyard. “Where has the Third Branch’s wife gone? Where has she dropped dead? Every one of them is a bunch of good-for-nothings! Are they still waiting for this old woman to serve them?”
Lin Changgen happened to be carrying the last two broken chairs out of the Third Branch’s room. When he heard his mother’s curses, he uncontrollably shuddered twice.
When Old Madam Liu saw Third Son Lin, she shouted, “Where’s your wife? What time is it already? Why hasn’t she started cooking?”
Lin Changgen secretly drew in a breath. “Mother, we’ve separated our cooking arrangements. Didn’t you divide up the grain as well?”
Old Madam Liu was momentarily speechless. “You unfilial wretch! Even after separating the cooking arrangements, aren’t you still using my pots? I divided so much grain with you. Are you saying that when you cook, you can’t spare your mother even one mouthful of grain?”
Something was wrong. No one was cooking in the kitchen at all!
Old Madam Liu looked at the two broken chairs. “Where are you taking those chairs?”
Lin Changgen tightened his grip on the chairs. “Mother, we’ve moved to those rooms in the Old Millhouse by the stream.”
“What! Who told you to move out?” Old Madam Liu’s voice nearly broke.
“Wasn’t it you who said it? ‘The household-division document has already been written. The household is divided, and so is the cooking. Since the household has been divided, move out.’ I know Minghai isn’t young anymore. Once he passes the xiucai examination this time, there will be plenty of people coming to ask for his hand in marriage. He’ll soon start a family and give you a great-grandson. There isn’t much room in the house, so I’ll make room for Minghai first.”
Lin Changgen was extremely nervous. These words had all been taught to him by Second Brother, and he had memorized them several times so that he would not stumble when speaking.
“You…” Old Madam Liu felt that what Third Son Lin said made perfect sense. A great-grandson! Her own biological great-grandson! But why did Third Son Lin have to move out? Even if there was not enough room, wasn’t there still a storage room in the back courtyard?
“No! Move back immediately!” If Third Son Lin left, who would do the work around the house?
Lin Changgen set the chairs down. “All right, Mother. To be honest, I didn’t want to move either. Just now, the people from the clan came to persuade me. They said I’m different from Second Brother. Minghai is about to become a xiucai, and only by staying at home can I enjoy the good life…”
“No!” Old Madam Liu felt certain that Zhang Sanmei had hit her on the head. Why else would she feel so dizzy?
Just then, Lin Daya happened to return from playing outside. Old Madam Liu’s eyes lit up. There was still someone in the household who could work! She had not raised that girl for so many years on good food and drink so that the girl could enjoy herself.
Besides, they had only just divided the household. What if Third Son Lin stayed at home and developed ambitions of his own?
“Forget it, forget it. Since you’ve already moved, then just move out. Looking at those money-losing wretches is bad luck!” Old Madam Liu waved her hand disdainfully, as though she were sweeping trash out of the house.
Old Madam Liu had no time to bother with Third Son Lin anymore. She stepped forward and suddenly twisted Lin Daya’s ear. “Where have you been playing all this time? You’re never around! You’re already a grown girl, yet you don’t even know how to do the work in the kitchen. Which family would dare marry you? Go cook immediately! Are you trying to starve everyone to death?”
This was the first time Lin Daya had ever had her ear twisted. Before this, she had watched her four younger sisters get their ears twisted and had thought they were despicable and deserved to be twisted by Grandmother. But now that it was happening to her, she finally knew how painful it was.
“Grandmother, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!”
“It’s good that you know it hurts. From now on, you’ll do the cooking. Our family doesn’t support idlers!” Old Madam Liu shoved her into the kitchen.
Lin Daya looked toward her parents’ room. After waiting for a long while without seeing any movement, she could only begin cooking slowly and reluctantly.
Previously, the work had all been done by the Second Branch and the Third Branch. She had merely watched from the side and knew how to start a fire; in truth, she knew nothing else.
Old Madam Liu, however, had made up her mind to make her take on the household work. With a dark expression, she supervised and instructed her in the kitchen.
Lin Changdong and Xiao Liushi both heard the commotion from the kitchen, but neither of them came out. Their mother was right: Daya was no longer young. She needed to learn the things she ought to know; otherwise, it would be difficult to find her a husband’s family.
While Old Madam Liu was not paying attention to him, Lin Changgen picked up the two chairs and slipped away as if fleeing.
He walked faster and faster, running toward the millhouse by the stream and escaping the nightmare of the past thirty years.
Behind him, Lin Daya’s nightmare had only just begun.
The Old Millhouse had been built by the clan. Later, when the village began using livestock to turn the millstones, the millhouse proved too small for the animals to move around in. They built a larger one at the village entrance, and this millhouse was left idle. Whenever the other one was too busy, people would occasionally use this smaller one, so the clan had continued maintaining these few rooms.
Now, the Clan Head had rented it to Lin Changgen at a cheap price.
The people from the clan had already helped the Second Branch move in during the morning. Now, several of the Clan Head’s peers and Old Man Lin were all helping out at the millhouse.
Lin Xiaowei was pulling weeds in the courtyard. She glanced at the millhouse so close to the stream and fell into thought.