Chapter 4

Grandpa Li came to bring money.

That afternoon, he heard someone say that the youngest son was setting up a stall on the street selling socks to save tuition fees for his little granddaughter. Without hesitation, he hurried to sell the family’s goats in Lotus Flower Town. Returning to the village, he didn’t enter the house but went straight to find his youngest son.

“Where have you two been? It’s so late already,” Grandpa Li said, pulling out a wad of bills tinged with the smell of goats and handing them to Li Shanshan. Then he scolded Li’s father, “Why didn’t you say a word when Shanshan didn’t have money for tuition? I saw Shanshan going to school on time every week and thought the fees were paid. If I hadn’t met Miao Aiguo, I wouldn’t have known what you were up to.”

Li’s father hurriedly declined, “Father, you and mother are so old, how could I accept your money?”

Grandpa Li’s eyes narrowed. “If you can’t earn it, and don’t want my money, how will you pay Shanshan’s tuition? No more nonsense. This is for Shanshan; you don’t get to refuse.”

Li Shanshan’s eyes grew moist, nearly shedding tears.

This was her own grandpa!

In her previous life, her father hadn’t sold blood only because Grandpa sold the goats and gave her five hundred yuan, enough to cover her sophomore year tuition. He promised to keep raising the goats and pay the next year’s tuition after selling them, but that summer he died in a traffic accident in Phoenix City, leaving them forever separated.

This life, she must stop Grandpa from going to the city at that time!

He hadn’t yet enjoyed any happiness with her.

Her father’s greatest regret for her happy life was that he never got to give his own father a good life.

“Grandpa, the tuition wasn’t paid before, but now there’s no lack of money,” Li Shanshan said, pushing the money back and opening their small courtyard gate. “I speak fluent English and went to Phoenix City to translate documents. Yesterday I earned eight hundred, today thirteen hundred. Tuition is more than covered, and I can wholesale socks for Dad to sell at the stall—better than construction work.”

Grandpa Li was half in disbelief. “Really? How come I never knew my granddaughter could do this?”

Of course, he didn’t even understand what English was.

Li’s father laughed heartily, pushing his bicycle through the gate. “It’s only been a couple of days; I haven’t had a chance to tell you and Mom. Father, you really don’t need to worry—Shanshan is amazing now.”

He never mentioned how much she earned selling socks.

Li Shanshan smiled inwardly and went forward to unlock the main room’s door. “Grandpa, please come in and taste the braised pork Dad bought for us!”

Her father had said earlier on the road.

Calculating today’s net profit, he immediately bought a piece of pork belly and a roast chicken at the market, intending to celebrate with his daughter, never thinking to treat his own parents.

Grandpa Li believed his youngest son had truly earned money.

Inside the house, they washed their hands and sat down to eat.

Li’s father brought out a steaming large bowl of braised pork and arranged the shredded roast chicken on a plate. Alongside were steamed rice, cabbage and vermicelli soup, and scrambled eggs with garlic sprouts.

More sumptuous than even festival meals.

Li Shanshan had eaten meat at noon and wasn’t hungry but kept serving dishes to Grandpa and Dad.

Grandpa Li’s face creased into a joyful smile, then he advised his youngest son, “Fourth son, now that you’re earning money, don’t be wasteful. Save it well. Shanshan still has to take the university entrance exam soon. I heard college tuition is very expensive.”

Li’s father eagerly agreed, “I’ll save it, I’ll save it. Tomorrow I’ll put it aside for Shanshan.”

And he did as he said.

After sending Grandpa Li home, he handed the day’s 1,700 yuan from sock sales to Li Shanshan, mostly in ten-yuan notes. “Tomorrow when you go to Phoenix City, take your household registration and ID card to the bank to open a passbook and deposit the money.”

Li Shanshan nodded. “Okay. After selling the socks, I’ll use this money to wholesale clothes and shoes.”

She was not yet sixteen years old. Born on the eighth day of the eighth lunar month in 1980, she was a genuine post-80s child. But when her household registration was filed, the family followed the common practice of reporting her birth two years earlier—August 8, 1978. Even though she was not yet eighteen, holding her household registration and ID allowed her to open a bank account.

The next day’s journey to Phoenix City was rough. It snowed overnight, and the heavy snow remained in the morning. The bus swayed and took twice as long as usual to reach the destination.

But opening the bank account went smoothly.

Li Shanshan deposited two thousand yuan and still had over two hundred left on her. She felt the urgency keenly.

To make a big profit, she needed substantial capital.

Keep it up, Li Shanshan!

Phoenix City’s translation agency still assigned her orders from the headquarters—a large order paying 1,500 yuan, with a long text full of technical terms and high difficulty. Even among translators at the agency, few could handle such a task.

Li Shanshan spent ten hours completing the translation and passed inspection.

By the time she got paid, it was 6:30 p.m., too late to catch the bus home.

She borrowed the agency’s phone to call the village, reaching the small convenience store. She asked the owner, Li Chunrong, to inform her father: “Brother Chunrong, please tell Dad that I’ve finished the translation order but can’t catch the bus tonight. It’s dark and the roads are bad after the snow. I have work tomorrow, so I’ll stay a few nights in Phoenix City. I’ll stay in a safe hotel, so please don’t worry.”

Li Chunrong agreed at once, “Okay, I’ll go find your dad right now.”

He was Li Shanshan’s distant cousin. Though their families were somewhat distant, their homes were only a five-minute walk apart.

When he found Li’s father, the latter was shoveling snow with neighbors near their home, clearing a path wide enough to walk through.

They were busy and bustling.

Li’s father had gone to Lotus Flower Town to sell socks in the morning. Unsold socks he took to nearby villages to sell, returning only at dusk. He found the snow at the doorstep and road piled over half a foot deep.

One step in, the snow submerged half his calf.

“Uncle Zhaohui!” Li Chunrong called. “Your daughter called. She’s not coming back tonight.”

Li’s father stopped shoveling, leaning on the long wooden handle of his shovel. “What exactly did she say?”

Li Chunrong recalled and repeated her words, then asked, “Uncle, isn’t Shanshan just in high school? How did she find work in Phoenix City? She said something about translating.”

Li’s father laughed heartily, “She’s an English translator. One order can earn several hundred yuan.”

“Wow!” People around exclaimed.

Several hundred yuan!

What kind of sum was that?

Like Li’s father, who worked with construction crews, earning only eight yuan a day.

Everyone in the production team shared the surname Li, passed down from a common ancestor. Envious, they eagerly asked for details.

Li’s father smiled even more broadly. “English is a foreign language. We old farmers don’t know it or understand it. I only know Shanshan’s schooling wasn’t in vain. Without school, where else would she learn such skills? We old farmers work ourselves to the bone and can’t save a few hundred yuan a year. Studying is the only way out for our children.”

Many had advised him not to let Li Shanshan attend high school. The annual tuition and boarding fees—900 yuan—were a heavy burden for a farming family. Over three years, the cost ran into thousands, including fees and materials.

Now everyone had to see just how capable his daughter was!

Years ago, after his first wife left for the city and was never heard from again, many urged him to give his daughter away and remarry for more children. He looked at his crying daughter in his arms and couldn’t bear to agree.

More than a decade passed, and gossip suggested he was just raising someone else’s child, who would leave like her mother.

Someone immediately expressed envy: “Well done, Fourth Son! Shanshan’s doing well, and you can look forward to enjoying life. I heard you’ve been selling socks every day, but with Shanshan making so much money, why keep selling socks?”

Not even embarrassed in front of friends and relatives.

Li’s father’s face grew serious. “Shanshan has to pass the university entrance exam. Her main job is to study hard. Earning a bit of pocket money by taking one or two orders is fine, but she mustn’t lose focus. The rest is on me. Shanshan found a way to wholesale socks in the city, and I sell them on the street. At least that earns some money for tuition and living expenses.”

No one else knew the routes or the massive profits from street vending; otherwise, they would be more enthusiastic than him.

Someone asked, “Aren’t you worried leaving Shanshan alone in the city? Shouldn’t she stay with your second eldest brother?”

Li’s father had three older brothers, two sisters, and one younger sister. Only the second eldest brother was a former worker-peasant-soldier university student, assigned to a machinery factory in the city after graduation. He settled early with a stable job, married, and had children—a figure of envy for over twenty years.

“She’s not a child anymore. She often takes the bus to Huaihua Town for school. I’m not worried. There’s a hotel to stay in, money to buy food. No need to trouble her second uncle,” Li’s father said. He rarely went to the city and didn’t know the security situation in Phoenix City. Plus, his daughter was more organized than he was. He wasn’t worried.

To him, staying in a hotel was like boarding school.

Li Shanshan, however, took safety seriously. She didn’t stay in cheap ten-yuan-a-night inns but, upon the recommendation of Teacher Wang and Wu Yue, found a clean, safe hotel with standard rooms costing a hundred yuan per night.

It was close to the Phoenix City translation agency.

The hotel had heating and bathrooms with large bathtubs and showers overhead.

Not luxurious, but all the essentials.

Li Shanshan immediately went out and turned left, buying two sets of underwear and two sets of thermal clothes at a fairly upscale clothing store, spending over two hundred yuan. Then she bought soap, towels, toothbrush, toothpaste, snow cream, and frostbite ointment.

Back at the hotel, she washed the underwear, thermal clothes, and towels, drying them with a hairdryer, and took a refreshing hot shower.

She didn’t use the bathtub but showered standing inside it.

She changed into the new underwear and thermal clothes, tossing the old, misshapen ones away to avoid washing.

By the time she dried her hair, it was late.

Li Shanshan thickly applied snow cream to her face and frostbite ointment to the backs of her hands, wrapping them in clean gauze before tucking into bed.

Much more comfortable than home.

Their home was a three-room tile house built before her parents married, with wooden beams and a total area of about seventy to eighty square meters. The center was a combined living and dining room. Her father lived in the east room, she in the west. There was no heating. In winter, they had to layer two quilts plus a hot salt-water bottle when sleeping, or the bed was bitterly cold.

Next time before going home, she planned to buy several hot-water bags at the wholesale market.

One for her father, one each for grandparents, two for herself—one for home, one for school.

In her sleep, a sweet smile lingered at the corners of Li Shanshan’s mouth.

Upon waking, it was another beautiful day.

Before heading to the translation agency for work, Li Shanshan didn’t check out. She wanted to stay a few more days in Phoenix City to rest and at least get rid of the rosy redness on her cheeks from the plateau cold.

Everyone likes to look good!

When she learned the agency had no orders to assign temporarily, Li Shanshan’s good mood abruptly ended.