Li Rongguo, his head bowed, let out a series of whimpers. "Zhengguo, I'm so sorry. I was too cowardly. Those years, I..."
"Let's not talk about the past," Li Zhengguo interrupted him. "It's all in the past. We have to live forward, look forward."
Ouyang Lei slapped Li Rongguo on the shoulder. "You're too much of a coward! You're a grown man, yet you're still controlled by your father. Have you even thought about your children?"
"If they have any spirit, they must be suffocated. If they don't have spirit, they'll be cowards like you their whole lives. You're their father, you should set an example."
"Go back and cut the vegetables. I'll help you take them away. If the supply and marketing cooperative doesn't take them, I can only sell them to ordinary people. And that won't bring in much money."
"Thank you, thank you," Li Rongguo said, wiping his eyes and looking up at Ouyang Lei with gratitude.
He then turned to Li Zhengguo again. "Thank you, cousin. I... I'll come over to exchange seedlings tonight. I definitely won't tell anyone."
"No, you absolutely must tell others," Ouyang Lei spoke up for Li Zhengguo. "Li Zhengguo wants your father and your second uncle to know that he's willing to help you, but not others."
"Ah? Oh, I understand. I'll cut the vegetables and then come to exchange seedlings."
"Not stupid, are you? How did your own father manage to control you like this?"
Ouyang Lei's words made Li Rongguo blush. "My father worked hard for us brothers."
"Alright, hurry up and go. Hearing you say that, it's clear you're a filial hypocrite."
Ouyang Lei impatiently sent Li Rongguo away.
Tian Jing chuckled. "Don't you have parents?"
"I was born from a rock."
"The one who jumped out was surnamed Sun."
"I changed my surname later."
"I'd be a fool to believe your nonsense."
...
In the afternoon, Li Rongguo came to exchange seedlings.
He was accompanied by a thin, dark-skinned girl of about ten years old.
The girl, who had been looking unhappy, broke into a smile upon seeing Tian Jing. "Cousin-aunt, my name is Damai. I'm Li Rongguo's eldest daughter."
"Damai, that's a nice name. Wait a moment, cousin-aunt will get you some candy."
Without waiting for Damai to refuse, Tian Jing went into the west room and brought out a small packet of brown sugar, the remainder from the last time she had wrapped candies. She had forgotten to prepare any hard candies, so she went to her mother-in-law's east room and asked for two pieces of crispy baked pastries.
She put the pastries into the brown sugar packet and handed it to Damai. "I forgot to prepare hard candies, so take this brown sugar back to make a drink."
"Oh no, I can't accept this," Damai dared not take it. Brown sugar was even harder to buy than white sugar.
"Take it quickly. I don't like this back-and-forth. Cousin-aunt is giving you candy because I see you're straightforward. Here."
Damai dared not refuse further. "Thank you, cousin-aunt."
"You're welcome."
Li Rongguo brought out a wooden box, and Damai quickly put the sugar packet into her pocket.
The pocket was a bit small, and the pastries plus the brown sugar made it bulge. With a slight squeeze, she crushed the pastries and then managed to fit them in.
Tian Jing glanced at her and secretly shook her head. Could this elder cousin of hers be so blindly filial to the point of infuriating others, making his own daughter so wary of him?
Li Rongguo handed the wooden box to Damai and then went into the east side room to move another box.
Tian Jing looked at Damai's skinny arms, which were as thin as bamboo poles, and felt a pang of sympathy. "Damai, put the box down on the ground. Have your father use our family's wheelbarrow to push it back. Just remember to return the wheelbarrow."
Damai, who was about to leave, immediately put the wooden box down. "It is a bit heavy."
"Little girl, don't exert yourself too much. You'll hurt yourself."
Damai, with reddened eyes, smiled. "Cousin-aunt, you're only a few years older than me, and you're not much fatter than me!"
"Huh?" Tian Jing slapped her own forehead. "I forgot. You call me cousin-aunt, so my generation is higher. Of course, I should learn how elders show concern for their juniors."
"Cousin-aunt, you're so kind," Damai's tears began to fall.
"Kind? Hah! I can count how many people curse me behind my back."
Damai chuckled through her tears. "Those who curse good people are bad people. Cousin-aunt, don't mind them. They're just jealous."
"That's right. Those who are envied and jealous are superior people. I am one."
Tian Jing's proud declaration made Damai's tears disappear. She wiped her face. "Where's the wheelbarrow? I'll push it."
"Over there," Tian Jing pointed to the alley gate west of the main gate. "Open the gate, and you'll see it."
When Damai pushed out the wheelbarrow, Li Rongguo was already waiting in the yard.
Father and daughter left the Li family pushing the wheelbarrow.
Li Zhengguo put his arm around Tian Jing. "Tiantian, even if you only have daughters, I'll treat them well."
"Try not to treat them well," Tian Jing playfully pinched his ear.
Li Zhengguo quickly pleaded, "I wouldn't dare, I definitely wouldn't dare."
The seedlings from Uncle Li's family were exchanged for seeds, and the villagers soon found out.
Some wanted to come to the Li family to inquire.
They were stopped by others. "They're family. Damai's father said he'd only exchange with his own family."
"No, there's something wrong with that statement."
"What's wrong?"
"Damai's father said he'd only exchange with his own family. I saw only Damai's family busy in the plastic shed, no one else."
"There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"
"But everyone said that Damai's grandfather's family's seedlings were exchanged. I heard that his brothers divided their plots and each took turns for a year. No, I still have to go and clarify."
Li Zhengguo heard this villager's question and gave the correct answer. "It's only for Li Rongguo's cousin's family. For everyone else, regardless of who it is, it's five fen per seedling."
"Doesn't your uncle count?"
"No, I just want to help my blindly filial cousin Li Rongguo. For anyone else, there's no way."
Once the rumors headed in the right direction, no one else wanted to exchange seeds.
...
In the evening, the Li family was eating dinner when there was a loud knocking on the door.
Tian Jing was still wondering who was so fearless as to knock on her door when she heard someone outside shouting, "Cousin-uncle, cousin-aunt, please save my mother!"
Damai?
Tian Jing darted to the door and opened it in an instant. "Damai, what's wrong? Doesn't your hand hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt," Damai didn't look at her hand. "Cousin-aunt, I know you're a capable person. I beg you, please go and save my mother."
"What happened to your mother?"
"My mother..."
It turned out that Damai had been hiding the brown sugar to give to her mother. After her mother gave birth to her younger sister, Xiaomai, her grandmother was very displeased with her mother.
All the household chores were assigned to her mother, and she was also told to go to work and earn at least eight work points a day.
Damai's mother felt she was somewhat at fault for having two daughters and followed her mother-in-law's instructions.
She thought she would have a son next time, but she never had the chance. Her body, after giving birth to two daughters, had not been properly recuperated.
When she became pregnant again, the fetus was not stable. Due to exhaustion, she miscarried. After that, she never conceived again.
Damai thought of giving her mother some brown sugar to replenish her strength. The three of them, mother and two daughters, drank brown sugar water and ate crushed pastries. Who knew that Li Dabo Niang (Aunt Li Dabo) would discover this?
Furthermore, because of the rumors, Li Dabo Niang was furious. She grabbed a firewood stick and beat Damai and Xiaomai, accusing them of hoarding.
Damai's mother tried to protect her daughters and was pushed to the ground. Soon, she started bleeding from underneath.
Only then did Li Dabo Niang leave the mother and daughters alone.
Damai helped her mother back to the room and found that her mother was not right. Her face was pale, and her body was cold.
She went to ask her grandmother, but her grandmother ignored her. So, Damai stole out of the house.
A bloody incident caused by brown sugar?
"Then why didn't you find a doctor?"