CH 6

“Where is your second brother?”

“Did he not bring the melon home? I found a wild melon when I was cutting the grass and asked my second brother to send it home for mother to eat.”

Lin Lan guessed that Erwang had probably hidden somewhere and ate it by himself. She told Sanwang to go home for dinner, “In the future, you’re not allowed to swim in the river alone or at night.

Thinking of the possibility of this kid drowning in the water, Lin Lan felt that it would be appropriate for him to stray further from the body of water.

Sanwang didn’t care, “Mother, I’m good with water.”

A modernised 7-year-old wouldn’t be considered sensible, but like a little adult, he was better at cutting weeds and catching fish on a daily basis than his elder brother.

“Have you heard that those who drown are those who can swim(1)? Why would those who do not know how to swim approach the river?” Lin Lan urged him to go home.

(T/N: A saying that one’s skill may bring misfortune as well. The logic comes from the concept the ones who are unable to swim knows better than to go in the water, so the ones who drown were always the people who could swim)

Although Sanwang followed her home, he didn’t take it seriously and talked about it excitedly.

After returning to the village to watch Sanwang enter the house, Lin Lan went to the brigade headquarters with Xiaowang on her back because the branch officers would frequently idle here after dinner.

At this time where every other family was having a hearty dinner, the men gathered in duos and trios to enjoy the coolness as they made small talk. The summer season was all about weeding, so there was nothing much to do at night. The roads and reservoirs did not need the additional maintenance recently, so the members were relatively free.

Even from a distance, she heard the sound of the phonograph that was brought by theSecretary as the Peking Opera ‘Red Lantern’ was played.

Seeing Lin Lan coming with her child on her back, the villagers looked at her one after another.

“What is she doing with the little fool on his back?”

They used to hear rumours that she disliked Xiaowang and had never seen her taking him out to play.

Did she really get possessed today?

When she was just making a scene and fussing about, everyone said that she had succumbed to the evil; and yet, once they were used to her loud tantrums and she remained calm, no longer being enraged, it was ironic that the villagers seemed to think that the possibility of her being possessed this time was significantly higher.

Lin Lan thought that it was good to have a reputation as a shrew to protect her body. Anyway, her reputation was already at rock bottom, so there was basically nothing to be ashamed of as the others gossiped about her.

For example, she pretended not to see the gathering of wives and walked past with her head high, so she definitely didn’t have to say hello.

Saying hello would scare them.

It was an unwritten rule that there were only men in the Brigade(2) team. Men will find men to play together and women will be teased if they come over. At this time, countrymen were not good at expressing feelings with their own partners. The weird part was that besides working, some men would never gossip and exchange feelings with their own wives for the rest of their lives. 

(T/N: A board of committee members typically in charge of management and service. It functions kind of like a Student Council— instead of students, the members comprised of adults and the school’s settings would be a village to a town/city.)