Round nightfall, the snowfall intensified, and before long our compound lay beneath a blanket of white. Mother picked up her broom and had barely begun to sweep the snow away when Father took it from her. His movements were strong and firm, and I was reminded of what people in the village said about him: Luo Tong is good at what he does. Too bad ‘you can't make a thoroughbred till a field’. As darkness fell, he seemed to grow larger, especially in the light reflected off the snow. A clear path opened up behind him in hardly any time. Mother walked down path and shut the gate, the metal latch making a resounding clang that shook the snowy dusk. Darkness took over, the only light a misty reflection of the snow on the ground and in the air. Mother and Father stomped their shoes beneath the eaves and shook their clothes free of snow; I think they even dusted it off each other with a towel. I was sitting in the corner no more than half a step from the pig's head, and I could smell its cold, raw aroma, but I was more interested in trying to penetrate the darkness and see their expressions. Unfortunately, I wasn't very successful, and all I could make out were their swaying shadows. I heard my sister's laboured breathing in front of me, like a little wild beast hiding in the dark. I'd gorged myself at noon; by nightfall, undigested pieces of sausage and noodles rose up my throat, only to be chewed once more and sent back down. I've heard people say that's a disgusting thing to do, but I wasn't about to throw out any food. Now that Father was home, my diet was likely to change, but exactly how and to what extent remained a puzzle. He looked so dejected, so docile and submissive, that I had an uncomfortable feeling that my hopes—of his return resulting in more meat on the table—were doomed to be dashed. But be that as it may, the event had created an opportunity to stuff myself with the sausage, which, admittedly, was long on starch filler and short on meat, although the thin casing did come from an animal. And I mustn't forget that, when the sausage was gone, I'd enjoyed two bowls of noodles. Then there was the pig's head, which rested on the chopping board, so close I could reach out and touch it. When would it find its way into my digestive system? Mother wasn't planning on selling it, I hoped.
I'd shocked Father by how much and how fast I'd eaten at lunch. Afterwards, I heard Mother say the same thing about my little sister. I hadn't noticed—I was too busy eating. But it was easy to imagine the sorrowful looks on the adults’ faces as they watched us, brother and sister, gobble our food like starving, other-worldly beasts, even stretching our necks and rolling our eyes as we tried to swallow partially chewed pieces of sausage. Our rapacious style didn't so much disgust them as cause them deep distress and self-recrimination. It's my guess that that was when they decided not to divorce after all. Time for the family to live a decent life, for them to supply their children with the food and clothing they deserved. I belched in the darkness and, as I chewed my cud, I heard a belch from my sister, something she did with practised familiarity. If I hadn't known it was her sitting across from me, I swear, on pain of death, I'd have never guessed that a four-year-old girl could have made that sound.