After much back-and-forth, my brother finally managed to persuade them to stay with his earnest pleading.
I simply stewed some green beans, tossed a cucumber salad, and we ate with the leftover corn cakes from that morning.
They barely touched the dishes—each just had a corn cake and made a simple meal of it.
Zhao Qin kept looking for chances to scold me for eating too much: “Useless at everything, but you never leave a scrap of food behind. I don’t know what sins I committed in a past life to up raising someone like you—divorced the very first day after your wedding! Have you no shame?”
I kept my head down and ate in silence. Gao Shanfeng and his two men froze for a moment, but said nothing and kept eating. I didn’t really feel anything—shameful or not, it didn’t matter to me.
Before leaving, they left behind five yuan as a token of thanks.
My brother refused: “No need. It wasn’t anything valuable. You should get on the road! Haven’t you seen the sky? Looks like it’s about to rain.”
Zhao Qin didn’t say a word. Truthfully, she wasn’t as obsessed with money as Liu Cuizhi—she still cared about her dignity.
“Indeed, the forecast says there’ll be heavy rain! We’ll be off then. Oh, if you ever need anything in the city, just come find me at the construction site.” Gao Shanfeng and the others got in the car, waved to us, and started the engine.
I noticed lots of sweet berries growing by the roadside—wonderberries, or black nightshade. The countryside was full of these wild fruits, sweet and tart. I quickly ran over and picked a whole bunch of the stems, then chased after the car a few steps and tossed them in through the window.
“Try these—they’re delicious!” I called out.
Gao Shanfeng smiled and nodded as the car drove off.
I watched his car disappear and thought to myself, goodbye, my benefactor. I hope one day I can repay you.
When I got back, I saw Zhao Qin asking my brother for the driver’s name: “This is an opportunity too. Your sister lives right here in town. It’s rare to find someone with connections like that—keep in touch with him, and he could help out if anything comes up.” The town was nothing like the city, and Gao Shanfeng’s prospects were far better than my brother-in-law Song Qiankun’s.
Zhao Qin patted the dust off her trouser legs with some regret: “Such a good catch—what a pity your younger sister married so early.”
“Mom, what are you saying? Lanlan and Song Qiankun are doing just fine. Don’t go thinking the grass is greener on the other side.”
“I know, heh. A man with prospects like that must have plenty of women after him. Some people just have no shame—thinking a divorced woman like you could actually gain anything from it? They keep throwing themselves at him. Bah, no sense of decency at all!”
I cleared the dishes as if I hadn’t heard a thing.
“Mom, that’s enough. Stop fighting with Second Sister all the time—she won’t be staying these last few days anyway.”
“As if I’d let her stay even if she wanted to. Enough, you go tidy up and get to bed. Aren’t you leaving tomorrow? That stubborn old man does nothing but think about chess all day—I’m going to go find him!” She hurried off.
My brother seemed to want to say something to me, but I waved my hand to stop him: “Don’t worry, big brother. I know what I’m doing. I’m fine.”
My brother sighed: “At least let her prepare some things for you. Sing you off like this—it feels too desolate to me.”
“If she doesn’t trip me up on the way out, I’ll be more than satisfied. I don’t want anything. The sooner I leave this place, the better.”
The sky was growing darker and darker. I cleaned out the drainage ditch; lots of little flying insects were hovering low—that was a sure sign of heavy rain coming.
When I finished tidying up, I sat on the edge of the kang and looked outside. Muffled thunder rumbled past in waves, and it seemed even hotter. I rarely turned on the light in my room, so I just leaned there watching the dim yellow courtyard through the window.
My current situation felt stifling, so oppressive I could hardly breathe.
I so wanted to leave this place right now, to get far, far away—even if it meant suffering hardship and doing grueling labor, it would be far better than this.
Zhao Qin came back together with Father, and trailing behind them was another person—Zhao Qin’s younger brother, Zhao Hu. I wasn’t particularly surprised. That good-for-nothing loafer had always lived off Zhao Qin, doing nothing around the house, and at forty years old no woman had ever married him.
In his past life he had died young—rumor had it that when he died, his whole body was rotting away. Some kind of venereal disease, apparently? Just seeing him show up made my skin crawl, yet he insisted on shouting loudly for me to come out, putting on an air of wanting to discipline me.
I didn’t make a sound. I just slid the bolt shut on the door.
“I just found out you got divorced. Don’t be sad—as it happens, I’ve got some good news for you. A chance to make big money!” He tugged at the door a couple of times, couldn’t open it, and said with a frivolous laugh, “What’s the matter? Feel like you’ve disgraced the family and are too embarrassed to see your uncle?”
Zhao Qin sneered, “She doesn’t even listen to me anymore. You think she’ll pay you any mind?”
“Open the door, let me talk some sense into you,” he said brazenly.
I spoke through the door: “It’s hot, so I’ve already changed and gone to bed. If you have something to say, say it out there—it wouldn’t be proper for me to let you into my room.” As if! We’re not even related by blood, and you’re a filthy rogue—what could you possibly have to say to me?
Zhao Qin snapped furiously, “You wretched girl—”
“That’s enough, Uncle. If you have something to say, say it, so we can all get to sleep. We’re setting off first thing in the morning.” My brother spoke up coldly. He had no fondness for this uncle who did nothing but eat, drink, gamble, and visit brothels either.
Zhao Hu gave a snort. “What’s all this about setting off? I came here for her future, and this is how you repay me—no gratitude at all. Fine, fine, forget it, I won’t stoop to your level. I’ll tell you: I know a boss in the city who runs a big company, and he’s hiring seamstresses. Three hundred a month. Since Er Ya is planning to go out and work anyway, she might as well go there.”
The moment those words came out, I felt a sudden silence outside. Clearly everyone was stunned by that wage. Keep in mind, back then Liu Yaolan’s salary was only a hundred and twenty, and Song Qiankun’s was a hundred and forty—and even that had the whole village drooling with envy!
Zhao Qin hurriedly asked, “Is that for real? They can really pay that much?”
“Of course that much! Would someone I know lie to you? Well, Zhenzhen? Aren’t you going to thank your uncle?”
I answered through the door, “I’m not going. My brother does backbreaking labor out there and makes less than a hundred and fifty a month. I go out, casually sew a few pieces of clothing, and I can earn three hundred? I don’t believe there’s such a good deal in the world.”
This scoundrel was utterly shameless—I didn’t believe a single word out of his mouth.
“What kind of talk is that? You think I’d cheat you! It’s a partnership with foreigners, that’s why the pay is so high—surely they wouldn’t shortchange you. They’re desperate for workers, that’s why they’re offering so much. Tomorrow you’re coming with me.”
Zhao Qin hurriedly said, “That’s a good thing! It’s settled then. But let’s be clear—your wages go to me first. That’s how it is for every girl; the family manages your money, and in five years you can keep it yourself.”
I scoffed. “Liu Yaolan has been working for a few years now, hasn’t she? Have you ever asked her for a single cent? Why should I give you my money?”
“Why, you—”
“Besides, I’m not going. My needlework has always been terrible in our village—nobody ever taught me when I was little. If it’s such a great opportunity, let someone else have it. I can’t earn that money. Whoever’s capable can go find whoever they want. I’m not going.”
My brother chimed in too, “Mom, I think we should just drop it. Tian Guihua from the front household and Sister Wang are both very skilled. Why not ask them if they want to go?”
Zhao Hu quickly said, “Ah, they’re too old—who’d want women like that? They only want girls in their early twenties.”
I immediately grew wary. “I’ve never heard of anyone hiring workers who only takes women in their twenties—especially when I can’t even do needlework. Who knows what that place actually does? Stop bothering. If that job is so great, s your nieces instead.” Was he kidding? The Zhao family had plenty of girls—why come to me if it was such a good thing?
“Look where your mind’s wandering! It’s because young people have good stamina—once they’re trained, they can earn money. I’m not lying to you.”
I climbed onto the kang and looked at him sideways through the window. “If you’re so desperate to hire people, why bother with training? Wouldn’t it be easier to just use experienced workers?”
His face grew anxious, almost turning to anger. But my brother kept watching him, so he didn’t dare say anything.
This couldn’t be that simple. I wasn’t even Zhao Qin’s own child—could she be planning to sell me off? That bastard really was capable of something like that. I flatly refused to go.
Zhao Qin sneered, “That’s enough, stop talking! I kindly introduce a job for you, and you’re ungrateful and insulting? Fine, don’t go then. I’d like to see what you amount to on your own. Pah! Ungrateful wretch.”
“Oh, come on. We’re all family—only if she does well can I, her uncle, do well too.” Zhao Hu anxiously pounded on the door. “Zhenzhen, be good, I promise I won’t cheat you. Won’t you agree to it? Can’t your own uncle vouch for you?”
I simply stayed silent. The more eager he was, the further I needed to stay away.
Zhao Hu dawdled outside for a long while. In the , it took my brother and my father both persuading him before he left. Before he left, Zhao Qin even said he should come tomorrow to take me away—as if she were determined to s me off to the city as a worker.
When my brother came back, he said, “Uncle has never cared about Second Sister. Suddenly showing up and saying all these strange things—I don’t trust him. And Second Sister’s needlework really isn’t presentable. Forget it.”
Zhao Qin angrily jabbed her finger at my brother’s forehead. “Are you even my son? Everyone in my family has nothing but wicked schemes in their belly! Fine, from now on, whether this wretched girl lives or dies, I don’t care. Tomorrow, get out of my house! Just looking at you makes my chest tight!” She stormed off to bed in a fury.
My father said, “I’ll go clear out the ditch outside the coal shed. You go to sleep.”
My brother quickly said, “I’ll help you.”
“No need, it’ll only take a moment.” He sent my brother back to his room and went to work himself.
I heard the sound of a shovel digging into the earth, and I froze for a moment. I watched Dad work for a while before he finally put down the shovel and headed back.