Northeast: My Absurd Woman

In mid-October 1983, deep in a grove of trees in Zhangzhuang, Northeast China.

A gust of cold wind blew against the two young men and women who were "stacked" together.

"Zhang Changyao, be gentle, the branches under me are pricking my skin and it hurts."

The woman's flushed face twisted in pain as she reached out and grabbed the man, making him unable to move.

The man grinned wickedly, quickly ending the actions that he knew all too well.

He lay on the dry, yellow leaves and held the shivering woman in his arms.

A few days later, the sky was heavily overcast when I woke up early in the morning, and the snowflakes that fell had melted into water before they even hit the ground.

It landed on Yang Wuni's clothes and formed a small circle.

Twenty-three-year-old Zhang Changyao wore a small red flower on his chest.

His lips were pursed so much they could tether a braying donkey; he wouldn't lift his head or open his eyes as he sulked with his father.

The father couldn't raise the money, so he made him marry a woman he had never met before.

He led the donkey cart, along with the woman and matchmaker who had come to fetch him, into the courtyard.

"Zhang Changyao, Zhang Changyao, you married a woman but you don't dare to hug her."

"Becoming a father before even sitting in bed together, isn't that ridiculous?"

A few mischievous children in the village jumped up and down, clapping their hands and laughing at him.

"You little brats, if you laugh again, I'll go find your parents."

"I'll spank you until your butts hurt, let's see if you still dare to yell!"

Zhang Changyao, carrying a corn stalk for firewood, chased several children around the yard, beating them.

Eighteen-year-old new bride Yang Wuni blushed and pulled her clothes down forcefully.

Her slightly protruding belly pushed her pink floral jacket into a rounded shape.

"Go inside. What are you doing standing in the yard? You're not ashamed, but I'm embarrassed for you."

After chasing the children away, Zhang Changyao turned around and started cursing his new wife.

"Zhang Changyao, you've wasted all your education, how dare you talk to your wife like that?"

She's pregnant and she's not hiding it, so didn't you agree to it yourself?

He got a wife without spending a penny, and he still complains that she's pregnant.

You Zhang family are a bunch of bastards, none of you, young or old, have a good temper.

When I brought my wife back, I wouldn't even give her a sip of hot water.

"I've been a matchmaker for half my life, and this is the first time I've seen a family like yours."

Seeing that the stove and pots in the house were cold and no one was cooking, Wang the matchmaker left the yard cursing.

The shrill curses could be heard throughout half the village, and before leaving, he didn't forget to wipe the snot he had just squeezed out on the wooden gatepost.

"Pah! You eat at your wife's family's house and then you eat at your husband's family's house too? Aren't you afraid of stuffing yourself to death?"

Zhang Changyao didn't care whether the matchmaker was happy or not, and spat at her as she walked away.

He then dragged Yang Wuni into the house, gave her a shove, and told her to sit on the kang (a heated brick bed) by herself.

Yang Wuni pressed her bottom against the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and looked up.

The house didn't look like a wedding at all; it was just empty earthen walls on all four sides.

A finger-sized "wall sprite" was sticking its head up and looking at Yang Wuni from the fallen mud bricks.

The most eye-catching thing is the large mirror hanging on the north wall.

The large mirror has a narrow wooden frame with mountains and water depicted on it.

There were also several large, eye-catching red characters that read "Socialism is good".

"Do you live alone?" Yang Wuni touched the cold, damp mat on the kang (heated brick bed).

"And Dad, he said it's our wedding day, so it's inconvenient for him to stay with us. He'll stay at my older brother's house instead."

Zhang Changyao doesn't usually do housework. He wanders around the house, unsure of what to do first.

"Brother, do you have anything to eat? I haven't eaten for two days, I'm a little hungry..."

Yang Wuni licked her dry, cracked lips and looked towards the outer room.

"Yes, Dad made cornbread this morning. Let me see if there's any left."

Zhang Changyao rummaged through the chest of drawers in the outer room for a long time, making a racket with pots, pans, and tables.

Find a large, unleavened flatbread, break it in half, bring it into the house, and hand it to Yang Wuni.

Yang Wuni didn't say anything, her eyes were fixed on the flatbread in Zhang Changyao's hand, and she swallowed hard.

He took half a flatbread and stuffed it into his mouth, bite after bite.

My cheeks were bulging, and I choked and strained my neck when I swallowed.

"Eat slowly, there's still half left in the drawer if you're not full."

Zhang Changyao was so frightened by the situation that he frowned, clenched his nose, and grinned.

He never expected that this woman, who looked quite pretty, would be so hungry.

"Want some more?" Zhang Changyao asked, watching Yang Wuni lick her fingers.

"Hmm!" Yang Wuni grinned a little embarrassedly and squeezed out a single word through her nose.

"Is your family so poor they have no food, or are they not feeding you?"

Zhang Changyao handed the remaining half of the flatbread to Yang Wuni and asked her a question curiously.

"My father said that if I don't marry you, he'll let me starve to death."

He said I, a young woman, was getting pregnant and making him look bad.

Yang Wuni looked at Zhang Changyao with teary eyes, but her mouth didn't stop.

He ate half a pancake in three or four bites.

"Everyone is short of food, and you have such a big belly and can eat so much."

"No wonder your father was in such a hurry to marry you off." Zhang Changyao muttered under his breath.

"What did you say? Yang Wuni used to sneak into other people's houses to steal food when she was little."

Someone slapped me, and it made me deaf in one ear.

She didn't hear what Zhang Changyao said clearly, so she asked a question.

"Not only was she heavily pregnant, but her hearing was also impaired, no wonder she didn't want a single penny."

That old hag, the matchmaker, I'm going to her house tomorrow and give her a piece of my mind.

Zhang Changyao's teeth were grinding together, he wished he could bite the matchmaker right now.

"The kang (heated brick bed) is too cold. I'll go get some firewood to heat it up. What are you having for dinner tonight? I'll cook."

After finishing a large pancake, Yang Wuni had the energy to walk and went to work in the basement of the outer room.

"I know how to start a fire. You can cook some porridge, I'll have some, and you can help out." Zhang Changyao went outside to fetch firewood.

Yang Wuni rolled up her sleeves and went to look around the outer room.

He scooped a ladle of water into the pot, put the wooden lid on, and told Zhang Changyao to light the fire.

Zhang Changyao squatted on the ground and lit the stove pit. In no time, the kang (a heated brick bed) was heated up, and the water in the pot began to boil.

Yang Wuni ate a bowl of corn noodles, stirring them with a spoon as she poured them in.

In the blink of an eye, the bubbling cornmeal porridge emitted a fragrant aroma.

Yang Wuni looked at the layer of dark grease on the dining table.

I tried rubbing it with my hand, but when that didn't work, I had to give up.

Zhang Changyao drank a bowl of cornmeal porridge and then pretended that he was full.

Leaning against the wall of the kang (a heated brick bed), I watched as Yang Wuni finished drinking the porridge in the red clay basin.

"Oh dear! How long has it been since you last ate? Even a starving wolf descending to earth couldn't eat as much as you."

Looks like I'll have to do more chores from now on, otherwise you'll end up gnawing on the wall plaster.

Although Zhang Changyao said that, he had a smile on his face.

"I've never been able to eat this much, it's just that the river water has been cold lately, my feet are freezing, and I haven't been able to go down to the river to catch fish, so I'm hungry."

After spring arrives and the river water stops freezing my feet, I can feed myself.

"By then, I can eat fish and save on grain."

Yang Wuni was a little afraid that Zhang Changyao would dislike her for her large appetite.

She was afraid that if she were sent back, her father would get angry and whip her with tree branches.

"It's not that I think you have a big appetite, you can eat! I can support you and your child while I work at the grain depot."

Zhang Changyao felt a pang of pity and dug out half a large pancake that had fallen into the cupboard a few days ago from a corner, placing it on the table for Yang Wuni to eat.

"I'm all alone, I don't have a mother or daughter, my mother died a long time ago."

She died when I was five, and I don't even know what she looked like.

Yang Wuni shoveled the rice bowl clean, poured in a little water to rinse it, and then drank it.

Finally, having filled her stomach, she let out a burp and got out of bed to tidy up the pots, bowls, ladles, and basins.

They even took the time to scald the greasy dining table with hot water in a pot.

"Hey you, you can get ready tomorrow. Tonight is our wedding night, we need to go to bed early."