Chapter 98: Going to Repay the Debt

After finishing the letter, Wang Qiang pedaled his long-unused old bicycle to the town to mail it. For one thing, he hoped his father would come home soon and no longer have to toil at the construction site; for another, he was eager to know whether his classmate Fang Yueqing could crack the arcade board.

The letter was sent.

He rode home.

The door was locked, and his mother was nowhere to be seen.

He took out his key, unlocked the door, and wheeled the bicycle inside. With the two letters sent off, he began to think about what lay ahead.

Just as he propped up the bicycle stand, a set of footsteps sounded outside, and then a familiar figure stepped over the threshold.

“What were you doing just now?” his mother asked, frowning. “I went over to your grandparents’ place, and when I came back you’d vanished. I looked all over for you.”

Wang Qiang blinked in confusion. “I went to mail a letter.”

His mother looked at him. “Did you forget what I told you earlier?”

“What thing?” Wang Qiang had not caught on.

“To go with me to your great-aunt’s place to return the money. You and your memory,” his mother said with a helpless shake of her head.

Wang Qiang slapped his forehead and laughed. “I nearly forgot. Get the money and let’s go.”

His mother went back into the bedroom to fetch it.

He stood waiting at the door, only to find that when she came out, she thrust a stack of banknotes into his hand. Wang Qiang did not understand. “Why are you giving me the money?”

His mother said seriously, “You know how much your great-aunt has helped our family. Back when the family was split up, your father and I could hardly support you. It was she who kept us afloat again and again. The old lady may not have the best temper, but if she says anything unpleasant later, don’t take it to heart, understand?” She finished and a smile appeared on her face. “The money was earned by you, and your tuition was borrowed for you too. Of course you should be the one to return it yourself. Oh, and go to the wardrobe in your room and take out the soybean milk powder your aunt gave you. You can’t go to repay someone empty-handed.”

Wang Qiang was at a loss, but he understood that his mother was trying to save face for him. “There’s no need for that. If you give the money to Great-Aunt, it’s the same—”

His mother cut him off with an earnest, “I said you give it, so you give it. And the soybean milk powder has to be presented as something you bought to honor her, got it?”

Wang Qiang did not know whether to laugh or cry. “All right, all right, I understand.”

He hurried into the bedroom and rummaged out a large bag of orange-packaged soybean milk powder from the wardrobe. It was Weiwei Soybean Milk. At this time, the brand was not yet famous enough to be known nationwide; it was only popular within Jiangsu, since the brand had only been established in Xuzhou in 1992.

Soybean milk powder was a decent gift to bring when visiting someone, especially for the elderly and children. Wang Qiang remembered that his little cousin liked it so much that while others brewed it into a drink, she would tear open the packet and pour it straight into her mouth to chew dry. It had been quite amusing.

With the powder in hand, Wang Qiang said, “Let’s go.”

Although Great-Aunt’s house was only two or three homes to the north, his mother was extremely careful. She locked the front door and the gate as if sealing them shut, after all there was a large sum of “vast wealth” kept at home, and safety had to be taken seriously.

...

The stone-paved lane.

Mother and son walked northward.

From a distance, the rice paddies were already turning a golden yellow. In another stretch of time they would likely be ready for harvest, and then the village would grow busy; this was what people called the busy farming season.

“Did you remember what I told you?” his mother asked.

She had been telling him all along to be respectful to Great-Aunt, and Wang Qiang had heard it eight hundred times already. “Mom, I’m not a child. I remember. I really do.”

His mother admonished him again and again. “Your great-aunt has truly done enough for our family. Not to mention how many times she lent us money, there were years when, during the New Year and other holidays, knowing that your father and I had no money for meat, she would deliberately bring over fish and pork. Even those new clothes you wore as a child, half of them were bought by her. She just likes to say a few things with her mouth. If she says something unpleasant later, don’t lose your temper.”

Wang Qiang knew most of this already. While listening to his mother’s instructions, he arrived at Great-Aunt’s home.

Great-Aunt’s house was a three-room single-story dwelling. Unlike Wang Qiang’s own red walls and black tiles with no decoration, the outer walls of her house were covered in coin-sized mosaic tiles. Great-Uncle’s retirement pension was four to five hundred yuan a month, more than many people earned working jobs, so the family was in fairly good shape. Their children also had decent work, leaving the two elders with nothing to worry about, and thus they had the means to support Wang Qiang’s family.

As soon as they reached the gate, before even stepping inside, they saw the room packed with neighbors. At the square table sat Great-Uncle and three elderly card players, each holding long-playing cards. They were probably playing either Nine Colors or Eight Whiskers.

This was a game unique to Jinghai, different from the games played in Sichuan and Shu. As for elsewhere, long-card games did not seem to be very popular.

By the door, three or four old women were also sitting and chatting, but Great-Aunt was nowhere to be seen.

His mother went in first and greeted them. “Uncle.”

Wang Qiang followed over the threshold. “Great-Uncle.”

Great-Uncle, who was in the middle of a card game, turned his head and smiled. “Cheng Lin, Qiangzi, you’re here. Sit down.”

Old Lady Li had sharp eyes and called out, “Xiao Zhong, Qiangzi brought you some soybean milk powder.”

Xiao Zhong was Great-Uncle’s nickname. Older people all addressed him that way. Hearing this, Great-Uncle scolded lightly, “What a waste of money, boy. Your Great-Grandmother and I have plenty to eat. Take it back to school and enjoy it there, eh?”

His card friends immediately chimed in.

“Qiangzi is honoring you.”

“That’s right, and you still won’t take it?”

“My own grandson isn’t even this considerate... one bamboo.”

“Pung.”

The four of them argued as they drifted right back into the cards.

Wang Qiang casually set the soybean milk powder on a shelf, then sat down with his mother and exchanged a few words with the old women. There were too many people, and it was not proper to return the money in front of everyone, especially since the person who had handled the matter, Great-Aunt, was not there.

Grandma Fu asked, “Qiangzi, I heard you went to Shanghai to play?”

Wang Qiang, perched on a small stool, replied, “Yes.”

Aunt Yu said, “Did you go see the Oriental Pearl Tower? My son said it’s still under construction, very tall.”

Wang Qiang smiled. “Why go see it before it’s finished? I’ll go when it’s done.”

If he remembered correctly, the Oriental Pearl Tower would not be put into use until next year.

“In about another week the rice should be ready to harvest. Have you hired enough people?”

“What people do we need? We’ll just work a bit harder ourselves. Still, Cheng Lin, you ought to help your mother-in-law more. She has to look after your father-in-law and keep busy with the fields. It’s a lot for her.”

“We know. It’s always been this way in previous years.”

A few old women gathered around his mother and began chatting about the everyday affairs of households.

Wang Qiang, on the other hand, sat idly listening to them talk. Most of the time, though, they were discussing their own families, and several people could carry on a conversation even when none of them were talking about the same thing.

“Ah, Zhao Li is here.”

“Zhao Li, Cheng Lin and Qiangzi are here.”

“They even brought soybean milk powder for you and Xiao Zhong.”

His mother quickly stood up, her face full of smiles. “Big Aunt.”

Wang Qiang also said, “Great-Grandmother.”

“Qiangzi is here.” Great-Aunt was not very tall. Her shoulder-length hair was tucked behind her ears, gleaming in the sunlight. The familiar scent of hair oil filled the room as soon as she entered. She exchanged a few words with Wang Qiang smilingly, then turned her gaze to his mother and said with deliberate seriousness, “Have you enrolled Qiangzi?”

His mother answered uneasily, “Yes, I have.”

Great-Aunt pulled over a small stool and sat down. “Mm, good. I’m not criticizing you, but you rushed around looking for someone to borrow money from only when school was about to start. What if that delayed his enrollment?”

His mother said apologetically, “We just didn’t want to make things difficult for you.”

Great-Aunt went on. “What kind of mother are you, really? Whether it’s convenient for me or not is my own business, but you can’t delay the child’s schooling. Last year was the same—you had no choice but to come to me for a loan on the very day school started. Why didn’t you come earlier? Were you expecting to borrow money from the relatives on your side of the family? You, you... you’re already several decades old and still can’t tell who is good and who is bad. Last year, you practically knelt down to your maternal uncle, and did he lend you any money?”

Wang Qiang froze. “Kneel down to my uncle?”

“Don’t interrupt,” his mother glared.

“Why shouldn’t I interrupt?” Great-Aunt rebuked. “Your maternal cousin makes money hand over fist in business, a thousand or eight hundred yuan a month. Why would he refuse to lend you money? Because he looks down on you. What good is it to go begging at his door? You ask him and he just scolds you. Don’t go to him for money in the future.”

Only then did Wang Qiang understand why his family later had little contact with that side of the family. So there had been such a matter. Hearing this, he could not help looking at his mother, and his heart ached for her.

Had she nearly knelt down? For his tuition? Had she begged only to be scolded? No wonder he had seen traces of tears on his mother’s face after borrowing money on more than one occasion.

Great-Aunt looked at him and sighed. “Qiangzi, when you earn money in the future, make sure you honor your mother properly. She and your father have not had an easy time.”

Wang Qiang nodded hard. “I will.”

Great-Aunt said sympathetically, “Your family is poor, and your father is the kind of man who would rather suffer than lose face. I told him to go work in Shanghai with Yun Qiang, but your father still can’t bring himself to do it. On a construction site, he might earn three hundred yuan a month at most, but Yun Qiang can speak on behalf of the leadership at his unit. If your father went with him, he’d easily make four or five hundred a month. What face is there to lose?” Yun Qiang was her son. As for “Second Brother,” that referred to Wang Qiang’s father, because he was second in the family order; in the village, people all called him Second Brother. Of course, this was not a title unique to Wang Qiang’s father, as many men in the village were addressed that way. It was just that the topic at hand was his father, so Great-Aunt used the term naturally.

His mother explained, “Baoguo is afraid of causing trouble for Big Brother.”

“What trouble could there be?” Great-Aunt said, half exasperated and half amused. “It’s not as if they’re making him a leader. Look at you two husband and wife—you’ve been running a household for more than ten years, and you still can’t save a bit of money? Yes, your father-in-law’s diabetes, with fifty yuan a month for medicine, is part of the reason, but that’s no excuse. If you ask me, you shouldn’t keep cooped up at home farming. I’ll have Yun Qiang find you a job in Shanghai. It may be hard work, but at least you can earn money. That’s better than busting your back in the fields. You’re already in your forties.”

Before his mother could answer, Wang Qiang quickly said, “My mother has already found a job in Shanghai.”

“Oh? She has?” Great-Aunt looked at his mother in surprise, then said with a smile, “That’s more like it. You’ve got a little ambition after all. Work hard once you start. If anything comes up, go find Yun Qiang. I’ll tell him, and he’ll help you.”

His mother looked at Wang Qiang in puzzlement, but said, “Thank you, Big Aunt.”

Watching his mother being lectured several times over, Wang Qiang felt strangely uncomfortable. Even knowing that Great-Aunt meant well for their family, he still thought: Ah... life has been too hard on his parents.