The three children stood facing the felt bundle, Qiqige and Jiya with stern faces, looking as if they knew they were in the wrong, but their eyes were rolling around. Habul was busy rubbing the mud off his body, rolling them into balls, and throwing them to the ground.
A gust of wind blew, and he scratched his buttocks. “Ouch, it hurts, mother.”
Mi Niang glanced over, the mud on his buttocks had dried and stiffened, sticking tightly to his skin. It must have hurt as he moved.
“Is the water heated?” She turned to ask.
In the kitchen, the sound of the lid flapping, Bahu reached into the pot and added a few ladles of water. “It’s ready, it’s already hot, bring the basin in.”
Mi Niang turned her head, catching a glimpse of Qiqige touching the round belly of the youngest with mud. Jiya also made a mud ball in her hand. She took a deep breath and entered the house to fetch the wooden basin.
The sun was hot, and the wind warm, bathing in the courtyard was convenient, and pouring water was easy. When a bucket of hot water was poured in, Habul had just sat down, and the water in the basin was so murky that his legs couldn’t be seen.
Bahu was also prepared, turning back to fetch more water.
Mi Niang tapped the basin and called Qiqige and Jiya over, “You two wipe off the mud from the youngest and make sure he’s clean.”
“Alright,” Qiqige responded crisply, playing with water, she was good at it. She rolled up her sleeves high and reached into the murky water to rub the mud off Habul’s legs.
Jiya washed the bowl that the mountain ferret drank water from and eagerly scooped water to splash onto her younger brother.
The happiest one was undoubtedly Habul, sitting in the basin with a grin, enjoying the care of his siblings.
“Here… the neck… the head…”
Unable to express clearly, he lay down in the basin. The mud on the back of his neck still untouched by water, kept shouting “Head, head, head.” A bowl of water poured over his head by Jiya made him quiet for a moment, then he closed his eyes and shouted loudly again, “yes, it hurts.”
Bahu came out with water, seeing this, he pulled up his muddy clothes to wipe his face.
“Move aside, I’ll do it.”
“Who asked you to do it?” Mi Niang coldly interjected, “Whoever wipes, washes. If you’re idle, go and dismantle and wash the winter cotton coats for me.”
The man exchanged a glance with the three children, then slowly got up, pulling a forced smile, trying to please, “Let’s save it for later. I’ll dismantle and wash them tomorrow. I still need to heat the water.” With that said, he lifted Habul up, poured out the muddy water from the basin, scooped some water from a bowl, poured half a bucket of water into it, and then went back into the house to heat more water.
Mi Niang moved a stool and sat in the shade, watching. As soon as a bucket of water was poured in before the steam could dissipate, the water turned murky again.
Qiqige and Jiya started muttering “rub, rub” from the beginning, but later they fell silent, their brows furrowing, occasionally uttering “aiya” and sighing.
As the water flowed to their feet, Mi Niang moved a stool to a cooler spot and sat down. Halfway through, Baoyin brought a bowl of yogurt over to watch the fun. She scooped herself a bowl too, and the two of them ate and chatted.
“Why did I hear Baoyin’s voice at noon? Didn’t she go to school in Xushui?”
“She did. She came back on horseback for lunch, saying the food she bought wasn’t as tasty as home-cooked meals. She got tired of it, so she persuaded her second brother to ride her back.”
Baoyin glanced at the two children with troubled faces in the courtyard and asked Mi Niang when she planned to send Qiqige and Jiya to school.
“Your mother-in-law is in Xushui. If the children go to school there, they can have lunch at their grandmother’s, and you and Bahu can save a lot of trouble.”
Mi Niang mumbled vaguely, and when she saw the yogurt in the bowl was finished, she went back into the house to scoop half a bowl more. “Do you still want some? Or would you like some water?”
“No more, there’s still work to do at home.” Baoyin got up, and smiled at the little maid pinching her waist, “Don’t mess around anymore, now you know how difficult it is to wash?”
…
“Mother, my waist hurts.” Qiqige tried to act cute to distract from the task.
“Children don’t have waists.” Mi Niang squinted at the sky, urging, “Hurry up and wash, otherwise the sun will set soon if we delay any longer.”
As she passed by inside the house, she pointed to the mud behind Habul’s ears, “There’s still mud here, not cleaned properly. And there’s some on the eyebrows too, how come there’s still mud inside the nose? Be more careful, don’t slack off. If you don’t clean up properly today, the youngest will have to sleep in your beds tonight.”
Bahu was exhausted from heating water. He brought bucket after bucket from the river. One pot of hot water was used up in no time, the mud spots on his body dried up, but his shoes were soaked. When he saw Mi Niang coming in, he sighed weakly, “Boss, let me go and wash. My face is almost roasted.”
“You get up, I’ll stoke the fire.”
It wasn’t about stoking the fire, it was about fetching water. He must have made at least fifty trips in and out, just going out to check now, he wasn’t sure if three more pots of water would be enough.
Outside, people were getting impatient. The splashing water sounded harsh. Gritting their teeth, they told Habul to close his eyes and stay still, “Don’t move, don’t scratch. Your hands were just cleaned, how come there’s mud again!”
“Ouch.” Rubbed too hard and scratched by nails, Habul wrinkled his face and tears rolled down, “Sister, it hurts.”
“Where does it hurt?” Qiqige bent down, seeing two scratches on the youngest’s neck, the tender skin already wrinkled. She blew gently, “Sister will be gentler…”
Her tone changed as tears welled up, dropping heavily onto Habul’s legs.
“Waahh!” Seeing his sister cry, Habul, who had been quietly sobbing, burst into loud wails, stood up from the basin, and hugged Qiqige tightly.
Mi Niang and Bahu heard the cries and came out to see the siblings huddled together, crying in pain. Jiya, with a sulky face and a tear in her eye, still insisted on scooping water from a bowl, washing the mud from Habul’s armpits.
The children cried miserably, and Mi Niang couldn’t help but smile. Oh dear, bathing them made all three cry, but it was so amusing.
Bahu lowered his gaze to the person buried in his chest. In an instant, his concern turned into helplessness. He glanced at the three children wiping each other’s tears while crying, feeling a bit amused.
“Don’t go over.” Mi Niang held the man back. “It’s just playing with water. Let them play as much as they want, it’ll teach them a lesson. So they won’t sneak off to the river to play secretly in the future.”
She listened to the simmering sound of the pot, went inside to fetch a bucket of water, and walked out as if nothing had happened. Indifferently, she asked, “Finished crying? If you’re done crying, then continue washing. There’s still mud stuck to Habul’s hair, his armpits haven’t been cleaned properly, there are mud prints on his buttocks, and…”
“Wuwuwu” Before she could finish, Qiqige sat on the ground with a pout, closing her eyes and crying loudly in frustration, mumbling apologies and saying she wouldn’t play with mud or smear it on her brother anymore.
“Good, knowing your mistake makes you a good kid.” Mi Niang pushed Habul gently, preventing him from clinging to her. “Stand properly, let your siblings clean you up, and then mom will hold you.”
Qiqige instantly opened her eyes in disbelief, “Are we still washing?”
“Of course, why not?” Mi Niang emptied the basin, reluctantly reached out to wash off the mud on the edge of the basin, then poured water for the youngest to sit in, urging, “Hurry up, don’t waste time. We still need the pot to cook.”
“Mom~” Qiqige dragged out her voice.
Ignoring her, Mi Niang carried the bucket straight into the house.
The three siblings looked at each other with tear-streaked faces, then they weakly got up and continued washing. Listening to the youngest’s sobbing, Qiqige and Jiya slowed down their movements.
…
“Dad, we need more water,” Jiya called out.
Bahu immediately heard and went to fetch water. After a while, he came back muttering, “Qiqige and Jiya are sitting on the ground, it’s wet, and their pants are dirty… If we don’t wash the children, we’ll have to wash their clothes, and it’s using up a lot of water.” Seeing Mi Niang shooting him a sideways glance, he choked on his words, plopped down in front of the stove, and sat silently.
Less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, he cautiously asked, observing her expression, “Are you hungry?”
“Not really, I just had one and a half bowls of yogurt.” Mi Niang deliberately suppressed a burp, feeling annoyed, “Still a bit full.”
The man glared at her indignantly, and she returned the gaze coldly. The two of them stared at each other, but ultimately Bahu conceded defeat. He muttered to himself about her ruthless heart, while trying to appease her with words, “I can see that the two children know they’ve done wrong and have learned their lesson. Can I go out and help them wash up properly? Or maybe I’ll just sit aside and give them some pointers?”
Mi Niang made a strange clicking sound with her mouth, “Want to be a good daddy again? Go ahead, go ahead, take good care of your three precious darlings.”
Finally hearing the words she wanted, Bahu relaxed a bit, got up, and started to fetch water to go outside. But before he could leave, he heard her boastfully say, “You know, no matter how well you do, when the kids come back, they always look for mom first. Otherwise, it’s ‘Dad, where’s mom?'”
Frustrated!
Breathing heavily, for a moment he considered pretending to be deaf and blind, not looking or listening, but he just shrugged and gave up. It was because what she said was true; all three kids were like that, so infuriating.
It was maddening how all four of them, sharing the same trait, were her good children, her own flesh and blood.
“I should have let the kids see how you smile just now,” he muttered, throwing down the words and hastily fleeing outside, lest she change her mind.
“Rub the scalp, rinse thoroughly… on the back of the neck… bring over the shoes, and then change the water for Habul to step on… why is there still mud in the belly button…”
With the guidance of a good teacher, they managed to wash the children clean before the pot of water was used up. Bahu carried the youngest inside to dress him, and as he passed by the stove, he shot a smug glance at Mi Niang.
Not knowing what he was so pleased about, Mi Niang went outside and instructed Qiqige and Jiya to take off their dirty clothes and toss them into the basin. “You’re not allowed to tease your brother like this anymore.”
“We’re not teasing him,” Qiqige denied. “Our brother wants to play too.”
Habul didn’t know anything about it. He was just a tagalong, always sticking to his siblings to play. He enjoyed being taken out to play and was obedient, letting them do as they pleased.
Mi Niang didn’t expose the truth either. She just asked why Qiqige didn’t smear mud on Jiya’s clothes. “Both of you like to play, why don’t you smear mud on yourselves?”
The siblings went inside to put on their clothes, just as Habul came out in his newly changed clothes, happily calling out “brother” as he bounced around.
The siblings went inside to put on their clothes, just as Habul came out in his newly changed clothes, happily calling out “brother” as he bounced around, and “sister” in between. Bahu followed behind.
“Go inside and ask him if he wants to wash them,” Mi Niang huffed, warning, “If there’s a next time, I’ll hit you. If you don’t want to play with your brother, just say so. Your dad and I won’t force you.”
She added, “Today’s wages are gone, and there’ll be a deduction of thirty cents. Bring it out and give it to me later.”
The two children widened their eyes in disbelief. “Deduction? We washed everything clean.”
“Because of you, I didn’t work for half a day,” Mi Niang justified firmly. “And your dad came back without finishing his work, he even boiled several pots of water for you, and later he’ll have to wash clothes too.”
Qiqige glanced at the clothes in the basin, took a step back, and thought better of it. It was better to accept the deduction.
Just moments ago, the siblings were sobbing in frustration over the sixty copper coins. The two older ones, impatiently, clicked their tongues at the little chubby one, calling him a crybaby and a clingy one. They refused to call him their little brother.
“Are you cooking, or am I cooking?” Bahu walked out and tossed his dirty clothes into the basin. “If you’re cooking, then I’ll wash the clothes.”
“I’ll cook.” Mud stains were difficult to scrub, and it would have been better if Bahu did it. His strong hands were rough, and no matter how much he scrubbed, they wouldn’t hurt.
There was always plenty of mutton in the house. Mi Niang chopped a large plate of diced mutton and stir-fried it with peppers and spring onions. Finally, she fried six eggs, rolled out some noodles, and boiled water. By the time Ajima came back from school, they would be ready to eat as soon as the noodles were cooked.
“Why is the floor all wet?” Ajima stepped in and accidentally stepped on some mud. “Why is there so much water spilled? Did the water bucket break?” Seeing that Jiya and Qiqige were
wearing different clothes from the morning, she wondered, “Did you take a bath? Did you fall into the cow dung or something?”
“Not at all,” Qiqige pouted. She didn’t want to bring it up again, but she loudly complained that she was starving, saying, “Hurry up and eat, we’re waiting for you.”
Ajima lowered her eyes and stared at her, seeing her awkward expression. Looking at Jiya, she saw the same discomfort on her face. She understood, “Oh, it seems like you two made a mistake.”
“Yes, we teamed up to give Habul a mud bath, and ended up washing him for half the afternoon,” Mi Niang replied as she mixed the noodles. She made an egg pancake on top of the noodles. Qiqige and Jiya took bowls and chopsticks and started eating, too busy with their mouths to speak.
Afternoon efforts and losses in money, the siblings ate their bowl of noodles fiercely, and stuffed themselves onto chairs, still muttering that they wanted to eat the same noodles tomorrow morning.
No one paid them any attention.
Mi Niang washed the pot and scrubbed the dishes, poured water into the pot, and went outside. Seeing the full moon in the sky and the countless stars, she stuck her head back inside and said, “Want to take a walk to aid digestion?”
None of the children refused. Just moments ago, they couldn’t even stand up due to being too full, but now they all ran outside.
Bahu, illuminated by a candlelight, eagerly watched the people outside the door. Moonlight shone on Mi Niang’s black hair, making it gleam, and her eyes sparkled. He reached out his hand and said, “Give me a hand up, and I’ll go with you.”
Without hesitation, Mi Niang went inside to help him up. “I’ll help you up, but when we come back, you have to carry me.”
“You’re just finding trouble for me,” Bahu said as he got up and leaned on her shoulder. “Once I carry you, those three eyeless ones will want to carry you too.”
Oh, so they’ve become eyeless ones again? Weren’t they precious ones anymore?
