Chapter 6: Space (1)

After dinner, the whole family moved a few chairs under the big tree in the yard to cool off.

Jiang Cheng puffed on his dry tobacco pipe, the sharp, choking smoke filling the air. Now that life had just begun to improve, no one would waste money on store-bought tobacco. Jiang Cheng smoked tobacco leaves grown at home. He liked the strong stuff—the more pungent, the better. He felt something was missing if he didn’t take a few puffs every day.

“Stop smoking. You’ll choke the baby!” Miao Sanfeng shot him a glare and quickly went to shut the window to her son’s room. Jiang Cheng grumbled but dumped the tobacco from the pipe bowl.

In the countryside, there wasn’t much to do at night. As evening fell, each household lit kerosene lamps. The poorer ones, unwilling to waste even a bit of oil, simply worked by moonlight.

Miao Sanfeng lit a kerosene lamp and began mending clothes under its dim glow. Jiang Dani and Jiang Erni were in the yard washing the family’s dirty laundry. Jiang Dahai glanced at his skinny eldest daughter, then at his mother. After hesitating for a moment, he finally gathered the courage to speak.

“Mom, I want to send Dani to school.”

“What!” Miao Sanfeng dropped the clothes in her hands and exclaimed in shock, “What’s a little girl need school for? Where do you think we have that kind of money? You must be out of your mind!”

There was no school in Qingshan Village. The nearest elementary school was in the neighboring Red Flag Commune, the largest commune in the area. All the children from nearby villages attended there. The school only had two teachers, and the tuition and other fees added up to two yuan a year. Right now, one work point was only worth about three cents, so a year’s tuition was equivalent to nearly half a month’s wages for an average laborer.

Although life was better than it had been two or three years ago, no household had much surplus. Only families with many laborers could afford to send a daughter to school. In most villagers’ eyes, daughters were destined to marry out. The money would be better spent feeding the boys.

This was the prevailing attitude in the village. Miao Sanfeng also believed that her eldest granddaughter was better off at home earning work points and helping with the younger siblings. She had already decided that once her daughter-in-law finished her postpartum confinement and returned to the fields, Dani would stay home to watch the baby. After all, she had already raised her younger sisters.

Jiang Dani’s eyes had lit up at her father’s words but quickly dimmed. Only two girls in the village had gone to school—Mo Xianghong, the daughter of the commune leader, and Huang Yingying, the daughter of the women's director. Neither family was necessarily better off than the Jiangs, but they loved their daughters.

Jiang Erni muttered in indignation next to her sister, “Second Uncle’s two kids are going to school, and Grandpa and Grandma are paying their tuition too. But do they study? All they do is skip class and climb trees for birds’ nests.”

Jiang Dani just gave a bitter smile at her sister’s complaint. It wasn’t the same—they were grandsons, after all.

“Mom, we’re not short on money,” Jiang Dahai pressed, unwilling to back down after seeing his daughter’s disappointment. Every time the production team settled accounts, part of the work points were converted into grain and the rest into cash. Plus, Jiang Cheng received a monthly subsidy. In reality, the Jiang family had some savings. But in those days, without ration coupons, money was meaningless. Even if you had cash, there was no guarantee you could buy what you needed.

Spending two yuan was no burden at all for the Jiang family.

“Mom, do you really want Dani to spend her whole life just earning work points? Look at Dazhen. She only finished junior high, but now she’s working in a factory and living much better than we are in the countryside. If Dani learns more, she can help teach her younger brother too. Kids grow up fast. If someone at home teaches them, they’ll learn quicker.”

Mentioning the grandson made Miao Sanfeng waver, but she was still reluctant to give up the extra labor. If Dani went to school, who would do all the work at home? Erni wasn’t dependable, and the two youngest girls were still little.

Jiang Cheng thought for a moment, then made the decision. “We’ll do as Dahai says. When Sanni’s older, we’ll send Erni to school too. All the girls in the family will go.”

Erni hadn’t expected she’d get to go to school too. Even though she’d have to wait a few years, it was still a delightful surprise.

“How much is that going to cost?” Just sending Dani pained Miao Sanfeng enough—now it was all four? Girls didn’t need that much schooling. Her old man must’ve gone senile.

“What do you know?” Jiang Cheng picked up his pipe, only to realize he’d already emptied the tobacco.

Though Miao Sanfeng was the more forceful one at home, the real authority was Jiang Cheng. Since he had spoken, she didn’t dare argue. She could only glare fiercely at her two granddaughters and her eldest son who came up with this “foolish” idea.

Jiang Cheng was thinking long-term. He didn’t want his grandson to end up stuck in the countryside like him. Among the four granddaughters, any one of them succeeding would become a future asset to their brother. The sisters were all tied by blood. If they were treated well now, they’d remember it and repay the family later.

His motivations weren’t entirely pure, but for the four sisters, this decision would change the course of their lives.

In their past life, only Sini and Laidi had gone to school. But in this life, even before Jiang Laidi had taken action, things were already starting to shift in a completely different direction.

“Nai (Grandma), don’t worry. I’ll get up early to cut pigweed. I’ll do my chores after school. I promise I won’t slack off,” Dani nervously reassured Miao Sanfeng, whose expression was still grim.

“Grandma, I’ll help with my sister’s chores too,” Erni quickly added, eager not to lose her chance.

“Hmph,” Miao Sanfeng snorted but said no more.

Dani and Erni exchanged excited glances and started washing clothes with extra energy.

“Gentler, don’t scrub the clothes to rags!” Miao Sanfeng shouted, alarmed. The sisters stuck out their tongues and tried to calm themselves.

Inside the poorly soundproofed old rural house, Jiang Laidi could clearly hear everything from the yard. In his previous life, his spineless father had never stood up for the girls. He’d been a meek and obedient son his entire life. Laidi squeezed his eyes shut, unable to believe that having a son had made that man change so much. Should he feel fortunate to have been reborn a boy?

Outside, Jiang Cheng thought of another troublesome matter.

“What should we name the baby?” He had been pondering it for days, but nothing felt good enough for his grandson. The four girls had been named simply in order—Dani, Erni, etc. He had already decided that if another girl was born, she’d be called Laidi, meaning “to bring a younger brother.” But he hadn’t expected the grandson to come first, and the name remained unused.

“Dad, didn’t a few educated youths get relocated to our village? I heard they’re really well-educated. Maybe we could ask them to come up with a name?” Jiang Dahai suggested tentatively.

Previously, all the educated youths had gone to the large Red Flag Commune. But recently, with more and more being sent down, there wasn’t enough housing, so four were assigned to nearby villages. Qingshan Village got four—two boys and two girls. All of them were reportedly high school graduates, which meant their literacy level far surpassed that of any villager.

“You’re right. I’ll go visit their place tomorrow,” Jiang Cheng agreed, thinking it was a good idea. He had some other questions to ask them anyway.

As the sky darkened, mosquitoes emerged. Jiang Cheng slapped his bitten leg and slowly made his way back inside.

The others had nothing else to do and also went to bed.

The old Jiang family house was small, with only five rooms—one main hall, one kitchen, a storeroom, and two bedrooms. Beneath the house was a cellar where sweet potatoes and other stored rations from the production team were kept. Jiang Cheng and Miao Sanfeng used one bedroom; Jiang Dahai, Gu Dongmei, and the children shared the other.

The heated brick bed (kang) inside was long enough to sleep ten. Since the older girls were growing up, Jiang Dahai had hung a curtain in the middle of the bed for some privacy at night. It couldn’t block sound, but at least it gave a sense of separation.

“You’re back. What did Mom and Dad say?” Gu Dongmei asked in a low voice, looking at Jiang Dahai.

“Dad agreed. I’ll enroll Dani when school starts this fall.” Jiang Dahai answered while gazing fondly at his son lying on the bed with his eyes shut. He couldn’t resist poking the baby’s soft face.

Annoyed, Jiang Laidi swatted the offending hand away, but his mind was drawn back by the couple’s conversation.

“Stop messing with him. A baby’s skin is so delicate. What if you hurt him?” Gu Dongmei gave him a sharp look and pushed his hand away. Hearing that her daughter could go to school finally put her at ease.

“I don’t expect them to be like Dazhen and get a factory job in the county. I just want them to get some education so they won’t be bullied,” she said, glancing at the already-sleeping Sanni and Sini.

Jiang Laidi sneered inwardly. If they really cared, then why, in his past life, had they let Dani marry a widower and Erni a cripple? If not for their cowardice and indulgence, Dani wouldn’t have died.

It was a knot in his heart, rotten and festering, and any touch brought pain.

Rationally, he knew things had changed. But the decades of hardship couldn’t be erased by a few acts of kindness.

He couldn’t help but feel glad he was now a baby. He didn’t want to call anyone “Grandpa” or “Mom” yet—not now.

Dani and Erni finished tidying the stove and returned to the room. Their eyes brimmed with gratitude as they looked at Jiang Dahai, who grew both shy and heartbroken under their gaze. He pulled out a mixed grain bun from his pocket. It was still warm, having been tucked close to his body all day.

That day, Jiang Dahai had been sent to work on a drainage ditch project in the county. It was dirty and tiring, and the work points earned were no more than usual, so no one wanted to go. But he had heard lunch would be provided and volunteered.

He’d secretly saved the bun. If his mother had found out, it would’ve never made it to the girls. The bun was bigger than usual, about half the size of a palm, and contained a bit of wheat flour mixed in with coarse grains. It didn’t scratch the throat and even had a hint of sweetness.

Jiang Dahai had only received one bun. He hadn’t eaten it, filling up on corn porridge and tap water from outside the county cafeteria. The bun was carefully saved.

He wasn’t doing this for the first time. Miao Sanfeng always shortchanged the girls on food, so this was the only way he could help them. He didn’t dare speak up directly.

In the end, the bun wasn’t eaten that night. With Sanni and Sini already asleep, Dani quietly hid the bun, planning to share it with her sisters when they went up the mountain the next day.

With that big bun in their possession, the girls slept soundly. But Jiang Laidi felt a deep sadness.

This was how his sisters had lived in the 1960s—working harder than oxen and eating less. And now, in this tiny body, how could he possibly change their fate?

As he worried about the future, in the blink of an eye, he found himself in another space.

Search This Blog

Outpost Translations

Chapter 6: Space (1)