Camera: It’s missing a talent like you.
Every Dragon Boat Festival, Grandma Jiang made lots of zongzi. Su Xiaoman had never made zongzi before and was not very good at it, so she learned from Grandma Jiang. Grandma Jiang made very traditional red bean and pork zongzi, while Su Xiaoman, feeling rather experimental, developed many flavours of her own. She tried adding salted egg yolk, pickled fish, mung bean paste, dried tofu, millet chilli, and so on… both sweet and savoury. She wrapped them very freely.
As it was her first time learning, Su Xiaoman made the zongzi small, delicate, and pretty.
As Grandma Jiang wrapped hers, she said, “I’m not eating the ones you made.”
After saying that, Grandma Jiang thought: young people these days are terrifying. They’ll put anything into zongzi.
Su Xiaoman: “…”
She had actually been rejected by Grandma.
“Grandma, I tied knots on the ones I made. They’re for Xiaotu to eat.” Su Xiaoman did not mind. She had not planned to eat the zongzi she made anyway.
Even if… even if they were a little chaotic, they definitely would not taste bad.
She was just very curious about the pickled-fish zongzi.
Grandma Jiang made many, many, many zongzi. Together with Su Xiaoman’s small zongzi, the house was piled up with a little mountain of them. Grandpa Jiang stood to the side with his hands on his hips, sighing.
“I can’t eat that many of your grandma’s zongzi. Why make so many?”
Su Xiaoman said, “Grandpa, we can eat them slowly.”
“There’s no such thing as slowly eating them.”
As soon as Grandma Jiang’s zongzi were steamed and cooled, they were sent out one by one to every household—old friends, old comrades, everyone had to receive one or two. The mountain at home disappeared in an instant, leaving only Su Xiaoman’s zongzi.
Su Xiaoman: “…”
Grandpa Jiang looked even more worried.
Su Xiaoman opened one and found that her chestnut and egg yolk zongzi was actually quite tasty. She asked Grandpa and Grandma to try it, but both of them said they would not eat it, dealing a serious blow to her confidence.
Why wouldn’t they eat the zongzi she made?!!
Su Xiaoman had no choice but to make some small red bean, chestnut, and cured pork zongzi with Grandma Jiang. Along with the zongzi she had made earlier, she packed them all up and sent them to Xie the dog.
Dog Brother should like the zongzi she made.
At the flight recruitment training base, Xie Mingtu received the pile of zongzi, along with Grandpa’s letter. When he dragged everything back to the dormitory, he attracted many gazes, all full of envy.
“Sent by your elders?”
“My parents sent me some too, but not this many.”
“These strings of zongzi are really pretty.”
The corner of Xie Mingtu’s mouth curved into a smile. There were two types of zongzi among what he received. One type was small and delicate; one look and he knew they were made by his wife, Manman. Counting them, there were more than twenty.
A feeling of happiness overflowed in his heart.
He could hardly bear to eat these pretty little zongzi.
They were Manman’s feelings.
Manman had even written a small label, noting that they should be heated before eating. It seemed very gentle and considerate.
She had also drawn a little rabbit.
So cute.
He had just brought the zongzi back to the dormitory when animals like Shen Mingle came over to get a share. Good brothers had to share, after all. Naturally, zongzi were something everyone should eat together.
During this period, many people’s families had sent zongzi, and the cooking squad had also made zongzi. No one was lacking zongzi to eat, but when they saw someone else had them, their hands became cheap and their mouths became cheap too, and they naturally came over to beg for a share.
“Sent from home? Can we brothers have some?”
Xie Mingtu gave them a few of Grandma’s zongzi. Shen Mingle and the others opened them and ate, praising them endlessly.
“Brother Xie, your family’s cooking is great.”
“These zongzi are delicious!”
“Better than the cooking squad’s.”
“Did your wife make them?”
…
Xie Mingtu also opened one of Su Xiaoman’s delicate little zongzi. The sweet smile at his mouth had not faded yet when he bit into the soft, sticky zongzi. The next second, he chewed two or three times with a strange expression.
The more he chewed, the stranger his expression became.
Xie Mingtu: “…”
He ate four in a row.
How magical. Even while eating, he could not guess what the next zongzi would contain.
Just like Manman’s thoughts—impossible to guess.
After finally finishing them, Xie Mingtu clutched his stomach and suddenly began to worry about Mid-Autumn Festival.
It was not exactly bad, but wasn’t this mixture far too strange and chaotic?
Xie Mingtu: “…”
He went to the military doctor to ask for digestive medicine. Xie Mingtu had injured himself eating zongzi. After finishing Manman’s zongzi, he no longer had the courage to eat Grandma’s zongzi when he saw them.
He gave the military doctor two zongzi.
“Eat fewer zongzi at once. They’re hard to digest.”
Xie Mingtu closed his eyes. He had thought that if he could finish them all at once, he should finish them all at once. Eating Manman’s zongzi was like opening mystery packages. Some were truly delicious, while others were simply outrageous.
But he still obediently ate them all.
He also read the letter that came with the zongzi, especially the medals Grandpa had drawn. They reminded him of the scene he had seen that night. He loved watching Manman dance—not only on stage, but also somewhere else.
In his reply, he did not write much. He only drew a weak little rabbit.
There was also a weak little rabbit wood carving, lying on a mountain of zongzi, tightly gripping the vine in its hand.
Their daily classes and training were packed tightly, but they still had one or two hours of free time. Many people chose to play basketball or football. At first, Xie Mingtu was not interested in playing basketball, but Shen Mingle and the others dragged him along to make up the numbers for a match against the garrison company. Who knew that after only learning for a few days, he and Shen Mingle both shot with perfect accuracy. The basketball twin stars led their team to victory after victory, until they aroused public anger and were kicked out.
Shen Mingle was allowed to stay. Only Xie Mingtu was kicked out.
No other reason—his face was better looking. Beside the basketball court was the medical building, and many young women came to watch and cheer. Xie Mingtu had only played for a few days, but he had already attracted countless eyes. Like the sun, he blocked out the light of all these stars.
After further inquiry, they learned he was already married at such a young age.
How could they allow a married young man to show off handsomeness here every day?
Since he could not play basketball, Xie Mingtu sat to the side carving wood. His carving was extremely detailed, bringing the little rabbit in his hands vividly to life. It was a weak little rabbit, lying softly on a mountain of zongzi. Several zongzi leaves beneath it had been opened, with bites taken out of the insides, revealing pickled-fish filling.
The weak little rabbit clutched a handful of vines, meaning that it wanted to eat Manman, not zongzi.
When Shen Mingle and the others saw Xie Mingtu’s wood carving, they found it very interesting. This was simply a weapon for coaxing girls. No wonder he had married so early while they were still single dogs.
“When I have a girl I like, can you carve one for me too?”
“This little rabbit you carved is really cute.”
“…”
Xie Mingtu ruthlessly refused their requests. The little things he carved were only for Manman.
Su Xiaoman received the little wood carving he sent with the letter. Seeing the weak little rabbit lying on the zongzi mountain, she felt sorry for it for a few seconds and shed a few crocodile tears for it in her heart.
Next year, she absolutely would not make zongzi like this again!
She would honestly follow Grandma’s method.
Ah, even Dog Brother disliked the zongzi she made.
Su Xiaoman hugged the weak little rabbit wood carving in her arms. She liked it very much and poked the hard little rabbit with her finger. Her Dog Brother really understood her. He had even carved the little rabbit with cute cheeks, almost softening her heart completely.
If she did not award him a “Master Figurine Maker” prize, it would be unfair to all his effort.
She lowered her head and kissed the little rabbit several times.
She brought this weak little rabbit to the art troupe and placed it by her pillow, poking it whenever she had nothing to do.
Qin Shanshan and the others liked it very much when they saw it. Cute little things like this were especially popular with girls.
“Sister Manman, where did you get this?”
“Can I hold it and play with it for a little while?”
“My husband carved it by hand.” Su Xiaoman did not let anyone else touch her little rabbit. Aside from letting it sleep with her at night, she put it into a small box and locked it away.
“Brother Xie carved it? He’s amazing!”
He really was amazing.
But…
In her letter, Su Xiaoman wrote that after seeing the weak little rabbit too much, she could no longer imagine a heroic little rabbit.
Over there, Xie Mingtu did not write much in his reply.
But later, Su Xiaoman received another little rabbit carrying all sorts of weapons. This time, it was not lying on a mountain of zongzi, but standing among many model airplanes.
The little rabbit looked especially arrogant and unruly, its short little arms holding a weapon, vines wrapped around its body.
It could be said to contain many elements, quite giving off the air of an overpowered “Rabbit Emperor.”
Su Xiaoman: “…”
She thought a toy factory was probably missing a talent like him.
Facts proved that this arrogant rabbit was especially popular. It was said that while Xie Mingtu was carving it, several of his roommates wanted it. Someone even offered twenty yuan to buy it, but Xie Mingtu refused to sell.
This angered the others so much that they abandoned basketball and decided to learn wood carving instead. Do it yourself, and you’ll never lack food or clothing—one day they could make little things to coax their partners too.
Unfortunately, after a few days of learning, they realised they really had no talent for it.
Su Xiaoman placed the weak rabbit and the arrogant rabbit together, then flicked the arrogant rabbit’s cheek. Looking at this proud, punchable little rabbit made her especially want to rub and pinch it…
Time passed quickly. One of them trained and studied at the base, while the other stayed in the art troupe. They were not too far apart and occasionally had one or two chances to meet in a month. Most of the time, however, they communicated through letters.
Su Xiaoman, who had barely written many letters before, gradually became used to writing them.
In their letters, they talked endlessly about everything under the sun. Su Xiaoman told him about the art troupe, about funny things involving Grandpa and Grandma, and about books she had recently read. Xie Mingtu also shared his life with her. From every letter, Su Xiaoman could see how he was changing day by day—not only was his handwriting improving rapidly, but his understanding of people and things was also transforming. He was becoming more mature and steady, and his mind contained more and more.
This little sponge spirit was swelling more and more.
The letters by her bedside accumulated one after another, thicker than several notebooks stacked together. The little rabbits Su Xiaoman raised had now grown thick new fur, and time had reached the end of 1975.
At the end of the year, Su Xiaoman planned to take several breaks. Xie Mingtu’s training at the base had already ended. He had joined the Party in August, ranked first overall, and was recommended to study aircraft manufacturing at an aviation school in the capital. Shen Mingle and the others entered a northern aerospace flight school.
He would start school in March next year. Xie Mingtu now had several months of leave. At the end of the year, he would accompany Manman back to the village, and they also had to complete one major life event.
Considering that Xie Mingtu would study in the capital for the next few years, Su Xiaoman was also trying to transfer to the Changyue Art Troupe in a northern district so she could live with him in the capital.
The procedures were almost complete. This was a choice the couple had previously discussed.
By the end of the year, Su Xiaoman had saved a large sum of money. It was not only her own wages and allowances, but also Xie Mingtu’s wages and allowances. Xie the dog was an honest man who handed over all his work subsidies. Even when Su Xiaoman gave him pocket money every month, he rarely used it, and afterward returned it to her untouched.
Su Xiaoman: “…”
Men really did not have many places to spend money. His clothes and shoes were standard issue, and he ate at the canteen. He had almost no other expenses. Unlike other men, he did not occasionally buy cigarettes and alcohol for fun, or buy snacks, cakes, and treats to improve his life, or go watch films, visit department stores, and buy little trinkets.
Or rather, he had no need to buy snacks and drinks himself. Su Xiaoman and Grandma often made biscuits, cakes, and other snacks to send him. Especially their Manman—whenever she had rest time, she became particularly creative, making him all sorts of snacks: baked biscuits, sweet potato strips, mung bean cakes, toasted buns, milk cakes, braised kelp…
In short, he did not lack snacks.
The men in his dormitory were wildly jealous of him and clamoured to go home, get matchmade, get married, and find partners. They also wanted such a good wife, someone who always thought of making delicious food for them.
“Old Xie, Old Xie, your luck is just too good, marrying such a wife.”
“When will you introduce one to me too?”
…
The people in his dormitory could at least share some of it. The neighbouring dormitory was equally envious and resentful toward them.
“What delicious food are you eating again?”
“Old Xie’s wife sent it.”
…
Here, Xie Mingtu was tall, handsome, excellent in performance, and also well-liked, partly because eating someone’s food made people soft-mouthed and receiving things made them short-handed.
If it was a rest day but he could not go back to see Manman, Xie Mingtu would go to the nearby mountains to dig medicinal herbs and exchange them for money. His efficiency at digging herbs was extremely high. His eyes were sharp, and he always picked valuable ones. In the past, he had not liked doing this. Medicinal herbs were not tasty, and he could not be bothered exchanging them for money. He did not like crowded, noisy places. Now, for the sake of supporting his family, when he wandered freely on the mountain, he would dig a pile of herbs along the way, exchange them for money at the recycling station, and hand it over to Manman.
Together with Su Xiaoman occasionally taking on sewing and clothing work, the couple had saved… Su Xiaoman counted her little treasury. It was roughly 1,852 yuan.
After saving for a whole year, she could finally be extravagant at the end of the year.
The others in the dormitory, like Sun Fangfang and Zhang Ying, were the same. At the end of the year, they wanted to buy something good for themselves or their families. Qin Shanshan usually lived frugally and sent more than half her wages home, but at the end of the year, she also bought herself a new outfit and new shoes.
Su Xiaoman went and bought the camera she had been longing for.
She bought a Seagull twin-lens reflex camera. Together with film, it cost almost two hundred yuan.
When the others saw she had bought a camera, they were very curious.
“Why didn’t you buy a radio instead?”
“If you want photos, you can go to the photo studio. Why buy a camera yourself? Our art troupe has cameras too.”
“Exactly. What a waste. Film is expensive too.”
“This is a major purchase.”
“Xiaoman, do you know how to take photos? Can we take better pictures than the photo studio masters?”
…
Of course Su Xiaoman knew photography. She had once studied photography for some time. After getting this old-fashioned twin-lens camera, she studied it for half a day, then began taking photos of Grandpa and Grandma.
Grandpa Jiang and Grandma Jiang waved their hands and said they would not take photos, but their bodies were very honest. They ran back to their room to change clothes. Grandpa Jiang combed the little hair he had left over and over, while Grandma Jiang hesitated over whether she should go get a haircut.
Su Xiaoman rested her chin in her hands and waited in the courtyard for a long time before Grandpa and Grandma finally appeared, shy as young maidens stepping out of a bridal sedan.
“Come, come, stand properly. Let’s take the photo by the door.”
In front of the lens, Grandpa and Grandma were extremely stiff. For them, taking a photo was a major event. They had to stay completely still.
“Grandpa, Grandma, stand closer… Don’t act like strangers. Grandpa, put your arm around Grandma. Be more natural.”
Grandpa Wang and Grandma Wang next door saw this and also came over to join the excitement. Su Xiaoman nodded. “Alright, alright, you can take one together.”
Now things got out of hand. The group of them was too eye-catching in the retirement compound, and the people here were mostly retired old men and women with nothing to do. Once they saw the excitement, they all swarmed over like bees. Even the young man patrolling by the gate was called over to take a photo.
Su Xiaoman was not stingy. She simply acted as the photographer that day, helping the grandparents take pictures: couple photos, photos with young grandchildren, photos between friends. She took some of everything.
Xie Yazhi heard about this from another teacher and also came to the retirement compound. Su Xiaoman helped her take photos with Grandpa and Grandma, and also took two individual photos of Xie Yazhi.
Now, Su Xiaoman and Xie Yazhi had a relationship where they would exchange a few polite words when they met. When Xie Yazhi came to Grandpa and Grandma’s place, they would chat for a sentence or two.
Xie Yazhi very carefully asked about Xie Mingtu, and Su Xiaoman openly told her a few things.
“He’s going to the capital to study? That’s very good. This child…” Xie Yazhi felt deeply comforted and happy hearing it.
…
That day, several rolls of film were used. After Su Xiaoman developed the photos, the old men and women of the retirement compound came one after another to claim them. Each photo was paid for at the photo studio price.
“The cost doesn’t need this much.”
“It does, it does. Xiaoman, accept it.”
“Our Xiaoman really knows how to take photos! Better than the photo studio. She even taught me how to pose.”
“Grandpa, Grandma, I want to see the photos!”
…
After the photos were claimed by each family, Su Xiaoman counted and found that after deducting costs, she had actually earned more than ten yuan.
So she took the camera to the art troupe and asked the girls if they wanted photos. Naturally, this was like a drop of water falling into hot oil—it immediately exploded with excitement. Su Xiaoman took photos for the girls with her camera.
At first, she only used one roll. Many people did not really trust Su Xiaoman’s photography skills. However, Su Xiaoman had come from decades later, and her level was a little higher than ordinary photographers of this era. Leaving scenery aside, when it came to photographing people, she could absolutely make them look beautiful.
“Xiaoman, you’re really good at taking photos!”
“I look so much prettier in the picture. It makes me look tall and slim. Last time I went to the photo studio, they made me look so short.”
“Don’t even mention it. Last time I went to the photo studio, they made my face look like a pancake!”
“Xiaoman, take a few more for us.”
“Take some dancing photos!”
…
The photos Su Xiaoman took of people were so beautiful that the art troupe’s publicity team even asked for a few. Seeing her high level, they also pulled her along to photograph several events. By the time Xie Mingtu returned, Su Xiaoman’s camera had already earned back more than half its cost.
At the end of the year, everyone loved taking photos!
Su Xiaoman suddenly regretted not buying this camera earlier.
A miscalculation.
The only regret was that she could make everyone else look beautiful with the camera, but the photos they took of her…
Su Xiaoman: “…”
Truly tragic!
Were all of them suffering from Parkinson’s?!
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