Chapter 3: Rebirth (3)

"Da Ni, Er Ni, are you done gathering pigweed?"

By the banks of Qinghai Lake, a group of women were washing clothes. Seeing the sisters coming down from the mountain, they greeted them warmly. Everyone in the village knew how tough life was for the Jiang girls. Although they often gossiped about the Jiang family’s affairs, deep down, they still felt a trace of pity for these young girls.

Jiang Da Ni had just finished gathering pigweed. She wore a dull gray outfit, the oversized fabric draping over her thin frame like a burlap sack. On her back was a large basket, nearly half the size of her body. The rough hemp straps dug deeply into her shoulders, and a cloth strip secured a two-year-old child to her chest. Her hair, a dry yellow, was tied into two simple braids that hung over her shoulders. Her small, dark face was drenched in sweat.

The two-year-old in her arms was at an age where she loved to move. She flailed her arms and kicked her legs excitedly, making the onlookers nervous, fearing that Da Ni might stumble and fall.

Beside her was her younger sister, Jiang Er Ni. She also carried a large basket on her back. Unlike Da Ni, who was mild-mannered and shy, Er Ni’s eyes carried a hint of defiance. Her face, small as a palm, was slightly sunken from malnutrition, making her large eyes seem even more prominent. People often whispered that this girl would be trouble when she grew up. It wasn’t a compliment; rather, it was said with a touch of disdain. A girl with too much spirit, too much independence—what family would want to take her in?

(TN: other children get spoiled rotten, they don’t say anything. But one child was born with a ‘’defiant’’-like look, they have much to say.)

Holding Er Ni’s hand was their third sister, Jiang San Ni, a little girl of three or four. Her patched-up clothes were nearly threadbare. She clung to her sister with one hand while sucking on the fingers of the other, savoring the taste of the wild berries they had found in the mountains. The black, juicy fruit had been scarce—most of it already picked clean by other village children. The sisters had only managed to gather a few remaining berries.

Neither Da Ni nor Er Ni could bear to eat them, so they gave them to the youngest sisters, San Ni and Si Ni. Si Ni, being the youngest, only sucked the juice from them, but San Ni had eaten the most. Now, she continued to suck her fingers, as if trying to hold onto the lingering sweetness.

Watching her little sister, Er Ni felt a deep pang of sorrow. Their family was one of the wealthiest in the village. So why were they living like this? Why did they have to go hungry while their second uncle’s family fattened their pigs with their grain? Was it just because they were girls?

(TN: My heart!!!!)

One day, she would prove to everyone that daughters were no less than sons.

Jiang Da Ni was nine years old—old enough to be considered half an adult in the village. Their grandmother, Miao Sanfeng, and mother, Gu Dongmei, were always busy working in the fields to earn labor points, so all the household chores fell on her tiny shoulders. As she grew older, her grandmother even managed to convince the village leader, leveraging her husband’s past influence, to assign Da Ni the job of feeding the commune’s pigs. Although she was just a child, she earned three labor points a day.

At this time, every production team operated as a collective unit. Each villager had to work in the fields to earn points. A man’s labor was worth ten points a day, while a woman’s labor was usually worth seven. Da Ni’s father, Jiang Da Hai, was one of the strongest workers in the commune, earning eleven points daily. Her mother, Gu Dongmei, worked hard too, earning eight. Jiang Da Hai’s father, Jiang Cheng, had an old leg injury and received a military pension, so he didn’t have to work. Meanwhile, their grandmother, Miao Sanfeng, despite her age, was fierce and hardworking, earning seven labor points daily.

Given their family's standing, there was no need for a child like Da Ni to earn points. Usually, only widows or struggling families begged the team leader to assign work to their children.

(TN: How heartless are their grandparents and especially the parents to force a young child to work a job not even a villager with less money than them not to do. You have enough money and work points for your family, let others that need the job get it.)

Feeding the pigs was grueling work. Before dawn, Da Ni had to climb the mountain to cut pigweed. Because she was so small, she could only carry ten pounds at a time. With ten pigs to feed, she had to make several trips up and down the mountain each day. She was at an age where she should be growing, yet she was always hungry, burdened with exhausting labor. Though she was nine years old, she looked much younger—thin and frail.

(TN: Remembering that she died in her past life made me want her to live her life to the fullest in this life.)

The Jiang family was one of the wealthiest in the village, yet they treated their daughters worse than livestock. However, Miao Sanfeng was known for being sharp-tongued and unyielding. No one dared to challenge her. Besides, in these hard times, every family struggled to survive. Even if the villagers felt pity for the Jiang girls, they had no means to help them.

Fortunately, Er Ni had grown strong enough to share some of the burden. That, at least, was a small relief for Da Ni.

“Da Ni, I heard your mother didn’t come to work today. They say she’s in labor! You should hurry home—maybe you already have a baby brother!”

The woman speaking was the wife of the commune leader, Mo Dashuan. She was short but strong, a bold and straightforward woman. She had always disapproved of Miao Sanfeng’s ways and was close friends with Gu Dongmei.

“Really? Thank you, Aunt Mo! I’ll go right now!”

Da Ni’s eyes lit up with excitement. She had always believed that if her mother gave birth to a boy, their lives would change for the better. Everyone had told her so: once there was a son in the family, their future would be secure.

She had never blamed her grandmother for treating them poorly. In her mind, they were lucky. During the famine, countless girls had starved to death or been abandoned in the mountains. At least they were still alive.

She knew her parents loved them deep down. They just couldn’t defy their grandmother. She would never forget the time her father had secretly given her a piece of malt candy at the market or the days when her mother hid cornbread for them, starving herself until she nearly collapsed in the fields.

These were the only bright spots in her bleak life. She truly believed that once they had a little brother, everything would change. Her mother would no longer be scolded. Her father would stop sighing in despair. Their family would finally be happy.

(TN: I wanna cry…)

“Please, Chairman Mao, bless my mother with a son,” she whispered to herself. “Then let’s see if Grandma still gives all our food to Second Uncle’s family.”

Er Ni scoffed, muttering under her breath, “They only care about a son.”

Yet despite her words, she couldn't hide the anticipation in her eyes. She understood—this brother could change everything.

***

Jiang Laidi felt like she was trapped in a thick fog. She could hear voices murmuring around her, but their words were unclear. Something pressed against her chest, heavy and suffocating. She wanted to move, but her arms felt like lead. She tried to speak, but no sound came out.

Hadn’t she died?

Where was she now?

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Chapter 3: Rebirth (3)