Just as the two of them were enjoying a tender, affectionate moment, Little Jianshe suddenly burst into loud sobs, kicking his arms and legs as his little face turned bright red.
Chuntao panicked. “Why is he crying? Is he hungry?”
“That boy has a big appetite. He must be hungry!”
Zhou Zhijun hurried over to help. He lifted Chuntao’s blouse and, imitating his mother’s earlier actions, brought the baby’s mouth to her breast.
Chuntao’s breasts had always been firm and full, and after giving birth they were even more so. Wearing a bra felt constricting, and it was inconvenient when she nursed the babies, so Aunt Zhou had simply told her not to wear one.
Zhou Zhijun had not touched her in a long time. His eyes fixed on the expanse of snowy white, his throat bobbed, and he swallowed hard.
But his precious son clearly wasn’t interested. Clenching his tiny fists, the baby cried until his face and neck turned red, refusing to nurse.
“What’s wrong? Why won’t he eat?” Chuntao’s heart clenched.
Zhou Zhijun slapped his forehead. “He must have wet himself!”
He laid the baby down and reached to undo the swaddling cloth. Just then, Aunt Zhou hurried into the room.
“He’s crying so hard—he must’ve pooped!” Aunt Zhou moved over and brushed Zhou Zhijun’s hand aside. “He was born half a day ago already. He should’ve passed his first stool by now!”
As she spoke, she unwrapped the baby and pulled open the diaper beneath him. Sure enough, he had soiled it.
Aunt Zhou deftly rolled up the dirty diaper, used the clean part to wipe Little Jianshe’s bottom, then rolled it up and handed it to Zhou Zhijun.
“Take it down to the river in the south and wash it!”
Zhou Zhijun had just lifted his foot to leave when Nuannuan, sleeping nearby, began to cry too.
“Did she soil herself as well?” Zhou Zhijun set the diaper in his hand against the wall and hurried over.
“Let me see!” Aunt Zhou lifted Nuannuan’s swaddling cloth. Her diaper was soaked, so Aunt Zhou quickly removed it and handed it to Zhou Zhijun. “Take this one too.”
Aunt Zhou had barely finished tidying them up when Little Jianshe was already gulping down milk.
Seeing her grandson eating so eagerly, Aunt Zhou beamed. Looking at Chuntao, she said, “This boy takes after his father. He has a huge appetite and never seems to get enough!”
She was clearly talking about Little Jianshe, yet she had dragged his father into it. Chuntao’s mind immediately conjured up Zhou Zhijun’s greedy, hungry expression, and her pretty face flushed faintly.
Now that they had two babies, his little addiction would have to be cut off completely.
Chuntao nursed the baby absentmindedly. Only when Little Jianshe had emptied her breast and released it, no longer rooting around, did she come back to herself.
By then, Aunt Zhou had finished cleaning Nuannuan. Smiling, she said, “Nuannuan is such a good girl. She went right away without crying or fussing. She’s much easier to deal with than her little brother!”
As she spoke, she placed Nuannuan on Chuntao’s other side. “Go on, feed little Nuannuan.”
Chuntao turned to nurse Nuannuan, but Little Jianshe still wasn’t full. His tiny hands clutched at Chuntao’s clothes while his legs kicked nonstop.
They had bought rice powder, but newborn babies had delicate stomachs, and no one dared feed it to them yet.
Aunt Zhou poured some brown-sugar water into a bowl and slowly let it trickle into Little Jianshe’s mouth with a small spoon.
His little arms and legs continued to squirm inside the swaddling cloth. The corners of his mouth twitched, but he obediently wrapped his lips around the spoon and sipped the sweet water.
After Nuannuan had eaten her fill, Chuntao let Little Jianshe finish the rest of her milk. He was still nursing when Zhou Zhijun left to wash the diapers, and he was still nursing when Zhou Zhijun returned.
“That boy—how is he still not finished?” Zhou Zhijun teased with a laugh.
“He takes after you. He has a big appetite!” Aunt Zhou chimed in. “Chuntao has a decent amount of milk too. Little Jianshe won’t go hungry, and he should be able to get nearly full.”
Zhou Zhijun glanced at Chuntao, a roguish smile flickering in his eyes. Chuntao lowered her gaze and did not look at him, but her pretty face flushed even deeper.
She knew all too well that Zhou Zhijun’s appetite was not limited to food. His appetite in that other regard was even greater.
Aunt Zhou continued rambling. “Luckily, Nuannuan doesn’t eat much. For now, there’s barely enough. In a few days, though, we’ll have to start giving Little Jianshe rice powder.”
Both babies were well behaved. Once Little Jianshe had eaten his fill, he fell asleep immediately. Nuannuan neither cried nor fussed, simply rolling her large eyes around like a sweet cloth doll.
Looking at the two adorable babies and his delicate wife, who had just given birth, Zhou Zhijun felt a jumble of emotions.
The commune had assigned him to help repair a reservoir, and he had to report for duty within the next two days. What would happen to his family while he was gone?
Chuntao was a first-time mother, and she had given birth to twins—a boy and a girl at that. Even with Aunt Zhou’s help, caring for them would be exhausting.
That night, Aunt Zhou stayed in the room with Chuntao. She held Little Jianshe while sleeping in one bed, and Chuntao held Nuannuan.
Zhou Zhijun lay in the room next door, tossing and turning restlessly as he went over the family’s problems in his mind.
The next day, at four in the morning, before dawn had broken, he and Zhou Xiaowei headed back to their old village.
The two men had long legs and walked quickly. By the time they reached Qingshan Commune, it was still early.
Zhou Zhijun went to the commune police station to find Wu Mingwei. He told him that Chuntao had given birth to twins and that he was supposed to leave to help repair the reservoir.
“She’s just given birth to two babies, and she’s still weak. I really can’t set my mind at ease if I leave now. Could you see if you can put in a word for me and let me go after the babies have passed their first month?”
The moment Wu Mingwei heard that Zhou Zhijun had fathered twins at once, his eyes lit up.
“Zhijun, you really pulled it off! You came out on top during training, and you’re just as impressive when it comes to having children—one shot, and you’ve got both a son and a daughter. You’re blessed!”
A proud smile spread across Zhou Zhijun’s face. “Of course. Whatever we do, we have to do it best!”
“All right. I’ll ask about it first thing tomorrow morning,” Wu Mingwei said. After a pause, he reminded him, “But you should prepare for both possibilities. The commune’s quota probably won’t be easy to change.”
Zhou Zhijun thanked Wu Mingwei and headed home.
Before he arrived, Zhou Xiaowei had already told Old Man Zhou that Chuntao had given birth to twins.
The old man was so delighted that he banged the bowl of his tobacco pipe against the edge of the kang bed several times. His face broke into a broad grin.
“Good! Good! Our second son really is something! One birth, two babies—a son and a daughter! Now the Zhou family won’t have to worry so much about family-planning restrictions!”
Zhou Zhiguo and his wife were delighted for Zhou Zhijun as well.
“The second brother finally has children—two of them, no less. That’s wonderful!” Wang Haiying said with a smile. “Our parents have spent their whole lives worrying about this. Now they can finally rest easy!”
Zhou Zhiguo nodded happily. “No one in our family for generations has ever had twins. Who would’ve thought our second brother would be the one to break the tradition?
“When the three of them come back, we have to hold a proper feast. We’ll even invite people to put on a movie and make a real celebration of it!”
“But the second brother is supposed to leave soon to help repair the reservoir. What will Chuntao and the babies do?” Wang Haiying suddenly remembered, and her brows knitted together.
The smile vanished from Zhou Zhiguo’s face as well. He said heavily, “There are so many able-bodied men in the village. Why did they have to pick the second brother?”
Zhou Xiaowei, who had been standing nearby, cut in angrily. “Who else could it be? It has to be Zhou Dana’s doing! That old bastard is too wicked!
“The compensation money from the oil field was handed over to him ages ago, and he was supposed to distribute it to everyone. He wants to keep it for himself, so he deliberately sent Second Uncle away because he was afraid Second Uncle wouldn’t let him get away with it!”
Although Zhou Xiaowei was the brigade accountant, his daily work consisted mostly of collecting local fees, keeping minor accounts, and running errands.
When it came to something as substantial as the oil-field compensation, Zhou Dana never let the money pass through Zhou Xiaowei’s hands. He kept total control of it himself.
When Zhou Xiaowei had first been appointed accountant, Zhou Dana had stubbornly opposed it. It was only because the former accountant admired Zhou Xiaowei’s skill with numbers—and had connections in the commune—that Zhou Dana had not dared to resist openly and had been forced to accept him.
In everyday matters, he treated Zhou Xiaowei as nothing more than a figurehead, giving him no real authority.
Zhou Zhiguo and Wang Haiying exchanged a glance. Wang Haiying gritted her teeth. “That Zhou Dana really is an old fox!”
Zhou Zhiguo lit a cigarette, took a drag, and said heavily, “It has to be him! How many times has that old bastard lined his own pockets with public money?”
Zhou Xiaowei was right. That very night, Zhou Dana was hiding at home, plotting how to handle the oil-field compensation money.
The oil field’s trial production had already ended. The workers had withdrawn and moved on to a new well, leaving only a few men behind at the village drilling site to watch over the pumpjack.
The oil company had already paid the entire village’s compensation—a little over eight thousand yuan—and handed it all to Zhou Dana, who was supposed to distribute it according to the number of mu of land each household had contributed.
More than eight thousand yuan was no small sum in those days. Who wouldn’t be tempted by it?
Zhou Dana had already made up his mind. He would pocket a portion first, then have Zhou Xiaowei go through the motions of keeping the accounts before handing out whatever remained to the villagers.
After all, Zhou Zhijun—the village troublemaker—would be leaving in two days to work on the reservoir.
Once he was gone, Zhou Dana could say whatever he pleased. No one in the village would dare challenge him.
Just then, a sudden “knock, knock, knock” sounded from outside.
“Who is it?” Zhou Dana’s heart tightened. He cleared his throat, but no one answered from beyond the door.
He asked again. Still, there was no reply—only the steady, neither-light-nor-heavy knocking.
A chill crept over Zhou Dana. He pulled open the door, and his face immediately darkened.
“You shameless tramp, what are you doing coming here in the middle of the night?”
Huang Meili planted her hands on her hips and curled her lips into a cold smile.
“What? Zhou Dana, you pull up your pants and suddenly don’t recognize me?”
