Read Big Breasts and Wide Hips for Free Online Page B

her thin, pale earlobe and pulled her up, then propelled her toward the door. With a screech, she stumbled into the yard and fell on the brick path. From there she watched her grandmother bend down to scrutinize the broken bowl, her posture now resembling a cow drinking from a river. After what seemed like a very long time, she straightened up, holding some of the pieces in her hand and tapping them with her finger to produce a pleasantly crisp sound. Her wrinkled face had a pinched quality; the corners of her mouth turned down, where they merged with two deep creases running straight to her chin, making it seem as if it had been added to her face as an afterthought.
    Kneeling on the path, Laidi sobbed, “Grandma, you can come beat me to death.”
    â€œBeat you to death?” Shangguan Lü said sorrowfully. “Will that make this bowl whole again? It comes from the Yongle reign of the Ming dynasty, and was part of your great-grandmother’s dowry. It was worth the price of a new donkey!”
    Her face ashen, Laidi begged her grandmother for forgiveness.
    â€œIt’s time for you to get married!” Shangguan Lü sighed. “Instead of getting up early to do your chores, you’re out here causing a scene. Your mother doesn’t even have the good fortune to die!”
    Laidi buried her face in her hands and wailed.
    â€œDo you expect me to thank you for smashing one of our best utensils?” Shangguan Lü complained. “Now quit pestering me, and take those fine sisters of yours, who aren’t good for anything but stuffing their faces, down to Flood Dragon River to catch some shrimp. And don’t come home until you’ve got a basketful!”
    Laidi clambered to her feet, scooped up her baby sister Qiudi, and ran outside.
    After shooing Niandi and the other girls out the door like a brood of chickens, Shangguan Lü picked up a willow shrimping basket and flung it to Lingdi. Holding Qiudi in one arm, Laidi reached out with her free hand and took the hand of Niandi, who took the hand of Xiangdi, who took the hand of Pandi. Lingdi, shrimping basket in one hand, took Pandi’s free hand with her own, and the seven sisters, tugging and being tugged, crying and sniffling, walked down the sundrenched, windswept lane, heading for Flood Dragon River.
    As they passed by Aunty Sun’s yard, they noticed a heavy fragrance hanging in the air and saw white smoke billowing out of the chimney. The five mutes were carrying kindling into the house, like a column of ants; the black dogs, tongues lolling, kept guard at the door, expectantly.
    When the girls climbed the bank of the Flood Dragon River, they had a clear view of the compound. The five mutes spotted them. The oldest boy curled his upper lip, with its greasy mustache, and smiled at Laidi, whose cheeks suddenly burned. She recalled the time when she’d gone to the river to fetch water, and the mute had tossed a cucumber into her bucket. He had grinned at her, like a sly fox, but with no sinister intent, and her heart had leapt, for the first time in her life. With blood rushing to her cheeks, she’d gazed down at the glassy surface of the water and seen how flushed her face had become. Afterwards, she’d eaten the cucumber, and the taste had lingered long after it was gone. She looked up at the colorful church steeple and the watch-tower. A man at the top was dancing around like a golden monkey and shouting:
    â€œFellow villagers, the Japanese horse soldiers have already set out from the city!”
    People gathered below the tower and gazed up at the platform, where the man grabbed the railing from time to time and looked down, as if answering their unasked questions. Then he’d straighten up again, make another turn around the platform, cupping his hands like a megaphone to warn one and all that the Japanese would soon be entering the village.
    Suddenly, the rumble of a horse-drawn wagon emerged from the main