Chapter 1 Living With My Grandmother

• Originally, I had three older sisters. Alas, they did not even have the chance to see the world.
• After my mother became pregnant with me, the doctor informed her that she would not be able to conceive again if she were to have another abortion.
• I thought I was fortunate, but the next year, she got pregnant with my younger brother.
• Every time we had eggs at home, my grandmother would tirelessly recount the story of how she saved my life.
• “Back then, you were only eight months old, as scrawny as a kitten. You couldn't hold your neck up, and your hands would just flop onto your back the moment they relaxed. Everyone in the village said you wouldn't survive. At that time, I had three hens, and it was by feeding you their eggs one by one that I kept you alive.”
• She said that I could eat two eggs in one meal, and gradually, I was finally able to lift my head up.
• Perhaps because I lacked nutrition while still in my mother's womb, but my childhood was plagued by either fevers or coughs.
• My grandmother often took me to the clinic at the entrance of the village for treatment.
• She had traversed that path countless times. Carrying me in her arms, she hurried along urgently.
• All the while, she grumbled endlessly, “Had I known this would've happened, I would have starved you to death instead of having you constantly give money away. Once you've grown up, you'll have to pay me back double.”
• The doctor at the clinic prescribed an assortment of medicine and said to my grandmother, “The child is too weak. She needs nutrients.”
• When my grandmother was a child, she had experienced famine. Thus, having a full stomach was the greatest blessing in her eyes.
• Having lived eating simple pasta soup all her life, she naturally felt that there was nothing wrong with it.
• As she carried my practically weightless form in her arms, her words were as unmerciful as ever. “Your mother doesn't even care about you, yet you still have the nerve to crave good food.”
• The medicine was bitter, so I stealthily discarded a pill or two while she was not looking.
• When she realized that, she picked them up off the ground. Without even bothering to dust it off, she pried my mouth open and stuffed them in. “I spent a fortune on them. How dare you waste them!”
• My grandmother was from another town and only settled here after marriage. Her transformation from a delicate young wife to a shrew was spurred by none other than a difficult mother-in-law and a husband who treated her as an outsider.
• Perhaps karma really did exist, for my grandfather passed away before I was born.
• Nonetheless, her forceful personality and booming voice remained.
• My petite face crumpled. “They're too bitter.”
• Cursing away, my grandmother retrieved the sugar jar from the cabinet. “You don't have the luck of being a princess, but you act like one.”
• She scooped a spoonful of sugar and brought it to my lips. However, I shook my head. “No, thanks.”
• The sugar had been a gift from relatives who visited during the New Year and was usually reserved for guests. Our family did not have much to offer visitors, so I had to be sensible.
• Unexpectedly, my grandmother got angry again. “What else do you want to eat if you won't even have sugar? Hurry up and take your medicine, or I'll beat you.”
• I took a lick, finding the sugar exceedingly sweet.
• I held the spoon up to my grandmother's mouth, but she turned her head away. “I don't like it.”
• I insisted, and she could not outargue me, so she sprinkled a bit into her mouth. Her face was a mask of distaste. “It grates the throat. What's so nice about it?”
• But in reality, her ultimate indulgence was sweet treats after her lifetime of hardship.
• I then finished the spoonful of sugar with a broad grin on my face. My grandmother teased, “You're this happy from just a bit of sugar. When it's New Year, I'll buy you milk candies.”
• Since the doctor said that I needed nutrients, meat made a rare appearance on our dining table at home during those few days after having been absent for half a year.
• Sometimes, it was chicken, and other times scraps of pork, and occasionally, finger sized fish and shrimp.
• She had haggled for the pork just as the vendors were about to close for the day, getting it for a steal. As for the fish and shrimp, she caught them from the river herself.
• After she had cooked, she always claimed that she did not like meat and put everything into my bowl.
• Gradually, I rarely fell sick anymore.
• After starting elementary school, I shot up rapidly. All the villagers complimented me, saying I had grown into a beauty.
• That day, my grandmother worked as a laborer for someone else. I filled a cup with cool tap water and went to look for her.
• Linda Ludlow, who was chatting with her, declared loudly, “Tiff is becoming increasingly more beautiful. In a couple of years, she'll be ready to marry into a good family. You've raised her since she was a child, so her betrothal gift will surely be yours, huh?”