Song Zhaodi’s right eyelid twitched twice and her heart sank, something big was about to happen.
Taking the phone, she couldn’t help but take a deep breath. “Da ge, what’s wrong?”
“Dad is critically ill,” Zhong Weiguo’s voice came through.
Song Zhaodi pinched her thigh to keep herself calm. “Critically ill?”
“Yes,” Zhong Weiguo confirmed. “He’s in the hospital now. Ask Jianguo if he can come back.”
Song Zhaodi wanted to say that Zhong Jianguo didn’t have time, but instead, she replied, “He went to the camp. He has training this morning. I’ll ask him when he gets back at noon.”
“Alright then,” Zhong Weiguo said. Since he was using the factory phone, he didn’t want to talk for too long.
Duan dasao quickly asked, “Who’s critically ill?”
After placing the phone back, Song Zhaodi replied, “Jianguo’s father.”
“Who?” Duan dasao thought she misheard.
“Dawa’s grandfather,” Song Zhaodi clarified.
Duan dasao’s mouth opened slightly in disbelief. “Last time he came with his youngest son, he looked perfectly healthy. How could he suddenly be critically ill?”
“I don’t know,” Song Zhaodi said. “Da ge didn’t say.” Then she changed the topic, “Auntie, let’s go up the mountain to dig bamboo shoots.”
“Dig bamboo shoots?” Duan dasao thought she had misheard again. But seeing Song Zhaodi pick up the basket by her feet, she felt a headache coming on. “Xiao Song, Jianguo’s father is dying. You should tell Jianguo.”
Song Zhaodi scoffed. “Once, Jianguo told me that his grandparents didn’t have enough food. He and his brother were so hungry they got up in the middle of the night to drink water. Their grandmother caught them and the next day, she went to ask their father for some grain. But he didn’t give them a single grain of rice.
“A person that heartless is dying now. If I could buy firecrackers on the island, I’d be celebrating.”
Duan dasao knew Jianguo’s stepmother was cruel, but she hadn’t expected his father to be the same. She didn’t know what to say. “But no matter what, he’s still Dawa’s grandfather.”
“Auntie, I’ve never even drunk a sip of water from his house,” Song Zhaodi said. “None of our kids have eaten a single piece of candy from him. To us, he’s no different from a stranger.” She paused before adding, “Auntie, don’t try to convince me. We will go back, but not now.”
Duan dasao hesitated before sighing, “Alright, I won’t say anything more. I’m just worried that Jianguo’s family will think you’re being unreasonable.”
“Don’t worry,” Song Zhaodi reassured her. “I won’t do anything foolish.”
Thinking about it carefully, Duan dasao realised that Song Zhaodi had never done anything improper. “Then let’s go dig bamboo shoots.”
At noon, after eating, Zhong Jianguo was washing dishes when Song Zhaodi leaned against the kitchen doorframe and said, “Your father is dying. Do you want to go back and see him?”
“What do you mean by ‘dying’?” Zhong Jianguo paused, showing no sadness, only mild surprise.
Song Zhaodi smirked. “Exactly what you think. He’s about to die.”
“So, he’s not dead yet?” Zhong Jianguo asked.
Song Zhaodi nodded.
“Then I don’t have time,” he said flatly.
Song Zhaodi wasn’t surprised at all. “Do you want to call da ge back or should I?”
“You do it,” Zhong Jianguo said as he put the dishes away in the cabinet. “If I use the office phone, people will overhear and ask why I’m not going back. I don’t want to explain.”
Song Zhaodi nodded. “If we have to go back for the funeral in a few days, should Zili and Gengsheng go with us?”
“Yes,” Zhong Jianguo replied. “I’ll time it just right. We’ll arrive in Binhai in the morning, bury him at noon and return in the afternoon.”
Since Zhong Weiguo’s house had no space for them to stay, Zhong Jianguo’s family would have to stay at a guesthouse, which was inconvenient. Song Zhaodi would rather return to Xiao Song Village than stay there.
After discussing with Zhong Jianguo, Song Zhaodi waited until 4 pm before calling Zhong Weiguo from the Liu family’s phone.
As expected, Zhong Weiguo knew Jianguo wouldn’t come back. When he heard Song Zhaodi say Jianguo was too busy, he didn’t try to persuade them. Instead, he tore up the leave request he had prepared.
On Sunday morning, February 14, 1971, Song Zhaodi was teaching five children English from their first-year second-semester textbook when she faintly heard someone calling, “Xiao Song.”
She went outside and saw Duan dasao standing at her door. She quickly went to open it. “What’s wrong?”
“Your brother just called. Dawa’s grandfather has passed away,” Duan dasao said. “I asked Uncle Liu to call Jianguo. You should pack up and take the morning boat back.”
Song Zhaodi’s eyelid twitched slightly, but she remained calm. Slowly, she said, “It’s almost ten o’clock. We won’t make it in time. We’ll go back in the afternoon.”
Duan dasao swallowed back the words she was about to say. “You’re right. We won’t make it.”
“Exactly.” Song Zhaodi’s tone was as if she were merely saying, “It’s time to cook.”
Duan dasao suddenly wanted to laugh, at herself for being more anxious than Song Zhaodi, at Song Zhaodi’s calmness and at Zhong Jianguo’s father. To live one’s life in such a way that, even in death, one’s daughter-in-law doesn’t care to return… Such a case was rare even on Wengzhou Island.
So, she didn’t linger at the Zhong household.
Inside the house, Song Zhaodi met five pairs of eyes staring at her. She raised an eyebrow. “What are you looking at me for? Keep reading.”
“Grandfather is dead?” Dawa asked.
Song Zhaodi nodded. “Where were we?”
“Mom, is Grandpa dead?!” Zhong Dawa asked again.
Song Zhaodi: “Yes. Zhong Jianqiang, are you hard of hearing?”
“Mom, Grandpa died and you’re not even happy?” Zhong Dawa was puzzled.
Song Zhaodi picked up a book and patted Dawa on the head. “It’s your grandpa who died. Even if we’re overjoyed inside, we can’t show it. Otherwise, people will say we’re petty for holding grudges against the dead.”
“Alright. I’ll do my best to hold it in,” Zhong Dawa pursed his lips.
Erwa quickly asked, “Mom, does that mean Grandpa won’t come to our house anymore?”
“That’s right,” Song Zhaodi replied. “Now that your grandpa is dead, your grandma won’t have an excuse to keep bothering us.”
As she finished speaking, Zhong Jianguo walked in. “Did you drive here?”
Zhong Jianguo nodded. “I went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some things, boiled some eggs and duck eggs for the road. You should go to the school and request leave.”
“I’ll cook first,” Song Zhaodi said. “You go buy the things.”
Zhong Jianguo nodded, then asked the kids, “Do you want to go to the supply and marketing cooperative?”
“No,” Zhong Dawa said. “I want to help Mom cook.”
Zhong Jianguo glanced at him. “I drove back, you know.”
“Your driving isn’t as good as Mom’s,” Zhong Dawa said disdainfully. “I don’t want to ride in your car.”
Zili asked eagerly, “Mom can drive?”
“Mom’s driving is amazing,” Erwa said. “She’s super fast, it’s like flying.”
Zili looked at Song Zhaodi, his eyes full of hope.
Zhong Jianguo suddenly felt a headache coming on. He grabbed money and ration coupons from upstairs and headed straight for the supply and marketing cooperative without looking back.
Song Zhaodi chuckled and went to the yard to pick some green onions. She used the biggest iron pan to make scallion pancakes, then cooked a pot of vegetable porridge on the stove.
Around 2 pm, Zhong Jianguo returned carrying large bags, while Song Zhaodi, empty-handed, walked with the kids, chatting and laughing as they headed toward the dock. To outsiders, it looked like the Zhong family of seven was going on a trip.
That was exactly Song Zhaodi’s plan. After arriving in Binhai City, they didn’t rush to Zhong Weiguo’s house. Instead, they had a meal at a state-owned restaurant and strolled around a park. It wasn’t until after 10 pm. that they went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy items that didn’t require ration tickets before heading to Zhong Weiguo’s home.
Before Song Zhaodi could get close, Zhong dasao said, “I was really afraid you wouldn’t come.”
“If we didn’t come, people would gossip,” Zhong Jianguo said. “Where is he? At home or somewhere else?”
Zhong dasao handed a stack of black mourning armbands to Song Zhaodi. “He’s been cremated. The urn is at our father’s house.”
“Then let’s go,” Zhong Jianguo took an armband, put it on and asked his sister-in-law, “Is da ge there too?”
“He went over in the morning,” Zhong Dajie replied.
Song Zhaodi was curious. “Saozi, he was in pretty good health. How did he end up critically ill?”
Zhong Jianguo’s sister-in-law didn’t answer right away. Instead, she looked at Zhong Jianguo and said, “Promise me you won’t get angry. And don’t lose your temper when we get there.”
“Get angry for him?” Zhong Jianguo sneered. “I don’t have that kind of temper. Just tell me.”
Zhong Dajie sighed. “Last year, he broke his leg. He could still walk, but he couldn’t work at the factory anymore. Since he was nearing retirement age, the factory director agreed to let Shengli take over his position. Once he reached retirement age, he could collect his pension directly.”
“That sounds like a good deal,” Song Zhaodi commented.
Zhong dasao waved her hand as she locked the door. “We thought so too at first.” She paused. “Jianguo, when your brother called you last time and said our father was critically ill, do you know what illness he had?”
“An acute illness?” Zhong Jianguo guessed.
Zhong dasao shook her head. “Rat poison.”
“What?!” Song Zhaodi staggered.
Zhong Jianguo instinctively held her steady. “Watch your step.”
Zhong dasao continued, “We couldn’t believe it either. After he was hospitalised, your brother ran into one of his neighbours at the hospital. That’s how we found out that ever since he couldn’t work anymore and we refused to give him too much money, Zhao Yin cursed at him every day for being useless.
“To be fair, she wasn’t exactly cursing, but she nagged him constantly, saying things that were really harsh. While Zhao Yin and Zhong Shengli were at work, he was left alone at home, with no one to talk to. He started confiding in another elderly man in the building who stayed home to watch his grandkids, saying life was meaningless and he might as well die.
“The old man thought he was just joking and didn’t take it seriously. After all, out of all the families in that tenement building, his situation wasn’t the worst. His two older sons might not have been close to him, but they had decent jobs. So no one warned Zhao Yin. But the next day, he went out, bought rat poison and drank it all when he got home.”
“Who found him?” Zhong Jianguo asked.
Zhong dasao sighed, embarrassed. “I hate to even say it, it’s humiliating. After drinking the poison, he regretted it. He ran outside and told people that he had poisoned himself.”
“No way,” Song Zhaodi gasped.
Zhong dasao nodded. “It’s true. One of his neighbours took him to the hospital, but the doctor said he was brought in too late and might not survive. When Zhao Yin arrived at the hospital, she started yelling at the neighbour, accusing them of doing it on purpose and demanding they pay for it. That’s how your older brother found out about the whole thing.”
“What did my brother do?” Zhong Jianguo asked.
“Zhao Yin may have no shame, but we do,” Zhong Dajie said. “Your brother told everyone to ignore Zhao Yin.”
“If he said that, didn’t Zhao Yin make a scene with him?” Song Zhaodi asked.
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