Wanting a Little Niece
For the first time, Scholar Su was stunned into silence, contemplating a question for a full five seconds. By the time she figured out who the “little niece” they were talking about was supposed to be, the two boys had already vanished without a trace.
Left standing there, Su Su stared blankly at the door, the wind swirling around her. She instinctively touched her stomach. There was absolutely nothing there!
o(□)o
Their eldest brother hadn’t even made a move yet, so how could there possibly be a little niece already?
But judging by their expressions, it seemed like they had fully convinced themselves that she was already carrying one.
Wait, why were they so fixated on it being a little niece? Why couldn’t it be a little nephew?
From the way they talked, it seemed like they weren’t too keen on the idea of having a nephew.
Su Su shook her head, certain they were destined for disappointment. She was still an untouched maiden—there was no chance of a baby, let alone a niece.
Brushing off their wild speculations, she returned to her writing. It was easier than writing academic papers, at least. By the end of the day, she had mostly finished, and Sun Ying soon arrived to check on her.
When Su Su showed her the draft, Sun Ying waved her hand with a smile, saying, “I can’t read much, so don’t laugh at me, alright?”
“Of course not. I’ll read it to you,” Su Su replied, fully aware that the era of turmoil had left many people without the opportunity to study. Mother Lin had explained this to her, so she harboured no sense of superiority.
Sun Ying nodded, listening carefully as Su Su read aloud and explained her plan. The two of them discussed it for a while.
Sun Ying was impressed by how fresh and innovative Su Su’s idea was. Although she had attended meetings and events at the commune over the years, this combination of poetry recitation and a song medley was truly unique. The lyrics were well-crafted too—a testament to Su Su’s university education.
Seeing how proactive Su Su was, Sun Ying asked, “How many people do you need for this?”
“At least ten,” Su Su calculated, “and we’ll need a lead singer with a strong voice.”
Sun Ying thought for a moment and said, “It’ll take some effort to gather ten women, especially since they’ll need decent clothing. Otherwise, people might laugh at us.”
That was true—it was hard enough in this era to find clothes without patches, let alone anything “decent.”
Su Su suggested, “Everyone is in the same situation, so we don’t need fancy outfits—just something uniform. Asking everyone to buy new clothes would cost too much, and the village committee doesn’t have the budget for it.”
“You’re right. But what kind of uniform feature should we use?” Sun Ying asked.
“We could have matching hairstyles or wear red flowers,” Su Su proposed.
“Oh, red flowers! We folded a lot of little red flowers for last year’s meeting, and they’ve just been sitting in the storage room.”
“Perfect. Let’s go with that. Now, we just need a lead singer—someone with a strong voice,” Su Su said. She knew her own voice wasn’t up to the task of hitting the high notes.
Sun Ying frowned. “Honestly, the lead singer has to be you. There’s no one else in the village who could pull it off.”
Su Su didn’t back down from responsibility, not because she wanted to show off, but because it seemed like no one else dared to step up.
“But I really can’t hit the high notes. We’ll need someone to help with those. Is there anyone in the village with a good voice?”
“If we’re talking about good voices, Widow Qiao is the best. She can even sing a bit of opera!” Sun Ying said.
“Really? Then let’s ask her to help.”
Widow Qiao could cover the high notes, which solved Su Su’s main concern about the performance.
“I’ll talk to her. As for the other women, we’ll need to visit their homes to persuade them,” Sun Ying said.
“Alright.”
“Comrade Su, you’re so reliable. Why don’t you come with me to talk to them?” Sun Ying suggested. Though she wasn’t afraid of the other women, she felt that having Su Su along might make things easier.
But Sun Ying had overestimated Su Su. After a whole day of visiting homes, they only managed to convince a few women to participate.
Meanwhile, Mother Lin was beside herself with worry. She hadn’t even been willing to ask Su Su to do chores, and now Su Su was running all over the village for the committee. What if something happened to her?
Father Lin, on the other hand, saw things differently. He thought it was a good sign that their daughter-in-law was working for the committee—it showed ambition. Now, when he went out, he could hold his head high. His son was bringing glory to the country in the military, and his daughter-in-law was bringing glory to the family at home.
For the first time in their married life, the elderly couple found themselves in a cold war over this matter.
Mother Lin couldn’t hold back and muttered while tidying up, “That Sun Ying keeps dragging Su Su around. She’s already busy with classes, and now she’s running errands too. She’s lost weight! And they don’t even send a man to accompany her. What if something happens? Who’s going to take responsibility?”
“She’s doing it for the village. Stop overthinking it,” Father Lin said.
“No, I need to remind Sun Ying to take better care of her.”
“Remind her about what?” Father Lin asked, frowning.
“To make sure nothing happens to Su Su! I can’t bear it if anything happens to my future grandchild,” Mother Lin said worriedly.
Father Lin sighed, “You’re making a fuss over nothing. You’ll jinx it if you keep talking like this.”
Realizing he had a point, Mother Lin kept her worries to herself but still muttered, “I just want my grandson to be safe.”
Lin Hai overheard this and poked his head in. “What grandson?”
Lin Jiang, who had been listening too, ran over. “What’s wrong with my little niece?”
Lin Shan put down his book, also intrigued. He walked over slowly and asked, “Is the little niece in danger?”
Mother Lin glared at them. “Who told you it’s a girl? If you keep saying that, I’ll tear your mouths off! It could very well be a grandson! What if your brother wants a boy?”
“But it *is* a girl! We all want a niece! Yesterday, I even told Sister-in-law we wanted a niece, not some stinky boy,” Lin Jiang declared boldly.
Lin Hai and Lin Shan nodded in agreement. They had discussed it the previous night and unanimously decided they wanted a niece.
“It’s a boy!” Mother Lin snapped.
“No, a girl!”
“You little brats! Stand still so I can teach you a lesson!” Mother Lin grabbed a broom and chased after her three sons. In the village, there was a saying that if children predicted the gender of an unborn baby, it often came true. Mother Lin was determined to stop her boys from jinxing the family’s chances of having a grandson.
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