Chapter 2

# Chapter 2

Father harnessed the donkey to the cart. The men loaded the household goods while the women lifted the children aboard.

Once my nephews were seated, Mother watched Father’s face and carefully set me on the cart as well. Father kicked me straight back off.

Mother did not dare protest.

She gathered up Chunhuazi, Eldest Sister-in-law’s little daughter, and gingerly tried to squeeze her aboard.

Eldest Brother snatched Chunhuazi from her arms, raised her high, and slammed her onto the ground.

Chunhuazi screamed. Her head struck the stone step and immediately swelled into a great lump. If Mother and Eldest Sister-in-law had not partly caught her, the fall would have killed her.

Mother looked at Father through tear-filled eyes. “Husband, they’re both so little. I’m afraid they can’t keep up with the cart.”

Father patted the grain on the cart, then stroked my nephews’ heads. “Who said you women were coming?”

“A pack of stinking pig’s trotters. You can’t walk fast, and you’ll get the whole family killed.”

“Stay home and guard the place. Don’t let the bandits burn it down!”

My nephews clamored from the cart. “There’s no room! Get off! I’m being crushed to death!”

It was true. The cart was already full.

At the very back lay several sacks of fine grain, harvested one sickle stroke at a time by Mother and my sisters-in-law as they knelt in the fields. They could not stand; their little feet would sink into the mud. Each stroke of the sickle was like a kowtow.

Once brought home, the grain had first been traded for the men’s wine.

Fine grain was precious, so there was no room for women.

Several young nephews sat at the outer edge, clutching a wooden box full of toys Mother had made for them. Her hands were clever. A handful of willow twigs became a flower basket; a length of bamboo became a bird whistle.

Chunhuazi was little more than skin and bones, surely lighter than the wooden box.

I looked at my nephews. Every day, Chunhuazi fetched water for their feet, washed their clothes, and did all the dirtiest, hardest work. She was so obedient.

If they threw down the box, she could ride.

They seemed to sense my thought. At once, they hugged the box tighter and turned their heads away, refusing to look at Chunhuazi or even at their own mothers.

The youngest rolled his eyes. “Two filthy sluts! You think you’re worth my box?”

“Better if the bandits cut you down. That’s two fewer mouths to feed!”

As Father lifted his leg to leave, Mother dropped to her knees.

Clutching his trouser leg, she begged in utter desperation. “Husband, let Chunhuazi and Nier run behind the cart.”

“Their feet aren’t bound. They can keep up!”

More gunshots rang out. From the sound, the bandits had already reached the foot of the mountain.

Father panicked. He kicked Mother so hard she flew. “Girls running behind the cart where every stranger can see them? What sort of spectacle is that?”

“They’d be better off dead.”

Then, as if remembering something, he drew a silver-sheathed knife from his robe. It was the last piece of Mother’s dowry.

“Xiuqin, don’t say I’ve wronged you.”

“If the bandits defile you, use this knife to kill yourself.”

“When I return, I’ll see you enshrined in the Chaste Women’s Hall!”

…

Father, my brothers, and my nephews fled.

They left a courtyard full of women behind.

Second Sister-in-law, the meekest of us all, stared at the silver knife and stammered, “Mother, when are we supposed to die?”

Eldest Sister-in-law held Chunhuazi and wept silently.

Mother slowly climbed to her feet. She dusted herself off and took a moment to steady her breath.

Then she said softly, “Why should we die?”

She turned to us, her voice growing stronger. “Why should we?”

Second Sister-in-law was dumbstruck. At last she wailed, “What else can we do? The house is bare. There isn’t even a place to hide!”

“Go inside first.”

Mother issued her instructions calmly. “Tidy yourselves up. The bandits haven’t even killed us yet. Don’t make yourselves look like wild ghosts.”

Given something to do, everyone moved at once.

Father and my brothers were rarely home. Mother had always been the pillar holding the women together, and we all wanted to follow her.

So when the bandits kicked down our door, blades raised and reeking of blood, this was what they saw:

A group of women, neatly dressed, neither crying nor screaming, huddled close around Mother.