A century of poverty

Chapter 106 Reluctantly Giving Up

Zhiqiang had his eyes closed. I patted the dirt off him and said, "Come on, let's go to the store." I helped Zhiqiang into the house, where he lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed).

I opened the front door and continued selling my goods. All afternoon, I pondered a question.

The next afternoon, Aunt Qi brought the child over: "Fourth Sister-in-law, I can't let you see the child. How should I put it? This child has a temper. He's the only boy in your Su family. I can't take responsibility if anything happens to him."

I said, "Okay, here's fifty yuan, take it, don't think it's too little."

Seventh Aunt: "What are you doing! We're just mother and daughter, why would we need this? Just take it back, you can't even help me out."

I slipped the money into her pocket.

Aunt Qi said, "If I give it to you again, you'll treat me like an outsider." With that, she quickly walked out of the courtyard gate and went home.

After closing the shop at night, the child fell asleep. I discussed with Zhiqiang, "Let's sell the shop and move out. Your health isn't improving, and Aunt Qi won't help us take care of the child. I can't manage on my own."

"Can your illness get better if it continues like this?"

Tears streamed down my face, and I choked back sobs, "Who treats us like human beings...?"

Zhiqiang: "I was just thinking about this too. I'll put it on the window tomorrow and sell it."

The next day, I flattened a pack of cigarette wrappers, wrote the words "Exchange Shop" on it, and pinned it to the iron bars of the security window.

Before noon, someone came to inquire. It was none other than Uncle Zhao, Zhao Liuxi, who had bought Su Zhichun's house. After Su Lei and his furniture business broke up, the eldest son went to work as a chef at a restaurant, while the second, third, and fourth sons were unemployed.

Although the eldest son is married, he still lives in the same courtyard.

Zhao Liuxi confirmed that the shop sale was indeed taking over. He then added, "I still need to ask your old man; if it's okay, we'll do it tomorrow."

That evening, Zhao Liuxi came again and said, "I asked your grandfather, and he said to exchange it. We'll check the goods tomorrow."

Sure enough, the whole family came to check the goods early the next morning, and the eldest daughter-in-law kept the accounts. By noon, the goods were almost fully inventoried. The eldest aunt said, "Lunch is ready, come to my house for lunch!"

I said, "No need."

Aunt: "No need for anything, I've prepared everything!"

"Really, no need, Auntie, I'm not in the mood," I said.

Aunt: "You have to go, whether you want to or not. It's about this matter. Your grandfather will also be there."

This aunt of mine was short, with a slender waist, a full head of white hair, and protruding front teeth. She spoke loudly and quickly. She was a smart and capable woman. People nicknamed her Zhao Big Tooth, and she and Zhao Liuxi were a perfect match.

Around 1 p.m., the goods were sold out. Zhao Liuxi called out, "Come on, let's go grab a bite. Your aunt has already prepared the meal."

We reluctantly made it to his house. As soon as we entered, Zhao Liuxi said, "I was busy today, so I didn't prepare anything special. It's just a simple thing."

Zhiqiang and I sat down as he arranged, ate a few bites to get it over with, and then left. This was the most awkward meal of our lives.

Zhao Liuxi was urging the old man to drink.

I'll go to Sister Yin Huan's house this afternoon to see if there are any spare rooms.

Yin Huan: "Yes! There's a newly built kang (heated brick bed) in the west room of the back house. It can fit the three of you. You can move in whenever you want."

I asked, "How much is the rent?"

Sister Yin Huan: "You should also give seventy yuan to Li Kong, who locked up the East Room."

Me: "Okay, it's settled then. I'll move in tomorrow, and I'll pay you when I get there!"

Sister Yin Huan: "Okay."

The next day, Zhiqiang went to the front street and found two tricycles, loaded up his things, and moved them over.

The furniture was placed on the ground, sharing an outer room with the east wing.

Li Kongsuo and his wife, who live in the east wing, work as temporary workers at the hospital, and their child is in elementary school.

I stay home with the children. Zhiqiang goes to the village clinic in the morning for an IV drip, which involves three bottles. He won't be back until lunchtime.

As I tidied up the things I had moved in, the child held onto the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and started playing by himself.

The cement floor was damp, and the house was very damp. It was a cellar, and the yard was about two fists higher than the house. The kang (heated brick bed) hadn't dried yet, and the ground and surface of the kang were covered with mud, leaving a dent if you pressed your palm down on it.

I laid out several layers of thick cardboard, then a blanket, and settled down like that.

One weekend morning, Brother Li Kongsuo got up early and rode his "backward donkey" to the streets to pick up passengers.

His sister-in-law was resting at home and woke up her son, who was sleeping early, to call him for dinner: "Tak-gu, Tak-gu, why aren't you eating yet!"

Tak-kwok's voice was eight octaves higher than hers: "What am I supposed to eat?"

His mother: "Let's eat. What should we eat?"

Zhuoguo angrily ran up to the roof. His mother picked up a large broom: "Come down, come down and I won't hit you."

Takkook: "I won't go!"

Her mother was so angry that she threw a big broom at him. The broom missed Zhuoguo, but Zhuoguo ended up picking up the weapon and using it to taunt his mother in various ways.

I couldn't stand it anymore. Why did they go up to the roof when we were called for dinner? The rooftop isn't a place for fun.

I asked, "Why isn't Zhuoguo eating? What's he doing up on the roof?"

Chok-guk: "She made me eat rice for free."

At this moment, his mother touched her pocket and said, "I'll give you money, buy a bag of sauce to eat with your rice."

Zhuoguo got off the house, grabbed a large coin, and happily ran towards Lao Shao's shop.

I thought to myself: I've never seen anyone like this before. In this day and age, there are still families who can eat on their own, let alone one whose family is so poor.

Even if we bought soybean paste, it would be tough enough to eat like that. We still had some leftovers from breakfast, and then we realized we couldn't just bring them to someone else, so we grabbed two scallions and handed them over: "Here you go, cousin-in-law, wash them and give them to Cho-kuo to eat with his rice."

Takkook's mom: "No need! No need, it's fine with the sauce."

"Don't mention it, we're not strangers!" I put the scallions down and left her room.

Knowing that Zhiqiang was sick, we sold the shop, and Dad came to visit us.

This is an old habit of my father's; he never takes a carriage when he goes out, he walks. It's a habit he developed when he was young. Back in the collective days, when the small team of horse-drawn carts went to the city to haul goods and returned empty, the cart owner would stop the cart when they met on the road, and the young man accompanying him would shout, "Uncle Zhang! Come on, get in, let's go!"

Dad: "You guys go ahead, I won't sit, walking is fine."

Xiao Kou: "Walking is so slow!"

Father: "You've already made a fortune at home, so you can leave!"

Even now, when I go to town, it's a 30-mile one-way trip, and I never take a car to go back and forth in a day; I insist on walking.

Dad looked around the house, inside and out: "This house is quite damp. Do you have any firewood? Even though the weather is warm, I see the walls of this kang (heated brick bed) are damp too. You'll need to burn more firewood!"

I replied, "Yes! Burn more. You've come such a long way, why don't you rest on the kang (heated brick bed) for a while!"

Zhiqiang is currently recuperating from his illness. He receives three IV drips a day, finishing them at the clinic in the morning and taking leisurely walks in the afternoon. This afternoon, he chatted with his father for a while before going out to watch people play mahjong.

Dad: "Tsk—you two have no income, and he's sick. How are you going to survive from now on!"

I said, "Don't worry about us. The shop will give us 100 yuan a month for rent. We can live comfortably for two years. After that, the child can go to kindergarten, and we can do whatever we want. Stay for a few days! I have time now, when it's neither too hot nor too cold."

Dad didn't say anything, he just said he wasn't leaving.

This old-fashioned house measures four meters east to west and six meters north to south, leaving only a dozen square meters of interior space after deducting the walls. Furniture and a sewing machine are placed along the walls, and a half-built kang (a heated brick bed) takes up almost half of the room. The remaining space is used to store our family's shoes, and grain is stored on the chimney. The house is cramped and cluttered.

The courtyard wasn't big to begin with, housing three families. Apart from two bags of coal flour placed under the window, there was no other space for us.

I was forced to come here with a child and a patient. To say I'm not worried would be an exaggeration.

Following the doctor's orders, I didn't want Zhiqiang to worry or get tired. I took care of the children and did housework; I handled everything at home by myself. I was determined to let Zhiqiang focus on his recovery, so I silently bore the burden of everything.

I put the child to sleep that night.

We couldn't find anything to talk about, each lost in our own thoughts.

Their family looked down on us so much. What did we do wrong? We were simply weak and not strong enough, but was that our fault? Part of the reason was their actions, which led to Zhiqiang getting sick and them even beating him.

What are they trying to do?

Is it really as his third uncle claimed? Do they want to harm lives?

We may be physically weak, but our will is strong. We must be self-reliant, cure our "willpower disease," and work hard. We are still young, and good days are sure to come. We will make a name for ourselves and show them what we've got.

As I was thinking, I dozed off, listening to my father still turning over in bed.

Suddenly, I was startled awake by a clap of thunder. It was pouring rain outside. Oh no, I had to get up and check quickly; with such heavy rain, I didn't want water to flow into the house.

I quickly turned on the light and saw our shoes floating on the ground. There were also plastic bags scattered around.

7.67

I immediately got off the kang (a heated brick bed), found my boots, put them on, and placed them on the stroller I was pushing. When I went to the outer room, I saw that the river was still flowing in through the front door. I put on my raincoat and frantically searched the yard for something to block the doorway.

I picked up a shovel, intending to dig some soil, but after a few shovelfuls, it didn't feel like soil at all. When I grabbed it with my hand, it was all coal ash and slag. I tried shoveling here and there, but couldn't find any soil.

I was anxious; how could I find soil?

Just then, I heard what sounded like Sister Yin Huan speaking, so I pressed my ear against the front door to listen carefully. After a while, I heard her clearly. She said, "There are two woven bags in the west corner of the yard, filled with soil. Use them to block the doorway."

I tried to move it after I found it, but I couldn't. I had no choice but to wake Zhiqiang up, and we carried the two mud bags together and placed them at the door. I let him rest on the kang (heated brick bed), and then I packed the mud bags down firmly.

I started scooping water out with a scoop. The ripples from my footsteps rose higher than my boots, which were already full. I didn't care that I was sick and sensitive to the cold; I was the pillar of this family, and I had to support it.

After scouring for a long time, I realized the water level inside the house was lower than outside, and that the doorway wasn't properly sealed. I braved the heavy rain to find something to plug the leak, and then continued scouring. The water level dropped again, and this time there were no obvious leaks, but the water soon filled up again.

I went inside, sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) to rest for a while, and looked at the clock; it was not yet two in the morning.

I muttered to myself, "That's strange. I blocked the doorway completely, so how come it's full again in a little while?"

Dad squinted: "It's all coming in through the door. With this weather, the water outside the house is seeping in."

Oh—I see, no matter how much I wash, I can't wash it dry. I can only wash it again after the rain stops and the water recedes.

But I'm already up. How can I sleep if I lie down? I might as well just watch Taoshui do it for peace of mind.

They rested and chatted like this until dawn.

Li Kongsuo and his wife got up from the east room. Seeing that there was water on the outer floor, and afraid of getting their shoes wet, they took a few bricks from inside the house to step on before going out. Reaching the doorway, they leaned against the doorframe and looked at the sky. He told his wife, "Let's cook. The clouds are moving so fast; maybe I can go to work later." Then they went back inside.

Thanks to my efforts, the outer floor of the house has remained dry.

I could see from the crack in their door that their house had no water supply, and the floor was raised, one brick higher than the floor of the outer room and the west room.

Fortunately, the rain subsided and the sun came out around 8 o'clock.