Chapter 8: Bai Cuifen's First Arrival

  It was on a certain evening in late spring and early summer of 1978, when the sky was filled with colorful clouds.

  It was time to cook dinner, and the village of Liu's family was filled with smoke. The women were all at home cooking, while the men carried farm tools on their shoulders, returning home one after another from the fields.

  At this time, an uninvited guest came to the village.

  A girl dressed in Han Chinese clothing wandered around the small road outside the arched bridgehead on the west side of the village entrance, but dared not enter the village.

  The villagers passing by her would glance at her.

  "Which village are you from? Who are you looking for?" Someone stopped and asked her, speaking in the local Tujia dialect.

  The girl actually couldn't understand their words, but the girl was very clever and seemed to slightly infer their meaning from their eyes, expressions, and mouth shapes.

  "I... I'm not looking for anyone, I..." The girl looked a bit shy, always with her head down, both hands hanging in front of her pinching the hem of her clothes.

  In the village, there are often people who dress neatly but have mental problems wandering around. When asked questions, they can't make sense of anything, so others take them as mentally ill and glance at them before quickly walking away.

  After a long time, seeing that no one was paying attention to her, the girl carefully stepped onto the arch bridge and walked through the more than 10-meter-long arch bridge before entering Liujiacun Village.

  A crowd of people gathered at the bridgehead of Liu's village, they saw a stranger coming to the village, and it was a girl wearing Hanfu, they curiously surrounded her, asking one by one.

  She said she got lost and walked into Liujiacun Village, wanting to find a family in the village to stay overnight.

  "Where are you from? How can someone as old as you get lost?" A slightly younger man finally asked her, speaking in stiff Mandarin.

  "I'm from outside the mountain, I've been feeling down these past few days, so I came out for a walk and somehow ended up walking into the mountains. Now it's almost dark and I won't be able to make it back home. Would any of you villagers be willing to let me stay over for one night? Could someone please help me out?" The girl looked down, too afraid to look at the crowd surrounding her, and explained in a soft, patient voice. Her Mandarin was more standard than that of the villagers, so everyone gathered around could understand what she was saying.

  The unexpected guest in Liu's village was Bai Cuifen.

  That day, she wore a white-based blue small sleeveless shirt with a pink spring outfit outside, her face was red and swollen, under the gaze of the crowd, she was even more shy and blushing.

  That day, she was like the sky on that day, full of colorful clouds.

  "What's wrong with your mood? You're still young, what's there to be unhappy about?"

  Some young men's eyes glanced at her with ill intentions, their giggling smiles and fish-tailed gazes looked somewhat lewd.

  Indeed, standing in front of them was Bai Cui Fen, tall and slender, with a high chest that rose and fell, her pale face flushing with shyness, her eyes cast down, looking like a peach blossom about to bloom, or a smiling flower. Not only did the young men's eyes keep rolling over her body, but even the older men and women couldn't help but scan her face and body back and forth.

  Many people asked questions, but few really wanted to come forward and help her. After satisfying their curiosity, no one really wanted to lend a hand.

  At this time, Qing Sheng walked in from outside the village. He didn't notice the strange girl in the crowd.

  At the village bridgehead, there are often a group of people chatting and laughing, or teasing some young woman from a certain family with jokes, in such situations, Qing Sheng has never joined in the fun.

  He had already walked past when he suddenly heard a timid female voice behind him say, "Which of you is kind enough to take me in for the night? I'll leave early tomorrow morning."

  As soon as I heard his accent, I knew he was from another place.

  Qing Shu turned his head and saw a group of people surrounding a strange girl, teasing her.

  The green tree stopped in its tracks and turned around with a heavy voice asking: "What's going on?"

  Everyone heard the voice and judged who was asking, some scattered quickly, others walked away with a smile, and some went to Qing Sheng's face to explain the situation.

  "Oh, you go tell her that she should follow me, first come to our home for dinner, and the accommodation problem, I'll arrange it tonight, see whose home is more convenient."

  Qingsheng finished speaking and walked forward without even looking at Baicui Fen.

  Someone immediately told Bai Cuifen with a smile, saying: "Consider yourself lucky, our captain has spoken, you follow him, first go to his house for dinner, after dinner, he will arrange your accommodation." And pointed to the green tree in front of him, meaning that you just need to follow him.

  The villagers explained for a long time and gestured for a while before Bai Cuifen finally understood, happily running forward to catch up with Qing Sheng, timidly following behind him.

  Qing Shu suddenly brought back a woman, Liu Xiu Zhen didn't feel surprised at all. She had long known that a lost outsider woman had appeared in the village, and she also knew that if he encountered her, he would definitely take the initiative to bring her back.

  So Liu Xiu Zhen, who was collecting clothes on the clothesline in front of the courtyard gate, just glared at them with a slightly puffed face and didn't say anything.

  At the gate, Liu Xiu Zhen's mother, Yi Lao Tai Po was holding her less-than-half-year-old grandson Liu Jia Wei and sitting on a chair.

  Qingsheng and she greeted each other before directly entering the main hall.

  He put the hoe he had been carrying on his shoulder in the corner behind the door, and turned to face his father-in-law Liu Dezhou, who was sitting directly above the main hall: "Father, this woman got lost and wandered into our village. I brought her back, she'll have dinner with us tonight, and later I'll arrange for someone's family to put her up for the night, and we'll send her on her way tomorrow morning."

  At this time, Bai Cuifang stood timidly at the door and didn't dare to enter the house. Qing Shu was talking to Liu Dezhou and didn't turn his head to look at her or invite her in.

  "Hmm." Liu Dezhou puffed on his hand-rolled cigarette, nodded, and turned to call out to Liu Xiuzhen, who had already entered the kitchen: "Make an extra serving of dinner tonight."

  After finishing speaking, Liu Dezhou stood up and walked to the gate, picked up the broom that was placed horizontally on the ground, and beckoned White Cui Fen who was still standing at the door and didn't dare to come in.

  Bai Cuifen nodded in understanding and smiled at Liu Dezhou before quietly stepping into the house with her head lowered.

  After entering, she stood blankly in the center of the main room, looking around, because no one greeted her, and no one paid attention to her. Qing Sheng and Liu Dezhou had long since gone about their own business. Liu Xiu Zhen was cooking in the kitchen and didn't even come out to greet her.

  This was the scene when Bai Cuifen had just arrived at Liujiacun.

  At that time, Qing Sheng and Liu Xiu Zhen had been married for two years, and Liu Xiu Zhen had just given birth to their first son, Liu Jia Wei.

  At dinner time, Qing Sheng and Liu Dezhou discussed where to take Bai Cuifen for a night's lodging.

  Liu Dezhou didn't respond to Qing Sheng's words, but instead said to Liu Xiu Zhen: "After dinner, you ask her about her situation and see if she's married."

  "What's going on with her? What's going on with her?" Liu Xiu Zhen, holding the child in one arm and eating with the other, looked up at Liu De Zhou when she heard his words.

  "Ask her if she's married? I think she looks like a married woman, ask her what's going on, a married woman still running around everywhere?" Liu Dezhou tapped his rice bowl with his chopsticks, his expression serious.

  Liu Xiu Zhen was taken aback and looked at Qing Sheng.

  No matter how strong and capable Liu Xiu Zhen was outside, in front of Qing Shu, she still acted like a little woman, letting him take charge of everything.

  "Go ask and make sure, so we can arrange something." Qing Sheng said to Liu Xiu Zhen.

  He knew that his father-in-law, who was always astute, wanted Liu Xiu Zhen to ask about the strange girl's situation, and it was definitely not just for the simple reason of arranging her accommodation for the night. But he could only say this to Liu Xiu Zhen, whose simple mind would not think as thoroughly and meticulously as his own.

  After finishing dinner and putting down her bowl and chopsticks, Liu Xiu Zhen handed her son over to Ah Po and turned around to pull Bai Cui Fen into her own room.

  Liu Xizhen finally understood her situation after asking Bai Cuifen for about ten minutes, speaking in a not-so-standard Mandarin and gesticulating.

  As Liu Dezhou had guessed, Bai Cuifen was indeed a married woman and she was also pregnant.

  "Are you a pregnant woman? How can one run around like this? Where is your family?" Liu Xiu Zhen stared with her big round eyes, shouting in surprise.

  "I have no family." Bai Cuifen lowered her head, her voice as small as a mosquito's hum.

  "No family?" Liu Xiu Zhen was even more surprised, staring at Bai Cui Fen with wide eyes, and then looked her up and down again. Finally, her gaze fell on Bai's belly that had not yet begun to show a prominent bulge.

  She didn't know what Bái Cuìfēn meant by "no family" was another layer of meaning, that is, no one in her family cared about her, it's as if she had no family.

  Bai Cuifen's fluent Mandarin, as well as her simple yet distinctive demeanor that set her apart from other rural women, indicated that she was an educated woman. Therefore, her words with a hint of depth were naturally beyond the comprehension of Liu Xiuzhen, who had never attended school and was illiterate.

  "Then whose child is in your belly? Won't it be a wild child? Is that why your family drove you out?" Liu Xiu Zhen said with a big smile, the three words "wild child" came out of her mouth without any reserve, ambiguity or shyness.

  "No, I have a husband." Liu Xiu Zhen lifted her head, her eyes firm and no longer timid like before.

  "Do you have a husband? Where is your husband then? Didn't you just say you didn't have any family? You're pregnant, how could your husband let you run around by yourself? What if something happens?" Liu Xiu Zhen asked loudly.

  "My...my husband passed away, I...I'm not feeling well, just wanted to come out for a walk, didn't expect to walk so far..." Bai Cuifen lowered her head again, her eyes gazing at her toes, her voice trembling.

  "Has your husband passed away?" Liu Xiu Zhen's mouth was agape, one hand covering her mouth, and she was so shocked that she couldn't speak for a long time.

  Under Liu Xiuzhen's step-by-step questioning, Bai Cuifen told her everything about her business, bit by bit, like squeezing toothpaste.