As soon as the word left her mouth, her adoptive mother pulled her into her arms.
She held her so tightly, as if afraid she might run off again.
Her adoptive mother still carried that familiar scent.
The smell of sweat, of soil, of grain husks clinging all over her clothes, and a faint trace of kitchen smoke.
"Ma… I'm back." Xu Anhao's voice was muffled against her shoulder.
Her adoptive mother said nothing.
She just held her.
Her shoulders shook and shook.
Her adoptive father stood nearby, gripping that sickle, not knowing where to put it. He tossed the sickle to the ground and raised his sleeve to wipe his eyes.
After wiping, he wiped again.
He couldn't wipe them clean.
"Good that you're back, good that you're back…" He could only repeat this one phrase over and over. "Good that you're back, good that you're back…"
The people who had followed them stood all around.
Auntie Li, Granny Wang, and a few young wives—all of them worked the fields together.
Someone hollered, "Sister Dehou, don't just stand at the gate! Hurry and take the child inside!"
"Yes, yes! She's come such a long way, she must be exhausted!"
Only then did her adoptive mother let go.
She took Xu Anhao's hand and looked her up and down again.
"You've gotten thinner," she said, her eyes reddening again.
Xu Anhao had sent no word for two years. To say they held no resentment at all would be a lie.
But longing had long since overshadowed that bit of resentment.
When they had first taken this child in, it would be dishonest to say they'd had no selfish motives—who raises a child without hoping for someone to lean on in old age?
But watching her, so tiny, crawl from one end of the kang to the other, from learning to call them Ma and Pa to learning to write her own name.
Watching her grow day by day, what was in their hearts had long since changed.
They had already done everything they could to put her through middle school.
And after that? Marriage. Children. Grubbing for food from this soil, grubbing for a lifetime.
That wasn't what they wanted to see.
So when the Song family came that year, no matter how much it hurt to let go, they had still nodded.
Let her go.
Let her live a good life.
As long as she lived well, it seemed there was nothing more they could want.
"Ma, I'm not thin."
Xu Anhao shook her head, her throat tight.
Her adoptive mother wouldn't listen. She pulled her toward the courtyard.
"Inside, come inside quickly. Her father, hurry and scoop some water—the child must be thirsty…"
Only when they reached the door did she remember it was locked.
Her adoptive father fumbled at his waist for the key, fumbled for ages without finding it, sweating with anxiety.
"I'll do it, I'll do it…" Her adoptive mother pushed him aside, pulled the key from her apron pocket, and stuck it into the keyhole.
The lock opened.
The courtyard gate swung open with a creak.
Xu Anhao followed her in.
The crooked-necked jujube tree was still there. The fruit wasn't ripe yet—green, tiny, hanging one by one from the branches.
Under the tree, the old yellow dog heard the commotion and ran over, circled her twice, and nuzzled her leg with its head.
It still remembered her.
Xu Anhao crouched down and stroked its head.
The old yellow dog squinted, its tail wagging.
As if to say: You're finally back.
As she stroked the dog, something suddenly came to mind, and she stood up and walked toward the gate.
"Pa, Ma, the bag by the gate…"
She lifted the bulging bundle, untied the drawstring, and revealed what was inside.
Fruit candy. Peach pastries. Two cans of malted milk.
Auntie Li and the others hadn't left yet—they were standing at the courtyard gate, peering in.
Xu Anhao scooped up a big handful of candy, walked over, and pressed it into Auntie Li's hand.
"Auntie, I bought some candy on the way—let the children have something sweet."
She grabbed another handful for Granny Wang.
"Granny, you try some too."
The aunties were stunned, looking at each other.
"This… this is too kind…"
"Take it, Auntie, it's not much." Xu Anhao opened another pack of peach pastries and handed them out.
Auntie Li clutched the candy, a little embarrassed.
"This child…"
The ones who had been gossiping in the fields earlier were all silent now.
Granny Wang tugged at Auntie Li's sleeve and lowered her voice: "I told you, Anhao isn't a bad kid at heart…"
Auntie Li shot her a look but said nothing, though she thought to herself, you were the loudest one just now.
Her adoptive mother stood nearby, watching Xu Anhao hand out candy to some and snacks to others, and her eyes reddened again.
She raised a hand to wipe them.
Her adoptive father stood beside her, silent, just watching.
Watching the daughter who hadn't come home in two years, standing at the courtyard gate, handing out candy handful by handful to the villagers.
She finished.
Xu Anhao turned around.
"Dad, Mom, haven't you finished work yet?"
Her adoptive mother quickly waved her hand: "No rush, no rush. Everyone's eating right now. Let Mom boil you a few eggs first—I've saved up so many eggs for you—and I'll make you a bowl of noodles. Eat before you go."
She started heading toward the kitchen.
Xu Anhao stopped her.
"Mom, you and Dad go on ahead. I just had noodles in town, so I'm not hungry right now. If I get hungry, I'll figure something out myself."
"That won't do…"
"It's fine." Xu Anhao cut her off, her voice softening. "You two go work. Come back early tonight."
Her adoptive mother was about to say more when her adoptive father tugged at her sleeve.
"Let the girl rest. We should get back to the fields."
Her adoptive mother looked at Xu Anhao, then at the bulging bundle, then at the villagers still lingering by the gate, and finally nodded.
"Then… then you rest for a bit. There's water in the pot—boil some if you're thirsty. The eggs are in the basket in the east room—boil some if you're hungry. Eat plenty, don't be stingy with yourself…"
"I know, Mom."
Her adoptive mother kept looking back as her adoptive father led her away.
When she reached the courtyard gate, she stopped again.
"What do you want for dinner? Mom will make it for you."
Xu Anhao stood under the jujube tree and smiled at her.
"Anything's fine."
Only then did her adoptive mother leave.
Even after walking far away, she still turned back to look.