"Mm, so there really is money." Liu Qingsong confirmed. "I found more than twenty yuan inside the cupboard. It's what Mom left behind. If you don't believe me, you can ask Second Elder Sister tonight."
"Then... then is there enough money to buy me and Fifth Sibling notebooks? And pencils too. I... at school I've been using pencil stubs other classmates threw away." Liu Qingshi mustered his courage and asked, stammering.
He stammered because he feared that saying it would burden their already poor family. More than that, he didn't want Second Elder Sister to hide away at night and cry over the family's troubles.
Liu Qingsong guessed what Fourth Sibling was thinking, and his heart ached at how sensible he was.
But he said nothing. After telling little sister to watch the firewood, he strode to the rear courtyard.
Soon, he came back, but now he had ten Chinese character notebooks in hand, along with four intact pencils.
"Third Brother, these... these notebooks and pencils were bought for me and Fifth Sibling?" Once Liu Qingshi saw clearly what they were, he cried out in shock.
Liu Qinglong could hardly believe his own eyes either.
"Mm, they're for you." Liu Qingsong nodded and handed them the notebooks and pencils. "But don't tell anyone else. Keep it to yourselves."
Liu Qingshi stared for a moment. Then his nose grew sore, and he burst into tears.
Liu Qinglong cried too. Feeling the "weight" of the pencil and notebook in his hands, he and Liu Qingshi cried a river, unable to hold themselves together.
They had never imagined that Third Brother would treat them so well. Nor had they imagined that their mother had left more than twenty yuan in the house before she was taken away.
That money wasn't much, but seeing it made the brothers think of their parents, missing the ones who'd been taken away, and remembering all the good their parents had once done for them.
Liu Qingsong guessed what was on their minds. After letting out a long sigh, he left them alone and began pan-frying the Wild Diaozi Fish.
Once it was done, he used a large bowl to serve one fish each to Liu Qingshi, Liu Qinglong, little sister, and Little Mochi, then handed the biggest one to Fourth Sibling, Liu Qingshi: "Hurry up and eat it while it's hot, then tell me properly what happened to Fifth Sibling's face."
"He... he..." Liu Qingshi stammered and couldn't get the words out, and didn't dare take the pan-fried Diaozi Fish either.
But Liu Qinglong wasn't afraid when he heard this—instead, he flew into a rage.
That's right—he was furious enough for the veins on his forehead to bulge. "Third Brother, I got hurt fighting a classmate, but I didn't lose. I beat him up, too."
"Oh? Then why'd you beat him up?" Liu Qingsong's voice went low.
"Because he deserved it—he actually called me and Fourth Brother Sons of Reform-through-Labor Prisoners!" Liu Qinglong clenched his fists and answered through gritted teeth.
Don't underestimate that sentence.
In an instant,
it pressed the atmosphere in the kitchen down to its absolute limit.
Liu Qingsong's expression turned grim. "So you and Fourth Sibling lost your straw sandals because you were fighting with classmates?"
"Mm," Liu Qinglong nodded, then started crying again.
He wasn't crying because he'd lost his straw sandals.
He was crying because he was afraid second elder sister would have to rack her brains over the money for new shoes.
"Alright, alright! Stop crying. A real man bleeds but doesn't cry—what are you crying for?" Liu Qingsong shook his head watching Liu Qinglong: "Hurry up and eat your Diaozi Fish, then go do your homework."
"Remember! If any classmate calls you a son of a Reform-through-Labor Prisoner again, you can beat him right back."
"If you and Fourth Sibling can't beat him, come get me."
He wasn't spoiling his two younger brothers. A classmate who said that deserved a beating. If they didn't fight back, Fourth and Fifth Sibling would never be able to hold their heads up at school again.
"Little sister can help too!" Little sister raised her small hand indignantly.
"Me... me too, going to beat him up." Little Mochi chimed in with her babyish voice.
"Mm, mm!" Liu Qinglong nodded repeatedly, then he and Liu Qingshi turned their tears into laughter as they took the pan-fried wild Diaozi Fish, and squatted down on either side of the kitchen doorway with the leftover rice, eating heartily.
Seeing this, Little Mochi and little sister dragged over their small stools and joined them.
Liu Qingsong didn't bother with them and instead kept pan-frying wild Diaozi Fish in fish oil.
When the fish was fried, he sprinkled it with Chili Powder and Sichuan Pepper Powder, placed it in the Winnowing Basket, and carried it to the open space by the kitchen door to dry in the sun.
Once the Diaozi Fish had dried enough to remove its moisture, his Spicy Diaozi Fish would be ready.
After that, the family wouldn't have to eat Sweet Potatoes and pickled mustard tuber every day.
Seeing this, Liu Qingshi couldn't help asking, "Third Brother, can I take some of the Pan-Fried Diaozi Fish you made to school tomorrow?"
Afraid Liu Qingsong might refuse, Liu Qingshi added, "I'll take only one. I won't need Sweet Potatoes either."
"Third Brother, me too." Liu Qinglong raised his hand in agreement: "This way the classmates will definitely be dying of envy—after all, the pan-fried Diaozi Fish Third Brother makes is so fragrant and delicious."
"Stop buttering me up." Liu Qingsong laughed and rolled his eyes at Liu Qinglong. "But you and Fourth Sibling can take some to school tomorrow. I caught dozens of Wild Diaozi Fish with little sister today, after all."
"But that's only good for tomorrow, because I can't guarantee I'll catch wild Diaozi Fish every day."
"Tomorrow's enough." Liu Qingshi said happily, again and again.
Liu Qinglong beamed too. When he saw that Liu Qingsong might need help, he and little sister eagerly trotted over.
But Liu Qingsong wouldn't let them help. He sent Liu Qinglong and Liu Qingshi to do their homework and little sister to feed the chickens. After finishing the Spicy Diaozi Fish, he washed his hands and feet and headed to the rear courtyard.
There was no other way.
Not only did he himself have no shoes to wear now.
Even Fourth Sibling and Fifth Sibling had no shoes to wear.
Given the situation, he had to make time to use the tire rubber he'd brought back from the Myriad Realms Garbage Dump to make one or two pairs.
Otherwise, if his two younger brothers went to school barefoot tomorrow, their classmates would probably laugh at them again.
And tires were something that had already existed since 1978, so he wasn't worried about that at all.
He had already thought of what to tell Second Elder Sister. The abandoned pigpen in the rear courtyard contained a pig trough their parents had made from tire rubber.
.....
Amid the busyness,
time slipped by until evening came.
As the sun neared the horizon, Liu Qingsong stopped making shoes, washed his hands and feet, and went to the kitchen to make dinner.
He had just rinsed the rice and put it in the large iron pot when Pangdun appeared at the kitchen door with several little friends. He was holding his homemade fishing rod and looked furious.
"What are you doing?" Liu Qingsong asked, shaking the water off his hands.
"Nothing! I wasn't doing anything!" Seeing that Liu Qingsong was alone in the kitchen, with no little sister or Little Mochi there, Pangdun turned and left.
Liu Qingsong found this puzzling. As he was about to call Pangdun back, little sister appeared with Little Mochi, and the two were roughhousing.
Pangdun froze when he saw little sister running over. Then he cursed loudly: "Carrot, you big liar! You tricked me, Little Tiger, and the others so badly today."
"Yeah, exactly! I'm never playing with you again." A dark-skinned little boy chimed in unhappily.
Carrot.
was little sister's nickname.
Liu Qingsong knew this.
Little sister knew it well too. Her face filled with question marks as she asked, "Pangdun, me... when did I lie to you? Explain yourself before you curse at me, okay?"
Little Mochi tilted her little head and looked at Pangdun too.
"Didn't you lie to me?" Pangdun grew angrier as he spoke. Finally, he threw his homemade fishing rod to the ground. "You said there were Wild Diaozi Fish to catch by the river, so why didn't Little Tiger and I catch a single one?"
Little sister: "..."
Little Mochi: "..."
Once Liu Qingsong understood what had happened, he burst out laughing. "Pangdun, you couldn't catch any Wild Diaozi Fish, so you came to give my Hongxia a hard time? Isn't that a little unreasonable?"
.....