Guihua's biological mother, Liu Chunhua, was once the daughter of a wealthy family. She lived a fairly affluent life in her youth. Not only did she go to a girls' school and learn to read, she also learned painting and English. It is said that she even ate steak with a knife and fork. She was a very Western person.
After being spoiled at home until she was 18, Liu Chunhua married the eldest son of the Wu family, whose family background was similar to hers. She gave birth to four sons and a daughter, and lived a comfortable life for several years. When liberation came, families like the Wu family were the first to be criticized. After the whole family was dragged to the street for public display, they were separated and sent to various places for labor reform. The eldest son Wu's family was sent to Beicha Forest Farm to do hard labor.
A tattered earthen house that was about to collapse and a torn quilt with cotton wool sticking out of it were all the belongings of the eldest son of the Wu family when he first arrived at the forest farm. But in Beicha, where it can be so cold for four or five months that the breath turns to ice, it wouldn't take long for the whole family to freeze to death relying on just this house and this torn quilt.
Master Wu was in such a predicament, he had no choice but to wipe his tears. Liu Chunhua was brave enough to risk her life to go to the other house where Master Wu used to stay when he was hunting in Beicha Forest Farm. Because the house was in a remote area and did not look very rich from the outside, and there were no neighbors around, it was able to be preserved.
Liu Chunhua found a few clean quilts, and then went to the servants' room to pull out some torn sheets and sewed them on the outside of the quilts. He found a few thick cotton coats that were stored in the box and deliberately put in some rags. He spent several nights moving everything bit by bit into his own shabby little house. When he came back from the last trip, Liu Chunhua took a look at his unfinished hunting map, lit a brazier and burned it. He only took the small box containing the painting tools away.
With the dozens of kilograms of rice and cotton-padded jackets and quilts brought back from the other courtyard, the Wu family finally didn't freeze to death or starve to death in this cold winter. They also took advantage of the fact that it was too cold here in winter. Other families in the forest farm rarely went out except to go up the mountain to collect firewood and hunt. Some families living nearby smelled the fragrance of the Wu family's porridge, but they felt sorry for the Wu family and turned a blind eye. No one reported them. Sometimes, when they caught too many prey, they would even throw them a rabbit leg or a piece of roe deer meat.
Old Lady Li knew the situation of the Wu family. When she brought Guihua back, it was the second year of the Wu family's transformation to the forest farm. Old Lady Li saw that Liu Chunhua was a weak woman, but she could pull wood with the same strength as a man, so she felt that the girl in this family could not be wrong.
After instructing Guihua to ask her mother to paint the kangqin, Old Lady Li went out smoking her pipe to help Wang Sufen rub the dried corn. Mingnan and Mingbei, both shirtless, were in the backyard, one pouring corn into the mill while the other pushed the mill. When they were tired, they switched positions.
Guihua did not follow Old Lady Li out, but found a rag and wiped the dust off the kangqin and the box. Looking at the brand new furniture in the room, Guihua was in a daze until Old Lady Li called her to cook, and then she came back to her senses.
The next morning, Guihua took some dry food back to her mother's home to ask her mother to paint the kangqin. Liu Chunhua, who was almost fifty years old, no longer went up the mountain to pull wood, but did some odd jobs. These days, all kinds of wild vegetables and fruits on the mountain were ripe, and the forest farm was closed for workers to store food and pull wood for the winter. Liu Chunhua also had a few days off, picked a basket of wild vegetables and came back, sitting at the door to pick vegetables.
"Didn't you come back last month? Why are you back again?" Liu Chunhua looked at her without raising her head. "Don't take advantage of your in-laws' kindness and treat yourself as an outsider. If their family chases you back, there will be no place for you to live in our house."
Guihua bit her lip, went into the house, took a small stool and sat opposite Liu Chunhua. She grabbed a handful of wild vegetables from the basket, deftly pinched off the roots, and threw the selected wild vegetables into a basin beside her.
Liu Chunhua was silent for a moment, and then asked her in a hoarse voice: "What exactly did you come back for this time? Does his family really not want you anymore?"
"No?" Guihua still lowered her head, "I'm getting married, and the wedding will be held at the end of the year."
Liu Chunhua couldn't help but laugh. She looked at Guihua and her tone suddenly became cheerful: "The Li family is good. You are lucky to have such a marriage."
Guihua picked the last handful of vegetables, looked up at Liu Chunhua, and asked softly, "Mom, can you help me draw a kangqin?"
Liu Chunhua's smile froze on her face, with a hint of sarcasm: "I can't draw, I'm just a wood puller." She stood up quickly, holding the basin and was about to go into the house. Guihua stood up and quickly stopped her: "Mom, this is the greatest joy of my life."
Liu Chunhua lowered her head and looked at the wild vegetables in the basin, her expression unclear. Guihua couldn't help shedding tears, and said in a choked voice: "Can I regard the painting as my mother's dowry to me?"
This sentence seemed to have touched Liu Chunhua. She looked up at Guihua and laughed at herself: "When I got married, my dowry was 200 silver dollars and a box of gold and silver jewelry, but my daughter can only get rid of it with this painting."
"Mom..." Guihua called out in a long tone, with a hint of pleading in her voice.
Liu Chunhua looked at Guihua and finally couldn't bear to refuse her again: "Okay, I'll draw for you. Who made me feel sorry for you? This is what I owe you."
Liu Chunhua washed her hands and face with a basin of water, combed her hair and tied it into a bun at the back of her head. She opened the box and took out a white but clean dress from it and put it on. Finally, she took out the small box she had treasured for more than ten years from the bottom of the box. The box was already shiny, which showed that Liu Chunhua often took it out and touched it when no one was around.
Liu Chunhua found a torn bag and wrapped the box inside it. He then took out a charcoal pencil and a small piece of white paper from the box and wrote a note. Then he followed his daughter.
Guihua had been in the Li family for ten years, and this was the first time that her relatives had come to visit. As soon as Old Mrs. Li heard the door open, she went out to greet them and exchanged polite words with Liu Chunhua in the yard. Mingnan and Mingbei came out to see curiously, and even Zhenzhen stretched her neck to look out of the window.
Wang Sufen smiled and tapped her forehead gently when she saw this: "A child this young still wants to watch the fun." Then she picked up Zhenzhen and went out.
Zhenzhen also knew the identity of Guihua's family from the few words from her family. She looked at Liu Chunhua curiously, and saw that she was dressed neatly and her hair was combed meticulously. Although her face was weathered and her hands were covered with thick calluses, she stood there with her back straight and looked very energetic.
Wang Sufen smiled and let her in: "Dear relative, please come in and sit down. This is the first time I see you in all these years. Guihua looks like you."
Liu Chunhua had a faint smile on her face: "I have always wanted to come and see you, but you also know that my family background is not good, and I am afraid that coming here will cause trouble for you. Besides, you bought Guihua and raised her. Logically, Guihua has nothing to do with my family. It is because of your kindness that you let her bring things home to visit us often. We are already very satisfied. How can we pretend to be relatives with you?"
Wang Sufen didn't know what to say when she heard this. Old Lady Li took out her pipe from her waist, stuffed some tobacco leaves into it, lit it with a match, took two puffs of the cigarette, and then slowly said, "Since we often let Guihua go back, we don't mean to let her not recognize you. Don't think too much about it. Come in and have a drink of water and rest your feet first."
Liu Chunhua thanked her again and followed Old Lady Li into the house. Wang Sufen put Zhenzhen on the kang and asked Guihua to talk to her. She went to the kitchen to boil a kettle of water, made a bowl of sugar water and brought it in.
Liu Chunhua is well-educated. She speaks clearly and her voice is extremely gentle. Even when she drinks sugar water, it seems like she is drinking afternoon tea.
After Liu Chunhua finished drinking the sugar water and handed the bowl to Guihua, he thanked Old Lady Li again and stood up: "Where is the kangqin? I'll go take a look at what it looks like so I can figure out what to paint."
Old Lady Li said, "I wanted you to rest a little longer and watch it tomorrow, but you are impatient."
Liu Chunhua shook her head: "I'm used to working, and I'm not used to taking a break. Besides, the weather is getting cold, and you must have a lot of things going on at home. How can I stay here forever?"
Old Lady Li had met Liu Chunhua once when she was buying osmanthus flowers. She knew that this person was somewhat sensitive and inferior because of the great changes in his family background. She did not continue to persuade him. She got off the kang and led Liu Chunhua to the backyard: "The room arranged for them is the room at the back. It was originally prepared for Dongzi's fourth uncle. Later, his fourth uncle married a wife from Bingcheng, and this room was vacant."
Old lady Li opened the door and Liu Chunhua looked inside. Although the house was small, its layout was in the traditional Beicha style. The kitchen was at the entrance, and there was a room on each side.
Old Lady Li pointed to the east room and said, "Let Dongzi and Guihua live in the east room, and leave the west room for Mingxi." Liu Chunhua walked in and looked at the layers of paper on the wall, which looked like they had just been pasted on. The red pine box was placed on the ground, simple in style but sturdy, and the kangqin was the same, with no pattern from top to bottom.
Liu Chunhua looked at the brand new Kangqin with wood grain, and showed some appreciation on her face: "You can tell at a glance that it is good wood. Many people like to use complicated patterns when making cabinets. In my opinion, such simple and generous ones can better show the most original beauty of wood."
Wang Sufen was a little confused. The carpenter simply chose the most common style because he was still working in the business office and didn't have much time. But how come Guihua's mother said it became a good thing
Liu Chunhua excitedly opened the box and checked her paints one by one. Seeing that some of the paints were dry and some of the colors were faded, she felt a little distressed: "It has been stored for too long. I am afraid it is not easy to use. But at least there are many varieties, and the colors will not be biased if I mix them. Auntie, what kind of painting do you think is on it? Is it plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum, or green pine and snow?"
Old Mrs. Li was also stunned by her question. It took her a long time to react and she quickly said, "You can paint something festive, bright red peonies or lotus flowers. Anything that looks lively and festive is fine."
Liu Chunhua paused while selecting the brush, looked up at Kangqin, and seemed to have some regrets: "This wood is dark in color, it may not look good with peonies."
"It's okay." Mrs. Li smiled and said, "Young couples always draw this when they get married."
Since the Li family had an idea, Liu Chunhua didn't say anything more. However, she hadn't painted for many years, and she felt a little unfamiliar with holding the brush. So she asked Old Mrs. Li for some old newspapers, mixed a little bit of color, and painted two pictures on the old newspapers to get a familiar feel.
Old Lady Li and Wang Sufen did not disturb her and let her paint in the house. When it got dark, they asked Guihua to call her over for dinner, and at night they arranged for her to sleep in the same room with Guihua.
It was the first time in more than ten years that the mother and daughter slept together. They lay side by side but could not fall asleep. Suddenly, Liu Chunhua asked, "I noticed that you were not very happy these past two days. Is there something wrong with your marriage?"
Guihua was silent for a long time, then said sullenly, "I see that Dongzi doesn't look happy at all, and I'm afraid he doesn't want to get married."
"Have you asked him?" Liu Chunhua turned and looked at her: "What if he really doesn't want to marry you? Are you going to give up like this?"
Guihua stared at the dark ceiling and didn't say anything for a long time.
The next morning, when Old Lady Li woke up, she asked Guihua to go to the kitchen to fetch water to wash her face. Seeing Guihua dressed neatly, she asked casually, "Why did you change into clothes for going out? Where are you going?"
"Grandma, I want to get a letter of introduction to go to Bingcheng to find Brother Mingdong!"