Chapter Thirty-Nine: I Missed You So Much

Qingying hurried home to fetch an axe, a blazing fury raging in her chest.

She realized that Caiyun had used the promise of adoption as a bait to make her agree to let Liu Yunfeng move into that room—it had all been a trap, and Yunfeng had never intended to do any such thing.

She even suspected that Caiyun’s making of the bed earlier was merely a ploy to seize the house, and since Faofu had helped build it, the two of them must have plotted it out long ago.

Now that Caiyun had also brokered the match between Big-Head Langzi and Yunfeng, her own scheme had completely fallen through. The more she thought about it, the angrier she grew. Striding up to the front of the room, she raised the axe and struck at the door lock.

Seeing this, Caiyun immediately stepped forward to stop her, and the two women began to scuffle. No match for Qingying, Caiyun had to run back to Qingying’s backyard to fetch Faofu, who was in the midst of his chores.

"Stop it! None of this nonsense!" Faofu grabbed the axe from Qingying’s hand and shoved her to the ground.

"Go ahead and hit me, hit me! I dare you!" Qingying seized the opportunity to wrap her arms around Faofu’s lower leg, wailing and making a scene.

Faofu tried coaxing her for a long time, but Qingying refused to get up. Left with no other choice, he had to prop her up by the arms and drag her back home.

That evening, hearing that his older brother was going to sleep on the new bed in the small room, Yujun wanted in on the excitement. He pestered Yuqiang to let him share the new bed, and since Yuqiang wouldn't mind a companion, he readily agreed.

Caiyun assumed Yujun was merely being curious and would run back shortly, so she didn't give it another thought.

After Big-Head Langzi married Yunfeng, he still frequently came to pester Caiyun, so she decided to find an opportunity to have a serious talk with him.

One day, seeing that Caiyun was running low on firewood, Big-Head Langzi went to the West Mountain, dug up some tree roots, chopped them into firewood, and brought them over. Finding Caiyun home alone, he closed the door, threw his arms around her, and began kissing and groping her. "Yun, I've missed you to death!"

"Let go of me, or I'll get angry!"

Seeing that Caiyun was truly upset, Big-Head Langzi had no choice but to release her.

Caiyun opened the door and ordered Big-Head Langzi, "Sit down right now! I have something to say to you."

Big-Head Langzi found a wooden stool and sat down obediently.

"Honglei, you are married to Yunfeng now, and I am your elder. If you keep acting like this, not only are you failing Yunfeng, but you're also breaking my heart. I want the two of you to be happy, and I want you to have a warm and fulfilling family! Do you understand what I mean?"

"I understand, but I just like you!"

"You are my savior, and I know you genuinely care for me, but I cannot give you a home, whereas Yunfeng can. So you must treat her well. Besides, you need to temper your temper; you must stop resorting to beating people at every turn. Yunfeng has no other family here except for you. If you break her heart, she will have nowhere to turn. Do you know that?"

"I know. I'll listen to you and won't make her sad!"

"Then I can rest easy!"

Ever since she learned that Yunfeng was going to marry Big-Head Langzi, Qingying not only rarely visited her maiden home, but she also kept a very tight leash on Faofu. Faofu knew what was behind her behavior, so his trysts with Caiyun became much rarer, limited mostly to embraces and affectionate caresses.

After staying with Yuqiang for a few nights, Yujun ran back and demanded to sleep with his mother again. Caiyun asked him, "Why aren't you sleeping with your brother anymore?"

Yujun replied, "I want to hear you tell stories."

Caiyun thought for a moment and said to Yujun, "Then shall I tell you the story of the fox and the crow?"

"Yes!"

"It is said that a fox was looking for food in the woods. He came under a large tree and saw a crow standing on a branch with a piece of meat in her beak. The fox’s mouth watered with greed. Rolling his eyes, he said to the crow, 'Dear crow, how are you?' The crow did not answer..."

"Why didn't the crow answer?" Yujun asked, feeling puzzled and interrupting his mother's tale.

His mother told him, "The crow was afraid that if she opened her mouth, the meat would drop."

Yujun asked again, "Why did the crow keep holding the meat in her beak instead of swallowing it?"

"She hadn't had the chance yet."

"And then?"

His mother continued, "The fox refused to give up. Wearing a ingratiating smile, he said to the crow, 'Dear crow, your voice is truly wonderful. Everyone loves to hear you sing. Won't you sing a few bars?' Hearing the fox's words, the crow was immensely pleased and began to caw. 'Caw...' The moment she opened her beak, the meat fell down. The fox snatched up the meat in his jaws and bolted away like a wisp of smoke."

When she finished, mother asked Yujun, "Would you say this fox was cunning or not?"

It was then that Caiyun realized Yujun had already fallen asleep.

On the day of the Qingming Festival, Caiyun took her children to sweep Faicai's grave. First, she piled fresh earth onto the mound, instructing the children that the soil could only be sprinkled over the grave, never patted down, and certainly never pounded.

The children bustled about burning paper money for their father, using wooden sticks to stir the stacked yellow paper to ensure it burned thoroughly.

Caiyun laid out the offerings she had brought: rice, sweet potatoes, braised fish, boiled peanuts, and white liquor in front of Faicai's grave.

She said to Faicai, "Old man, we've come to see you. The children are sending you money now. Make sure you collect it and put it away safely. Spend it when you need to, and don't be too stingy to use it. We've prepared rice for you—this is the rice we couldn't bear to eat ourselves and saved just for you. During your lifetime, whenever there was anything good to eat, you always saved it for us. This time, you must listen to me and not make up excuses to push it back."

Caiyun pushed the braised fish and boiled peanuts a little closer to the grave and continued, "These are all your favorites. I also poured you two ounces of white liquor. It's cold out, so drink a little to warm yourself up."

She sprinkled all the liquor onto the earth before the grave. "This fish was caught by Yuqiang, and the peanuts and sweet potatoes are from our private plot. Now that the 'responsibility system' is in place, everyone affectionately calls it the 'life-saving land.' The wheat in our 'responsibility plot' is growing exceptionally well and is about to head out; it will be ready for harvest in little more than a month. With the 'responsibility land,' our days will only get better and better, so you can rest easy. I will certainly raise the children to adulthood with my own hands..."

"Mom, who are you talking to?" Yujun curiously interrupted Caiyun.

Caiyun answered, "Your dad."

"Isn't my dad dead?"

"Your dad isn't really dead."

"Then where is he? Why can't I see him?"

"He's in heaven, very far from here. We can't see him, but he can see us. He knows everything we do and say."

"Is there food in heaven?"

"Yes, there is everything there. Whatever you want, you can have."

"Then I want to go to heaven too."

"Heaven won't take you right now. Only after you've accomplished many great and good deeds will heaven accept you."

"What is a great deed? What is a good deed?"

"Things like what your Uncle Dazhi does—what he does for the country and the common people are great deeds. Things like what your father did—when he was starving himself yet saved his food to leave for you children—that is a good deed."

"Then when I grow up, I'm going to do lots of great and good deeds."

"By then, heaven can take you."

After having the children kowtow to their father, Caiyun went to Yuicui's grave, personally lit the yellow paper, and sent money to Yuicui. "Cuier, are you doing well over there? Mom feels the most guilt toward you. They say the crying child gets the milk, but you only knew how to yield. When you came to this world, you never wore a new dress. When hunger became unbearable, you drank water. Even when you were failing, you were still thinking of your younger brother. You were such an obedient child, and Mom paid far too little attention to you..."

Yujun ran over to his father's grave, picked up the rice and braised fish, and brought them to Yuicui's grave, saying to his mother, "Mom, I want to let Second Sister eat something good, is that okay?"

Caiyun pulled Yujun tightly into her arms. "Yes! Good child, you did the right thing, and Mom is very glad. A person must know how to be grateful and should never wrong their benefactors under any circumstances. At the very last moment of her life, your second sister still saved that life-saving mouthful of food to leave for you. You must never forget your second sister."

Yujun nodded repeatedly, and Caiyun felt that he had grown up and become sensible.

At that moment, Faofu came over with a shovel to add some earth to Faicai's grave, and Caiyun seized the opportunity to speak with him. "Qingying hasn't been speaking to me because of that small room. Why don't you build an annex in the backyard so she stops dwelling on it?"

Faofu replied, "That's fine too. Anyway, building it in our own backyard won't affect anyone else. Work is slack right now; we'll start construction in a couple of days."

"Discuss it carefully with Qingying, and don't let on that it was my idea, so as to avoid stirring up trouble."

"I know. Rest assured."

On the day construction began, Caiyun went over to help as well. She took the initiative to speak to Qingying, but Qingying still railed relentlessly at her. "Don't think that just because I'm building a house, you can permanently occupy my room. For every day you refuse to hand it over, I'll make sure you have no peace."

After the house was completed, Caiyun also went over to help tidy up. Faofu and Qingying moved their bed into the newly built east annex, and the dividing wall between the two front main rooms had been torn down, making the space appear much more spacious.

After the Qingming Festival, the season for raising rice seedlings and transplanting them arrived. With the implementation of the "responsibility system," everything from plowing and harrowing the fields to soaking and sowing rice seeds was handled independently by each household. None of the heavy and skilled labor could be done by anyone in Caiyun's family, leaving them completely reliant on Faofu.

Aside from his own farm work, Faofu also had to go out to do carpentry work, so he could only help Caiyun with these chores by working from before dawn until late at night. Often, he would get up at the first crow of the rooster, and while everyone else was already asleep, he would still be busy. All Caiyun could do was act as his assistant and prepare extra food to take out to the fields for him as a snack.

The wheat had ripened. Heavy ears of wheat brushed against one another in the gentle breeze, rustling softly. Caiyun plucked a wheat head, rubbed it between her palms, and popped the plump grains into her mouth to chew; her entire mouth was filled with a fresh fragrance. Standing before her own "responsibility plot," she gazed out into the fields—a vast expanse of golden yellow, undulating in the wind like a tide beneath the glow of the sunset.

The wheat harvest was about to begin, and rice transplanting would commence soon after. Following closely would be field management. The busiest season of the year—the Three Summers—had arrived.

"Mom, our school is starting its busy-season break tomorrow. I want to go down to the fields and work with you," Yuqiang said to his mother.

Caiyun was overjoyed to hear this. "Good! I was just fretting. Right now we need to harvest wheat and transplant rice at the same time, and relying on me alone for these ten-plus mu of land is truly impossible. How many days is the busy break?"

"Two weeks. Classes resume on June eleventh."