Jiang Chengzhou also bought a string of firecrackers.
Su Li was young and not allowed to play with them, and he didn’t have any fire of his own, so he could only watch longingly as his older siblings had their fun.
The reason he got spanked was because he went to pick up someone else’s dud firecracker.
A dud firecracker was one that, after being lit, didn’t explode.
Back then, firecrackers were made using crude methods. The fuses were homemade with cotton-powder threads. If they got damp or the powder wasn’t evenly packed, they wouldn’t burst right away.
Sometimes it took dozens of seconds or even minutes before they blew.
That’s why parents always warned their children loudly and repeatedly before letting them set off firecrackers: never go pick up a dud.
When a firecracker didn’t go off, everyone would wait a bit, then move on to light the next one.
No one expected Su Li to suddenly dash out to pick one up.
Jiang Chengzhou was the first to rush over, grabbing his wrist and throwing the dud away.
Before Su Li could react, Jiang Chengzhou smacked him hard on the bottom.
Su Li ran home crying, holding his bottom with both hands.
The dud never went off in the end, but his bottom sure did.
By the time he got home, Su Li was sobbing so hard he could barely breathe.
Lin Zhilan and Su Lang were in the kitchen frying meatballs. When they heard their son’s cries, they exchanged a glance but stayed quiet.
Deng Jing, of course, wouldn’t ignore him. She hurried out and scooped him up.
“What’s wrong, Li Li?”
“Hurts…”
“Where does it hurt?”
“My butt hurts.”
Deng Jing didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “What happened to your bottom? Did you fall?”
“I hit him!” Jiang Chengzhou walked in from outside.
Deng Jing was at a loss for words. Just then, Lin Zhilan washed her hands and came out.
She took Su Li from her and asked Jiang Chengzhou, “What mess did he get into this time?”
Jiang Chengzhou sat down at the table, poured himself a glass of water, downed it in one go, and said angrily, “He went to pick up a dud firecracker.”
Lin Zhilan: “…”
Su Li’s already sore bottom got two more sharp slaps.
Pain on top of pain, Su Li screamed and struggled to get away from his mom.
Lin Zhilan set him down, but that made him madder, and he started swinging his little fists at her.
His two chubby little hands flailed like windmill blades, whacking Lin Zhilan’s legs while he wailed, “Mommy bad! Big Brother bad! Bad guys!”
He was small but strong, and his hits actually stung a bit.
Lin Zhilan pried him off. “Okay, okay, I’m bad. Stay far away from me, then.”
Su Li paused, then stomped his feet and pushed Lin Zhilan toward the door. “Mommy bad! You go! You go!”
He couldn’t quite say “go” right—it came out wrong. His little face turned red, and he looked like a bristling ball of fluff.
Lin Zhilan crossed her arms, standing firm as a mountain. “This is my home. If anyone’s leaving, it’s you.”
Su Li lifted his head, his eyes glossy with tears, staring at Lin Zhilan.
He sniffled, then said in a weepy voice, “Go, then!”
He turned around and stormed out the door.
Deng Jing wanted to stop him, but Lin Zhilan held her back.
Deng Jing said anxiously, “Zhilan, call him back! Don’t let him run off.”
Lin Zhilan was still angry herself.
Su Li’s temper really needed some taming.
Lin Zhilan didn’t even want to think about what would have happened if that dud firecracker had actually exploded.
He was still little—she could discipline him now. But what would happen when he grew up and was still this wild? Who could control him then?
Su Li had reached the doorway. He slowed his steps and pricked up his ears, listening for any sound from behind.
He was waiting for his mom to call him—just one word, and he’d have an excuse to turn back.
But a long time passed, and Lin Zhilan didn’t say a thing.
No matter how slowly Su Li walked, he eventually crossed the yard’s gate.
Lin Zhilan still hadn’t called him.
Su Li pressed his lips into a thin line and stubbornly trudged forward, leaving behind a figure that looked as if the whole world had abandoned him.
Only when he reached the end of the alley did Lin Zhilan finally stand at the door and call out, “Su Li!”
Su Li stopped in his tracks.
“Come back!”
Su Li didn’t move. Inside, a battle raged.
Even little kids had their pride.
He hadn’t saved face yet.
Su Li thought, if at this moment she called him “Li Bao” and coaxed him, he’d let himself go back.
“Li Bao” never came.
Instead, he got Lin Zhilan’s icy, “Are you coming back or not?”
Su Li blinked pitifully, but in the end, he didn’t dare to actually run away.
“Fine!”
Su Li turned and stomped back just as angrily.
As he passed Lin Zhilan, he shot her a look that said he was graciously granting her his forgiveness.
Lin Zhilan: “…”
Lin Zhilan started a one-sided cold war with her son.
After Su Li finished his time-out as punishment, he deliberately wandered in front of her to get her attention. But Lin Zhilan pretended not to see him.
With the New Year approaching, Lin Zhilan had plenty of free time and stayed home a lot.
Su Li hadn’t been clingy before, but lately he was like a little sticky rice cake, following her everywhere.
Now that Lin Zhilan was ignoring him, Su Li tried over and over to make himself seen, but she didn’t react at all.
He quietly turned around, slumped onto the table, and started crying.
Nobody could coax him out of it.
Deng Jing and Su Jue both failed and backed off.
The three older sisters had gone with their grandparents to the village tailor for measurements, so they weren’t home either.
Lin Zhilan was both angry and heartbroken. She nudged Su Lang and told him to go comfort their child.
Su Lang sighed, folded his newspaper, set it on the table, and scooped their son into his arms.
Even in his dad’s arms, Su Li stayed slumped forward, both hands covering his face, his head buried in his palms, sobbing in fits and starts.
Su Lang gently pried his hands away, wiped his tears with a handkerchief, and asked, “Does your bottom still hurt?”
Su Li’s crying hitched for a moment.
His bottom?
His bottom had stopped hurting a long time ago.
If Dad hadn’t mentioned it, he wouldn’t even have remembered.
“It hurts!” Su Li’s mouth puckered, and fresh sorrow overwhelmed him as he wailed even louder.
Su Lang rubbed his bottom. “How about now?”
Su Li buried his face in Su Lang’s chest, still sniffling, his tears soaking his dad’s shirt.
His dad just didn’t understand his pain.
Jiang Chengzhou finished the dried sweet potato in his hand, brushed the crumbs off his palms, and walked over.
He bent down and whispered something into Su Li’s ear.
Su Li lifted his head from Su Lang’s chest, blinked through his tear-smeared eyes at his brother, and looked confused. “Huh?”
He’d been too busy crying to hear clearly.
Jiang Chengzhou sighed and repeated himself right by his ear.
This time, Su Li understood.
His little legs wiggled as he slid down from Su Lang’s lap and walked over to Lin Zhilan.
Lin Zhilan was reading a book, but out of the corner of her eye, she had already seen the little figure approach.
Su Li stood in front of her, twisting his hands together, and whispered, “Mommy.”
“Mm.” Lin Zhilan replied coolly.
“I’m sorry.”
Lin Zhilan put down her book and looked down at him.
The little one kept his head down, not daring to meet her eyes. He had cried so long that a thin sheen of sweat covered his forehead, and the tip of his nose and the rims of his eyes were red, making him look rather pitiful.
This kid barely knew a handful of words, yet “I’m sorry” had practically become his catchphrase.
“What did you do wrong?” Lin Zhilan’s tone wasn’t as harsh as before.
Su Li tilted his head, thought for a moment, blinked, and said, “I dunno.”
