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墨書 Inktalez
Because the money that my eldest sister left on the gift table challenged Grandpa's authority for the first time. In this era, neighborhood gifts were usually thirty or fifty, and relatives would give at most one or two hundred, but what my sister left on the accounting table was a bright red bundle of hundred-dollar bills!
After the funeral, Principal Uncle settled the accounts. Grandpa waved his smoking pipe and spat out, "She’s gone, so this money is for my old age!"
"Dad, that's still our daughter. We don't want too much; you take five thousand, and we'll take five thousand as well!" My dad and mom both voiced their disagreement.
"How can that be! This funeral was organized by the two of us brothers together. Why should we get nothing?" Second Uncle and Second Aunt nearly jumped up.
The people in charge, the guests, and those keeping track of the gifts hadn’t left yet, and our own family began to argue, which escalated into pulling and hitting. My mom had a handful of hair pulled out by Second Aunt, leaving five bloody fingerprints on Second Aunt's face. Second Uncle and my dad were tangled together, rolling on the ground like mud monkeys, and Grandpa's smoking pipe got bent underfoot.
Uncle from Dongzhuang had just returned home when he was called back again. Seeing his brother-in-law and two nephews in a chaotic mess, he sighed repeatedly.
That night, while counting the money they received, my mom and dad vented their regrets: "If only the eldest had come back, we should have left her an address. Later we could say one of us got a tumor or cancer; would she really not care about us? She only got a glance from her grandma when she was little, and she took ten thousand! We are her parents; if we really pressed her for it, thirty or fifty thousand should be possible!"
"Do you think she’s working at Spirit Pavilion? If she were at Spirit Pavilion, how could she have that much to give?" Dad questioned suspiciously.
"Why do you care? She’s just someone’s mistress; others don’t know about it. As long as she can give us money!" Mom scoffed. "If she hadn’t run away back then, we’d be in-laws with the village chief now. Our lives wouldn’t be so miserable."
"I should have tied her up with a rope! All that money is ours! The village chief's son isn’t good enough; Lai Laoxing’s son from Dongzhuang hasn’t married yet. Let our eldest marry him; he’s not worse than the village chief's fool!"
"True enough. That kid might look ugly and have a limp leg and be older, but other than that, he’s fine. Look at that three-story villa of theirs; no one in ten miles can compare!"
"Lai Laoxing said whoever's daughter marries his son will get a bride price of eighty-eight thousand!"
"What good does it do to say that now…"
I finally understood why my eldest sister ran away from home and severed ties with our parents. In the blink of an eye, I was about to enter Junior High while my three-years-older brother failed to pass his high school entrance exam.
Principal Uncle came to our house.
"Huan Di ranked first in the entire township; she did even better than her elder sister did back then. The principal of the county Junior High called me wanting to invite her to study there without any fees for miscellaneous expenses or accommodation; you just need to provide her living expenses!"
"Uncle, it's not that we want to embarrass you; what good is it for a girl to study well? Isn’t it just to find a husband and have kids?" Mom said.
"You can't say that. The child has a bright future ahead, going to college, studying and working in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai. You won't have any pride on your faces!"
"What good is pride? A married daughter is like spilled water; once she has her own family, she becomes an outsider. Will she still care for her parents? Besides, going to college costs a lot of money. Who can afford that? We won't indulge in such foolish dreams," my father said. "There are still plenty of chores at home for her to do."
"But there are still Zhao Ti, Wan Di, Ying Di, and Lai Di at home! They can handle all the work!"
"They're all going south to work."
"What about Fu Lai?"
" Fu Lai is the only boy in the family; we can't bear to let him do hard labor!"
"Huan Di studies well. The city schools offer scholarships; the first prize scholarship is 800!"
"Is what you said true? You're not just trying to fool me?"
"It's absolutely true!"
"Then it's settled; we agree for him to go to school in the city!"
"You debt collector! If he doesn't earn back that scholarship, I'll make sure to tear you apart!"
School started, and Principal Uncle took me into the county town while my mother glared at me from behind.
Although the school didn't charge tuition or fees, I had to manage my living expenses on my own. Other kids received 400 yuan a month, while I only had 100. Every time I received money, my mother looked as if I was taking a beating.
They couldn't possibly imagine what kind of life I was living at school! Breakfast and dinner were manageable—pickled vegetables with plain porridge and steamed buns for just one fifty; but the cheapest vegetarian noodles for lunch cost three!
With my living expenses falling short, I could only eat two meals a day. But there were other expenses too!
During my period, I couldn't afford pads or sanitary napkins, so I had to make do with toilet paper. During gym class, a bloody wad of toilet paper fell out from my pants leg in front of everyone, and I wished I could just disappear into the ground!
In desperation, I used the Mao Zedong bill that my older sister had given me and that I had saved for years.
I received a scholarship for the first semester, but it was only 500 instead of 800. My mother was unhappy and insisted that I drop out: "There's no one to do the work at home!"
Principal Uncle covered the deficit with 300 yuan for me.
My parents accepted it as if it were their due from both me and Principal Uncle!
Fortunately, there would be another scholarship next semester—also 500.
I returned three hundred to Principal Uncle, and I didn't report the other two hundred.
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