Chapter 4: The Candy Incident
It wasn’t yet fully light when Tangtang woke up. Her face was pale, and her forehead was beaded with cold sweat.
She looked around the room, and only after confirming that she was in the Su family home did her racing heart begin to settle.
She had dreamt of the Huang family’s fat, simple-minded son again. He was six years older than her, drool trickling from his mouth as he stared at her with that vacant gaze. She dreamt of Su Yandi’s fawning expression when she took her to the Huang family, and the way they had sized her up like a piece of merchandise. The memory sent a chill down her spine every time she thought of it.
Tangtang was about to get dressed when her hand, reaching under her pillow, brushed against the candies Yu Juanfang had given her the night before. A sweet smile touched her lips. She counted them—there were five in total. She unwrapped one, and a sweet, fruity taste spread through her mouth, making her feel instantly lighter and happier.
…
Breakfast was sorghum flour buns, pickled cabbage, and a thin porridge of wild greens and black beans. It wasn’t a fine meal by any means, but it was filling. In those days, regardless of the quality of the grain, simply having a full meal was a great happiness.
After eating, Tangtang helped wash the dishes, fed the pigs and chickens, and then went up the mountain with her cousin Wani and the others, a basket strapped to her back. The older Su children were all sensible and helped share the family’s workload. Every day, besides gathering pig feed and firewood, they would also dig for wild vegetables in the fields. As spring approached, more greens began to sprout. After a long winter of eating radishes and potatoes, the wild vegetables were a welcome change of flavor.
The most common greens they ate were dandelion, shepherd’s purse, Chinese toon, and sow thistle. Once blanched in hot water, the bitterness was mostly gone. A simple dressing of minced garlic and soy sauce made them delicious.
Tangtang spent half the day with the other children on the mountain, gathering a full basket of dry firewood and a small handful of wild greens. She squatted down to lift the basket onto her back, but it was too heavy. The large basket looked as if it could snap her slender spine. Su Juesheng quickly stepped in. “I’ll help you carry some of that.”
He transferred a portion of the firewood from Tangtang’s basket to his own. “There. Let’s go home.”
Tangtang licked her lips and flashed him a brilliant smile. “Thank you, Brother Juesheng.”
She had three older brothers in her original family, but they had never once offered to help her with anything. Not only were her new parents kind, but her new brothers were wonderful, too.
“We’re family. Since you’re my parents’ daughter now, that makes you my real sister. It’s only right that I look after you!”
“Mhm!”
Tangtang suddenly remembered something. She felt in her pocket. Yu Juanfang had given her five candies; she had eaten one, leaving four. When she took them out, the other children’s eyes instantly lit up. “Candy?”
Tangtang counted them. There was Huwa, Wani, Su Juesheng, and Su Juesheng—exactly four people. She divided the candies among them. No child could resist sweets, and they all accepted them joyfully.
…
Back home, Yu Juanfang drew water and washed the wild greens several times to get them clean. She blanched them, squeezed out the excess water, chopped them up, and seasoned them with salt and soy sauce. Then, with a loud sizzle, the aroma of lard and garlic filled the air.
The early spring greens were not only tender but also less bitter. The Su family didn’t usually eat lunch, just grabbing a bite of dry rations if they were truly hungry. Tangtang had only eaten a steamed sweet potato for lunch, and her stomach was long since empty. The others were the same. They all buried their heads in their bowls and ate with loud slurps, not even pausing to speak.
After dinner, as Zhang Guixiang was washing dishes by the well, she saw her younger son, Gousheng, running towards her, crying his eyes out. “Mom, Su Juesheng is bullying me! They all have candy to eat, but they won’t give me any!”
Zhang Guixiang was fiercely protective of her children. Hearing this, she shot to her feet. They were all one family, so why were only the children from her first branch left out? “What candy?”
“The kind with the colorful cellophane wrappers, fruit candy! Su Juesheng, Su Juesheng, Wani, they all have some! Mom, I want candy too…”
…
In the south room of the third branch’s house, under the dim light of an oil lamp, Su Huimin studied a new document, his black-framed glasses perched on his nose. Beside him, Yu Juanfang was mending an old shirt that had been torn by a branch. Her three boys were still playing noisily in the courtyard. Tangtang was looking at Su Juesheng’s fourth-grade textbook. She couldn’t read, but she loved looking at the illustrations, which she found fascinating. The book also had a faint, pleasant scholarly scent.
Zhang Guixiang strode into the room. Yu Juanfang put down her needlework and managed a smile. “First Sister-in-law, is something the matter?”
Yu Yahong peeked in from the doorway. She had been herding the chickens back to their coop when she saw Zhang Guixiang storming towards the south room and had hurried over to see the commotion.
Su Huimin also stood up, figuring the sisters-in-law had things to discuss, and prepared to step outside to give them space.
Zhang Guixiang sneered. “Third Sister-in-law, it’s not that I’m trying to be petty, but we all eat from the same pot. As elders, you should at least treat everyone equally, right? The children from your third branch and the second branch all get candy, so how is it that the children from our first branch can only watch with envy?”
“As a mother, I can’t stand to see my child feel wronged! It’s natural for parents to favor their own kids, but even if you’re giving them candy in secret, you could at least be a bit more discreet. Gousheng saw that your Juesheng and Juesheng both had candy, but he didn’t, and he’s been crying for half the night!”
There were degrees of closeness between sisters-in-law, and Yu Juanfang had always been closer to Yu Yahong. Zhang Guixiang had jumped to the conclusion that both the second and third branches had received candy, while her first branch and the fourth had been excluded.
So that’s what this was about.
Tangtang, who had been reading on the kang, instantly tensed up. Before she could process it, she heard Yu Juanfang speak in a level voice. “Tangtang, why don’t you explain to your First Aunt what happened.”
“First Aunt, my mom gave me the fruit candy. She only gave it to me. There were five pieces. I ate one, and I kept the other four in my pocket. Yesterday, when the five of us were gathering firewood on the mountain, I shared the candy with Brother Huwa, Sister Wani, Brother Juesheng, and Brother Juesheng,” Tangtang explained, nervously licking her lips. She knew she must have caused trouble.
“I didn’t mean to leave out Brother Gousheng.”
When her mom had given her the candy, she had specifically told her not to let anyone else see.
Since it wasn’t Yu Juanfang who had distributed the candy, Zhang Guixiang couldn’t very well take her anger out on a child. Her expression turned awkward and ugly. Yu Yahong had already figured it out and stepped in to smooth things over. “Hah! I was wondering what the big deal was. In that case, our Shuanfu and Caogen didn’t get any candy either, not even Juexiao. First Sister-in-law, you’re overthinking things.”
“It seems Third Sister-in-law really dotes on this girl, giving candy only to her.”
“Gousheng is already nine. Crying because he didn’t get any candy at his age is just embarrassing. He’s not acting like a boy at all!”
…
After Zhang Guixiang left, Yu Juanfang lost the heart to continue mending. She called her three boys in from the courtyard, blew out the oil lamp, and everyone lay down to rest.
In the darkness, Tangtang clutched the corner of her quilt, overwhelmed by guilt and anxiety. With so much on her mind, she couldn’t fall asleep.
A long time passed. When she finally heard the rooster crow, Tangtang was surprised to realize it was almost dawn. Fearing she wouldn’t have the energy to gather firewood, she forced her eyes shut and willed herself to sleep.
…
Su Huimin owned a Phoenix-brand bicycle, which he usually rode to meetings at the county school or the commune. On this day, however, Yu Juanfang specifically told him to walk to school and leave the bicycle for her.
After cleaning up the dining area, which looked like a battlefield after breakfast, and feeding the chickens, Yu Juanfang changed into a navy-blue sweater. She slung a plaid satchel over her shoulder—a bag she rarely used—and coiled her neatly combed hair into a bun at the back of her head. With a neutral expression, she called over to Tangtang, who was just strapping a basket to her back.
“You’re not going to the mountain for pig feed today. I’m taking you to the commune.”
Tangtang’s face went white. She nervously wrung the hem of her clothes. After a numb nod, she returned the basket to the corner and sat on the back of the bicycle.
She remembered the day her biological mother, Su Yandi, had tried to sell her to the Huang family’s son as a child bride. She had also carefully spruced herself up just like this, and then said she was taking her somewhere alone.
Is Auntie going to give me away to someone else, too?
The commune was over a dozen li from Yuhuai Village. This was Tangtang’s first time going there. She sat on the back seat, hopping off to help push the bicycle whenever they went up a steep hill.
Spring had arrived, and the sun felt a little too warm in her padded jacket.
Tangtang’s spirits were low, and Yu Juanfang didn’t initiate a conversation, probably feeling there was nothing to say.
“What did you usually do at your old home?” After they had pushed the bicycle to the top of a hill, Yu Juanfang finally spoke to her.
Even though she was certain she was about to be sent away, Tangtang was still happy that her aunt was talking to her. “Wash clothes, gather firewood, cook, feed the chickens, and find wild fruit in the mountains to eat…”
These past few weeks had been the happiest days of her life.
Although her aunt always seemed indifferent, she was actually very good to her. She would secretly give her a thicker bowl of porridge, ladle her a full bowl of fish soup, and even give her candy. Her uncle was kind, and her brothers were kind, too.
At the Su family home, she was no longer cold and could eat her fill. She got to wear a pink girl’s jacket instead of her brothers’ dirty hand-me-downs. A boy’s trousers had the zipper in the front. Every single day at the Su family home had been a happy one.
“You washed the clothes all by yourself?”
“Mhm.” Tangtang nodded. She dreaded winter the most. Besides not having warm enough clothes or blankets, the worst part was doing the laundry. In the dead of winter, the water was full of ice shards, and the moment she plunged her hands in, it felt like they would freeze right off. Then, when she warmed her chilblain-covered hands by the fire, they would ache and itch unbearably.
And in winter, the clothes to be washed were especially thick and numerous. They would pile high in two wooden basins, and it would take a whole morning just to finish.