A century of poverty

Chapter 69 Sorrow

More than a month later, when aftershocks were still occurring frequently, my father returned to his hometown, and my second sister's house became his place of accommodation.

This was during the post-disaster reconstruction phase, and each village was rebuilding its streets and constructing houses to a unified standard. Every family had already cleared their collapsed houses and belongings, except for my family, whose members were not home, where the clearing had just begun. After more than half a month of my father's work, we had basically cleared out the things buried under the house.

Although there was no list of what was left at home, Dad knew what the household items were that had been used for many years: shovels, picks, hoes, sieves, and baskets were basically all gone.

The fine inkstone and wolf-hair brush that my great-grandfather passed down to my father, an ivory pipe carved into the shape of a baby's fist, some obsolete old coins, and practical thread-bound books—all of which were considered "four olds" and were inconvenient to rummage through and take with me, had all disappeared after being buried at the bottom of the cabinet. I had originally planned to stay away for two years before returning.

On the house, the remaining materials were buried firmly and could not be easily moved. Today, Dad brought his second sister along to help him dig, lift, and gather the remaining materials together.

Just then, Zhang Mingzhi happened to pass by. His father called him over, rolled a cigarette, and handed it to him, saying, "Mingzhi, we're planning to come back. Can we get our house back? We were planning to stay away for a few years and then come back, but the earthquake destroyed the house."

"Is Shuangxing coming back?" Zhang Mingzhi asked.

"He's unlikely to," Dad replied.

"Then this place is not for you. The village's labor force can't find proper places. Although we are willing to stay in the original location for the reconstruction of the street foundation, your family has moved away. This reconstruction has created many more households. Adult boys who want space will be given space, but many families can't be properly registered as villagers. When you come back, a group of old and young people can only find a place for you in Beigou." Zhang Mingzhi stated.

Father's heart sank: "The old man wants to go home; there's no point in going to Beigou."

Zhang Mingzhi: "I have things to do in the village, I'm leaving now, uncle."

Looking at the pile of things, Dad asked Second Sister, "See if there's anything you need, take it and get rid of these."

The second sister picked up a small stool that she had nailed to the ground at home: "I nailed this myself, and I sit on it to eat. I'm holding it as a keepsake."

Looking at this pile of things, Dad sighed. Ever since he separated from the family at the age of nine, he had been the breadwinner. Now at fifty, he had saved up some savings, but an earthquake changed everything. The timber, furniture, jars and pots were all buried at the bottom of the cabinet, and the most valuable things were gone.

The house in Northeast China has been built, but mailing it there wouldn't be of much use.

Looking at the few Chinese toon trees, Dad thought, "Chinese toon wood has beautiful grain. If we break it up, it would be a good material to make boxes and cabinets."

Yes, let's do it this way. We have three sons. The eldest is about to get married, and the second and third sons will need furniture for their weddings. We can make chests and cabinets, which will be useful and will also save us some money in the future.

Without further ado, Dad went to Nan Dang Street and found Zhang Xipu, a carpenter, to help him select usable materials. Soon, Zhang Xipu helped Dad pick out the usable materials and put them aside, while the unusable ones were placed on the other side.

Looking at the other pile, Dad asked, "What do you think we should do with this one?"

Zhang Xipu replied, "The village is building houses right now, so timber isn't a quick commodity. I'll help you sell it; there are plenty of people who want it."

"It's settled then."

When Dad returned to Liuzhuangtuo, he told his second sister and her husband. The second sister's husband told the team that they would use their team's truck to bring the wood, and they set up a workshop in the second sister's yard. In less than two months, they had made two pairs of boxes with seats, one pair of red cedar wood and one pair of ordinary wood, as well as two ordinary seven-foot cabinets.

It was my second brother-in-law who found their small team of horse-drawn carriages to take us to the train station and then to Jinhai.

Father is back, and the delivery order arrived in about ten days. The small team of horse-drawn carts brought the furniture back from Jinhai Railway Station.

When the items were unloaded and brought to the front of the house, they attracted many onlookers, especially Xia, who patted the cabinet and the pair of chests, praising them in admiration.

Dad went to the city again and bought a magnesium-plated butterfly-shaped decorative lock, which he installed, making it both more beautiful and practical.

The four newly built rooms, furnished with so much new furniture, are bright and spacious, and the house looks quite nice both inside and out. Old Zhang's house suddenly became the focus of discussion among the people of Team Six.

Xia's mother was drying firewood in the street when Grandma Si Pangzi said to her, "The day I came here, I saw that Old Zhang's family was not like other outsiders. They were an honest family, and they lived the right path."

Winter comes earlier in Northeast China than back home. After the rain, the playground at Da Liu Jia School was muddy and slippery. A gust of wind blew by, and I hugged myself; even wearing two layers of clothing, I was still a bit cold.

I stood in the southwest corner of the school playground, looking towards the door of the sixth-grade classroom in the back row. Why hadn't my fourth sister, Xiaofei, and the others come out yet? Hadn't they finished their homework? Another gust of wind rustled the rice paddies behind me, and I grew increasingly anxious. Just then, math teacher Sun Xiuqing and another female teacher came out of the office, saying, "Is it true that the great leader Chairman Mao has passed away? We can't just say things like that."

These words pierced my ears, and I shuddered. Really? Did I hear that right? Chairman Mao has passed away? What will we do? What will happen to China? Our great leader, Chairman Mao, is the sun that never sets in our hearts. From the time we were old enough to understand, he was praised in this way at school, at home, and in our production team. We always believed that Chairman Mao would shine upon us like the sun, year after year, accompanying us. How could he possibly pass away!

Only then did I realize that Chairman Mao was also a human being, and all humans die; it's not surprising. What will the future hold? I don't know, and I can't help but feel a sense of fear.

He went home alone, filled with fear and unease.

When they arrived home, it was clear that everyone knew about Chairman Mao's passing, and everyone's face was solemn and uneasy.

Chairman Mao! Chairman Mao!

When the whole family gathered after work, the topic came up again, and tears welled up in my eyes. Chairman Mao was a figure of concern for every Chinese person, and his passing touched the hearts of everyone.

All Chinese people shared the same feeling of profound grief. The school built a mourning hall, and the entire village came to pay their respects to Chairman Mao!

Outside the mourning hall at Liuhe Middle School, students from all the schools in the farm, led by their teachers, took turns entering the hall to collectively commemorate Chairman Mao. A loudspeaker broadcast an elderly woman's tearful lament for Chairman Mao, resonating with the sorrowful hearts of the crowd. Inside and outside the mourning hall, the air was filled with the sounds of weeping.

The whole of China is in mourning.

By then, we had moved up to sixth grade, junior high school. Our homeroom teacher was Xia Fu, from Xujia Brigade. He was a man in his forties, a smoker, of medium height, with fair skin, double eyelids, and bulging, goldfish-like eyes. His limbs were limp. His daughter was in second grade at the same school.

Qu Hui and I were quite familiar with each other and very close. We were the youngest and shortest, always standing in the first row and sitting in the first seat, practically right under the teacher's chin. Sometimes, the teacher's spittle would even hit our faces. Because we sat in the first seat, under the teacher's watchful eye, we didn't dare to talk or make any mischief. We could only listen attentively in class, which made learning effortless. We could finish all our assignments quickly, and after class, we could go outside to play without any worries. Seeing how innocent we were, the bigger boys and girls sitting in the back of the class called us kids. Compared to them, we really were kids.

My fourth sister was the best student in the class, along with a boy named Wang Shang. We consistently ranked in the top three in every exam. This attracted the jealousy of another boy in the class, Liu Jian. He sat next to Liu Jun, and, influenced by Jun, started to smear my fourth sister. During the end-of-term evaluation, a classmate who often received help from my fourth sister mentioned her strengths: "Zhang Qiulian loves to help classmates." They immediately raised their hands: "No, she never helped me."

Teacher: "Just help the girl; objections are ineffective."

Seeing that her fourth sister hadn't been implicated, she devised another plan. Early one morning at school, several large characters were boldly written on the blackboard: "Zhang Qiulian and Sun Youcai (a very honest boy from out of town in the class)..." Every student saw it, but no one wiped it off. The atmosphere in the classroom was tense, everyone watching to see how Teacher Xia Fu would handle the matter. The day passed, and at the end of the day, my fourth sister Qiulian and I went to the teacher, begging her to investigate the cause of the incident and clear Qiulian's name.

Teacher: "Let's talk about it tomorrow!"

Three days passed, and the teacher remained indifferent. The perpetrators began to gloat. In fact, on the first day, Liu Jian and his deskmate Liu Junzhan were also very nervous. After school, we stayed behind to talk to the teacher again, asking him to find and punish the perpetrators.

The teacher deflected the blame, saying, "I don't know who wrote it."

We both said, "We know who wrote it."

Qiu Lian: "Liu Jian."

Teacher: "What evidence do you have?"

Me: "Judging from his expression and the gazes of those around him."

Qiu Lian: "Even birds leave a shadow when they fly! Besides, three days have passed, and we've been in the same class every day. Qin Hui still has two lovers, how could we not know?"

Teacher: "Then go find Qin Hui to solve the case!"

We were stunned by the teacher's words, and a hundred questions swirled in our minds but we couldn't voice them.

"Teacher, you've really disappointed me! You're not going to do anything about this anyway!" Qiu Lian said, and we left the classroom in grief and indignation.

From then on, I no longer respected my teacher.

Liu Shunian is the second daughter of Liu Shishou, the brigade accountant. She is an average student and the class's study committee member. The teacher regards her and Wang Shangshu as role models for the whole class and often praises them. No matter how well Qu Hui and my sister and I study or how actively we behave, the teacher doesn't notice us.

The girls who are close to us gossip about how unfair the teachers are to each other, but we just ignore it. After all, we're outsiders.

Sixth grade is considered junior high school. A new physics teacher arrived, surnamed Wu. His family of four settled in the sixth team; he was Liu Zhenyi's brother-in-law. They were quickly given a house, built it, and settled down, living on the west side of the main road, next to Liu Zhenyi.

After school that day, teachers, classmates, and a dozen or so boys and girls from teams five and six gathered together, chatting and laughing all the way. When we reached the intersection, we didn't cross it, but instead walked along the main road with the teachers and classmates, listening to them tell interesting stories. First, Teacher Liu Zhenxue told a story about his mischievous childhood, which made everyone burst into laughter.

Liu Zhenwu also got excited: "Hey! Eighth Brother, one year the reeds in our Dagoubang were growing really well. My second sister and I were afraid of being seen, so we went inside and cut and cut, one slice after another, with great enthusiasm. In no time, we had cut a small cartload of them."

Liu Zhenxue interrupted him: "You're like a thief who confesses after three years of no action! There's always someone watching that reed patch."

Teacher Wu: "You can steal reeds, what kind of skill is that? You should spend your time improving your studies. Look at the Zhang sisters, they are real college prospectes."

Liu Zhenwu was getting carried away and feeling quite pleased with himself. He realized that this Mr. Wu, whom he called Third Brother-in-Law, was short, even shorter than him: "Hey! You're still not convinced? If you're not convinced, then give me a good fall."

Teacher Wu: "Kid, look how tough you are!" She grabbed him by the shoulders and swept his leg, sending Liu Zhenwu sprawling to the ground. He immediately jumped up, about to attack Teacher Wu, when his older sister, who was also my classmate, stepped forward and shouted: "Xiao Wu, what are you doing? How dare you hit your brother-in-law! I'll tell Mom when I get home!"

Liu Zhenwu touched his neck, blinked, and then laughed, "No, it doesn't hurt at all."