Chapter 5: Returning to the Hometown to Worship the Ancestors

Zhang Wanyuan continued to hold her book, reciting the "bird language" that her parents couldn't understand. Soon, an exclamation of surprise came from Mother Zhang on the balcony.

"Girl, did you wash the clothes?" Although it was phrased as a question, there was no other "idler" in the house besides Zhang Wanyuan. Who else could it be?

Zhang Wanyuan nodded obediently and said, "I cleaned the stove this morning and washed the clothes while I was at it. They were all mine anyway, and they weren't very dirty."

Mother Zhang didn't know what to say. She and her husband earned hard-earned money; they always came home covered in grime, and their clothes had to be washed immediately. Because Zhang Wanyuan had been sweating from a fever last night, she had changed into an extra set of clothes. Mother Zhang had intended to wash them herself, but she hadn't expected the girl to do it on her own. Could it be that a bout of illness had suddenly made her sensible and enlightened?

Mother Zhang couldn't figure it out, and Father Zhang was even more bewildered. Fortunately, since their daughter hadn't done anything out of the ordinary, they didn't dwell on it.

The next morning.

Zhang Wanyuan was still lingering in bed when Mother Zhang got up. The house was small and had no soundproofing; the clatter of pots and pans in the kitchen made it impossible for Zhang Wanyuan to sleep, so she simply got up to wash.

By the time she was ready, clear porridge and side dishes were already set on the table.

Mother Zhang called for the father and daughter to eat quickly.

Father Zhang finished two bowls of porridge in less than five minutes. Seeing that Zhang Wanyuan was still chewing slowly, he took five yuan out of his pocket and gave it to her. "Keep this on you for emergencies. If you run into elders back at our hometown, be sure to greet them. Also, burn some extra paper money for your grandparents."

Father Zhang rambled on, and Zhang Wanyuan could only nod sullenly. Mentioning her grandfather made her feel a bit down. Her grandmother had passed away before she was born, and because her parents had to work to earn money when she was little, she and her brother had been raised by their grandfather. She had a deep bond with him. Unfortunately, the old man had a hard life and passed away before he could enjoy much of his grandchildren's company. After he died, in order to provide their children with a better educational environment, her parents had borrowed money everywhere, gritted their teeth to buy this apartment in the city, and moved away. They only returned to their hometown on the anniversaries of their grandparents' deaths or during major holidays and the Spring Festival. Even then, they would return the same day, as the place had been abandoned for so many years and was no longer habitable.

After the meal, Father Zhang left for work. Mother Zhang specifically changed into a nearly-new outfit and chose a youthful, pretty dress for Zhang Wanyuan before taking her out, satisfied.

Their hometown was Xiqiao Village, near the county town of Qingpu. To get from Pu City to Qingpu, they had to go to the station to catch a bus. Transportation at this time wasn't as crowded as it would be six years later, and not every family in small cities could afford a car, so most people still went to the bus station to catch a shuttle. The bus ride to the county town took about an hour and a half, and once they arrived, they had to take a motorcycle taxi to the village. After all the back-and-forth, it took nearly three hours to reach their hometown, and it was already noon by the time they arrived.

In the past, Zhang Wanyuan had disliked going back, always feeling that the round trip would cost her half her life. After her rebirth, she held a deep reverence for ghosts and gods, feeling that her second chance at life was a blessing from the Zhang ancestors. Not only was she no longer repulsed, but she was also incredibly excited. This time, she was determined to take a good look at her hometown, burn plenty of paper money for her grandparents, and pay her respects to all the ancestors of the Zhang family with the utmost piety.

The mother and daughter squeezed into the station for a long time before finally buying tickets and boarding the bus. Most of the passengers were from the Qingpu area. Listening to the familiar local dialect, a satisfied, faint smile appeared on Zhang Wanyuan's face.

Mother Zhang soon struck up a conversation with a passenger sitting next to them, chatting about things back home. Zhang Wanyuan found it uninteresting and stared out the window, lost in thought.

The bus bumped along the road, causing the passengers to sway left and right, but the ticket collector stood unmoved, clearly having practiced the skill. Zhang Wanyuan glanced at her and couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration. Six years later, the national highway would be rebuilt, and the potholed cement roads would all be replaced with asphalt; scenes like this would never be seen again.

While she was lost in her thoughts, they arrived at the county town before she knew it. Mother Zhang pulled her off the bus and hurried to the market near the station to buy a pile of fruit, bread, jelly, and biscuits, along with several bundles of incense and gold and silver paper money.

The two of them couldn't carry the bags for long, so they hailed a motorcycle taxi on the side of the road and sped toward Xiqiao Village.

At this time, Xiqiao Village was still a small village. Every household lived in stone-slab bungalows; those who were better off lived in two-story stone houses. Looking around, it was all stone houses and farmland. Even if they weren't entirely stone, they were mixed-material stone houses. She hadn't understood it when she was younger, always thinking these stone houses were dangerous to live in and leaked when it rained, unlike the red-brick tiled houses in the countryside near Pu City. Only when she grew up did she realize it was because the village was near the sea, and only stone houses could last long in such an environment.

The motorcycle taxi driver was clearly a local bully. Mother Zhang just mentioned the location, and he drove them straight to their doorstep. Zhang Wanyuan used the five yuan her father had given her to pay the fare, and Mother Zhang didn't say anything.

No sooner had they put their things down than an elderly woman from the village came over with her hands behind her back, greeting them, "Meilan, you've brought the child back to pay respects?"

Mother Zhang turned around, nodded, and smiled, "Auntie, have you eaten?"

Zhang Wanyuan politely called out, "Grandma."

The old woman smiled kindly and said slowly, "I was just about to go back and eat! You've just arrived; why don't you come over to my place and eat?"

Mother Zhang quickly declined, "We ate on the way. You should go back and eat."

The old woman didn't press the issue and turned to leave.

Most of the elderly in Xiqiao Village lived separately from their sons and cooked for themselves. The villagers were accustomed to being frugal, and the elderly even more so. Mother Zhang would never take such polite offers seriously.

Taking a set of keys from her pocket, Mother Zhang opened the gate to the old house.

The old home was a small, square courtyard with a large yard in the middle and a well on the side. Rooms surrounded all four sides. The north side was the main hall, connected to the room where the portraits of deceased elders were kept, though this room was usually locked and only opened for worship. The west side was the kitchen and a storage room where firewood and farm tools used to be kept. The other two sides were bedrooms, totaling four rooms. Such a courtyard looked nice, but in the countryside, it was nothing special at all.

After entering, Mother Zhang closed the courtyard gate to avoid having passing villagers come in to chat, which would waste a lot of time.

Zhang Wanyuan was very satisfied with her mother's action. She also had no patience for idle chatter with the villagers, mostly because the topics were always the same: what they were doing, how much their monthly salary was, how the child's grades were, and so on. Their family's financial situation was poor, and it had taken her parents many years to barely pay off the money they had borrowed to buy their apartment. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they were penniless. Mother Zhang felt uncomfortable when money was mentioned, and Zhang Wanyuan felt awkward when it came to her studies—if she said she was doing poorly, she would be lectured by outsiders; if she said she was doing well, people would be unhappy. It was better to just close the gate and let the mother and daughter have some peace and quiet.

(End of chapter)