Rebirth in the 50s: The Couple with the Hidden Space novel Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Chapter 16: The First Discussion of Separation

Mother Zhang looked at the bag in her son’s hand and said nothing more, took out the pig’s trotter, and placed the bag in the main room. Seeing that it was getting late, she instructed Zhang Guoqing to go to the kitchen to light the fire, while she went to the backyard to pick some vegetables. In the Zhang Family, it was only Zhang Guoqing who would enter the kitchen to help with lighting the fire, as the men believed these chores were women’s work. In the late autumn backyard, there weren’t many other vegetables; in the field, aside from some cabbage, there were some small greens covered with straw, as well as some unharvested white radishes and sweet potatoes. Checking the chicken coop for any unexpected finds, she picked some wilted greens.

Mother Zhang, holding the greens, came in to see him striking matchsticks one by one, clumsily, feeling distressed. Not sure whether she felt bad for him or the matches? Matches cost money; usually, there’s embers buried in the stove, and with a strong blow they can be used again. Only Zhang Guoqing wasted them; she couldn’t bear to scold him. If it were someone else, she’d unleash a torrent of reprimands. She herself wished she could stretch a penny into two, unable to stand any waste.

Busy in the kitchen, Zhang Guoqing kept helping her with lighting the fire, chatting idly with Mother Zhang. The mother and son had just finished preparing lunch. The staple was still cornbread, typically made with coarse grain flour, water, and wild vegetables, but this time it was corn grits cornbread. In the Zhang Family, cornbread was the most familiar and common food, and to ensure everyone ate their fill, the cornbread was made large.

Different from the wild vegetable cornbread in the morning, they cooked corn grits porridge, and made four dishes without any oil, just boiled in plain water. Mother Zhang couldn’t afford to have rich dishes; if it could be stewed, it must be stewed—a bowl of dark salty vegetables, a bowl of plain cabbage, a bowl of long beans, and another bowl of potatoes with no oil.

In the village, the horn sounded, signaling the end of work, and the people in the fields headed home. Mother Zhang poured hot water, ready for them to drink and relieve their fatigue when they got back.

Mr. Zhang, with his two sons, quickly entered the kitchen to drink some water, then went to the well to wash up, patting off the dirt and dust before finally catching their breath and returning to the main room, taking out a long pipe and smoking tobacco.

The eldest sister-in-law, Huang Cuilan, and the second sister-in-law, Lin Juhua, wearing patched clothes, led their daughters Mai Miao and Mai Sui through the gate, talking occasionally about village matters. Women didn’t have the same privileges as men, so they washed their hands first with their children before quickly helping to serve the dishes and set the table.

Four-year-old Mai Miao, wearing a faded and patched floral cotton coat, knew how to tidy herself up using the hot water her mother had washed with. Once done, she pulled two-year-old Mai Sui into the main room to wait for the meal.

Second daughter Mai Sui was so skinny her head seemed too big for her body, resembling a child from Africa, but everyone was used to it. Often, looking around the village, none of the children were chubby. Zhang Guoqing was also worried her neck couldn’t support her head, secretly considering giving them some milk powder later.

When the dishes were served, once Mr. Zhang picked up his chopsticks, everyone busily tucked into their meals without a word. Eating cornbread with the dishes devoid of oil, Zhang Guoqing thought the scratchy corn grits and cornbread would go uneaten, but today, with the farm work idle, everyone finished everything.

He tried hard to ignore the pain in his throat, finally finishing one, and gulped down a mouthful of corn grits porridge, wanting to spit it out. But he dared not; if he dared to waste food, he’d certainly be beaten so hard by his father even his mother wouldn’t recognize him. Quickly drinking the porridge, he resolved not to eat any more, causing Mr. Zhang to repeatedly ask him if he had enough and trying to give him his own cornbread, almost making him cry.

All four bowls of food, even the overly salty vegetables, were consumed completely. Watching everyone eat with relish, poverty and the issue of enough food were no longer felt or seen; being able to eat one’s fill was already rare among the village’s families.

The only proper meal since arriving here was last night’s sweet potato rice, which, in modern times, he and Zhou Jiao often had as pastries and coarse grains. Despite being full of sweet potatoes, which weren’t as tasty as those in the present day, at least it didn’t scratch the throat. He wondered what kind of cornbread they’d have tomorrow; in the Zhang Family, cornbread varied throughout the year, every day always different except on New Year’s Eve with white flour cornbread topped with white dumplings. It’s intolerable even for one meal, let alone for a year; it’s almost like eating grass.

He wondered if Jiao Jiao missed the cornbread; Zhang Guoqing finally understood why her face looked so waxy yellow—probably she couldn’t eat and went hungry. As a new bride, she wouldn’t dare be picky, but thankfully they had stock now.

Finally finishing lunch, watching the women at home busy clearing the dishes, Mr. Zhang, the head of the family, didn’t speak up, and the three brothers, led by Zhang Guofu, didn’t leave, sensing Mr. Zhang had something to say, they all sat waiting. Mr. Zhang took out his tobacco pipe, lit it, smoked a few puffs, glanced at his three sons, then at his old wife beside him, wearing a hesitant expression.

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