Little Douzi happily hugged her neck and whispered in her ear, "Mama, when I grow up, I want to be a big policeman, beat up bad guys, and make lots and lots of money to buy you sunflower seeds."
Listening to his innocent words, Lin Lan couldn't help but smile. "Okay! First, eat your food so you can hurry up and grow big, then you can make money to buy Mama sunflower seeds."
"Okay! I'll walk by myself," Little Douzi said, having Lin Lan put him down. The mother and son walked to the kitchen, holding hands.
The little boy muttered to himself, "Great-grandma said it's very hard for Mama to raise Little Douzi all by herself. Little Douzi has to be a good boy, not run around and make Mama worry, and help Mama sweep and do chores."
Hearing Little Douzi's words, Lin Lan remembered something the lady from the shop next door had once told her. The lady's husband had pointed to a celebrity on TV and asked their son, "Who's prettier, Mama or her?"
Her son had hugged her and said, "My mama is the prettiest, prettiest, prettiest. I love my mama the most, most, most."
Lin Lan still remembered the blissful expression on the woman's face as she told the story. She was only now discovering what a wonderful thing it was to raise a child.
"Mama, I'll help you with the fire." Little Douzi ran and sat in front of the stove's firebox. "Mama, the fire's out."
Lin Lan smiled at the little boy. "The rice is cooked, so we don't need the fire anymore." She lifted the pot lid and saw a layer of golden-brown rice crust at the bottom. "Mama's drained the rice. I can make a meal with the rice crust and some of the cooking water. Do you want some?"
Little Douzi patted his tummy. "I already ate at Great-grandma's. My tummy is full."
Lin Lan nodded. "Then Mama will save it for you to eat tonight."
Little Douzi nodded and picked up the broom. "Mama, I'm going to sweep." The little boy was eager to help.
Watching the child drag the broom outside, Lin Lan called out, "Be careful, don't fall."
"I know!" Little Douzi said, steadying himself on the doorframe as he stepped outside.
People in this era didn't get much fat in their diets, so they tended to have large appetites. Lin Lan ate two full bowls of rice with just pickled vegetables before she was full.
After quickly washing the pot and bowl, she filled the pot with water and stuffed some rapeseed husks into the stove to heat it. Lin Lan then went out to the courtyard and saw Little Douzi in the vegetable patch, bottom in the air, pulling weeds.
Lin Lan went behind the door of the west wing, grabbed a hoe, and walked over. She ruffled his hair. "Little Douzi, go play now. Mama's going to till the soil."
Little Douzi looked up at her and pointed to the other end of the vegetable patch, saying in his high, childish voice, "Mama, you can dig over here, and I'll pull weeds over there. That way, you won't accidentally hit me."
Lin Lan beamed at him. "Such a good boy! Who taught you that?"
Little Douzi puffed out his small chest. "Great-grandma taught me. Dandan and I helped her pull weeds today, too."
Lin Lan gave him a kiss. "Such a good boy! Don't come over here, then. Mama's afraid she might accidentally hit you with the hoe."
"Okay!" Little Douzi ran to the other end of the patch.
After a few strikes with the hoe, Lin Lan found the soil was surprisingly soft. Only then did she remember that her two older brothers and her younger brother had already tilled it when they planted the rapeseed. They had even given the body's previous owner some vegetable seeds to raise into seedlings, but she had completely forgotten about them.
Lin Lan hoed away all the wild wheatgrass, dug small holes, and planted a dozen or so eggplant and chili pepper seedlings. Then, she planted a row of about a dozen red rapeseed plants along the edge of the patch.
She carried the manure bucket from the room to the ditch, diluted the contents with water, and carried it back. She then watered all the climbing vegetables that were starting to grow up the base of the courtyard wall.
Little Douzi bustled about behind her, calling out "Mama" from time to time. 'The poor boy feels so insecure,' Lin Lan thought.
After she finished planting the red rapeseed, she turned to Little Douzi, who was poking at ants with a small stick. "Little Douzi, Mama forgot where I put the vegetable seeds your uncle brought over. Do you remember?"
Little Douzi nodded and pointed to the east wing. "They're in that room. I'll take you."
"Come on, let's go have a look."
Lin Lan held Little Douzi's hand and pushed open the door to the east wing. Inside, she saw a canopy bed with peeling red lacquer.
An old, plain wood writing desk sat by the window with an old wooden chest on top of it. A few large wicker baskets were placed around the room, one with half a basket of fava beans, and another with sweet potatoes and regular potatoes.
Little Douzi picked up a paper packet from one of the baskets. "Grandma gave us these."
Lin Lan took it with a smile. "My good boy is so capable!"
Little Douzi beamed back at her. "Mama, you were really capable today, too. I'll tell Grandma when she comes over."
"Hehe," Lin Lan laughed dryly. "Mama was always this capable. You just never noticed."
Little Douzi grabbed her hand and looked up at her. "Mama, can you be this capable from now on? I don't want people to say Little Douzi's mama is a lazy woman."
Lin Lan felt a sting in her nose. She crouched down to look him in the eye and held out her pinky. "Mama was wrong, and Mama will change. Let's make a pinky promise. Mama promises to always be this capable from now on."
Little Douzi hooked his own small pinky around hers, and they recited together, "Pinky swear, for a hundred years, no take-backs." After they finished, the mother and son pressed their thumbs together to seal it.
Little Douzi threw his arms around her neck, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and grinned, revealing his little baby teeth. "Mama, you're so pretty today."
Lin Lan scooped him up and stroked his head. "Little Douzi is handsome, too."
'He's my son. My treasure,' Lin Lan said to herself in her heart.
Little Douzi pressed his forehead against hers. "Mama... Mama... Little Douzi is so happy."
Lin Lan beamed at him, realizing a child's happiness was truly so simple.
"Come on, let's go sow the vegetable seeds with Mama."
The mother and son went to the edge of the vegetable patch. Lin Lan opened the small paper packet to take a look.
She found that she couldn't identify any of the seeds inside, so she simply scattered them all onto the soil, gave them some water, and sprinkled a layer of wood ash on top.
By the time the seeds were sown, the sky was already growing dark.
Little Douzi rubbed his little tummy. "Mama, my tummy's hungry."
Lin Lan nodded. "Let Mama put the manure bucket away, and then we'll have that rice crust dish for dinner tonight."
"Giddy-up! Giddy-up! Time for rice crust!" Little Douzi yelled, "riding" the broom like a horse as he headed for the kitchen.
Watching him ride the broom, Lin Lan smiled, placed the hoe into the now-empty manure bucket, and carried them both on the shoulder pole back to the west wing to put them away.
Returning to the kitchen, she ladled some water to wash her hands. It was getting a bit dark inside. "Little Douzi, turn on the light!"
Little Douzi shook his head. "Mama, the electric light costs money. Let's wait a little longer to turn it on."
Lin Lan froze for a second, then burst out laughing. "Well now! My Little Douzi is so young, and he already knows how to be frugal!"
Little Douzi looked at her and began to mimic his grandmother. "Grandma said, 'Little Douzi, your... your mom spends money like water. You have to keep an eye on her. Make her use less oil when she cooks. And don't you dare turn on that light bulb the second the sun goes down. That thing wastes money...'"
The little boy wagged his finger as he spoke, perfectly imitating his grandmother's tone.
Lin Lan roared with laughter. 'If I could film this and post it online, it would definitely go viral,' she thought. Her eyes crinkling with amusement, she ruffled his little head. "You just wait, Mama's going to cook our rice crust dinner."
She ladled some water to rinse the pot, then poured the rice crust and the starchy rice water in. After putting on the lid, she started a fire in the stove to cook.
Little Douzi squeezed in to sit beside Lin Lan. "Mama, I'll help you watch the fire."
"Okay. Mama is going to wash the stem mustard."
Lin Lan picked up a large stalk of stem mustard that weighed four or five pounds. She broke off the smaller buds, peeled away the tough outer skin, then washed the vegetable and sliced it into pieces.