After taking the photo, the men dispersed, each going about their own business. The children were herded by Mother Sun like ducks into a room to play. The women began preparing the New Year’s Eve dinner.
Zhou Yu found the qipao underneath inconvenient, so Sun Jingfei lent her clothes to change into. Second sister-in-law inadvertently saw the bite mark on Zhou Yu’s nape and spoke bold words, “Being a few years younger really makes a difference in energy. Second brother and I barely have a sex life anymore.”
…
Zhou Yu’s face flushed red with embarrassment. Eldest sister-in-law, seeing this, said second sister-in-law had no sense of how a sister-in-law should behave. Second sister-in-law extended those scarlet long nails of hers, cracking sunflower seeds, completely fearless. “Eldest sister-in-law, you and eldest brother are almost done too, right?”
Eldest sister-in-law spat at her, scolding her for being perpetually improper!
Mother Sun heard and told her to gossip less.
The kitchen continued the topic that had just been interrupted. Eldest sister-in-law complained that nowadays schools, afraid of liability, had all canceled children’s spring and autumn field trips. Mother Sun said that teachers’ status today was far less respected than before. “Back when they were in school, whenever I saw a teacher I always had an extremely grateful attitude. During autumn harvest I’d even have the eldest son help the teacher break corn. When families had difficulties, teachers would even help advance tuition fees.”
“Two months ago, your Aunt Zhang’s grandson got a bump at school, and his mother went to the school and wouldn’t let the teacher off the hook. I ask you, isn’t it normal for kids to get bumps and bruises while playing around? You can’t tie every single one to a bench, can you?”
“Mom, today’s teachers can’t compare to those in the past. Teachers back then were truly dedicated to education, but teachers now just want those summer and winter breaks.” Second sister-in-law chimed in from the living room.
“No matter how you put it, kids nowadays are just too delicate. Every little trivial matter, they go to the school. In the end, it’s the kids who suffer. Once the school closes its doors, they use a one-size-fits-all approach—just control recess activities and don’t allow field trips. Last time a child in Zhou Yu’s class had an accident, the school was afraid parents would make trouble, so they suspended her classes for a few days.”
“The nature is different.” Eldest sister-in-law said while scaling fish, “Bumps and bruises are normal, but that incident at Zhou Yu’s school made the news—a child’s eye went blind… lost vision, right?”
“Temporarily lost vision.” Zhou Yu said while sorting vegetables. “His parents took the child to Beijing for treatment.”
“Such a pity, just two more years until the college entrance exam.” Eldest sister-in-law lamented.
“I say life is unpredictable, and this can’t really be blamed on anyone.” Mother Sun boiled a pot of hot water to pluck the feathers from the freshly slaughtered local chicken. “My maternal family had seven or eight siblings, only five or six grew to adulthood. I had a younger sister the same age as me who suddenly died when she grew to eight or nine years old. No one knew what she ate that she shouldn’t have.”
“When she died, no one felt particularly sad. Back then, every family had lost children. Parents gave birth to a whole bunch, and whichever ones made it to adulthood counted.” Mother Sun’s hand was scalded by the hot water, and she quickly pinched her earlobe. “If you don’t believe me, go back and ask your parents, see if any of them haven’t lost siblings.”
“That old lady who sits in the stroller at the street entrance in summer is almost 103 years old, right? She personally experienced the Great Famine. Her entire family starved to death, only she survived. With great difficulty she fled to Shaanxi, but the place was already packed with disaster victims and the city gates were closed. In the end, she returned the same several hundred miles back.” Mother Sun deftly plucked the chicken feathers. “I’m not saying life is bitter, I’m saying that at any time we must accept the fact that life is unpredictable. You might take off your shoes at night and not be able to get up the next day. For some things, besides accepting fate, there’s no one to blame.”
“Mom, what’s wrong with your eye corner?” Zhou Yu asked.
“What’s wrong?” Mother Sun rubbed it and saw a bit on the back of her hand. She lowered her head to smell it. “Why does it smell like chicken droppings?”
Everyone laughed. Zhou Yu helped her wipe it clean. “It probably splashed up while plucking chicken feathers.”
In the living room, eldest sister-in-law’s daughter wanted to get her teeth straightened and was consulting with second sister-in-law. Eldest sister-in-law just perked up her ears to listen. Her daughter had wanted braces since last year, but she’d never spoken up. Yesterday she’d gotten a bit impatient and told her to consult her second aunt.
Second sister-in-law stood at the kitchen entrance and told eldest sister-in-law, “Your daughter’s teeth should have been straightened long ago, they’re already affecting her face shape.”
“I’m too lazy to manage her. Yesterday her dad just scolded her.” Eldest sister-in-law said.
“After New Year’s I’ll make an appointment. Before school starts, I’ll get them straightened for you.” Second sister-in-law looked at Sun Yuyi’s short little eyebrows. “While we’re at it, I’ll find someone skilled to fix those eyebrows too.”
“Okay…” Sun Yuyi was happily blurting this out when she glanced at her mom and changed her tune, “Second aunt, let me just get my teeth straightened first. I’ll do the eyebrows next year.”
“Why next year? If you’re going to do it, do it all at once.”
“If you want to do it, just do it all at once.” Eldest sister-in-law gave permission.
Sun Yuyi pinched her little bangs, hesitated for a long while, but still shook her head. “Let’s do it next year.” The teeth were urgent, but the eyebrows could wait. These past few days she’d been clamoring for her dad to agree to let her be an exchange student, so she couldn’t spend money recklessly.
Second sister-in-law saw through her little thoughts and said to her, “Look at you. Second aunt won’t charge you. If your second uncle found out, he’d scold me.”
Sun Yuyi was even more embarrassed. She looked at her mom, then pretended to pick at dirty things on her clothes, reluctantly saying, “It’s not that…”
“Second sister-in-law, then I’m going too.” Zhou Yu said while washing vegetables. “I’ve wanted to fix my eyebrows for ages, just never had time.”
“Go ahead, I told you all to come last year.”
“Great, then make an appointment with someone skilled. Before school starts, Yuyi and I will go together.” Zhou Yu said.
“Go where?” Sun Jingfei poked her head over.
“To second sister-in-law’s place for eyebrow tattooing.”
“Free?” Sun Jingfei said, “I’ll go if I don’t have to pay.”
“Go, go, go…” Mother Sun shooed her away. She’d been particularly annoyed with her these past few days. “You talk just like the fourth son. Would your second sister-in-law charge you?”
“Hard to say.”
“You absolutely mustn’t come. If you do, I’ll extort you.” Second sister-in-law told her.
Zhou Yu finished washing the vegetables and asked Sun Yuyi to help her find a small basket to drain them, then asked her a few questions about her studies. Sun Yuyi was very diligent, chatting with her while helping out. When they finished, she went to the fruit plate, picked out a candy her mom loved, unwrapped it and fed it to eldest sister-in-law’s mouth.
Eldest sister-in-law quietly chatted with her, saying it was fine, before school started she could just go with little aunt.
Sun Yuyi hugged her mom, smiling without saying anything.
Eldest sister-in-law’s eyes welled up. She buried her head in marinating the fish, saying nothing more.
Compared to second, third, and fourth sons, she and Sun Jingyue were the most ordinary economically. Their daughter was clamoring to study abroad. It wasn’t that they were unwilling to spend money, but that the family truly had no spare money. She and Sun Jingyue had saved some money over the years, planning to buy their child an apartment, but her younger brother urgently needed to buy a house for marriage, so first they lent out a sum, then later her mother got cancer and they took out another sum. That little bit of family money was just sufficient for a family of four to live on, but studying abroad became a problem…
…
By rights, with five women in the house, preparing New Year’s Eve dinner should have been more than adequate, but with so many people, second sister-in-law and Sun Jingfei just slacked off. The former had elaborate manicures on both hands—she couldn’t do this, couldn’t do that—but she also wasn’t idle. In the kitchen she touched this and touched that, looking like she’d also been busy all afternoon, but actually hadn’t done anything. Yet you couldn’t say she hadn’t done anything. The other one would go out to take phone calls for a while, then hold a laptop saying she was replying to emails. Her reasons were very legitimate, but in reality she was being lazy and slippery.
Only Mother Sun, eldest sister-in-law, and Zhou Yu were genuinely working.
The children in the bedroom weren’t idle either. One would come crying to tattle, another would demand justice be served. Sun Jingfei found it too noisy, gave each of them a hundred yuan, and whoosh—they all madly went to the arcade.
In the afternoon, the men gradually returned. Sun Jinghui came back earliest, carrying two bottles of red wine and tea leaves. Then came Sun Jingcheng, who somehow brought back a box of fireworks. Sun Jingyue arrived right at mealtime. Sun Youping also closed the clinic at four or five o’clock.
The clinic closed early only on this one day all year. Usually it stayed open until ten at night.
In the kitchen, some were busy stir-frying, others setting the table. In the living room, Sun Youping drank tea with Sun Jingyue and Sun Jinghui. He could only have a calm, peaceful chat with eldest and second sons.