: Treasured Pearl

2

When my mom was twenty, Uncle Young was sixteen.

He had dropped out of school three years prior.

Mr. Young and Mrs. Young arranged a marriage for him, but they didn't have enough money for the bride price.

The few of them put their heads together and set their sights on my mom, who had always been their workhorse.

They arranged a marriage for my mom.

The man was an old widower from the next village. He was an idle good-for-nothing, but word was he'd made a bit of money in business before.

My mom refused. She would rather stay home and serve her parents for the rest of her life.

But she wasn't given a choice. Without so much as a wedding ceremony, my mom was packed up and sent to the neighboring village.

Mr. Young and Mrs. Young took the money and immediately put my mom out of their minds, throwing a grand wedding for Uncle Young with great fanfare.

My mom tried to go home.

But even though it was the next village over, it was still dozens of miles away.

On top of that, the old widower knew what my mom was thinking and kept a tight watch on her.

My mom was married for three years and never once went back home.

In the second year, my mom got pregnant and gave birth to me.

And just like that, my mom bewilderingly became a mother.

Because I was frail, sickly, and a girl.

The old widower would beat and curse my mom and me at the slightest provocation.

In my childhood memories, I can't recall the old widower's face clearly.

But I can always see my mom, carefully shielding me, her eyes filled with an indescribable tenderness.

"Treasure Bead, Mom's right here."

My heart ached for my mom, but her heart ached for me even more.

She raised me until I was five, and then heaven finally showed some mercy.

The old widower got drunk, fell into a river, and drowned.

After my mom led me through the funeral proceedings in the village, we were driven back to Mr. and Mrs. Young's house.

"Mom, Dad, Treasure Bead and I have talked it over. We'd like to stay here."

At the time, my aunt was six months pregnant and needed someone to look after her.

My mom had worked as a nanny and done farm work, and Uncle Young was working out of town.

It was the perfect opportunity for Mrs. Young to sit back and enjoy life.

"Well, isn't that just perfect! It's for the best if you stay!"

Mrs. Young beamed, slapping her thigh.

She immediately started ordering my mom around. "Zhaodi, go make dinner."

"Scrap, hurry up and go pull some vegetables from the field for your cousin."

That's right. My name is Scrap, but I'm also called Treasure Bead.

I'm a girl.

The old widower had said that since I was going to be married off someday anyway, there was no point in giving me a proper name.

Everyone called me Scrap.

Only my mom, after coming back from the market one day, carefully unwrapped a plastic ring from three layers of wrapping and placed it in my palm.

"I see other kids like these toys. You should have what other kids have."

"My child, Mom's going to give you a name."

"Let's call you Treasure Bead. What do you think?"

I was just a little girl back then, and all I knew was that my mom was very happy.

I held the plastic ring and babbled in agreement.

"...Ma... Ma."

My mom froze for a second, then gave a smile sweeter than the candy she would secretly slip me.

: Unregistered

3

Mrs. Young's little shop had long since closed down.

My mom and I lived in the woodshed outside Mrs. Young's courtyard.

At five years old, a child can vaguely tell who likes them and who doesn't.

I could clearly feel that Mr. and Mrs. Young weren't very fond of my mom and me.

But I could see my mom smiling more and more.

It was a feeling of security, of having come home.

When my mom was happy, I was happy too, so I was willing to call them Mr. and Mrs. Young.

But they didn't treat my mom and me like people.

My mom had to get up at the crack of dawn to cook for the whole family.

After taking my cousin to school, she also had to take care of the pregnant Mrs. Young.

Of course, my mom also had to tend to the family's fields.

Going to the market to sell vegetables and fruit was also up to my mom.

Every day, my mom would go to the market full of enthusiasm and return just as enthusiastically with a gift for me.

Sometimes, she would meticulously count out how much money she'd made that day and then teach me how to use an abacus.

"Treasure Bead, you don't have to learn anything else, but you absolutely must learn this."

"Once you've learned this, you'll be able to make a lot of money."

"Really?"

I looked at Mom with adoration, and she nodded solemnly.

"Then when I make money, I'll definitely spend it on you."

Sometimes she would buy me a few candies or pastries.

But most of the time, these things would be intercepted by the sharp-eyed Mrs. Young.

Then she would give them all to my cousin to eat.

Later, my mom learned to wrap the pastries in three or four layers, tuck them inside her clothes, and bring them back to me.

I was little back then, so all I cared about was eating the pastries, which were always warm.

Sometimes she would tell me about the books she saw at the bookstore in Crestwood.

She couldn't read, but she was slowly learning.

I could see the light shining in my mom's eyes as she described these things.

She wasn't the same person she was at home.

In those moments, she was radiant.

My mom would never know.

Long before, she had already inspired her daughter with her resilience.

I asked my mom if I could go to school.

My mom froze for a moment, then her eyes instantly lit up.

"Of course, Treasure Bead! How could I have forgotten about sending you to school?"

"What I regret most is that I never even finished elementary school, so I can't teach you myself."

"But don't you worry. I'll make sure you get to go to school."

I nodded firmly.

There was only one elementary school in the village, and it wasn't very strict about age requirements.

During the busy farming season, some parents would even send their four-year-olds to school.

But my mom and I had overlooked one important problem.

I didn't have a household registration.

Back when I was born, because I was a girl, the old widower's face had immediately turned cold.

He couldn't even be bothered to give me a name, so why would he have registered my birth?

So to this day, I was still an unregistered person.

I could only audit classes; I couldn't officially enroll.

My mom was so anxious that she stopped going to the market, spending every day asking around the village how to get me registered.

Eventually, she found out that she had to take the required documents to Crestwood to get it processed.

Without a second thought, my mom rushed to Crestwood.

: Her Name Is Baozhu

4

Once my mom started to focus on me, she inevitably paid less attention to my aunt and grandmother.

In my eyes, she was still just as attentive.

It was just that her focus had shifted from them to me.

My grandmother, Mrs. Young, treated my mom like a workhorse, but my mom would just grit her teeth and bear it.

But Mrs. Young couldn't stand the idea of my mom also having to pay for my education.

"Jodie, what's the point of a girl studying so much? She's going to get married someday anyway."

Sylvia chimed in, cracking melon seeds as she lay tucked in bed.

"Exactly, Sister. It's enough that we have Wyatt in school. Sending a girl is just a waste of money."

"If you have that kind of spare cash, you'd be better off using it to support Mom and Dad."

My mom had been obedient her whole life.

She could endure being mistreated herself, but she couldn't bear to see her own daughter suffer the same.

She immediately straightened her spine.

"Mom, Sylvia, that's where you're both mistaken."

"Since I never had a proper education, I want my Treasure Bead to study more so she won't be at a disadvantage later on."

"Besides, the government mandates that children must go to school now. It's… what's it called… an 'obligation'!"

"It's free. It doesn't cost any money."

Seeing they couldn't win the argument against my mom, the two of them clicked their tongues in contempt.

"Been to Crestwood a few times and now you think you're some kind of intellectual?"

"I don't care what nonsense you're spewing. In any case, don't even think about taking a single penny from this family for it."

"And another thing, Scrap is living here, after all. There's no shortage of chores for her to do!"

Mrs. Young had made herself so clear that my mom, no matter how slow she might be, finally got the message.

They wanted another source of free labor.

My mom was on the verge of throwing down her work.

"No!"

"Treasure Bead isn't well. She can't do hard labor."

"Besides, she has to study. This kind of work isn't for her."

Sylvia patted Mrs. Young's shoulder in a show of comfort, her voice dripping with perfectly-pitched sarcasm.

"Oh, Mom, don't be so hard on Sister."

"Scrap is Sister's precious little treasure, you know. She's going to get official household registration and everything. It's not our place to say anything, is it?"

"Sister's really changed since she got married. Got a real sharp tongue on her now. All this talk about 'the country' and 'the world'... And Scrap is just so precious and delicate, isn't she?"

Hearing this, Mrs. Young got so angry she threw down the melon seeds she was holding.

"Jodie Shaw, are you an idiot?! Why would you get household registration for a burden?"

"You could just find someone to give her away to. You might even get a few hundred bucks for her."

"And getting her registered, you think that's free?!"

"It is free!"

My mom was so furious she slammed the clothes she was washing back into the basin.

"I'll say it again! My daughter's name is Treasure Bead, Pearl Shaw! And I am absolutely getting her registered!"

"I don't care whether you agree or not! My daughter is not only getting her registration, she's going to college and she's going to make a fortune!"

The two of them were so stunned by my mom's sudden ferocity that they fell silent.

Seething with anger, my mom headed to the elementary school to pick me up.