International Tutors' Magazine December 2018 | Page 20

INTERNATIONAL TUTORS’ MAGAZINE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018 UNCLE SIX BY FENG HUANYING Chinese people are always convinced that as human beings get older, their organs gradually wither away. Uncle Six, whose back is straight still, obviously stands against this law. He just celebrated his 94 th birthday. I wonder, what’s his secret that keeps him from aging? Top: Accompanied by some pop music, the candidates are learning new actions carefully. Bottom: The judges consider who is going to make the cut and how to compose the best dancing team. They look so far away and isolated. 20 For as long as my grandpa remembered, Uncle Six (he was the sixth child in his family) has lived in Xin Cun (Xin Village). Xin Cun is on the outskirt of the town of Daliang, where things never seem to catch up with the modern world. Jiefang (neighbors) never bother to lock their wooden doors; they spend leisure time together; children scuttle from house to house. When Grandpa started school in 1940, the Anti-Japanese War was still going on, and soon Uncle Six was recruited into the army like other poor but robust men. Grandpa recalled that after around five years, Uncle Six came back and was assigned to work in a liangzhan (grain supply station). It was also at that time that he married Aunt Feng. Grandpa said the only advantage of Uncle Six’s low-paid job was that his work ended early, which enabled him to pick up the children on time. If he by chance found neighbors’ children waiting too, he brought them home together. Then his little house became a “nursery home”, where children crowded and frolicked until parents returned from work. Grandpa said, “He was like a gandie (non-biological father) to children of the whole village.” My mom was one of his gannver (non- biological daughter). She once told me a story: “At the entrance of Xin Cun, there was a stall selling steaming hot, sweet- smelling buns. Our cravings never failed to show as we walked by. Uncle Six called us weishigui (little foodies) and joked about us being easy to kidnap, at the same time that his hand was reaching for his pocket, taking out coins and asking for some buns. He was the sweetest guy!” Years after Mom had moved out, she would still continuously hear about his kindness from my aunt who stayed in Xin Cun. “He has extended his business to help the children of divorced couples!” “He put three buckets of water in front of my house this morning again!” “He helped us catch a big mouse today, as fat as the size of his two palms put together!” What's his secret that keeps him from aging? 21 No one ever forgets to mention his staggering superpower of catching mice. The scene was always the same: residents in Xin Cun would find mice running around, then the women would scream, “Uncle Six! Mouse!” “Coming!” first would blow his