Accidentally Born in the ‘60s – Chapter 001 (2024)

Translated by Hye.

This is my first time translating a novel, so I’d really appreciate any kind feedback you have.

The north wind was whistling, and heavy goose-feather snowflakes were falling from the sky. The old lady of the Li family was sitting in the kitchen, adding firewood to the stove pit while puffing on her pipe, her face showing a trace of sadness. Suddenly, the cotton door curtain was lifted, and the third and fourth sons of the Li family, Li Mingnan and Li Mingbei, came in from outside, bringing in a gust of cold wind and flakes of snow.

As soon as he saw the old lady sitting in the kitchen, Li Mingbei shouted before even taking off his thick gloves, “Grandma, my brother and I caught two fish!”

As soon as the words were spoken, the old lady immediately stood up from the stove pit, knocked the pipe pot against the sole of her shoe, and said with a wide smile, “Really? Quickly bring them here for me to see. It’s been so long since we’ve had any fish.”

Li Mingnan handed over the two carp, each weighing over two kilograms and strung together with a hemp rope, to Grandma Li. He then picked up the ladle, scooped half a ladle of cold water from the water tank, and drank it in one gulp.

“Even in summer, we didn’t catch such big fish,” Grandma Li said, looking over the two fish in her hands, her smile almost splitting her face. “It’s just right; your mother is about to give birth, and your eldest brother is tired from studying. I’ll stew the fish to nourish them both.”

Li Mingbei hummed in response and asked, “Will Mom give us a little sister this time?”

Thinking of her own string of grandsons, Grandma Li also looked a bit worried and sighed, “I hope it’s a girl this time. Seeing you boys who could eat me into poverty gives me a headache.”

Li Mingbei chuckled and called Li Mingnan over to squat by the stove pit and warm themselves by the fire. Suddenly, the two boys wrinkled their noses, exchanged a glance, grabbed the stove hook from the ground, and quickly dug out two roasted, fragrant potatoes from the stove pit. The two hurriedly picked up the potatoes, placed them on the stove, and, regardless of the heat, blew on them while peeling off some skin and took a bite.

When Grandma Li turned around, she saw that her grandsons had already eaten half of the roasted potatoes. Normally, she would have scolded them, but today, since the boys caught two big fish, she didn’t feel bad anymore. Instead, she smiled and scolded, “What kind of behavior is this? Go to the west room to eat, and call Guihua to come out and stew the fish.”

The two boys responded and, while juggling the hot potatoes in their hands, shouted at the top of their lungs, “Sister-in-law, Grandma wants you to come out and cook.”

A girl with a shiny black braid came out of the west room, her seventeen or eighteen-year-old face full of energy. As she fetched water and washed her hands, she asked, “Grandma, what are we making tonight?”

“Stewed fish! Boiled cabbage and potatoes!” Grandma Li said loudly, leaning on her cane.

Although the two boys of the Li family called Guihua their sister-in-law, in reality, Wu Guihua had not yet married the eldest son of the Li family, Li Mingdong. Wu Guihua’s family came from a landlord background, and because of their poor status, life was very hard. When Guihua was seven or eight years old, her family couldn’t afford food, so they considered selling their eldest daughter Guihua to get some food, but none of the families that came were satisfied. It happened that Grandma Li passed by the Wu family while visiting relatives and saw that Guihua looked good and had a cheerful personality. The Wu family also knew that the Li family was kind-hearted, so the two families discussed it and exchanged Wu Guihua for half a bag of soybeans, raising her as a child bride.

Guihua had been with the Li family for ten years. When she first arrived, she went to school for a few years and learned a few words. By the time she was thirteen or fourteen, she stopped studying and helped with cooking, washing, and cleaning around the house.

Grandma Li sat on a small stool in the kitchen, watching Guihua skillfully kill the fish and remove the scales, adding a little oil to the pot. Only then did she stand up with satisfaction and say, “Make it fragrant. Dongzi hasn’t had any meat for a while.”

Guihua responded crisply, tossing her long braid behind her back and quickly chopping the potatoes. At that moment, a cry of pain suddenly came from the east room. Grandma Li even forgot to grab her cane and rushed to the east room in three quick steps, anxiously asking, “Dongzi’s mother, has it started?”

“It’s been hurting for a while. I guess it will be soon,” Wang Sufen endured the pain inside the room, clutching the mattress beneath her and adjusting her breathing.

“Hey, how can you bear something like this? Why didn’t you say it earlier?” Grandma Li took a quick look and immediately called out, “Mingbei, hurry and get your third aunt to help.”

Li Mingbei grabbed his leather hat, put it on his head, wrapped himself in a coat, and dashed out. In the kitchen, Guifang heard the commotion, quickly boiled a pot of water, and brought in all the prepared items.

Beicha District is a small town surrounded by mountains. Although the Li family lived in the town, the sparse population meant that neighbors didn’t live too close to each other. Fortunately, Li Mingbei had nimble legs, and in no time, he reached his third aunt’s house.

Grandma Li’s third daughter-in-law, Liu Xiulan, was cooking corn porridge when she suddenly heard a string of dog barks from afar. She stood up, poured the chopped cabbage into the porridge while stirring, and called to her son, “Guangzi, see if it’s your second uncle’s brother coming.”

Li Mingguang opened the door and peeked outside, just in time to see Li Mingbei pushing open their gate. He quickly turned back and said, “Mom, Brother Beizi is here.”

“Your second aunt must be giving birth,” Liu Xiulan wiped her hands on her clothes, turned to her eldest son and said, “Mingrong, come watch the pot, I’ll go to your grandma’s.” She hurriedly followed Mingbei out.

Grandma Li’s second daughter-in-law, Wang Sufen, had already given birth to four children, so even though she was a bit older now, the birth canal opened quickly. By the time Liu Xiulan, the third daughter-in-law, arrived, Wang Sufen was almost ready to deliver.

After a quick wash of her hands, Liu Xiulan came over, felt Wang Sufen’s belly, and said to Grandma Li, “Mom, you rest. I’ll handle it here.”

Grandma Li sat down on the kang (a traditional heated brick bed), making space for her third daughter-in-law, wiped the sweat off her forehead, and said, “I’m too old to be of much use. Back when your second sister-in-law was giving birth to Beizi, I was the one who delivered him.”

While pushing Wang Sufen’s belly, Liu Xiulan said, “Beizi is eight years old now; that was ages ago.”

Wang Sufen tried to smile but held back to conserve her strength, quickly biting her lip and pushing hard. Liu Xiulan quickly shouted, “Oh! I see the head, Second Sister, just one more push!” Wang Sufen gritted her teeth, held her breath, and pushed downwards with all her might.

The unbearable pain made Wang Sufen involuntarily let out a cold groan. Sweat dampened her hair, which clung to her face. Just as Wang Sufen felt she couldn’t go on, a warm flow surged from her belly, reviving her strength and refreshing her spirit.

“Waa waa waa…” The clear cries echoed in the mud-brick house. Liu Xiulan caught the newborn, whose whole body was red, and took a quick look. She immediately broke into a smile, “Mom, Second Sister-in-law had a baby girl!”

“Really? Let me see!” Grandma Li leaned forward. Liu Xiulan had already quickly cleaned the baby, wrapped her in a prepared small cotton quilt, and handed her to Grandma Li.

Grandma Li lifted the quilt and took a peek inside, breaking into a broad smile. “It’s really a little girl! I’ve had four sons and thought I wasn’t meant to have daughters. A granddaughter will do too. You see, all of you kept having sons one after another. I thought I’d never hold a granddaughter in this life.”

“Second Sister-in-law is blessed; she’ll have a daughter to dote on,” Liu Xiulan laughed, helping Wang Sufen clean up. After washing her hands, she picked up her clothes and said, “Mom, you take care; I’ll head back.”

“Don’t leave, stay and eat with us,” Grandma Li said, her eyes not leaving her granddaughter. “If you go home now, there might not be much left in the pot. Today, I had Guifang cook cabbage and potatoes and made some porridge.”

Wang Sufen, lying in bed, also chimed in, “We’re family, no need for formalities. Just stay and eat.”

Liu Xiulan had only sipped some thin porridge in the morning, and her stomach was already growling by now. She was straightforward by nature, and since she had a good relationship with Wang Sufen, she didn’t hesitate, smiling as she said, “Thank you, Second Sister-in-law.”

“What’s the big deal?” Grandma Li said nonchalantly. “For such a big event, usually we’d cut some meat and make dumplings to celebrate. Alas, the past two years have been tough, and we haven’t received full rations in months. If not for opening up some land and growing vegetables, we wouldn’t even have enough to fill our stomachs.”

“Exactly,” Liu Xiulan sighed as well. “I heard Musen say that although there was a good harvest in the countryside this year, it was all sent out of the mountains, so we couldn’t get our rations. If we hadn’t listened to Mom and planted some land, we probably wouldn’t even have corn porridge to eat now.”

Grandma Li, who had lived through the old society, grew up in hardship and had a deep-seated longing and anxiety for food. Although the Li family had household registration and could get rationed grain every month, Grandma Li still felt uneasy. Years ago, she had led her sons and grandsons to find a flat spot in the mountains to open up wasteland, planting corn, soybeans, cabbage, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and other crops. When supplies were plentiful, these things helped improve their meals. Now, with a sudden shortage of food supplies, the Li family barely kept from going hungry because of those crops.

In the kitchen, Guifang had quickly finished preparing the meal. She had stewed a pot of cabbage and potatoes, made a bowl of cornmeal porridge, and even baked a pot of cornmeal pancakes.

The fish caught by the brothers, Mingnan and Mingbei, were cooked in a pot with tofu and vermicelli, glistening with oil and giving off a savory aroma. The remaining fish was made into a big bowl of milky white soup, meant for Wang Sufen to drink and boost her milk supply.

Li Muwu came back from work, and hearing that his wife had given birth to a girl, he quickly took off his thick coat and first went to the east room to check on his wife and the newborn girl.

Guifang brought the fish soup over, helped Wang Sufen sit up, and then handed her a bowl of soup.

Seeing his daughter’s face, Li Muwu felt deeply satisfied. His voice was softer than usual. “Drink more soup. If your milk is sufficient, our little girl can eat her fill.”

Wang Sufen forced a smile, “I’m too old now; how can I still have much milk? Even when I had Beizi, I didn’t have much milk. We had to bring home a sheep to keep Beizi fed. Tomorrow, ask around at work and see if anyone’s raising sheep. We can buy some sheep milk every day, which would be better than feeding her porridge.”

Li Muwu gruffly replied, “Tomorrow, I’ll go register our daughter. Let’s see if we can get some formula and brown sugar for her.”

Wang Sufen finished half a bowl of fish soup and turned around, noticing Li Muwu poking their daughter’s tender face with his rough fingers. The baby was sleeping soundly, and Wang Sufen was worried he might wake her up, causing her to cry for milk. She hurriedly shooed him away, “Stop hanging around here, go eat.”

Li Muwu chuckled as he stood up. “This is such a joyous occasion. I have to bring out the stored wine and have a drink with Mom.”

Outside, the table was already set, and the whole family was crowded around it. Li Mingnan and Li Mingbei were staring intently at the dishes, swallowing their saliva repeatedly. Li Muwu came out of the east room and first grabbed a wine jug, which Li Mingdong promptly took over. He brought out two small two-ounce wine cups and poured one for Grandma Li and another for Li Muwu.

Grandma Li took a sip of the wine and pointed to the pot of fish. “Dongzi, eat more fish. It’s good for your brain, especially since you’re about to take your college entrance exam.”

Li Mingdong adjusted his glasses and gave a refined smile, “We haven’t had meat in the house for a long time; I can’t eat it all myself. Grandma, you eat first.” He said this while first serving a piece to Grandma Li and then moving to serve Liu Xiulan.

Liu Xiulan quickly held her bowl and stepped aside, saying, “I don’t read or write, so don’t waste anything on me. I’ll just take a bite of the noodles later to get a taste.”

Seeing his son trying to serve him some fish, Li Muwu quickly waved his hand and said, “Just give me the fish head with some wine—that’s the best. Leave the meat for you all to enjoy.”

Only then did Li Mingdong serve himself a portion. Seeing this, his three younger brothers eagerly grabbed large portions and began eating with great relish. Li Muwu took a sip of wine and a bite of the fish head. Just as he finished gnawing the fish head down to the bones, the soft cries of a baby came from the next room. Li Muwu couldn’t help but smile and said, “My little girl is awake.”

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