He now lies alone on the kang every day, utterly solitary, and only now does he truly realize he has lost his wife and child.
At that time, he found it very annoying when the child cried at night, but now it's not annoying at all. It's so quiet that even the sound of turning over is particularly distinct. Such days terrify him, make him regretful.
But what could he do? Since he was young, his family had always been ruled by his father. His mother lived just like Xiao Ping.
So he didn't mind. After the child was born, his wife was in poor health, but his mother said she too went to work on the fields right after giving birth to him. She never spoiled her like that.
So he accepted it. It was the time for spring planting. Without planting, how would there be a harvest? So even when he saw his wife becoming alarmingly thin, he only thought of waiting until after the spring planting was over to let her recuperate properly.
