Chapter 43: Family Interactions (Part Four)

The two girls returned to the small sitting room, closed the door, and went into the bedroom. Beaming, they looked at Zhou Jiao. “Little Auntie, we delivered everything. Grandpa and the others are still drinking, so we came back.”

“Alright, take these peanuts and go to the small sitting room outside. Ask your grandma to make you both some milk powder. Drinking milk with peanuts—your days are even better than those grown men’s, aren’t they?” Zhou Jiao teased them with a smile.

“Remember to take the milk powder with you. There are small bowls in the sitting room—take your time. The hot water is very hot, so don’t try to pour it yourselves since you’re still little. Mom, could you make some milk for them?” Zhou Jiao instructed the little ones while calling out to Mother Zhang.

Hand in hand, the two girls happily took the milk powder and peanuts, grinning at Mother Zhang in hopes of pleasing her.

“You just spoil them, don’t you? Milk powder with peanuts, really. Oh, little ones, wait for the milk—don’t try to pour the hot water yourselves, or you’ll get burned.”

The eldest sister glanced at Mai Miao. “Girl, you’re getting big now. Next time, you can’t have this anymore—it’s for your little brother. Mai Sui is still small, so it’s okay for her.”

“Mom, I know. Just this once. Little Auntie even bought another pack and left it at Grandma’s so we can drink it with our brothers. Grandma, you should have some peanuts too—they’re delicious.”

Seeing them in the sitting room, Zhou Jiao found herself with nothing to do. Just then, her son started to pout, about to cry, so she quickly picked him up to nurse him. As long as Xiao Ping’an had milk, he was content. With so many people around tonight, it was lively, and it wasn’t yet his bedtime.

Mother Zhang came in with the milk powder and saw Zhou Jiao nursing. “This isn’t enough milk powder for Ping’an. I’ll put the rest up here.”

Zhou Jiao smiled and silently mouthed “foreign exchange coupons,” then pointed to the pillow and whispered, “Don’t worry, Mom. The baby will be healthy with this milk—it’s not a waste.”

Mother Zhang shot her a look but, with the other two daughters-in-law outside, only pretended to tap her forehead with a finger.

“Mom, you should make yourself a cup of brown sugar water too. There’s plenty—I can’t finish it all.” Zhou Jiao said sweetly. She really did have a lot of milk powder and brown sugar, but no one would believe it, so she could only try to get them to have some.

“No need. Tomorrow I’ll put some brown sugar in the big pot of porridge with red dates—that’s the best way to eat it. Otherwise, it’s a waste. Your dad is happy with the peanuts, and he’s a bit tipsy from the wine. It’ll be nice for the whole family to have porridge together.” Mother Zhang refused, not listening to her at all. With a month of confinement ahead, nothing ever felt like it was enough.

After Zhou Jiao finished nursing, her son was full. She sat him up and gently patted his back. Mother Zhang, worried she’d get tired, took the baby from her. “You lie down and rest for a bit. I’ll take Ping’an out to play.”

“Alright, Mom. There are two jin of sugar I just bought today in the wardrobe drawer—grab some for the sisters-in-law. The brown sugar is in the cupboard outside, just help yourself. I’ll just rest for a bit—I can’t sleep yet anyway.”

“Leave the sugar for now. When we celebrate Ping’an’s one-month, relatives will bring plenty—just giving everyone two pieces will take two jin. We’ll use it then. Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. You just rest.”

With that, Mother Zhang picked up a little quilt, wrapped Ping’an in it, and headed out. “Ping’an, let’s go see your big sisters. They’re having milk powder with peanuts.”

“See, I told you my girls are good—they always remember to be filial to their mother. These two really listen to their little auntie: a sip of milk, a peanut. Don’t eat too much or you’ll get heaty. Save some for tomorrow when your brothers come back.”

Mai Miao looked at the nearly empty bowl of milk and said to Mai Sui, “Little sis, let’s do a toast and finish it in one go. No more after this.” She raised her cup and clinked it against Mai Sui’s little bowl.

Mai Sui looked innocently at her grandma and mom. “Sis, I don’t get it—don’t break my little bowl.”

Ha ha… Even Zhou Jiao, back in the inner room, burst out laughing. The women’s laughter together startled the men drinking in the main hall.

The men in the main hall were curious about what was so funny, but seeing the women getting along instead of bickering and making the house a mess, they were pleased. In the village, they often heard about mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law fighting, or sisters-in-law arguing—sometimes even over a single green onion.

Father Zhang sighed to his sons, “Your mother’s had the hardest life. She was the eldest daughter and never had enough to eat. Your grandpa had a bunch of kids—four half-grown boys at the same time. There was never enough coarse grain. As the saying goes, ‘half-grown boys eat their fathers out of house and home.’ And those were chaotic times—bandits and the Japanese would come and kill people, so everyone was always running. In the end, only your two uncles were left in your mother’s family.

When your mother married me, her family couldn’t help us. When we split off, we only had a thatched hut. When it rained, it poured outside and dripped inside. Besides the hut, your grandpa only gave us a set of eating utensils, a hoe, two quilts, and 200 jin of coarse grain. To survive, we worked ourselves to the bone, finally getting a harvest. But when bandits came, we had no choice but to run up the mountains.

We planted sweet potatoes in the mountain hollows, but the plots were tiny. Everyone only got a small patch—never enough, so we mixed wild grass and roots in to eat. The worst was winter, when there were no wild greens and nothing to eat. We just drank hot water to fill our stomachs. By spring, everyone was swollen from malnutrition, and every family lost someone.

Your grandpa led us three brothers deep into the mountains every day—that’s how the family survived. When your mother was pregnant with the second child, it was just after a winter with nothing to eat. We saved all the coarse grain for the eldest and your sister. Your mother’s whole body swelled up. I couldn’t sleep at all. At the same time, your little aunt was also pregnant. Us three brothers decided that, even if we died, we’d at least die with full stomachs.

We snuck out with wild game and knives, sneaking into the city at night to trade for grain. We didn’t dare go into the city center, just to the east side, to Wang Baiwan’s place. People said he was a traitor, but I always thought he was a good man. Once, when the Japanese came, he even hid us brothers in his house.

Things slowly got better after that. Life is good now. I think your grandpa missed out—if he were alive, he’d be overjoyed. You all are lucky to be born in good times.”

The eldest took a sip of wine. “I still remember that time when Dad was out all night and didn’t come back. Mom just sat there waiting, holding me and big sister in a wolfskin blanket. When Dad finally came back, Mom would secretly wipe away her tears—they just kept flowing. Ever since then, seeing a woman cry makes my heart ache.”

“My biggest dream back then was never to have to go into the mountains again. My feet were always bloody and hurt so much. Just when the wounds scabbed over, we’d have to run again. I really didn’t want to, but after seeing Uncle Dahe’s son get killed, even the slightest sign of trouble would have us running for our lives.” The second brother was lost in his memories. Those days were so hard, but now, finally, they didn’t have to force themselves into the deep mountains anymore.

Zhang Guoqing asked curiously, “Second Brother, how did your feet get so bloody back then? Didn’t you have straw sandals?”"