As the New Year approached, Hu Xiu found herself with renewed anticipation.
Beyond her usual busyness preparing various festive foods, she made several trips daily to the village entrance. Even knowing Huo Xiao’s approximate return time, her enthusiasm never waned.
Understanding this was her longing for a son unseen for three years – especially after nearly experiencing the tragedy of a parent outliving their child – Lin Ting never chided her. At most, she’d remind the older woman to dress warmly whenever she went out.
Today was Little New Year’s Eve, the day Huo Xiao was due home.
After seeing her mother-in-law out for the fifth time, Lin Ting nestled back on the kang to cut paper-cuttings for New Year decorations. The Dragon and Phoenix Twins sat further inside the heated platform, amusing themselves with leftover scraps from her work.
But three-year-olds live in the peak of curiosity. Soon enough, Guo Guo lost interest in the red paper in his hands. Clambering over to Lin Ting on all fours, the chubby toddler pressed close before asking, “Mama, what are you cutting?”
Though the twins were primarily cared for by their grandmother, with Lin Ting merely assisting, the children were remarkably well-behaved. Perhaps due to natural attachment to the word “Mama,” they remained quite affectionate toward her. This combination of her mother-in-law’s consideration and the children’s acceptance had allowed Lin Ting, who’d unexpectedly become a mother, to adapt naturally to her new role.
Instead of answering immediately, she climbed off the kang to prepare a basin of warm water, washing both children’s hands. The red paper dye ran easily these days, and with young children, one could never rule out them putting things in their mouths.
After cleaning four plump little hands and settling them back on the kang, Lin Ting finally held up her nearly finished paper-cutting. “Look, it’s a little monkey.”
Guo Guo’s face lit up instantly. “Is it the Great Sage?”
This surprised Lin Ting. “You know about the Great Sage?”
At this, Guo Guo tilted his head as if trying to recall where he’d learned it. Meanwhile, Miao Miao moved closer and articulated clearly, “Grandma took us to see a shadow puppet show.”
Understanding dawned on Lin Ting – she’d nearly forgotten about shadow puppet performances. Though if memory served, the animated film “Havoc in Heaven” should have been released by now. Perhaps she could take the children to see it when opportunity arose.
Smiling, she confirmed, “The Great Sage is indeed a monkey.”
Thrilled by this verification, Guo Guo grew even more curious. “Why are you cutting the Great Sage, Mama?”
His sister couldn’t resist interjecting, “Silly brother, Grandma said next year is the Year of the Monkey. This is for good luck.”
Lin Ting’s eyes curved as she continued cutting. “Your sister’s right, because next year is the Year of the Monkey.”
Guo Guo’s dark eyes darted about before he exclaimed excitedly, “Then… then does that mean I can belong to the Great Sage?”
Lin Ting struggled to follow the child’s logic. “You’re born in the Year of the Snake.”
“But… the new year belongs to the little monkey, doesn’t it?”
Miao Miao blinked her large eyes, successfully drawn into this flawed reasoning. “So next year I’ll belong to the monkey?”
Encountering this peculiar logic for the first time, Lin Ting didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. It took considerable effort to break down and thoroughly explain the concept of Chinese zodiac signs. When Guo Guo finally understood he’d always belong to the snake, his disappointment was palpable, his little face visibly drooping.
Lin Ting tapped the despondent child’s nose, about to tell him a story about a serpent transforming into a dragon, when someone knocked at the main gate.
She first pushed the Dragon and Phoenix Twins further onto the kang, forbidding them from climbing down, then put away the scissors before slipping on her shoes and stepping onto the floor.
Before removing the wooden latch barring the door, she habitually called out, “Who is it?”
“Cousin-in-law, it’s me, Zhuzi.”
It was the eldest son of her second aunt. After pulling open the door and seeing him, before Lin Ting could even invite him inside, he thrust two fish strung together with straw rope, frozen stiff as boards, into her hands.
Zhuzi wasn’t particularly short, but he was still growing, lean as a bamboo pole, with dark skin.
After successfully handing over the fish, his face flushed dark red as he explained, “My dad and third uncle caught these by breaking the ice this morning. My mom told me to bring them over.” With that, the easily flustered young man didn’t give his cousin-in-law a chance to respond, his legs carrying him off as if his pants were on fire.
Lin Ting shook her head in amusement, then placed the fish in the small ice cellar specially dug for storing food.
Just as she emerged from the ice cellar, she spotted an unfamiliar man standing a few steps away.
Then, as Lin Ting hesitated over whether he was heading to her house, he indeed walked straight toward her.
The man wore a thick padded jacket that looked like it hadn’t been washed in ages, with a stubbly beard, appearing to be around thirty years old.
He stared blankly at Lin Ting, scrutinizing her over and over, until she grew visibly annoyed. Only then did he mumble, “I’m looking for Aunt Xiu. My wife is about to give birth to a daughter.”
Hearing the reluctance in his tone, Lin Ting, already irritated by his staring, grew even more displeased. What’s wrong with having a daughter?
However, she wasn’t in the habit of arguing with strangers and replied bluntly, “My mother is waiting for someone at the village entrance. You can find her there.”
She expected the man to turn and leave, but instead, he put on a disappointed expression and muttered to himself, “This is urgent. How could Auntie not be home?”
Frowning, Lin Ting didn’t immediately grasp that he was hinting for her to fetch her mother. She simply thought he couldn’t distinguish between urgent and non-urgent matters, and her tone sharpened slightly. “If it’s urgent, why are you just standing there? Hurry up and run to get her!”
Perhaps when a teacher puts on a stern expression, it can be somewhat intimidating.
At the very least, the man’s obvious intention to shirk responsibility—hoping the pretty young woman before him would make the trip for him—vanished completely. He hunched his shoulders, turned around, and dashed toward the village entrance.
It was only then that Lin Ting realized what he had been implying.
She was instantly disgusted.
So, having a daughter isn’t worth hurrying for?
How infuriating!
Angry as she was, Lin Ting still gathered all the tools her mother-in-law usually used for deliveries.
Then, when her mother-in-law rushed back to check if anything was missing, Lin Ting stuffed a few pieces of candy and biscuits into her pockets.
Her mother-in-law was still somewhat frail, and delivering babies was physically demanding work.
After seeing the two off, Lin Ting settled back onto the kang with the children, telling them stories and cutting out New Year pictures.
But this time, her mind kept wandering.
She worried about whether her mother-in-law’s delivery would go smoothly, and even more, she feared that if the baby turned out to be a girl, the family might unreasonably blame the midwife.
Then again, she prayed that the family would indeed have a son, because a daughter born into such a household would be terribly unlucky.
With these worries swirling in her mind, she waited until after dinner, washed the little ones’ faces, hands, and feet, and tucked them into bed, but her mother-in-law still hadn’t returned.
Although her mother-in-law had mentioned before leaving that the timing of childbirth was unpredictable and she might not make it back that night.
But for Lin Ting, who was experiencing this for the first time, she couldn’t help but feel anxious. She lit the kerosene lamp, picked up her old study books, and waited while passing the time.
It wasn’t until midnight, when she, accustomed to early nights and early mornings, could no longer stay awake and was about to take a short nap, that she was startled awake by a knock at the door.
Lin Ting rubbed her eyes, put on her shoes, and stepped down from the kang.
As she approached the main door, it dawned on her that if it were her mother-in-law knocking, she would surely call out.
At this thought, the last trace of drowsiness vanished completely.
She glanced around but couldn’t find a suitable weapon, so she picked up a stool and held it in her hand before asking, “Who is it?”
The unfamiliar, young female voice outside made Huo Xiao pause for a moment before he replied, “It’s me, Huo Xiao.”
Hearing this, Lin Ting’s heart skipped a beat.
She knew Huo Xiao was expected to return around this time, but she hadn’t anticipated he would come home in the middle of the night.
Still, after a moment’s hesitation, she asked, “How can you prove you’re Huo Xiao?”
The man outside fell silent for a while. “Isn’t my mother home?”
Lin Ting… That’s actually quite clever.
But she replied firmly, “She’s home, asleep!”
Huo Xiao chuckled softly.
He wasn’t usually one to laugh easily, but this was already the second time his yet-unmet wife had amused him.
Thinking of this, he smiled again. “Go get the kerosene lamp. I’ll stand by the window so you can confirm it’s me?”
Lin Ting… “Alright!”
The kerosene lamp didn’t provide much light.
Lin Ting twisted the small knob on the side a few times, raising the wick.
Though the brighter flame consumed more kerosene, it was enough for her to clearly see the man’s features through the window.
Huo Xiao had an exceptionally handsome and aloof appearance.
The previous black-and-white photo had failed to capture his striking good looks.
Still, it was enough for Lin Ting to confirm that the man standing outside, allowing her to scrutinize him, was indeed Huo Xiao.
So she took a few deep breaths to calm her unsettled emotions, then turned to open the door.
As for Huo Xiao, due to the angle, he could only make out the general outline of his wife.
But the stool she held in her other hand was clearly visible.
He thought to himself that his wife had good awareness of self-defense.
As someone who had never been in a relationship, Lin Ting relied entirely on the thick skin she had developed during her time as an overworked employee in her previous life to avoid blushing the moment she opened the door and successfully met him in person.
It wasn’t her fault for letting down modern women—after all, in the dim light, the identity of “husband” felt overwhelmingly intimate.
And… her cheap husband was far more handsome than she had expected.
On his side, Huo Xiao, who was no more at ease than his wife, set down his baggage, masking the admiration in his eyes, and asked, “Has Mom gone to assist with a delivery?”
Lin Ting nodded, immediately setting aside her jumbled thoughts as she quickly recounted the situation at the laboring woman’s home and her own concerns. Finally, she asked, “Mom will be alright, won’t she?”
It wasn’t that she was worrying unnecessarily—even in later times, disputes over giving birth to daughters weren’t uncommon, let alone in the relatively feudal present.
Hearing his wife’s words, Huo Xiao paused in the act of taking off his military overcoat. “I’ll go check on her.”
Lin Ting had been thinking the same. “Do you know which family it is? I only know it’s somewhere in the eastern Shengli Brigade.”
Huo Xiao nodded. “I can ask around when I get there.”
Seeing that he was about to leave after saying this, Lin Ting quickly added, “I’ve kept some fish soup warm in the pot. Why don’t you have a bowl to warm up before heading out? A few minutes won’t make much difference.”
Hearing this, Huo Xiao, whose stomach was growling with hunger, felt a pang of softness in his heart. He turned to look at her and said, “Alright.”
The man’s eyes weren’t the currently popular double eyelids—they were inner-folded, narrow and elongated, making his pupils appear exceptionally deep when he gazed at someone.
Lin Ting felt somewhat uneasy under his stare and quickly turned to go to the kitchen to ladle the soup.
Huo Xiao had rushed back in a hurry and was truly starving. After drinking a large bowl of savory fish soup with stewed tofu, the burning sensation in his stomach finally subsided.
Noticing he likely hadn’t eaten enough, Lin Ting asked, “Would you like another bowl?”
Huo Xiao shook his head. “No, I’ll wash the bowl when I get back.”
Hearing this, Lin Ting didn’t insist on washing it to prove her diligence. Instead, she stood up and followed the man.
When she saw him off at the door, she handed him a pack of biscuits, slightly embarrassed, and said, “Eat these on the way if you get hungry.”
Feeling like he was being treated like a child, Huo Xiao hesitated for a few seconds but still tucked the biscuits into his pocket. “Thank you.”
Lin Ting coughed lightly. “You’re welcome. Hurry up and go.”
Huo Xiao nodded. “I’m leaving. No need to wait up for me.”
Hearing this, Lin Ting paused while closing the door. “Then how will you get in?” She slept deeply and wasn’t easily awakened once asleep.
Huo Xiao didn’t reply, only gestured for his wife to bolt the door.
Then, outside, he used a dagger to slide the wooden bolt open in just a few seconds.
Lin Ting stared in shock—was it really this unsafe? How could she dare to sleep now?
Seeing that his wife was frightened, Huo Xiao quickly explained, “Don’t be afraid. It takes professional training to open it.”
Lin Ting… wasn’t comforted in the slightest.