The aunt curled her lips. “Besides, it’s not like she took a fancy to Tiezhu. She took a fancy to the big-tiled house that belongs to Tiezhu.”
“Let’s be honest. You’re living in the house that the child’s mother left behind, so shouldn’t you treat the child a little better? Just look at her. She’s eight years old, but she’s no bigger than a five- or six-year-old. You beat her every few days, and your own son isn’t any better. He may be young, but he already knows how to bully poor Xi Ran. Children without mothers really are pitiful.”
“Tiezhu seems like a decent man. Doesn’t he do anything about it?”
Xiao Mandong guessed they were talking about the little girl Zhou Xiaomei had gone to see the night before.
“Tiezhu does try to intervene, but there’s only so much he can do. You dealt with Cai Shufen when you built your house, so you should know what she’s like. She’s a shameless, stubborn woman. At first, Tiezhu even beat her, but afterward she beat the children even more brutally. Later, Tiezhu wanted a divorce. Cai Shufen’s family came and took her back to her parents’ home, where they gave her a good talking-to. After she returned, she behaved herself for half a month, but then she went right back to her old ways.”
“Tiezhu must have gone to work in another village today. Otherwise, she wouldn’t dare beat the child like this.”
As they spoke, they had already reached the gate of Zhao Tiezhu’s house.
Several rings of people surrounded the courtyard. Xiao Mandong squeezed through the crowd and saw a little girl hiding behind the Brigade Leader. Her arms were covered in dark bruises, and there were handprints on her face.
“Cai Shufen!” The Brigade Leader’s voice was booming, and his tone was harsh. “Our Red Flag Brigade can’t accommodate you anymore. You’d better go back to your parents’ home. Just look at what you’ve done to that child! She’s only a few years old—how could you bring yourself to hit her? You’re a mother yourself. How can your heart be so cruel?”
Seeing the motherless child covered in injuries, the Brigade Leader’s eyes reddened despite himself.
Cai Shufen planted her hands on her hips, her voice even louder than anyone else’s.
“Brigade Leader, I’m disciplining my own child. Aren’t you sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong? Go ahead and ask her why I hit her! I’ve been working myself to death in the fields during the autumn harvest, and my son came running to me crying that this little brat had stolen something.”
“It was a serious matter. How could I just ignore it? When I came back and searched around, guess what I found under her bed? A packet of vegetable pancakes, stuffed with wild greens and eggs! I asked her where she got them, but the little brat just refused to answer. She’s so young and already stealing. How could I not discipline her?”
Cai Shufen believed she had every reason to beat the child today. Stealing deserved punishment. Everyone had always said she was rotten to the core, but this time, she would show them that the girl herself had bad character and deserved what she got.
Just then, a little boy appeared from inside the courtyard. He was gnawing on a vegetable pancake, mumbling as he chewed.
“That worthless girl is bad. She hid such a delicious pancake away. Hmph! I’ll beat you to death.”
Cai Shufen instinctively reached out to cover the boy’s mouth.
The Brigade Leader shot her a glare, then turned around and crouched down. He lowered his voice, afraid of frightening the little girl.
“Xi Ran, don’t be afraid. Grandpa knows you didn’t steal it. Can you tell Grandpa who gave you the pancake?”
The little girl stubbornly bit her lip and said nothing.
Cai Shufen stepped forward and jabbed a finger at Zhao Xiran’s forehead. “Look at that stubborn expression of hers. You could hit her three times with a stick and she still wouldn’t make a sound. I’m talking to you! Are you deaf? Whose vegetable pancake did you steal? Are you going to tell me or not? If you don’t, I’ll…”
Smack!
The Brigade Leader slapped Cai Shufen’s hand away from the little girl’s forehead.
“If you lay a hand on her again, I’ll report you to the police. This is child abuse.”
The Brigade Leader had wanted to report the woman to the police several times and have her locked up for a few days. But then he thought about it. What good would locking her up for a few days do? The two children would have no one to care for them, and Cai Shufen was the kind of shameless woman who would only behave for a few days after getting out before reverting to her old ways.
A neighbor from next door could no longer contain his anger.
“Pah! Even if she did steal it, it’s because that vicious woman starves her! Look at your son—his mouth is shiny with grease, and he’s fat as a pig. Now look at little Xiran. She’s nothing but skin and bones. The two of you gorge yourselves every day while Tiezhu is away working.”
“Exactly!” another neighbor chimed in. “I’ve had enough of this woman too. I live right next door. Whenever Tiezhu leaves to work, she makes this child kneel in the yard and lets her pig of a son ride her like a horse. Just look at that boy’s size! Every time he climbs on her, he knocks Xiran flat. Cai Shufen, you’re living in the house that her mother left behind. Don’t you ever get nightmares at night, knowing how immoral you are?”
Cai Shufen felt a chill run down her spine as she listened.
“What nonsense are you talking about? An older sister playing with her little brother—isn’t that perfectly normal? The homestead belongs to my husband, Zhao Tiezhu. I’m living in my own man’s house. Her mother is dead, and I’ve been taking care of this girl since she was two. If I really had a bad heart, she would have starved to death long ago. Since you’re so kind, why don’t you take her home and raise her?”
She truly couldn’t understand what was so special about Xia Zhiqiu. Everyone kept saying how good she had been. So what if she was good? She was still a short-lived woman.
When Cai Shufen had first married Zhao Tiezhu, she had treated the child fairly well. But later, she accidentally discovered a savings passbook. There was actually one thousand yuan in the account. Zhao Tiezhu had snatched the passbook away immediately and hidden it, saying that no one was allowed to touch the money. It was money Xia Zhiqiu had left for her daughter, and Cai Shufen was not to covet it.
Cai Shufen had felt a knot of resentment in her chest ever since. She took care of the child, washed her clothes, and cooked for her. Shouldn’t she have been the one managing the money? Was that really too much to ask?
Just because of that one thousand yuan, she and Zhao Tiezhu had quarreled countless times. One thousand yuan! It was an amount many people never saw in their entire lives.
She had turned the entire house upside down looking for the passbook, but she still couldn’t find it. How could she not be furious?
A while ago, Zhao Tiezhu had suddenly decided to send the worthless girl to school. Cai Shufen had objected, but Zhao Tiezhu told her that the money her mother had left behind was enough to pay for the child’s schooling and that she should mind her own business.
Cai Shufen had exploded on the spot.
“What use is it to spend that money on a girl? Once it’s gone, what will happen to Huzi in the future?”
But Zhao Tiezhu had glared at her, his face full of mockery.
“That’s money her mother left for her own daughter. What does it have to do with you? If you’re so capable, you should have left a thousand yuan for your own son.”
She had been so furious that she’d lost her head. She told Zhao Tiezhu, “Since that woman left the money only for her daughter, then let her crawl out of her grave and take care of the little brat herself!”
She had never expected Zhao Tiezhu, who was usually mild-tempered, to slap her across the face.
That day, he had even carried the child to his aunt’s home and told Cai Shufen that from then on, he would provide the girl’s living expenses. Cai Shufen no longer needed to take care of her.
After that, Zhao Tiezhu took five yuan from his wages every month to give the little girl for living expenses.
Five yuan! That was enough to support an entire family. Cai Shufen went to Zhao Tiezhu’s aunt every day to make a scene. In the end, the woman could no longer stand it and sent both the money and the child back.
That was when Cai Shufen finally understood something: as long as this child was around, she and her son would always have to take second place.
So whenever Zhao Tiezhu wasn’t home, she refused to give the worthless girl anything to eat and let her own son bully her.
She would even tell her son and that damned girl:
“Go find your mother. You’ll live the good life with her—no more hunger, no more beatings. Just jump into the river, and you’ll find your mother.”
Cai Shufen figured that once the girl was dead, Zhao Tiezhu would have only one child left, and the thousand yuan would naturally fall into her hands. She wouldn’t have to dwell on that dead woman every day, either.
