Chapter 9: Sweet and Fragrant Rice Cakes
Golden September. A gust of wind blew, and the entire Loess Plateau was dyed a brilliant gold. The Yuhuai Village production team had planted over a dozen acres of rice paddies in the river valley and was now organizing the harvest.
Harvesting rice wasn’t considered heavy labor, but the weather was muggy. Bending over all day under the hot sun, with your feet sinking into the mud, was truly exhausting.
The Su family sisters-in-law were all in the valley cutting the rice, while the men were responsible for transporting the harvested stalks to the threshing ground. There, the stalks were spread out evenly and beaten repeatedly with flails, causing the grains to fall off.
The freshly threshed rice had a high moisture content and needed to be dried in the sun for another three to five days before it could be stored.
Yu Juanfang’s neck was covered in itchy chaff. She pushed some stray hairs back and was about to take a drink of water when she looked up and saw Tangtang clutching something, craning her neck as she searched for someone.
“Why are you here? Have you finished your homework?” Yu Juanfang asked, frowning slightly.
A smile lit up Tangtang’s face. “Mom, I finished my homework. Grandma steamed some rice cakes. They’re delicious, and she even put sugar in them. You should try one.”
Old Madam Zhu had only steamed eleven rice cakes, mainly for the children to have a taste.
Tangtang couldn’t bear to eat hers. As soon as it was cooked, she had wrapped it in oil paper to bring to Yu Juanfang in the fields.
A smile touched Yu Juanfang’s lips. She hadn’t eaten lunch and was feeling hungry. She washed her hands in the stream, ruffled the child’s hair, and then broke the rice cake in two. “Let’s split it.”
“Mhm!” Tangtang nodded and found a spot to sit on the ridge, taking small bites of her half.
The cake was made by steaming a fermented rice slurry. It had a fine, dense texture with a slight springiness. It was sweet, and the unique fragrance of rice filled her mouth.
…
To get from the county seat to Wangxiang Village, one had to pass through Yuhuai Village first. As Yu Xiaoyun’s car drove towards her parents’ home, she happened to spot Yu Juanfang cutting rice in the valley. Her prim posture instantly became exaggerated, and she immediately told the driver to stop.
Yu Xiaoyun and her seven-year-old daughter, Jin Changfeng, got out of the car.
“Older Sister.” Yu Xiaoyun tilted her chin up slightly, a smug smile playing on her lips. “I was just passing by in the car and saw someone who looked a lot like you. I didn’t realize it really was you until I got closer.”
As she spoke, Yu Xiaoyun rested her hands on her lower back, displaying her seven- or eight-month pregnant belly like a trophy.
Yu Juanfang, having spent the day harvesting, was sunburnt red on her face and neck. She wore a drab, dark blue shirt with her trouser legs rolled up, and her messy hair was dotted with bits of straw.
Yu Xiaoyun glanced down at herself: a stylish dress from the city, little leather shoes with aluminum buckles—the very picture of a city madam. She was very pleased with how she completely outshone Yu Juanfang.
“I’m so envious of you. Ever since I married into the city, I haven’t had the chance to do any farm work. My hands have gotten so soft. You have no idea how much my in-laws value this pregnancy. They cook whatever I want to eat and don’t let me lift a finger. When they heard I wanted to visit my parents, they even arranged for a car to take me.”
Yu Juanfang smiled faintly. “Your belly looks quite round. Maybe you’ll have another daughter this time! You’re truly fortunate. In the future, you’ll have two sons-in-law to be filial to you.”
Yu Xiaoyun’s expression instantly soured. The one thing she couldn’t stand was people suggesting she was carrying a girl. “Is Older Sister’s eyesight failing? I’ve been craving sour things this whole pregnancy. Everyone who’s seen me says I’m definitely having a boy!”
Her gaze fell on Tangtang, and she covered her mouth in an exaggerated gasp. “And who is this little girl?”
“Mine and Third Brother’s daughter.”
Tangtang couldn’t figure out the relationship between this woman and her mother, so she stayed quiet, unsure of how to address her.
“My, what a pretty little girl. She’ll surely be as hardworking and resilient as you when she grows up. I’m so worried about my own daughter. She’s been spoiled rotten by her family. She needs new clothes every couple of months and will only eat the finest foods. We’ll have to find her a husband who also gets city grain rations. It gives me a headache just thinking about it!”
The little girl beside her, about six or seven years old and close to Tangtang’s age, was wearing a bright red floral shirt. She had sallow skin, single eyelids, protruding eyes, and a flat nose. With her arms crossed and chin tilted up, her face was full of disdain.
“Changfeng, you’re usually so sharp-tongued at home. Why are you so quiet now? Greet your aunt!”
“Jin Changfeng? That name sounds very… down-to-earth,” Yu Juanfang said, almost bursting out laughing.
Yu Xiaoyun had attended school for two years, yet she had given her child such a rustic name. It certainly matched the garish red shirt the girl was wearing.
Yu Xiaoyun’s face darkened. Her daughter’s name had been chosen by her grandmother-in-law; she’d had no say in it. In fact, they had already decided on a name for the baby in her belly: Jin Changlong.
..
After two days of hard work, the rice was finally harvested. The grains were spread out to dry under the hot sun for a few days, and at last, everyone could take a breather. They were all exhausted. With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, Old Madam Zhu made an exception and took out one yuan and fifty cents, sending the eldest son to buy two catties of fresh pork so everyone could have a good meal.
It was a long strip of pork belly, more fat than lean. The fatty part was as white as jade and over a finger thick. The oils seemed ready to seep out; just looking at it, you knew it would be delicious.
The wives took turns cooking, and today it was Yu Juanfang’s turn. She planned to make twice-cooked pork and a simple vegetable soup. She had just pulled some garlic shoots from the garden when her first sister-in-law, Zhang Guixiang, walked in.
Zhang Guixiang had a smile on her face, wiping her hands repeatedly on her greasy apron. “Third Sister-in-law, could I swap with you? Let me cook today, and you can take my turn tomorrow. I have something to do tomorrow.”
Yu Juanfang paused in her task of cleaning the garlic shoots, puzzled. “But I’ve already prepped most of the vegetables. Besides, why can’t you swap with Second Sister-in-law for the day after tomorrow?”
“I’m already here in the kitchen. I don’t want to bother Second Sister-in-law. I really do have something urgent tomorrow. My nephew is getting married, and I have to go help out.”
“Alright then. But you have to cook this pork well, First Sister-in-law. The family hasn’t had meat in a while, and everyone’s looking forward to it.”
Hearing this, Zhang Guixiang’s face broke into a wide grin, and she nodded eagerly. “Don’t you worry! I’ll make this pork so fragrant, I guarantee everyone will be satisfied!”
…
With vegetables planted at the base of the wall, the chickens couldn’t be let out to roam freely, or they would peck at the seedlings. Every afternoon, the children would mix rice bran with water and pour it into the feeding trough, letting the chickens out to eat before herding them back into the coop.
The rice bran was a byproduct of husking the rice. In years of famine, people would eat it too. Tangtang had eaten it before in Waguan Village. Any leftover dried sweet potatoes were saved for her father and brothers, so if she didn’t want to starve, she had to eat the bran. It didn’t taste good—it was coarse and dry, with an unbearable earthy smell, and it was bitter in her mouth.
Tangtang had just herded the chickens back into the coop when she saw her first aunt, Zhang Guixiang, furtively waving at her son. “Gousheng, come here, quick!”
Hearing his mother, Gousheng dropped his marbles and ran to the kitchen. Zhang Guixiang was holding a bowl with about half a bowl of meat in it. She fed him with chopsticks while whispering for him not to make a sound.
Gousheng ate with his mouth glistening with grease, not forgetting to urge his mother to have some too.
“Silly child, Mom doesn’t need any. I’m happy just watching you eat.”
“Mom, this meat is so good.”
“Of course it’s good. Later, bring your older brother over quietly. Don’t let the other children see.”
“Okay, Mom, I know.” After finishing the meat, Gousheng wiped the grease from his mouth, picked up his marbles, and went back to playing.
…
Zhang Guixiang hadn’t realized how little two catties of pork actually was. To cover her tracks, she had to pull up a large handful of garlic shoots from the garden and stir-fry them with the meat, resulting in a large, mostly green platter. She also made a vegetable soup.
Tangtang took a bite of her sorghum flour bun and then a mouthful of garlic leaves. Yu Juanfang picked a piece of pork from among the greens and placed it in her bowl. “Go on, eat.”
Old Madam Zhu’s expression was grim. Zhang Guixiang looked embarrassed.
…
After a long summer, Yu Juanfang had to take a sponge bath every night before she could sleep. She placed a chair under the vine trellis and sat fanning herself with a cattail fan, occasionally swatting at mosquitoes.
“Mom.” Tangtang came out of the house.
She was about to get another chair, but Yu Juanfang, not wanting the trouble, simply had Tangtang sit on her lap. She held her close as they cooled off in the evening air.
This was the first time Tangtang had ever been this close to Yu Juanfang; she could even feel her body heat. Tangtang’s eyes began to sting. Even back in Waguan Village, her own mother, Su Yandi, had never held her like this.
Her mother now was so good. She was the best mother in the world.
Tangtang looked up. “Mom, are you unhappy?”
Yu Juanfang was taken aback, surprised by the child’s perceptiveness.
Besides her husband’s eighteen-yuan monthly subsidy, Yu Juanfang earned eight work points a day from her labor in the production team. Each work point was worth about three cents, meaning she could earn twenty-four cents a day, or six yuan and seventy-two cents for a full month’s work. But all this money had to be handed over to the family matriarch, Old Madam Zhu.
This large family was stirring a thin soup in one big pot, and she couldn’t save a single cent. Her first sister-in-law was cunning and calculating. As for the fourth sister-in-law, Wu Fangmei, Yu Juanfang had never met a more slovenly woman in all of Yuhuai Village. Her room was a filthy, smelly mess, and her two children were just as slovenly. A few years ago, when the kids were little, during the coldest days of winter, she wouldn’t even bother to take them outside, letting them relieve themselves right in the room. The smell would drift over to their south room, making Yu Juanfang feel sick for days.
It was bad enough that she had no control over her own money, but living under the same roof with sisters-in-law like these made Yu Juanfang feel as if she had swallowed a fly.
But these were adult matters. Yu Juanfang wouldn’t burden a child with them, not wanting her to be exposed to the complexities of the adult world too soon.
“I’m not unhappy. I’m just tired from the harvest. Now that it’s over, I feel a bit worn out.”
Tangtang got off her mother’s lap and stood behind her. “Then I’ll give you a shoulder massage. That way, you won’t be so tired.”
The child’s small, tender hands began to knead her shoulders. Tangtang wasn’t strong, but she put all her effort into each squeeze. Yu Juanfang had initially accepted Tangtang out of necessity, thinking it wouldn’t be so bad to have another daughter to visit in the future. But over this period, she had truly come to feel that this girl was wonderful—thoughtful, obedient, and sensible. This daughter was so much better than her sons.