Mrs. Xia stir-fried a dish of pork liver, another of chives with scrambled eggs, one of garlic sprouts with dried tofu, and made a soup of bone marrow with Chinese cabbage. She also steamed a pot of coarse rice.
In between, she went out to herd the hens back into the chicken coop in the backyard, and Xia Erhu diligently helped her drive the chickens.
When the food was laid out on the table, Erhuzi’s eyes lit up, and he ate so much that his cheeks bulged. His ravenous appetite amused Mrs. Xia and Xia Li.
Xia Li laughed and said, “Erhu’s name really suits him—he eats just like a little tiger.”
Erhuzi, his mouth glistening with oil, replied, “I only eat like a little tiger at Auntie’s house. At my own home, I eat like a sick cat.”
After the meal, Xia Li felt unusually tired and went back to bed to rest, while Erhuzi returned home.
The Old Xia Family’s home was just over a hundred meters away from Xia Li’s. Erhuzi headed west out the door, passed a few courtyards, then turned north, and soon arrived at the Xia house.
At that moment, the Xia family was still eating. Xia Shan wasn’t home, so the family, totaling eleven people, crowded around a large table. On the table were a big bowl of bone marrow soup with Chinese cabbage, a small bowl of garlic sprouts with pork, and two plates of pickles. The bowl of garlic sprouts with pork was placed in front of Old Man Xia and Old Mrs. Xia. Old Mrs. Xia only allowed the elderly couple and their sons to eat from it, occasionally giving a slice or two to the grandsons. The daughters-in-law and granddaughters were not permitted to have any.
The eldest daughter-in-law, Li, and her two granddaughters knew their place and dared not reach for the meat. Only the second daughter-in-law, Little Mrs. Yang, was greedy enough to occasionally shamelessly snatch a piece. Old Mrs. Xia would not only rap her chopsticks but also scold her, “You gluttonous woman, all you care about is eating well, without a thought for how hard the men work to support the family.”
Little Mrs. Yang was thick-skinned; as long as she got the meat in her mouth, she didn’t mind the scolding and would just chuckle. This, however, embarrassed Xia Tie and Xia Daxiong. Xia Tie would glare fiercely at Little Mrs. Yang, while Xia Daxiong hung his head, too ashamed to look at his mother.
Seeing his second grandson return, Old Man Xia pretended to scowl and asked, “You greedy boy, did you go mooch a meal at your aunt’s again?”
Xia Erhu nodded and said, “Yep, Auntie made chives with scrambled eggs and dried tofu tonight—smelled amazing.” He didn’t dare mention the pork liver and bone marrow, afraid that Old Mrs. Xia would scold his father and even go to his aunt’s to demand payment for the meat.
He went over to Old Man Xia and added, “Grandpa, Sister Li is better now. She was even sunbathing in the yard.”
Old Man Xia brightened up and said, “Good. Tomorrow, tell your father to set aside more meat so your aunt and Li Li can come over for a meal.” Thinking that his granddaughter still needed a couple more days to recover and shouldn’t be overexerted, he added, “The day after tomorrow—let them come the day after tomorrow.”
Xia Zhu readily agreed.
Old Mrs. Xia quickly interjected, “Lan Niang isn’t short of money. Her family eats well every meal—how can she have the nerve to come back and freeload meat from her parents? Zhu, you don’t need to save any meat. Your elder sister will buy meat from the stall and bring it over for our family.”
In Old Mrs. Xia’s view, since her daughter could earn money, there was no need to take advantage of her parents’ modest means. Every time her daughter and granddaughter came back for a meal, they would bring a piece of meat or twenty eggs. She had grown accustomed to it.
Old Man Xia’s face darkened, and he rebuked her, “Our daughter has suffered so much for this family, and Li Li nearly lost her life this time. How can we, as her parents and grandmother, begrudge them a little meat?” Turning to Xia Zhu, he said, “Don’t listen to your mother. Tomorrow, set aside two trotters and a piece of pork to nourish Li Li.”Xia Zhu also felt sorry for his sister and niece, and immediately nodded in agreement.
When Old Man Xia was young, he was a hunter. While hunting, he was chased off a cliff by a wild boar, breaking an arm and a leg, nearly losing his life. Although he survived, he was left disabled, unable to hunt or even do heavy labor. At that time, the family had no land, and the children were still young, so Old Mrs. Xia secretly sold her daughter.
Fortunately, heaven had eyes, and seven years later, the daughter returned. Though she was now a widow with a daughter in tow, she brought back a sum of silver and possessed excellent embroidery skills, which helped support her natal family. The mother and daughter also managed to live comfortably on their own.
Seeing her husband displeased, Old Mrs. Xia scowled and fell silent.
Xia Li’s survival brought disappointment only to Little Mrs. Yang; the rest of the Xia family rejoiced at her recovery. Even Old Mrs. Xia, who disliked her granddaughter for being delicate and costly, was not cruel enough to wish her dead. Only Little Mrs. Yang secretly resented it—if that cunning girl had died, her own son would surely have been adopted by Xia Lanniang. What a pity.
Not daring to admit she wished for Xia Li’s early death, Little Mrs. Yang instead grumbled to her youngest son, Xia Sanbao, “You’re so foolish. Look how clever Erhuzi is—he often goes to your aunt’s house to eat well.”
San Bao retorted unhappily, “I want to eat well too, but Sister Li won’t let me. Whenever they eat, she chases me out.”
Erhuzi was also sharp; if he saw San Bao following him to their aunt’s house, he wouldn’t stay for a meal. He knew that his second aunt coveted their aunt’s property, and San Bao often said that since Sister Li would marry someday, their aunt would have to rely on him for support. Because of this, Sister Li deeply disliked Xia Sanbao. If San Bao shamelessly tried to stay for a meal, Xia Li would unceremoniously drive him away.
Little Mrs. Yang shot her youngest son a glare and said, “How did I give birth to such a useless thing? Even if they chase you, you shouldn’t leave. I don’t believe your aunt would really let you watch them eat.” She then cursed, “That little white-eyed wolf, Li Li—we’ve been so good to her, yet she shows no gratitude.”
Xia Tie, overhearing his wife and youngest son’s conversation, angrily set down his bowl. His face flushed as he scolded Little Mrs. Yang, “You foolish woman! Instead of teaching our son to rely on his own skills to earn money, you’re still coveting a bite of food from my sister’s house. Do you believe I’ll hit you?” He even raised his fist threateningly.
Old Man Xia also darkened his face and scolded, “Stupid woman! If you dare curse Li Li again, get out and don’t eat!”
Only when Little Mrs. Yang saw her father-in-law and husband lose their temper did she shut her mouth.
Old Man Xia then said to Xia Tie, “Tie, you should focus more on the children. Don’t let that greedy, foolish woman lead them astray. Lanniang is a widow without a job, yet she knows how to help her natal family and earn her own living without coveting what belongs to others.”
The last remark implicated both Old Mrs. Xia and Little Mrs. Yang.
Xia Tie acknowledged this and glared at Little Mrs. Yang and his youngest son.
That night, Xia Li lay in bed, her eyes open. Though her pupils lacked focus, she could see every detail of the room’s furnishings through the mosquito net, as clearly as if the items in the sewing basket were right before her eyes—only tinged with a faint yellow, as if viewed through a thin yellow veil.
Through a crack in the small window, her gaze drifted outside, where she could see the full moon in the sky. The moon appeared yellower and larger than when she saw it “normally,” and the impurities within it were more distinctly visible.
When the original host was seven years old, she suddenly discovered that when her pupils turned vacant, she could clearly see objects two li away during daytime and three li away at night.
Both the original host and Mrs. Xia were terrified at the time. After pondering for a long while, Mrs. Xia warned the original host never to let others know about this ability, or she would be burned as a monster.
The original host kept this secret buried deep in her heart and never dared to use that “gaze” to look into the distance again, not even at night. Even she herself believed that anyone with such an abnormality was a monster.