Mother Yan, seeing that the visitor was leaving, quickly ran to the kitchen and grabbed a jar of the wild honey she had bought during a previous trip to the countryside. When she returned to hand it over, her eyes immediately caught the tense atmosphere between her husband and daughter in the living room, and she asked anxiously, “What’s going on now?”
“Your daughter’s gotten way too headstrong,” Father Yan said, glaring angrily. “Something this serious happened, and she didn’t even tell her father.” A few days away had apparently only made her more independent-minded.
To think such a major incident happened and she only took an outsider with her, if she had been attacked or kidnapped by bad people, they wouldn’t even have known. Fortunately, she had encountered someone kind this time; if it had been a villain, he didn’t even want to imagine the consequences.
Yan Sisi obediently stood in place, taking her scolding in silence. Seeing her mother’s gaze, she quickly shot out a silent plea for help.
Mother Yan, noticing how headstrong her daughter had been lately, didn’t think about disciplining her when she saw her injured upon returning. But now, taking this opportunity to teach her a lesson seemed necessary, otherwise, who knew what she might do in the future. She deliberately ignored her daughter’s pleading eyes and turned to start packing things for tomorrow.
Seeing her mother not paying attention to her, Yan Sisi looked at her father’s stern expression and didn’t know what to say, so she just stood there quietly.
Father Yan’s face remained cold as he continued, “Do you know what you did wrong?”
Yan Sisi lifted her eyes to him and softly replied, “I was wrong for not telling you.”
“Not telling me what?”
“Not telling you it was a fake. I only found out when I went there myself.”
Seeing that his daughter still didn’t fully understand, Father Yan handed her a washboard, his voice hard, “Keep thinking about it. When you finally understand, get up.”
He had spoiled her too much, leaving her unaware of the dangers outside. This time, he was determined to set her thinking straight.
Places like that weren’t safe for her to go alone. This time she had lucked out, but what if it had been like that girl from their factory who ran off and never came back? How would he and his wife have handled it?
The world was safer now than it used to be, but there were still many hidden dangers.
Yan Sisi widened her eyes at the washboard in front of her. She didn’t dare resist; she hesitated for a moment, then carefully took the washboard and knelt on it, comforting herself: a wise person adapts to the situation.
When Mother Yan finished packing and came out, she saw the scene: her daughter kneeling on the washboard, and her husband standing upright beside her, looking at her with a mixture of worry and concern.
To be honest, she didn’t know what to say, he was the one making her kneel on the washboard, but in the end, he was the one feeling most worried.
Mother Yan looked at her stubborn husband and daughter and stepped forward. “What’s going on here?”
“You should ask your daughter,” Father Yan replied.
“Dad, are you asking if I know what I did wrong? I admit it, I shouldn’t have forgotten to tell him that everything was already resolved,” Yan Sisi whispered, lifting her knees slightly as she looked at her mother. She still didn’t understand why her father had made her kneel on the washboard.
All her life, her father only disciplined her when he was really angry, either making her stand in place or face the wall to reflect. It had been years since her last punishment. She never expected this time he’d change it to kneeling on a washboard.
Feeling the faint pain in her knees, she was thankful for the extra woolen pants she had worn in the cold weather; otherwise, her legs might have bruised from the kneeling.
Mother Yan glanced at her daughter and reminded her gently, “Your father is just worried something might happen to you if you go out alone. Remember a few years ago, that young woman at your father’s factory, only twenty, went out by herself and never came back. Do you still not understand why he’s angry?”
Hearing this, Yan Sisi finally understood. She carefully climbed up the washboard and stood, her legs wobbling slightly from kneeling too long.
Seeing this, Father Yan instinctively reached out to support her, and Yan Sisi grabbed his arm, her voice soft. “Dad, I really understand my mistake. Next time something like this happens, I’ll come back and tell you immediately, I won’t make decisions on my own anymore.”
She had heard plenty of neighborhood gossip about that missing factory worker: some said she was kidnapped, some said thrown into a river, so many rumors. She never imagined that her father was simply worried for her safety, not angry just because she hadn’t told him.
Looking at her father’s still-serious expression, she lightly shook his arm and said earnestly, “Dad, I really know I was wrong. I promise I won’t do it again.”
After saying a whole string of promises, her father’s expression gradually softened. He spoke seriously to her, “I’m not trying to limit your freedom. It’s just that as a girl, it’s too dangerous to be out alone. If something were to happen to you…”
Yan Sisi immediately thought of the dream where she had died by suicide and her parents followed soon after. Her nose prickled and her voice trembled with a little cry. “Dad, I know I was wrong.”
She promised herself she would cherish her life and never make her parents shed tears like that again.
Hearing his daughter’s voice tremble, Father Yan panicked slightly. “Don’t cry.”
Mother Yan, seeing the scene, stepped in to interrupt. “Alright, you’re the one giving the lecture, and you’re the one comforting. Tonight, I’ll sleep with our daughter, you go to your room and rest!”
After saying that, she signaled her husband to leave with her eyes, then took her slightly unsettled daughter back to the bedroom. The two of them lay on the bed, talked quietly for a while, and eventually fell asleep.
Early the next morning, Yan Sisi woke up to the smell of something delicious. Walking into the living room, she sniffed the air. “Mom, what’s cooking today? It smells so good!”
“I made some meat patties, it took a whole jar of oil. Couldn’t it smell good?” Mother Yan replied, carrying the cooked patties. Before she could take more than a few steps, Yan Sisi’s quick hands grabbed one.
Yan Sisi had barely taken the patty when she yelped from the heat and instinctively tossed it back. She pressed her fingers to her earlobe to cool them, letting out a couple of “ouch” sounds, and only after the pain subsided did she ask, “Mom, are we going to the countryside today?”
If her mother didn’t let her go, she would stubbornly insist on tagging along. Missing this trip might mean waiting until the New Year.
“After breakfast, we’ll head back. We’re just waiting for you,” Mother Yan said.
Hearing that, Yan Sisi realized she could go along. A few days ago, she wasn’t allowed, and today, without even coaxing, her mother had agreed, why so suddenly?
She didn’t have time to think it through before being nudged again. She quickly picked up her now-cooled corn porridge and took a few sips, while the other hand grabbed a meat patty. One bite of porridge, one bite of patty, she continued until she had eaten two patties and a bowl of porridge, then rubbed her full stomach and stopped.
It was rare to have meat patties in the morning, she hadn’t had them even once in the past two months. She wondered why her mother had decided to make them today.
Mother Yan gathered the remaining patties into a lunchbox. In the cold weather, they could be stored for a long time. She had gotten up early specifically to make some to take back for her husband and nephew, who didn’t know how to cook, so they could also taste the meat.
At that moment, Father Yan walked out of the room carrying two parcels in one hand. Yan Sisi quickly stepped forward and took one. “Dad, should we put the parcels in my space for now and take them out when we get close to home?”
Father Yan turned to her with a serious expression. “Remember, don’t use your space while we’re out. If anyone notices you taking things out of thin air, how are you going to explain it?”
After tidying up the kitchen, Mother Yan echoed, “Your father’s right. At home, you can use it however you want, but outside, you absolutely cannot. If anyone notices, they’ll definitely catch you and experiment on you, and who knows, they might even cut the flesh and blood off you.”
After this scare, Yan Sisi obediently promised under the stern expressions of her parents, “I swear to both of you that I will never use it outside, and I won’t mention it to anyone. Besides the three of us, no fourth person will ever know.”
Seeing that their daughter understood the seriousness of the matter, Father Yan finally felt at ease. He picked up the parcels and headed for the door, while Mother Yan grabbed the parcels from Yan Sisi’s hands. Yan Sisi, who had nothing left to carry, was responsible for locking the door behind them.
The three of them left the residential compound under the awkward, avoiding gazes of the neighbors and walked toward the bus station.
After walking for about half an hour, they arrived at the county bus station. A few red-and-white buses were scattered near the station entrance, and many people jostled back and forth with large and small bundles in their hands.
Yan Sisi, having been there many times before, quickly ran to the station entrance, took a corner coin worth eight cents from her wallet, and handed it to the ticket clerk sitting at the table. “Yanjia village, three tickets,” she said.
“Xiao Yan, going back again?”
“The weather’s turned cold recently, so I’m sending some things back home,” Yan Sisi replied, chatting briefly with the familiar clerk, Zhang Xiaofen, and asked, “Sister, is it crowded today?”
“Not too bad. If you wait much longer, there might not be any seats, so hurry up!”
Hearing this, Yan Sisi quickly took the three yellow tickets marked six cents each and ran toward the bus parked at the usual spot. When she arrived, her parents were already seated side by side in the bus, waving at her from the window.
Yan Sisi handed the three tickets to the conductor, threaded her way through the crowd, and sat between her parents. The three of them squeezed into two seats. Soon, the bus was packed with people, each holding bundles and bags of belongings.
At exactly 7:30, the driver shouted, slammed the doors shut, and those still outside had no choice but to wait for the next bus.
The bus bounced along the uneven road. Yan Sisi swayed with every jolt, taking in the strange smells and the loud chatter. After nearly two hours, they finally arrived at the rural town.
When Yan Sisi stepped off the bus, a cold gust of wind hit her, and feeling the stark difference in temperature compared to the bus, she immediately sneezed.