“Did you have fun?” Feng Yiqun asked.
“Happy.” Zhou Yu replied.
“Your face is all tanned.” Feng Yiqun laughed at her.
Zhou Yu touched her face. “Really darker?”
Mother and daughter chatted as they went upstairs. Feng Yiqun asked, “What do you want to eat?”
“Stuffed bitter melon.”
Feng Yiqun washed her hands, took a bamboo basket, and went to the market.
Zhou Yu returned to the inner room to see Grandmother, just in time for her bowel movement. She didn’t wait for Feng Yiqun to come back—she fumbled through changing her herself. Then she wiped with wet wipes. Finally, she learned from Feng Yiqun’s method—rolled all the wiped wet wipes inside the diaper, bundled it up, carried it out and threw it away. Then she washed her hands and returned to the living room, poured herself a large glass of mint water to drink, suppressing that uncomfortable feeling in her heart. This was her first time cleaning Grandmother’s excrement. Usually Feng Yiqun did it.
Then she tidied up the living room, mopped the floor with disinfectant, and finally sprayed perfume in Grandmother’s room. In the evening, she bathed Grandmother and cut her hair. After getting everything in order, she bought red wine and returned to the clinic.
Near the clinic entrance, several neighborhood children were squatting there playing. Yuyan was the first to see her and ran over from afar calling, “Auntie.”
Zhou Yu touched his head and smiled. “Want ice cream?”
“Yes! But I already ate one today. Mommy won’t let me eat more.”
“Then want an egg tart?”
Sun Yuyan nodded vigorously.
Then Zhou Yu was surrounded by several children going to the bakery. Each one happily picked one out. One of the children said to Sun Yuyan, “Your aunt is so nice!”
Sun Yuyan experienced for the first time what it meant to “have face.” Originally they all thought he was too young and didn’t want to play with him. After Auntie bought them egg tarts, everyone was fighting to play with him.
…
Sun Jingcheng was writing study notes. Seeing Zhou Yu come back, the two smiled at each other. Zhou Yu signaled for him to stay busy—she’d go upstairs first.
In the kitchen, they were chatting heatedly. Not knowing where they’d gotten to, Eldest Sister-in-law was talking about a case Eldest Brother had handled many years ago. “The son had been missing for over ten years. Later when the family renovated the building, the father found skeletal remains under a tree in the courtyard.”
“The father reported it to the police, saying he suspected that mother-daughter pair had killed his son. The mother had remarried long ago, and the only daughter had also married and moved away…”
“So it really was that mother-daughter pair who killed him?” Mother Sun was greatly shocked.
“The mother confessed, but the daughter said she didn’t know…”
“Really didn’t know?”
“This wasn’t easy to investigate. She said she didn’t know… but Eldest suspected she knew.” Eldest Sister-in-law said, “Anyway, in the end only the mother was arrested. Seems she was sentenced quite heavily.”
“Sentenced too heavily.” Sun Jingfei said, “This case was in the papers back then. The cause seems to have been alcoholism and domestic violence or something… The biggest point of controversy was whether it was intentional homicide or manslaughter. According to neighbors’ testimony, they said this mother-daughter pair was too calm and composed, completely didn’t look like they’d killed someone. When the skeletal remains were dug up, their whole village was shocked!”
“The daughter said she was sleeping deeply at midnight and didn’t know her parents were arguing. But this explanation doesn’t hold up. When parents fight, there’s such a commotion—how could she sleep through it? Your eldest brother said eighty percent the daughter saw it but chose to protect the mother.”
“Hey Zhou Yu, throw half a green onion in the pot. My hands are dirty.” Eldest Sister-in-law said.
Zhou Yu was tying knots in cut tofu skin sheets—later she’d fry them in oil, then simmer in chicken broth, and tomorrow sandwich them in flatbread to eat. Hearing Eldest Sister-in-law call her, she broke off a section of green onion and threw it in the pot.
Mother Sun was still sighing, saying it was truly sinful. Sun Jingfei said, “This man deserved it! He was the one who threatened with a knife first. This mother and daughter were also unlucky. Two more years and the statute of limitations would have passed.”
“Your eldest brother said the same thing. Two years later and this matter would have passed.”
“Burying him in their own courtyard—their courage was big enough.”
“The most dangerous place is the safest place.” Sun Jingfei said, “If I accidentally killed Ke Yong, I wouldn’t say anything either. Saying it out loud, having a murderer for a mother—how would that affect my son’s future…”
Mother Sun slapped her, telling her to get lost. Then she talked about a close friend from when she was young who married into a poor remote area. Three years after marriage, she disappeared. Her maternal family went to demand her back. The in-laws said she’d run away to work in the south.
“Her courage was so small—how could she possibly run away to work in the south? Later her family reported it to the police. In the end, nothing was found.” Mother Sun said with difficulty, then went to the bathroom to get washed clothes.
“Our company used to have an intern. His dad was a rapist. I found out unintentionally. I was afraid this would negatively affect the intern, so I kept it suppressed and didn’t dare say anything.” Sun Jingfei said, “I felt the father is the father, the son is the son… Later someone found out and it spread.”
“And then?” Eldest Sister-in-law asked.
Sun Jingfei didn’t elaborate, only saying, “For rapists and murderers, once their children are exposed, it’s basically a death sentence for them too—they can’t enter society.”
The atmosphere became somewhat heavy. Eldest Sister-in-law changed the subject. “Is Lin Jing coming?”
Sun Jingfei bit into a cucumber. “Said she has something going on.”
Eldest Sister-in-law thought for a while and said, “Tomorrow shall we three go see her?”
“Sure. I have no objection.” Sun Jingfei looked toward Zhou Yu. “Are you free tomorrow?”
After asking, she didn’t respond for a long time. She asked again. Only then did Zhou Yu come to her senses and ask them, “What’s wrong?”
“Said we’d go see Second Sister-in-law tomorrow. Seems like ever since she had the surgery, her condition has been very poor.”
“Sure, I’m free tomorrow.” Zhou Yu agreed.
“At first when she got pregnant, she didn’t seem to want it much. Why is she so upset now?” Sun Jingfei didn’t understand.
“She always wanted it very much, especially since it was a girl…” Eldest Sister-in-law couldn’t help saying to her, “You and Fourth are a perfect pair of five hundred.”
“What five hundred?”
“Each person two hundred and fifty.” (idiom meaning foolish)
Sun Jingfei, silly as she was, even laughed loudly.
After dinner, Sun Jingcheng and Second were downstairs with Sun Youping drinking tea, also discussing matters. The women washed up, cleared the dining table, and cut the cake. Sun Jingfei was very happy, humming in her mouth… boom-boom-boom… boom-boom-boom…