"Mo Xiaoman, what are you doing in there? Get out here, now! Are you trying to slack off? Let me tell you, not a chance! Hurry up and fill the water vats, feed the pigs, chop enough firewood for tonight, and then go to the barren flats outside the village and bring the cow back! Or else you just wait. When your dad gets home tonight, he'll break your damn legs!"
Liu Fengying stood in front of Grandma's thatched hut with her hands on her hips, screaming abuse.
Mo Xiaoman remained silent, letting Liu Fengying curse as she focused on feeding Grandma. 'Even though she was still young, her soul had already lived two lifetimes, and her mind had long since been tempered.'
After finishing the small bowl of egg-fried rice, Grandma still seemed to want more. She licked her lips, sighed, and said, "Xiao Man, in the future, when we move out and have our own kitchen, we'll have Grandpa buy some egg-laying hens. We'll make egg-fried rice every day until we've had our fill!"
Mo Xiaoman smiled and nodded. "Yes, Grandma. In the future, we'll eat meat, too! With every single meal!"
Grandma patted Mo Xiaoman's hand and smiled happily.
Mo Xiaoman studied Grandma closely. 'In her past life, she hadn't been very observant. She had only seen that Grandma was petite with a gentle and kind expression, but she'd never realized that Grandma was actually very beautiful. If you turned back the clock ten or twenty years, she would have been considered a real beauty!'
'Grandma was in her fifties now, with a thin and delicate frame, but her features were still refined. Naturally arched willow-leaf eyebrows, large eyes, a small mouth… What surprised Xiao Man was Grandma's posture. She didn't hunch over or lean casually like other old ladies. Even when sitting on a small stool, her upper body was perfectly straight, her hands resting naturally on her knees. It was the exact same posture Mo Xiaoman had been taught during her etiquette training for high-society ladies in her previous life!'
'How did a blind woman, wearing the most ordinary of coarse, blue-dyed, front-fastening tunics, keep it so spotlessly clean and wrinkle-free? I really don't know how she managed it!'
Mo Xiaoman thought back to her previous life. 'She only remembered to run over and take Grandma's dirty clothes to the river to wash when she wasn't busy. She had no idea if Second Aunt Mo ever helped at other times. However, whenever Mo Xiaoman carried water for her own family, she would also fill up Grandma's water vat, and Grandma's vat was nearly empty every day. She must have been washing her own clothes.'
Only after being reborn did Mo Xiaoman truly see how different Grandma was. She recalled that Grandpa had brought Grandma back from another region, that Grandma had no family of her own, and that she often suffered Second Aunt Mo's scorn because of it. Mo Xiaoman couldn't help but become curious about Grandma's past, but now wasn't the time for idle questions.
The egg-fried rice was a bit dry, and Grandma asked for some water. Mo Xiaoman shook the only bamboo-cased thermos in the room; it was empty. So, she poured a small half-bowl of spring water from the Treasure Bead, handed it to Grandma, and fibbed, "The lid wasn't on tight. There's a little bit of water left at the bottom. It's gotten cold, but it's still drinkable!"
Grandma believed her and drank all the water. She gently pursed her lips and said with a smile, "Having a granddaughter around really makes a difference. The water my Xiao Man gives me is so sweet!"
Mo Xiaoman smiled too. "Grandma, from now on, I'll bring water for you and Grandpa every day!"
"Good! That's wonderful!" Grandma's smile grew even wider.
Liu Fengying had been cursing outside for a while. When she realized Mo Xiaoman still hadn't come out and even heard laughter from inside, she flew into a rage. She didn't dare kick the door down, so she grabbed a wooden stick and started banging on it, screeching, "Mo Xiaoman! Are you deaf? Huh? You damn brat, you've gotten bold, haven't you? If I don't string you up and beat you tonight, I'll change my surname!"
Hearing this, Granny Mo's smile vanished. She raised her hand, about to ask Mo Xiaoman to help her up.
But then, another woman's voice came from outside. It was Second Aunt Mo. "Eldest Sister-in-law, what are you doing? Shouting and carrying on like that, are you performing a ritual dance? Hahahaha!"
Second Aunt Mo had a mean streak, but she also had a boisterous personality. She loved to gossip and loved to laugh.
Then, a clear, young girl's voice piped up, "Eldest Aunt, did Xiao Man make you mad again? I was at the village entrance just now and heard she fell in the river and got rescued. She's really lucky to be alive! She wasn't hurt, was she?"
This was Mo Xiaosu, the ten-year-old eldest daughter of Uncle Mo and Second Aunt Mo. The couple had one daughter and two sons, and they doted on their daughter. For one thing, they had two or three new sets of clothes made for her every year. They bought her plenty of all the things other girls coveted: square, fringed scarves and snow hats for winter, floral dresses for summer, and all sorts of silk and satin ribbons for her hair.
This Mo Xiaosu had the same personality as her mother—she loved to make trouble for her own amusement and often tormented Mo Xiaoman just to get a laugh.
But Mo Xiaosu was smart. After graduating from primary school, she tested into the commune's middle school, quickly transferred to the county middle school, and went on to get into university. She became the first person from their village to get into a university on their own merit, and the first female university student, to boot!
Her prestige at the time was unparalleled, and Uncle Mo and Second Aunt Mo were so happy they couldn't stop grinning.
Mo Xiaoman remembered that in her past life, once Mo Xiaosu went to university, she stopped tormenting her during breaks back in the village. 'But the way she looked at me was strange. It was a complicated gaze that I couldn't decipher back then. Thinking about it now… it was as if she was pitying me!'
'It was a condescending pity, like that of a princess sparing a glance for a beggar. It held no real substance, just a fleeting look before she moved on.'
Mo Xiaoman heard Liu Fengying's hateful voice from outside. "A flood and a downpour couldn't even drown her, so what could possibly hurt her? The little wretch is tough as nails! Ah, Second Sister-in-law, you went to work the private plot after lunch, so you don't know what this damn girl did to ask for trouble! She threw our family's perfectly good basket and sickle right into the river! Now she's hiding in the old woman's hut, thinking I can't get my hands on her and give her a beating!"
"Oh my! She's gotten good at hiding. If the old woman doesn't open the door, you really can't get to her, can you? Hahahaha!"
Second Aunt Mo had taken her daughter to finish weeding their private plot today. The autumn beans in their field were growing exceptionally well—it was the neatest and most eye-catching patch in the whole area. So, she was in a good mood, and her laughter was hearty.
Mo Xiaosu's interest was piqued. "Mo Xiaoman knows how to hide now? How rare! Mom, I want to wash my hair. Hurry and boil some water for me. I'll wash it right here in the courtyard—I want to watch Eldest Aunt try to catch Mo Xiaoman!"
Second Aunt Mo said with a laugh, "Alright, Mom will start a fire and boil water for you right now. Are you hungry? There are a few sweet potatoes buried in the stove embers. Want one?"
"I don't want any right now," Mo Xiaosu said in a spoiled tone. "Mom, I don't want to use plant ash. I want to wash my hair with Seagull brand shampoo!"
Second Aunt Mo paused, looking troubled. "Er, sweetie, Seagull shampoo is fifty cents a bottle… Last market day, I spent the money on meat for you kids, so I couldn't buy any. How about we wait a little longer? We won't use plant ash today. How about tea seed cake instead? Mom will prepare it for you. I'll crush the tea seed cake, boil it, and filter it twice. The water will be crystal clear and works great for washing! I'll call you when it's ready, okay?"
Mo Xiaosu was not happy. "I don't want to use tea seed cake. It has no scent at all! Yu Jiao and Mei Lian always use Seagull shampoo, and their hair smells so fragrant and feels amazing!"
"But we don't have the money for that right now!" Second Aunt Mo stopped laughing, her face now etched with worry. "How about this? When your grandpa gets back from the mountains, we'll ask him for money to buy some, okay?"
"Wait for Grandpa? What if Grandpa never comes back? Am I supposed to just never wash my hair again?"
Mo Xiaosu whined, then suddenly said, "Eldest Aunt's family has Seagull shampoo. Can't I just borrow some from her?"
"It's all gone. Xiao Man used up all our Seagull shampoo the other day!" Liu Fengying, who had fallen silent, piped up.
"Mo Xiaoman, that stupid idiot!" Mo Xiaosu cursed. "She thinks she's worthy of using Seagull shampoo?"
Inside, Mo Xiaoman sneered. 'Since when had she ever had the honor of using Seagull shampoo? The family's one bottle of Seagull was exclusively for Liu Fengying and her daughter to use. As for her, Mo Xiaoman, she had only ever been allowed to wash her hair with water boiled with plant ash, filtered once. That greenish-black water was actually quite clean, but it was too alkaline and ruined one's hair over time. That was why, from childhood through her teens, Mo Xiaoman had always had a short, messy mop of straw-yellow, frizzy hair that would snap at the slightest pull.'
Grandma listened to the conversation between her two daughters-in-law and granddaughter outside. She sighed and said softly, "Pay them no mind. If you like Seagull shampoo, we'll have Grandpa buy some for you later. For you to use, all by yourself."
"Grandma will use it too!"
Grandma smiled. "Grandma doesn't need Seagull shampoo. I'm used to water from tea seed cake. Your grandpa always prepares it for me…"
Mo Xiaoman stared at Grandma's smile, momentarily lost in a daze. 'Her blind grandmother's smile was, at this moment, filled with something that could only be called happiness!'