Chapter 12

Li Fu's palm-leaf fan rustled loudly; he was clearly furious. After a few more waves he got up and went into the kitchen and said to Li Qinghe, who was nibbling on a bun, "Are you really set on the Zhou family? Don't say I didn't warn you, you'll be waiting a long time over there; don't end up an old maid. Otherwise you'd better behave and let me arrange a match. I'm your father; I wouldn't harm you."
Li Qinghe wasn't fazed by Madam Qian's few words; Li Fu hurried over and couldn't help blurting, "The Zhou family never said they'd take you in, where did you hear that?"
Through the wall she glared out at the courtyard. Li Qinghe frowned. "Father, I'm only fourteen, I'll be fifteen after the new year. In the village girls marry at eighteen; why are you in such a hurry to marry me off?"
Li Fu realized he might indeed be rushing, though he wouldn't admit it in front of his daughter. "Still, you shouldn't dawdle. Getting things arranged earlier won't hurt you."
Li Qinghe shook her head. "I don't want to marry now." She glanced outside and asked quietly, "Father, did Wanwan's uncle return the money?"
Who doesn't know how to deflect trouble elsewhere.
Madam Qian didn't want Li Fu to keep bringing up the money she had lent out and use her marriage as a bargaining point, did that mean she couldn't mention it again?
Sure enough Li Fu's face darkened instantly; he fanned himself and went outside. Soon Madam Qian's soft explanations could be heard from the yard.
Zhao Wanwan cowered in the house like a quail; hearing Madam Qian crying, she didn't dare show herself.
When Li Qinghe finished eating and went out, Madam Qian was in the middle of a sorrowful fit of crying, hiccuping and unable to get her words out. Li Fu was comforting her.
It was true: the woman he had loved since youth. Even if she'd done wrong, once she cried he couldn't bear it.
The next morning Li Qinghe changed into work clothes, grabbed a knife, and went out to the wasteland. She planned to cut the grass around the pond first, then go down and clear it out. In her previous life she had been used to this work, but she had forgotten how rusting it felt now. Half an hour in she was exhausted, her waist and back aching, her palms sore. She had spent the past two years helping in a town kitchen and hadn't worked the fields; her hands were still soft, and the labor soon brought blisters.
She opened her hands and stared at the reddened palms. Bending over, she resumed cutting. After a while, when she looked up, she found an old man standing a short distance in front of her, he had appeared without her noticing. She froze. "Grandfather."
The person who came was her grandfather, though he hadn't spoken to her in a long time. Because Li Fu insisted on marrying into the Qian family, the two elders had moved to her eldest uncle's house and hadn't set foot in Li Fu's home since.
Li Kui nodded, stepped forward and asked in a deep voice, "I heard from your third granduncle that you bought ten mu of land here?"
Remembering that the old man had even gone to tell Li Fu not to force her into marriage, Li Qinghe felt her heart soften. She pointed around, "It's this patch. I want to clear out the little pond and stock it with fingerlings to raise fish."
Li Kui looked surprised, bent over to inspect the pond, and asked, "Do you think it will work?"
She wasn't sure herself. "You'll only know if you try."
Li Kui nodded, bent down and began chopping the larger trees beside her. Pointing to a small sapling, he said, "This one's a peach tree, don't cut it. Leave it; when it fruits it'll have sweet peaches."
Li Qinghe watched him work efficiently but knew he wasn't young. "Grandfather, I can do it myself," she said.
"I need to get my joints moving, doing a bit of work will do me good." Li Kui didn't look up as he warned, "A girl working outside should wear a straw hat, don't let your face get sunburned and dark, that's not a pretty look." His tone was disapproving.
A smile tugged at Li Qinghe's mouth. "I know."
There was a spring in the pond and the water was sweet, so they didn't need to bring water. When it came time to eat, Li Qinghe dropped her knife. "Grandfather, I'll get your food."
"No need." Li Kui grunted roughly. "I won't eat your family's food. I'll go home and eat later."
He probably meant he wouldn't eat Li Fu's cooking.
Sure enough, after he'd eaten he came back. When dusk fell and he headed home he added, "I'll come again tomorrow." It was impossible to refuse him.
But this couldn't go on; the old man came to help with the work then went home to eat, and her aunt would take offense. They chopped for two days and the result was pleasing, the clearing was more than half done around the pond.
It happened to be market day. Li Qinghe had Zhou Chengkang take people into town and buy twenty jin of grain. They didn't bring it home but delivered it straight to Li Kui.
They arrived at midday. Aunt Liu was setting the meal. There was a big tree in their yard, and lunch was laid out on the stone table beneath it. She said, "The weather's turned chilly and people seem hungrier. Our grain has been running down fast; there are still more than half a month until the autumn harvest, who knows if we'll make it."
Eldest uncle Li Xingwang scolded her, "Too much worrying. You won't starve."
It was at that moment Li Qinghe stepped into the yard, carrying the sack of rice. "Grandfather, granny, uncle, aunt, brother Qingyuan." After calling them in turn, she set the sack down at the kitchen door and smiled apologetically, "Grandfather helped me chop trees, but I can't make him a meal. I'm sorry to trouble auntie to take care of it."
Aunt Liu smiled broadly. "You shouldn't say that." Though she spoke modestly, her hands accepted the grain without hesitation.
Li Qinghe replied gently, "You helped me, so I should be the one embarrassed." Not for any other reason, the old man had come to live with her, and she just hoped he'd be treated kindly.
Aunt Liu opened the sack; her eyes lit up. As if remembering something, she said, "I heard you're clearing the pond. Tomorrow I'll have your uncle and brother help, and I'll bring the food. The pond isn't big, two or three days and it'll be done."
Li Qinghe was surprised. "Are you sure? That's too much."
"I'm embarrassed too," Aunt Liu said, picking up the grain. "I won't take it for nothing, it's settled then. I'll bring it in."
Those at the table watched the exchange without objecting, and Li Xingwang even invited her to join them.
Having help made a real difference. In just three days the pond was cleared and all the surrounding weeds tidied up. Li Qinghe was ready to introduce the fingerlings.
She had been thinking about it for a while; others might not know where to find fingerlings, but the fish seller who came to market surely would.
But before that, she planned to go to the Sun family in town to help with cooking. On the fifth day of the month, just before dawn, Li Qinghe woke Zhao Wanwan. It was still early; without telling anyone, the two slipped out of the town chiefing to town together.
Rounding a dip in the hills, they suddenly heard a man's cry of pain ahead. Zhao Wanwan went pale and clutched Li Qinghe's arm. Li Qinghe, too, felt a jolt of alarm; she stepped closer and, in the faint light, made out the bluish long robe. A sudden recognition hit her, Xu Changjie!
The blue robe was mottled with blood; he lay on the ground crying out in pain. From the traces on the hillside they could tell he'd crawled up, and he'd been beaten so badly, who had he angered?