Chapter Forty-Four: Peaceful Village Awaits the Arrival of Electricity

Lu Kun and his wife slept until the sun was high in the sky. After a night of tossing and turning, they hadn’t closed their eyes until almost dawn. Lu Kun got up yawning. He had no choice but to get up; both his daughters were already making a racket in the courtyard.

Liu Liping was dressing and combing her hair, while Lu Kun, his face still weary, went to open the door.

“Daddy and Mommy are both lazybugs! It’s so late and you’re still not up—hmph! I’ve been awake for ages! If Uncle Shitou hadn’t stopped me, I would have come back long ago,” piped up the little one, Er Ya, her voice as sharp as a radish.

Still groggy, Lu Kun yawned again and asked, “So, have you had breakfast, Er Ya?” As he spoke, he bent down and scooped the little girl into his arms.

“I already ate at Uncle Shitou’s,” she replied, one arm wrapped around Lu Kun’s neck, the other poking at his chin with her finger.

But before long, she grew restless and squirmed to be let down. Ever since she’d started preschool, she didn’t much like being carried anymore—except by Liu Liping, Lu Kun, or Shitou. Let anyone else try, and she’d protest furiously.

Lu Kun felt, keenly, that his daughters were growing up—happy as he was, there was a touch of complexity in his heart. In the blink of an eye, they were almost grown. Not as fun as when they were little.

“Hmm, maybe it’s time to try for another one…” Lu Kun mused.

“Daddy, where’s my little brother?” the girl asked, anxiously peering around the room.

“Eh?…” Lu Kun didn’t catch on for a moment.

When he and Liu Liping didn’t answer right away, the little girl grew frantic, almost to tears. “Didn’t you say, after the wedding, I’d have a baby brother to hold?”

Ah! So that’s it, Lu Kun realized.

She was so upset that she was nearly choking on her sobs. He remembered when Hao Hao passed away—he’d secretly buried the child himself. Er Ya had been so young then; when she came home and found her brother gone, her cries echoed through the house.

Some villagers, not knowing the truth, would scare the sisters, claiming Lu Kun and Liu Liping didn’t want a son and had thrown their brother away. The girls didn’t really believe it, but hearing it so often, they grew fearful.

Lu Kun hurried to soothe her, gently patting her back.

“There, there, Er Ya. Your little brother is safe, hiding in your mother’s belly. He isn’t gone. Don’t listen to those silly rumors,” Lu Kun coaxed.

“Really?” Her lashes still glistened with tears, and her dark, round eyes fixed on him intently.

“Of course it’s true. Anyone who lies is a little puppy!” Lu Kun crouched down, comforting her.

And perhaps it was true—after last night’s efforts, maybe a seed had indeed been planted in Liu Liping’s belly.

Hearing this, Er Ya stopped crying and nodded seriously.

At last, she was mollified, and Lu Kun breathed a sigh of relief.

Now it was Liu Liping’s turn to have a headache. As she tried to finish combing her hair, Er Ya stubbornly refused to leave, insisting on touching her mother’s belly to feel her little brother.

Lu Kun left them to their commotion and went outside to wash his face and brush his teeth.

The elder daughter, though less than three years older than Er Ya, was much more sensible and was in the kitchen cooking porridge.

Though there’d been plenty of leftovers from yesterday, the villagers had taken them all away—platters and all. Now they were trickling back, returning the plates.

Most families had brought back dishes of meat, but Shitou, the incorrigible drinker, returned with a plate of fried peanuts.

Typical of that drunkard.

“Hey, how was last night? Pretty great, right?!” Shitou winked at Lu Kun.

Crunch.

He tossed a peanut into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed.

“Get out! My kids are here!” Lu Kun’s cheeks flushed faintly as he pushed Shitou out the door.

Shitou peeked in, saw the elder daughter cooking porridge, and realized he’d been a bit loose-tongued in front of the children.

“Got something to say?” Lu Kun guessed he had a reason for coming.

“Oh, right!” Shitou smacked his forehead. “Almost forgot. The village notified us a few days ago—the power company from town will be coming in a couple of days to wire the village. Anyone who wants an electric meter and circuit breaker has to go to the village committee to sign up and pay two hundred yuan. Things have been busy—I forgot to tell you.”

Lu Kun frowned, but soon relaxed. It didn’t really concern their family.

Tomorrow was New Year’s Eve. The old hands from the power station wouldn’t come out before the twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth, and it wasn’t certain the wiring would be done by New Year’s Day.

He and Liu Liping had already decided to move to the city after the fifth day of the New Year. So, there was no point installing a meter or breaker.

“What about you? Are you getting it installed?” Lu Kun exhaled a smoke ring and asked.

“Nope. I’m hoping the house stays pitch-dark at night so I might feel my way to a beautiful woman in bed!” Shitou’s jokes never strayed far from women, breasts, or a few inches below the navel.

Lu Kun understood—Shitou had made up his mind to move to the city with them after the New Year. He’d already told Shitou about the place they’d found.

“Do you have enough money for the holiday?” Lu Kun guessed Shitou had spent nearly everything on a house in the city.

“What, are you offering to help me out?” Shitou laughed, nudging him.

Lu Kun nearly choked. “Don’t worry, I’ve got enough. I’m not like you with a whole family—just need a little place for myself,” Shitou replied with a grin.

“Good, then!” Lu Kun said no more.

He saw Shitou to the door. The man kept urging him to come over for a drink, but Lu Kun’s face darkened at the memory of last time—an entire night drunk, waking with a splitting headache.

Damn it! You never get drunk, so what’s the point of drinking with you? Just a waste of booze!

Toward noon, the couple next door finally returned their dishes.

But the sight was something else.

The old man—whom Lu Kun called Third Uncle, though there was no real kinship, just a matter of seniority—looked hollow-eyed, his face gaunt, as if he’d been trampled by a hundred strong men; he staggered as he walked, his legs shaking more authentically than any comedian’s act.

His wife, on the other hand, seemed to have found a new lease on life—her cheeks glowed, her entire being radiant and spirited.

“Third Uncle, Third Aunt, take it slow,” Lu Kun called, hesitating as he followed.

“Third Aunt… perhaps you should go a bit easier on Third Uncle in the future. Look at him, he’s about ready to foam at the mouth.”

The atmosphere was awkward.

Third Aunt, dragging Third Uncle, beat a hasty retreat, leaving Lu Kun and his wife exchanging helpless glances.