13. “Crane Feather”

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Lin’s mother smiled and said, “No beating, no discipline.”
The freshly shaved little bald-headed Erzai was eating his meal, nodding along as if he agreed wholeheartedly with his grandmother.
Lin Zhao picked up a dumpling for him and another for the big bald-headed Dazai, smiling: “What’s with your attitude? Do you want me to give you both a few whacks too?”
“Plop!”
Erzai dropped the dumpling from his chopsticks into the bowl, his face suddenly filled with fear. “Mom hits people too?”
Dazai looked nervous as well, his small face scrunching up.
When Mom hits him, could she at least avoid hitting Erzai? He didn’t want to lose face.
Lin Zhao almost burst out laughing but kept a stern expression. “If you two behave, you won’t get hit. If you’re naughty, remember this: when your dad comes back, he’ll give you a beating. Comrade Gu Chenghuai’s muscles are all sinew and strength; when he hits, it hurts the most.”
Dazai and Erzai’s faces froze in shock: “!!!”
In just a few seconds, the meaty dumplings lost all their appeal.
“Pfft…” Lin Shisheng couldn’t help but laugh. “Zhao Zhao, look at you scaring your two little ones—scaring your own children! Are you really their mother?”
“Of course, their very own mother,” Lin Zhao chuckled as well.
Lin’s mother glared at the two unruly siblings, then comforted her grandchildren, “Your mom was just joking. Your dad is a true hero who defends the country. He only hits bad people, not kids. Now eat your food.”
Erzai relaxed and gobbled down the dumplings, making excuses to save face, “I know Mom was teasing us. She said we’re her precious babies. If Dad hit us, she’d definitely protect us. She wouldn’t let us get hurt.”
“Erzai is very smart,” Lin’s mother praised, “and Dazai is smart too.”
Lin Zhao had made plenty of dumplings, and Lin Shisheng ate so much grain food he was stuffed—never satisfied like this before.
He sipped the dumpling broth and sighed with mixed feelings, “Zhao Zhao, your cooking skills keep improving. Your brother-in-law is lucky to have married you.”
Lin Zhao’s eyes flickered slightly as she casually inquired, “Has Second Brother and Sister-in-law been quarreling again?”
Not wanting to talk about troublesome women, Lin Shisheng changed the subject, “Has your brother-in-law said when he might come home to visit?”
“No,” Lin Zhao recalled the letter she had sent. The kids’ father must have received it by now.
She hoped for a reply.
Lin’s mother understood her son-in-law’s hardships and comforted her daughter, “Chenghuai’s work is dangerous and tough. Send him more letters when you can.”
“Mm-hmm,” Lin Zhao nodded.
Lin’s mother knew her daughter well. Though delicate and not accustomed to hardship, she never spoke without meaning. If she agreed to something, it meant it mattered to her.
This visit showed that Zhao Zhao’s temperament had changed quite a bit.
Using the cloth pouch tied around Fourth Child’s neck, Lin’s mother wiped her face and casually said, “Zhao Zhao, you’ve really grown up. I remember when you started seventh grade, you didn’t want to stay at your uncle’s, insisted on coming home. Your oldest and second brothers used to escort you to school every day…”
Lin Shisheng looked at his mother, about to say something, but was silenced by her glance.
“That’s not right,” Lin Zhao corrected, holding Third Child in her arms and wiping her hands, “It wasn’t seventh grade, it was tenth grade, and I only stayed home for two days. It was too cold, so I went back to my uncle’s house.”
A smile broke free from Lin’s mother’s eyes, her heavy heart settling back in place.
This was her daughter.
She must have finally come to her senses.
“You still remember? I thought you’d forgotten. Go visit your uncle when you have time.”
Lin Zhao was unaware that her change after awakening had made her mother think she had been possessed by something evil.
Thinking of her uncle, Lin Zhao felt deeply guilty.
“Mom, does my uncle… blame me?”
She didn’t say the last two words, but she knew she had been ungrateful—a white-eyed wolf—and it was understandable for her uncle to be upset.
“Zhao Zhao, don’t overthink it. Your uncle doesn’t blame you. He misses you a lot and is a bit sad. If you visit him, everything will be alright. Your uncle has always treated you well, supported your schooling, saved good food for you. When has he ever been angry with you?” Lin Shisheng reassured her.
He cleared his bowl and went to wash dishes in the kitchen.
Lin’s mother never spoiled the boys; Second Brother and his brothers all did housework. Before Lin Zhao married, she had washed dishes fewer than ten times.
“I will visit my uncle,” Lin Zhao said firmly, even if he scolded her. She accepted it because she had indeed been ungrateful.
“Good. Go see the vegetable garden and see if you like it. Since your Second Brother is here, make him work for you.” Lin’s mother, not wanting her daughter upset, changed the subject.
Lin Zhao went to check the backyard. The vegetable garden was enclosed by bamboo stakes just calf-high, with a wooden trellis near the wall for growing beans and gourds. The small plot was neatly arranged in rows.
The garden was a balm to Erzai’s obsessive-compulsive nerves. He exclaimed, “Second Uncle is amazing! Mom, our vegetable garden is just like Grandma’s!”
Lin Zhao was pleased too.
Not long after the meal, Lin’s mother and Lin Shisheng prepared to leave.
Dazai and Erzai were reluctant to part, their eyes glistening with tears.
Lin Zhao patted the boys’ little bald heads, feeling the prickly texture—not comfortable, but at least it destroyed the lice’s breeding ground.
“One day I’ll take you to Grandma’s house.”

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Erzai’s face lit up instantly, excitedly asking, “When? I miss Grandpa.”
“I miss him too. I like Grandpa’s stories. I love listening to them,” said Dazai.
Lin Zhao chuckled softly, “What a coincidence—I like them too.”
Her father had a mysterious past. He had wandered here during wartime as a boy of just over ten, his head injured and memory confused. He couldn’t remember where home was, only that his surname was Lin and his name was Lin Heling.
He was literate and artistic, full of knowledge, capable of telling any story. He was also handsome—according to Lin Zhao’s grandmother, standing there, he looked just like the noble gentleman in an opera, strikingly handsome from every angle.
Lin Zhao had prepared many good things—canned food, brown sugar, meat, and dried noodles—to give to Lin’s mother and Lin Shisheng to take home, but both refused.
Even when Lin Zhao was angry, they wouldn’t accept them. Left with no choice, she cooked a bowl of dumplings and packed it in a lunchbox for her mother to carry home for her father.
“For my dad. If you don’t want it, I’ll take it myself,” Lin Zhao said unhappily, annoyed at her mother’s distance.
Those items were winnings from a lottery. She wanted to show filial piety to her parents, unrelated to the Gu family, but her mother said it was bad for her.
Lin Zhao specifically pointed out the dumplings were for her father to show filial respect, so her mother had no choice but to accept.
“Alright, I’ll take it. It’s good that my daughter knows how to be filial—to make your dad happy too.”
Lin Zhao’s face showed no smile. “Those things are also my way of being filial to you and Dad. Why won’t you accept them?”
“You’re a mother of four now and still so thoughtless. If I took them, what would your reputation be? Everyone in the village would point and say you’re secretly helping your birth family at the Gu family’s expense. Your dad always says gossip is frightening; if you don’t see that, I can’t protect you.” Lin’s mother said earnestly.
“But…” Those things have nothing to do with the Gu family.
She couldn’t say that outright.
Lin Zhao felt a bit frustrated.
Without a job or financial independence, she couldn’t even show filial respect properly.
“I know you’re filial. Our family is poor but never hungry. Save those good things for Dazai and the others. As long as you take good care of the kids and ease my worries a bit, I’ll be at peace.” Lin’s mother smiled, patted her daughter’s hand, then gave Dazai and Erzai a long list of instructions before leaving with Lin Shisheng.
People from the Harvest Brigade came across them.
“Dazai, Grandma’s going back now.”
“Why not stay longer?”
“Sister-in-law Lin came to see her daughter and is leaving.”
…
No matter what they thought inside, everyone kept a polite front.
Lin’s mother, who preferred soft approaches, smiled and chatted with them, “Yes, we have to go. There are things to do at home.”
After a few words, the two left.
At the village entrance, the locals kept talking.
“Chenghuai’s family is really lucky. Even after she married out, her birth family still cares. I saw her mom and brother brought a basket of eggs and a fat fish. The Lin family really dotes on their daughter.”
“Yes, I’ve never seen a family in ten or twenty villages love their daughter so much. If the Lin family didn’t spoil her, Chenghuai wouldn’t be so lazy.”
“They even gave fish—that’s meat! The Lin family is generous.”
“I heard Dazai’s grandma rushed over as soon as she heard about her daughter’s head injury. The Lin family protects their own fiercely. Did Xing’er get beaten?”
A group of women chattered noisily like a bunch of gossiping squirrels in a fruit orchard.
Those aware of inside news looked around cautiously, then whispered, “She did get hit, screamed like crazy. Dazai’s second uncle was the one who hit her.”
One woman shifted to a more comfortable position, eyes bright, and hurriedly asked, “Did the Gu family stop them?”
“Stop what? If it were you, you wouldn’t stop either,” the informed woman said.
Her words instantly grabbed everyone’s attention.
“Tell us everything…”
The woman, feeling very pleased, recounted what she’d heard with great passion and enthusiasm.
Afterward, someone said, “I haven’t heard that Old Madam Gu went to the Gu family’s third branch to settle scores.”
“Dazai’s grandma is the village bully. I heard she killed someone before. No one who crosses her gets away well. Xing’er’s grandma is old and doesn’t dare go over; she wants to live a few more years,” another woman speculated.
Unknowingly, she had guessed Old Madam Gu’s thoughts almost perfectly.
“Xing’er is strange too. She didn’t clash with Tiedan’s mom or Bangbang’s mom but went head-to-head with Dazai’s mom. What’s that about? They say ‘meeting means mutual dislike,’ and every time they meet they fight?” the woman mending a hole in her pants said, bewildered.
Among these women were many who understood the situation well.
A woman in a blue shirt smiled slightly, “Chenghuai’s allowance keeps increasing yearly. Since he got married, less money is handed over. Xing’er is getting fewer benefits. Can she not be resentful?”
“Tsk! Chenghuai can’t just not marry, he has to start a family. Xing’er’s temper… is a bit overbearing.”
Everyone understood perfectly. Just a little thought, and they knew exactly what Xing’er was thinking.
While Xing’er was unaware, her repeated troublemaking had damaged her reputation.
The damage wasn’t obvious yet, but when she got older, she’d have reasons to cry.

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Gu Family’s Third Branch.
Lin Zhao finished sewing two sets of clothes and called out in the yard, “Dazai, Erzai, come try on your new clothes.”
The two children ran in with quick footsteps.
Seeing the two identical short shirts and black pants, they grinned widely.
“Thank you, Mom,” Dazai said softly, his eyes bright.
Erzai’s grin stretched almost to the back of his head as he immediately stripped off his clothes to try them on.
Seeing this, Dazai quickly did the same.
With such good looks in their parents, none of the Gu children were unattractive. Dazai and Erzai ran up mountains and down rivers daily, their skin darkened by the sun, but their brows and eyes showed they were quite handsome.
Clean eyebrows, a sharp nose just like their father’s, lips neither thick nor thin—just right—and even their head shapes were far better than other village children.
Even with shaved heads, their faces were clear and attractive.
Only a little darker.
Their usual tattered clothes hid this, but the new clothes made them look like different children entirely.
Dazai smoothed out his shirt’s edges and looked up at Lin Zhao, eyes sparkling with small hopes. “Mom?”
Lin Zhao met those clear black-and-white eyes, took his hand, looked him over up and down, and smiled, nodding, “Very handsome, especially handsome, just like your father.”
Under her praise, Dazai blushed more and more, shy but bubbling with happiness inside.
Erzai, never quiet for a second, came over too.
“Mom, what about me?” he blinked his big eyes, confidently seeking praise.
“You’re handsome too,” Lin Zhao laughed at his little expression.
Erzai: “…” That’s it?
He anxiously asked, “Am I handsome like Dad too?”
Dazai thought his brother was silly and said, “Erzai, you look just like me. I look like Dad, so you must look like Dad too.”
Erzai chuckled, “I forgot.”
“Mom, can we go outside?” he asked.
Lin Zhao glanced at Erzai, knowing full well, “Want to show off again, huh?”
“Mom~~” Erzai’s voice had a coquettish rise and fall.
“Not yet. The clothes have to be rinsed first,” Lin Zhao explained gently. “Take them off. I’ll wash them later. It’s hot now; they’ll dry by early morning. You can show off tomorrow.”
Dazai felt sorry for how hard their mother worked making clothes and said as he took off his clothes, “Mom, we can wash them ourselves, right, Erzai?”
What could Erzai say? Of course, he agreed.
“Yes, we’ll wash them ourselves.”
Lin Zhao stood up, stretching her stiff body. “Fine, I’ll watch you wash. Dazai, get the laundry soap. You know which one, right?”
“Sure,” Dazai went to fetch the soap.
The weather had cooled down a bit, and daylight lingered. Lin Zhao took the children to the riverbank.
The riverbank was cool and crowded—some washing clothes, some mischievous boys rolling up their pants to catch fish, others chatting and enjoying the breeze…
Yuanbao’s mother was washing clothes too. Surprised, she greeted Lin Zhao warmly, “Chenghuai’s family is here too.”
Lin Zhao smiled lightly, “Just out for a walk.”
Dazai and Erzai squatted side by side on a sloping rock, dipped their shirts in water, applied laundry soap, and rubbed and scrubbed skillfully—it was clear it wasn’t their first time washing clothes.
“Dazai, Erzai, use more soap,” Lin Zhao said, holding back the wiggling Third and Fourth Children so they wouldn’t get too close.
Yuanbao’s mother and the other women washing clothes gaped in disbelief.
“Dazai’s mom, you don’t even help your kids wash clothes?” an older aunt said disapprovingly.
Before Lin Zhao could answer, Dazai said seriously, “Erzai and I can wash ourselves. Mom worked hard making our clothes.”
“...?” What hard work is making clothes?
“Does making clothes earn work points?” Changsheng’s mom couldn’t hold back and said to Lin Zhao’s face, “Your mom’s just lazy.”