“Xiaohua, look, mushrooms!” Shushu walked alongside Ke Xiaohua, who held her hand. As she went, she carefully examined the grass around her, and soon spotted a large cluster of mushrooms growing beneath the tree roots, her face lighting up with delight.
She quickly tugged at Ke Xiaohua walking ahead, pointing at the mushrooms on the ground and asking whether they were safe to eat. Shushu knew that some mushrooms were poisonous and must not be picked at will.
Sister Xiaohua had told her that eating poisonous mushrooms would make one’s stomach ache terribly, and that one would end up lying motionless and never getting up again. She did not fully understand what that meant, but she knew enough about the misery of a painful stomachache to always follow instructions faithfully.
Whenever she found mushrooms, she would call over someone who could tell which were safe to handle, instead of picking them herself.
At Shushu’s words, Ke Xiaohua immediately turned back to examine the cluster. “These are termite mushrooms, and they are perfectly edible,” she said. She set to picking them at once, holding each mushroom up for close inspection.
Only after confirming beyond doubt that they were indeed termite mushrooms did she hand one to Shushu, letting her hold it and examine it closely so that she too might learn to recognise which wild fungi were safe to eat. This particular cluster contained mushrooms of all sizes.
Some had fully opened caps, while others remained tightly closed. Ke Xiaohua picked every single one, and soon her basket was nearly half full. When they had finished, the two continued their search. As luck would have it, they soon found another cluster nearby, also termite mushrooms, and then another after that.
“There are so many mushrooms here,” Ke Xiaohua said. “Instead of looking for other things, let us focus on gathering mushrooms.”
“All right,” Shushu agreed. She was just pulling at one mushroom, giving it a firm tug, when she lost her balance in her eagerness. The mushroom came away in her hand, and she tumbled backward, landing squarely on her bottom.
Fortunately the ground was thick with fallen leaves, soft and yielding, so she was not hurt. The little girl did not cry. She stood up on her own, patted the leaves from her clothes, and turned her attention to the next mushroom.
When Chen Dafei called everyone together to gather, the others had only sparse and meagre pickings in their baskets. Shushu and Ke Xiaohua, by contrast, had a basket brimming full. Alongside the termite mushrooms were several other kinds of edible fungi.
“Wow! You two are incredible. Look how much you have found!” Shouhou stepped forward to admire their harvest, his face filled with genuine awe.
“Hehe, it was nothing but good fortune,” Ke Xiaohua replied modestly with a smile.
“The sun is setting,” Chen Dafei said, glancing up at the fading light. “Divide what you have gathered, and then we must head home quickly.”
“Here, Shushu. This is your share,” Ke Xiaohua said. She scooped only a small portion into her own basket and held out the rest to the little girl. Shushu did not take it immediately. Instead she reached out, gathered two large handfuls of mushrooms, and placed them into Ke Xiaohua’s basket.
Only then did she pick up her own basket, and said in a soft childish voice, earnest and clear: “We must share fairly.” Before setting out they had agreed that whatever each pair found would be divided equally. She would not take more than her due.
The next moment she found herself swept up in a warm embrace. Ke Xiaohua’s voice rang out close beside her ear, trembling with delight: “Ohhh, how can our precious Shushu be so good and so lovely! Come here and let me give you a kiss.”
“Do try to restrain yourself,” Chen Dafei said promptly. He gently but firmly pulled Ke Xiaohua away, rescuing the flustered little girl. Shushu shrank back behind Chen Dafei, wide-eyed and timid. For the time being, she decided she would keep her distance from Sister Xiaohua.
Once everyone had received their fair share of the harvest, Chen Dafei led the group back along the path home. He took his responsibility seriously, ensuring that each child was delivered safely to their doorstep. Only after seeing the last child home did he bring Shushu to his own house. It was Shushu’s turn to stay with the Chen family for the night.
When they arrived, Chen Dafei’s mother, Aunt Zhang, was already at home preparing supper. She came hurrying out to greet them, taking the two baskets from her son. When she saw how full they were her eyes widened in surprise.
“You have gathered so many mushrooms?”
“Most of them were found by Shushu and Xiaohua,” Chen Dafei replied honestly. “I only picked a few wild berries and a handful of mushrooms myself.”
“Our Shushu is truly wonderful and very clever!” Aunt Zhang beamed with pride. She lifted Shushu up in her arms and lavished praise upon her until the little girl smiled shyly, her cheeks glowing pink with pleasure. She was thoroughly delighted to be so admired.
“With this many mushrooms it would be a sin not to stew them with chicken,” Aunt Zhang said. She turned to her son. “Watch Shushu for a little while. I shall fetch a chicken and make a stew, and tonight we shall eat like royalty.” She gave him her instructions, then took a knife and walked toward the chicken coop.
The five chickens inside seemed to sense danger drawing near. The moment Aunt Zhang stepped close they set up a frantic clucking, flapping their wings and scattering in every direction. Yet for all their scrambling they could not outwit her quick hands. One plump and fine rooster was caught firmly, and soon met its fate in the cooking pot.
“Tomorrow I shall send your father up the mountain to catch another,” Aunt Zhang murmured as she plucked the feathers. “It does not matter whether it is chicken, duck, or goose. We shall have another in its place.”
Shushu noticed several fine and colourful feathers scattered upon the ground. She squatted down beside them, huddling small and round as she gathered them up. “These are very pretty,” she said.
Aunt Zhang saw how much Shushu admired the bright feathers. She selected several particularly handsome long tail feathers and handed them to her. “Keep these safe. Later I shall ask Uncle Chen to make you a shuttlecock to play with.”
“I know how to make them. Let me do it myself,” a rough yet gentle voice spoke from behind Shushu. She turned and saw a young man standing there, wearing a green canvas satchel slung across his shoulder.
“Brother Daliang,” Shushu greeted him politely.
It was Aunt Zhang’s eldest son, Chen Daliang. He was thirteen years old and in his second year of middle school. He was said to be preparing for the entrance examination at the high school in the town, and his studies had kept him so busy that Shushu had not seen him in quite some time.
“Why have you come home so suddenly?” Aunt Zhang asked, looking at her eldest son in some surprise.
“School has broken for the summer harvest holidays,” Chen Daliang replied. He set down his heavy satchel and stepped forward to help his mother pluck the remaining feathers.
“How many days does the holiday last?”
“One week.”
“Then you must come work in the fields with us tomorrow,” his mother told him. “And be sure to speak to the work-points recorder, otherwise your labour will go uncounted and that would be a terrible waste.”
“I understand,” he said.
When the plucking was finished, Aunt Zhang carried the plucked bird into the kitchen to prepare it further. The children remained gathered around the pile of feathers, sorting through them. They had decided to make the shuttlecock there and then.
Shushu squatted close beside Chen Daliang, watching every movement with deep curiosity. He carefully washed the feathers Shushu had chosen, then dried them thoroughly. He layered the quills neatly one upon another, binding them tightly together with fine thread. With a pair of scissors he trimmed the uneven base until it was smooth and flat, and then fastened the whole arrangement firmly to a copper coin.
“Set it aside to dry. The feathers must be completely dry before you can play with it,” Chen Daliang said. He placed the finished shuttlecock in a well-ventilated spot, and then went into the kitchen to help his mother light the fire.
“Here Shushu, have some fruit,” Chen Dafei said. He had washed the wild berries he had gathered and now offered them to her. They were mostly wild raspberries together with a few wild strawberries. There was not a great quantity, enough only to give them a taste of sweetness.
“Sour,” Shushu took one bite of strawberry and immediately wrinkled her face, her nose scrunching up into the shape of a tiny bun. She looked so comically miserable that Chen Dafei could not help but smile, his usually serious face softening.
“Try this one. This should be sweeter,” he said, holding out several bright red raspberries. No one could ever tell beforehand whether wild fruit would be sour or sweet. Yet for some reason Chen Dafei felt certain the raspberries would be better. And he was right. The moment Shushu tasted their rich sweet and tangy flavour her puckered face smoothed out into delight.
She was eager to share her good fortune. She picked up several raspberries and trotted into the kitchen, pressing two each into the hands of Aunt Zhang and Chen Daliang, who were busy cooking. And of course she did not forget to leave some also for Chen Dafei waiting outside.
When supper was nearly ready, Chen Jianye returned home. He too held two raspberries in his hand. He laughed aloud with delight when he saw Shushu, and lifted her high up into the air. “Our Shushu is such a good little girl!”
“Again! Higher!” Shushu laughed with pure joy as she was held aloft in his strong hands. When he paused she leaned toward him, voice soft and pleading, wanting to play the flying game just once more.
Chen Jianye would gladly have done so, but he caught sight of his wife standing in the kitchen doorway, ladle in hand, watching him with a look that brooked no further delay. He dared not risk further trouble.
Gently he set Shushu back upon her feet, and spoke to her in a soft and placating tone. “Shushu is a good girl now. It is time for supper. We shall play no more today.”
“Come wash your hands. Supper is ready,” Aunt Zhang called out at just that moment.
Obediently Shushu followed the two brothers to wash her hands. Then she sat at the table, waiting for the adults to announce that they might begin eating.
The meal was unusually rich and abundant. There was chicken stewed with mushrooms, cucumber stir-fried in chicken oil, a fresh vegetable soup, and rice steamed with sweet potato.
“Ah, chicken stew, and proper steamed rice too,” Chen Jianye remarked. He picked up his chopsticks and placed a large and plump chicken leg straight into Shushu’s bowl. Her bowl contained only two pieces of sweet potato, the rest being pure white rice. Aunt Zhang placed a chicken wing into her bowl as well.
“Everyone has been working so hard these days bringing in the grain harvest,” she said. “And since the children brought home such a fine lot of mushrooms, I thought it only right to stew a chicken and give everyone something nourishing. Since we were cooking the chicken anyway, it seemed only right to cook plenty of rice too. We might as well eat well and be satisfied.”
The remaining chicken meat had been cut into small pieces. No one picked or chose. Each ate whatever they happened to take.
Throughout the meal the family kept a gentle watch over Shushu. Someone would place a choice piece of meat into her bowl, or gently take away the picked-over wing bone once she had finished with it. Shushu ate very carefully and needed no one to feed her.
Yet for all her diligence she was still little more than two years old, and there were bony parts such as the wingtip that she could not pick clean. These were hard times, and everyone had known hunger. Waste was something no one could bear to see. It was perfectly natural that family members should finish whatever a child could not eat.
When the meal was over, the shuttlecock had dried thoroughly. Its feathers were now plump and soft, and Shushu immediately picked it up, eager to play.
“Let me show you how,” Chen Dafei said. He watched her try clumsily to lift her short legs and kick the shuttlecock as it was tossed high, yet never quite managing to make contact. He could bear to watch no longer and stepped forward to guide her patiently.
“I did it! I kicked it!” At last, after countless attempts under Chen Dafei’s careful instruction, Shushu’s foot met the feathers and sent the shuttlecock sailing upward. Once she had tasted success she found it again and again. She began to understand the joy of the game, and played with endless delight, her clear and happy laughter echoing through the courtyard.
“Shushu, time to bathe,” Aunt Zhang called.
“Coming,” Shushu replied, drawing out the word in her sweet and childish tone. She set down the shuttlecock and trotted obediently over to Aunt Zhang, who lifted her up and carried her into the kitchen.
Even in summer Aunt Zhang used warm water for Shushu’s baths. Seated in the wooden tub, Shushu found new amusement, scooping up handfuls of water and letting it trickle through her fingers.
Aunt Zhang let her play happily while she gently washed her clean. Then she dressed her in soft nightclothes and carried her into the large wooden bed in the couple’s bedroom, tucking her snugly beneath the quilt.
The Chen family was not wealthy. Their home was small, containing only two rooms suitable for sleeping in. The elder couple slept in one, and the two brothers shared the other. Whenever Shushu stayed she slept alongside Aunt Zhang and Uncle Chen.
It was a somewhat crowded arrangement, but since she was still so small it worked well enough. Besides, no one would have felt easy leaving such a tiny child to sleep alone.
Wrapped warmly in the quilt, Shushu felt Aunt Zhang’s hand patting her gently and rhythmically upon the back. Her eyes grew heavy, and slowly she drifted off to sleep.
Some time in the middle of the night Shushu became aware of voices speaking quietly nearby. She opened her eyes slowly. All around her lay darkness, deep and absolute. The night outside was pitch black, and no lamp burned within the room. She could see nothing at all.
“The wife of the Zheng family gave birth the other day,” a woman’s voice said, deliberately lowered. Shushu recognised it at once as Aunt Zhang’s. “Did you go to see the child?”
“I did,” came Uncle Chen’s voice, equally quiet. “It is a perfectly healthy and normal baby.”
“Just as the village chief said,” Aunt Zhang murmured. “Shushu is the dividing line. Every child born in this village before her came back different, born again. Every child born since her is just as they should be, ordinary, whole, and normal.”
“The very day Shushu arrived in our village was the day we all woke up anew,” Uncle Chen said softly.
“She carries a destiny of great blessing,” Aunt Zhang said, her voice filled with reverence.
“Shushu has lived a life of kindness and good deeds,” Uncle Chen said. “When she grew up and prospered she returned to us, and led the whole village forward to prosperity together. And then she gave still more. All of this is no more than she deserves.”