Chapter One: Back to Parents' Side

  After this incident, Ji Bing stayed at home playing with her brother, feeling quite carefree.

  Sometimes Da Ming and Xiao Ming would call out to them from downstairs to come down and play hide-and-seek together. One time, while playing hide-and-seek, Da Ming hid in a small old wooden house next door. What Ji Bing saw that day inside the house made her feel embarrassed and ashamed.

  This old wooden house is covered with black tile, and the walls are made of wooden boards. The edges of the walls have been partially moldy due to rainwater seepage and erosion, and some places even have moss growing on them. There is a large hall and two small rooms for living. The interior is very dark, and the triangular roof truss is full of dust. Looking in from the doorway gives a gloomy and oppressive feeling.

  Daming said that there were only two people in this family, Zhang Nainai and Jianxin Shushu. Jianxin Shushu was rarely at home, most of the time it was Zhang Nainai who stayed at home, she always held a worn-out fan in her hand, sitting on a low stool in the main room, with her upper body exposed, two shriveled breasts hanging down to her waist, like two deflated balloons, never avoiding people coming and going through the door.

  Daming said that Jianxiong Shu would paint, often go out to sketch, and rarely see him. This time, Qibing secretly saw Daming sneaking into the old wooden house, so he quietly went to the door of the old wooden house. Suddenly seeing Zhang Nainai's upper body, Qibing was startled and didn't dare move. Zhang Nainai saw him, winked at him, and hinted that Daming was hiding in a small room inside. With Zhang Nainai's hint, Qibing easily found Daming.

  Daming often helps Zhang Nainai with small tasks, such as carrying soy sauce and salt. He doesn't mind Nainai's ***, and is very natural and casual around her. Later, Qibing asks Daming several times why Nainai doesn't wear clothes, and those shriveled *** are embarrassing to look at. But Daming just says it's hot outside, so she doesn't wear clothes when it's hot. Qibing finds this unbelievable and hard to understand.

  In Xi Bing's young and naive heart, he wasn't quite clear about the characteristics of women. Perhaps it was human instinct that even when facing an old woman, he still felt a little shy.

  Later, I heard from Niu Niang that Zhang Niang had been a widow since she was young. She worked hard to make a living by sewing and mending clothes for people, carrying water and delivering firewood. Zhang Niang had a sturdy build and a robust physique, just like a man's. When it came to doing chores, she was quick and efficient. For some reason, one year she caught a cold that turned into a high fever that wouldn't subside. After she recovered, she developed a strange illness - she became afraid of heat but not cold. Even in the freezing winter, she would only wear a single layer of clothing. But as soon as summer arrived, she would feel unbearably hot. At home, she had no choice but to... and felt somewhat comfortable. When she was younger, she tried to avoid gossip, but as she grew older, she no longer cared about what others thought.

  It turns out that Zhang Nainai was also a miserable person. When her husband was working as a laborer outside, he was caught by Japanese soldiers and forced to join the army. He escaped but was discovered by the Japanese soldiers, who shot him dead. At that time, she didn't dare to collect her husband's body, so she waited until nightfall to secretly bring it back with someone's help, wrapping it in a straw mat and burying it in the marshy land behind their house. She saw that her husband had been shot three times, and his intestines were all exposed. Zhang Nainai has always hated the Japanese with a vengeance, wishing she could eat their flesh and drink their blood. Niuniu's mother knew about Zhang Nainai's past, so she often asked her two grandsons to help Zhang Nainai do some chores. Jiebing also felt sorry for Zhang Nainai and learned to help out too. Zhang Nainai was very happy when they came to visit, often giving them roasted broad beans to eat.

  Finally saw Uncle Jianxiong coming home today.

  Uncle Jianxin is not very tall, wearing a pair of light yellow plastic myopia glasses. His complexion is a bit pale, lacking some blood color, seemingly not very healthy, giving people a sickly feeling.

  After returning, Mom mentioned the care of several little guys, and Uncle Jianxin was also very moved. One day he specially invited a few little guys to his home, gave them some local specialties from outside, such as Shanghai's cotton candy. Uncle Jianxin also took out his outdoor sketches for them to appreciate. Seeing these unfamiliar scenes, Qi Bing felt very magical, extremely admiring Uncle Jianxin, and thought to himself, "His hands are so skilled, the paintings are so good!"

  One day, Jianxin uncle was painting at home when Qibing ran over to take a look. It was an oil painting of a white horse, with the horse raising its front hoof and appearing to jump up, very lively and as if it were about to fly away. Qibing smelled a faint scent of oil paint and thought it smelled great, this was the smell emitted by the oil paint. Qibing was thoroughly impressed by Jianxin uncle and thought that it would be great if he could also learn how to paint, much better than those fake "martial arts". Jianxin uncle saw how fascinated he was and teased him saying "Ice, want to learn?" "Hehe, I do, but I'm afraid I won't be good at it." Qibing replied shyly. "It's not difficult, I can teach you, first learn to draw lines and sketch, lay the foundation before learning colors, watercolor painting, how about that? Hehe." Qibing excitedly jumped up, "Great, great!"

  Because Qi Bing was too young and illiterate, Jianxin Uncle could only teach him some basic things by hand, and asked Qi Bing to follow the "gourd painting" method, slowly familiarizing himself with painting techniques. When he went to school and learned to read, he would let him experience and ponder on his own, after all, some things couldn't be done just by imitation. In the whole village of Sha Jia Dian, Jianxin Uncle was considered a cultured person and had won many people's respect.

  Jianxin Uncle was very young when he followed his mother to the railway, to help others with wealthy families with sewing and washing, delivering vegetables and rice, doing some odd jobs, in exchange for living expenses. At that time, the male owner of the household was a comprador, who was still very kind and gentle, seeing Jianxin Uncle being very obedient and intelligent, so he taught him to read. The male owner often painted and practiced calligraphy at home, Jianxin Uncle would lie down beside him and watch for half a day, and the male owner also taught him to paint. Later, Jianxin Uncle was admitted to an art vocational school, and later caused a sensation in Zhangjiadian, becoming a major news event.

  At that time, most residents outside the railway were dockworkers, industrial workers, vegetable farmers, peddlers and artisans, while inside the railway were compradors, employees, workshop owners and other concentrated residential areas. People inside the railway looked down on those outside from the bottom of their hearts, calling them "country people". In comparison, people inside the railway had an inexplicable sense of superiority, often looking down on others with a self-satisfied air.

  The summer evening is sweltering. Before sunset, there's a gentle breeze, and the leaves rustle slightly. As night falls, the leaves are still, and not a breath of wind stirs. The cicadas are too hot to chirp, as if time itself has come to a standstill, devoid of vitality. The stars twinkle in the sky, occasionally a shooting star streaks across the horizon, inspiring thoughts and sighs. Adults sit around the bamboo bed chatting idly, while children ignore the heat and humidity, playing various games. Summer belongs to the kids; no matter how hot it gets, their energetic revelry is even hotter.

  Ji Bing had finished his daily antics and, under his mother's urging, he still needed to take a bath before going to sleep. Gazing up at the starry sky, Ji Bing lay on his bamboo bed, lost in thought, his mind wandering far away as sleep gradually approached, and he slowly drifted off into dreamland. However, sometimes he would often be woken up by the heat, interrupting his warm and cozy dreams. In this kind of summer, when sleeping, there was sweat on top and sweat below, no matter how you turned over, the sweat seemed to never stop, making people feel damp and hot, unable to fall asleep peacefully.

  Ji Bing was sometimes tormented to the point of just sitting, trying to get some dryness on his body, but he didn't know that he would be attacked again by mosquitoes. Although he lit mosquito coils, it was almost a comfort, and it didn't have any effect on killing insects. He could only use a fan to randomly swat at them, in order to feel slightly better. The earth seemed like a big steamer, constantly emitting hot air, the humid heat was unbearable, as if suffocating. In such a summer, people were almost painfully struggling to get through it.

  Ji Bing was looking forward to the dawn, because Jianxin uncle promised to take him to the back of Dianzi to paint tomorrow. The sun finally showed a smile, and there was a gentle breeze in the morning with a hint of coolness. From the back door of the Youth Palace next door, behind it is a large vegetable field, and further back is a lake. Frogs croaked, water flowed, and occasionally saw a few dragonflies flying by. They carried their painting boards, held their paint bags, and walked slowly on the hard ridge.

  Here is the translation:

  "Let's go to the lake in front and paint, don't worry, walk slowly, be careful not to slip," Jianxin Uncle said to Qibing. After being scorched by the sun, the uneven mud had become hard as stone, making every step painful on this stony road. In the ditches along the fields, people could be seen scooping up something from time to time. Qibing asked Jianxin Uncle, "What are they doing?" Jianxin Uncle replied, "They're catching red worms to feed goldfish. They catch them in the morning and secretly sell them at the market later. Mainly, it's people from the railway who buy them." "Who are the people from the railway?" Qibing asked curiously. "The kindergarten you went to is called the railway side, and the people there are called railway people. We're on the outside of the railway, also known as railway outsiders." "Are they different from us?" Qibing asked doubtfully. "They think they're different, hehe, you'll understand when you grow up," Jianxin Uncle said with a sly smile. "Oh, railway side and railway outside," Qibing seemed to understand but not quite. Later, Qibing asked again, "What kind of fish are goldfish?" Qibing had gone fishing in the countryside before and seen some fish. "They're all sorts of beautiful fish, small in size, with lion's head, red spots, pearl balls, ink dragons, and many more varieties. They're only for appreciation, not for eating. Not like the fish you see in the river." "Oh, I've never seen them before, they must be pretty," Qibing said. "Hehe, that's right."

  They walked and talked, and before long they arrived at the lake. This lake was called Tanzi Lake, because it looked like a vat, so it got its name. The water of the lake was very clear, and there was a small boat in the middle of the lake casting nets. A faint smell of fish spread around, and Qi Bing felt as if he had returned to the riverside of Huanglin Town, which also had this faint smell of fish, so naturally he felt a sense of familiarity and closeness. Putting down his paint bag, picking up his painting board, finding a relatively flat place to sit down, Jianxin Uncle said: "Let's start, first draw that small boat and the lake surface, as well as the distant tree clusters and houses." Qi Bing also took out his painting board and pencil, which were all gifts from Jianxin Uncle. Following Jianxin Uncle's demonstration, Qi Bing used a pencil to learn to paint the scenery in front of him.

  Slowly, Qi Bing fell in love with painting under the influence of Jianxin Uncle. His father and mother were also very happy and specially went to Jianxin Uncle's house to thank him. Jianxin Uncle had to return to school during this period, he was teaching at a fine arts vocational school in Nanjing, the school was about to start, and he had to go back. Before leaving, Jianxin Uncle gave Qi Bing several art books for copying, asking him to practice hard.

  From then on, Qi Bing was like a different person, becoming quiet and calm, no longer causing trouble everywhere. Every day, he would hold those few art books and paint non-stop. His younger brother was very curious and came over to watch him paint, "Duo Duo, can you also teach me how to paint?" "You want to learn too? I'm not good at it yet, let's talk about it later. When I get better, I'll teach you, okay? Don't make trouble here, go play on the side." Qi Bing said while pushing his younger brother away. His younger brother unwillingly said: "I just want to take a look, I won't cause any trouble." "Then don't move, just stand there and watch." Qi Bing said, continuing to paint without speaking again.