1983, Northeast China

Chapter 44 Two Companies Merged into One

The closer it gets to the Lunar New Year, the colder the weather becomes.

At first, Aunt Wang kept quiet about the broken house. Chen Shi only saw that every day when making breakfast, Aunt Wang's hands were so cold they looked like carrots. She had to lie in front of Chen Xiulan's stove for a long time to warm them before she could bend her fingers.

Later, it was Li Cheng who blurted out that his house had a crack, and the house was getting colder and colder, making it uninhabitable, like an ice cellar.

Aunt Wang would occasionally sleep with Chen Xiulan for a night or two, but Li Cheng went even further, coming over almost every day to squeeze in with Chen Shi, never compromising himself in any way.

Later on, they simply started eating all three meals a day at Chen Xiulan's place.

It got dark that day, and Chen Shi took Li Cheng out to catch a few fish. When they came back, they ate late. Aunt Wang was cooking, and Li Cheng stayed on Chen Shi's bed and refused to leave.

"Second Aunt, is that house still acceptable?" Chen Shi asked.

"Your window rattled all night last night," Chen Xiulan said with concern as she settled Xiaoman back into her cot. "It gave me the creeps. My voice is hoarse today."

"It's just the wind. What kind of winter is it if it doesn't have a wind?" She said without looking up.

Li Cheng arranged the bowls one by one, then casually added, "Not only is her voice hoarse. This morning, my mother took a rolling pin and tried to break the water vat, but after a long time, she couldn't. In the end, she kicked the vat, which hurt her terribly."

Aunt Wang raised her spoon. Li Cheng, used to shrinking back, stepped aside in advance, shouting, "I'm serving porridge! I'm serving porridge!"

"Second Aunt," Chen Xiulan looked at her, "even Li Cheng, a grown man, can't stay here anymore, what are you still doing carrying on?"

"Second Aunt, I have an idea. Why don't you take Li Cheng, my sister and I, and the two children, and move to the old house together?" Chen Shi put down his chopsticks.

Li Cheng was picking up some vermicelli, his chopsticks hovering in mid-air. Aunt Wang stirred the porridge in her bowl, then put the spoon down and fell silent.

"I think that's a good idea!" Chen Xiulan agreed. "I just felt it was inconvenient for you to keep going back and forth like this. I really hadn't thought about the old house."

"You know my dad's old house? It's three mud-brick houses next to the mill. The kang (heated brick bed) in the east room can sleep three or four people. Li Cheng and I lived in the west room, and we cooked in the main room. The yard was spacious, with a woodshed, vegetable garden, and everything else," Chen Shi said.

"What kind of talk is that! Me, a widow with a son, moving into your Chen family's house? The villagers' spittle could drown me!"

"What are you chewing?" Li Cheng slurped the rice noodles into his mouth. "Just tell them I'm working as a farmhand for Chen Shi, with room and board included."

Aunt Wang slapped him on the back of the head and said, "Shut up."

"Let whoever wants to say it say it!" Chen Xiulan suddenly slammed her chopsticks on the table, startling everyone present. She usually spoke softly; when had she ever raised her voice like this?

"Second Aunt, even if Shizi hadn't brought it up this time, I would have. Both times I was in postpartum confinement, you took care of me, holding and soothing the baby for me night after night. You treat me like your own daughter, how could I treat you like an outsider for the sake of those distant neighbors?"

This was the first time Chen Xiulan had yelled at someone since Chen Mancang's death.

"One or two of them, always trying to shut me up." Aunt Wang turned her face away, rubbed her hands on her apron several times, then picked up the porridge bowl, picked it up and put it down again.

Ya Ya looked up at her mother, then at Aunt Wang. The child didn't know what had happened to the adults, but she knew that Aunt Wang had been scolded. She sidled up to Aunt Wang and handed her the half-eaten peach shortbread she was holding.

"Second Grandma, eat this. It will make you feel better."

Aunt Wang looked at the half-eaten peach shortbread and said, "I'll listen to you. The child is growing up and has his own ideas, which is a good thing. I'll be obedient."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiulan burst into tears. Grabbing Wang Ershenzi's hand, she said, "Not only will I stay here, but from today onwards, I will recognize you as my godmother, and Li Cheng will be my brother. We are now family. Let whoever wants to gossip talk all they want."

"You silly girl..."

"Godmother," Chen Xiulan called out.

Suddenly, tears streamed down Aunt Wang's face. Her whole face crumpled up, her mouth agape, and she cried silently. She wiped them with both hands, but the more she wiped, the more tears flowed. Then, suddenly, she smiled again.

"In this life... from now on, I'm a woman with a daughter now." She reached out and touched Chen Xiulan's face, wiping away her tears with her thumb. The two of them cried and laughed together.

Chen Shi didn't urge her, but simply pushed half a bolt of dark cloth in front of her.

"This is for my second aunt to make a cotton-padded jacket. Whether she moves it or not, we have to accept it."

Aunt Wang reached out and touched the piece of cloth.

The fabric was thick and the color wasn't bright; it was clearly carefully chosen. She touched it for a while before whispering, "I'll go check out the old house tomorrow. If it's habitable, then we can talk about moving."

"I'm a brother now, so I'll take over the kitchen," Li Cheng said, heading towards the door. "I'll start now."

He turned back at the door and called out to Chen Xiulan, "Sister."

Before Chen Xiulan could respond, he left. The door slammed shut a bit too hard, hitting the doorframe with a bang.

Chen Shi lowered his head and drank his porridge with a smile on his face, thinking that after finishing the porridge, he would go after Li Cheng and make him stay outside the old house to freeze for a while longer.

A moment later, Li Cheng returned, his face beaming with excitement. "At the door... at the door..."

Chen Shi roughly guessed what had happened, put down his chopsticks, and went out.

A donkey cart was parked at the entrance of the courtyard.

The driver was a dark-faced old man, wearing a sheepskin coat with the ear flaps of his hat drooping down to his shoulders. Stacks of burlap sacks were piled on the cart, covered with oilcloth, and covered with a layer of frost.

The dark-faced old man pulled a piece of paper from his pocket, folded it neatly, and handed it over. "Those marked with a checkmark are all on the bus. Dot Dot."

Chen Shi lifted the oilcloth.

Fifty catties of wheat flour, twenty catties of millet, thirty catties of corn grits, and eight catties of cotton, fluffed up so fluffy... Chen Shi checked each item one by one, and nothing was missing.

At the bottom was a small wooden box. Chen Shi opened it and saw silver needles. There were more than a dozen, as thin as hair, of varying lengths. Next to them were two bottles of medicinal wine sealed with red cloth.

Li Cheng appeared out from behind at some point and reached his hand into the box.

"Let me see what's so precious..."

Aunt Wang slapped his hand from behind, making a sharp cracking sound. "Put it down, you want everything?"

Li Cheng quickly withdrew his hand, covering his bright red hand. "I was just looking! It's not made of paper!"

"Look? You remember last time you pried two beads off someone's abacus? Forgot?"

"I was only nine years old that year..."

"You can tell what a person will be like at three years old."

Li Cheng obediently shut up and moved closer to Chen Shi. His adopted younger brother was more reliable than his biological mother.

Chen Xiulan looked at the cartload of things, still a little confused. "Shizi, these..."

"These are all from our family." Chen Shi picked up the cloth and stuffed it into her arms. "Cloth, cotton, brown sugar, flour, cured meat. Those two quilts, one for you and one for your godmother. The cotton shoes are yours. The cotton-padded jacket and trousers are Yaya's."

Ya Ya let out a sharp "Ah!" and jumped high into Chen Xiulan's arms. "My! My new cotton-padded jacket!"

She hugged Chen Xiulan for only a short while before grabbing the blue floral cotton-padded jacket and trousers, burying her face in the cotton and rubbing against it vigorously. After rubbing, she held the jacket up very high.

"Mom, look! There are little blue flowers on it!"

"I saw it, I saw it." Chen Xiulan smiled, but tears welled up in her eyes again.