In 1981, My Dad Used Our Grain Money to Buy a Cow

In the autumn of 1981, my dad did something that made the whole village think he was crazy.

He took the money our family had saved to buy grain and used it to buy a cow that hadn't calved in two years.

He paid 160 yuan up front and still owed the seller another 80.

My mom was so angry she wouldn't give him the time of day for days. The villagers all waited to see him make a fool of himself, saying the cow was old enough that it might not even be good for work, let alone have a calf.

But my dad refused to believe it.

In the first few days after we brought the cow home, we didn't have enough fodder, the shed leaked, and one person after another came asking to borrow the cow.

I thought that having a cow would finally let our family live well.

Then someone showed up and told us about the cow's past.

I was only fourteen then. I had no idea how much debt my dad's deal would leave our family with, or how much we might earn back.