Chapter 36: A Group of Kids Arrives!

He ran right into Xie Youzhen, who was also on his way home.

The two looked at each other. As if sharing a tacit understanding, neither spoke, and they walked into the courtyard in silence.

In the courtyard, Tian Xiufen was busy cooking.

Having eaten noodles in the late afternoon, she really couldn’t bring herself to cook anything fancy for dinner.

Tian Xiufen took out a few eggs, which she had borrowed from Third Aunt next door for Lin Muyu.

After making poached eggs in brown sugar water^[1], she carried them into the room, then told Xie Tian to stir the porridge simmering in the pot so it wouldn’t burn. Busy with this flurry of chores, she didn’t notice the strange expressions on her husband’s and eldest son’s faces at all.

In the courtyard, Xie Zhao was bent over, writing and drawing.

A kerosene lamp was lit beside him. Holding a piece of charcoal he had pulled from the stove, he wrote with earnest concentration. On his other side lay a blue cloth bag, inside of which were neat bundles of loose change.

This was the money he had earned over the past two days.

When he returned in the afternoon, Xie Cheng had tried to return the remaining twenty-six yuan from the hospital discharge settlement to him, but Xie Zhao had refused.

They had caught the fish together, after all.

How could he possibly accept that money?

Xie Zhao was quick at math.

Ever since he earned his first bit of money, he had kept track of every single expense and its purpose in his head.

The paper was the oldest kind of yellow paper. He recorded everything with the charcoal stick, writing the balance at the bottom of each page.

As the final number was written down, Xie Zhao counted the money in the cloth bag once more.

A total of one hundred and seven yuan, six jiao^[2], and three fen.

It matched.

He smiled and set down the charcoal. Looking up, he saw Xie Youzhen squatting on the ground, puffing on his pipe.

Xie Cheng had just drunk a ladle of water. He sat next to Xie Zhao, staring at him doing the accounts without saying a word.

His face was so dark it could have rivaled the bottom of a cooking pot.

Xie Zhao packed his things away into a basket and looked at the two of them with a smile.

“No one agreed, did they?”

Xie Zhao spoke with calm confidence, looking as though he had expected this all along.

Xie Cheng and Xie Youzhen both widened their eyes.

Huh?

How did he know?

Xie Cheng slammed the table in anger and cursed, “What a bunch of jerks! If they don’t want to do it, fine, but they had to make those sarcastic remarks. If they hadn’t shut the door, I would’ve gone in there and given them a piece of my mind!”

With a dark expression, Xie Youzhen tapped his pipe against the ground to clear the ash and grumbled, “Eldest! They’re your elders, watch your mouth.”

He stood up, walked over, and sat down next to Xie Cheng. “You can’t blame them for thinking we’re scammers. It’s all my fault. I’m useless, and everyone can tell we don’t have any money just by looking at us.”

Xie Youzhen’s chest felt tight and heavy with frustration.

He looked up at the pitch-black sky and let out a heavy sigh.

“It’s fine if we get scolded a bit, but what are we going to give them tomorrow?”

As he spoke, filled with regret and self-reproach, he slapped his head. “If I had known, I should have taken Eldest to the river this afternoon to gather some. At least we wouldn’t have ended up with absolutely nothing tomorrow and lost our credibility!”

Xie Cheng had also calmed down by now.

He turned to look at Xie Youzhen and suddenly stood up, filled with determination. “Dad, I’ll go tonight! I’ll gather whatever I can!”

The two of them were ready to act immediately.

Just as they were about to head out, Xie Zhao finally called out to stop them.

“Wait!”

Xie Zhao said, “Xie Tian and I asked some people too! There’s no rush, let’s wait a bit and see!”

Asked some people?

The two of them stopped in surprise and turned to look at Xie Zhao.

Him?

Who did he ask?

People from the village?

He had only returned at the beginning of the year, and his reputation in the village was abysmal. Who could he possibly get to help?

Could he have been gullible enough to get tricked, happily believing he had actually found people to help?

Xie Youzhen and Xie Cheng exchanged a look, their hearts aching.

Sigh!

Their younger brother was smart, but he was just too soft-hearted!

Having heard him out, the two ignored Xie Zhao and turned to head out again.

But this time, before they could even reach the gate, a knock sounded from outside.

“Second Brother Xie! Second Brother Xie, are you there?”

A crisp voice called out from beyond the door. After shouting twice, another voice yelled, “We agreed you’d buy our river snails! If you don’t open the door, I’m going to pee right here!”

Pee?

Xie Youzhen’s eyelids twitched. He took a few quick strides forward and yanked the door open.

As the door swung open, the three people in the courtyard widened their eyes in unison.

Oh!

What a sight!

Standing outside the door were at least a dozen people. They were all half-grown kids, covered in mud from head to toe. Some of their pants were in such a state that they looked like they had just rolled out of a mud pit!

Yet, every single one of them had bright, shining eyes. They were all carrying cloth bags of various sizes, caked in mud but looking heavy. The young kids stared at Xie Zhao with faces full of anticipation.

Xie Zhao smiled.

“Big Brother, these are all my good buddies! Let them in!”

After all, Xie Zhao was only eighteen.

Calling them his good buddies wasn’t much of an exaggeration.

The group swarmed inside. The cloth bags in Zhao Tiezhu’s and Wang Erhu’s hands were the heaviest. They carried them on their shoulders, bulging, heavy sacks that dripped muddy water.

Thud!

Zhao Tiezhu and Wang Erhu dropped their bags onto the ground, haphazardly wiped the mud off their hands, and stared intently at Xie Zhao.

“Erhu and I searched all afternoon! Take a look! Is this the stuff?”

As Zhao Tiezhu spoke, he opened the cloth bag, revealing round, thumb-sized things inside.

What else could they be but river snails?

Having been packed together for a while, some of the river snails had suctioned onto their companions, poking out two black tentacles and crawling slowly.

“Second Brother Xie! Say something! Is this it?”

Wang Erhu was getting a bit anxious. He nudged the bag of river snails with his foot, then turned to look at the crowd of kids behind him. “We’re all waiting!”

Xie Youzhen and Xie Cheng were completely stunned!

“These are the people you said you ‘asked’?”

Xie Zhao nodded. Laughing, he walked forward and ruffled Wang Erhu’s and Zhao Tiezhu’s hair.

“Yes, this is it!”

Hearing Xie Zhao confirm it, the group of kids let out a collective sigh of relief.

Xie Zhao asked, “Brother, do we have a scale at home?”

Xie Cheng dashed back home.

“We do! Dad made it! He’s a carpenter!”

To be precise, Xie Youzhen had only made the scale beam. He had taken it to an old expert in town to calibrate it. Since Xie Youzhen went to the market every few days, the scale was always kept with him.

Otherwise, Wang Jinhua would have hidden it away long ago!

Xie Cheng ran back out carrying the scale and quickly took the river snails from Zhao Tiezhu.

He had no intention of taking advantage of them just because they were children.

Xie Cheng weighed an empty bamboo basket first, noting down the weight right in front of them, before pouring in the river snails Zhao Tiezhu had gathered.

Clatter!

With a sharp sound, the end of the scale beam tipped high into the air.

“Three jin and six liang!”

Xie Cheng turned to Zhao Tiezhu. “Subtracting the weight of the basket, that’s still three jin and four liang! Tiezhu, I didn’t realize you were so hardworking.”

Zhao Tiezhu felt a mix of nervousness and excitement. He scratched his head, then turned to look expectantly at Xie Zhao.