Chapter 67: A Handful of Sand

After the long holiday, on the first day back to work, Yingying Cold Noodle Shop was overwhelmed with a surge of takeout orders.

The sound of knives chopping cold noodles on the cutting board echoed nonstop, while notifications for new delivery orders kept popping up on the phone. Delivery drivers and dine-in customers packed the shop tightly, leaving no space to move.

At exactly 12:05 PM, Cheng Jiabao returned from school, dragging her feet as she pushed open the glass door of the noodle shop.

Chen Xiaofen was busy cooking spicy hot pot in the kitchen, while Cheng Ying—pregnant and waddling—was tidying up dirty tables. Spotting Cheng Jiabao entering, she immediately called out to her for help.

“Hey, Cheng Jiabao! Go grab some napkins and chopsticks from the back kitchen and pack them into boxes!”

Like a slippery little fish, Jiabao crouched low to dodge several adults and quickly sidestepped around the tables. Clenching her teeth, she neither responded nor greeted anyone but headed straight for the staircase, climbing upstairs.

Upstairs, the TV was on, and the two younger sisters were sitting on plastic stools eating tomato-and-egg noodles while watching cartoons. As for their perpetually lazy uncle, he hadn’t even taken off his shoes and was sprawled across Chen Xiaofen’s simple bed, fast asleep.

Seeing Jiabao come up, the two sisters—who had previously refused to eat properly—quickly shoveled the remaining noodles into their mouths. The elder sister finished first, still holding a spoonful of red tomato broth, and rushed over to the bed. She wiped her dirty hands on Chen Xiaofen’s coarse bedsheet and tugged at the man’s ear, shouting, “Dad, I want more!”

The younger sister stared intently at Jiabao, looking like a hungry wolf ready to snatch food. Struggling with chopsticks, she resorted to grabbing handfuls of noodles directly from the big bowl with her hands, muttering menacingly, “This is ours! Not for you!”

Jiabao hadn’t eaten breakfast that morning, and after being called to the teacher’s office during recess for a lecture, her stomach churned with acid by noon. But she didn’t feel the slightest bit interested in their egg noodles. Without saying a word, she quickly retreated to her small bedroom, closed the door, and collapsed onto the bed, burying her face in the blanket.

Tears seeped through her tightly shut eyelids, soaking the pillowcase. After chewing on her fingers and crying for a while, she fell asleep. When she woke up, the first thing she saw was Chen Xiaofen sitting by the bed, staring blankly at her.

“Mom? What time is it?”

Thinking about having to go back to school in the afternoon, Jiabao felt a pang of sadness. For a fleeting moment, she wished she could be late. At 2:20 PM, the school gate would be locked with chains by the security guard, and if she couldn’t get in, she wouldn’t have to attend class.

Unfortunately, it was still early; she hadn’t slept long enough.

“It’s 1:30.” Chen Xiaofen frowned, her thin lips downturned as she stared at her daughter reproachfully. “Why didn’t you eat the noodles at noon? I deliberately added extra eggs to your portion. How will you ever grow up if you’re so picky?”

“You didn’t greet anyone when you came home. Didn’t I tell you last time to show respect to adults? It might have been okay when we lived at our own place, but now we’re staying at your aunt’s house.”

As she spoke, she noticed a hole torn in the elbow of Jiabao’s school uniform. Immediately leaning down, she grabbed the fabric and scolded her: “Didn’t I warn you not to be so careless all the time? This uniform is only half a semester old, and you’ve already ruined it. Were you playing around recklessly on the playground again?”

Jiabao lowered her head, staring at the dirt on her uniform, recalling the fight she’d gotten into with classmates that morning. In a small voice, she muttered, “I didn’t…”

Such an explanation was too weak to convince Chen Xiaofen. She stood up, left the room, and returned with a sewing kit. “Take off your clothes so I can patch this up. Do you want to eat something? A hamburger or a meat sandwich? I’ll take you out to eat now, and then I’ll drop you off at school.”

Jiabao didn’t feel like eating anything. Watching her mother hold the uniform silently, she waited until the mending was done before asking, “Mom, can I skip school this afternoon? Tell the teacher I’m sick.”

“Why?” Chen Xiaofen helped Jiabao put on the repaired uniform, brushing aside her bangs and feeling her forehead. She detected no fever.

“What part of you is sick? Headache? Stomachache?”

Jiabao wasn’t sick anywhere, but her heart ached deeply. So she decided to tell the truth: “My heart hurts.”

During the entire National Day holiday, Chen Xiaofen had been busy working night shifts and helping out at the noodle shop, never taking her to the pet store. But this excuse wouldn’t satisfy her classmates. During recess, they gathered around her, calling her a liar and declaring they’d never play with her again.

Jiabao repeatedly promised that tomorrow she’d definitely bring the hamster to school. To make amends, she even spent all her pocket money buying candy from the convenience store and distributed it among her classmates.

However, with just one glance from the class monitor, everyone crumpled the candies in paper and threw them back onto Jiabao’s desk. They sneered, saying her seat was near the trash bin, which made her smell like garbage, and anyone who ate her snacks would become as filthy and smelly as her.

Unable to bear this insult, Jiabao confronted the class monitor after the flag-raising ceremony, demanding to know why she couldn’t join their group. Just last week, she had given the monitor her entire week’s allowance, and the girl had said she’d consider becoming friends.

But the monitor showed no interest in Jiabao’s questioning and offered no explanation. Instead, in front of several classmates, she pointed to a small pile of sand beside her feet and raised her chin arrogantly: “If you eat a handful of sand, we’ll let you play with us.”

Several classmates chimed in agreement, including her deskmate who often borrowed her eraser but never returned it.

They claimed this was punishment for lying. But Jiabao hadn’t lied—it was Chen Xiaofen who refused to take her to the pet store. How could they blame her?

Furious, Jiabao glared at them, squatted down, scooped up a handful of sand—but instead of putting it in her mouth, she lunged at the class monitor and dumped the sand into her hair.

The result of this fight was that Jiabao was called to the teacher’s office in the morning, scolded harshly, and forced to apologize to the monitor against her will. The teacher also warned her that if she continued misbehaving and failing to treat her classmates kindly, Chen Xiaofen would be summoned to the office.

Jiabao knew how disappointed Chen Xiaofen would be if she found out about the fight at school.

Listening to these words broke her heart. She cried and tried to explain repeatedly that the monitor had told her to eat sand first, insisting she wasn’t a bad kid. But the teacher ignored her explanations.

Now, she wanted to tell her mother that her heart hurt, but Chen Xiaofen reacted similarly.

Her expression quickly turned impatient as she retorted, “What do you mean, ‘my heart hurts’? What kind of trouble can a child possibly have? As long as you’re not sick, you must go to school! Do you still want to go to college? Didn’t you say you wanted to follow in your sister’s footsteps?”

“Hurry up and put your clothes on! I’ll take you out to eat.”

“I don’t want to eat!”

“You must eat!”

The mother and daughter pushed and shoved each other as they left the small bedroom. Just as they reached the staircase, they heard Cheng Ying chatting freely with her husband about trivial matters during the afternoon snack break.

As the subject of discussion, both Jiabao and Chen Xiaofen slowed their steps simultaneously.

“This has been going on for half a year already, and they haven’t paid rent. When will it end? Once you give birth, my mom will come to help take care of the baby—where will she stay?” It was the uncle speaking. Jiabao glanced at Chen Xiaofen’s expression and stopped arguing. Quietly taking the uniform from her mother, she obediently slipped it back on.

“We’re family; how can you talk like strangers? That girl is surnamed Cheng—she’s my brother’s bloodline. How could I possibly let her end up homeless? Besides, my mom and I don’t get along anyway. I never intended for her to come and boss me around. My sister-in-law can help me take care of the child.”

“Oh, please. Stop talking nonsense about ‘your brother’s bloodline.’ Did you and your brother even have a good relationship? Don’t forget what you once told me: when you were young, your brother was lazy and used to beat you. One night, after wetting the bed, he kicked you off the bed and made you wash the sheets. When you disobeyed him, he hit you over the head with a shovel.”

“He almost killed you.”

The man grew increasingly animated, crossing his legs and swaying smugly. “Before we got married, I didn’t even know you had a brother. I know exactly what you’re thinking—you’re just eyeing the funeral compensation money, right? But can they really give it to you?”

Silence reigned downstairs for a while, broken only by the cries of the two younger sisters fighting.

Just as Jiabao tugged on Chen Xiaofen’s sleeve to head downstairs, Cheng Ying finally spoke.

Her voice sounded weary, but there was a certain ferocity in her tone, as though she’d thrown caution to the wind.

“You stupid fool. That funeral compensation is barely worth mentioning—it barely covered the cost of the burial plot and funeral expenses. Besides that, she has the settlement money from the lawsuit—the landlord was ordered to return the purchase price of the property with interest. I saw the passbook in her bag; the balance is over 200,000 yuan.”

“What purchase money?” The sound of chair legs scraping against the tile floor accompanied the man’s urgent voice.

“That apartment in the urban village. Although they lost the lawsuit, the court ruled that the landlord must refund the original purchase amount plus interest. I saw the passbook in her bag—it has a balance of over 200,000 yuan.”

“So much? And she’s living here, only contributing a bit for groceries? This stingy woman won’t even spend a penny! What does she plan to do with this money? Isn’t she estranged from her brothers?”

“What’s worrying you? I have a way to get her to hand over the money. After the baby is born, we’ll say it’s an investment for the cold noodle shop—a joint purchase of commercial property. She won’t dare refuse!”

“Oh, my dear wife, I admire your cleverness. Come here and give your husband a kiss.”

Downstairs, the couple sat close together, indulging themselves and their twins in private feasts. Upstairs, Jiabao’s eyes darted around, fixed on Chen Xiaofen’s face.

Chen Xiaofen’s expression remained heavy, her eyes clouded like they were covered with a film, unmoving. Only when Cheng Ying and her husband began discussing today’s revenue and gossip about delivery drivers did Chen Xiaofen finally pull her daughter’s hand and deliberately make noise as they descended the stairs.

On the table lay several platters of braised meats and duck dishes. Seeing them approach, Cheng Ying enthusiastically smiled at Chen Xiaofen. “Sister-in-law! Little Bao didn’t eat lunch earlier. Now that she’s awake, she must be hungry. Come join us!”

“I know Little Bao loves chicken, so I specifically asked him to buy half a roasted chicken.”

The drumsticks and wings had already been torn off by the younger sisters, and the skin had been used by the uncle to accompany his drink. All that remained was the bland white breast meat.

Chen Xiaofen shook her head numbly, about to speak, but Jiabao—quick-witted—interjected loudly, standing on tiptoes: “I love chicken wings! Second is drumsticks. Chicken breast is the worst—I won’t eat it!”

Cheng Ying was momentarily speechless, her expression slightly awkward, but she still reached out to pat Jiabao’s head with a smile. “Oh, I forgot how much Little Bao loves drumsticks. These greedy little sisters ate them all. Next time, I’ll ask Uncle to buy a whole chicken and save a big drumstick just for you.”

Jiabao knew she was lying—they always hid their good food and ate it in secret, sometimes even taking it to bed. She immediately turned her head to avoid Cheng Ying’s touch, hiding behind her mother and making faces at her two younger sisters.

Chen Xiaofen gave Jiabao a hard slap on the shoulder, then turned apologetically toward her sister-in-law. “Ying, ignore her. She’s just being difficult. Let me deal with her later. You all eat; I’ll take her out to buy something.”

“All right. Off you go.”

The door of the noodle shop closed behind them. Despite being hit, Jiabao felt elated and suddenly regained her appetite. She hopped onto the tricycle eagerly, urging her mother to hurry. She wanted to go to the KFC on the neighboring street to eat crispy fried chicken.

It wasn’t mealtime, so the fast-food restaurant was nearly empty, with only the two of them seated in a corner.

After devouring two pairs of fried chicken wings, Jiabao wiped her greasy fingers with a napkin and grinned mischievously as she asked Chen Xiaofen, “Mom, do you really have that much money?”

Chen Xiaofen ignored her. The little money-lover then took the initiative to stab the straw into the cola from their meal set and pushed it toward her mother. “Mom, you’re amazing. Are you already planning to move us out? Can you use that money to buy a new home? How about this week? Let’s move by this weekend!”

“Sure, let’s move to Huangheyuan. Lots of my classmates live there—those apartment buildings have elevators. Wouldn’t 200,000 yuan be enough?”

As Jiabao indulged in fantasies of a better life, her mother finally spoke up. Shooting her daughter a stern glare, she said, “What nonsense are you spouting? You can’t even eat without talking. Why would we buy a house? That’s just throwing money away. Besides, your aunt’s shop is closer to your school.”

“But don’t you have the money?” Jiabao exclaimed, her eyes widening with urgency as she stood up from her stool. “I hate the noodle shop! I hate Aunt Cheng Ying and Uncle, and I hate my sisters too! You’re not allowed to give them any of that money!”

A mere elementary school student trying to manage the family finances.

Chen Xiaofen didn’t bother responding, instead using a napkin to wipe the chili powder from the corners of her mouth. With an irritated tone, she snapped, “Who said I was giving it to them? That money has its purpose. Adults’ affairs are none of a child’s concern. In any case, that money isn’t to be touched!”

After finishing their meal, it was almost time for school. Jiabao repeatedly pressed Chen Xiaofen about what she planned to do with the money, but her mother pretended not to hear. When they were still some distance away from the school gate, Jiabao asked her mother to stop the tricycle.

There was no hope left. Chen Xiaofen would never take her away from the cold noodle shop. Soon, two more children would crowd into her little sister’s room. Thinking about how her classmates mocked her for living above a noodle shop, bullied her, and refused to play with her, Jiabao’s mood sank to its lowest point.

Before parting ways with her mother, she walked a few steps forward with the flow of students, then turned back and whispered, “Mom, give me 100 yuan. I want… I want to buy ice cream.”

“In this cold weather, you want ice cream?” Chen Xiaofen didn’t see through her clumsy lie and pulled a ten-yuan note from her pocket. “Don’t eat too many snacks, or bugs will grow in your teeth.”

“Oh,” Jiabao muttered, dissatisfied with the ten yuan but carefully placing it in her pants pocket all the same. Solemnly waving at her mother, she said, “Goodbye, Mom.”

“All right, go on.”

Chen Xiaofen watched her daughter walk through the school gates before turning the tricycle around to leave. Little did she know that as soon as she turned the corner, Jiabao slipped out of the school gates once again.