Chapter 7 - 007 Zhongjia Bay

"I really appreciate it; take these two hair accessories, and don't disdain them," Tian Sisi said as she handed the hairpins from her pocket to Zhong Meiying, who, however, wouldn't want anything worn by someone else. Zhong Meiying hesitated to accept the hairpins; they were precious items that money couldn't buy, and Zhong Yuying had been proudly wearing them for a whole month! Seeing this, Tian Sisi stuffed the hairpins into her hand and, pulling her two younger brothers with her, she walked away, turning back to shout, "Don't forget my request!" Cherishing the hairpins, Zhong Meiying stuffed them into her cotton jacket pocket, planning to give them to her elder sister, who was going to meet a potential suitor this year. Wearing these hairpins, her sister would certainly look even more beautiful and might find a good family to marry into. Zhong Meiying safely hid the hairpins and watched Tian Sisi's retreating figure, admiring her beauty but without a trace of jealousy. Zhong Meiying's father, Zhong Shancai, was a hardworking farmer who had taught his children from a young age not to covet others' better food and clothes but to work hard to have a good life with their own hands. His own brother, Zhong Liangcai (father of Zhong Yuying), used to live a better life, but he never thought of taking advantage of his brother's prosperity, even when his own family was left to eat husks and vegetables without asking for help. Zhong Shancai was quite enthusiastic, unlike his brother Zhong Liangcai, who only socialized with wealthy families. Zhong Shancai would help out any family in need, and because of this, he was quite popular in Yuequan Village. During land reform, given his relation to Zhong Liangcai, he should have been classified as middle farmers, but the village officials proactively suggested to the work team to classify him as poor middle farmers, which let Zhong Shancai's family live peacefully. Therefore, although Zhong Meiying envied Tian Sisi's fine clothes, she wouldn't resort to trickery like Zhong Yuying to swindle Tian Sisi's belongings. Zhong Meiying hurried to the banks of Crying Girl River, hoping to wash her clothes quickly so she could return home and put the hairpins on her sister. She then planned to go around the village and spread word of Tian Sisi's name change, since taking someone's gift obliged her to do the task well; she was not an ingrate like Zhong Yuying. No one in Yuequan Village knew exactly how old the old camphor tree was. The eldest villagers claimed it was already as big as it is now when they were children. They also said the tree was magical: when the Japanese soldiers tried to burn it down, a bolt of lightning struck as soon as they lit the fire, killing the Japanese soldier who had started the fire and scaring off the rest. However, the camphor tree was left with a large hole, deep enough for a person. Everyone thought it wouldn't survive for long, but as years went by, it continued to thrive more lushly than ever. Whenever there was an event, villagers would gather under the camphor tree; they even studied Chairman Mao's quotes there. The children of the village loved to play there too, as there was a large clearing under the camphor tree where villagers sunned their grain, held meetings, showed films, and performed opera—making it the most lively place in Yuequan Village. At this moment, a crowd of children had gathered there, patched-up cotton-padded jackets on most of them, their thin trousers hardly enough for the cold. Some children wore only a single layer of pants, their toes peeking out from their single-layered shoes, while a few children wore new clothes, clearly from the village's upper-class families. Due to the lack of sunlight, the snow under the camphor tree remained thick, and the children played joyously in it, throwing snowballs, building snowmen, seemingly unaffected by the cold. Dong Hua proudly took out a handful of firecrackers from his bag, waved them at the other children, and shouted, "Let's set off firecrackers!" He immediately attracted the attention of the boys, their eyes greedy for the bright red firecrackers in Dong Hua's hand. Dong Hua then pulled out a cigarette from his bag, lit it with a match, and began setting off firecrackers with the other children. Of course, Dong Hua and Qinghua were the ones to light them. The other children watched or helped bury the firecrackers in the snow. Watching the ignited firecrackers blast the white snow in all directions, they all shouted with excitement. Tian Sisi, of course, would not engage in such a childish game. After watching for a while, she genuinely found it uninteresting. Dong Hua's fireworks were just taken from a string of firecrackers at home, lacking variety. Nothing like the fireworks of the future, which come in all sorts of types and are incomparably beautiful. "Tian Zhaodi, do you want to come and play snowman with us?" A girl in somewhat tattered clothes timidly approached and asked. Tian Sisi, who was completely bored, looked up upon hearing this. She saw five or six girls, all of whom seemed to be around her age. Since she had nothing else to do, building a snowman wasn't a bad idea. She nodded her head, and the eyes of the girl who asked the question instantly lit up. She had been egged on by Zhong Lanying to approach Tian Zhaodi and thought she would be scolded. Tian Zhaodi didn't usually give much attention to the children of the rich and middle farmers, but she hadn't expected Tian Zhaodi to agree to play with them today. How wonderful! The girl, flattered and happy, led Tian Sisi towards their group. The other girls smiled ingratiatingly at Tian Sisi, offering her the best spot. All of these girls were dressed in rags; one had a large hole over her knee, her big toe poking through. Their hands and faces were covered with frostbite. Just looking at them made Tian Sisi feel cold. She took out a handful of roasted peanuts from her pocket. She had grabbed them when leaving the house, intending to use them as a snack while playing. But seeing these few girls, she felt they needed them more. Indeed, the girls' eyes shone even brighter when they saw the peanuts in Tian Sisi's hand, revealing a longing desire. At home, they could hardly get enough to eat, let alone peanuts. Even if there were a few, they were for the men in the family; the girls couldn't even touch them. Tian Sisi divided the peanuts evenly among them and watched them eat with a smile. There weren't many peanuts to begin with, and once divided among five or six people, each only got three or four at most. They carefully peeled the shells and devoutly put the pink kernels into their mouths, chewing slowly, savoring the fragrance of the peanuts, reluctant to swallow quickly. "This is so delicious!" exclaimed the youngest girl contentedly. There was a slight bitterness in Tian Sisi's heart. These so-called children of rich farmers and middle farmers, where have they ever enjoyed such luxuries? Even though everyone's living standards were similar in this era, these children from families with bad class statuses had it even harder. They had to endure not only physical hunger and cold but also exclusion and disdain from others. Tian Sisi's mother, Zhong Juying, was also once a landlord's daughter. Zhong Juying often reminisced in front of Tian Sisi, recounting her bitter history when she was young. Being unable to fill her stomach and being looked down upon was one thing, but it was unbearable that no matter how outstanding you were, if you had the label of landlord's class status, you wouldn't be chosen as the women's team leader, couldn't go to junior high school with good grades, and couldn't marry into a good family. Those who came to propose were either widowers, disabled, or much older men, sometimes old enough to be an entire age group above. Because of this, even though her mother was the most outstanding girl in Moon Spring Village at that time, she couldn't find a good family to marry into, remained an old maid, and had to hastily marry her trashy father. This caused Tian Sisi to grow up accustomed to their arguments and fights, casting a shadow over her perception of marriage, which led to her own divorce less than two years after getting married. Sighing, Tian Sisi wondered how her mother was doing now. Would she be sad? She probably would be a bit, since, despite her daughter being somewhat disappointing, she was at least obedient. Her mother must be feeling upset for a while, right? Tian Sisi wasn't worried about her mother's elderly life, though. Less than a year after divorcing her scum father, her mother remarried. Although she didn't have children, her second husband was a nice man, a genteel college professor, who treated Tian Sisi very well. The man's two sons were intellectuals who respected her mother greatly. Her mother's quality of life in her later years shouldn't be too bad. The other girls had finished their peanuts, but the girl in the most tattered clothes only ate one and hid the rest in her jacket pocket. When Tian Sisi looked at her, she blushed, gave an embarrassed smile, and Tian Sisi smiled back at her. This girl probably wanted to take the peanuts back for her family to eat. How sensible!