Chapter 14

Zhao Wanwan never took a stance on such matters. After Li Qinghe's firm refusal, Mother Xu persisted, “We haven't properly thanked you for what you did yesterday morning. It would be right to give you a ride.”
“Really, it's not necessary.” Li Qinghe refused again. Her expression was cold, pushing them away.
Father Xu grew impatient. "We should head back sooner, the ox-cart is too hard, Changji's legs can't take it."
Watching the cart fade away, Zhao Wanwan murmured, "Sister, have you really given up on Young Master Xu?"
Li Qinghe, curious, asked, "Why would you think I have feelings for Young Master Xu?"
"Wasn't it you who risked your life to save him?" Zhao Wanwan said as if it were obvious.
Li Qinghe raised an eyebrow. "And didn't I ask the Xu family for ten taels of silver? Besides, why don't you mention Fourth Brother Zhou and me?"
"Ten taels, if you'd been willing to marry into the Xu family, it would be like moving money from one pocket to another, the same as a betrothal gift; in the end it's between two people. As for Fourth Brother Zhou..." She paused, "it seems he hasn't come looking for you at all."
Li Qinghe had noticed that long ago. As for Zhou Chengkang, she didn't know why, when she first came back he could hardly stay away, running by her place eight times a day; but since she bought the wasteland he was seldom seen.
She didn't believe he'd changed his mind. Others might not know, but she did: in his past life Zhou Chengkang had kept watch at her gravestone and never married, even building a thatched hut beside it to live in, there was no reason he'd suddenly shrink back now that she hadn't married him.
By the time they were talking, the two sisters had reached the village entrance. Back at home, Madam Qian was setting out the evening meal. Seeing them come in, she didn't look at Li Qinghe but told Zhao Wanwan, "Come in and bring the dishes."
Zhao Wanwan dropped her head and went into the kitchen. Li Qinghe went straight to her room to put the silver away, and as she left she heard Madam Qian cursing in the kitchen, "You foolish girl, I'm doing this for your own good. Why are you clutching money like that? Be careful someone doesn't trick it away from you."
At the kitchen door Li Qinghe saw Zhao Wanwan clutching her chest; her copper coins must have been there. Madam Qian scolded with a stern face, "I'm your mother, I've no other children. Do you think I'd pocket your silver? If you weren't my own flesh and blood I wouldn't bother with you. Qinghe has so much silver, did you ever see me ask about it?"
"Is it time to eat?" Li Qinghe asked casually, folding her arms.
Madam Qian hadn't noticed when Li Qinghe had come in. When she looked up and saw her, she quickly tried to suppress her anger. "Soon," she said.
Li Qinghe wasn't really hungry, but if she didn't eat now she'd likely be hungry again later that night. The family sat down in silence. Madam Qian handed a steamed bun to Li Fu and remarked, "The grain supply's been going down fast lately, I'm afraid we won't be able to keep up."
Then, as if remembering something, she looked at Li Qinghe and asked, "I heard you bought grain to show filial respect to your eldest aunt?"
That was enough to stop a proper meal. Li Qinghe put down her chopsticks, intent on arguing, when Li Fu had already snapped, "Don't you go starving her, will eating shut you up? Our parents live over there; even if we hadn't sent grain, fine, but what's wrong with Qinghe sending some? Why the snide attitude? You haven't shown them one day of filial piety since you came through the door!"
For once Li Fu actually lost his temper with Madam Qian.
Something about it made Li Qinghe inexplicably relieved. She still wanted to set things straight. "I sent the grain because my grandfather helped me cut grass. My eldest aunt didn't take it for nothing, the whole family helped me clean the pond for two days and even helped with the cooking. They earned it."
But Madam Qian wouldn't listen. Her eyes reddened as she told Li Fu, "Do you think I don't want to honor the elders? They just don't like me. If they hadn't refused to offer a betrothal gift back then, how would you and I have missed all those years and ended up looked down on by the villagers? Besides, when I left the Zhao family your parents helped arrange a new match for me, I insisted on refusing... If I'd followed their wishes and remarried then, you wouldn't be blaming me now!"
By the end she stopped eating and just sobbed.
"What good is it saying such things in front of the child?" Although Li Fu's tone was still reproachful, it had softened. "I'm not blaming you. It's right that our parents get a bit of grain."
"I never said it wasn't right." Madam Qian felt wronged. "I only said one thing and you went off on me."
Li Qinghe tore open the bun, stuffed some vegetables inside, pinched it between her fingers and stood to leave. Staying there made her not only unable to eat but a little nauseous.
If a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old crying with streaked makeup might inspire pity, a thirty-year-old woman in plain cloth sobbing in a strangled voice was an entirely different matter.
She'd been exhausted over the past two days, and after returning to her room she slept. The next morning Madam Qian had recovered and gone with Li Fu to check the fields. In the kitchen Zhao Wanwan was making breakfast. Seeing her come in she said in a low voice, "Sister, if you hadn't come in yesterday my copper coins would surely have been taken by Mother."
Li Qinghe glanced at her, picked up the knife and began chopping beside her. "You didn't hand them over yesterday; who knows if she won't ask again," she said casually.
Zhao Wanwan looked panicked. "Sister, what should I do?"
Li Qinghe smiled. "Figure it out yourself." In the end you had to learn to refuse for yourself. In her previous life she hadn't been close with Zhao Wanwan; she remembered her as industrious but timid, and after Zhao married into town she hadn't been seen again.
From the way they got along, Zhao Wanwan's timidity was true, but she wasn't stupid, she simply ducked whenever trouble came.
Zhao Wanwan fell silent for a long while. The sisters finished preparing the meal and were setting it out when a crowd passed by heading west through the village. Li Qinghe saw Mrs. Xu and asked with a smile, "Aunt, you're in such a hurry, where are you off to?"
Mrs Xu hurried on without stopping. "Someone's come to make trouble for the Zhou family, I'm going to see!" she called.
The Zhou family?
Seeing her rush like that, Li Qinghe guessed it must concern them. She remembered that Mrs. Xu's daughter Qingmiao was verbally betrothed to Zhou Chengwu. Frowning, she rolled up her sleeves and told Zhao Wanwan, who was arranging the food, "Don't wait for me to eat, I'm going to take a look."
The Zhou house, like the others nearby, had a large courtyard. What had been an open yard was now filled with people, mostly villagers, but in the center stood a group from outside the village, men and women, some holding sticks and similar weapons, clearly not there with good intentions. Leading them was an old woman who shouted, "Make the Zhou family come out."
That old woman made sure to tell the growing crowd, "We're reasonable people, we don't go making a scene for nothing. But the Zhou family has behaved outrageously! We're only here to reason with them, not to fight!"