Xijing.
In the streets and alleys.
The blazing sun hung overhead.
In the courtyard, two plump little mongrels were chasing a few old hens, their fierce yet puppyish barks rising one after another. A moment later, those barks turned into yelps as the hens chased them back, sending them scrambling and tumbling into the house.
One puppy was black, the other yellow. Even the black one's tongue was black, while the yellow one had a white face. Both were round and adorably dopey. Perhaps tired from running, the two little creatures gathered around the water basin and lapped furiously, their tongues hanging out.
Only after drinking their fill did they flop down beside their mistress's chair and fall fast asleep, snoring.
Beyond the curtain, cool breezes stirred and cicadas chirped incessantly. Swaying shadows of trees fell through the window onto the woman's lovely face.
Inside, an old film, Heroic Sons and Daughters, was playing on the television.
"...Open fire on me!"
The electric fan whirred.
With her beautiful black hair loose around her shoulders, the woman sat in a reclining chair, dressed in somewhat loose everyday clothes, gently stroking her swollen belly.
Third Aunt was hanging freshly washed sheets and bedding in the courtyard.
Of the two siblings, Lian Shuang and Lian Lei, one was doing homework and the other was taking an afternoon nap.
Junk King sat in the deep shade beneath the grape arbor, seemingly dozing with his eyes closed.
Zhao Lanxiang was there too.
With Yan Lingyun's delivery approaching, her mother had been run off her feet. Now she was working the treadle of a sewing machine in the shade, making baby clothes, humming a little tune with a broad smile on her face.
But a low cry suddenly shattered that peace.
"Mom!"
Yan Lingyun's voice rang