Chinese Literature

one more thing to do—to have a private talk with Kuei-chieh. But the neighbours seemed in no mood to leave to give Mother Wang such a chance. On the contrary, more and more curious people crowded into the yard. Some lifted the red cloth from the basket and admired Mother Wang’s skill in making these cakes. Some were amazed at the good life she was now obviously leading. They praised her for her ability to work, and said that she had become quite a different.person, so that they nearly did not know her. Mother Wang had to remind them again and again: “It’s only because the mutual-aid team gives us the chance to plan, all of us together, otherwise how could I even dream of having a blue cotton jacket like this!”

And so it went on till late in the evening, when finally Mother Wang could have her heart-to-heart talk with Kuei-chieh.

Hsiang-hsiang, a girl of nine now, tried to make her grandmother tell her a story. But although Mother Wang liked the child so very much, she did not heed this request. Mother Wang had more important things on her mind. For instance: Did Kuei-chieh get along with her sister-in-law? How did the mutual-aid team in Gingko-tree Village work? How did they figure their workdays and pay? Why hadn’t Kuei-chieh come out in the land reform and done her part? Kuei-chieh told her, to her amazement, that the chairman of the women’s association of Gingkotree Village was a woman who had suffered the usual cruelty and oppression meted out to a child-bride, a woman who used to be dumb in the presence of any stranger, and was now able to hold her own in making a report to a meeting of district delegates. The chairman of the women’s association in Big Stone Bay was the same type of person, but that this was true also of another village astonished Mother Wang. When they finally blew out the lamp, the little girl Hsiang-hsiang had been asleep for hours, leaning against Mother Wang. The autumn moon shone brightly through the window. But Mother Wang was still full of questions, about her son-in-law who had gone to Korea with the Chinese People’s Volunteers to fight U.S. aggression, and whether he wrote home often.

At last, Mother Wang asked in a whisper: “Is your father-in-law fond of the baby? Does he show his feelings?”

“He often takes the baby in his arms,’ Kuei-chieh replied. “Since you didn’t ask any more for the use of his mule after the land reform, and when he heard that you had joined the mutual-aid team, he has been treating me quite differently.”

Mother Wang said: “His mind is that of a rich peasant, though the life he leads is only that of a middle peasant! He only cares for himself and never thinks about others. After all, I worked for the food he gave me, cutting grass, gathering firewood. ... Did I ever rest a single day? Of course, before the Communists came, I didn’t know that I was living