MAC’60s Chapter 21.1

Old ladies chatting tend to be all over the place, talking about everything and anything. The one who struck up a conversation with Old Lady Zhao was from the Fifth Brigade of Shengli Commune, and she also worked as a matchmaker on the side.

When she brought up Wang Ying, it really wasn’t because she knew Zhao Laotai had once set her sights on Wang Ying as a potential daughter-in-law. It was more out of envy and regret.

She regretted not having noticed such a good young woman earlier. Someone with a house and money, and no meddling family—she’d be perfect even for a live-in son-in-law!

She had a whole bunch of young men on her hands who were hard to match, and someone with Wang Ying’s conditions? No matter who she introduced her to, she could’ve asked for at least ten yuan as a matchmaker’s fee!

As for the envy—she was downright jealous of the matchmaker who had helped Xu Shuang. The matchmaking world was small; the few in the surrounding communes all knew each other. That old woman must have some ridiculous luck to just stumble into such a match!

“I was just thinking, if your youngest hadn’t found someone yet, with such a good girl I’d have introduced her to your family first. But who would’ve thought—I was just a step too slow, the girl found someone herself! Sigh… but your family’s something too, finding a wife on your own…”

Her words still carried a hint of dissatisfaction, mostly just to jab at Zhao Laotai a little. Matchmakers earned their money through introductions, a thank-you fee after the match was made, and a meal at the banquet during the wedding.

But the Zhao family? First they told her they were looking for someone to marry in and become a stepmother, and then they turned around and made the match themselves. Not only that, they didn’t even hold a wedding banquet or say a word to her—leaving her high and dry like she’d been tossed aside in the wilderness.

The matchmaker rambled on and on, completely oblivious to the changes in Zhao Laotai’s expression.

When they reached their destination, all three of them got off the bus.

The matchmaker waved and headed back to her brigade.

Zhao Laotai was practically fuming behind her, struggling to breathe!

That was the daughter-in-law she had her eye on first!

A house! Money! A job!

If she had gotten that daughter-in-law, the whole family could’ve moved into Wang Ying’s house. She could’ve taken her husband and her youngest son’s two kids and all lived comfortably under one roof!

Wang Ying even had a job! Although a barefoot doctor only made five or six yuan a month, there wasn’t much to spend money on in the countryside. Five or six yuan was already plenty—enough to keep the whole family well-fed!

The more Zhao Laotai thought about it, the angrier she became. Especially with Wang Lingling right in front of her—comparing a daughter-in-law who could earn money and owned property, to a foolish one who got arrested just for buying grain in the city—it was unbearable. The more she thought, the deeper she sank into a sea of regret.

Old Lady Zhao lay down as soon as she got home. She tossed and turned on the heated brick bed (kang), and every time she closed her eyes, all she could think about was money, a house, and a job!

Wang Lingling returned home with a blank expression. The two children immediately started rummaging through her pockets. They didn’t ask where she had been all this time; they only stared at her, demanding candy and snacks.

When Wang Lingling got married, she brought all her personal savings with her. She had always been sharp and calculating since childhood. Sometimes, when Li Chunjuan gave her money to trade things at Xu Shuang’s house, she would quietly skim off a little for herself. Other times, when she went into town to deliver money and food coupons to her younger brother, she’d take a bit more. Over time, she managed to save up seven or eight yuan.

But after marrying into the Zhao family, those seven or eight yuan quickly dwindled.

Trying to win over the two children, she spent a lot buying them treats.

Though the brigade didn’t have any, the town always did. She bought a bag of pear syrup candies, and every time the children called her “mom,” she’d give them one.

At first, she was thrilled, thinking she had finally won them over. But the older one quickly caught on and, dragging the younger one along, started calling her “stepmom” whenever she didn’t give them candy. Only when she gave them some would they switch back to calling her “mom.”

Now, the two children were at it again, repeatedly calling her “stepmom.” If they didn’t get their way, it was “stepmom,” “venomous woman,” or “big bad person”!

Wang Lingling almost couldn’t stand up. Things had reached a point where she could no longer deceive herself. The two kids didn’t take her seriously at all. In their eyes, she was just a tool who had to serve them and meet all their demands.

No! Even tools get some appreciation now and then!

These two didn’t see any of her efforts—taking apart her padded coat to make clothes for them, waking early and toiling late to care for them, giving them candy and buying them things. To them, it was all just what she should be doing!

If she failed to do something—it was her fault. If she did it well—it wasn’t worth praise.

Why? Because she was the stepmom!

Wang Lingling completely broke down. When the kids realized they weren’t getting any candy, they yelled “stepmom” one last time and ran off. Dazed and dizzy, Wang Lingling stumbled back to her room and collapsed on the bed.

Her body had been severely weakened, and upon returning home, even her sister-in-law only glanced at her indifferently. The two children had run off, and there wasn’t even a sip of water in the house.

Wang Lingling’s tears began to fall. Crying, she drifted off into sleep.

In the adjoining room, Old Lady Zhao lay on the kang, fuming.

She regretted, she resented—it wasn’t even about punishing Wang Lingling just yet. She was too consumed imagining how much better things could’ve been if her family had married Wang Ying. The more she thought about it, the more her chest hurt.

She tried to hold it in but eventually couldn’t help herself and spoke to her husband.

“If only I’d been a little more persistent! We missed out on such a great match!”

“If our youngest had a wife like that, how much better would our life be!”

“Two full rooms of blue-brick housing! You think she could live in all that alone?”

“She makes five or six yuan a month—enough to eat eggs every day for a whole month!”

“Why didn’t I settle it right then? Why did I wait for our youngest to come back?”

“With her conditions, she would’ve been thrilled to marry our son. I just had to open my mouth and she would’ve agreed!”

…

As she spoke, Old Lady Zhao’s slow brain finally turned to Wang Lingling.

“It’s all Wang Lingling’s fault!”

Old Lady Zhao gnashed her teeth. “If she hadn’t seduced our youngest first, we wouldn’t have been stuck!”

She completely forgot how elated she had been in the hospital when she heard Wang Lingling say she didn’t want a bride price, didn’t want a wedding banquet, and was willing to voluntarily become a stepmother.

Now she was fully convinced Wang Lingling had ruined her family’s golden opportunity.

Old Man Zhao took a drag from his dry tobacco pipe. “What’s the point in talking about it now?”

The marriage was done. Their youngest had already filed a report with the army. The other party had found someone new. Even if they kicked Wang Lingling out now, there was no chance of getting the previous match back.

Old Lady Zhao rubbed her chest. “If I don’t say it, I’ll explode!”

But saying it only made her angrier!

She knew they had no choice now but to swallow their bitterness. But deep down, it felt like her heart was on fire. It wasn’t anything else—it was just that she felt she had lost out.

And lost big.

Wang Lingling was a junior high school graduate, while Wang Ying had finished high school.

Wang Lingling had no job; Wang Ying could work as a barefoot doctor.

Wang Lingling brought nothing but a bundle of ragged clothes when she married in. Wang Ying could’ve brought a whole house.

They really got the short end of the stick.

Old Man Zhao said, “Then make the third daughter-in-law do more work. She messed things up for our family, so she deserves it.”

Old Lady Zhao nodded fiercely. “It’s what she owes us! If it weren’t for her, we’d be living in that blue-brick house by now!”

Wang Lingling, still asleep, had no idea that her already miserable life was about to get even worse.

—

Time flew by, and soon it was the 15th. Early in the morning, everyone in the brigade was already up.

The adults were busy cleaning up the stoves, while the children were bundled up tightly. Many had already gathered in the threshing yard. The women huddled together sewing soles, making clothes and hats. Kids ran wild in groups of three or five.

It was like this every year—when it came time to distribute pork, all work except for small orchard tasks came to a halt. Every household got busy preparing for winter.

Tian Youfu stood off to the side, waiting for the livestock station to arrive and collect the pigs.

Every year, the brigade had a quota of ten pigs to hand over. They’d also raise two more for their own consumption, as per regulations. When the livestock station came, they’d weigh the pigs. If any fell below the minimum weight, the station wouldn’t take them. Any excess weight would be calculated separately as money or extra meat. That’s why everyone scrambled to raise pigs for the brigade.

In those days, every family had kids, and kids playing in the mountains could easily gather enough pigweed to feed the animals. Pig manure could even be used to fertilize private plots.

After handing over the pigs, the extra weight could bring in several yuan at the very least—sometimes even more than ten!

Who wouldn’t be tempted?

Tian Youfu made the rounds, inspecting the pigs one by one. The fat ones he planned to send to the supply and marketing cooperative. The scrawny ones—they’d keep for the brigade to divide up.

Those who raised underweight pigs could only blame themselves. At most, they’d get a few extra cuts of meat during distribution. After all, if the pig didn’t meet standards, why should the livestock station take it?

Tian Youfu was a shrewd man. The brigade’s pigs weren’t always delivered in full each year—if they managed to hand over six or seven pigs, that was already considered a good outcome. The rest would be kept and continued to be raised, and when they reached the required number the following year, they’d be handed in then. That gap in time also allowed them to breed the pigs, producing a few piglets, saving the money and hassle of buying piglets from the livestock station.

They usually kept a good-quality sow among the leftover pigs and took extra care of it during the winter so it could give birth to piglets the following year.

Tian Youfu counted once and noticed something was off. “We’re one short—who hasn’t brought their pig over yet?”

Since the livestock station hadn’t arrived yet, he wanted to pick out the pigs to be handed over and decide which one would be slaughtered today.

The people around looked left and right, and someone observant pointed it out: “Yongshun’s family hasn’t brought theirs!”

Tian Youfu frowned. The only reason he had assigned a pig to Wang Yongshun and his wife was for Wang Ying’s sake. When the family split and Wang Ying moved out, they deliberately didn’t assign the task pig to her, fearing that if Wang Yongshun and his wife were petty, they might sabotage it. That way, not only would Wang Ying not benefit from the brigade’s resources, but she might even have to compensate for the pig. However, Tian Youfu had already made up his mind—he planned to allocate the extra pork from Yongshun’s pig to Wang Ying.

After all, the pig was given because of Wang Ying, and over the past half-year, word was it had been Wang Ying who took care of it.

“They’re coming, they’re coming!”

A nosy bystander spotted them in the distance—Wang Yongshun and his wife were finally bringing the pig over, and you could hear the pig squealing from afar.

Tian Youfu swallowed back the words he was about to say, preparing to inspect the pig first. One look, and he lost his temper.

“Just look at what kind of pig you’ve raised! How could you let it get as skinny as a dog!”

Sure enough, everyone around gasped—no one had seen such a poorly raised pig in years! The pig looked dazed and listless, clearly lacking energy.

Wang Yongshun rubbed his face and forced a smile. “We’ve just been too busy at home lately… and this pig isn’t small either.”

He was strapped for cash and counting on getting some money once they handed over the pig.

Tian Youfu was furious. “When I checked your pig a while back, it wasn’t like this at all!”

He wasn’t the kind of leader who ignored the task pigs once they were assigned—he’d occasionally check on how they were being raised. After all, these pigs weren’t just for fulfilling quotas; the brigade also needed pork for their own members. If pigs were always being raised poorly, people would definitely complain.

Wang Yongshun was embarrassed. The truth was, he and Li Chunjuan had been fighting a lot lately, and they had been neglecting the pig. On top of that, the cold weather caused the pig to lose weight, making it look scrawny.

“Captain, it just looks skinny—it’ll weigh in fine once it’s on the scale!”

He wasn’t giving up; he was determined to get this pig accepted.

Tian Youfu didn’t bother arguing with him anymore. He spotted Wang Ying and Xu Shuang arriving and pointed toward Wang Ying.

“If you can’t raise the pig properly, then give it back to Wang Ying. Either way, your pig won’t be accepted today, and there’s no way we’ll divide meat from a pig this skinny among the brigade.”

There were a lot of people in the brigade, and they only distributed pork twice a year—once now and once during the New Year—one pig each time. A pig this thin had no fat and wouldn’t be enough to go around!

Li Chunjuan, who had been sulking, immediately exploded. “I raised this pig—why should I hand it over? You think she can do better? That lazy girl?”

This had been a frequent complaint from her and the village gossips lately—they said Wang Ying didn’t cook and always ate food prepared by Xu Shuang. People had seen Xu Shuang delivering meals to her more than once. Even when she didn’t, old lady Xu would call Wang Ying over to eat lunch.

Wasn’t that just being lazy?

Li Chunjuan ranted, “I raised it from barely 10 jin to nearly 100 jin. If she wants to take it now, she better pay me for the 70–80 jin in between! Otherwise, no way!”

Tian Youfu actually chuckled in disbelief. “This is a task pig! You didn’t even meet the required weight—you expect us to give you 70–80 jin of meat? Dream on!”

Li Chunjuan wouldn’t let go. “The livestock station isn’t even here yet! How do you know it’s not enough?”

Tian Youfu looked at the silent Wang Yongshun and realized the couple was dead set on weighing the pig on the livestock station’s scale.

“Fine, keep your pig. If it doesn’t meet the station’s standards, it won’t be accepted, and we certainly won’t keep it for the brigade to divide. Either give it to someone else to raise now, or take it back and feed it until it qualifies, then hand it in.”

It wasn’t that Tian Youfu was being lenient—actually, he had his reasons…

In winter, there’s no pig grass. Pigs raised at home would have to eat grain.

And this wasn’t just any underfed pig—it was really underweight. Raising it through the winter would cost a lot of grain. Plus, it was cold, and pig pens were freezing—you also had to worry about pigs getting sick or dying from the cold.

Originally, Tian Youfu had planned to give Wang Ying some grain as compensation if she took the pig, but if it stayed with Wang Yongshun and his wife…

Forget it. No way.

If they let the task pig die, they’d have to pay with labor—at least three months of unpaid work next year.

Wang Yongshun looked grim. He knew the unspoken rules, but he was desperate for cash. He probably wouldn’t be assigned a task pig next year, so this year was his only shot to make something from it.

Wang Ying and Xu Shuang were standing in the back of the crowd. Old lady Xu, smiling broadly, was chatting away with a group of older women. Every now and then, she would look up and glance at the young couple, feeling delighted. As for the nonsense from Wang Yongshun and his wife—she didn’t even bother responding. Fools all around—how had she not seen how clueless her former in-laws were before?

Before long, the livestock station’s vehicle arrived.

They unloaded a big iron scale and began weighing the pigs one by one.

“Whoa, this pig’s way too skinny, no need to even weigh it—it definitely doesn’t qualify!”

The young man from the station was blunt and visibly disgusted. “Is there something wrong with this pig? Maybe you should get one of our station’s experts to come take a look.”