Chapter 12: Frights and Surprises

When the two boys came back with steamed buns and fried dough sticks, Su Qinghu had already started cooking porridge.

Seeing them return, she waved them over and asked, “Don’t we have any appliances at home?”

“We have light bulbs,” Erdan replied, trotting over with a grin as he handed her the fried dough sticks and buns in his hands.

His older brother wouldn’t let him eat on the way, so he’d been holding out the whole time.

“You and your brother eat. I’ll just have porridge,” Su Qinghu said, not really tempted by the food—she truly wanted to take care of her stomach. She added, “Remember to wash your hands,” then let her mind wander elsewhere.

With Chen Lie’s status, there really shouldn’t be a home without even a TV, right?

Earlier this year, our country successfully launched its first practical communications satellite, making it much easier to watch TV and listen to the radio, ending the era of renting foreign satellites.

So at a time like this, no TV?

When the boys came back after washing their hands, Su Qinghu suddenly thought of something and asked, “Have you ever taken deworming medicine?”

If she remembered correctly, kids in the 80s and 90s were prone to roundworms and would take a sweet pill for it. It was shaped a bit like a pagoda, which is why it was nicknamed “pagoda candy.”

“Pagoda candy?” Erdan tilted his head, thinking. “Maybe? Maybe not? I don’t remember.”

Dadan spoke up, “We haven’t taken it this year or last year.”

They’d never had stomachaches. That woman only gave it to them at first, but never bought it again after that.

Su Qinghu nodded and didn’t say anything more. She ladled out the porridge, put all three meals on a tray, and called the boys to grab their chopsticks and head into the living room together.

This courtyard house was a repossessed property, so any easily moved furniture had long since disappeared. The only table in the living room was newly bought.

If she guessed right, Chen Lie had moved in after his divorce and had to buy new furniture out of necessity.

“Let me ask you something. Did your old place have a TV? Or any furniture? Like tables or chairs?”

Erdan answered bluntly, “You can forget about all that—there’s nothing! No TV, no tables or chairs, not even a single grain of rice left.”

Su Qinghu was silent.

Dadan added, “That woman sold it all. When she sent a telegram to my dad telling him to come back, she’d already started selling everything.”

She said Dad owed her, that she’d given four years of her youth, raising two kids like a widow, so all this was rightfully hers.

After Dad came back, he didn’t pursue it, so he must have tacitly agreed.

Thinking of Chen Lie, Dadan suddenly lost his appetite. He looked at Su Qinghu with a sharper gaze, as if scrutinizing her, weighing pros and cons.

Su Qinghu nodded to show she understood. So, if they wanted any furniture in this house, they’d have to buy it themselves.

After the meal, Su Qinghu told the boys to wash the dishes and, while they were at it, boil a pot of hot water.

Once the water was ready, she mixed it with cold water to the right temperature, then pointed to the slightly larger washbasin. “We don’t have a bathtub, so we’ll skip that for today. You two can scrub each other’s backs, wash up well, change into clean clothes, then either play in the yard or go rest.”

In the 80s and 90s, bathtubs weren’t common. Usually, kids bathed in the big red basin used for laundry. In summer, it was easier—just pour water over yourself with a washbasin. Unless it was to cool off, kids weren’t really allowed to soak in the big red basin.

Not because it was dangerous, but because they were afraid the kids would crack the precious basin.

The big red basin was valuable, and men weren’t that careful. In this courtyard, aside from a washbasin, there were no other basins.

The original owner even washed her feet by pouring water from the washbasin directly onto them…

What a pain this world is!

Dadan was very curious about Su Qinghu—even her letting them bathe in warm water was surprising.

In summer, most families had kids bathe in cold water. At best, they’d leave a basin of water out in the sun in the morning, and whoever wanted to bathe in the afternoon or evening would scoop some out.

She was even more particular than he’d expected, even more so than that city-born woman.

“Bro? What are you thinking about? Hurry up and scrub my back!” Erdan handed Dadan a wet towel. “Scrub hard, or you won’t get the dirt off.”

With all the chaos at home lately, he and his brother had only managed to rinse off the sweat so they could sleep better—nothing more.

Dadan snapped out of it and, seeing Su Qinghu head to the living room, suddenly lowered his voice and asked his brother, “Don’t you think she’s acting weird?”

“Weird how?” Erdan’s eyes went wide. “Bro, don’t scare me!”

You couldn’t blame Erdan for immediately thinking of ghosts and monsters—he loved running around and hanging out with crowds, especially when the old men told all sorts of supernatural stories!

He loved those the most!

Stories of people coming back from the dead, grateful fox spirits, miraculous temples…

You name it, they had it!

Dadan kept his voice low as he scrubbed his brother’s neck. “When she and Dad first got their marriage certificate, she barely spoke, always kept her head down, like… like she didn’t have the energy to hold herself up.”

Satisfied with his description, he went on, “Now she’s totally different. She’s like a new person—full of life when she talks and does things, like the sun in the sky, but… not scorching.”

Dadan’s description was so apt that Erdan’s imagination ran wild. He blinked and blurted out, “Bro, are you saying our new mom got swapped out?”

Dadan snapped, “How could a living, breathing person get swapped out in broad daylight? And look exactly the same!”

How dumb could he be!

“So you mean—” Erdan scratched his head, “she’s possessed or something?”

Before Dadan could smack him, Erdan quickly added, “Bro, superstition isn’t real. Didn’t our teachers always tell us that? We should believe in science!”

Dadan: “Just shut up!”

He just wanted to talk about his feelings toward this woman, to see if what he noticed was real. But his brother had to bring up all that supernatural nonsense, making his own mind wander in that direction too.

“What—are—you—two—talking—about?”

A ghostly voice suddenly sounded behind them, making both boys whip around in fright.

And when they turned, they saw a pale face.

Both of them screamed and bolted.

Su Qinghu lowered the flashlight from under her chin, hands on her hips, laughing heartily. “Little brats, I scared you, didn’t I!”

Don’t think she couldn’t hear them just because they were whispering!

Dadan and Erdan tore out the door, only to be grabbed—one in each hand—by someone outside. Just as they were about to yell, they stopped short, then let out a howl and clung to the tall, sturdy figure like koalas.

“Dad!”"