Granny Li settled the mother-to-be and with her aged, wrinkled hands gently touched the newborn's crown wrapped in tattered cloth, its black hair soft to the touch. The infant, with eyes wide open, seemed to smile at her.
She said, "Little one, you are a bringer of blessings; I hope you can bring us a brother."
Then she instructed Daya to take care of her mother and sister before leaving the room quietly, feeling deeply disappointed with these people.
"Aunt Li, my wife, she..."
Granny Li halted and stared intently at Hongji, who still had some conscience left.
"Mrs. Li, don't leave, the person inside is dead, and it is your fault."
Mrs. Lai chased after her from the kitchen and stopped her in her tracks.
"Uncle..." Granny Li cast a reproachful glance, looking at Hongji's father who was still in the mood to do carpentry in the straw shed, despite the serious situation at home.
"Brother-in-law, you should not interfere with my family's affairs; if you do, you must take responsibility..." Hongji's father paused in his carpentry, not even looking up as he spoke.
"The old man is right, don't even think about leaving this house," Mrs. Lai said with a grim face, glaring through narrowed eyes, her small nose snorting towards the sky, her thin lips pressed tightly together.
"Mrs. Lai, if you're not letting me leave, are you inviting me to eat red eggs? Even if it's a girl, we can have red eggs, right? Or are you hoping for your daughter-in-law to die? Why don't you go in and see for yourselves? You speak as if she were already dead."
Granny Li looked disdainfully at this family, having long disapproved of their mistreatment of Mrs. Li.
The villagers had long been gossiping, saying that Mrs. Li was simply unlucky, always bearing daughters and unable to stand up for herself, with no one able to help even if they wanted to.
"My wife isn't dead?" Overjoyed and disregarding the blood inside, Hongji ran into the room.
"My wife..."
Mrs. Li was quietly sleeping there; Daya, holding the infant with wide eyes, stared at her makeshift father—a tall, handsome man in a sleeveless shirt, pants wide to the knees, and old cloth shoes with long hair tied up in a cloth.
"Mother is asleep."
Hearing Daya's voice, Hongji patted her head and sighed softly, saying, "You have worked hard, my girl. Take good care of your mother."
"Dad, I'm hungry..."
The three girls who followed him inside looked up at their father with innocent, hopeful eyes.
"Dad, I'll go find you something to eat." For the first time, Hongji felt guilty towards his wife and daughters, managing to steal a wild egg and a large bowl of millet porridge from Mrs. Lai, who was guarding the food.
The well-behaved children in the room, upon seeing the millet porridge and the egg, shared a bit of the porridge and obediently saved the egg for Mrs. Li.
Hongji fed a bit of rice soup to the newborn.
Mrs. Li woke up from a nightmare, her face covered in sweat, thinking she had died, but opened her eyes to see her four daughters and the newborn being held.
"Mother, you're awake? Hungry? Dad and we saved a wild egg for you," Daya said, swallowing hard, while the three younger children eyed the egg hungrily.
Mrs. Li paused, surprised at her husband's sudden protectiveness.
"Split the egg among yourselves; Mother will have the porridge."
"No, this egg is for Mother to replenish herself; we can't eat it," Daya said, her sisters nodding obediently but still eyeing the egg eagerly.
Mrs. Li insisted on sharing some of the wild egg with each child before consuming the remainder.
By evening, Mrs. Lai returned from her eldest daughter's house and, seeing no activity in the kitchen, angrily stomped her foot and cursed towards Mrs. Li's room:
"Fine, Mrs. Li, you gave birth to a worthless child and still expect to live comfortably? You want me to cook for you, bah..."
The sound of Mrs. Lai's scolding echoed. Her two daughters peered out through the crack in the window, silently choosing to watch the drama unfold.
After eating millet porridge, Mrs. Li lay in bed tending to the baby. Daya, sent out by Mrs. Lai to rinse vegetables, digging the ground, and pulling weeds in their two-acre rice paddy, also carried water to irrigate their cornfield.
While Mrs. Li was being loudly scolded outside, she anxiously placed the baby on the bed. She had just given birth and was wrapping her head with a towel, enduring the pain as she got out of bed.
"Mom, the baby's mom just gave birth. Please cook one more meal!" Hongji paused his carpentry work, pleading desperately with his mother. At that moment, the man regretted not being able to cook himself.
"What... She couldn't produce a son, and now I should serve her? What a beautiful dream..." Mrs. Lai glared at her son in disappointment. Today, her son was being too disobedient, always speaking up for Mrs. Li.
"Granny, don't scold my mom. I'll cook." Daya, having worked in the fields all afternoon, worried about her mom at home, returned dirty and tired. As soon as she entered the yard, indeed she heard Granny scolding.
"Hmph, you're not washing your hands to cook fast enough." Mrs. Lai glared at her, disapprovingly noting her ill-fitting, patched cotton blouse and dirt-stained shorts reaching her knees.
The baby wrapped in rags began to eat and sleep, eat and then sleep again. Soon, when the next day dawned, she awoke to find her mom not beside her, but three elder sisters accompanying her, with Daya nowhere in sight.
"Ah"
"Sister, do you need to poo or pee? I'll help you." Five-year-old Er Ya took on the responsibility of caring for her younger sister. Their mom had been forced by Granny to go up the mountain to collect firewood, while the eldest sister had gone to gather pig feed.
Tang Shiqi inwardly marveled at how such a young child shouldered heavy responsibilities, skillfully handling her personal hygiene with Er Ya's help.
I'm so hungry. Why hasn't mom come back yet?
"Second Sister, Qing is being so good."
"Qing is being so good."
Listening to her other two sisters praising Qing, Er Ya showed a joyfully innocent smile, gently patting their heads and said, "Qing is good, you two be good too."
"Hmm hmm."
"Hahaha"
Er Ya and her two sisters burst into laughter, their childish giggles causing Hongji's father, who was doing carpentry in the yard, to frown in irritation.
Yet, upon hearing his daughters' laughter, a small smile appeared on Hongji's lips; his daughters were indeed his flesh and blood.
"What's all this noise?"
"Quiet down."
Hearing the harsh voices of their two aunts from the neighboring room, the three little girls fearfully shrank their necks, and the room fell silent.
When Tang Shiqi woke up and realized it was daytime, as the infant, unaware of time, had been eating and sleeping without distinguishing day from night. Today, her mom was home, attending to her needs, changing her, and feeding her.
"Look at this child, so well-behaved, born with the wrong fate! It's a pity she's not a boy, a daughter must be well raised. These sensible granddaughters will bring you blessing in the future."
Tang Shiqi paused her suckling for a moment when she heard an unfamiliar voice, realizing from the conversation that this woman was her grandmother.
"Mom, I understand, but constantly having daughters, I'm nearly at my limit." Mrs. Li, speaking in front of her mother, secretly wiped away her tears.
"Even if you're at your limit, hold on. Who made us women? You've just given birth, don't always cry. One must look forward; life will get better eventually," her mother consoled Mrs. Li who swallowed her bitterness and wiped her tears, understanding the reason.