Call Me Daddy

“Wow, are these candies? How come they’re so pretty!”

Su Mingcheng was surrounded by a group of friends, watching as he took out the candies from his pocket, saliva flowing all over the floor.

The square candies gleamed in the sunlight like gemstones. After being held in his hand for a while, some of the candies wrapped in glutinous rice paper had become slightly moist, clinging to the surface of the candy, but it didn’t affect their beauty.

Children of this age not only craved meat but also sweets. However, at this time, sugar was also precious. Even the most ordinary cane sugar was hidden by their families. Occasionally, when guests visited, they would reluctantly use some to make sugar water.

During the New Year or family celebrations, everyone would also go to the cooperative store to buy the cheapest bulk sugar, which was far less attractive and flavorful than what Su Mingcheng held in his hand.

“Big Bro, did your dad bring these back from Ning City? They must be delicious since they’re so pretty, right?”

One of Su Mingcheng’s little buddies wiped his mouth, his eyes almost burning a hole through the hand holding the candy.

“Yeah, they’re really tasty.” Su Mingcheng looked at his friends’ envious eyes, his head held high.

My dad brought them back!

“The orange ones are orange-flavored, the red ones are watermelon-flavored, the green ones are apple-flavored, and the white ones are salty…”

Yesterday, Su Mingcheng had eaten orange and watermelon-flavored candies. There were many flavors here that he hadn’t tried yet. But before leaving, he specifically asked his father. He couldn’t let his little buddies ask him questions and he didn’t know anything. Being a big brother also meant saving face.

“You’re all my good brothers. If I have a piece of meat to eat, then there would definitely be soup for all of you. Everyone gets a share of these candies.”

He patted his chest, feeling tall and mighty, like the brave heroes in the stories told by the most knowledgeable elder in the village.

“Really, Big Bro, you’re so generous!”

“Wow, Su Mingcheng, you’re so generous!”

The crowd burst into excitement. Could it be that such good candies were really going to be shared with them?

“Come on, one by one, there’s enough for everyone.”

Su Mingcheng grinned, his teeth neat and white.

Don’t say that children have no self-esteem. He had endured a lot of grievances recently, but now being surrounded by the crowd like a star, Su Mingcheng swept away his previous frustrations. When he distributed the candies, he did so with great confidence.

Tie Zi also mingled in the crowd. When it was his turn, he lowered his head, pointed to the red candy in Su Mingcheng’s hand, and whispered.

“I want the red one.”

He thought if he kept his head down, Su Mingcheng wouldn’t recognize him.

Su Mingcheng picked up the bright red candy, held it out to him, but withdrew his hand before he could take it.

“I said I would share these candies with my friends. Are you my friend, Tie Zi?” Su Mingcheng protected the candies, speaking arrogantly.

“No, Tie Zi, you even cursed at him last time, and your mom had a fight with Aunt Mei Zi!”

“Tie Zi is bad, always talking behind our backs. We can’t give candies to him.”

Everyone chattered, and Tie Zi, being seen through, blushed and clenched his fists. “What, you wanna fight?”

Su Mingcheng showed no fear.

“Humph, just you wait!” Tie Zi looked around with fierce eyes, uttered a threat, and walked away.

“If you’re my brother, come with me!”

As he left, he shouted a few times towards the back of the line, calling out to his few little brothers. However, the line remained steady, and a few boys lowered their heads, avoiding Tie Zi’s gaze.

Those were candies. They only had the chance to snatch one or two during village celebrations, but they weren’t as beautiful as the one in Su Mingcheng’s hand. How could they bear to miss out?

“Waaah!” Tie Zi couldn’t hold back anymore, covering his eyes, crying as he ran back home.

***

“Mom, give me some money!”

When he got back home, his mother was beating the summer thin quilt in the yard.

“Why do you need money?”

Occasionally, a peddler would come to the village, and some parents who cared for their children would give them a penny to buy some dried figs or hawthorn slices.

“I want to buy candies too, to share with Xiao Mao and the others. If they eat my candies, they won’t talk to Su Mingcheng.”

Tie Zi cried miserably, his eyelids swollen, and his voice hoarse.

His mother understood. It was probably the Su’s kid distributing candies but leaving out her son. But just recently, they had a disagreement with Jiang Lianmei and her son. She felt ashamed that her child would do such a thing.

“You wasteful child! Where do you think money comes from? Do you think your mother is the daughter of the team leader, and your father is a salaried elementary school teacher? Are you dreaming of going to heaven?”

Tie Zi’s mother grabbed her son’s arm, took the wooden stick used to beat the quilt, and gave him several hits on his buttocks, venting all her jealousy towards Jiang Lianmei onto her own son.

Angry and in pain, Tie Zi’s cries became even louder.

Listening to the continuous wails, Su Mingcheng felt satisfied. Those cries were better than candies.

***

As the sun was about to set, calls for children to come home for dinner echoed outside every household. Reluctantly bidding farewell to his friends, Su Mingcheng walked back home, savoring the highlights of the day.

“Big brother!”

Su Mingmei squatted by the fence, playing with a small stick digging in the soil. When she saw her brother coming back, she happily stood up, trotted over, and asked for a hug.

“Little cat,” Su Mingcheng wiped his sister’s face with his sleeve, removing the specks of mud from her cheeks.

“Here.”

After wiping her face, he also stuffed a piece of candy into his sister’s mouth.

“Suck on it, don’t swallow, okay?”

Su Mingcheng felt his pocket, still a bit bulging. There were seven fruit candies left.

He was better at managing than his father. With so many candies left, it would be enough to keep him and his sister happy for a long time.

“Hmmm.” Su Mingmei savored the rich orange flavor melting in her mouth, vigorously nodding her head, like a little chick pecking at grains.

For such a small child, the candies, each the size of a thumbnail, were still a bit too big. After putting it in her mouth, she couldn’t even move her tongue properly. She could only make vague humming sounds, her small hands covering her mouth, afraid of saliva dripping out.

“Let’s go home.”

***

Su Mingcheng struggled to carry his sister for a few steps, then because he couldn’t hold her any longer, he put her down and held her hand as they walked back home. Just as he was about to step over the threshold, a tall figure emerged, blocking the light from the kerosene lamp inside the house.

Su Mingcheng looked up, and because the person was backlit in the darkness, his face looked gloomy, reminding him of the statue of the King of Hell inside the small temple at the end of the village before it was destroyed.

Su Mingcheng shivered, but upon closer inspection, he realized it was his father.

Strange, why does Dad look like the King of Hell? Su Mingcheng scratched his head, puzzled, until his gaze slowly lowered, and he saw the several exercise books his father was holding.

Oh no!

His body stiffened. He had forgotten about that.

Su Mingcheng felt a sense of urgency. Besides the twenty arithmetic questions, he still had an essay to write. He was slow at writing, and a weekly journal of at least one hundred and twenty words would take him three or four hours to complete.

Looking at the darkening sky, he pouted, almost on the verge of tears.

“Dad is a teacher. As my child, you should set an example and complete all the tasks assigned by the teacher on time. Don’t worry, tonight, Dad will help you finish all these assignments.”

Su Aobai squatted down and handed the exercise books to his son, sighing inwardly. In this era, children’s homework was still a bit less, but when the college entrance examination resumes, the educational situation should improve a lot. He couldn’t wait to see the emergence of books like “Three Years of College Entrance Examination, Five Years of Simulated Exams.”

(T/N: Three Years of College Entrance Examination, Five Years of Simulated Exams = yearly module and a collection of what and how to study, for every kind of exam.)

Seeing his son on the verge of tears, Su Aobai felt secretly pleased. Indeed, being a dad was awesome!

“No rules, no standards. Dad talked to mom and we agreed that from now on, you’ll only get candies and other snacks when you complete all your tasks. You’re the eldest brother, you should set an example for your sister, right? Dad believes you can do it.”

With that, Su Aobai reached into his son’s pocket, took out the remaining six candies, besides the one his daughter was sucking on.

Now Su Mingcheng really wanted to cry.

Dad! Are you the King of Hell?

He bit his lip, but in the end, he didn’t dare to ask.

***

Early the next morning, Su Aobai borrowed a bicycle from his father-in-law. Then, after drinking a bowl of porridge, his still half-asleep son sat on the back seat.

“Hold on tight.”

With his long legs straddling the crossbar of the bicycle, he placed his son’s hands around his waist.

The cold wind blew, and Su Mingcheng became a bit more awake.

Yesterday, Su Mingcheng stayed up 2 or 3 hours later than usual, so when he was dragged out of bed at 5.30 in the morning, he could hardly open his eyes.

This time he learned a lesson. He would never procrastinate with his homework again.

“Teacher Su, taking your son to school again?”

“Oh, Teacher Su, it’s so nice for you and your son. One goes to teach, and the other goes to study, keeping each other company.”

They met many acquaintances along the way, and Su Aobai stopped several times to greet them.

“Teacher Su!”

“Good morning, Teacher Su. You’ve been away from your hometown for a long time. It’s been a while since we last saw you.”

There were still many people in the commune who knew the original owner, and as they passed other brigades, some parents recognized him and greeted him with a smile.

He rode the bicycle around in a grand manner, and it wouldn’t be long before the whole commune knew he was back.

From the moment the first person greeted him, Su Mingcheng perked up. He sat obediently on the back seat, eagerly calling out “Uncle, Auntie, Grandpa, Grandma” to everyone they passed. His small hands tightly hugged his father’s waist, wishing he could write ‘father and son’ on his face.

“Dad, when you ride in, can you drop me off at the classroom door?”

Su Mingcheng knew his father wasn’t going to school today. After dropping him off, his father would go to the county town for some errands.

His little brain worked quickly. Even if his father wasn’t going to class today, it would be best if he could drop him off at the classroom door. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to walk the twenty-some steps from the gate to the classroom, but he wanted more classmates to see that his father was back.

Since the start of the school year, his father hadn’t returned to teach, and there had been quite a few discussions among the teachers and students at school. Some had even come up to him to ask if his father wasn’t coming back.

“Sure!”

Su Aobai understood his son’s little scheme. There was no reason not to agree.

So Su Mingcheng hugged his father’s waist and they arrived at the classroom door together.