‘Only the smartest girl for my baobei,’ his mother said.
He puffed up every time his mother called him baobei – my treasure.
Everything he said to his mother sounded grander. His news visibly delighted her. Maybe this was what it was like to be a parent, thought Tongheng, to feel the joy of your child’s triumphs in multitudes.
After they ate the hot noodles, they sipped on the remaining broth, lifting the bowl to get every last drop.
As Tongheng suppressed a belch, his mother laughed. ‘How polite! You’ve really become a city boy.’
Later that night, she laid out a clean blanket on the kang, right next to her. He hadn’t slept that soundly in months.
A rough shake of his shoulder woke him up. ‘Huh?’ he said into the darkness.
‘Get up, Xiao Tong,’ said a gruff voice. Little Tong. His f
