It's difficult to herd cows in winter. You have to find grass for them, but the grass withers in winter and leaves only its roots. Some scant patches of grass still remained on the cliffs, but Red Apricot didn't want to go that far. She liked herding the cows by the river. There was grass by the river in the other three seasons but not in winter. However, there was a series of caves by the river and the cows loved the soil inside. Red Apricot had only recently found these caves. She herded the cows to the riverside. They chose a cave and bit the soil slowly. Red Apricot stayed with the cow Dahan. Dahan was their leader. As long as Dahan didn't run away, the other four cows wouldn't. Red Apricot had chosen a cave for Dahan. It was the best and biggest cave with the most delicious soil. Arriving at the cave, Dahan ate the soil with relish while Red Apricot leaned against her and dozed off. At that moment, Wang He came along.
Wang He was Wang Tu's nephew. When the serious Yuqiu Disease struck the Flower River area and killed so many people, his parents were among those who succumbed. Wang He was attending a middle school in the county, so he escaped the disease. His family had more than a dozen acres of land. After his parents died, Wang Tu took Wang He into his home and Wu Xianggui managed his land for him. Although a tremendous change had occurred, Wang He still went to the middle school in the county as usual. When his parents were alive, Wang He had returned home for holidays. This was the first time in a year that he had returned home following their deaths. As Deng Erpin, the second son of Deng Dajiao, also studied in the county middle school, they went to school and returned home together. They could have gone their separate ways at the bridge, but Wang He took a shortcut and went across the river to go home after seeing Erpin to his house.
That was how he met Red Apricot.
He didn't know her. Although they both lived beside Flower River, it was possible for a child from a rich family like Wang He to be unfamiliar with the daughters of the tenants. He knew the cow, however, because it was from his family. When he was taken to his uncle's home, the cow had gone with him.
He wanted to see who was leaning against his cow asleep. Besides, he found the image of Red Apricot sleeping very attractive. Fearing that he would disturb the cow and the girl, he kept quiet and held his breath, trying to tread more lightly than a cat. Dahan sensed him and raised her head, grinned to show that she remembered him, then continued to eat soil. He thought this was good as it meant that Red Apricot wouldn't be disturbed. But at that moment she suddenly opened her eyes under the gaze of Wang He and woke up. He was taken back but didn't show it. They stared at each other for two minutes. Then Wang He said, "You scared me."
"Why don't you say you scared me?" Red Apricot asked.
This time, Wang He wore a scared expression. "Your voice is strange," he said.
"Wang Tu said it sounds good."
"Yes, it sounds good and it's special."
Red Apricot laughed happily.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I know you're Wang He."
"This cow is from my family."
"I named her Dahan."
"You let my cow eat soil."
"She likes it. They all like it." She pointed to the cows on the other side.
"Did you pee here?"
"Maybe somebody else peed here earlier."
"People not only pee here, they also hook up here."
"Did you ever do that here?"
"I didn't but I want to today."
Red Apricot stood up and moved into the cave. "Come on," she said. She was bored, so she was willing to play with him. Wang He was pleasantly surprised. He was thirteen years old. It was natural that he knew much more than her, so he had more ideas than her. Red Apricot regarded it as a game, but he felt lust. Red Apricot saw this as great progress because she thought it wasn't easy for Wang He to feel and understand lust at his age. "Did you do such a thing before?" Red Apricot asked.
Wang He replied, "Yes. It's interesting."
Red Apricot took off her pants, and so did Wang He.
Afterwards, Wang He lived in Red Apricot's heart and became her first love. When she arrived at puberty, he occupied an important position. They actually did nothing that day as they were too young, but the pleasure they felt in the cave had been incomparable. Later, they looked for'ant lions' in the dust of the cave floor. Ant lions are insects that walk backwards. It is unknown who named them or why they are named so. Everyone in the Flower River area liked this insect because it dug beautiful little funneled pits in the cave dust which were as smooth and attractive as dimples on faces. On that day, they put the insects they caught into their mouths and ate them alive, laughing.
On the third day of the twelfth lunar month, Wang Tu invited nearly all the households on Avenue Three, including the tenants of his family and those of Deng Dajiao's. For Wang Tu, it was a day on which he said goodbye to the past and embraced the future, so he was extremely happy and laughed frequently. It was unavoidable that someone should have frowned upon the scene, and that was his daughter Peony. She didn't envy her father; she directed all of her envy onto White Peony.
On that day, the Wangs set off many firecrackers, and the noise lasted for fifteen minutes. Everyone present was almost deafened. The suona performers could be seen blowing hard, but no sound of suona could be heard.
Peony seemed confused to be burned by the flames of envy. She tried to raise her own voice above the sound of the firecrackers. For this purpose, she didn't mind twisting her charming appearance. She pointed at the tip of White Peony's nose with her index finger, which seemed nobler than White Peony's forehead in her eyes, and said, "Even if you marry my dad, you'll be a concubine forever! Don't think you'll be somebody when you stop being a servant!" She didn't know whether White Peony heard her. She left after this attempt to make trouble. She had no supporters there. She began to look for Wang He, thinking that he was her supporter. However, she was surprised to find that he was not there. Where had he gone?
Wang He was on the river beach looking for a crab with Red Apricot. Red Apricot didn't have to herd the cows that day. She was told so by Wu Xianggui, so she went to the riverside instead. She wanted to show Wang He the crab that she put under a stone not long ago after eating its big claws. She said she hadn't seen it for a while and wondered if it had new claws. This was an unimportant thing, especially compared with her sister's wedding. But since it was important that they should be together, this unimportant thing seemed important.
The river water was cold and the wind was fierce, but they did not feel a chill.
Wang He and Red Apricot made concerted efforts to remove the stone under which she thought the crab might be hiding. The puddle immediately became turbid. They had to wait until the water was clear so they could see what was in it. There was no crab. Red Apricot stretched her hand to search under the water. Wang He said, "There's no need to get your hands wet if we can't see the crab." Wang He was afraid of the cold water. Red Apricot said, "It moved." She walked to another stone. "I'm sure it's under this one." Wang He removed the stone and Red Apricot moved closer to help. This time, they saw the crab after the water became clear. Red Apricot laughed wildly and said," I knew it moved here! It has new claws just as I thought! They're small and pink like a baby's legs!"
Wang He said, "It's too early. You'll have to wait a year if you want to eat its new claws. Then it'll have new big claws that it can use."
Red Apricot said, "There are lots of crabs in the river. I won't eat it."
They decided to put the stone back and restore the crab's home. They stuck their asses up and put the stone down slowly. Suddenly, Wang He's ass was kicked. Looking back, he found Peony standing there in a rage, so he controlled his anger and asked, "What are you doing?"
Peony gave Red Apricot a hateful glance.
Red Apricot said, "I haven't offended you."
"You sister is shameless and so are you."
"Watch your mouth," Red Apricot warned her.
"You'd better be careful what you say," Wang He said.
Wang He was not on Peony's side. He was even pouring fuel on the flames. Peony slapped him without thinking. Wang He slapped her back. Peony burst into tears. What could she do except cry? Wang He was the only one that Peony could draw to her side, but now he was a traitor on Red Apricot's side. Peony was left completely alone and helpless.
She cried inconsolably and was as aggrieved as though her parents had died. Red Apricot and Wang He didn't know that she had a heavy load on her mind, and thought she was crying because he slapped her in return. Wang He was regretful and ashamed, but he was surprised that she was so sad. Didn't she hit him first? She started the fight. Red Apricot remained silent. She stepped aside to lift up a rock under which there was a muddy vortex. She caught a crab from the vortex. But she was distracted, and the crab pinched her. She grimaced with pain and inhaled deeply, trying not to shout out. Then she snapped off one the crab's claws and offered it to Peony. Peony knocked it away. Wang He picked it up, wiped the sand off it and gave it back to Peony. She tried to knock it away again, and Wang He dodged it. He turned his back on Peony and said, "Hit me and we're even, OK?" Peony threw two punches hard and stood up to kick him. Wang He grinned with pain. He was angry with her insatiability, but he controlled his anger and said, "We are even now."
He then gave the crab's claw to Peony. She stopped crying, took it, put it in her mouth and chewed it hard, as though it were White Peony. With the sound of chewing, she realized that the crab's claw tasted the same as tears. She decided to make friends with them after that, because she had vented her anger on the claw.
She turned to Wang He and said, "My dad is marrying a concubine and you're fooling around here." Her tone was still taunting but less angry than before.
Wang He said, "That has nothing to do with me."
Red Apricot was about to put the crab back, but Peony stopped her. "Give it to me," she said in a commanding tone. Red Apricot gave her the crab. She took it and broke off the other claw. Then she broke off the rest of its legs one by one and threw the round shell away.
"You're really cold-blooded," Red Apricot said.
"It's not your family member," Peony replied. In fact, she had regarded the crab as White Peony in her heart. She was very happy to break off the crab's legs as though she were breaking off her enemy's limbs.
