Chapter One: Archenemies

It was a morning in early March 1958. Zhang Caiyun, a resident of Wangjiayu Village, lay in bed, listlessly wringing out a tattered towel soaked in sweat and blood, when she suddenly heard her youngest daughter, Yucui, crying out from the backyard: "Mama, Mama..."

She struggled to pull herself up from the bed, but her legs refused to obey. She had no choice but to call for her eldest son: "Yuqiang, go to the backyard quickly and see what's wrong with your sister!"

Yuqiang rushed to the backyard and saw Yucui running and crying. The neighbor’s boy, Santoutou, was chasing closely behind her, his hands waving wildly at her. Yuqiang let out a thunderous roar: "Stop that!"

Seeing Yuqiang approach, Santoutou turned and fled.

Yuqiang stepped closer and saw that his sister’s clothes were covered in filth. Enraged, he lunged forward, grabbed Santoutou just as he was about to climb over the wall, and gave him a sound thrashing. Santoutou wailed, "Help! Help!..."

Santoutou’s grandfather rushed over. Seeing his grandson’s nose bleeding profusely, he didn't bother to ask what had happened. He immediately slapped Yuqiang across the face, shouting, "You little brat, tired of living?" He then pinned Yuqiang to the ground and began to beat him mercilessly.

Caiyun, seeing this, found strength from somewhere unknown. She charged into the backyard and roared, "Stop! How can you beat a child?"

"Look at what he did to my grandson! I’m going to teach him a lesson today," the old man retorted, raising his fist again.

Caiyun stepped forward to grab his arm, trying to stop him. This only incensed him further; he stood up abruptly, grabbed Caiyun, and shoved her with all his might. She slammed against the wall and collapsed to the ground.

Knowing that Caiyun was near her due date, the old man grabbed his grandson and fled.

Yulan came over, and together with Yuqiang, she helped their mother back inside.

Moments later, Santoutou’s mother, Han Xiuxia, stormed in with her son's clothes, fuming. "Zhang Caiyun, my son was injured by Yuqiang. What do you intend to do about it?"

Caiyun replied, "You’ve come just in time. My son has been beaten by your father-in-law to the point where he can’t even move. I haven't even had the chance to settle the score with you people!"

"He deserved it! Who told him to hit my son first?"

"Why don't you ask Yucui what happened?"

Yucui told Han Xiuxia, "I was using the latrine when Santoutou ran over and said he wanted to use it too. He told me to get up, but I didn't move. He started urinating on me. I got up and pushed him away, and he lost his footing and fell, sticking both his hands into the latrine pit. When he got up, he chased me and started smearing feces all over me. That’s when my brother saw him and hit him."

Han Xiuxia said to Caiyun, "You heard that? Yucui pushed him into the latrine, and he didn't even hit her when he got up. What more do you want? Why did Yuqiang have to hit him?"

Yucui retorted, "I didn't push him on purpose! He was blocking the exit and urinating on me. I only pushed him so I could run away."

"Regardless, you pushed him into the latrine. That’s not a lie, is it?"

Caiyun said, "Your son does such despicable things, and you still have the nerve to come here?"

"Spare me the lecture! I’ve brought Santoutou’s clothes. You wash them clean and bring them to me as an apology. Otherwise, you’ll face the consequences." With that, she threw the dirty clothes onto Caiyun’s bed and left.

Caiyun grabbed the filthy clothes and hurled them onto the floor. "Bah! Apologize to you? In your dreams!"

Suddenly, she was struck by a sharp, agonizing pain that made her writhe on the bed. Yulan looked over and saw blood flowing from her mother’s legs, staining the straw on the bed red. Frightened, she asked, "Mama, should I go call Papa back?"

"No, your father is working on the reservoir far away. You won’t find him."

"It's fine, I can ask for directions."

"No. The reservoir project is a major government call; we cannot delay it."

Caiyun’s husband had joined other villagers at the water conservancy site right after the Spring Festival. The site was far from home, and with the three children still young—eldest son Chen Yuqiang only nine, eldest daughter Chen Yulan eight, and youngest daughter Chen Yucui five—all the work in the house and fields fell on Caiyun’s shoulders.

After a wave of pain subsided, Caiyun was drenched in sweat. She wiped herself with a towel and handed it to Yulan. "Wring this out."

Yulan took the towel, wrung it dry, and wiped the sweat from her mother and the blood from her lips. Whenever the pain became unbearable, Caiyun would bite the towel to keep from screaming, fearing she would frighten the children. As a result, she had bitten her lips until they bled.

"Yulan, Yulan..." Caiyun called out in a daze.

"Mama, I’m here. What do you need?"

"Go quickly and fetch your Second Aunt."

"Alright, I’ll go right now."

Yuqiang, having rested, felt he had recovered some strength. He came over to wipe his mother’s sweat. "Mama, why are you bleeding so much?"

"That wretched old man hit me too hard. Stay away from them in the future; they have many people and influence. We can’t afford to provoke them."

"They are bullying us too much. I can’t stand it."

"A wise man doesn't fight when the odds are against him. Your grandfather was crippled by that old man and his gang years ago; he remained bedridden until he died in bitterness."

"I know. I will settle this score with them sooner or later."

"They faced their own retribution. The old man’s brother was sentenced and eventually died in prison."

"Why was only he sentenced?"

"Because he was the most brutal. He used an iron fork to pierce your grandfather’s intestines and left a massive gash on his head. Though your grandfather survived, he was ruined, and our family was devastated."

As they were talking, Yulan returned with her Second Aunt, Li Qingying, who looked very reluctant.

Caiyun’s husband was one of two brothers. His sister-in-law, Li Qingying, was unable to bear children, and the relationship between the two sisters-in-law had never been good. Qingying had a sharp tongue and often embarrassed Caiyun, but now, she had no choice but to turn to her.

As soon as Qingying entered, Yuqiang greeted her: "Second Aunt, my mother asked for you."

"Asking, asking, all the time! It’s just having a baby, why make such a scene?" Caiyun knew exactly what she meant by "scene."

Qingying walked up to Caiyun and remarked, "I don't know why you make such a fuss about having a baby. Look at other women; they drop babies like hens laying eggs—just squat down and out it comes."

Caiyun felt a surge of anger, thinking that only a woman who couldn't bear children herself would say such nonsense, but she had no energy to argue.

"Sister-in-law, could you please help me find a midwife?"

"Don't you see it’s raining outside? It’s been raining for days. The mud on the road is deep; where do you expect me to find one?"

"If this continues, I fear for the child’s safety. I am begging you."

"This is your fourth child. When have you ever needed a midwife before?" Qingying said impatiently.

Yulan picked up a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat, handed them to her aunt, and looked up at her with pleading eyes.

Seeing Yulan’s imploring gaze, Qingying’s heart softened. "Fine, I’ll go. You’re such a nuisance." She put on the raincoat and hat and headed toward the east side of the village.

Although Yulan was only eight, she was very sensible, sweet-tongued, and well-behaved.

Since Qingying couldn't have children, she doted on Yulan as if she were her own. She loved taking Yulan along wherever she went, and she never refused a request from the girl.

After Qingying left, Yulan went to wash the dirty clothes of Yucui and Santoutou. When she returned, she saw Santoutou’s second sister, Ermeizi, leading several older boys toward their house. She quickly stepped inside and locked the door.

Ermeizi started shouting from outside: "Chen Yuqiang, you crooked-headed, buck-toothed donkey! If you’ve got guts, come out!"

"If you don't come out, you’re a coward!"

"Chen Yuqiang, you’re just a turtle hiding in its shell!"

"Let me tell you, if you dare hit my brother again, I’ll hang a manure bucket on your buck teeth and stink you to death!"

The gang she brought with her continued to jeer...

Seeing that it was raining again and that Yuqiang refused to come out, Ermeizi signaled for them to leave.

Yuqiang still felt sore all over and had no interest in engaging them; he only hoped the midwife would arrive soon.

It was nearly noon when the midwife arrived. She was a woman in her forties who looked quite capable. Caiyun knew her as Granny Yang from Yangjiagang. Because of her large mouth, people called her "Big-Mouth Yang." She was an experienced midwife with a good reputation. Caiyun was deeply grateful to Qingying.

Big-Mouth Yang opened her small kit, instructed Yuqiang to boil a pot of water, and dropped her scissors and towels into it to boil. She then examined Caiyun and told her to cooperate.

Once everything was ready, she instructed Yuqiang to open all doors, windows, cabinets, and water vats in the house. She muttered something under her breath, then began to press down on Caiyun’s belly, urging her to push...

After a long time, Big-Mouth Yang saw a baby’s foot emerging from the birth canal. Drenched in sweat—whether from exhaustion or something else—she collapsed onto the floor, deathly pale, and whispered to herself, "Oh no, a breech birth."

She tried to comfort Caiyun, telling her to relax, while carefully using her hands to push the baby’s foot back inside.

Caiyun told her about being beaten earlier and the subsequent bleeding, then asked, "Do you think the baby’s foot coming out first has anything to do with that?"

Big-Mouth Yang replied, "It’s possible. The fetus must have been startled and panicked."

After a short rest, she had Caiyun try various positions to adjust the baby’s position. They struggled until late at night, but it was to no avail. Caiyun had lost consciousness, and the bleeding from the birth canal continued. Big-Mouth Yang seemed to have run out of options.

The eldest son, Yuqiang, felt that as the only man in the house, he had to make a decision.

He went to find Qingying. "Second Aunt, my mother is in great danger. We must get her to the hospital!"

"To the hospital? Do you have money?" Qingying asked.

"Please lend it to me first. I’ll pay you back when my father returns."

"It’s the middle of the night and it’s raining. How are we supposed to go?"

"I just checked; the rain has stopped."

"Your mother is in such a state. It’s several miles away; who can carry her?"

"I saw Uncle Zhao at home this evening. I’ll go ask him."

Yuqiang ran to Uncle Zhao’s house, woke him up, and asked for help. Upon learning the situation, Uncle Zhao said he had a flatbed cart and hurried to put on his clothes and bring the cart over.

"Quick, let’s get her to the hospital!" Uncle Zhao said.

Everyone helped lift Caiyun onto the cart. Yuqiang told Yulan to take care of her little sister, then took a lantern to light the way. Uncle Zhao pulled the cart, while Qingying and the midwife pushed from behind.

The early spring night was still bone-chilling. The muddy, potholed path was covered in a thin layer of ice. The cart swayed and bumped along slowly.

Caiyun regained consciousness and asked if the baby was in danger.

"You should worry about yourself first. 'As long as the green hills remain, there’s no fear of running out of firewood,'" the midwife comforted her.

Caiyun said she was fine and that going to the hospital would be expensive. Yuqiang told his mother that he had already borrowed money from his Second Aunt.

The cart reached the Tiger Pond embankment, where the road was wider and higher, making travel easier. Suddenly, one of the wheels hit a puddle at the edge of the embankment, and the entire cart, along with Caiyun, tumbled off the embankment and plunged into a water pond more than a meter deep...