A century of poverty

Chapter 86 In-laws

A few days later, my father came back from my second sister's house in the suburbs of Jinhai and said to me, "Your second sister's husband has introduced you to someone. I agree. I'll have your eldest brother take you to meet him tomorrow."

The man had big eyes and looked about my height, though he was indeed short for a man. To be honest, I wasn't interested, but this place was in the suburbs of Jinhai County. I could farm or do manual labor, which would allow me to leave the paddy fields. So, I agreed.

After we got to know each other, I told him, "I have a leg problem."

Su Zhiqiang replied, "Humans eat grains and cereals; how can they not get sick?"

I was puzzled. This man was really open-minded. Did he not care that I was sick? Then I thought, maybe he was used to having sick people in his family (his mother was bedridden), so he didn't care.

The matchmaker conveyed my requirements: the wedding must have three rooms, and the rest would follow local customs.

The man's father replied, "This street is not like the countryside. Three rooms won't do. Give them one and a half rooms. I'm retiring, so let her take over my job."

Su Zhiqiang's father was the deputy director of a township-run precast component factory. His two older sisters, Li Kongzhi and Yin Huan, both worked there. Su Zhiqiang's second older sister, Su Zhiqian, and his sister-in-law, Zhang Guozhi, also worked at the factory. It was through this connection that his second sister and brother-in-law introduced me to Su Zhiqiang.

Regarding succession, their family originally planned for Zhiqiang to take over, but Zhiqiang was unwilling to go, leaving the position vacant. So they prepared for me to take over, which made me very happy, as this was exactly what I wanted.

Two months later, around the National Day holiday, the man suggested a "visit to his parents' home," which was essentially a prelude to the engagement. We had no objections. After lunch at their home, we returned to my second sister's house, where my eldest brother and third sister simultaneously asked me, "Did you give them ninety-nine?"

I was also angry about this: "No! It's this bag, I was thinking about this right now, how could this be?"

"How can you not give ninety-nine? What kind of door would you go to if you didn't give ninety-nine?"

"Giving 99 when visiting someone's home is a custom; I've never heard of not giving 99 when visiting someone's home."

We were fuming and discussing it. My second sister said to her husband, "Go and call Old Su over, and ask him what happened."

A moment later, a fat old man with a reserved expression, thin lips, and small, shifty eyes, wearing an old, small, and thin "old man's shirt," entered from the courtyard, followed by Su Zhiqiang.

The second brother-in-law introduced: "This is Uncle, he's Zhiqiang's father. This is Qinglian's eldest brother, and this is Qinglian's third sister."

After getting to know each other, we sat down. Although we had just visited each other's homes, there were many people, and we didn't know who was who.

Zhiqiang's dad: "Old Li, did you call me here for something?"

My second brother-in-law looked at us and said, "Speak, what's the matter?"

Third Sister: "Uncle, I've heard that when people visit each other, they usually give ninety-nine yuan. What's the meaning of you not giving anything?"

Zhiqiang's father: "It seems my third niece is the one leading the group today. Whether we give 99 or not, I don't think it will affect our relationship! You didn't say you wanted 99!"

I didn't like hearing that: "Leaving aside whether it affects our relationship as relatives, giving ninety-nine yuan when visiting is a custom, not part of the bride price. Is there any need to discuss that?"

Zhiqiang's father: "Then why don't we talk about it? What is custom? My family doesn't have that custom. Every family has its own customs."

I said, "So you're not going to give it to me then!"

Zhiqiang's father: "It's not that I don't want to give it to him, but Lao Li called me here saying he had something to do, he didn't say ninety-nine, and I didn't have it on me."

I said, "If we go back like this, everyone in the village will know I came to visit today, and they'll ask what my in-laws gave us! I'll just say, 'They didn't even give us ninety-nine?'"

Zhiqiang's dad chuckled dryly twice: "Just say you gave it to me. The money's in my pocket, nobody can see it. I'll give it to you later, isn't that easy?"

I don't know what to say. It's not that I can't give it to you later, but I still feel awkward. It's not the right thing to do, and I don't know what to do.

The second sister, her husband, the eldest brother, and the third sister remained silent.

Zhiqiang's father: "I'm going back now, I have things to do at home." He then got up and left.

Eldest brother and third sister looked at each other, feeling frustrated but helpless. They said goodbye to second sister and brother-in-law, took the bundle containing two quilt covers and several dozen feet of white cloth, and went home.

My older brother rode his bicycle with me on the back, while my third sister rode her own bicycle. We didn't say a word to each other on the way.

I replayed Zhiqiang's father's behavior in my mind; it was disgusting. What kind of elder teaches a younger person to lie? Especially since we had only just met, and it was a lie that made me feel wronged.

October 1st is also the time when the rice harvest begins. Zhiqiang said that Jinhai was going to become a "city" and that I needed to get a marriage certificate to register our marriage first, so that we could get our household registration sorted out. My family agreed and gave him the certificate. Zhiqiang didn't leave in a hurry and helped us with the harvest. The four of us finished harvesting the 24 mu of land in just a few days.

Last winter, the land was distributed to individual households. This spring, the farmers, who were still hesitant and timid, no longer waited for many days like in previous years when the land was divided into teams. As soon as the land held up, they busied themselves with moving the grain to a pile, contacting threshing machines, and several families worked together to thresh the grain, thus ending the year's farm work early.

It was much faster and easier than eating together in the communal kitchen. Each family had much more grain left over than when they were in the production team.

The farmers are happy; it's better than being together!

The brigade's broadcasts provided timely guidance, and leaders would also go to the fields to inspect the situation. Although we had to handle everything ourselves, we were no longer mistreated. The main problem was that there was an abundance of grain, but also an abundance of straw and rotten rice. In the past, there wasn't enough to eat or cook; now, we couldn't eat or cook it all.

Fengming's boyfriend is three years older than her, and they've already arranged their wedding.

Su Zhiqiang also said that his family had told him to get married in the Gregorian calendar year.

By this time, most of the people in the village who were around my age were married, and I had no idea what to do, so I asked my father.

Dad said, "If they say they'll get married, then they should!"

Fengming and I are from the same hometown. Ever since her family came to Jinhai, we've been in the same production team. She's a year younger than me. We've been partners for many years. After the household responsibility system was implemented, we farmed together in Xidawazi. We walked such a long distance together, and we often made ropes together. We know each other very well and are friends who can talk about anything.

She said to me sadly, "I don't want to get married."

I said, "Then let's not get married!"

Fengming: "No, he's reached a certain age. My family spent over three hundred yuan of his money, and we can't afford it. My dad wants me to settle the marriage."

"Oh—actually, I didn't want to get married either. I once heard an old man say, 'A daughter-in-law from heaven is not as good as a daughter from hell.' That must be true. Look at the married women in the village, what kind of lives do they lead?"

"What will we do if we don't get married? Sister-in-law Dong Shulan is right, where will we find a place to live? If only we were factory workers, we could stay in dormitories."

Fengming: "The problem is, we're not like that! I'm completely helpless right now, just muddling through! There's still a month until the Lunar New Year, you should start preparing too."

"How do I prepare? I have no idea."

Fengming: "I don't know either. My mom said we should make two sets of luggage, two sets of cotton clothes, and buy a washbasin, which is called a 'treasure basin', a soap box, a comb, a mirror, face cream, etc."

"oh!"

I went home and told my dad, "I need to buy something for my wedding too. I don't have any money, so you have to give me some!"

Father: "This year's rice sold for 1,400. I'll give your second brother 700 and Shuanglai 700."

When I heard that, I exclaimed, "How could you do this? I did most of the work in the fields, and you sold the rice and split it between them? It's for my second brother to live on, and you even gave him 700 yuan. What use is that to him? I don't have a single penny for my wedding. What am I going to do?"

Father was silent for a moment, then reached into his robes: "I have seventy left, take it!"

I took the seventy yuan. It was money I had asked my father for, and now that he had it, he had nothing left. I didn't want it. I couldn't get over this situation, and I really had no other choice. If I had, I wouldn't want my father's seventy yuan.

Besides, how could those three of them sell the surplus grain and divide the money behind my back? That was the fruit of my hard work, getting up early and working late, in the mud and water, even when I was sick!

I also did housework like a housewife, washing their clothes, cooking for them, cleaning the house, and taking apart, washing, and mending their winter and summer clothes and quilts.

When they were dividing up the fruits of their year's labor behind my back, not one of the three of them thought of me.

Thankfully! My dad didn't ask for a bride price when I got engaged, but things are things in themselves!

I have so much to say, but nowhere to say it.

On the other hand, I still care about them. If I get married and leave, who will cook for these three generations? After dividing the money, Dad told my second brother and sister-in-law to go live on their own.

Everyone says marriage is a joyous occasion, but I don't feel that way. All I know is that my family can't do without me right now.

After Mom passed away, Dad no longer obeyed Grandma. Grandma also knew she had made mistakes in Mom's death. My younger brother increasingly realized how much Mom's death affected him; he hated Dad and Grandma for treating Mom so badly. Although he couldn't do anything about it, he treated them in his own way: by ignoring them. Dad knew he had made mistakes and regretted them deeply, feeling he had been very lenient with his children, but his pampered habits at home had long been ingrained, and he still acted like an "old man." My younger brother blamed the pain of losing Mom on Dad and Grandma; he couldn't be as diligent in serving them at home as my fourth sister and I were.

I worry about their future life as a family of three.

I'm getting married soon, and I know nothing about my in-laws or Su Zhiqiang. I've been to his house twice. It's a large courtyard with seven mud houses by the roadside. His mother is paralyzed and bedridden, and there's a huge amount of housework that no one can do. There's also a vegetable greenhouse in the yard. There's always work to be done at his house; it's even more tiring than at my house.

I arrived at Aunt Liu's house with a heavy heart. Aunt Liu said, "Bring me your wedding trousers and jacket, I'll tailor them for you. You don't have a mother, and you don't know how!"

I hummed in agreement, tears welling up in my eyes. How could she possibly understand all my feelings?

A few days later, Su Zhiqiang came again and said, "The furniture is almost finished, but the walls aren't plastered yet. It's very inconvenient for me to do everything by myself, from applying the paste to sticking the plaster to going up and down the walls."

I thought to myself, but before I could say it: You have a lot of family members, your younger brother, second sister, and third sister are all here with you, why don't you do this little bit of work? Why did you have to come all this way to find me?

I went to his house with him.

Upon entering the courtyard, a faded old military quilt was hanging out to dry on Line 8. His father was moving a large vat out from behind the ventilation door. A large pile of cabbages was stacked in the yard, and the task of sauerkraut making was laid out in front of him.

Zhiqiang found me an apron, and we immediately got to chopping and washing vegetables.

At this time, his father boiled water, and I put the washed vegetables into the pot one by one to blanch them, and then carried them outside to dry.

Zhiqiang's father said, "There's only so much work to do all year, and you've managed to get it."

I said, "It's okay."

Two rows of blanched vegetables were laid out on wooden planks on the roof of the greenhouse, stretching for a long distance.

Zhiqiang's father: "I'll wash the pot and cook the food, and you two can fill the vat."

I touched the ones that had been taken out first; they were already cold. Then, one pot after another was brought in. Zhiqiang filled the vat, stacking and pressing the plants one by one. When the vat was half full, he laid a burlap sack on top and stomped on it. The vat was filled to the brim, like a tower, and then it was covered.

Use your free hands to cook, and then serve the food.

Then they heard Zhiqiang's mother calling from the kang (heated brick bed): "Xiao Kai, get up! It's time to eat!"

After a series of humming and groaning, a pale-faced, lazy, and unruly seventeen or eighteen-year-old youth came out of the inner room, slipping on his shoes.

Upon seeing me, she greeted me with, "Fourth Sister is here."

Me: "Ah, I'm here."

I was quite surprised to find that there was another person in the inner room. It was the first time I had ever seen such a person. They were healthy and had been sleeping until lunchtime.

Inside the room, on the kang (a heated brick bed), a quilt was spread out, and Zhiqiang's mother, who had been paralyzed for many years, sat on it. In a corner by the door and the edge of the kang, there was a wooden stool that was the same height as the kang, with the patient's spittoon and bedpan on it.

Beneath the north wall, there was a pair of embroidered wooden boxes. In front of the boxes, on an iron chair with a leather-covered seat, was an aluminum washbasin. To the west, facing the entrance, were two identical iron chairs.

A wire for draping a hand towel hangs from the ceiling above the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

Beneath the thick lintel, reed bundles were used to separate the inner and outer rooms using upright wooden supports.

The dining table was placed on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) to the side of where Zhiqiang's mother was seated.

Zhiqiang's father poured a pot of wine, placed it in a large teacup half-filled with water to warm it, and then pulled over a chair to sit in the seat facing the door.

I brought the dishes up.

Zhiqiang's father picked up his chopsticks and used his palm to catch a bite of food. Xiaokai came back from outside, washed his hands, sat between his parents, and put food in his mouth with his chopsticks.

I brought in the rice bowl, and Zhiqiang's mother gestured, "Put it on the kang (heated brick bed), over there with Xiaokai."

Zhiqiang brought a bowl and placed it on the table. Xiaokai picked up the bowl, filled it with rice, and started eating. Zhiqiang's father then took a bowl and placed it in front of him.

Zhiqiang's mother moved the pillow aside, leaned forward, and held her chopsticks, saying, "Eat!" The first syllable of her words was elongated, while the second syllable was raised.

I took a bowl and went to serve rice. I served one bowl to Zhiqiang's mother, one bowl to Zhiqiang, and one bowl to myself.

After finishing our meal, and waiting for Zhiqiang's father to finish eating and drinking, it was already past one o'clock in the afternoon. We cleaned up the dishes, washed them, emptied the swill, and swept the floor.

They hurriedly went to the east room to wallpaper the walls; the sunlight had already reached the walls, with only a strip of shadow remaining under the windowsill.

I stopped and said, "You can finish the rest yourself. I have to go, or I won't get home before dark."

Zhiqiang: "Then don't leave."

Me: "That won't do, I have plenty of work to do at home!"