Qiaoqiao sat on the millstone pier in the courtyard, watching the ants crawling past her feet in an orderly procession.
One, two, three…
Holding a small stick, Qiaoqiao deliberately nudged the ants apart and covered them with dirt. Though their formation was disrupted and they rolled about in a struggle, they quickly lined up in a straight line once more.
It’s going to rain, Qiaoqiao thought to herself.
Little Yellow, curled up beside his young master, dozed lazily with half-closed eyes.
Qiaoqiao looked back toward the house, wondering how their discussion was going.
Feeling restless, she picked up her small stick again and began poking at the ants, her inner anxiety even more chaotic than they were.
In the main room on the large brick-bed, Qiaoqiao’s grandparents, father, and mother sat with knitted brows and grave expressions.
Commune Women’s Federation Director Fang Guiying—whom Qiaoqiao addressed as Aunt Fang—was waiting anxiously for the outcome.
“What are you all actually thinking? Give me a definitive answer; the young man’s family is getting anxious too,” Aunt Fang couldn’t help urging.
Qiaoqiao’s grandfather took a heavy drag from his paper cigarette, the smoke making him cough twice. He seemed to have a lot of questions to ask, yet couldn’t manage to voice a single one.
In the end, it was Qiaoqiao’s mother who spoke up. “Sister Fang, why didn’t you ask whether that part of him still works?”
Aunt Fang wore a troubled expression. “Qiao’s mother, how can I ask about that? Even his own mother wouldn’t be able to bring it up. The hospital report stated that the young man’s physical functions are uninjured, so he should be capable of reproduction.”
“But… without his legs, how do we know he wasn’t hurt there?” Qiaoqiao’s mother stammered.
“This is a gamble. If you want me to guarantee there are no issues, I’d be lying. Alas, such a tall, strapping lad injured both legs at the front lines. Otherwise, a good family like theirs would never fall to a family like ours.”
That was the truth. The young man was a college student, and his parents held fairly high official positions, whereas Qiaoqiao was just a country girl scratching a living from the soil, and her family background wasn’t clean either. If the boy weren’t disabled, the Yang family wouldn’t have stood a chance of marrying into such a good family in eight lifetimes.
“If he can’t have children, the child’s life will be ruined,” Qiaoqiao’s mother said, her eyes turning red.
That was also true. Even if life was well-off, who would want to spend their days living like a widow?
Grandfather still remained silent, puffing away at his paper cigarette.
He weighed the situation on both sides: on one hand, a lifeline for the entire family; on the other, his granddaughter’s lifelong happiness. It was truly difficult to decide.
“I’ve already made it clear to you. Don’t look at the fact that he has no legs; plenty of girls are dying to marry him. It’s Division Commander Zhou who took a liking to our Qiaoqiao. Whether this is a blessing or a disaster is something you need to figure out for yourselves. I’m just the messenger; you’ll have to make the final decision.”
“If there’s no problem with that, our family is willing. Having a child or two later on gives us something to look forward to,” Qiaoqiao’s mother pulled the topic right back into the dilemma.
“Look at you, how could anyone ask about such a thing clearly?” Aunt Fang said, somewhat annoyed.
Dead silence fell over the room; everyone wore a worried frown.
The door pushed open, and Qiaoqiao walked in.
“Aunt Fang, I am willing to marry him.”
“Really?”
Everyone raised their heads in astonishment.
“Yes. He is a hero who defended the country. They laid their lives on the line for the safety of ordinary people, and I would be proud to take care of a hero. Please tell Division Commander Zhou that I, Yang Qiao, am entirely willing to marry his son, follow him for the rest of my life, and never change my mind,” Qiaoqiao said earnestly and sincerely.
Aunt Fang clapped her hands in delight. “Oh my, just listen to how well Qiaoqiao speaks. No wonder she’s the granddaughter of a private-school teacher—she understands reason. Uncle Yang, since Qiaoqiao herself is willing, you should just agree to it.”
Grandfather was still hesitant, so Qiaoqiao said, “Grandpa, your granddaughter is truly willing to marry him, with no regrets.”
Grandfather finally made up his mind. He stubbed out his paper cigarette and said in a deep voice, “Since she is willing herself, let’s agree to it.”
“Wonderful! I’m heading right back to the commune to call Division Commander Zhou.”
Aunt Fang couldn’t spare even a second; she bolted out the door, and Qiaoqiao’s mother hurried off the brick-bed to see her out.
As soon as Aunt Fang left, Grandmother finally spoke up. “Qiaoqiao, are you really willing? That boy has no legs, and there’s no telling if he can have children.”
“Grandma, I really am willing. I’m willing to marry him not for the sake of being a hero, but for the sake of our family. I don’t want my brother, who is educated and ambitious, to rot in the countryside, working himself to the bone and still not having enough to eat. I don’t want Grandpa, at his advanced age, to still be pointed at and cursed at, nor do I want to watch my parents unable to hold their heads up in the village.”
Qiaoqiao had too many things she didn’t want. Her brother had graduated from high school, but the city factory recruitment quotas never seemed to reach him.
Before the Liberation, Grandfather had been a poor private-school teacher, honest and dutiful all his life, but now he had become a “bad element” whom anyone could curse or step on, living a life harder than anyone else’s.
Grandmother was plagued by illness, hurting so much she couldn’t sleep night after night, yet they didn’t even have the money to buy medicine.
For the sake of this family, even if she had to go work like an ox or a horse for the Zhou family, Qiaoqiao was willing.
“Child, you’ve been wronged…” Qiaoqiao’s father didn’t finish his sentence, his face twisted in worry.
“Grandpa, Dad, don’t worry about me. Life is what you make of it; no matter where I am, I can make a good life. You’re only thinking of the bad side, but there’s a good side too. Division Commander Zhou’s son is educated and worldly; he certainly won’t bully me. Division Commander Zhou is a military leader and such a high official—he certainly won’t lack food. Who knows, I might even get to eat white flour!”
Qiaoqiao smiled, and Grandfather nodded. “We’ll get to eat meat every few days.”
“Exactly, having meat to eat is such a blessing! Grandpa, stop agonizing over it. Let’s settle it. No one will ever dare bully our family again.”
With the protective talisman of being a military dependent, let’s see who would dare push them around.
As the head of the household, Grandfather wiped away his tears, stepped down from the brick-bed, and said, “It’s still early; I’m going to go earn half a workday’s worth of work points.”
Grandfather and Father went out to the fields, while Mother came inside and hugged Qiaoqiao, weeping. “You foolish child, you’re still young, and that’s a lifetime commitment. What if that part of him is broken and you don’t have children? How will you endure it?”
Qiaoqiao held her mother close. “Mom, if there are no children, we can always adopt one. Given how our family is bullied and discriminated against in the village, what kind of good match could I possibly find? If I ended up with someone lazy and shiftless, life would be even harder to bear.”
“Qiaoqiao’s mother, stop crying. It’s all fate. Go harvest some cabbages from the fields and feed the chickens.”
The family had three hens; raising a fourth would be illegal and considered “cutting off the tail of capitalism.”
Sniffling and not daring to disobey her mother-in-law’s command, Qiaoqiao’s mother picked up her basket and went out the door.
“Qiao, go tend the stove. Grandma will make you some corn cakes.”
“Great! Grandma, can you put in a little sesame oil?”
“Alright, I’ll put in sesame oil.”
Old and young, they mixed the cornmeal and lit the fire in the stove.
Qiaoqiao watched the flames flicker in the hearth, just like her own mood—fluttering with anxiety.
Grandmother skillfully mixed the dough, let a few drops of sesame oil fall into the wok, thought about it, and added a few more drops.
Immediately, the adobe kitchen was filled with a rich aroma. Qiaoqiao sniffed deeply. “Grandma, it smells so good! When Brother gets into the factory and makes money, let’s let you eat sesame oil pancakes every single day.”
Grandmother smiled bitterly. “Good, good, Grandma will wait for that.”
This family was so hard. Her brother had long since reached the age for marriage, but because of their family background and being looked down upon, matchmakers wouldn’t even cross their threshold.
Grandfather was over sixty, yet had to work in the fields every day, earning ten work points a day—worth a mere thirty-five cents.
Qiaoqiao was pretty and spirited, and Zhao Jintao, the leader of the village production team, liked her, but he didn’t dare come to propose marriage because his mother wouldn’t allow him to take a girl with a tainted background.
Rather than being trapped in Dazu Village, she might as well go out into the world. No matter how hard it was, it couldn’t possibly be worse than life right now.