The Abandoned Daughter's Second Chance

It was getting late. Grandpa ate the two bowls of cornmeal porridge left over from lunch, then instructed Xiao Man to cook white rice for dinner since they had a guest. Afterward, he prepared to leave to guard the reservoir.

He picked up a hatchet and hung it at his waist, then slung a bamboo basket onto his back. Xiao Man rushed over and handed Grandpa a bamboo canteen filled with water.

She had prepared it specially, mixing in some spiritual spring water.

Grandpa said, "Just give me the empty canteen. The spring water in the mountains is perfectly fine. You should save the boiled water at home for yourselves to drink!"

Xiao Man insisted, "The spring water is too cold! If you drink too much, you’ll get a stomachache. Grandpa, you have to take care of your health. It’s one thing to have a few sips when you’re out and have no other choice, but at home, it’s best to drink boiled water when it’s available!"

Granny Mo felt her way over and chimed in, "Did you hear that, old man? Even Xiao Man understands this principle. I’ve told you so many times, but you just refuse to listen. You’re not a young buck anymore. Always drinking that ice-cold spring water will irritate your stomach. When you finally have real digestive problems, it’ll be too late for regrets!"

"Alright, alright. I’ll listen to you both. I’ll drink less cold water in the future!"

Grandpa took the water canteen and placed it in his back-basket. Xiao Man followed him to the courtyard gate, adding one last reminder, "Grandpa, remember to drink it! We used firewood to boil it at home, so don’t let it go to waste, okay?"

"I know," Grandpa said, waving to Xiao Man. "Your Grandma has trouble with her eyes, so don’t get too carried away playing. If you go out, remember to come right back home. As for your cousin, Xiaoju, let her play with you. When Grandpa comes back tomorrow, I’ll take her home."

"Alright, I get it!"

Xiao Man watched until Grandpa’s figure vanished down the path on the other side of the road. She then turned back, closed the courtyard gate, and, ignoring Xiaoju who was busy picking flowers, went on her own to find Grandma.

Grandma had Xiao Man light the stove fire first, then wash the rice and put the pot on to cook for dinner. Only after that was done did she sit down to listen to her.

"Grandma, Grandma, let me ask you something. That Ahua who came to borrow money this afternoon... Second Granny Qiu, who lives behind us, told me she used to be Grandpa’s wife. Is that true?"

Though Granny Mo couldn’t see, she had an expressive way of glaring. "You little thing, you’re curious about everything. You even managed to snoop this out!"

"Hehe, it was unintentional! Second Granny Qiu came to our courtyard to draw water and happened to see Ahua. I helped Second Granny Qiu draw two buckets of water, and she told me, ’That Ahua, you see, was your grandpa’s wife back in their youth. They even performed the wedding ceremony and entered the bridal chamber!’"

Granny Mo pursed her lips. "Listen to that old hag spout nonsense. What ’youth’? They were just ten-year-old brats. What do they know about a bridal chamber!"

"Oh? So they really did get married? Grandma, hurry up and tell me the story!"

Unable to fend off Xiao Man’s pestering, Granny Mo had no choice but to tell her the story. "Your Grandpa’s family was poor when he was a child. Your great-grandparents had four or five children, but only three of them survived. Even then, they were too poor to raise them all. Your Grandpa was the youngest, so your great-grandparents started asking around, hoping to have him adopted. At the time, the He Family from Immortal Grass Village, which was several miles away, heard about this and sent someone to negotiate with your great-grandfather. The He Family had a decent amount of land, about ten or twenty mu, but they were short on heirs. Several family members had recently died of illness, leaving only the grandparents, a widow, and her two daughters. The youngest girl was that He Ahua, the same age as your Grandpa. In the end, the two families came to an agreement: the He Family would trade several mu of their fields for your Grandpa to become a live-in son-in-law. They agreed that he would officially move in with them when he turned seventeen, because the He Family hadn’t yet decided which granddaughter would stay home to carry on the family name, and He Ahua’s mother was still young and might have had other plans. And just like that, the He and Mo families became in-laws. Your Grandpa would often visit them during festivals and holidays, so I suppose you could say he and the He family girls were childhood sweethearts. When he was ten, Grandpa He suddenly fell gravely ill. Fearing he wouldn’t make it, he rushed to have your Grandpa and He Ahua perform the wedding ceremony. But who would have thought that after the ceremony, Grandpa He recovered! So he sent your Grandpa to the city to work as an apprentice in an herb shop. At fourteen, while out buying herbs with the shopkeeper, your Grandpa was captured by bandits and taken up into the mountains. When he escaped and returned two years later, the He Family had undergone a huge change—He Ahua had already married another live-in son-in-law! Your Grandpa had no choice but to go back to his job at the herb shop in the city. Later, when an army was passing through, a military doctor who knew traditional medicine took him along..."

"So Grandpa was even in the army?"

"He didn’t learn much in the army. Since he could identify some herbs, he mostly just helped the military doctor organize the ingredients. Hmm, he also delivered prescribed conditioning tonics to some of the officers’ wives. For certain medicinal soups that required strict control over the heat and adding herbs in a specific sequence, they were afraid others would mess it up, so he would prepare those himself and then deliver them to the ladies."

"Grandma, so how did you and Grandpa meet?"

Mo Xiaoman was practically in Granny Mo’s face with her question, though she didn’t realize it herself. Her eyes, fixed on Granny Mo, were brimming with curiosity, twinkling like the morning star in the sky.

"Well... ahem!" Granny Mo coughed twice. Feeling Xiao Man’s warm breath on her skin, she reached up in surprise to touch her own face. Discovering just how close Xiao Man was leaning in, she pushed her away, both amused and exasperated. "You silly girl, the rice is cooking! Don’t let the fire go out. Go check on it and add more firewood!"

Mo Xiaoman was speechless.

’Fine, I’m in no hurry. Now I know Grandpa and Grandma have a real story. I’ll just have to dig it out slowly. Life is more interesting when you add a little fun to it!’

Xiao Man got up and headed for the kitchen. Granny Mo followed, rattling off instructions, "Xiao Man, see if you can pick a handful of water spinach from the vegetable patch. Also, grab a few small tomatoes and green peppers. Your Grandpa mentioned there’s about half a jar of pork cracklings at the bottom of the oil canister. Just scoop out two spoonfuls and stir-fry them with the vegetables to make a dish. If you make a ’glass soup’ too, that will be plenty to treat our little guest!"

Hearing her Grandma mention ’glass soup,’ Xiao Man couldn’t help but smile. The so-called glass soup was simply made by pouring half a ladle of fresh water into a hot wok and bringing it to a boil. A small spoonful of pork lard was then added, along with some salt. When this clear broth was poured into a soup tureen, you could clearly see the oil droplets form irregular geometric patterns on the surface, which really did look like shards of glass. This was the origin of the name ’glass soup’!

’Poor people have their own wisdom and humor. Giving such a plain, watery soup such an interesting and playful name was just brilliant.’

When it was time for dinner, her cousin Xiaoju, who had insisted on staying over instead of going home, suddenly got difficult—she refused to eat!

Granny Mo was trying her best to patiently coax the girl, but Xiao Man simply stared at Xiaoju in surprise. ’When Grandpa and Grandma left the Mo Family Courtyard with me, our share of the grain rations wasn’t very large. We even had to borrow rice from Fifth Auntie’s family a few days ago just to host some guests. Our meals these past few days have been mostly cornmeal buns and porridge, though we’ve made sure the stir-fries have enough oil. The only reason Grandma had me cook white rice tonight was because Xiaoju is visiting.’

’Three bowls of snow-white rice sat on the table. There was a dish of glossy, stir-fried water spinach, the green speckled with red tomato and chili, and golden pork cracklings. And of course, there was that beautiful bowl of ’glass soup’ you could practically use as a mirror. And Xiaoju could actually resist all this and refused to eat!’

’I really don’t get it!’

Xiao Man was hungry and had neither the energy nor the inclination to bicker with Xiaoju. She remained silent, propping her chin in her hands and letting Grandma handle the persuasion. From time to time, she would pick up a palm-leaf fan and wave it over the food to keep mosquitoes from landing on it.

As she was concentrating on fanning away mosquitoes, she suddenly heard the previously silent Xiaoju speak up: "Grand-aunt, I want to sleep with Xiao Man!"

Both Granny Mo and Xiao Man were stunned for a moment. What kind of logic was this? They were at the dinner table with empty stomachs, so why was she talking about going to sleep?