Chapter 7: From This Day Forward

  Xue Xiang left the vegetable market, looked at the time and found it was already 7:10. At 8 o'clock, three children at home still had to go to school, so he was in a hurry. He hung the basket back on the handlebars, straddled the seat, held the big hemp bag with his left hand, grasped the handlebars with his right hand and rushed towards home. There was no time to cook breakfast for them, so he passed by the Hongxing canteen, bought three pounds of large meat buns and two pounds of fried dough sticks and put them in the basket. Soy milk and other liquids were easy to spill and not convenient to store, so he had to give up.

  Five minutes later, Xue drove his bicycle into the military district compound, greeting people all the way. It wasn't until two minutes later that he entered the small courtyard. As soon as he entered the yard, he saw Xiao Yi and her brother Xiao Di standing by the washing pool, each holding a cup of water to brush their teeth. Xue stopped his bike in the shed, picked up the hemp bag and vegetable basket, and walked towards the washing pool. When he got close, he stood still, staring at the two siblings as if he couldn't look enough.

  Xiao Yi wore a coarse, sky-blue cotton jacket with frayed cuffs that had exposed some of the cotton filling. His pants were also loose and yellow, probably picked up from someone else's discarded clothes. It was still cold in early spring, and he wore single-layer cloth shoes on his feet. Xiao Yi's outfit wasn't much better - a loose, earth-yellow military uniform with broad shoulders and large sleeves, and pant legs that were obviously too big. Fortunately, the pant legs had been rolled up several times, or they would have dragged on the ground. He wore a pair of yellow rubber-soled cloth shoes on his feet, with a crooked patch made from hemp cloth on the toe of his left shoe. At first glance, it was clear that the siblings' clothes and shoes were also cobbled together from various sources, let alone being tailored to fit them properly. Xue Xiang knew that this was all Xiao Wan's handiwork.

  Xue Xiang knew the whole story from memory, and since his parents passed away two years ago, he had been avoiding this fact, afraid to see his younger siblings, afraid of reminding them of their parents' tragic death. Except for going to the revolutionary committee every month to pick up the living expenses for the four of them and handing it over to Xiao Wan, he rarely went home for meals. At this moment, Xue Xiang felt infinite regret, silently vowing not to let his younger siblings suffer again, making up for all the debts he owed them.

  Xiao Di thinks that today's big brother is very strange, usually when he sees himself, he immediately hides away and doesn't even take the initiative to talk to people. What happened today? Early in the morning, he came back from somewhere, staring at himself and San Ge without stopping.

  "Lao San, Xiao Si, where's your second sister? Hurry up and wash up, come over for breakfast, big brother bought you big meat buns from Hongxing." Xue Xiang swung the vegetable basket, smiling at the two little ones.

  Two little guys were at a loss, didn't brush their teeth carefully, and hastily rinsed their mouths. They looked at each other, their four small eyes rolling around in confusion, full of bewilderment, somewhat unclear about the situation.

  Xue Xiang looked at the two little ones' sparkling eyes, feeling both adorable and heart-wrenching. It was a matter of course for brothers to take care of their younger siblings, but here it had become a luxury. The two little ones followed Xue Xiang silently into the main room, while Xiao Wan was busy preparing breakfast in the kitchen. Xue Xiang put down the hemp bag and vegetable basket, ready to go into the kitchen to call out Xiao Wan for dinner.

  Xue Xiang entered the kitchen, where a fragrance of rice wafted through the air and steam rose. A small figure in a yellow military uniform was stirring porridge on the stove, their thin hands holding a ladle as they stirred the pot with a vacant expression, seemingly lost in thought.

  "Xiaowan, let's go out for dinner. I've already bought breakfast back, you can eat it first. Don't cook porridge yet, I'll do it later." Xue walked over and gently patted Xiaowan's shoulder, saying with a tinge of sympathy.

  "This is the last bit of rice in the pot, and there are still over ten days until we receive our living expenses on the fifth of next month. There's not much money left at home, it seems like we won't make it to the end of the month. Xiao Yi's backpack is broken and can't be repaired, forget it, let's take it apart and make a pair of socks for Xiao Shi instead..." Just as Xiao Wan was worrying about the family's livelihood, someone suddenly patted her shoulder and she heard a voice behind her. She turned around to see that it was actually her older brother."

  "Big brother, are the clothes in the yard washed by you?" Xiaowan's eyes stared tightly at Xue Xiang and asked. She had gotten up early to wash clothes and came to the courtyard, but saw that the clothesline was full of clean clothes, and the washing basin was empty. She was very curious, went back to the kitchen to prepare to buy vegetables, found that the vegetable basket was gone, opened the hidden compartment for storing receipts, and found that half of the receipts were missing. Frightened, she thought the house had been robbed, and quickly ran to Xue Xiang's room to call out "big brother", but he wasn't in his room. After thinking carefully, she guessed a possibility, but she didn't dare believe it. Now Xue Xiang was back, and at the first moment, she asked him for confirmation.

  "It was me who did the laundry, and I also bought back rice and flour. From now on, you and San and Si just focus on studying, and leave household chores to me. In the past, it was I, this older brother, who wronged you, never taking good care of you, making you suffer so much. From now on, older brother will make it up to you." Xue Xiang said in a low voice, his eyes momentarily reddening.

  With a loud wail, Xiaowan burst into tears and tightly hugged Xue Xiang. Her head was buried in his chest as she cried and hit him, her sobs heart-wrenching. Xiaowan cried so hard that she was almost out of breath, her cries gradually becoming gasps, as if she wanted to vent all the pain and sorrow of losing her parents and suffering over the past two years.

  Xue stroked Xiao Wan's hair with his left hand and gently patted her back with his right, helping her calm down. Just then, the two little ones heard their sister crying and rushed in, seeing Er Jie crying in Da Ge's arms, they thought that stupid Da Ge was bullying Er Jie. Xiao Yi glared at Xue with a fierce expression, looking like a small wild wolf, while Xiao Di pouted her lips, about to cry out loud. Seeing them come in, Xiao Wan let go of Xue and stopped crying. Xue walked forward to hug Xiao Di, but as soon as he reached out his hand, Xiao Di twisted her body away, leaving Xue extremely embarrassed, thinking that he was a failed big brother who couldn't win anyone's heart.

  "Third brother, fourth sister, what are you doing? Why aren't you taking care of big brother? Just now it was second sister's fault, the stove's ash got into my eyes and it hurts so much I'm tearing up. Big brother came over to help me blow on my eyes." Little Wan said with red eyes.

  "Second sister deceived people, and big brother wasn't that good either. Last time someone fell to the ground, he didn't even pick me up." Xiaodi pointed at Xue Xiang with her finger, complaining. The little girl had a good memory, knowing clearly who was good and who was bad in her heart.

  "It's all big brother's fault, from now on big brother will hold little Ai every day, okay? Let's go eat, from now on whatever you want to eat or buy, just tell big brother, don't bother second sister again, big brother is here to take care of you." Xue Xiang squatted down and said gently to the little guy.

  Xiao Yi didn't say a word, the ferocity in his eyes gradually faded away, his lips tightly closed, apparently he still hadn't forgiven this big brother.

  Xue Xiang extinguished the stove fire and led his three siblings into the main room with bowls and chopsticks. He took out a paper bag wrapped in oil from the basket and placed it on a yellow hardwood table, which was their dining table. The four of them sat around the table, and Xue Xiang opened the paper bag, releasing the hot steam and appetizing aroma that stimulated their appetite.

  "Come on, help yourself! The buns are filled with pork and mushroom, and the fried dough sticks are freshly fried. Hurry up!" Xue Xiang yelled in his usual eccentric tone, dissipating some of the earlier awkwardness. Xiao Wan and the others were already starving, and as soon as Xue Xiang finished speaking, six hands shot out at the same time.

  Xiao Wan grasped two meat buns, the one in her left hand was stuffed into her mouth, swallowing big mouthfuls, and the bright red chili oil flowed onto her hands without feeling scalded. Xiao Yi held a fried dough stick in her left hand and a bun in her right hand, biting into the bun and then tearing at the fried dough stick, perhaps it was too hot, so she kept tossing it around to cool it down, but refused to let go. Xiao Shi's hands were small, and she hugged the meat buns with both arms, taking big bites, one bun covered half of her little face, as if she wanted to bury her head in the bun, while eating, she stared straight at the table with her big eyes peeking over the edge of the bun, guarding it very tightly, typically eating from the bowl and staring at the pot. Xue Xiang watched his younger siblings eat messily, feeling a bit heartbroken, got up to pour each of them a cup of water.

  The three of them didn't say a word, and silently devoured their food. Xia Di finished two large meat buns and was about to go get more when Xue Xiang stopped her: "Little treasure, you'll eat too much and your little tummy will hurt, save some for next time."

  The little girl frowned, pouted her mouth: "When was the last time we had big meat buns? Everyone has forgotten. When is next time? Second sister and third brother are still eating, I want to eat too, no way I'll wait for next time!"

  "Little treasure, big brother will buy for you every day from now on, but don't eat anymore for now. Big brother cooked braised pork trotters for little treasure at noon, and little treasure ate too much. At noon when eating meat, your little belly had no room to hold it."

  "Want to eat pig's trotters at noon? Oh, oh, eating meat is good, I won't eat anymore. At noon when we eat meat, Second Sister and Third Brother don't eat as much as me, hehe." The little guy was delighted, thinking he had gotten his way, and smiled with a crescent moon shape: "Big Brother, do you really buy meat buns for Xiao Shi every day? That's great, before you didn't even talk to people. And from now on, I want to be called Little Treasure, I like hearing that, don't call me Little Four anymore. Does our family have so much money? Never mind, I'll just eat it two days, three... five times a week." The little guy counted on his fingers, slowly increasing the number from two to five, with an extremely serious expression.

  "Alright, from now on I'll only call you Little Treasure. Big Brother will play with Little Treasure every day. Whenever Little Treasure wants to eat meat buns, they're available, just worried that Little Treasure will become a little fatty. Xiaodi slipped down from the chair and moved towards Xue Yang with her short legs, pressing her small hands on Xue Yang's thigh as if she wanted to climb up. Xue Yang picked her up and hugged her into his arms, the little one giggling nonstop."

  "Big brother, there's not much money left at home. Little Yi's school bag is too broken and can't be repaired. And Little Ai's two yuan book fee hasn't been paid yet." Xiaowan finished eating and wiped her mouth.

  "I don't need a school bag anymore, Second Sister, can you find me a piece of cloth? I'll just use the cloth to wrap my things and it's fine." Little Yi took over the conversation, the little guy was only eight years old but he was very sensible, knowing that his family was struggling, he didn't want to trouble his sister.

  "What's wrong with wrapping it in a cloth? Old Three, after school this evening, you wait for me at the entrance, and we'll go buy you a new book bag. I also need to get you two some more clothes. It was my fault before, I only thought of myself, but from now on, you three can focus on your studies, if there's anything difficult, just tell me." Xue Xiangdao hugged Xiaodi tightly.

  "Big brother, are you going to hold me like this from now on? I'm so afraid you'll turn back into your old self and ignore me again." Xiao Di's small hands grasped tightly onto Xue Xiang's collar, her big eyes staring at him.

  "Don't worry, little treasure, big brother promises to hug you every day." Xue leaned in and kissed the little guy's cheek, pulled out his wallet, took out a 5-yuan bill and handed it to Xiao Wan: "You take this money, pay for Xia Di's school fees with what's left over, you can keep some pocket money. You're already in middle school, you're a big girl now, how can you not have any money on you? Besides, having money is convenient for buying snacks for Old Three and Little Four." Although the three siblings attended different schools - kindergarten, elementary school, and middle school - they were all part of the Yu Ying system.