Bai Fumei in the ’70s Chapter 25
Translated by Serena Love
Thank you to Soupysuspicions for proofreading this chapter.
He Songbai was afraid that his grandmother would worry too much. So the next morning, when everyone else went to work, he dragged his two injured legs to his grandmother's room to speak with her. When Sister He came back from work, she also carried her outside to bask under the sun. Both brother and sister were frightened by her howling cries last night. The grandma felt the extraordinary care of her granddaughter and grandson over the next few days and was in a wonderful mood.
One day, after work, Zhao Lanxiang returned to the He family's house and was washing her hands by the well, then rubbing her palms back and forth with snowflake cream. The soft and greasy lotion moisturized the woman's skin and gave off a faint fragrance.
After He Songbai had gotten injured, she had to work obediently. This ten-point work had completely overwhelmed Zhao Lanxiang's weak shoulders.
After moisturizing with snowflake cream, Zhao Lanxiang suddenly heard He Songbai's grandmother, Grandma Li, call for her coldly.
"Come!"
She was stunned, pointing at her nose meekly and asking, "Me?"
Grandma Li responded to her question with a faceless expression, before Sister He smiled and waved Zhao Lanxiang over.
Zhao Lanxiang hurried over, and Grandma Li asked her granddaughter to carry her back to the house.
Zhao Lanxiang gingerly followed them into the room, and Grandma Li took out a piece of paper from the cupboard. Her hands trembled as she wrote a line of words. After she finished writing, she threw it into Zhao Lanxiang.
She said simply, "Go out."
Her voice was extremely hoarse.
Zhao Lanxiang looked at the old woman's muddled eyes, which had almost collapsed into two small slits, and felt the indifference and insight revealed in those wise pupils. She suddenly felt that He Songbai's grandmother had a strong personality.
Zhao Lanxiang wondered if she confessed to this grandmother about her relationship with her baby grandson, would this old woman still maintain such a cold expression.
But... this kind of thought was just a fleeting idea. Zhao Lanxiang would not easily leak this news to He Songbai's respected grandmother without his consent.
Zhao Lanxiang stepped forward to pick up the note and stuffed it into her pocket.
She asked, "Grandma, do you want to eat some porridge or anything else?"
Grandma Li simply lied back down, back facing Zhao Lanxiang, closing her weary eyes to sleep in response.
Grandma Li became a bulge on the bed, and the thin quilt exposed her two legs. The deformed bound feet were covered with a cloth shamefully all year round. However, the cloth had fallen off after she fell asleep and her feet were left bare. The two or three-inch golden lotus feet were exposed and only covered with children's socks with dense patches on them. Interacting with this poor and miserable elder, Zhao Lanxiang couldn't bring herself to feel any trace of dissatisfaction.
In the evening, after Zhao Lanxiang took a bath, she took out her clothes and washed them, then took out the note. She read it carefully under the dim light of the lamp and thought deeply but she still could not make any sense of it.
"Go one hundred steps northeast of Niujiao Mountain, under the locust tree."
Zhao Lanxiang frowned for a long time, picked up a towel, and dried her wet hair. Then she threw the note into the cabinet.
...
Time passed quickly, and He Songbai's long monotonous days of healing were coming to an end. The fixed planks on his hands and feet had already been removed, and a review meeting for disciplining "disruptive elements" caused by Pan Huayu had finally begun.
On this day, the party branch of the village and the important secretary of the committee were sitting upright in their chairs with their waists straight. The people stood behind them. Li Hongde, the branch secretary, used his thumb to tap the paper, rolled a cigarette, and silently smoked in his seat. Li Dali also had a black face and looked directly at the table in front of him.
What a shame!
The people of the First Production Brigade and the Second Production Brigade of the village both came to the meeting. The crowd under the stage was surging. The audience was filled with a multitude of villagers. Some enthusiastically stretched their necks in an attempt to get a better view of the stage, others looked on resentfully, wishing they were back home in bed next to their wives instead of at an early morning meeting, while the majority sat there indifferently, a look of triumph on their faces.
Zhao Lanxiang's eyes carefully followed He Songbai's figure, as several people attentively reviewed their "crime" before him. When Zhao Lanxiang arrived, it was Pan Huayu's turn to read his review.
The loud voice of the middle-aged man in his thirties revealed a shameful understatement.
"I am reviewing my action. I will never fight without reason, and I will not be angry at bad guys with backward thoughts. We should influence them to be better with a progressive heart. Here now I apologize to Brother He for beating him incorrectly."
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After he finished speaking, there was sparse applause in the crowd.
He Songbai was ready to go up the stand, but Zhao Lanxiang was a little angry to hear Pan Yuhua's review.
Your mother! This sort of insincere apology neither came from the heart nor showed that he had properly reviewed his behavior.
He Songbai walked to the stage without a word.
He began to speak, "To the party branch of the brigade, the Revolutionary Committee, I am He Songbai, a member of the Hezi brigade. Today, I have come to make a profound review of my mistakes. I came from a backward landlord family..."
A burst of colorful murmurs came from the crowd, and a rotten leaf hit him.
He Songbai did not care and continued unperturbed, "I am grateful that the party did not give up on me, gave me the opportunity to reform, and allowed me to join other members to work together. I cherish this hard-earned opportunity, and decided to work hard in order to repay the party for a lifetime..."
As he was talking, and the rotten leaves and other debris were continually thrown again and again. If this were not in the age of insufficient supplies, maybe rotten eggs would be tossed as well! It's a pity that He Songbai didn't miss the precious opportunity of being the target of rotten eggs. He was already engulfed by the strong stench of unknown objects.
He Songbai wiped his face calmly, and continued cheerfully, "The chairman once said: 'The house should be cleaned frequently. If it is not cleaned, it will be full of dust; the face should be washed frequently, and if it is not washed, it will be covered in dirt.' I have reflected deeply on my mistakes, and I appreciate the organization's tolerance. I am willing to accept punishment and hope to devote myself to the production team in the future! Thank you Comrade Li Dali for your help!"
His strong, youthful voice traveled far and wide, filled with respect, without a hint of irritation. Hearing this, many people's eyes deepened involuntarily. His speech was really good, and he could even quote the chairman's wisdom. Li Dali was also among those who were impressed by him.
After He Songbai read his review, the audience once again clapped, though this time, it was slightly louder than the previous one.
Though Zhao Lanxiang is not short, she still had to jump up just to try to see the stage in this crowd, yet she still couldn't even see the shadow of the man. She was very distressed when she saw this scene.
He Songbai hastily climbed down from the stage before quickly disappearing into the crowd. Because of his speed, he was limping a little while walking.
Zhao Lanxiang didn't dare to catch up with him immediately but slowly walked back toward the He family's house after he left.
After making sure that no one else was around, Zhao Lanxiang quickly raised up her skirt and ran after him.
Despite being a person with two healthy legs, she still couldn't catch up to an injured person!
After running for a long time, Zhao Lanxiang finally saw his figure and shouted breathlessly, "How come you walk so fast?"
Hearing her words, the small silhouette in front of her stopped for a moment, before rushing forwards again, this time even faster, without a hint of hesitation.
Zhao Lanxiang gritted her teeth and pumped her tired legs even harder to catch up before she finally reached He Songbai's side. "Why don't you speak?"
He Songbai stopped and said helplessly, "Don't follow me."
He suddenly pulled up his legs and ran quickly. He ran afar and then jumped into the clear river water, sending a wave of water high into the air.
Zhao Lanxiang stopped suddenly. She squatted down and looked at his exposed head of black hair and said, "Why did you jump into the river? Your review was very good."
Her words were suddenly choked into her throat, as a faint putrid smell suddenly rose and filled her nostrils.
He Songbai scrubbed his face roughly with the water and swam to the shore.
His sharp eyebrows rose as he said fiercely, "If I didn't leave quickly, do you want to see me take a shower? I still have to undress..."
Zhao Lanxiang watched as he took off his clothes, as a faint blush crept up her neck, burning her cheeks.
She stood up and stomped her feet, and turned away.
He Songbai was relieved. He was truly afraid of her.
After the woman had left, He Songbai lifted his clothes off with ease and rubbed his body to clean himself. He scooped up freshwater with his palm and rubbed it on his face. After washing his face and hair, he rubbed the rest of his wheat-colored body until it's red and raw, as if an entire layer of skin was rubbed off.
He was so dirty that he was disgusted with himself.
He continued to scrub his body for a while before he raised his head and wiped his face with his palm. He opened his eyes to see a scene that almost scared him to death. His limbs stiffened and he almost sank to the bottom of the river.
He saw that the woman who had originally left came back. She stood there with a blushing face and asked calmly, "Where did you leave your clothes?"
"I brought some soap, I will help you wash them."
He Songbai felt her eyes looking at him and he felt as if he is being burned by fire. He was speechless for a long time before finally squeezing out a sentence, "Little rogue."
His ears suddenly turned red, and he hurriedly covered his thin body by crouching back into the river water.
Zhao Lanxiang looked around and soon found his ragged clothes. She didn't think they were that dirty and smelly, she took out the soap and rubbed a little foam out, then washed his clothes neatly by the river.
He Songbai's eyes darkened looking at this scene. In fact, he had already scrubbed his entire body inside and out and was only waiting to put his clothes back on.
After Zhao Lanxiang finished washing them, she wrung them dry, straightened them out neatly, and laid them carefully on the grass, before she turned around and disappeared.
After she left, He Songbai grabbed his clothes at an incredible, butts-on-fire speed and hurriedly put them on.
...
After finishing the review, Pan Yuhua followed his wife home in disgrace.
Aunt Pan said vividly, "You can thank me since I helped you vent out of anger."
"Li Er and Li San came with a bucket of urine, and then hehehehe. Hey, did you see it? Don't you feel relieved..." She smiled smugly.
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What his wife said did not make Pan Yuhua feel even a little bit better, because he had just made a review in front of the people of the village and had to accept the punishment from the branch secretary! At this moment, his heart was still suffering. And while regretting, he became more and more disgusted with the He family's second child.
He had maintained an innocent reputation for nearly half his life, but now he had been saddled with the hat of "trouble-maker".
Pan Yuhua said with a sullen face, "Stop talking, just go home."
Aunt Pan said, "Your second sister who doesn't have a conscience, I don't know where she was hiding. She came back from school, and I just met her at the review meeting. You, the big brother, was suspended because of her. I don't know how to comfort you!"
Pan Yuhua sighed and said, "Go and find her. If she dares to go to He family's second child, I'll break her legs."
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