That evening, while everyone was busy discussing the matter of the well, my dad and I borrowed Wang Jun's donkey cart, loaded it with several hundred pounds of catfish and loaches, and headed to the black market.
Business was surprisingly good. Even Lin Ruan, a regular customer, had placed an order in advance.
But on my way back, after buying grain, as I was passing a dark alley, I suddenly saw a big black dog running with a swaddled baby in its mouth. I rushed forward to chase the dog away. I rescued an infant whose face was purple from the cold.
It was Lin Ruan who helped me get the baby to the hospital. The doctor said the baby girl was very lucky. Another half an hour and she would have frozen to death.
I felt sorry for the child, and thinking that our family was more financially stable now, I decided to bring her back to the village to raise her.
The day I brought Lele back to the village, our neighbor, old Mrs. Yang, heard the news and came snooping into our yard. She immediately spotted the baby in my arms.
"Zhenshan, where did you pick up this little bastard? How dare you bring a child with no proper background into the house?" Old Mrs. Yang's raspy voice echoed through the yard.
Before my mother, Li Shufang, had a chance to explain, old Mrs. Yang, pulling rank because of her age, pulled back Lele's blanket, trying to get a good look at her. Just then, Lele kicked her legs and the purplish-red, palm-shaped birthmark on her waist was exposed.
The flesh on old Mrs. Yang's face trembled violently. She looked as if she had seen a ghost, pointing at the birthmark and shivering. "That handprint. That palm-shaped mark. Oh, my heavens."
I was stunned, too. "Auntie Yang, what's wrong?"
Old Mrs. Yang stumbled back three steps and plopped down on the ground, muttering frantically to herself. "This is retribution. Twenty years ago, when Qiao Xin's first wife died, she had the exact same handprint on her body. They said it was a cursed mark pressed there by the hand of that old devil from the Qiao family himself. This child — this child must be a Qiao."
My heart skipped a beat. Looking at Lele in my arms, I remembered that absurd, long-buried village secret from my past life.
I reached out and touched the small of Lele's back. The baby's skin was very soft, but on her lower back there was a dark purplish birthmark. The mark had a strange shape. On closer inspection, it looked just like a tiny handprint.
The village elders always used to say a child reincarnated with a mark like that must have been wronged in their past life. They say they were slapped down into the mortal world by the judge of the underworld. I don't know if that rumor is true or false. I just felt the child was fated for a hard life.
The news that I brought Lele home soon spread throughout the village. A lot of people with nothing better to do all ran to my house to see the commotion. I didn't try to hide anything either. I openly told everyone I'd picked her up from the mouth of a big black dog. I also put the word out that if any family knew who this child's parents were, please pass along a message.
But the words were barely out of my mouth when a sour voice piped up from outside. "Did your Zhenshan get his brains knocked silly? Why would he bring home such a worthless money pit? I'm telling you, that child is probably some family's shameful secret, which is why she was thrown into the wasteland to be fed to dogs."
The person talking was old Mrs. Yang from next door. She was leaning against the base of the wall, her beady little eyes full of contempt.
When my mother, Li Shufang, heard this, the smile on her face immediately froze. She hugged Lele even tighter. "Mrs. Yang, how is it that not one single decent word can come out of that mouth of yours? If not for these money pits you speak of, did your own children and grandchildren just pop out from a crack in a rock? Adding another person to our family is a happy occasion. We don't need you worrying about it."
My mom is usually very good-tempered, but she absolutely cannot stand that whole attitude of favoring boys over girls. She treasures her own two daughters like the apple of her eye. So now, seeing old Mrs. Yang describe the little life we had just saved as completely worthless, she naturally wasn't going to show her any respect.
Old Mrs. Yang's face flushed red with anger. She slammed her walking stick on the ground and her voice rose several notches. "I wasn't lying. Look at your family. Your son is a delinquent, running off somewhere every other day. And your husband is such a simple-minded pushover. Your own family can barely put food on the table, yet you take in another burden. When she gets married in the future, you'll have to pay a dowry. If that's not a money pit, what is?"
Old Mrs. Yang had been stewing in anger for a while. Her daughter-in-law, Chen Shuhong, had just been made the work-point recorder. She'd been busy with the work and balancing the books, so she had no time to be at home and take the old woman's abuse — and that left no one for her to argue with. The moment she saw my mom getting serious, her desire to argue was immediately ignited.
But I'm no pushover either. I strode right out of the house and said in a cold voice, "Grandma Yang, whether we can afford to raise her or not, we're eating our own grain and drinking water from our own well. We haven't been sneaking into your kitchen to steal your food. If you're really that bored, go on home and count how many sweet potatoes you have left. Stop being such a nuisance here."
Old Mrs. Yang was so choked up by my retort. She pointed at my nose, about to start cursing, just as her son, Yang Shan, came home from work. Yang Shan was a sensible man. Seeing his own mother causing trouble again, he quickly ran over and without a word started pulling her back home.
Chen Shuhong also followed with an embarrassed look on her face, apologizing to our Luo family over and over. Chen Shuhong was a good person. She was a former educated youth, so she was literate and reasonable. She walked over to my mom's side and looked at Lele in the swaddling clothes, her eyes filled with a gentle warmth.
"Auntie, you know my mother-in-law's temper. Please don't take it to heart. As it happens, I have plenty of milk these days. If you all get too busy, or if Lele has nothing to eat, please feel free to bring her over to my place. I can help nurse her a bit."
"Thank you." Li Shufang held Chen Shuhong's hand. "When you have a moment, you should try to talk to Yang Shan. Your mother-in-law loves to stir up trouble. You two need to be on the same page. Don't let that old woman tear your family apart."
Chen Shuhong lowered her head, looking a little dejected. "I know all of this. I've been thinking about splitting the household, but Yang Shan feels his younger brother hasn't married yet, and he wants to help him out for a few more years. He's a filial son, but it's just so hard on me and our child."
Li Shufang gave Chen Shuhong some advice. "You two should talk it over more when you're in bed. Yang Shan is a good young man. He'll understand your side of things."