Big Breasts & Wipe Hips: A Novel

to her nose, as if its smell could determine its quality. Finally, she shrugged her shoulders and said in a voice that revealed her exhaustion, “Serve dinner.”
    Like a foot soldier receiving a general’s command, Shangguan Lu ran on tiny bound feet, back and forth, setting the table under the pear tree, where a single hanging lantern produced a murky yellow light and drew hordes of moths that flew noisily into the lantern shade. Shangguan Lu had prepared a platter of buns stuffed with ground-up pork bone and radish filling, a bowl of mung bean soup for each person, and a bunch of leeks and a paste to dip them in. She cast an uneasy look at her mother-in-law to gauge her reaction. If there was plenty of food, she’d pull a long face and complain about wastefulness; if it was a simple meal, she’d toss down her bowl and chopsticks and complain angrily that it was tasteless. Being her daughter-in-law was not easy. Steam rose from the buns and the rice porridge. This was the time that the family, deluged by the clang of metal on metal during the day, fell silent. Xuan’er’s mother-in-law sat in the center, her son on one side, husband on the other, while Xuan’er stood beside the table awaiting her mother-in-law’s instructions.
    “Have you fed the animals?”
    “Yes, Mother.”
    “Closed up the chicken coop?”
    “Yes, Mother.”
    Shangguan Lü bent down and slurped a mouthful of soup.
    Shangguan Shouxi spat out a sliver of bone and grumbled, “Other people eat pork-filled buns, but all we get are the bones. Like dogs …”
    His mother slammed down her chopsticks. “You,” she cursed, “what gives you the right to be picky about what you eat?”
    “We’ve got all that wheat in the bin and plenty of money in the cupboard,” Shouxi said. “What are we saving it for?”
    “He’s right,” his father pitched in. “We deserve a reward for all our hard work.”
    “That wheat in the bin and money in the cupboard, who does it belong to?” Xuan’er’s mother-in-law asked. “When I finally stretch out my legs for the last time and journey to the Western Heaven, do you think I’m going to take it with me? No, I’m leaving it for you.”
    Xuan’er hung her head and held her breath.
    Shangguan Lü exploded to her feet and stormed off. “Listen to me,” she shouted from inside the house. “Tomorrow we’ll fry fritters, braise pork strips, hard-boil some eggs, kill a chicken, bake some flat-cakes, and make dumplings! Why spread it out? One of our ancestors must have done something to make us suffer. We bring a barren woman into the family, and all she can do is eat. Well, since our family line is coming to an end, who are we saving for? Let’s finish it all off and be done with it!”
    Xuan’er covered her face with her hands and burst out crying.
    “You should be goddamned ashamed of yourself, crying like that!” Shangguan Lü shouted. “You’ve eaten our food for three years and haven’t even presented us with a daughter, let alone a son! You’re eating us out of house and home! Tomorrow you can go back where you came from. I won’t let this family line die out all because of you!”
    Not a minute passed that night when Xuan’er’s tears didn’t flow. When Shouxi wanted to have his way with her, she submitted weakly. “Nothing is wrong with me,” she said through her tears. “Maybe it’s you.”
    Without climbing off, he growled, “A hen can’t lay an egg, so she blames it on the rooster!”
4
    The harvest was in, and the rainy season was about to begin. Local custom demanded that new brides return to their parents’ home to pass the hottest days of the year. Most of those who had been married three years returned proudly holding the hand of one child, suckling a second, and carrying a third inside, plus a bundle filled with patterns for shoes to be made. Poor Xuan’er. All she brought home, besides her sadness, were scars and bruises bestowed upon her by her husband, the echoes of her mother-in-law’s curses, a pathetic little bundle, and eyes red and puffy from crying. Now, the most caring aunt is still no match for your own mother, so even though she returned with a bellyful of bitter complaints, she had to keep them to herself and put on the best face possible.
    As soon as she stepped through the doorway, her keen-eyed aunt saw right through her. “Nothing yet, I see.”
    That simple comment brought tears of pain gushing from Xuan’er’s eyes.
    “Strange,” her