Oneshot Part 2

Chunjun’s mother’s hometown was situated in the valley of Longnan Village. Rice, sweet potatoes, and various fruit trees were grown in the hilly areas. People in the village would also go to the mountains to harvest mushrooms. Every household was quite well off. It would take an hour to get to the nearest town by motorcycle. The town wasn’t big, but it had everything one needed, such as hair salons, internet cafes, snack streets, and so on.

Grandma was asking her questions outside the door, so Chunjun sat up and answered grandma through the door, “Grandma, I’m not joining. I want to sleep a little longer.”

But Grandma had already pushed the door open. The petite and wrinkly-faced old lady stood at the door with an apron on. When she saw Chunjun, she said smilingly, “Xiao Chun- ah , I made toon pancakes 1 for breakfast. It’s your favorite food when you were a little child.”

Second Cousin Sister also poked her head into her room. “Xiao Chun, come with me! You can play around in town. Big Aunt had asked me to take you there. Fulin was clamoring to see you.”

Chunjun sighed to herself. The name ‘Xiao Chun’ sounded really lame. She didn’t like others calling her Xiao Chun. But it couldn’t be helped. This was her nickname, and the relatives in her hometown were used to calling her that. Yesterday, her uncle had called her Xiao Chun all the way, and when she arrived in the village, the villagers also shouted ‘Xiao Chun is here!’. She was now eighteen. She would be a college student soon. She was Chunjun, not Xiao Chun.

Chunjun was yawning on the bed when Grandma glanced at her and asked, “Eh? Why did you wear a shirt with a hat to sleep? Isn’t it uncomfortable?”

She looked down at the hoodie she was wearing. Right. When her mother said she was going to send her to her hometown, she passively resisted. She had been inattentive in packing her luggage, and she had forgotten to bring many things, such as pajamas.

Chunjun rubbed her eyes with her head down. “Mmm…I forgot to bring clothes to sleep in.” She kept feeling that there was something against her neck when she slept in her hoodie, which was really uncomfortable.

Grandma wiped her hands dry on her apron, and then went into the room to rummage through the cupboards. Second Cousin Sister sat at the edge of the bed and laughed at her, “You must have gone a little silly from studying too much.”

Grandma had a total of three daughters. Chunjun’s mother was the youngest and the most promising. She had gone to university and stayed in X City. Big Aunt lived in town, and Big Aunt’s daughter, Big Cousin Sister, was nearly ten years older than her. Second Aunt’s family lived near the entrance of the village, while Second Cousin Sister, the person who had invited her to go to town, was Second Aunt’s daughter. She and Second Cousin Sister had been pretty close with each other since they were similar in age. Second Cousin Sister was twenty-one this year and would be holding a wedding reception in a week. Her future in-laws were from the town.

Grandma was thin and short. When she was young, she was about 1.5 meters tall. Her height had shrunk as she grew old. The top of her head only reached Chunjun’s chin when she stood up. The old lady wanted to move a stool to reach a box high up. The sight terrified Chunjun, and she hurriedly got up to support Grandma’s waist, fearing that she would fall.

Grandma took out a few dresses, shakily stepped down from the stool, and put the clothes on the bed. “These are the clothes I made for your mother when she was in school. They haven’t been worn much, so they’re still very new. Come and try them on.”

Chunjun picked up a dress and compared it on her body, then touched the fabric. She tried it on, feeling a little surprised. If Grandma hadn’t told her that they were clothes from her mother’s era, she really couldn’t tell. Thick strap floral dress. Fashion was really a cycle.

Grandma took Chunjun’s hand, twirled her around in front of a mirror, and said in satisfaction, “Young ladies look good in anything.”

Second Cousin Sister also said, “Ah, so pretty. You look like a junior high school student.” She added, “I’ll get Grandma to cook some poached egg in fermented rice soup 2 for you later, so that the two little hills in front swell up.”

*

In the end, after breakfast, Chunjun went to the town with her cousin sister, because there was really nothing to do in the village.

Second Cousin Sister rode an electric scooter all the way down the mountain. The view of the mountains and rivers along their way were beautiful. Chunjun sat at the back. When she spread her arms to catch the wind, her floral dress puffed up, and she hurriedly put her hands down to press on her dress. Second Cousin Sister chatted with Chunjun throughout the entire way, and all the mountain breeze that came towards them was sucked into Cousin Sister’s stomach.

Second Cousin Sister had several errands to run in town. As the wedding banquet was approaching, she had more and more things to do. Taking Xiao Chun with her would affect her efficiency. Hence, Cousin Sister dropped her at Big Aunt’s house, made plans to meet with her at the town’s entrance at two in the afternoon, and then went to settle her own business.

Chunjun ate another round of breakfast at Big Aunt’s house. Although she said that she had already eaten, Big Aunt still insisted on serving her a bowl of eight-treasure congee 3 . “The congee is quite diluted. Drink it. You can finish it.”

Fulin had grown much taller than the last time she saw him. When he was a little child, this chubby little kid would always hug her arm and yell, “When I grow up, I want Pretty Auntie to marry me!” He was much more reserved this time. Instead of yelling that he wanted to marry his Pretty Aunt, he expressed his feelings through his actions. He washed apricots for her and graciously handed the TV remote control into her hands.

Chunjun thought that this Fulin kid wasn’t naughty anymore, but when she mentioned homework, he rolled all over the floor.

So she supervised Fulin doing mathematics homework. She was sitting at the side when her deskmate sent her a WeChat message: ‘What are you doing? I just finished playing basketball in the South District.’

‘I’m supervising a kid doing his summer homework.’

‘The little nephew who wanted to marry you?’

‘Haha, yes. But this time he didn’t mention it anymore. He’d probably found someone else he likes. You know how little boys are.”

After Chunjun sent this, she thought of something. She put down the phone and asked Fulin, “Tell me the truth, do you have any girl you like in class?” Fulin shook his head vigorously. “Auntie, I don’t know how to solve this question.” After Chunjun finished explaining the solution to her nephew, she glanced at her phone only to see a simple sentence from her deskmate:

‘Then I am relieved.’

Chunjun read these four words repeatedly for a long time, her heart pounding.

*

Footnotes

香椿烙饼 (Toon pancakes)

(Pic source https://m.facebook.com/102455644841898/posts/103895574697905/ ) 醪糟蛋 (Poached egg in fermented rice soup)

(Pic source https://www.thehongkongcookery.com/2020/11/chinese-fermented-rice-poached-egg-soup.html ) 八宝粥 (Eight treasure congee)

(Pic source https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/eight-treasure-congee-mixed-congee/ )