Chapter 29

As for the betrothal gifts, Li Qinghe hadn't insisted the Zhou family provide a fixed amount; she wasn't trying to be difficult, less was fine. After all, she was marrying Zhou Chengkang for him, and she herself wasn't short of money.
Li Qinghe smiled faintly. "No one mentioned it."
By the time they reached the Zhou gate, people from every household were slowly arriving. Li Qinghe and the others went to help prepare the food. Many in the village hadn't seen her much since she had been coming and going to town; when they saw her they teased and began clamoring for her to cut the meat.
Li Qinghe wasn't shy. She took the knife and began to cut, thin but large slices, and many village women who had cooked all their lives couldn't match her steadiness. Someone immediately praised, "Qinghe, you've learned well."
"If I hadn't learned well, they'd send me back home," Li Qinghe replied with a smile. "Just like that, one injury and I'm tossed aside."
Someone else asked curiously, "Working at the inn, do you get to eat white steamed buns to your heart's content?"
The kitchen hummed with good spirits; everyone was cheerful. Li Qinghe smiled, "No, not like that. There's a separate set of dishes for us. Sometimes the head chef messes up a dish and it falls to us to eat, but there are many helpers and the chef can't ruin everything, there's not much to go around for each person."
A woman's voice chimed, "I see, so you can only pick at the leftovers."
The crowd turned to look and saw a girl in plain cloth standing at the doorway; her whole bearing was simple, her face icy. "What's so boastful about that?"
Li Qinghe wasn't boasting at all; the others were only asking out of curiosity and making idle jokes, nobody meant it seriously. The girl's words were sharp enough to silence people.
A woman stepped forward to smooth things over. "Laixi, when did you arrive?"
The girl at the door was Qian Laiman's own cousin; speaking like that in front of so many made it clear she didn't like Li Qinghe.
Laixi smiled. "Just arrived and I've already heard you say helpers at the inn get all the white buns they want. How's that possible? The head chef might get one or two; if a lowly helper doesn't get fired, that's just luck."
"You're right about all that," Li Qinghe agreed, "but could you please move? You're blocking my light."
The mood turned awkward; a woman nearby immediately pulled her away, and soon the kitchen was lively again.
After that everything went smoothly: the bride arrived, the banquet began, and the Zhou family's wedding was carried out properly. After lunch people helped clear the dishes and tables and the celebration was over.
In the afternoon Li Qinghe went to feed the fish, and on her way back she ran into Qian Laixi.
"Oh, isn't that Qinghe?" Qian Laixi halted and sized her up. "Sure enough, a little seductress..."
Li Qinghe frowned at her; when she heard the insult she slapped her, sending her head to one side.
Qian Laixi leapt up in fury.
Before she could protest, Li Qinghe sneered, "Try saying that again!"
Qian Laixi clutched her face and began to cry, "You're bullying me..."
Li Qinghe crossed her arms and said, "If you can't speak properly, don't. A filthy mouth deserves a beating!"
Qian Laixi cried, feeling wronged. "How was I wrong? My brother went to town for you and hasn't come back, busy, busy, your wedding keeps getting postponed. If you're not a seductress, what are you?"
Ridiculous!
Li Qinghe asked bluntly, "What does his marrying have to do with me?"
She turned and walked away; her good mood soured. Passing by the Zhou household, Zhou Chengkang saw her and called out, "Qinghe."
Li Qinghe stopped and looked at him in puzzlement.
Zhou Chengkang came up and said, "I want to go into the mountains."
"Going into the mountains is dangerous," Li Qinghe disapproved. "Don't go."
Zhou Chengkang smiled. "Do you want to go? Shall we go together?"
That might work, Li Qinghe's eyes lit up. If he went with her he wouldn't head too deep into the forest, so they should be safe.
Seeing she didn't answer, Zhou Chengkang said with a smile, "I'll come pick you up tomorrow morning."
Back home Li Qinghe told Li Fu about going into the mountains. Li Fu was a bit displeased but didn't forbid it. He only said, "Stick close to Chengkang, don't wander off on your own, and remember to bring food."
Li Qinghe agreed. Zhao Wanwan came out of the kitchen. "Sister, can you take me? I want to go too!"
"No." Li Qinghe refused outright.
Taken aback by the quick refusal, Zhao Wanwan paused. "I swear I won't cause any trouble."
"Still no," Li Qinghe said bluntly. "How would it look for the two of us to take you into the mountains?"
Zhao Wanwan's face went pale.
One reason was Li Qinghe's sudden coldness toward her; the other was that the remark implied she had no sense of boundaries.
The next morning Li Qinghe took food and water. Just as she finished packing, Zhou Chengkang arrived. They headed toward the western hills, and by broad daylight they were halfway up. This area was sparsely populated, apart from woodcutters or people gathering mushrooms in recent days, few came here.
It was mushroom season, but people who couldn't identify them usually stayed away, pick a poisonous one and you might get violent vomiting and diarrhea at best, a serious illness or even death at worst.
"Still want to go up?" Li Qinghe put her hands on her hips. "Let's just wander around here."
Zhou Chengkang stopped. "Let's rest a while then."
When Li Qinghe sat down, he took a hairpin from his sleeve; it still smelled faintly of wood. He offered it to her. "Do you like it?"
The polished hairpin placed before her, his voice and gaze gentle and full of expectation. Li Qinghe felt her cheeks warm and reached out to take it. "I like it."
She examined it in her hands; Zhou Chengkang looked at the fine down on her fair cheek and felt a soft warmth. He said softly, "I'll carve hairpins for you for the rest of my life! If you don't like this one, the next I'll make even better, I promise you'll be satisfied."
They didn't continue climbing; instead they entered the woods. Zhou Chengkang carried a bow and arrows; after half a day they had shot four rabbits. The two larger ones were hit in the belly, the small ones in the legs, so small they hardly yielded any meat. Li Qinghe lifted one and suggested, "Why not keep them alive?"
Zhou Chengkang chuckled. "Suit yourself."
Beside Li Qinghe was a basket full of mushrooms; near the path he had also cut a large pile of firewood. After the autumn harvest, those with time went up the hills to gather wood for winter.
Many households first burned wheat straw; firewood was usually reserved for stewing soup or when someone was too busy to tend the stove and had to toss on a few logs. It wasn't that they were stingy, each family kept a stack of wood at home. For example, the Zhou family's wedding would have burned through quite a bit.
On the way home they also wounded a pheasant; Zhou Chengkang was pleased. "Actually, this is a great time for hunting. I couldn't get this many before; if my aim were a bit better, we'd have bagged even more today."
That was true, they'd encountered many animals today, though most had escaped.
Li Qinghe grew quiet. She remembered Zhou Chengkang from her past life, tending her grave. At first he could barely get by, but later the household had racks of dried meat and money was no longer scarce; he would even change the pastries at her grave every few days.
Seeing she was silent, as if lost in thought, Zhou Chengkang asked with a smile, "Do you want meat? I'll give you a rabbit. Or would you prefer the pheasant?"
Li Qinghe couldn't help herself. "At least take better care of yourself." After running all over the woods his clothes were torn in several places. She reached out and pointed, "Take them off when we get back and I'll mend them for you."
Zhou Chengkang couldn't help smiling more and more. As they talked, people came laughing and chattering down the slope; turning around they saw several men shouldering logs, hurrying downhill.
At the front was Qian Laiman, who hadn't looked up, carrying a billhook. When he saw Li Qinghe his eyes lit up, but when he noticed Zhou Chengkang carrying the wood beside her his smile faded. "Qinghe, you went up the mountain too?"
Li Qinghe nodded slowly, eyeing the pieces of wood the men were carrying with some puzzlement.
“Someone specifically wanted yellow wood for furniture, so we came into the woods to look.” Qian Laiman explained to her, then waved the men on to carry the timber away before turning to Zhou Chengkang. “Fourth Brother Zhou, are you chopping wood?” He noticed the rabbit in his hand and added, “Oh, can that rabbit be sold?”
“Not for sale!” Li Qinghe snapped immediately.
Seeing him set her off like that only made her angrier; his sister had given her trouble that morning, an unfair bit of trouble at that. And the way he’d asked sounded off, too, as if Zhou Chengkang’s rabbit couldn’t sell on its own and he needed to prop it up.