The Abandoned Daughter's Second Chance

The local climate was suitable for growing two seasons of rice. While the early rice was harvested in August, they also had to hurry and plant the next batch of seedlings for a second, later harvest in November. Because of this, it was currently the South’s busiest and most intense farming season—the "dual rush." It was also when the main laborers earned the most work points. During this time, the field workers generally didn’t return home for lunch. Instead, the elderly and children would prepare meals and deliver them to the fields. After a quick bite, the workers would get right back to it, only returning home when the day was done.

Mo Laoer and his wife only learned about what had happened to Mo Xiaofeng when they returned home that evening.

Even though they were blood brothers living in the same courtyard, they weren’t particularly close, and their wives quarreled often. So the couple’s reaction was muted. "What’s all the fuss about?" Mo Laoer muttered, before going off to put away his farm tools and tie up the ox. Second Aunt Mo, meanwhile, pursed her lips and rushed inside to see what kind of mess the children had made of her kitchen. She was secretly gloating. ’Serves her right! She blinded her own daughter—let’s see how smug Liu Fengying can be now! Always picking fights with me, moving that fence in the back garden this way and that. What’s the point of grabbing an extra foot or two of land? You planning to use it as your grave?’

The family gathered around the table for dinner. The meal consisted of dry-cooked rice mixed with crushed corn, a bowl of taro stems stir-fried in lard, a bowl of pickled vegetables, and a pot of sweet potato leaf soup. Each of the three children had a small bowl of steamed egg in front of them. Unlike other mothers, who tended to dote on their sons, Second Aunt Mo favored her daughter. As a result, Mo Xiaosu’s bowl had an extra spoonful or two of the steamed egg.

Mo Xiaosu chewed her rice, but she found it hard to swallow.

She looked up at their kitchen-slash-dining room. The walls, the underside of the roof tiles, and the heavy wooden beams were all coated in a thick layer of black soot and grime built up over the years, laced with countless cobwebs. She didn’t know why, but even though she’d grown up in this house and never minded it before, today the sight of it was deeply unsettling. ’It’s such an injustice,’ she thought, ’living in a run-down, blackened hovel like this!’

Then she thought about the house in the Youth Corps Courtyard where Mo Xiaoman lived. She’d heard that the first group of educated youth sent to the countryside years ago had received preferential treatment. The old Party Secretary had called them "precious treasures" for their knowledge and had a special brick-and-stone house built just for them. Even though later groups of youth weren’t treated as treasures, they still benefited from that legacy, living comfortably in the courtyard. They cherished the house and kept it well-maintained. The walls, inside and out, were whitewashed. It had glass windows, a smooth courtyard for sunning grain, lush holly, ornamental pines, a large pear tree, and a garden bursting with vibrant roses in shades of deep red and pale pink... ’Now *that* is a place fit for a human being!’ she thought. ’My cousin Baoshan said it himself: I’m a hundred times better than that bitch Mo Xiaoman. I’m Mom and Dad’s precious eldest daughter! So why does *she* get to live in such a nice courtyard while I’m stuck in this hovel?’

The more Mo Xiaosu stewed in her thoughts, the more resentful and miserable she became. With a CLATTER, she slammed her bowl down on the table, and tears started rolling down her cheeks.

Everyone at the table jumped. When Mo Laoer saw that most of the rice in her bowl had spilled, he flared up. "What do you think you’re doing? If you’re not going to eat it, you could have given it to your mother! We’re running low on grain, and it’ll be months before the year-end distribution. If you dare waste food like this again, I’ll let you all go hungry for a few meals. That’ll teach you to behave!"

Seeing her daughter in tears, Second Aunt Mo’s heart ached. She shot Mo Laoer a warning look before leaning over to hug Mo Xiaosu. "What’s wrong, my sweet girl? Are you not feeling well?"

"Mama, I’m so unhappy!" Mo Xiaosu threw herself into Second Aunt Mo’s arms and started bawling. "Today, I went to the Youth Corps Courtyard where Grandpa and Grandma live to get justice for Xiao Feng. That courtyard is so well-kept! It’s even neater, brighter, and prettier than when they had their housewarming party! Mama, it has so many rooms, and the outside walls are all painted white. It has its own well, so Xiao Man doesn’t even have to fetch water or do any chores! Living there, she’s like one of the children of the commune officials, all fair-skinned and clean, her clothes aren’t dirty at all. And she has new, transparent plastic sandals! Look at me, Mama! I’m still wearing the old sandals you bought me last year, and they’re not even transparent! Mama! Xiao Man is just some stray they picked up, so why does she get to live with Grandpa and Grandma in such a nice, spacious place? Eating good food and wearing good clothes? I’m your precious treasure, a true-born child of the Mo family, but I’m the one who’s despised and can’t go live with them!"

Mo Xiaosu’s cries were wretched, her face a mess of tears. She was the very picture of heartbroken misery.

Mo Laoer put down his chopsticks, his expression dark. Second Aunt Mo hugged her daughter, cooing comforts. "Mama’s baby, my little treasure, is it just about wanting transparent plastic sandals? Your dad and I already promised you. When school starts, we’ll sell the medium-sized pig from the pen. We’ll use the money to pay tuition for the three of you, buy you all new clothes, and get you those new sandals! Then we’ll see who dares to look down on my precious girl!"

Seeing her mother had missed the point, Mo Xiaosu grew frantic. "Mom! Dad! Do you know who despises me? It’s Grandma! It’s Grandma! Didn’t you say the other night that we would move in with Grandpa and Grandma after the busy farming season was over? But today, Grandma said that since Mom always scolds her about not having her ’own’ sons, then she doesn’t have a ’real’ granddaughter either! She won’t acknowledge me! She doesn’t want us to move in anymore! What about my new room? I want to move right away! I can’t stand living in this dump for another minute!"

Mo Laoer and Second Aunt Mo exchanged a look. After a pause, Second Aunt Mo served some food to her two young sons, who were focused only on devouring their meal. Then, Mo Laoer spoke to Mo Xiaosu.

"Don’t you worry," he said. "Once this harvest is over, I’ll go talk to your grandpa. As for your grandma, she’s always favored your uncle, which is why she can’t stand your mother. But your grandpa dotes on *me* the most. As long as I ask, he’ll agree to it! Relax. Your grandpa is the one in charge around here; what he says goes. What does your grandma matter? She’s blind, a freeloader, and completely useless! Just you wait. As soon as the ’dual rush’ is done, our whole family will move into that spacious, beautiful new courtyard house!"

Although Mo Xiaosu wasn’t thrilled about not being able to move immediately, her father’s confident and certain tone, as if it were already a done deal, finally put her at ease.

Six-year-old Mo Xiaogui looked up from his rice bowl. "If we all move to the new house, what about this old one? Are we abandoning it?"

"Who said we’re abandoning it?" Mo Laoer replied. "This is the ancestral home. The ox pen and pigsty are made of stone; they’re solid. You see how other families’ oxen and pigs are always breaking loose and running all over the village? When has one of our animals ever escaped? And all that wood making up the lofts of the pens? Your grandpa spent years hauling that timber down from the mountains. And that’s not all—we’ve got a whole stash of it submerged in the pond! It’s all top-quality wood! When you boys get married, we can use it to build furniture or even new houses. I have it all covered up with firewood so your uncle and his wife don’t find it. We can’t move it, because they’d see it right away. You know what they’re like. They’d definitely try to take it. So, we’ll keep this ancestral home and have your grandpa and grandma move back in. They can watch over our things for us."

"Exactly!" Mo Xiaosu chimed in happily. "Xiao Man is with Grandpa and Grandma, isn’t she? It’s perfect! We can leave Xiao Man here in the old house to watch the ox and raise the pigs and chickens. We’ll live all clean and comfortable in the new house and won’t have to bother with any of it!"

"You little thing, you sure know how to enjoy life! Alright, we’ll do as you say!"

Mo Laoer let out a hearty laugh, and Second Aunt Mo couldn’t help but smile too. "That courtyard is so big," she chided playfully. "We should at least raise some chickens and ducks when we move in. Can’t let all that space go to waste!"

"Then raise them!" Mo Laoer said, picking up his chopsticks to eat again.

Mo Xiaosu whined to her mother, "Mama, just raise the chickens and ducks here at the old house. The new courtyard has all those flowers and trees, it’s so clean and tidy. If you have chickens and ducks running around and pooping everywhere, it won’t be pretty anymore!"

"The courtyard is big enough. I’ll have your dad build a bamboo fence to pen them in. That will keep them from getting out. I promise they won’t ruin your pretty flowers and plants!"

"Hmm... alright, fine. You can raise them then."

...