Xiao Mandong set down her chopsticks and gently patted Xiaoli’s back, waiting for her to calm down.
It took quite a while before Xiaoli finally managed to steady herself.
“My grandmother… passed away two months ago.”
Xiaoli lowered her head, her voice muffled. If her grandmother had not died so suddenly, she and her brother would never have run away to find that woman. They had not had the money to take a bus, so they had asked for directions along the way and spent three days getting here. They had even nearly been caught and taken back. As for what would happen next, she had no idea.
Xiaoli wiped her face with her sleeve. “Grandmother said that my mother was an educated youth sent to the countryside. Shortly after she arrived, she couldn’t endure the hardship and married my father. My father was capable, and he treated my mother very well. Their life was fairly good. When my brother was eight, my mother received a letter from my maternal grandparents saying that my grandfather was dying and wanted to see her one last time. So she packed a few simple belongings and went back to the city.”
“The day my mother left, she took all the money in the house to pay for the journey. My brother had a high fever, and the medicine from the village clinic wasn’t helping. By the time my father borrowed money and came back, my brother was already convulsing all over. My father took him to the hospital in town, and although they saved his life, the fever damaged his brain.”
“At first, my mother still wrote letters and sent things home. My father wanted her to take my brother to a hospital in the city and have him examined, to see if there was any hope of curing him. But after writing that one letter, my mother never contacted us again.”
“Back then, my father borrowed a lot of money to save my brother. He also wanted to take him to a big city for treatment, so he went to work at a mine to earn money. Three years ago, the mine collapsed, and my father…”
At this point, Xiaoli could not hold back her sobs. If her father were still alive, she and her brother would not have been bullied, and her grandmother would not have left her so soon.
After sniffing, Xiaoli continued, “After my father died, Wang Dashan started asking for my hand in marriage. Grandmother said I was still too young and had to observe mourning, so it was too early to discuss marriage. That was how she managed to put him off. Grandmother began asking people to send word to my mother, hoping she would take my brother and me away. She was afraid that one day she would no longer be able to protect us, but no matter what she tried, she couldn’t find my mother.”
“Then, two months ago, Wang’s family came again. They said the three years of mourning were over and that I was old enough to marry. But in truth, they meant to force me into marriage. Grandmother refused because Wang Dashan had been sleeping at a widow’s house since he was seventeen. There was no way she would let me marry a man like that.”
“Wang Dashan’s uncle was the village brigade leader. You could say he ruled the village with an iron fist. Grandmother wanted us to leave, but the brigade leader refused to issue us a letter of introduction. When Grandmother rejected the marriage proposal, they came to harass us every day. They smashed our things and even took the compensation money my father had left behind.”
“Six months ago, someone from the Wang family pushed Grandmother down. She never stood up again. Two months ago, she left us forever. Before she died, she gave me an address and a photograph of my mother.”
“But I couldn’t get a letter of introduction, so there was no way for me to leave the village. Later, I thought that if I really married Wang Dashan, perhaps his family’s influence in the village would at least keep people from bullying my brother.”
“But one day, I suddenly overheard Wang Dashan haggling with someone. He wanted to sell my brother to a brick kiln to do hard labor. The man said that a healthy person would fetch two hundred yuan, but someone like my brother was only worth eighty. That beast Wang Dashan had already taken the three hundred yuan in compensation for my father, yet that still wasn’t enough. He actually wanted to sell my brother for eighty yuan.”
By the time Xiaoli reached this part, she was practically gritting her teeth. She had never imagined the Wang family could be so vicious. At the time, she had been hiding behind a crumbling wall, listening to them talk, her whole body trembling.
Eighty yuan? Was her brother’s life worth only eighty yuan? What right did Wang Dashan have to sell him?
At that moment, she had truly wanted to rush out and kill him. But she couldn’t. If anything happened to her, her brother would have no chance of surviving.
Xiaoli exhaled slowly and continued, “No matter what, I had to protect my brother. So I went to Uncle Zhang, the village accountant. All the other village officials were members of the Wang family. I don’t know how many times I kowtowed, but Uncle Zhang took pity on me. In the end, he gave me a blank letter of introduction…”
“The moment I received it, my hands were shaking. I didn’t dare look Uncle Zhang in the eye because I was afraid he would change his mind. We didn’t have time to pack anything. I took my brother and fled through the mountains that very night.”
“I don’t even know whether I’ll be able to find my mother. And even if I do, I don’t know whether she’ll be willing to acknowledge us. She’s been gone for more than ten years. If she still had us in her heart, she wouldn’t have been unwilling to write even a single letter. I’m afraid she cut off contact with us because my brother’s illness made him a burden to her.”
“I’m scared. I’m afraid she won’t acknowledge me, afraid she’ll push us away. But then I think—what if? What if she still remembers us and simply had her reasons?”
As she spoke, a bitter smile appeared on Xiaoli’s face. She took a letter from inside her clothing. There was an address written on it. Xiao Mandong glanced at it and saw that it was an alley in the eastern part of the city.
Xiaoli took a photograph from the envelope. “This is the only picture my mother left behind.”
There were several people in the photograph, all wearing large red flowers. They must have had it taken when they had just been sent to the countryside.
“This is my mother.” Xiaoli pointed to one of the young women in the photograph. “It’s been more than ten years. She’s probably changed a lot by now.”
Xiao Mandong took the photograph and examined it carefully. The girl in the picture was plump, with a mole at the corner of her mouth. She wore a bright, happy smile.
“What was your mother’s name? Tell me, and we can try to ask around.” Xiao Mandong handed the photograph back to Xiaoli.
“My mother’s name is Cui Lijuan. I’m Shi Xiaoli, and my brother is Shi Bowen. Grandmother said my grandfather worked at a hospital and my grandmother worked at a clothing factory. My mother was the youngest in the family, with three older brothers.”
Shi Xiaoli took her brother’s hand and gestured for him to eat. Her eyes were filled with confusion and helplessness about the future.
“Cui Lijuan? Why does that name sound so familiar?” Xiao Mandong searched her memory, trying to grasp the faint trace of recognition.
Gu Jianghan took the photograph and glanced at it. “Would it be all right if I took the photograph and the address with me? I can help you look for her.”
Shi Xiaoli quickly stood up and handed the envelope to Gu Jianghan. She bowed deeply in thanks. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
Hope appeared in Shi Xiaoli’s bewildered eyes, and her heart settled somewhat. It was only because she and her brother had met these two kindhearted people that they had managed to escape safely and find somewhere to stay. Instinct told her that the brother and sister in front of her were the only people who could help them—their only hope.
After Xiaoli had finally said everything weighing on her heart, she seemed to feel much better. Only then did the four of them begin eating. The food had gone somewhat cold, so Xiao Mandong took it back to the kitchen and heated it up again.
After the meal, Xiao Mandong pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and wrote down a telephone number. She handed it to Xiaoli along with five yuan.
“Here’s the number for my hospital. If you need anything, call me there. Take this money for now—consider it a loan. Pay me back when you have the means.”
Xiaoli’s eyes reddened again. She didn’t refuse her sister’s kindness; she and her brother didn’t have a single penny between them, and they didn’t even know when they would find their biological mother.
Xiaoli accepted the money with both hands, as carefully as if she were holding some priceless treasure. She folded it neatly and tucked it against her chest. In her heart, she secretly vowed that even if she had to work like an ox for the rest of her life, she would repay her brother and sister for their kindness.
