Chapter Two: Provocation

Everyone was terrified by the sudden turn of events. “Mother!” Yu Qiang couldn’t help but cry out in alarm. He quickly lifted the lantern, searching over the water’s surface. There, he saw his mother struggling, thrashing in the water. Uncle Zhao immediately took off his cotton jacket and plunged in, swimming toward her.

Because of the depth, Uncle Zhao, still wearing his cotton trousers, moved sluggishly in the water. Seeing his mother’s struggling becoming weaker and less frequent, Yu Qiang shouted desperately from the shore, “Mom! Mom! I’m coming to save you!” Handing the lantern to Aunt Qing, he was about to jump in as well.

Qing Ying hurriedly held Yu Qiang back, saying, “Don’t make things worse. Uncle Zhao is already on his way.” Just as his mother’s struggling was about to cease, Uncle Zhao arrived in time, lifting her with both hands. Finally, he carried her to the shore and vigorously patted her back, expelling much water.

Suddenly, Yu Qiang heard a faint voice from his mother: “Child... child...” The midwife heard it too and rushed over. She found a small, fleshy thing between Caiyun’s legs. Realizing the baby had been born, she lifted the baby by the legs, holding it upside down, and began repeatedly patting it.

“Wah, wah...” The infant’s cries pierced the silent night.

This moving sound echoed in Caiyun’s ears. She asked, “Is it a boy?”

The midwife used scissors to cut the umbilical cord, performed a simple bandage, then brought the baby to Caiyun. In the lantern’s light, Caiyun saw clearly and smiled—she had given birth to another boy for the Lao Chen family.

Yu Qiang took off his own cotton jacket and trousers to wrap around his mother. The midwife and Qing Ying also removed their cotton clothes to cover Caiyun. Uncle Zhao, still soaked, carried Caiyun home before returning to change.

Yu Lan and Yu Cui were already asleep. Since the mother’s quilt had fallen into the water and soaked through, Yu Qiang woke his two sleeping younger sisters to bring the bedding upstairs for their mother.

Half-awake, Yu Lan realized her mother had returned and had given birth to a little brother. She quickly dressed and ran to see them. Only Yu Cui woke briefly before falling asleep again.

“Don’t bother her anymore; come sleep with me,” Qing Ying said, picking up Yu Cui and leaving.

The midwife asked Yu Lan to boil some hot water to wipe her mother’s body. Only then did Yu Lan realize her mother was cold all over, her hair wet. Her brother told her what had happened. Yu Lan tightly embraced her mother: “Mom, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, good child. Look at your little brother.”

Yu Lan saw the baby sleeping peacefully in her mother’s arms.

Dawn broke. After carefully checking the baby and Caiyun’s condition, the midwife prepared to leave.

To show gratitude, Caiyun asked Yu Qiang to give the midwife the salted meat hanging from the beam and all sixteen eggs they had at home.

The midwife told Yu Qiang that his mother had suffered much this time and that those things were for her to recover. After Caiyun’s repeated insistence, she only took a few eggs and left.

Not long after the midwife’s departure, Caiyun heard a knock at the door and asked, “Who is it?”

“It’s me, Yu Qiang’s teacher.”

“Come in!” Caiyun recognized him as Teacher Yang from the village elementary school. Yu Qiang had been attending for less than a year, so she wasn’t sure why he came.

Teacher Yang entered, and Caiyun said, “Please have a seat, Teacher Yang.”

“Why aren’t you up yet? I’ll come back later,” Teacher Yang said, seeing Caiyun sitting wrapped in blankets, and turned to leave.

“It’s okay, I’m resting after childbirth. Did you come for something?”

“Yu Qiang didn’t come to class yesterday. I wanted to check.”

“I was in labor yesterday. He took care of me. What? He didn’t ask for leave?”

“No, where is he now?”

“The weather cleared, so I sent them to gather wild vegetables. He’ll be back soon and will go to school.”

“I just scolded him two days ago. I was worried he might be upset, so I came to check.”

“Did he cause trouble again?”

“He used a slingshot to shoot a sparrow that landed on the school roof. He and some classmates stacked chairs to climb up, made a big hole in the roof, and almost fell. It was very dangerous!” Teacher Yang explained.

“That boy is too mischievous. I need to give him a good scolding when he comes back.”

“Just warn him, especially about that slingshot. Be careful not to hurt anyone.”

“I won’t let him use it anymore.”

“Good. I’m leaving now. Take care of yourself!”

“Thank you, Teacher Yang.”

Teacher Yang stopped at the gate and pointed to the carved horse above the door, asking Caiyun, “Is there a story behind this horse carving on your front door?”

Caiyun replied, “It’s some old superstition. When we married, the elders said that after generations of poverty, they hoped for a better life but hadn’t yet achieved it. Since I was born in the year of the horse, they hoped for swift success, so they carved this horse on the door.”

“That’s an interesting belief. I hope you can change the fate of the Lao Chen family.”

“I don’t have that much ability. We’ve been married years and are still poor.”

“That’s normal. Because the elders carved the horse on the door and placed a horse inside, it forms the Chinese character for ‘break through’ (闯). It means your success depends on one premise: to break through obstacles.”

“You’re a teacher after all. Nobody ever thought of this. But what can a woman like me do to break through?”

“The word ‘break through’ doesn’t mean doing earth-shattering deeds. It just means reaching the life you want through your own efforts.”

“That’s well said. I like the idea of ‘break through.’”

“Wishing you swift success!”

“Thank you!”

Yu Qiang’s grandparents had died from illness and injury. To pay for treatment, the family sold everything they could.

After Yu Qiang was born, he wore only hand-me-down clothes from other children—old clothes patched repeatedly, then passed down to the second and third children.

Others’ children’s clothes were new for three years, old for three years, patched for another three. But Caiyun’s children’s clothes hardly ever saw ‘new.’

Even Caiyun’s own clothes were covered with patches of different sizes, shapes, and colors.

The family of five always shared one bed. Before childbirth, Caiyun worried about dirtying their only mattress, so she removed it and slept on straw, leaving the mattress for the children sleeping on the floor. She begged Qing Ying to lend a quilt, solving the children’s sleeping problem.

Despite all this, the family was happy and harmonious, and the children were sensible and filial.

That night, after preparing sweet potato porridge, Yu Lan sliced some thin salted meat and cooked a bowl of hand-pulled noodle lumps for their mother.

“Mom, eat quickly. This is specially made for you.”

Caiyun took it, noticing the uneven size of the noodles, but was touched by her child’s thoughtfulness. “In the future, I’ll eat with you all.”

“That won’t do. The midwife said you need to recuperate.”

By the Qingming season, the Jianghuai region was fully into the busy farming season. Villagers working on water conservancy projects all returned from the reservoir site, eager to prepare fields and seedlings.

Chen Facai of Wangjiayu village was most eager now to see his wife Zhang Caiyun and their newborn son. He didn’t know what the baby looked like nor how his wife’s health was.

Returning home, he hurriedly held and kissed his son. Though the baby was slimmer than he imagined, he was very happy to have another son.

“Have you named the baby?” Facai asked excitedly.

“We gave him a nickname: ‘Dog Egg.’ This is the year of the dog. The midwife said the first thing she saw was a boy with a ‘handle’—so I named him that. You can choose his formal name later.”

“Dog Egg? That’s good. It sounds right for a boy. I heard you had a difficult labor. I wanted to come back to see you but couldn’t get leave from work.”

“The baby was overdue and wouldn’t come out. Only on the day of the Awakening of Insects solar term did things get urgent. The foot came out first, causing a difficult labor. Luckily, the midwife was experienced, and we both survived.” Caiyun didn’t want Facai to know about the cruel treatment from the three elders, fearing more trouble.

“Being born at Awakening of Insects is good—everything revives and is full of hope. Looks like the Lao Chen family’s luck is turning!” Facai said proudly.

“The midwife said those born at Awakening of Insects are destined for success but must beware of enemies and should perform a ritual to drive away villains every year on this day.”

“How do you do that?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll ask the midwife next time I see her.”

“Your body is so weak, and with such a difficult labor, it’s dangerous.”

To help his wife regain strength, he made two fried eggs with brown sugar and brought them to Caiyun: “I made this for you. Eat it while it’s hot.”

Caiyun took it but immediately scolded him: “Who told you to use the eggs?”

“What’s wrong?” Facai asked, confused.

“Don’t you see we’re almost out of grain? Adults can eat vegetables, but what about Dog Egg?”

“Tomorrow I’ll go fishing to earn some money to buy flour to make batter for Dog Egg.”

“Sounds good, but don’t spend it on cigarettes again.”

At that moment, Facai’s younger brother Fafu walked in. “Sister-in-law, I heard you had a boy?” he asked.

“Come see your little nephew!” Caiyun invited him.

“Little nephew, let your uncle hold you.”

“Who does he look like?” Caiyun asked.

“He’s too small to tell, but seems like you.”

“I think so too.”

“Fafu? Fafu?” Caiyun heard Qing Ying calling him and said, “Qing Ying’s calling you. You better go back.”

Fafu put down the baby and left.

Facai was rolling a cigarette with paper in the main room when Wang Hongbing, father of the three elders, entered smiling, carrying a piece of meat.

“Facai, I heard Caiyun had a boy?”

“Of course!” Facai glared at Wang Hongbing.

Wang Hongbing was Facai’s neighbor. He had eight brothers and was the sixth. The Wang and Chen families had a long-standing feud, especially in recent years. The Wang family, relying on their numbers and power, often bullied the Chen family, who had endured years of humiliation.

Seeing Caiyun mending shoe soles with the baby on her back, Wang Hongbing waved the meat before her: “Caiyun, I bought this for you today in town to help you recover.”

“I don’t want it. We have our own!” Caiyun was wary of his intentions.

“I’m thinking of our son. This little treasure is from the Wang family lineage. You must take good care of him,” Wang Hongbing said with a smirk.

“Stop spouting nonsense, you shameless man!” Caiyun angrily thought he was like a wolf paying New Year’s greetings to a chicken—no good intentions.

Wang Hongbing leaned close and lowered his voice: “Baby, didn’t you say this child is mine?”

“You bastard! Get out!” Caiyun slapped him hard with her shoe.

Wang Hongbing’s smile vanished. Turning, he glared at Facai: “Your Yu Qiang hurt my son. I haven’t settled that yet. But since Caiyun bore me a son, I’ll let it go this time.” Saying that, he stormed out, meat in hand.

Facai, sitting nearby, was baffled by what had just happened. At first, he thought Wang Hongbing was joking and didn’t take it seriously. But things turned out differently. He asked Caiyun, “What was that about?”

“It was the three elders who bullied Yu Cui first, so Yu Qiang fought back,” Caiyun briefly explained the fight.

“Don’t change the subject. I’m not talking about that.”

“Then what are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb. Tell me!”

“You ask me, I ask who? It’s all your doing, and you have the nerve to ask me?”

“Explain clearly. What have I done?”

“Don’t pretend. Look at the three elders—they look more and more like you. Can you say he’s not your child?”

“Don’t say that. Would I do such a thing?”

“If you did, admit it. Just apologize and promise never to disgrace yourself with Han Xiuxia again, and I’ll forgive you.”

“Zhang Caiyun, I tell you, there’s nothing between me and Han Xiuxia. Don’t believe rumors.”

“Nothing? Then why does Han Xiuxia run to our house every time Wang Hongbing beats her, instead of anywhere else? And you protect her like she’s your precious treasure. Why is that?”

“We’re neighbors. It’s normal for her to come here. She asks me for help; how can I ignore her?”

“Neighbors? Wang Hongbing’s eldest brother Wang Hongkui is also her neighbor, but she’s afraid of him. Why doesn’t she run to his place?”

“I don’t know that either.”

Seeing Facai unwilling to say more, Caiyun didn’t press further, but her doubts remained unresolved.