Chen dasao was momentarily speechless.
Zhong Jianguo nearly lost his balance and almost dunked his head into the water basin. Quickly stabilising himself, he said, “Zhaodi, it’s time to cook.”
“Huh? I haven’t even brushed my teeth yet.” Song Zhaodi smiled at Chen dasao, then raised her toothbrush to her mouth, indicating that she couldn’t chat.
Chen dasao turned to leave but noticed a white foam on Song Zhaodi’s toothbrush. She paused and asked, “Xiao Song, are you using toothpaste?”
Song Zhaodi nodded, then took out her toothbrush. “Of course. What else would I use?” Then, remembering that Duan dasao had once mentioned how their generation brushed with alkaline or saltwater, she understood why Chen dasao was surprised. She deliberately teased, “Wait, don’t tell me you don’t brush your teeth?”
“I do!” Chen dasao blurted out. Realising she answered too quickly, she tried to cover up. “I just don’t use that kind of toothpaste.”
Song Zhaodi grinned. At this time, toothpaste didn’t come in multiple colors or brands like in later years, no American or British variations, just one common type. “Then what do you use? Saltwater or alkaline water?”
Chen dasao had been prepared to make up a lie about using a different kind of toothpaste. However, caught off guard by Song Zhaodi’s question, she almost slipped up. The mention of ‘saltwater and alkaline water’ made her pause, missing the perfect chance to refute. Feeling a little awkward, she hesitated before saying, “I don’t like the taste of toothpaste. I use it occasionally, but usually, I brush with alkaline water.” Afraid that Song Zhaodi might think she was just being frugal, she quickly added, “Duan dasao does the same.” As if implying, I’m not the only one.
Song Zhaodi could be sharp-tongued when dealing with family or people who provoked her, but otherwise, she was polite and reasonable. However, encountering someone passive-aggressive so early in the morning was annoying. Worse, this woman dragged Duan dasao into it. That made Song Zhaodi unhappy.
“Duan dasao?” Song Zhaodi asked. “You mean Aunt Liu? She doesn’t use alkaline water anymore, she uses toothpaste now.”
“Tooth-toothpaste?” Chen dasao was incredulous.
Song Zhaodi spit out the toothpaste foam, smiling brightly, revealing two rows of pristine white teeth. “Yes. We bought it together, Zhonghua Toothpaste. It’s the perfect choice for you1.” She lifted her toothbrush, rinsed her mouth, and turned back inside.
Zhong Jianguo, though standing a bit far, couldn’t see Chen dasao’s expression clearly but could guess her face looked awful. He silently thought, Why did she have to make trouble for Teacher Xiao Song when there were so many other people she could provoke? It was such a nice day. Why did she have to pick on them?
Chen dasao forced a smile. “Commander Zhong, your wife sure has a way with words.”
Zhong Jianguo inwardly rolled his eyes and cursed, She deserves it! He then looked up with a grin. “She’s a teacher, talking all day in class sharpens her tongue. Teachers must be articulate to control their students.”
“But teaching is about imparting knowledge, not performing crosstalk or opera,” Chen dasao retorted.
“Even if a teacher is highly educated, they must know how to communicate,” Zhong Jianguo countered. “If they can’t explain things well, all the knowledge in the world is useless.”
Chen dasao opened her mouth but found herself at a loss for words.
“Has saozi finished washing your clothes?” Zhong Jianguo asked, seeing her speechless. He sighed inwardly, why bother picking a fight?
Startled, Chen dasao quickly said, “Oh, right! I got so caught up chatting with you two that I forgot!” She turned back to her laundry.
Zhong Jianguo smiled but didn’t continue the conversation.
Song Zhaodi came out with some potatoes and sat on the porch next to him, peeling them. “Did she go inside?”
“No, still scrubbing clothes,” Zhong Jianguo glanced over and lowered his voice. “She envies that I help you with chores. Why doesn’t she ask Commander Lin, wait, no, she probably can’t boss him around. Why not ask Lin Zhong to help her?”
Song Zhaodi chuckled. “You think she can order Lin Zhong around?”
“How do you know?” Zhong Jianguo was curious. “You always seem to know everything.”
Song Zhaodi replied, “It’s not about me knowing, it’s just common sense. In the whole military family compound, barely anyone raises their kids the way we do.”
Zhong Jianguo stayed silent, waiting for her to elaborate.
“The Liu family spoils their kids. The Lin family doesn’t, but Chen dasao favors boys over girls,” Song Zhaodi explained. “She had three daughters before finally having a son, so she dotes on Lin Zhong like he’s her most precious treasure, no way she’d make him do chores.
“When her daughters were home, they helped out. But now, one is married, and the others are working. She suddenly realised that managing household chores on top of working is exhausting.
“If she starts asking Lin Zhong for help now, he won’t do a good job since he’s never done it before. If she nags him about it, he’ll just ignore her altogether. Forget about making him do housework, he might not even want to talk to her.”
Zhong Jianguo laughed. “You talk like you saw this happen yourself.”
“I didn’t see it firsthand, but they argue all the time. If it’s not about housework, what else could it be? That Lin Zhong’s father works too much and comes back late?” Song Zhaodi raised an eyebrow.
Zhong Jianguo had nothing to say to that.
“People always talk about how military families are more self-sacrificing,” Song Zhaodi continued. “But when it comes to their kids, they’re no different from ordinary families, most of them prefer sons over daughters.
“Mothers make their daughters do chores but let their sons relax. Even the most obedient daughters will eventually feel it’s unfair and start resenting it. The mother might be physically less tired, but she’ll be mentally exhausted.
“They think that’s just how life is, men don’t do housework, kids don’t want to help, so they put up with it. Then, I come along and say, ‘My husband enjoys doing chores.’ If murder were legal, I’d be dead by now.”
Zhong Jianguo raised an eyebrow. “So you do know how annoying your words can be.”
Song Zhaodi smirked. “As long as they don’t act passive-aggressive with me, I’m too lazy to bother with them. But if they want to be jealous, I’ll let them.” She paused. “Honestly, I’m probably the only one on this island willing to put on this show for them.”
“Be careful, they might ostracise you,” Zhong Jianguo warned.
Song Zhaodi chuckled. “As if they’d ever truly befriend me in the first place.”
“Well, even if you don’t become close, having someone to chat with is better than being ignored,” Zhong Jianguo pointed out.
“You think they talk about anything interesting?” Song Zhaodi asked. “They gossip about which neighbour cooked what meal, who had congee for breakfast and who had steamed buns. If I had to listen to that all day, I’d rather chat with our chickens, ducks, and geese.”
“You just need to make sure you’re not bored,” Zhong Jianguo said, concerned that Song Zhaodi might feel lonely. But he soon realised that his wife was much stronger than he had imagined. “The weather is nice today, so take out the blankets to air them. It rained a few days ago, and some of them have a musty smell.”
Song Zhaodi picked up the potatoes. “I’ll cook and stir-fry the vegetables. You wake the kids up later.”
“Get Dawa up to help you with the fire,” Zhong Jianguo said. “He was up at the crack of dawn. If we don’t let him do something, it’d be a waste of his early rise.”
Since the kids had already washed the dishes last night, Song Zhaodi didn’t call Dawa upstairs. She used the stove to cook porridge and the traditional earthen stove to stir-fry the vegetables before calling the children down for breakfast.
After breakfast, Song Zhaodi noticed the children constantly glancing outside. She was puzzled. “Dawa, you keep running outside, what’s going on?”
“Checking if Dali has arrived,” Zhong Dawa replied.
Song Zhaodi was even more confused. “You’ve only met Dali twice. Why are you so eager to see him?”
“Da ge isn’t thinking about Dali,” Erwa interjected. “He says Auntie will bring us lots of delicious treats.”
Song Zhaodi was speechless. “Do you think what your aunt brings is tastier than what I buy for you?”
“Mom’s treats are the best,” Dawa said, “but I really want to eat sesame candy sticks. They don’t sell them here.”
Song Zhaodi couldn’t help but remind him, “Milk candy is much better than sesame candy sticks.”
“I know,” Dawa said, “but I just want to taste them.”
Song Zhaodi waved at him. “Come here.”
Dawa instinctively took a step forward, then paused, suddenly wary. “What is it?”
“I just want to ask you a question,” Song Zhaodi reassured him. “I won’t hit you.”
Remembering that his mother had never actually hit him before, Dawa cautiously took three steps closer.
“If Lin Zhong had sesame candy sticks, would you ask him to share some with you?” Song Zhaodi asked.
“I’d trade some of our milk candy for them,” Dawa answered without hesitation.
“And if Lin Zhong didn’t want to eat our candy, would you beg him for a bite?”
“Of course not!” Zhong Dawa wrinkled his nose in disgust. “That would be so embarrassing.”
Song Zhaodi patted his face. “Good. There’s nothing wrong with liking good food, but you should never beg for it.”
Zhong Dawa suddenly understood. “Mom, is that what you were worried about? I’d never do that. If it were my second aunt visiting today and she offered me sesame candy sticks, I wouldn’t take them either.”
“You’re overthinking it,” Song Zhaodi said. “Even if your second aunt came, she wouldn’t buy you sesame candy sticks.”
Dawa sighed dramatically. “I was just saying.” Then, after a pause, he muttered, “Mom, why isn’t it eleven o’clock yet?”
“If you go upstairs and take a nap, by the time you wake up, Dali will be here,” Song Zhaodi said. “You woke up early today. If you don’t get some rest, you won’t have the energy to play tonight.”
Dawa thought about it carefully. “Mom makes sense.” As soon as he finished speaking, he was already at the foot of the stairs.
Song Zhaodi chuckled. “Zili, you and the others should go upstairs too. It’s cold down here, go lie in bed.”
“Mom, I’m not sleepy,” Zili said. He had slept until after seven that morning and was full of energy.
Song Zhaodi thought for a moment. “Then you can play the string game in bed, wait, I just remembered. There are some books in the storage room. They should be storybooks. Go find them and read. Just make sure to put them back afterward, and don’t take them outside.”
“I got it, Mom,” Zili said. The sun was shining, but the wind was strong. He didn’t really want to go outside either. Having a few storybooks to read was better than nothing. He led his brothers upstairs.
Watching her sons disappear up the stairs, Song Zhaodi caught sight of the old radio, which often failed to pick up broadcasts. After a moment of thought, she made a decision. But then she saw the half-mended thin socks in her hands and sighed. “I should finish what I started first.”
At exactly eleven, the chime of the living room clock woke Dawa. He sat up and, noticing how quiet it was, felt confused. Could it be the afternoon already?
“Da ge, you’re awake?”
Dawa shuddered at the sudden voice, instantly alert. “Sanwa? Where are you?”
“We’re downstairs,” Sanwa replied.
Dawa climbed down the ladder and saw his four brothers sitting in a row, staring at something. “What are you guys doing?”
“We’re reading a storybook,” Zili said. “Come up here, it’s Journey to the West.”
Zhong Dawa frowned. “I think I’ve heard of Journey to the West before.”
“It’s about the Monkey King,” Gengsheng said. “Mom said there were a few storybooks in the storage room, but this is the only one we can actually understand. Do you want to read with us?”
Zhong Dawa nodded.
At eleven-thirty, Liu Yang and his family arrived. But Zhong Dawa, too engrossed in Journey to the West, had completely forgotten about Dali and didn’t come downstairs to greet him.
Song Zhaodi told Dali to go upstairs. The teenager was still as shy as before, he simply shook his head and smiled, choosing instead to sit beside Liu Yang.
“Then you and Liu Gen should go upstairs and rest,” Song Zhaodi said. Seeing how tired the boys looked, she didn’t give them a chance to refuse. She simply turned toward the stairs and called Dawa to take his two cousins upstairs.
Zhong Dawa, naturally sociable, considered Dali family and his brother. He wrapped an arm around Dali’s shoulders and dragged him upstairs. Liu Gen, the same age as Sanwa, carefully held onto the stair railing and followed them up one step at a time.
Once the children were gone, Song dajie couldn’t help but voice her curiosity. “Last year on Mid-Autumn Festival, you wrote home and never mentioned Liu Ping having a fiancé. How did she suddenly get married?”
“It was a flash marriage,” Song Zhaodi replied. “She had to lock him down quickly, otherwise, Liu Ping was afraid her husband would run away.”
Song Laibao and Liu Yang exchanged glances and asked in unison, “What do you mean?”
“You’ll understand when you see him tomorrow,” Song Zhaodi said. “How are Dad and Mom doing?”
Song Laibao answered, “They’re doing well.”
“Has erjie been causing trouble at home these past two years?” Song Zhaodi asked. She noticed Song Laibao’s expression shift slightly and raised an eyebrow. “Tell me the truth, dajie. If she’s been acting up, I have ways to deal with her.”
Song Laibao waved his hands quickly. “No need, no need. It wasn’t a big deal, it’s all in the past now.”
- “Zhonghua Toothpaste, you deserve it” — A humorous imitation of a commercial slogan. Zhonghua Toothpaste (中华牙膏) is one of China’s best-known toothpaste brands, and the phrase “you deserve it” (你值得拥有) is a common advertising tagline used to promote desirable products. Zhaodi says this in the 70s when such slogans don’t exist, it’s funny. ↩︎
https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E4%B8%AD%E5%8D%8E%E7%89%99%E8%86%8F/3612454
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