TCFSRMR |Chapter 1

Early in the morning, Niu Erzhu was squatting in the courtyard, sharpening a sickle.

Yesterday, the production team had held a members’ meeting, and the team leader had relayed the commune’s instructions at the meeting, telling everyone to rush the harvest and rush the planting, get every grain into the granary, and absolutely not let a single wheat kernel rot in the field.

“Sharpen my sickle a couple more times too,” Qiu Guihua said, poking her head out from the room and calling to Niu Erzhu, who was squatting outside.

Although the wheat in their family’s private plot had been planted later, it could still only hold out for another four or five days at most. These next few days, they would first finish the work in the team, and then they would also have time to tidy up the wheat in their own private plot.

Thinking of those few mu of private land, Qiu Guihua was so happy that her eyes were almost narrowing into slits.

Don’t let the fact that it was only a few mu fool you. Anyone with eyes could tell that the wheat in their house was growing very well. One ear could match two ears from the production team side, and it had to be the kind growing in the fattest fields.

You had to know that the private plots left to people like them, the members, were all the most barren land. Yet their family had forcefully turned thin soil into fertile land. Who wouldn’t praise the two of them for being capable?

Of course, if you asked Qiu Guihua, it wasn’t that they were capable. It was that their son was a little lucky star.

Wasn’t it just around the time their private plot started yielding a good harvest that she became pregnant with their son? If you asked Qiu Guihua, all the blessings in their family were brought by their son.

Thinking this, she lifted the thin blanket, lowered her head, and kissed Niu Xiaobao on the face. Reluctantly, she covered him back up, fearing she might wake her sleeping precious son. Even when walking, she tiptoed softly.

Seeing her like this, Niu Erzhu even lightened his sickle-sharpening movements a bit, and said in a low voice:

“Didn’t wake Xiaobao, did you?”

“No.” Qiu Guihua stretched lazily, and the corner of her eye happened to catch the little girl carrying a basin of chicken feed toward the chicken coop. The upward curve of her mouth immediately drooped, and she tugged at the hem of Niu Erzhu’s undershirt. “Have you thought about what I told you yesterday?”

Niu Erzhu’s hand, fiddling with the sickle, paused for a moment. He was obviously a little bothered too. “You make it sound easy. These days, who’d want a little girl? Who would take her?”

It was just an adopted girl. How much could he possibly care about her? It was only that Niu Erzhu also cared about face. People in the village all said that Daya had good fortune and brought them Xiaobao. If they had a son and immediately didn’t want Daya anymore, wouldn’t the neighbors and relatives point at their backs and curse them?

“If no one wants her, do we have to raise her? I won’t be the one stuck with that deadweight!” Qiu Guihua had completely forgotten that it was exactly because she had once been unwilling to keep hearing people point and gossip that she was an “egg-laying hen,” and had gone mad wanting a child, that she had brought Daya back from outside in the first place.

“…Our Xiaobao is a lucky child. All those grains are ours for Xiaobao’s sake. How is it fair to let Daya enjoy them for nothing…”

Thanks to the good harvests from the private plot over these past two years, their family could occasionally eat fine flour. It was just that every day she watched Daya grow bigger and bigger, and her appetite grow bigger and bigger too. Qiu Guihua was truly sick every time she saw it, always feeling that Daya was taking a huge advantage, and that the advantage she was taking was from her precious son, whom she loved to the core of her heart.

Niu Erzhu was worn down by her nagging and had no choice, so while putting away the sickle he said in a muffled voice:

“Fine, fine, after the wheat harvest is over, I’ll ask around and see if any family wants a little girl. Then we’ll send her over…”

“If no one wants her, then when we go to the market, just dump her somewhere crowded. She’ll definitely get taken away…”

Anyway, she was definitely not going to keep raising this money-losing burden anymore.

Thinking of something, she added another sentence:

“If you take her to the county seat, don’t pass through Shili Pu…”

She suddenly felt that something was off. She turned around, and it turned out that Daya, who had just gone to feed the chickens, was standing behind her at some unknown time.

Qiu Guihua immediately choked up, and the next moment she raised her hand to hit her:

“You unlucky dead girl, standing there all spooky like that. Who are you trying to scare to death!”

Unexpectedly, before the slap even landed, Daya already burst into tears with a “wa,” and the basin of chicken feed in her hands also fell to the ground with a “clang.”

The miserable crying made Qiu Guihua feel a burst of panic, and she subconsciously wanted to cover Shi Ying’s mouth.

Xiaobao was still asleep. And this dead girl cried in a wicked way. As long as she cried, someone would come and stand up for her.

Before she could finish covering her mouth, Niu Xiaobao in the room let out a thunderous wail. Along with that, their courtyard gate was also slapped so hard it rang:

“Guihua, Guihua, what are you doing? It’s the new society now, you can’t beat children anymore…”

If it were anyone else, the Niu couple naturally wouldn’t care, but the one banging on the door was Sister Cui Lian, the team leader’s wife, and the two of them really didn’t dare ignore her.

Right then, Qiu Guihua hurriedly ran back into the room to coax her son, while Niu Erzhu quickly opened the door and, with a smiling face, said to the round-faced woman outside:

“Didn’t hit her, didn’t hit her. This girl just wasn’t watching where she was going and fell…”

As soon as the door opened, three boys squeezed in from behind, went around Niu Erzhu, and rushed toward Shi Ying. One reached out to pull Shi Ying, another helped pick up the basin that had fallen to the side, and all of them looked at Shi Ying with heartsick expressions.

“Little Daya, where did you fall?”

“Where does it hurt? Let big brother blow on it for you…”

The youngest one, a sturdy little boy, suddenly turned his head and charged straight at Niu Erzhu:

“Bad Uncle Erzhu, beating Daya again!”

Niu Erzhu was caught off guard and got rammed right in the stomach, instantly hurting so much that he bared his teeth and grimaced.

If Cui Lian hadn’t grabbed him in time, that boy might have rushed him a few more times.

“Huzi!” Cui Lian hurriedly raised her voice, and after scolding her youngest son, who looked unconvinced, she turned back to Niu Erzhu and said earnestly, “If you were talking about other people being naughty, I’d believe it, but your family’s Daya is the most obedient and sensible child… This child was born with blessing, and she only came to your family a few years ago, yet she already brought you Xiaobao. As people, you have to cherish your blessings…”

Holding Niu Xiaobao and standing behind the window, Qiu Guihua ground her teeth in anger.

Wasn’t it exactly because of these words that she had been getting less and less fond of Daya? Clearly the one with good fortune was the Niu Xiaobao she had given birth to, but for some reason, who knew who started spreading it, saying that it wasn’t Xiaobao who had good fortune, but Daya who had good fortune. Hearing words like that was simply as harsh as could be.

These people just move their upper and lower lips and say nice-sounding things. So what, it’s not like they’re the ones eating the rations from our house!

The fire in her belly could no longer be suppressed. Holding Niu Xiaobao, she came out of the room and said to Cui Lian with a downcast and strained smile:

“Sister Cui Lian, what are you saying? Since we’re raising her, can’t we discipline her? If you treasure her so much, then take her home and raise her! It’s just that our grain is about to run out. Anyway, your family is a big household, so you don’t lack this bit of grain, right?”

How could Cui Lian not hear the undisguised disgust in Qiu Guihua’s tone? Her face also turned a little unpleasant.

“Guihua, being a person means you have to have a conscience. What kind of life Daya has had in your family, everyone can see it! She’s only this little, and she already has to stand on a stool to cook for your whole family. In the dead of winter, with how thick the ice is on the water, Daya still has to break open the ice to wash diapers for your Xiaobao. Even a maid in the old society would only be this way at most!”

“Guihua, tell the truth. Is Daya really your biological niece?”

Back then, after Guihua had been married for several years and still didn’t conceive, during the farming slack she went everywhere seeking doctors and medicine, but still didn’t have a child, not a son or daughter. Then one day, she suddenly brought Daya back from outside and told people in the village that she was the daughter of a cousin from her maternal family, saying that her cousin wanted a boy, but after giving birth three times she still had only girls, and still wanted to have a boy, so she let her raise the youngest one.

At that time, without her own child, Qiu Guihua also treated Daya quite lovingly. No one expected that not long after Daya had been brought back, Qiu Guihua got pregnant.

After that, Daya never had a good day again. Every day, all you could hear was Qiu Guihua scolding Daya one moment high and the next low. If she really was her biological niece, wouldn’t Qiu Guihua be afraid she wouldn’t be able to explain herself when she returned to her maternal family?

The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like that. The look in her eyes toward Qiu Guihua was full of suspicion.

“Guihua, tell the truth. Was this child stolen by you?”

Qiu Guihua’s face instantly turned a little pale, but she still forced herself to say, “What nonsense are you talking in front of the child? What stealing or snatching? Who are you trying to embarrass?”

With her yelling so loudly, Cui Lian also realized that something was a little inappropriate. After all, Daya was already old enough to understand things. Talking like this in front of her might make Daya upset.

Taking advantage of Cui Lian’s hesitation, Qiu Guihua reached out and dragged Daya over. Niu Erzhu beside her also hurriedly smiled apologetically at Cui Lian.

“My wife doesn’t know how to talk. Sister, don’t bother with her. Don’t worry, we won’t beat the child again… It looks like it’s time to go to work, so Sister, you should hurry home and get busy.”

Seeing that the Niu couple had finally behaved themselves, Cui Lian also let go of some of the worry in her heart, bent down, and said to Shi Ying:

“Daya, Auntie still has to go to work. Your Wei Hong ge and the others are at home. If anything happens, just call them.”

Their family’s three little brats were at exactly the age where they would go wild if you didn’t beat them for three days, but for some reason they were especially fond of Daya, and every single one of them listened to Daya.

“I know, Auntie. Go on and get busy.” Daya nodded obediently, and her soft, sweet voice made Cui Lian’s heart soften even more.

After Cui Lian and her three sons left, the smile Qiu Guihua had finally forced out instantly vanished without a trace. She glared viciously at Daya, but worried that she might draw Cui Lian back over again, so in the end she didn’t dare strike her. However, her resolve to throw Daya away only grew firmer.

After a long while, panting heavily, she said:

“What are you still standing there for? Go squat by the private plot!”

Their private plot’s wheat grew so well that not only did they have to guard against people sneaking some away, they also had to guard against birds and sparrows ruining it.

As she lowered her head and followed Niu Erzhu and his wife out of the courtyard gate, Shi Ying had already firmly remembered the place called Shili Pu.

She could not stay in this family. Rather than waiting for Niu Erzhu to carry her out and dump her somewhere unknown at the foot of some mountain, it would be better to go try her luck at the place called Shili Pu.

From Qiu Guihua’s tone, Shili Pu didn’t seem far away either. Thinking this, she subconsciously rubbed the inside of her left wrist. There, just like on her original body, was a pink flower-shaped birthmark in the shape of a cherry blossom.

After unexpectedly crossing over here, Shi Ying often couldn’t help wondering whether the poor Daya from the Niu family was her previous life. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that the two of them had the same birthmark in the same spot?

Thinking too hard, Shi Ying almost bumped into Qiu Guihua, who had suddenly stopped. By then, the three of them had just reached the edge of the village’s private plots.

Unlike other families’ fields, which were planted with seasonal vegetables, the private plot of the Niu family was rolling with waves of wheat.

The others heading to work also stopped with them, and looking at the Niu family’s private plot, they were so envious their saliva was almost about to run out:

“This wheat, how did you two grow it, Erzhu? How did it grow so well!”

“Exactly! I’m telling you, my eyes are sharp. Don’t let the fact that it’s only a few mu fool you. By harvest time, the wheat collected there will definitely be enough to match more than one mu.”

After the grain from the team is divided following the payment of public grain, each person’s share isn’t much at all. This piece of land from the Niu family, even though it’s only a few mu, is probably at least equivalent to the rations of two adults!

In fact, it wasn’t just this summer wheat. Last autumn during the autumn harvest, their family’s private plot of corn had also yielded a bumper crop.

The neighbors next door had personally seen that during the Spring Festival, Niu Erzhu’s family exchanged their surplus corn for a huge slab of pork belly, and the whole family ate it until the tenth day of the first lunar month, with oil shining on their lips.

Looking at their wheat now, it was likely that for the next half year or so, they would be able to eat white steamed buns from time to time.

Shi Ying reached out and touched the heavy wheat ears. Such good wheat had nothing at all to do with Niu Erzhu and his wife. It was entirely her credit. Since she had decided to leave, she would naturally have to take the wheat with her too.