Under the Hawthorn Tree by Ai Mi, Anna Holmwood

living.
    â€˜They’re probably from my father,’ she said frankly. ‘My father . . . his family were landowners. When it comes to my thinking, I’ve drawn a clear line between my father and I, but when it comes to my feet . . .’
    â€˜What’s the big deal with being a landowner? You need both good luck and skill in household management to amass land. Those of us without fields, who rent land and pay rent to others, we also have our place. I don’t like those people who are jealous of landowners and their money, they’re just finding any excuse to denounce people.’
    Jingqiu thought she was having hearing problems. Auntie’s ancestors were all poor peasants, how could she say such reactionary things? She was sure that Auntie Zhang was testing her, and it was vital that she pass. She didn’t dare to take the bait, choosing instead to bury her head in her sewing.
    Two nights of toil and Jingqiu finished Lin’s shoes. She asked him to try them on. He brought in a basin of water and carefully washed his feet, slipping them humbly into his new shoes. He called to Huan Huan to bring him a piece of paper which he laid out on the floor before taking a few measured steps.
    â€˜Too tight? Too small? Do they pinch?’ Jingqiu asked anxiously.
    Lin smiled. ‘They’re more comfortable than my mother’s.’
    Auntie Zhang laughed, and chided him playfully, ‘People do say “Find a wife, forget your mother”. But now, you—’
    Interrupting, Jingqiu hurried to explain, ‘I made these shoes to thank Lin for getting the walnuts for my mother, there’s nothing more to it than that.’
    Two days later Old Third arrived with a big bag of rock sugar and gave it to Jingqiu to give to her mother. Jingqiu started with surprise. ‘You . . . how did you know my mother needs this sugar?’
    â€˜You didn’t tell me, but did you stop others from telling me?’ He looked irked. ‘How come you can tell them, but you can’t tell me?’
    â€˜Tell who?’
    â€˜What do you mean, who? Lin told me, that’s who, said he could only get hold of the walnuts but not the sugar, and without the sugar the walnuts would be of no use.’
    â€˜Such a big bag of sugar . . . how . . . how much was it?’
    â€˜Such a big basket of walnuts, how much were they?’
    â€˜The walnuts were picked from a tree . . .’
    â€˜Sugar also grows on trees.’
    So, he was bantering with her again. She giggled. ‘You’re talking rubbish, sugar doesn’t grow on trees . . . does it?’
    He brightened on seeing her smile. ‘Wait till you earn some money and you can pay me back, fair and square. I’ll make a note of it. How does that sound?’
    Great, she thought, now I’m in trouble. If Lin and Old Third were working together to help her mother, did that mean she had to marry them both? She could only respond by laughing at herself again: Have either of them asked you to marry them? With a background like yours, it’d be a miracle if anyone ever wanted that from you.

Chapter Nine
    People say ‘once the scar’s healed you forget the pain’, and of course they’re completely right. As the days passed Jingqiu’s anxiety abated until she grew bold enough to talk to Old Third again. Auntie and Mr Zhang had left for Auntie’s home town and Yumin had taken Huan Huan to Yanjia River to visit her husband, so Jingqiu, Lin and Fen were alone in the house.
    After finishing work Old Third would rush over to help make food, preferring to eat with Jingqiu rather than at the camp. One tended the fire while the other fried the vegetables, making an excellent team. Old Third had perfected the art of making crispy rice. First he boiled the rice, and once it was cooked he scooped it out of the pan and put it into a cast iron bowl, sprinkled it with salt and drizzled it with oil, and then tossed the