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saw He Xiaoyong coming, he stood up and told him that he had stopped drinking. After that He Xiaoyong never dared to show his face at your grandpa’s again.”
    XU SANGUAN heard the rumors over and over again. He thought to himself,
These people keep talking and talking, and once they
get started, it never stops. Could it actually be true?
He approached Xu Yulan and asked, “Have you heard what they’re saying?”
    Xu Yulan knew exactly what he was talking about. She set down the clothes she had been washing, lifted her apron to wipe the soap suds from her hands, and stepped out the front door. Finally she sat squarely down on the doorstep and began to wail, “What did I do in my past life to deserve this?”
    The sound of Xu Yulan weeping on the doorstep brought her sons running home. They gathered around her, looking on with fright as their mother’s cries grew louder and louder.
    Xu Yulan wiped a handful of tears from her face and flicked them down to the ground as if she had just wiped her nose. Then she rocked back and forth as she wailed, “What did I do in my past life to deserve this? They say my three sons have two different fathers. How can that be? I’m not a widow, I’ve only been married one time, and I’ve never fooled around with someone else’s man. What did I do to deserve this? It’s clear they just have one dad, but people keep saying there’re two.”
    When Xu Sanguan realized Xu Yulan had gone to the doorstep to cry, his ears buzzed with anger and he shouted at her, “Get back in here! Don’t sit on the doorstep. What the hell are you crying about? What are you saying? You’re hopeless! What’s the use of crying about it? What’s the use of screaming like that? Get back inside!”
    One by one their neighbors gathered around the doorstep. “Xu Yulan, why are you crying? Not enough grain coupons again? Has Xu Sanguan been bullying you?” “Hey, Xu Sanguan! Where’s Xu Sanguan?” “I thought I heard him say something just a second ago.” “Xu Yulan, what are you crying about? Did you lose something?” “You owe someone money?” “Did something happen to one of the boys?”
    Erle said, “You’ve got it all wrong. My mom’s crying because Yile looks like He Xiaoyong.”
    They said, “Oh, so that’s what it’s all about.”
    Yile said, “Erle, go back inside. Don’t stand out here.”
    Erle said, “I’m not going anywhere.”
    Sanle said, “I’m not going either.”
    Yile said, “Mom, don’t cry. Go on inside.”
    Xu Sanguan stood inside the door gnashing his teeth in frustration.
This woman,
he was thinking to himself,
is a stupid fool.
You’re not supposed to air your dirty laundry, and here she is sitting on the doorstep crying for the whole world to hear, and
there’s no telling what kind of idiocy she’ll come up with next.
Xu Sanguan gnashed his teeth as he listened to Xu Yulan’s tearful litany.
    “What did I do in my past life to deserve this? I’m not a widow, I’ve never remarried, and I’ve never fooled around with another man. I’ve given birth to three sons. What did I do to deserve this? Why did I have to meet He Xiaoyong? Oh,
he’s
just fine, it’s not a problem for him, but what am I supposed to do? Yile looks more and more like him. There was only that one time, and I never let him do it again, but still Yile looks more and more like him.”
    What? Just that one time?
Xu Sanguan’s blood rushed to his head, and he kicked open the bedroom door and shouted to Xu Yulan on the doorstep, “Get the fuck back in here!”
    Xu Sanguan’s shout scared the living daylights out of everyone standing around outside, and Xu Yulan suddenly stopped crying and yelling and turned her head to look inside at Xu Sanguan.
    Xu Sanguan advanced to the doorway and dragged Xu Yulan inside, shouting toward the neighbors as he turned, “Get out of here!” As he tried to shut the door, his sons clamored to come inside, so he shouted to them, “Get out of