Chapter Ninety-Eight: So Long as It Was Made Clear, That Was Enough

After all, they had finished lunch, but Granny Zhang was still dissatisfied. She dragged her daughter to her sister-in-law’s house, intent on settling the matter once and for all. She would not let anyone damage the goodwill between her family and Chen Xin.

There was no reason to stop her, so Chen Xin let her go and stayed in the courtyard with Yan Chunhua to sort vegetables and talk. Brother Zhang had gone to the livestock yard to feed the animals and clean up, and Grandfather Zhang had gone along as well. Too old for heavy labor, he helped mix the feed and do whatever else he could. The livestock yard had also hired workers, paying a little more during the holiday season. There was not much to do, and usually two or three hours of work a day was enough.

“To be honest, what do you really feel about that Zhou Hao?”

“Nothing much.”

Chen Xin peeled the radishes. After washing them, she handed them to Yan Chunhua to slice, then hung the pieces on the wire stretched along the courtyard wall to dry into dried radish. Three or four days like that was usually enough. Once they were taken down and frozen in the refrigerator, they made an excellent stew with cured pig hocks or cured ribs. Soaked in water until softened, cut into sections, drained, and stir-fried with garlic shoots and cured meat, they were delicious enough to linger on the tongue.

Seeing the smile in Yan Chunhua’s eyes, Chen Xin pouted. “His family is very well off. I’m guessing that even without Zhang Zhang, his family would never agree to let him marry me.”

The larger the family, the more they cared about background and lineage. Chen Xin was an orphan, and she had a child in tow. Even though Zhang Zhang could be sent back to the Zhang family to be raised, she had no family to rely on and could offer Zhou Hao no help at all. That was something she knew perfectly well could not be made up for. So she rarely accepted Zhou Hao’s kindness lightly, and even when she had no choice but to accept it, she would soon find a way to repay him. For that very reason, Zhou Hao found her a headache.

The two of them chatted while working. Just as they finished dealing with the radishes, they heard crying from outside the gate.

“Who’s that? Beating a child on New Year’s Day?” the aunt next door poked her head over the wall and asked Chen Xin to help move the cabbages. “Xiaoxin, do you have a moment? Help me hang these cabbages on the line. I’ll make pickled cabbage for you.”

“Coming, coming. Take it easy, Auntie. Your back has only just improved. If Uncle sees you lifting things, he’ll start nagging you again.”

The men in her family had gone to the fields to work, and the younger children had gone to the riverbank to dig fish ponds. Only she and her daughter-in-law were at home. Her daughter-in-law had gone to the fields to cut cabbages, so the aunt had set up a little stool in the yard to wash vegetables by herself, chatting with Chen Xin and Yan Chunhua over the wall.

Chen Xin went around to help the aunt hang up the cabbages. She was still at it when the child’s crying grew louder and seemed to be coming this way.

“Who is it?” The aunt, curious, opened the door to look. “Oh, it’s Erwa. Why is his mother beating him on New Year’s Day?”

Chen Xin’s heart gave a jolt. She stood on tiptoe and glanced at Yan Chunhua, who had risen and was looking out as well. The two of them exchanged a look, and Yan Chunhua ran first to shut the door of the room where Zhang Zhang was staying.

“What are you doing, Erwa’s mother? If you have something to say, say it properly. Chasing a child around and beating him like this on New Year’s Day—who are you putting on a show for?” From the other end of the lane came the village chief’s wife. She immediately pulled Erwa behind her, planted her hands on her hips in the middle of the road, and blocked Erwa’s mother dead in her tracks.

“You ask this unlucky wretch what he’s done. When did I ever say such a thing? On New Year’s Day, having people come to my door demanding an explanation—I’d like to ask someone for an explanation myself.” Erwa’s mother flung down the bamboo switch and sat down in a huff on the other family’s doorstep. “The Zhang family did something underhanded, and now they’re afraid of gossip? They’ve been stabbed in the back and only now know it hurts, so they come looking to take their anger out on me, is that it?”

“Auntie, that’s a strange thing to say. Who was it that tried to sow discord in front of a child barely over two years old? If you’ve got the nerve to say it, why didn’t you say it to my face? Or to my aunt’s face, for that matter. We’re all adults here. Can’t we do things openly and honorably? Why do you have to wag your tongue behind people’s backs? Does it make you look capable, or righteous? As for our family’s child, how we raise him is our own business. We didn’t ask you to spend a single cent, so what business is it of yours to rush out defending him? If you really think something is unfair, then say it now and let everyone hear it.”

Chen Xin would not be afraid of her. She dropped her apron in one motion and strode over, standing directly across from Erwa’s mother, exposing without the slightest politeness what her son had done.

“Then can you be sure you’ll never marry and have children yourself?”

“Even if I marry and have children, that wouldn’t stop me from raising my nephew. I’m willing to do it, I’m happy to do it. What can you do about it?”

Chen Xin did not argue or rage with her. She simply wore the look of someone saying, I’m willing, and it’s none of your business. It was enough to make people nearly explode with frustration and yet leave them speechless.

The village chief’s wife was not unaware of what the women in the village were doing, but unlike the others, she believed that whatever happened, Zhang Zhang would certainly not be mistreated. The very words “martyr’s orphan” were enough to guarantee that he would at least never lack for food or clothing. As for anything else, to be honest, even one’s own children could not be guaranteed to turn out without the slightest deviation, could they? Elders raise you to adulthood; whether you become someone useful afterward still depends on you. At most, children with parents could rely on their families, while those without father or mother could only depend on themselves.

She had heard her husband mention in conversation that the Zhang family had put all of Zhang Degang’s inheritance into a bank account for Zhang Zhang, and that the money they had used over the past year or so had all come from interest-free or low-interest loans from the bank. It was nothing like what outsiders imagined, as though they had been living off the pension and compensation Zhang Degang had left behind.

And Zhang Zhang’s aunt was no ordinary woman either. The last time someone named Liu Chunyan came to help, she had mentioned to Chunhua that Chen Xin was making a great deal of money in the city and had bought several houses, two of which were registered under Zhang Zhang’s name. Between that money and those properties, Zhang Zhang would have more than enough until adulthood. Whether his aunt looked after him in the future or not, at the very least she had already ensured that he would live without worry. That alone was more than enough kindness.

The village chief’s wife cursed Erwa’s mother a few times, then coaxed Chen Xin back inside, and in passing warned the other women in the village to do more work and less gossiping.

When Chen Xin returned, she acted as though nothing had happened. That left the village chief’s wife, who had followed her over and intended to persuade her further, rather baffled.

“I was just taking the opportunity to make a point,” Chen Xin said, sticking out her tongue and lowering her voice. “I know a lot of people in the village have been gossiping about it in private, but that’s all right. It’s enough that our own family knows the truth. Still, since there was a chance to clear things up in public, of course that was better. If you think about it, it’s understandable. Everyone is worried Zhang Zhang might be wronged. In the future, once Brother Zhang and Sister-in-law have children of their own, people will certainly still have things to say. So it’s better to make everything clear now. If anyone tries to stir things up later, at least our own family won’t have any cracks in it.”

“Even if your elder brother and I have children, we wouldn’t abandon Zhang Zhang...”

“I know. And if you want him, I still wouldn’t be willing to give him up.” Chen Xin cut in, pouting as she added, “I’ve raised him with my own hands, wiping his nose and feeding him spoonful by spoonful until now. It’s been hard work, and now that he’s finally becoming fun, why should I hand him over for you all to play with? Besides, with Zhang Zhang by my side, there are far fewer pests and flirtations buzzing around me. You have no idea how grateful I am for that. If I were to send Zhang Zhang away, I’d be driven mad within a week.”