Chapter 4

  The weather is getting hotter and hotter, and from time to time, there are people selling ice lollies on bicycles passing by the door. The chanting-like cries of the vendors always make children have a conditioned reflex, especially when someone buys one, their mouths water and they swallow hard.

  Perhaps the ice cream vendor knew that there were a group of cadres or workers' children living here, all of whom were interested in hanging out and selling things in these places.

  In fact, most people living here are very frugal and won't give their children much extra pocket money. Especially some cadres' family members who have rural household registration, they don't go to the production team's fields to earn work points, so they need to be even more frugal because a family's grain ration needs to be bought from the production team. Such families can educate their children very well-behaved, every time the ice cream vendor's bicycle comes, they won't let mom be embarrassed, generally they will quickly run into the house and hide for a while, until others finish eating before coming out again.

  They say that childhood is innocent, but some kids won't think about other people's embarrassment. They'll buy an ice pop and then follow them home to eat it, without caring at all about the other person's feelings.

  Zhang Ying doesn't have that kind of craving for ice pops, and she won't mind if others eat them in front of her. Sometimes she'll even warn like a little adult: "Eating too many ice pops will make you sick!"

  In this case, some children will feel extremely dissatisfied. They worry that if their mother hears them, it will become a reason not to buy something. At this time, they will disregard "face" and ruthlessly retort: "You're just saying that because you haven't eaten yourself!"

  Zhang Ying naturally wouldn't retort, seeing others anxious, she could only smile wryly on the surface to show apology, but in her heart, she couldn't hide the sourness, and could only mechanically tread the hemp wheel, with a focused expression spinning her hemp thread.

  It's impossible for a little girl to not be greedy, but at the age of twelve, she has to bear such heavy labor. The bitterness is only known to her. She has been resentful of her mother in her heart, mainly due to nutritional issues. Since she can remember, it seems that only one person in this family needs to eat well, and others can just make do. Her mother's idea of favoring sons over daughters is truly despicable. How many times has she hoped in despair that she would grow up quickly, so that she could eat whatever she wants.

  One day, she sent more than 30 kilograms of finished hemp thread to the purchasing department. Two baskets were hung on a shoulder pole, and at her young age, this weight had already made her pant with exhaustion. However, amidst the suffering, there was also joy in sharing. Today happened to be the end of the month for the hemp factory's settlement, and she received more than seven yuan. A month's hard work finally paid off. With the money in her pocket, she walked with a happy bounce, taking three steps at a time.

  The aroma of meat pies wafting from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative's restaurant filled Zhang Ying with a pang of sympathy. The money she was about to take home would have to be handed over to her mother, and for the entire month, she had barely eaten any non-vegetarian dishes, yet she worked so hard. She boldly took out one yuan to buy a meat pie and savored it before heading back home.

  In those impoverished and destitute years, meat pies were considered one of the most luxurious foods in the area. Children who didn't have an adult accompanying them to buy it would be suspected of stealing money from home. Zhang Ying's behavior was even more eye-catching - as the daughter of a corrupt official, her family was so frugal that they would try to make every penny count, yet she dared to buy and eat meat pies. The busybodies immediately told her mother about this.

  The mother who was working heard the news and rushed home in a rage, grabbed Zhang Ying from her tricycle and dragged her home, where she gave her a severe beating with a feather duster. Zhang Ying knew she was in trouble because of the "meat pie", but instead of crying, she stubbornly muttered four words: "I just want to eat!"

  The mother was originally going to let it go after a few hits, but seeing her daughter not admitting her mistake, the feather duster came again on her body, and poor Zhang Ying's body was beaten with purple and green marks.

  Zhang Ying still didn't cry, instead she glared at her mother with hatred and gritted her teeth to retort: "Go ahead and beat me to death, anyway I'm an extra person!"

  The mother was terrified by her daughter's gaze, and she suddenly lost control, collapsing to the ground in despair and wailing loudly. At this moment, Zhang Ying appeared numb, seeing that her mother had stopped hitting her, she took out more than 70 yuan from her pocket and put it on the table, then walked back to the rickshaw, a group of curious children surrounded her, Zhang Ying didn't want them to see her in such a sorry state, seeing their curious eyes one by one, she suddenly became furious, shouting loudly: "Scram!"

  Zhang Ying's sudden loud shout really scared the kids, and they left one by one with a frightened look on their faces. As an adult, she quickly regained control after losing it for a moment. She knew what role she was playing now, and no one around would sympathize with this family's situation. Seeing the seven dollars on the table, her heart softened, thinking that her daughter had worked so hard for over a month, and eating a meat pie wasn't too much to ask for - after all, she was still just a kid!

  Zhang's wife walked out of the room and saw that her daughter had no clothes covering the exposed wounds, she was suddenly heartbroken and rushed to buy iodine on the street. On her way back, she heard her daughter's hoarse cry from afar: "Dad... come back quickly!"

  Hearing the mournful cry, Zhang's heart was like being twisted by a knife. She leaned against a tree with her hands and feet numb, wanting to cry but unable to shed tears, constantly cursing the fate of her past life, when would it come to an end?!

  In the crazy years of class struggle, you criticized me and I fought against you. Human kindness was diluted by the philosophy of struggle during this period. When passersby saw a woman who had lost her man, sympathetic eyes were rare, and more often they would frown with cold eyes.

  Zhang's wife returned home to find her daughter lying asleep on the bed, so she took out a cotton swab, dipped it in gentian violet solution, and gently applied it to her daughter's body.

  The medicine applied to her body was painfully hot, and for Zhang Ying, this was another punishment. She forced herself to get out of bed and refused her mother's treatment.

  "Baby, don't blame Mom for being harsh, Mom is having a hard time! Mom loves you so much! Apply some more ointment, or else it will get inflamed and that won't be good. You're such an understanding child, I hope you can forgive Mom!"

  Zhang Ying remained unmoved, her expression dejected, alone and trudging along in a rickshaw.

  Zhang's wife sat paralyzed on the bed, unintentionally discovering that there were bloodstains on the grass mat. She felt heartbroken as if she had been beaten and was bleeding. She hurriedly ran out to call her daughter in with kind words, thinking that she had been beaten until she bled. With a flurry of hands and feet, she rummaged through her daughter's body, only to discover that her daughter had grown up and was having her period. She had learned from the adults and was using sanitary napkins to bind herself.

  Zhang Shu was again a burst of knife, she patted her own forehead, feeling that she cared too little for herself, she was developing, and this period gave her to eat too badly.

  She felt guilty and wanted to slap herself, her daughter was just buying a meat pie. She began to resent the busybody who came to deliver the message, causing her to lose control and beat her mercilessly. Her poor daughter was having her period, and early in the morning she had to carry dozens of kilograms of hemp thread to such a far place for delivery. Seeing her daughter's helpless expression, she comforted her for the first time: "Don't work today, it's all mom's fault!"

  Zhang Shu spoke as she took out a one-yuan coin from her pocket and handed it to her, saying: "Go have fun, buy whatever you want to eat, go!"

  Zhang Ying found this move somewhat unacceptable. She stiffened there, at a loss for what to do, and only accepted the money after her mother had signaled several times.

  A few days passed, and it coincided with a Sunday. Zhang Shu sent her eldest daughter and son to their maternal grandmother's house ten miles away to play. Zhang Ying was very desperate. Her maternal grandmother's house was also one of her favorite places to go. A few days ago, she thought her mother had changed her attitude towards her, but it turned out that nothing had changed. They could go out and have fun on Sundays, while she still had to stay here and work.

  Zhang Ying had no choice, early in the morning she went to the hemp factory to pick up the hemp team, and when she returned it was already noon. On her way back, from a distance, she smelled the tempting aroma of chicken soup, making Zhang Ying drool. She envied other families for being so wealthy that they could eat chicken during the Spring Festival.

  Only when she arrived at her doorstep did she realize that the delicious stewed chicken came from her own home! She looked at her mother in confusion, how could she afford to buy chicken to eat? How much money would that cost?!

  Zhang's wife saw her daughter come back and reminded her: "Hurry up and wash your hands!"

  Zhang Ying was at a loss and scrubbed her hands with water, standing foolishly by the door. She really suspected that her mother would cook chicken soup for herself to eat.

  "Come quickly!" Her mother was arranging a stool at the small square table, indicating for Zhang Ying to sit down.

  Zhang Ying's brain was filled with blank reactions, yesterday she was still resentful of her mother for favoring her sister and brother, it seems that she had misunderstood her mother, she suddenly felt that her mother was originally so kind and lovely.

  Sitting in front of the desk, Zhang Shu placed a bowl of stewed chicken soup in front of her daughter, and a rare warmth appeared on her face. She said to Zhang Ying: "It's all because Mom is careless, I didn't know you've grown up already. This is a whole chicken. Here, according to local customs, when one grows up, they should eat a whole chicken. I'm worried that your sister and brother will be greedy, so I sent them to their grandmother's house. You eat!"

  Zhang Ying was moved to tears and said with a choked voice: "Thank you, Mom!"

  Zhang Shu herself ladled a bowl of rice and sat down in front of the 'water tank' to eat, Zhang Ying couldn't bear it and persuaded her mother: "Mom, you should have some too!"

  "No, Mom can't eat it, if Mom eats it then it won't be a whole chicken anymore!"

  "You're not eating, I'm embarrassed to eat!"

  "Alright, mom will have some soup then!" Zhang Shu ladled out the soup while arranging the chicken's internal organs with chopsticks and muttered to herself: "Eating chicken intestines will make you live a long life!"

  "Oh!" Zhang Ying picked up the intestines and sent them to her mouth. At this time, she was as happy as a princess, and from time to time, she revealed a brilliant smile to her mother.

  After a while, mother suddenly decided to move house, three children did not know the reason, maybe it was because the rent of 35 yuan per month was too expensive, or maybe...