Accidentally-Born-C31

Chapter 31

With this one sentence from Zhenzhen, all the long-separated feelings of family members and the excitement of mother and son reuniting after a long time were suddenly disrupted. Wiping her tears, Zhenzhen suddenly realized how quiet the room had become. She looked up and saw the adults in the room staring at her with blank expressions.

Zhenzhen shook her handkerchief and noticed that Li Lao Tai had not yet recovered. She quickly pushed her: “Grandma, at this time, shouldn’t you be hitting my eldest uncle while crying and saying, ‘You heartless son, oh…'”

Li Muwen couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing. He bent down and lifted Zhenzhen, who was wearing a red cotton jacket and had a high braid, from beside his thigh. He kissed her chubby little face and turned to ask Li Lao Tai: “Mother, is this the girl from Mu Wu’s family? She’s not very old, but she’s quite funny.”

Zhenzhen wiped her face with a handkerchief and turned to ask Li Lao Tai: “Grandma, is this the eldest uncle who left twenty years ago without returning? He seems quite kind.”

Li Lao Tai wiped her tears while smiling, gently patting Zhenzhen’s bottom: “This child loves to make trouble. Your eldest uncle went to fight the Japanese devils, he had no choice. He’s not like your fourth uncle, that unfilial one.”

Zhenzhen smiled and wrapped her arms around Li Muwen’s neck: “I know, eldest uncle is a hero in the anti-Japanese war, Grandma often says so.”

Li Lao Tai laughed loudly and pulled Li Muwen’s arm to lead him inside: “Look at me, I’m so muddled, crying at the door. Muwen, hurry inside, let’s sit on the kang and have a good chat. Mu Wu, tell your wife to cook more dishes at noon, stew some fish, and kill the pig tomorrow.”

Mu Wu replied and went outside to give a few instructions to Wang Sufen. He quickly called Mingnan and Mingbei to send a message to Li Musen’s family. Li Muwen took off his military coat and hat, placing them on the cupboard in the room. Li Lao Tai pulled him to sit cross-legged on the kang: “Tell me, how have you been all these years?”

Hearing that they were about to start chatting, Zhenzhen immediately took out a small bowl filled with pine nuts and hazelnuts and brought over a large enamel bowl filled with various dried wild fruits. She placed the items on the kang and climbed up, sitting behind the two of them. Excitedly, she grabbed some dried blueberries and stuffed them into her mouth.

It wasn’t that she was being nosy; it was just that in this era, there was no TV to watch and no radio to listen to. At home, besides playing silly games with her two foolish brothers, she had to whisper with Li Mingzhong all day. It was simply too boring.

“Years ago, I followed the army to fight the Japanese, and went to many places…” Li Muwen briefly mentioned the general situation to Li Lao Tai. As for the injuries and hardships, he didn’t even bring them up. Li Lao Tai had an idea in her heart—her son had fought for so many years, and it was impossible not to have been injured. However, since he didn’t mention it, she didn’t ask. As long as he was safe, that was enough.

“Are you still with the army? Why did you suddenly come back this time? You didn’t even inform us in advance?” Li Lao Tai, holding Li Muwen’s hand, asked nervously, afraid that something might have happened to him.

Li Muwen gently patted Li Lao Tai’s hand for comfort: “I took a mission in the second half of this year and was in Beijing. During the winter, I carried out a mission in Ice City. After the mission was completed, I reported to the higher-ups, saying that I hadn’t been home for over twenty years and wanted to apply for a visit. The higher-ups gave me three months of family leave, so I rushed back to see you.”

“Three months? That’s wonderful!” Li Lao Tai smiled: “Tonight, you’ll sleep with me. Let’s have a good chat.”

Li Muwen nodded repeatedly: “Okay.”

“Brother!” While the mother and son were talking, a voice came from outside, and Li Musen burst through the door, looking at Li Muwen sitting on the kang, somewhat in disbelief: “Is it really Big Brother?”

“Musen!” Li Muwen smiled and waved to him: “Let me have a look. Oh, in the blink of an eye, twenty years have passed. I remember when I left, you were only fourteen. Now you look so mature. Time really doesn’t spare anyone.”

“Yes, that’s right, my eldest son is already fourteen,” Li Musen laughed and walked over. Li Lao Tai and Li Muwen moved aside a little, leaving some space on the kang. Li Lao Tai picked up a fly swatter and tapped the kang: “Third brother, come sit down. And Mu Wu, why are you standing there like a wooden pillar at the door? Don’t you want to come and talk to your brother?”

Mu Wu, grinning stupidly, finally sat down on the kang.

Li Muwen looked at Mu Wu with affection: “Mu Wu is still the same as when he was little, hasn’t changed much—honest and kind.” He looked around: “Has Mu Lin not come? I heard mother mention something about him not being filial. Is he angry with you?”

“Don’t mention it. Back then, we were recruiting workers at our grain shop, carrying sacks. Both Mu Wu and Mu Sen were selected, but Mu Lin was still small and not strong, so they didn’t choose him. Out of spite, he ran off to Ice City and didn’t return for ten years. He only brought his wife back a couple of years ago. It made me so angry, I hit him with a pipe.”

“Ice City isn’t that far, why didn’t he come back for ten years? Was it because he was angry with the family?” Li Muwen’s eyes darkened slightly, and his tone turned sharp.

“Who’s angry with him? He married a wife with some small calculations and dragged him from coming back. He’s not very thoughtful either, I’ve said it many times. His wife isn’t a big problem, just a little too self-righteous and actually quite foolish,” Li Lao Tai rolled her eyes: “I’ve hit him a few times in the past two years, and now he knows he was wrong. His wife isn’t too bad, just a bit of a fool thinking she’s clever.”

Li Muwen didn’t ask further, deciding to wait until the end of the year when Mu Lin came back to have a detailed chat with him.

After talking for a while, Li Muwen remembered the large luggage bag he had brought back. He got off the bed, lifted the bag onto the bed, and opened it, taking out items one by one. “I expected to come back this time, so I bought quite a few things when I was in Beijing. Mom, this is a radio for you, made by the Shanghai People’s Radio Equipment Factory.”

“Ah, a radio from Shanghai.” Li Laotai quickly wiped the sweat from her palms on her clothes and carefully took the radio, placing it on the bed. “This thing must be expensive, right? It must have required quite a few industrial coupons. It seems there are only a few families in Beicha that have one of these.”

As Li Muwen turned the knob, he explained how to use the radio. After turning it a couple of times, he finally tuned into a station that was playing the storytelling show The Snowy Forest of the Linhai (林海雪原)¹. Li Laotai was immediately captivated, listening intently and fondly touching the radio. “This thing is really good. I’ve heard about it before, but this is the first time I’ve seen one.”

“From now on, Mom, you can sit on the bed and listen to the radio whenever you have time. There are songs and storytelling shows. The Journey to the West² that my dad told me when I was young and the Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio³ you told me—both are in here.”

“Alright, alright, now I’ll have something to pass time! When the relatives come over for the New Year, I’ll show them this and let them see something new.” Li Laotai quickly got off the bed, grabbed a rag, and wiped down the cabinet. She carefully placed the radio neatly on top.

Once the radio was set, Li Laotai returned to the bed. Li Muwen then took out a grey checkered spring-autumn jacket and a pair of dark blue trousers. “This is the clothing I bought for you, Mom.”

Li Laotai quickly took the clothing, placing it on herself to check. “I’m so old, should i still wear new clothes? Isn’t that a waste of money? Muwen, do you think this looks good on me?”

“It looks great! You’ll look ten years younger once you wear it,” Li Muwen praised her repeatedly. “I saw women wearing these kinds of clothes on the streets of Beijing, so I immediately went ahead and bought one for you.”

Li Laotai was satisfied, smiling as she folded the clothes and placed them aside. “Alright, I haven’t bought ready-made clothes in a long time. I used to buy fabric to make clothes, but even this took quite a bit of money and fabric coupons.”

Li Muwen then took out three bottles of Moutai liquor from the bag. “These are for Muwu and the other two, one bottle for each.”

Li Laotai looked at the characters on the bottle, but she couldn’t recognize them. “What kind of liquor is this?”

“Moutai,” Li Muwen explained. “I bought this last year and brought it with me when I left. It was only 2.97 yuan when I bought it, but by April of this year, the government introduced a high-price policy, and now each bottle costs 16 yuan.”

Upon hearing this, Li Laotai quickly pushed it back. “Take it back, take it back. How could they afford to drink such expensive liquor? You should keep it for yourself.”

“I specifically brought it for them,” Li Muwen said. “I carried it with me for half a year. When I was in the army, those guys were so noisy, I never even took it out. It’s been years since I’ve been home, and this is my way of showing my affection as their older brother.”

Hearing this, Li Laotai relented. Li Muwen then took out a neatly folded blue-and-white striped woolen coat. “This is for Zhenzhen,first daughter in our family. She needs to be dressed up nicely.” Zhenzhen, who had been watching the scene, was surprised to hear that there was something for her, and she immediately jumped off the bed and ran out.

Li Muwen was startled, confused, and looked at the door. “Why is this child running off?”

Li Laotai, stroking her clothes, replied without looking up, “She went to wash her hands.”

Sure enough, less than a minute later, Zhenzhen returned, having washed her hands and face. She wiped her hands several times with a towel, ensuring there was nothing dirty on her hands or body. Only then did she climb back onto the bed to receive her woolen coat. She felt the fabric, realizing it was made of pure wool, with a rabbit fur collar, double-breasted front buttons, and a blue bow on the back. The style was timeless, even for future generations.

Zhenzhen hurriedly put it on, but when she looked down at the coat, which reached her ankles, she was a bit disappointed. “It’s too big.”

“It’s not too big!” Li Laotai immediately reassured her. “It needs to be this long, so you can wear it until you’re six or seven years old. This is such a good coat, you need to wear it for a few more years.”

Zhenzhen, thinking that it might be a long time before she could get such a good coat again, quickly nodded in agreement. “Grandma’s right. You’d better keep it safe for me. When spring comes and we go visiting, I’ll wear it to show off.”

Li Laotai, satisfied, kissed Zhenzhen on the cheek. “That’s settled then. My granddaughter is so well-behaved.” Li Muwen, who was well familiar with his mother’s temperament, couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of the grandmother and granddaughter enjoying themselves. No wonder his mother was so fond of Zhenzhen—they were cut from the same cloth.

In addition to the clothes for Zhenzhen, Li Muwen had brought steel pens for his several nephews, along with some fabric and military-issued items such as a water bottle and a meal box, all unused, as gifts.

While clothes and steel pens could be bought with money and coupons, the military-issued items were something one couldn’t just buy. If anyone had a military water bottle, they’d look quite impressive. Zhenzhen had used one of Li Muwen’s old water bottles when she went up the mountain, which had already been used for more than ten years. Now, she received a new one. Li Laotai happily said, “The new one is for Zhenzhen. She’s careful with her things and doesn’t break anything. The old one can go to Mingbei; he’s always like a little monkey and doesn’t mind if the paint chips off.”

Mingbei didn’t mind the old water bottle. He was just happy to have one. He grinned as he went to the cabinet, took Zhenzhen’s old water bottle, and proudly slung it over his shoulder.

Zhen Zhen watched Ming Bei show off while happily eating dried fruit, smiling non-stop. Grandma Li, seeing this, introduced her to Li Mu Wen, saying, “Our little girl here loves to cause a ruckus. Last year, when your second brother’s eldest son, Ming Dong, was dating, she was only a little over a year old. She could barely walk but spent the whole day following them around, eavesdropping on their conversations. It really bothered Ming Dong. He’d come to me every day to complain.”

Zhen Zhen popped another blueberry into her mouth, looking innocent as she pretended to forget.

Grandma Li immediately knew Zhen Zhen was faking ignorance. She laughed and pulled her into her arms, saying, “If someone comes to visit, this little one runs faster than me. Before I even get to the bed, she’s already settled herself with food in the best spot. Ming Dong said, looking at her, it’s like watching people in the city go to the movies. She eats and watches, and even occasionally butts in.”

As the eldest son, Li Mu Wen knew that his mother had always wanted a daughter. She had never gotten one before his father passed, but now that they had a granddaughter, it was clear how much she spoiled her. Every year, the letters they received always had a good half of the content dedicated to Zhen Zhen.

After talking for a while, the food was ready. The family had around ten or so crucian carps, which were originally meant for Guifei’s nursing, but now they didn’t have time for that, so they just killed them and stewed them in sauce. When Liu Xiulan came, she brought a freshly slaughtered rooster and also some pork she had bought this month.

They chatted for an hour, and Wang Sufen and Liu Xiulan, the sisters-in-law, finished cooking. The dishes included braised crucian fish, stewed chicken with mushrooms, braised pork with potatoes, sauerkraut and vermicelli, stir-fried cabbage with wood ear mushrooms, and a bowl of rice.

There was a lot of food for a lot of people. Wang Sufen and Liu Xiulan set up a large round table and placed the dishes on it. They also brought up their homemade sorghum liquor that had been infused with ginseng.

The family gathered around the large round table, even Zhen Zhen sitting in Wang Sufen’s lap. Grandma Li raised her small drinking cup and looked at her eldest son, whose eyes were filled with joy and tears. “Mu Wen is back. This is the greatest joy for our family in years. I won’t say much more. Let’s just drink a toast.”

Li Mu Wen replied with an “Eh,” raised his cup, and drank it all in one go. “The liquor here is so good, strong and flavorful. You don’t know, Mom, but when I was in the South, the alcohol there was like drinking water, tasteless.”

Grandma Li picked up a piece of chicken and placed it in her son’s bowl. “Ours is raw liquor, over 60 percent. You’d have a hard time getting used to it outside.”

After eating the chicken, Li Mu Wen picked up some sauerkraut and vermicelli, which he had longed for. As he ate, tears began to fall. Grandma Li quickly asked, “What’s wrong, son? Does it not taste like what you remember?”

“No, Mom!” Li Mu Wen swallowed the food in his mouth and wiped his face. “When I eat this sauerkraut, I can tell it’s your homemade one. It reminds me of when I was young. Back then, we lived so poorly. In the winter, you would pickle a whole jar of sauerkraut, and that was our winter food. One year, we ran out of rice. Dad and you went out to find a way, and I was so hungry at home that I secretly took some sauerkraut from the jar and ate half of it raw.”

Thinking about those past days, Grandma Li sighed deeply. “Life really was tough back then. If you hadn’t driven away the Japanese invaders, we wouldn’t be living like this now.”

“At least life is better now,” Li Grandma said. “We can buy the supply grains every month, and we’ve even reclaimed land. We’re not hungry anymore.” She picked up a piece of braised pork and placed it in his bowl. “Did you eat well in the army? Were you able to have enough?”

“We did, we ate well. Don’t worry, Mom,” Li Mu Wen finished the food in his bowl, noticing Zhen Zhen holding a bowl of rice with braised pork sauce on top. She was eating the rice with meat in one bite and biting into the chicken leg she was holding in the other hand. He couldn’t help but laugh. “This girl may be young, but she sure knows how to eat. Hey, Mom, do we have rice now?”

“That’s the rice you got the seeds for, right? The high mountain rice?” Li Mu Wen’s brother, Li Mu Sen, asked as he ate some sauerkraut with his rice.

Grandma Li kicked her eldest son under the table, and Li Mu Wen immediately laughed. “Yes, but I didn’t expect we could actually grow it.”

“We can grow it. It grows well on the mountain, but my land by the river doesn’t do as well,” Li Mu Sen said, taking another bite of rice. “This rice is good, it smells nice, but it doesn’t have as high a yield as sorghum, and it doesn’t fill you up as much. I think it’s okay to grow it for a change, but for staple food, sorghum is more reliable.”

Grandma Li glared at him. “You talk too much. I think this rice is good. I’m old now, and I like eating something soft. Zhen Zhen can’t eat sorghum rice, she prefers this white rice.”

“Yes, yes, you’re right, Mom,” Li Musen immediately appeased his mother. “I didn’t say anything, really. Come on, come on, Big Brother is finally back, let’s drink again.”

Zhen Zhen buried her head in her food, no longer paying attention to the gossip. The chickens and pigs here were raised the traditional way, and with the big iron pot stewing them, the smell was just irresistible. Even in her previous life, when she paid for organic pork, it didn’t taste this good.

After eating most of a chicken leg, several pieces of braised pork, and half a bowl of rice, Zhen Zhen’s stomach finally felt full. She pushed the leftover rice in front of Ming Bei and burped. “Mom, I’m full.”

Wang Sufen patted Zhen Zhen’s bulging stomach and smiled. “From morning till night, your mouth is always busy.”

“Being able to eat is a blessing…” Zhen Zhen burped again and covered her mouth, not speaking. It wasn’t her fault, though. Although they had harvested a lot of rice, it wasn’t something they could eat every day, let alone with a hearty meal like chicken with mushrooms and braised pork.

After the meal, Grandma Li and the family moved to the back room to chat, while Zhen Zhen struggled against sleepiness, refusing to take an afternoon nap. Wang Sufen, helpless, picked her up and coaxed her, “Good girl, after you take a nap, I’ll wake you up, and your dad will kill a pig for us.”

“Kill a pig?” Zhen Zhen’s eyes widened. “Our braised pork?”

“Yes.” Wang Sufen put Zhen Zhen on the bed, spread a blanket, and helped her out of her cotton coat and pants so she could lie in the warmth of the quilt. “Go to sleep quickly. When you wake up, I’ll let Grandma play the radio for you.”

Zhen Zhen hadn’t encountered anything troubling since she was born. Although the early years were tough, her special abilities ensured the family never went hungry. So, except when she went out exploring during naps, the rest of the time was spent eating and playing, embodying a carefree existence. However, without cultural or entertainment options, it did feel a little boring.

She glanced at the radio on the cabinet, closed her eyes, and decided to first go check on the braised pork that was about to be slaughtered.

Ever since Zhen Zhen started going up the mountain with Grandma Li to plow the fields, she began her treasure-hunting life. At home, she mostly talked to Li Ming Zhong. As the braised pork grew fatter and the smell from the pigsty became stronger, Zhen Zhen hadn’t gone to the backyard to check on it for several months.

Her consciousness left her body and floated over to the pigsty. Zhen Zhen looked at the braised pork, now covered in thick fat, and sighed, “Braised pork! You’ve really gotten fat!”

“Hmm…” The braised pork grunted twice, continuing to root around in the dirt, indifferent.

———

—Linhai Xueyuan (Snowy Forest of the Linhai) is a classic Chinese novel set in Northeast China during the Chinese Civil War. It tells the story of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) fighting enemy remnants in harsh, snowy forests. The novel, written by Qu Bo in 1957, became popular through radio broadcasts in the 1960s, highlighting themes of bravery, loyalty, and patriotism. It was adapted into films and TV dramas and remains a significant part of Chinese revolutionary literature.

—Journey to the West is a classic Chinese novel about a monk, Xuanzang, who travels to India to retrieve Buddhist scriptures. He is accompanied by three disciples: the clever Monkey King, the greedy Pigsy, and the loyal Sandy. Together, they face numerous challenges and monsters, with the story emphasizing themes of loyalty, self-discipline, and spiritual growth.

—Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (聊斋志异) is a collection of supernatural short stories written by Pu Songling during the Qing Dynasty. The stories explore themes such as ghosts, spirits, demons, and other mystical creatures, often blending the real with the fantastical. Many tales also offer moral lessons or critique society. The collection is known for its vivid storytelling and rich cultural insights, with some tales focusing on love, revenge, or the consequences of human desires.