Dusk fell, and the peasants who had been working in the fields all returned home.
Grandpa washed his hands and squatted in the courtyard to smoke a cigarette.
Yang Zheng, the last to return, put down his hoe, hastily washed up, and stepped straight into the kitchen.
“Grandma, it smells so good! What special day is it? We’re having flatbreads?”
“Hurry up and take them to the kang.” Grandma swatted at Yang Zheng’s hand as he reached for a flatbread.
A bowl of thin porridge, five corn flatbreads, and a bowl of napa cabbage—for the Yang family, this was a lavishly abundant supper.
“Grandpa, did our family strike it rich? It’s neither a holiday nor a festival, so why are we eating so well?”
Yang Zheng grabbed a piece of flatbread and shoved it into his mouth. Eating too fast, he choked, and quickly took a gulp of porridge to wash it down.
“Your younger sister’s marriage has been settled,” Grandpa said calmly.
“What?” Yang Zheng put down his bowl of porridge and stared at Grandpa in astonishment.
“Didn’t I say that wouldn’t work? Are you guys trying to push Qiao-mei into a fiery pit?” Yang Zheng stopped eating, his voice thick with anger.
“Ge, I’m willing,” Qiaoqiao said, pressing her lips together.
“You’re willing? What do you know? Zhou Wenhui is a college student with high aspirations. If he hadn’t lost both legs, would he ever marry you? Qiao-mei, a life of being looked down upon is much more bitter than going hungry or cold.” Yang Zheng argued forcefully.
Grandpa slammed his chopsticks down with a clack. “Yang Zheng, the man is a national hero; how could he look down on people? This matter is already settled and cannot be changed.”
“Grandpa, Zhou Wenhui is a hero, and we respect him. But daily life is a completely different story. Heroes are human, too. A sudden disability creates a psychological gap that easily warps a person. I don’t agree to this match. If you guys can’t bring yourselves to speak up, I’ll go talk to Aunt Fang.”
“You wouldn’t dare! A gentleman’s word is as good as a team of four horses. We’ve given our word; how can we go back on it?”
“Why can’t we go back on it? This isn’t feudal society; we don’t do arranged marriages anymore. Even if he’s a hero, he can’t force a marriage.”
In this household, the only one who dared stand up to Grandpa was this grandson.
Dinner could no longer continue. Qiaoqiao’s mother started weeping softly again, while her father rolled a paper cigarette and smoked in heavy, oppressive silence.
“Ge, don’t make things difficult for Grandpa. I’m the one who’s willing to marry. Maybe he really will look down on me, but I don’t care. Once I have the title of a military family member, no one in the village will dare bully our family anymore.
“Besides, the Zhou family promised that as long as we agree to this match, Big Brother can go into the city to become a factory worker. Ge, our family works hard year in and year out, yet we still go hungry and cold. When Grandma fell ill, we didn’t even have money for medicine. Ge, our family is already this miserable—is there any misery greater than this?”
Every single word Qiaoqiao uttered struck straight at everyone’s heart. Indeed, could life get any more bitter?
“Qiao-mei, I refuse to believe the world will always be like this. One day, things will get better. I don’t want a worker’s job bought at the cost of your happiness.”
“You don’t want it, but I do! You’re educated and knowledgeable—why is it that whenever the production team recommends people for college or factory jobs, your name is never on the list?
“If you won’t let me marry him, who am I supposed to marry? Should I marry Zhao Jintao? Would he ever dare come to propose? Even if he went against his mother’s wishes to marry me, his mother is so harsh and mean that I wouldn’t have a good life either. Ge, your sister isn’t getting the short end of the stick with this marriage. I can make a good life for myself.”
Yang Zheng fell silent. Every word Qiaoqiao said made sense. Feeling suffocated, he stood up and went outside; he needed some fresh air.
He desperately needed to breathe. He simply couldn’t accept a glory traded for his sister’s happiness.
The night passed in silence, a heavy boulder weighing down on everyone’s heart.
Early the next morning, after drinking a bowl of vegetable porridge, the whole family went off to work in the fields.
Following the argument the night before, nobody mentioned Yang Qiao’s marriage again.
Before Guyu, the production team’s cornfields needed to be weeded and fertilized.
After Guyu, it would be time for planting.
Farmers lived at the mercy of the heavens; missing the farming season meant harvest yields would plummet.
Yang Qiao was assigned to weed a section of the field alongside the village women, each working her own row and competing against the others.
“Oh my, Qiao-mei, you’re still out working? I heard you’re going off to be a high-ranking official’s wife.”
Village women loved spreading gossip. Seeing Qiaoqiao out in the fields, they exchanged malicious, knowing winks.
“That’s right! I heard her father-in-law is a division commander. Just how big of an official is a division commander? The highest official I’ve ever seen is the commune secretary.”
“He’s probably even more powerful than the mayor.”
“It’s a pity, though. If Qiaoqiao’s husband were the division commander, that would make her a real official’s wife.”
“Qiaoqiao’s husband is a hero! Even without legs, the state takes care of him. From now on, Qiaoqiao is a person of the state too.”
Qiaoqiao kept her head down and weeded without a word.
“Without legs, I wonder if that part of him still works?”
“Look at you, minding other people’s business! Isn’t there still a father-in-law?”
“Hahaha… look at that mouth of yours…”
The women laughed and chattered unscrupulously. Qiaoqiao’s tears dropped, one by one, into the yellow earth.
“You shameless old hags! If you’re so fond of fathers-in-law, go cozy up to one yourselves—why drag others into it? Qiaoqiao’s husband is a hero. You’re slandering a hero’s family member—don’t make me go to the police station and report you all so you get arrested!”
A booming voice rang out. It was Qiaoqiao’s best friend, Zheng Fenglin.
“Well, well, where did this righteous hero come from, rushing in to play savior? Fenglin, could it be you want to marry a hero too?” one of the women sneered.
“That’s right, I do want to marry one! I just don’t have Qiaoqiao’s good fortune—they wouldn’t want me,” Zheng Fenglin retorted loudly. “Heroes protect our country and lost their legs doing it. They deserve our respect and adoration. But you lot are vicious, vulgar dogs barking away here. If you’ve got the guts, say that right to Division Commander Zhou’s face!”
Zheng Fenglin was afraid of no one, single-handedly holding her ground against a dozen gossiping women.
The women were left sputtering in defeat, muttering under their breaths, “Look at you acting all high and mighty. No one was talking about you—what’s it to you?”
Seeing that no one dared mock them anymore, Zheng Fenglin sidled up next to Qiaoqiao, and the two of them hoed side by side.
“Crying?” Zheng Fenglin asked softly.
“No, some dirt got in my eye,” Qiaoqiao said quietly, her voice trembling with unshed tears.
“Don’t mind what they say. They’re just eaten up with envy and jealousy. If it were me, I’d marry him in a heartbeat. Look at this yellow dirt—every morning we open our eyes just to claw at the earth. Our families have spent three generations clawing at the dirt, yet we still go hungry. If we stay, in a couple of years we’ll just marry some dirt-farming husband, pop out a litter of kids, and keep on clawing at the dirt.
“Qiaoqiao, I really envy you. Even if the city turns out to be a mountain of blades and a sea of fire, I’d still be willing to go take a risk.”
Zheng Fenglin’s words coaxed a smile out of Qiaoqiao. “Fenglin, you really know how to comfort people.”
“I’m not comforting you, I’m telling the truth. What do people live for anyway? Is it really just to farm dirt and starve? Once you marry into the city, your brother can go into the city as a worker too. The destiny of the Yang family will be completely rewritten,” Zheng Fenglin said earnestly.
“Then… will you write to me in the future?” What Fenglin said happened to be precisely what was on Qiaoqiao’s mind. Since she was marrying with a clear purpose in mind, what was there to feel wronged about?
“Of course I will! But what should I write about? Should I write about how the corn was planted, how the corn ripened, and how we harvested it?” Fenglin laughed.
“That’s fine! You can write about anything, as long as you write.”
“Alright, I’ll write. Even if I have to go without food and drink, I’ll scrape together the money for a postage stamp to write to you.”
“Fenglin, once I leave, I’m going to miss you.”
“I’ll miss you too. But more than that, I hope you fly far, far away and never come back. Dashui Village is our root, but it can never feed us.”