Read Chu Ju's House Page 11


  After our rice Hua took me by the hand. “Chu Ju,” she said, “come and see the little chicks.”

  There in the chicken yard were three newly hatched chickens. Hua squatted down beside them and stared fondly at them, gently touching their soft yellow down. As I watched her, I promised myself that any money I gave would go for Hua’s and Nu Hai’s schooling, as much schooling as they wanted. I could live on very little. There would be no further new clothes. I would make whatever sacrifice was needed. Should I marry Ling, I was sure he would understand. Learning meant much to him, and hadn’t he been quick to give me a book to read; hadn’t he risked much for books? I did not believe that he would begrudge me any money I sent to my sisters.

  Nai Nai must have read my mind, for she said, “Though I said it would be a waste, your ba ba spent good money on educating you. There is no money to waste on schooling for your sisters.” She gave me a sly look.

  “I will find the money,” I dared to say to her. “The learning was not wasted on me.” I thought of the letter I had written to the orphanage and the reading of Quan’s letters and the book I shared with Ling.

  The following morning, when it was time to leave, the good-byes of Ba Ba and Nai Nai were stiff and formal. Ma Ma clung to me begging me not to leave. Hua, too, clung to me, and for a moment Han Na’s house seemed so far I could not see it, but then it came back into my head, and promising to return, I hurried off, looking back only once.

  It was still daylight when I reached the house that had been Han Na’s and was now mine. Though I was tired from the long trip, and though the memory of Ma Ma’s sad farewells stayed with me, I went at once to the little seeds and began to drop them into the warm earth. Soon the green shoots would push up, and in time there would be the harvest and then another spring and the planting of the rice and the little fish swimming about. When I paused in my planting to look up toward the hills, I saw Ling hurrying toward me, a great smile on his face.

  glossary

  ba ba: father

  budui: wrong, incorrect

  cha hukou: the checking of residence permits

  chi fan meiyou: literally, “Have you eaten yet?” Used as a greeting in China as we might say, “Hello.”

  dian-shi: television

  feng shui: the art of finding the most auspicious placement for something

  gong-ji: rooster

  gu zheng: a stringed instrument resembling a lyre

  hai: the sea

  majiang: a game played with tiles

  ma ma: mother

  ma-que: a sparrowlike bird

  mu: one sixth of an acre

  nai nai: paternal grandmother

  nu hai: girl

  qing-ting: dragonfly

  suona: woodwind instrument often played at funerals

  waiguoren: foreigners

  ye ye: paternal grandfather

  ying: eagle

  yuan: about twelve cents in American currency

  zai-jian: farewell

  THE CHINESE NEW YEAR

  The Chinese New Year is determined by the Chinese lunar calendar. It usually takes place in January or February and begins with the new moon.

  A NOTE ON HUA’S AGE

  Chinese babies are considered one year old when they are born, so one year after Hua was born, she was two years old.

  About the Author

  Gloria Whelan is the bestselling author of many novels for young readers, including HOMELESS BIRD, winner of the National Book Award; FRUITLANDS: Louisa May Alcott Made Perfect; ANGEL ON THE SQUARE; ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, winner of the Great Lakes Book Award; FAREWELL TO THE ISLAND; and RETURN TO THE ISLAND. She lives in the woods of northern Michigan. You can visit her online at www.gloriawhelan.com.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

  Also by GLORIA WHELAN

  LISTENING FOR LIONS

  BURYING THE SUN

  THE IMPOSSIBLE JOURNEY

  FRUITLANDS

  ANGEL ON THE SQUARE

  HOMELESS BIRD

  MIRANDA’S LAST STAND

  THE INDIAN SCHOOL

  The Island Trilogy:

  ONCE ON THIS ISLAND

  FAREWELL TO THE ISLAND

  RETURN TO THE ISLAND

  Credits

  Cover art © 2004 by Robert Crawford

  Copyright

  CHU JU’S HOUSE. Copyright © 2004 by Gloria Whelan. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  EPub © Edition NOVEMBER 2008 ISBN: 9780061975806

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  About the Publisher

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  United States

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  Gloria Whelan, Chu Ju's House

 


 

 
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