The Child

Chapter 18

That evening, Sha Niu chattered incessantly about the wild boars.

“That wild boar was so funny. They really like the Immortal Lady, too. They must have recognized her.”

Sha Niu’s mother sat before the stove, her eyes staring blankly at the hearth. A large iron pot sat atop the stove, the pig feed inside bubbling and gurgling.

“Mom, are you even listening to me!”

Sha Niu’s mother snapped back to reality and said crossly, “You say the same things every single day.”

It was nothing more than how she went into the mountains with the Immortal Lady again, how they encountered a wild rabbit today, and how happy the Immortal Lady was, saying it was her first time seeing one.

Truth be told, there were times when Sha Niu’s mother didn’t understand what that college student was thinking.

But sometimes, looking at Sha Niu, this silly child of hers, she felt she understood a little.

Life was too bitter, too exhausting. One needed something to distract the mind. If one spent every moment looking at those people, or looking at oneself, one would truly go mad.

Through Sha Niu – the only fool in this village who relied solely on her, believed only in her, and stood firmly by her side – Sha Niu’s mother kept herself from losing her mind, from choosing death.

But now, Sha Niu’s mother didn’t know what to do about the future. In the past, she felt that in this village, at least this daughter belonged to her. Now, looking at her daughter, she felt a sense of panic for the girl’s future.

Seeing her mother staring at her like that, Sha Niu grew dissatisfied.

“Mom, listen to me! This time it’s really different. The Immortal Lady and I went to the temple together. The Immortal Lady’s temple!”

Sha Niu’s mother was still preoccupied with her own anxieties, but she followed along with Sha Niu’s words, asking, “What did the Immortal Lady do at the temple?”

“The Immortal Lady looked around for a long time. She even asked me why there was so much red cloth in the temple.”

“I don’t know why there’s so much red cloth either. Mom, can we take that red cloth to make clothes?”

Sha Niu’s mother didn’t know why there was so much red cloth there either, but since it belonged to the Immortal Lady, they naturally couldn’t take it.

“Quiet down for a bit and give my ears some peace.” Sha Niu’s mother poked her daughter’s forehead.

Sha Niu’s mother was feeling extremely troubled. Earlier today in the mountains, she had run into the village’s most notorious gossip.

Everyone called that gossip Third Aunt. She was a meddlesome woman, but because Sha Niu’s mother had a sharp temper, the woman rarely dared to run her mouth in front of her.

Yet today, the woman had suddenly approached her to strike up a conversation, first asking about the crop harvest and then mentioning this year’s grain tax¹.

“What exactly are you trying to say?” Sha Niu’s mother had no patience. She wasn’t used to the local habit of beating around the bush.

“Your peanut harvest wasn’t much this year. Have you sold them yet?”

Sha Niu’s mother could tell at a glance that she was still stalling. Just as she turned to leave, the woman quickly laughed and said, “Sister, I have something to tell you. Don’t go.”

As she walked ahead, the woman chased after her.

“We’ve been in this village together for twenty years now, haven’t we? Time really flies when you think about it.”

Sha Niu’s mother looked back, as if only now remembering that this woman was a Trafficked Bride just like herself.

In the beginning, when they were strangers in a strange land and couldn’t speak the local dialect, they had actually been on quite good terms.

But now, looking at this middle-aged woman, she saw someone identical to the local women they had encountered when they first arrived in the village.

The woman said, “Speaking of which, Sha Niu is nineteen by the lunar calendar². She’s a grown girl now. Even if she is a bit slow…”

“Don’t say another word.” Sha Niu’s mother had already guessed what she wanted to say.

But the woman continued regardless: “As her mother, you have to plan ahead. Sha Niu is so old now, what are you keeping her at home for?”

“It just so happens that Guangzi’s family asked me to act as a matchmaker these past two days. Even though the man in their house isn’t very bright either, it’s a good thing. Sha Niu won’t be looked down upon if she marries into their family. Once she has a child, she’ll have someone to rely on. As the saying goes, parents who live to a thousand can’t protect a child who lives to a hundred³.”

“You don’t need to worry about his family either. After all, you’re right here in the village. Everyone lives close by. If Sha Niu wants to come home, she can come home whenever she likes. They won’t restrict her.” As the woman spoke, she seemed to convince herself it was a wonderful match.

Her tone was light. Sha Niu’s mother remembered the past, back when the woman was just a girl of seventeen or eighteen. Back then, they were the same. They had both wanted to go to the city to work, only to be tricked into these mountains to marry and bear children.

Back then, the woman had cried every day. That face of a crying young woman gradually merged with this smiling face covered in wrinkles.

Sha Niu’s mother didn’t even feel anger anymore. She felt that the companion who had once shared her fury at being deceived was gone. The body left behind was filled with the words and thoughts of the other villagers, as if she were possessed by a ghost.

Like the ghost stories she had heard in the past.

Sha Niu’s mother should have lost her temper, should have been furious, but all she felt was a sense of powerlessness.

She walked away quickly, unwilling to see this person any longer.

There was one part of the woman’s words she agreed with: she had to plan.

In reality, the inability to escape boiled down to two major problems. First, how to get to the city once she reached the town. Second, how she would survive in a completely strange place once she reached the city.

She had never been to a city. Sha Niu’s mother was a rural girl herself, one of five siblings. They had been so poor they could barely keep food on the table, and as a child, she and her siblings were often hungry. At that time, they had a distant relative who went to the city to work. Every time that relative returned, there were sweets and meat. She had spent almost every day wishing to grow up, wanting to earn money to buy meat and candy for herself. After finally enduring until she was eighteen, she followed a distant aunt to the city.

The plan was to work in a textile factory. Having never been to a city, she understood nothing. Her distant aunt handed her over to two other people, claiming they were the managers of the textile factory. They took her on a train, squeezed through dense crowds of people, and finally brought her here.

To her, the city was also a place that could swallow people whole. How would a rural woman like her and a simpleton girl like Sha Niu survive in the city?

Her heart was filled with trepidation.

She used Ming Wen to soothe her own mind.

They had Ming Wen now. Ming Wen was a city girl from a wealthy family. Perhaps as long as she could get Ming Wen back to the city, there would be hope for both mother and daughter.

At this very moment, Sha Niu was still prattling on incessantly about her Immortal Lady.

“The Immortal Lady really likes me. She said that when she goes back to heaven, she’ll take a look at my brain.”

The more Sha Niu spoke, the happier she became, and the more she wanted to be near her Immortal Lady.

She was a simpleton with the mind of a child; if she wanted to do something, she did it.

“Mama, I want to go find the Immortal Lady.”

Sha Niu’s mother had rarely pinched or beaten her lately. She wasn’t really listening to what Sha Niu was saying and simply nodded.

She thought Sha Niu was talking about something else. If she had heard clearly, she never would have nodded. She wouldn’t let Sha Niu go to someone else’s house in the middle of the night.

But Sha Niu’s mother was still immersed in her own thoughts and hadn’t heard clearly. When Sha Niu heard her mother say go ahead, she ran off like a flash.

Sha Niu’s mother remembered how Sha Niu had been able to climb the mountain earlier that day while carrying Ming Wen on her back.

Although Ming Wen’s legs were bad, she and Sha Niu had enough strength. If they waited until the middle of the night when everyone was asleep, mother and daughter could carry Ming Wen toward the town.

They might not be discovered until dawn, by which time they should have already reached the town.

They couldn’t go to the bus station, as the human traffickers had lookouts there.

In that case, they would carry her and run along the highway…

But by then, the villagers would surely be chasing them down. They shouldn’t run on the highway itself, but rather hide and run through the forest alongside it.

The chances of being found were high, but at least there was hope. Hope of escaping.

Ming Wen had never approached Sha Niu’s mother to discuss an escape plan, but ever since Sha Niu’s mother had seen Ming Wen, her mind was occupied every day with how to get out.

She was just considering discussing this with Ming Wen tomorrow.

At that moment, Sha Niu came running in from outside: “Quick, help! The Immortal Lady is being beaten!”

It turned out that Sha Niu couldn’t stand being away from her Immortal Lady for even a moment. After eating dinner, she wanted to go back to see if the Immortal Lady had eaten hers.

She jogged all the way there. Before she even reached the Zhang family home, she heard the auntie of the Zhang family shouting for someone to stop being crazy, to stop at once, saying she was carrying a child and asking what he was doing acting crazy now!

When Sha Niu went inside, she saw the Immortal Lady’s face and head covered in blood.

Being the child she was, Sha Niu naturally didn’t notice that the man of the Zhang family was also covered in quite a bit of blood.

The man of the Zhang family was a madman. His first wife had been beaten by him every day until she finally committed suicide by jumping off a cliff.

Sha Niu wanted to go forward to help, but in the chaos, she was slapped as well.

The back of her head throbbed with pain, and her whole body pitched forward.

No, this wouldn’t do. She had to find her mother. Her mother was much stronger.

And so, Sha Niu hurriedly ran back to find her mother for help.

The Zhang family knew their son was a madman who would lose his mind at the slightest provocation. However, he had seemed better these past few months. They had originally thought he would settle down once he had a wife, but they hadn’t expected him to suddenly go crazy again today.

Previously, when Madman Zhang wanted to beat this “daughter-in-law,” they hadn’t interfered. It wasn’t that they didn’t care about the money spent to buy the wife, but rather that if you tried to stop this madman, he would even beat his own parents. Besides, he never beat his wife to death, and this new wife usually stayed silent when she was hit, being someone who could endure pain and beatings.

Things were different now. The Zhang family felt the new wife was pregnant. Although there was no actual proof, she had been here for so long and had suddenly started vomiting, so she must be pregnant.

Many young women in the village gave birth to five or six children, and they conceived quickly.

Especially since Madman Zhang’s grandmother had been saying a couple of days ago that she dreamed of a big, chubby great-grandson calling out to her. Didn’t that match up perfectly?

Therefore, the Zhang family also tried to help hold him back. He couldn’t keep beating her; what if he caused a miscarriage?

When Madman Zhang heard the word “child,” he became even more crazed. Grabbing Ming Wen by the hair, he moved to kick her in the stomach.

But how could normal people stop him? Fortunately, Sha Niu’s mother arrived.

As soon as the Zhang woman saw Sha Niu’s mother, she said hurriedly, “Quick, help us! My daughter-in-law is pregnant. Take her to your house to stay for the night. Don’t let anything happen to my eldest grandson.”

Sha Niu’s mother froze.

Ming Wen was pregnant.

Pregnant…

It was over. Everything was over.

Translator’s Notes