The Good Days We Make - Chapter 3

I drew a deep breath and took Shi Ding’s hand.

“You won’t let me go hungry or cold, will you?”

He nodded hard.

“Then let’s split the household. You and I will look after your grandparents together and give them a peaceful old age.”

Shi Ding pulled me tightly into his arms. “Ni’er, you’re so good to me.”

It wasn’t that I was good. At this point, what choice did I have?

We were newly married. This was the time to build our affection. I could see that he was loyal and caring, that he would stand up for me, and that he had the courage to speak and act.

Besides, he’d already said it.

What else could I do?

Only after I went outside did I understand the difference between the old house and the new one.

The old house was low, dark, and shabby. The new one was broad and spacious.

Grandpa didn’t look all that old, but Grandma coughed after every few words. She certainly wouldn’t be able to do any work.

The people in the new house were so eager to be rid of Shi Ding that they wouldn’t even accept our wedding tea. They casually handed over two sacks of coarse grain, and Shi Ding’s father said to him and the grandparents,

“Father, Mother, you’ll live with Shi Ding from now on. You found me and raised me. I raised the Shi Ding you found, and even got him a wife. That repays the favor. We’re even.

“And since we’re separate households now, don’t go taking vegetables from our plot.”

Shi Ding clenched his fists in anger.

His grandparents were calm, as though they had known all along that this would happen.

“So be it.” Grandpa sighed and helped Grandma toward the house.

“Ding’s wife, come and serve your grandma and me some tea.”

Shi Ding took my hand and led me inside.

He asked me to wait while he went to the kitchen for water.

As we served the tea, Grandpa frankly said there was no money in the house.

Grandma gave me a jade bangle wrapped in red cloth.

“It’s nothing valuable. Just a keepsake. Cough, cough…”

It was the first jade thing I had ever seen. Valuable or not, it was precious to me.

“Thank you, Grandma.”

Grandpa gave a small nod. “This home will be in your and Ding’s hands from now on.”

Shi Ding said he would take a look around the mountains. Grandpa was silent for a moment, then said he would go too.

Grandma sat in a chair, staring into space.

I wasn’t one to make a fuss. My body still ached a little, but in our circumstances, there was no room for me to sit about being delicate and doing nothing.

I went around the house to see what we had.

Two rooms, a main hall, a windowless storeroom, and a kitchen.

In the kitchen were an iron wok, two clay pots, a few chipped bowls, several pairs of chopsticks, and a nicked cleaver.

Remembering that we hadn’t had a hot meal all morning, I scooped out some coarse grain and made a pot of porridge.

“Grandma, Grandpa and my husband aren’t back from the mountains yet. I’ve made some grain porridge. Have a little first.”

I had meant to wait for Shi Ding and Grandpa before eating myself.

“You eat with me,” Grandma said. “No need to wait for them.”

“All right.”

After the meal, I touched the silver bangle on my wrist.

Perhaps I ought to sell it for salt, sugar, and grain. We had our own household now, and life had to go on. A little hardship was nothing, but we needed full stomachs if we were to have the strength to work.

“Don’t worry, Ding’s wife. Ding’s a capable lad. He won’t let you go hungry. Cough, cough…”

After a pause, I said, “I believe in him.”

When Shi Ding and Grandpa came back after noon, filthy all over and carrying a wild boar, I smiled.

“There’s porridge in the pot, and I’ve heated water. Hurry and wash.”

Shi Ding smiled at me too.

He and Grandpa divided the remaining porridge between them and ate it all.

Then he said, “Ni’er, I’m taking the boar down to town to sell in a bit. Tell me what we need at home, and I’ll bring it back.”

Grain, salt, sugar, bowls, plates, several more earthenware jars…

I didn’t know if one boar would pay for it all.

“I’ll buy a little of each to get us started. I’ll fill in the rest as we go.”

Shi Ding hoisted the boar and headed down the mountain.

Someone came over with cucumbers, two ripe pumpkins, a big bunch of yardlong beans, a spoonful of salt, and a slab of cured pork.

“Just call me Guiniu’s wife.”

“Thank you, Sister-in-law.”

Grandpa considered the food, then asked, “Ding’s wife, how’s your cooking?”

“Passable.”

Rubbing his hands, Grandpa smiled. “Make coarse-grain rice tonight. Cook all the cured pork, and do whatever you like with the beans and pumpkin.”

All of it? Just like that?

A piece of cured pork that big ought to last eight or ten meals…