A century of poverty

Chapter 64 Reluctantly Agreed

After dinner, Mom carried a bundle of soaked grass: "When we make rope, some of us need to make thinner ropes, and some of us need to make coarser ones."

Second brother: "You all rub it finely, I'll rub it coarsely."

Father instructed his eldest brother: "Go to your second sister's house in the backyard and tell your second sister's husband that his eighth uncle has a lot of money and we should start preparing supplies."

The older brother said, "Okay." He then got up and went to the backyard, returning a moment later.

Dad: "What did he say?"

Eldest brother: "My second sister's husband said his back hurts and he needs to rest for a few days, so he won't go to the county town."

Dad: "What should we do?" After thinking for a while, he said, "Well, let's sell a hundred catties of rice first, and with what we have at home, let's use that to buy the reeds. The paper mill for the four rooms has also been built, so let's buy the reeds first and save them from not being able to catch up if we have to rush to buy them."

A few days later, the reeds were bought and unloaded at the new house site. Pegs were nailed in, and thick and thin ropes were tied to them; Mom and Third Sister began binding the reeds. Third Cousin Guo Linghua, hearing the commotion, came over with her child. Seeing the work, she handed the child to Mom, saying, "Auntie, you take care of the child, and Third Sister and I will bind the reeds."

Mom: "Okay, I'll cook in a bit, you can eat here."

Half a month passed in a flash, and Dad said anxiously to my eldest brother, "Go to your second sister's house again and see if your second sister's husband is alright, and whether he went to the county town."

The eldest brother went over and greeted his second sister in the outer room. The second sister said, "Come in." Once inside, she simply said, "Sit here."

The older brother said, "I'm not sitting anymore. I don't have much time to spare. Is your back better? How about I go with my dad to see your eighth uncle tomorrow?" Kong Zhi's face darkened. "Don't bother me. I haven't spent any money. Go ask my eighth uncle for it. You're not incapable of going!"

The older brother was rebuffed and went home to tell his father. His father said, "If he doesn't want to go, we can't force him. I'll go myself."

After saying that, he got up and went out, crossing the bridge and heading west along the county road.

When my older brother came home from work at noon, he took off his coat and came out of the east gate to the market.

We were walking home from school when we arrived at Old Zhao's house. My eldest brother came up to my third sister and Linghua, and we started walking towards him. Then we heard my eldest brother scolding my third sister: "Your thin dress is all crooked!"

The third sister turned around, looked, and smiled: "Even if it's tied crookedly, it's still a skill!"

The older brother, his face dark with anger, yelled, "How can you be so shameless! Want to take on another one?"

The third sister also got angry and shouted, "So what if it's crooked! I didn't do it on purpose!"

We were just a few steps away when we saw the eldest brother kick the third sister. The third sister leaned back and reached out to grab him, but before she could grab him, the eldest brother kicked her in the chest again. The third sister fell backward and never got up again.

Third cousin Linghua stood up angrily: "Shuangxing, this is wrong of you! Your sister is so grown up, and you, as her older brother, are still beating her like this? Whether she's right or wrong, she has parents to care about!"

As we approached, we saw Third Sister lying face down with her eyes closed. A moment later, she woke up, her face pale, and frantically lunged at Eldest Brother. She was no match for him; she couldn't even reach him before he kicked her away. Third Sister, while pulling at Eldest Brother, angrily berated him, "What are you doing?!" We couldn't hold him back at all.

The younger brother ran home and brought his mother over. By the time she arrived, the older brother had already stopped. The mother helped her third sister up, saying, "Shuangxing, what are you doing? How can you, as the older brother, act like this? Even your father has never hit you."

The eldest brother, still furious, yelled at his mother, "I'm willing!" and turned to leave.

Linghua left with her child, without even having lunch; her mother couldn't stop her.

My third sister was completely consumed by anger and resentment, and my mother tried to comfort her, but none of us ate well.

Father walked back from the county town in the evening. When he got home and saw his third sister's appearance, he knew what had happened, but he didn't say a word and didn't blame his eldest brother at all.

That evening, the eldest brother asked the eighth grandfather if the money had been recovered, and the father recounted the whole story of how he had tried to get the money back to the family.

He went to see Eighth Master and explained that they needed money to build a house. Li Feng immediately retorted, "Your Zhang family can't even afford two hundred yuan? If it weren't for my nephew, would your whole family be in Jinhai?"

Father said, "I came to Jinhai because of my niece, it's not all thanks to your nephew."

Li Feng: "What about your household registration? Wasn't it Kong Jue who registered your household?"

Father: "If we don't talk about household registration, I wouldn't even think to ask. Our household registration was done by Captain Liu, who took us, Wang Fa, and the two families from Lingyuan to Liuhe Farm. How did it become your nephew's doing?"

Li Feng stammered, having nothing more to say: "Anyway, the money's spent, it's gone."

Just then, a short woman in her thirties with a haircut resembling number five entered and interrupted, "No money! What are you going to do about it!"

The woman's appearance was sudden; the father didn't recognize her and asked, "Who are you?"

The woman said, "I am his daughter."

The father turned to Li Feng and asked, "Is she your daughter?"

Before Li Feng could answer, the woman continued, "Adopted, is that not allowed?"

Her father ignored her words, and judging from his posture, he was determined to get rid of her. He continued to say to Li Feng, "Cousin, we are relatives from an older generation. Not to mention our nephews and nieces, we've known each other for a long time, worked together, and lived in the same village. If I hadn't urgently needed money to build my house, I wouldn't have come to you. I have no other relatives in the Northeast, so you'd better consider this carefully. I'm going back today."

Li Feng: "No need to see me off."

Eldest brother: "No wonder Li Kongzhi spoke like that this morning. They're talking behind my back and don't plan to pay me back."

Dad: "Don't pay it back. It's not a small amount. A train ticket to the capital only cost six yuan and seventy cents. If it were thirty or fifty, we could manage, but two hundred yuan is a lot of money to build a house! If he doesn't pay it back, we might not be able to build the house. Your older sisters brought money to help with that two hundred. If he doesn't pay it back, where are we going to find the money?"

Older brother: "If he wanted to interfere in your affairs, wouldn't that be the way it is?"

Dad: "If that's the case, I'll be stubborn again. I'll ask him for it no matter what, and I'll go back in a few days."

The next day was Sunday, no school. We needed to go gather firewood, but my fourth sister said she had a stomachache and couldn't go, so she stayed behind my mother.

He's not going, but I have to go myself. What's the point of burning firewood if no one goes? It's hard to gather firewood at this time of year. The main stream and low-lying areas are all flooded, and the new reeds and weeds are too tender to cut. Last year's old firewood is covered by the new grass. I tied a rope around my waist, looked for a rake for a while, then for a sickle, wondering which one to bring, or both? I pondered this as I wandered around.

As soon as I entered the house, my father suddenly stood up from the end of the kang (a heated brick bed) and rushed towards me. At that moment, I sensed something was wrong and looked at my father. His face was extremely pale. Oh no! He looked like he was going to hit me. I hurriedly ran out, grabbed a rake, and ran out of the east gate. I wandered aimlessly around the back of the house and headed towards the southern wasteland of the county road.

Along the edge of the large ditch south of the road, there were reeds and small sticks that had been washed up by the water. Just then, I stood on the steep slope and used a rake to slowly scrape them up.

"My dear daughter!" came her mother's voice.

"I was worried, so I came to check on you. I knew my dear daughter wasn't feeling down. Are you feeling better now? You're not so irritable anymore?"

"Uh oh, I just ran out of breath while I was walking."

Mom came down and took the rake from my hand.

"Mom! I don't know why Dad hit me?"

"He's probably annoyed that you're wandering around inside and outside instead of hurrying up! Does your father need a reason to beat us? Aren't all the people above you the same? He orders you around and you don't understand what he's doing, so you don't dare to ask. If you do, he'll beat you."

"Then why didn't he hit my older brother?"

"That's his eldest son, the apple of his eye... Let's go find him somewhere else. This ditch is so deep, it'll be ruined if we slip in." With that, he led me elsewhere.

Father went to the city again to ask Li Feng for money. This time, Li Kongjue was home. After exchanging pleasantries, Father explained his purpose. Li Kongjue said, "My eighth uncle doesn't have it, but I'll pay you back." Then he left.

Father faced Li Feng once again: "Kong Jue's words are frank, but I can't do that. We brothers should talk about our own business."

Li Feng: "The money's been spent, but there's nothing left. If you agree, I'll send the materials for three rooms in Liao here, and I'll give you the roof beams when they arrive."

Dad: "Okay, let's do it this way. How long do you think it'll take to arrive?"

Li Feng: "That's hard to say."

He finally gave in; otherwise, the two hundred yuan would have been wasted. At least the trip wasn't a complete waste; he at least gave me an explanation. Time to go home and wait.