Zhong dasao sighed, her expression complicated. “How could there not have been trouble? It was a big mess, even the police got involved. The police took the store clerk who sold the rat poison to the hospital and asked him to identify who bought it. The clerk recognised our dad at a glance.
“Our dad bought the rat poison himself and drank it himself. The police told Zhao Yin to stop falsely accusing her neighbour and to stop harassing them or they would arrest her. That’s the only reason she calmed down.”
“That’s it?” Song Zhaodi was sceptical. “That doesn’t sound like my aunt’s style.”
Zhong dasao looked troubled.
Zhong Jianguo nudged Song Zhaodi.
Song Zhaodi asked, “Saozi, it’s just us here. What can’t you tell me and Jianguo? We’re family.”
“I don’t even have the face to tell you,” Zhong dasao sighed, her head buzzing from the past few days. “Zhao Yin tried to get her neighbour to compensate her. Your da ge stopped her, so she turned to your big brother for money instead.”
Zhong Jianguo stated with certainty, “Da ge gave her money.”
“No, he didn’t,” Zhong dasao said. “We paid for our dad’s cremation and his urn. But Zhao Yin said that now that our dad is dead, both our families should give her fifty yuan every year. Your da ge agreed.”
Zhong Jianguo’s face darkened. “On what grounds?”
“I asked him the same thing,” Zhong dasao said. “Your brother said that Zhao Yin will retire next year, we don’t have land here, Zhong Shengli isn’t married and there isn’t much work at home. If she just sits outside our door every day, cursing us, our lives will be unbearable.”
Song Zhaodi continued, “My aunt is an elder and when elders curse the younger generation, the revolutionary committee and the police can’t intervene, unless da ge’s family moves away.”
“That’s exactly what your brother said,” Zhong dasao said, her eyes turning red. “My mom and dad were afraid Zhao Yin would cause trouble, so they came over yesterday. When they heard about this, they told me not to give Zhao Yin any money.
“If Zhao Yin starts cursing us, my mom will come over and curse her back. But your brother didn’t agree and told my mom that it was already settled. He even told me not to tell you.”
Their father was already dead and Zhong Jianguo had no intention of giving Zhao Yin any money. Now he understood: “Da ge’s meaning is that your family pays the fifty yuan?”
“Saozi, we’ll pay,” Song Zhaodi said before she could refuse. “Jianguo and I have good salaries and our kids are still young, so we don’t need much money.”
Zhong dasao shook her head. “No, no. I told you about this so Jianguo could think of a way to shut Zhao Yin up without giving her money.”
“Saozi, there’s no way around this,” Song Zhaodi said. “Zhao Yin has a clean background, she’s politically reliable, so we can’t use her history against her. As for Zhong Shengli taking over his father’s job, from what I know, that’s a normal process. Many officials who’ve served for thirty years get a spot to pass down to their children.”
Zhong Jianguo nodded. “Zhaodi is right.”
“So we just have to accept this loss?” Zhong dasao was unwilling.
Zhong Dawa tugged at Song Zhaodi’s sleeve. “Mom, don’t give them money.”
“None of us want to give them money,” Song Zhaodi patted his head. “When we get to Grandpa’s house, don’t smirk.”
Zhong Jianguo pointed ahead. “We’re already here.” It was a tube-shaped apartment building.
Zhong dasao looked up and quickly nudged Song Zhaodi. “That’s Zhao Yin’s daughter up ahead.”
Song Zhaodi followed her gaze. A man and a woman, each about 1.7 meters tall, were walking inside with three children. The oldest looked around thirteen or fourteen and the youngest was about seven or eight. “We deliberately took a detour to come late, so why are they here so late too?”
“The old man and Zhao Yin went to her house and on the way back, he broke his leg. She didn’t even pay for his medical expenses, so it’s surprising she even showed up today,” Zhong dasao said. “I bet she’s the one who encouraged Zhao Yin to ask us for money.”
Song Zhaodi clicked her tongue. “That’s heartless. She’s not afraid of karma?”
“She’s already suffering,” Zhong dasao said. “Her eldest son is a bit slow, he’s twelve and still in first grade. The second child is a girl, but I don’t know much about her. The youngest one is always sick.”
Song Zhaodi opened her mouth in disbelief. “And she still won’t do any good deeds to accumulate some virtue for her family?”
“If she thought that way, she would have stopped her mother from asking us for money,” Zhong dasao said. “Zhao Yin dotes on this daughter more than anyone, even more than Shengli.”
Song Zhaodi frowned. “I’ve always had a question, but I keep forgetting to ask. My mom told me that Zhao Yin’s first husband died before she married into our family. How did her first husband’s family agree to let her remarry with their daughter?”
“That was during the civil war. Society wasn’t as strict as it is now, there weren’t as many rules,” Zhong dasao said. “My mom told me that back then, people were dying all the time. Everyone was struggling to survive, so no one cared who Zhao Yin married. And besides, she took a daughter, not a son. Her first husband’s family was probably happy to have one less mouth to feed.”
Song Zhaodi thought for a moment. “Are you saying that Zhao Yin also had sons?”
“Didn’t your mother tell you?” Zhong dasao asked.
Song Zhaodi replied, “My aunt… None of my family members even bother mentioning her.”
“I don’t know for sure either. My mother said that Zhao Yin gave birth to two sons for that family,” Zhong dasao said. “The daughter she took away was the eldest and the two sons are about the same age as your older brother and Jianguo.”
Song Zhaodi was curious. “Saozi, let’s not go upstairs yet. Tell me, how does your mother know so much?”
“When I married Weiguo, my parents looked into the Zhong family’s situation and found out about it,” Zhong dasao said. “My brother was against it, saying the Zhong family was too complicated. But my mother told me not to worry. She said if Zhao Yin dared to bully me, she and my aunts would come and deal with her.”
Zhong Jianguo turned to look at Song Zhaodi. “What kind of scheme are you brewing now?”
“You’re the one scheming!” Song Zhaodi glared at him before turning back to Zhong dasao. “Saozi, ask your brother to go to my aunt’s ex-husband’s village and let the villagers know that our two families will each give my aunt 50 yuan per month. She also has her pension.”
Zhong dasao wanted to ask why, but thinking about how Zhao Yin kept clinging to them like a leech for money, she hesitated. “Isn’t this a bit inappropriate?”
“She made her move first, now we’re responding in kind. Nothing inappropriate about it,” Song Zhaodi said. “If we show kindness, she won’t be grateful, she’ll just think we’re fools with too much money.”
Zhong dasao recalled how Zhao Yin’s grandsons turned out and didn’t dare act against her conscience. “I’ll ask my parents about it later.”
“Alright then.” Song Zhaodi and Zhong Jianguo had high salaries and giving Zhao Yin 50 yuan a year meant nothing to them. She just didn’t want Zhao Yin to benefit from them unnecessarily.
If Zhong dasao wasn’t willing, Song Zhaodi wouldn’t force her. After all, it wasn’t worth pressuring her over just 50 yuan.
As they approached the Zhong family’s home, Song Zhaodi turned back to remind the children, “Once we go in, hold it in, no laughing.”
“Mom, we know,” Zhong Dawa nudged her. “Come on, let’s go in.”
Zhong dasao looked back and said, “There’s no room to stand inside.”
“Then I’ll stay outside with the kids,” Song Zhaodi replied quickly. “You and Jianguo go in.”
Song Zhaodi recognised this communal building. The original owner of her body had come at a similar time, back then, everyone in the building was cooking and the whole corridor was filled with the smell of food.
Today was the same. Someone across from the Zhong family was stir-frying vegetables on a stove. Seeing Song Zhaodi looking at her, the woman instinctively nodded and smiled. But when she noticed the black mourning armband on Song Zhaodi’s sleeve, she realised her mistake and quickly said, “You’re Jianguo’s wife?”
“Yes,” Song Zhaodi glanced into the house and saw it was crowded, then turned back to ask the woman who was cooking, “Who’s inside?”
The woman hesitated. “You don’t know? Wait, you don’t recognise them?”
“I only know da ge and my aunt’s family,” Song Zhaodi said. “Jianguo’s stepmother is my biaoyi.”
The woman nodded. “I know about that. Shengli’s mother mentioned it. But after you married Jianguo, she never introduced you to the relatives?”
“My aunt doesn’t like me and I don’t like her either. We dislike each other,” Song Zhaodi said bluntly. Worried that Zhao Yin might hear, she lowered her voice and asked the woman, “She acts so shamelessly, doesn’t she worry that Shengli won’t be able to find a wife?”
The woman, who also disliked Zhao Yin, seeing that Song Zhaodi felt the same, responded, “She and Shengli both have jobs and there are no elderly relatives to support. With such good conditions, even if city girls don’t want to marry him, he can still find a wife in the countryside, as long as she’s willing to spend grain, oil and cloth ration tickets.”
“No wonder,” Song Zhaodi muttered as she glanced back inside and heard someone mention the time. “Do they still observe traditional burial customs here?”
The woman also heard the conversation from the opposite house. “Before noon. It’s almost eleven now, so they’ll be heading to the cemetery soon.”
As she spoke, Zhong Jianguo came out holding a framed photo, while Zhong Weiguo carried an urn.
Song Zhaodi quickly waved to the children and whispered, “Follow your aunt, hold hands and don’t get lost.”
“Mom, we know.” Erwa was curious. “Grandpa is inside that box?”
Song Zhaodi nodded. “Don’t talk, just follow along.” She held Erwa’s hand with one hand and Sanwa’s with the other, following the group downstairs. At the street corner, Zhong dasao stopped her.
Song Zhaodi was puzzled. “We’re not going?”
“Women can only escort them to this point,” Zhong dasao said. “It’s a custom here, only men can go to the burial site.”
Song Zhaodi hadn’t known about this rule. Seeing that Zhao Yin wasn’t going any further either, she asked, “So do we just go home now?”
“We were supposed to eat at her place,” Zhong dasao pointed to Zhao Yin, who was kneeling on the ground in the distance, crying loudly with snot and tears running down her face. “If we don’t leave, she’ll keep crying until the afternoon.”
Zili was curious. “Why?”
“She doesn’t want to provide food,” Zhong dasao said. “Xiao Song, let’s go home and cook. Everyone can eat at our place later.”
Song Zhaodi nodded. After walking some distance away, she commented, “Why does today feel like a child’s game?”
“Even though burning paper and setting off firecrackers are now forbidden, funerals aren’t usually this quiet,” Zhong dasao said. “Anyone who doesn’t know better might think our family has a bad political history, burying someone in secret, too afraid to alert the neighbours.”
Song Zhaodi was curious. “Why is it so quiet, though? I counted, there are only eight adult men, including Jianguo and his brothers. Is this all the Zhong family has?”
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