Chapter 32

Seeing Li Qinghe glance at the booklet, Yu Yan left the shop with two embroidery samples and the fabric, and said with a low laugh, "If you want to learn, I can teach you."
"Sure." Li Qinghe agreed immediately. In truth she didn't think she could handle such delicate work, but learning some simple stitches was reasonable, there really weren't any skilled embroiderers in the village.
Afterwards Li Qinghe carried the grain straight to Li Xingwang's place and didn't bring it home at all. Having arranged to start work the next day, she finally returned.
In the yard Zhao Wanwan was crouched beside the rabbit, teasing it. Seeing her, Li couldn't help but recall Mrs. Xu's words: even without a dowry, the Hu family would still have to marry her in. Actually, having a lackadaisical father wasn't so bad.
It was easy to imagine: with the Hu family caving to Zhao Tianfu's threats now, the higher Hu Yanxi rises in status, the more concerned about reputation he'll be, and the more accommodating they will be. Zhao Wanwan's life would thus be comfortable. In other words, although Zhao Wanwan seems pitiful, with both fathers protecting her, her fate is actually far better.
Hearing the noise, Zhao Wanwan turned and saw Li Qinghe. She smiled, “It looks lovely, Sister, shall we go catch some more?”
Then she glanced at the bolts of cloth in her arms. “Sister, did you buy fabric? Is it for a dowry?”
Li Qinghe hummed in reply, ignored the way Wanwan’s eyes clung to the cloth, and carried it straight inside.
At dinner that evening, Madam Qian chuckled, “Qinghe brought back some fabric today. Is that for her dowry? Could you spare some for your father? He hasn’t had new clothes in two years.”
Li Qinghe was speechless, since when did Li Fu’s lack of new clothes have anything to do with her?
Still, she wouldn’t mind giving some to Li Fu. “It’s not fine cloth; my mother gave it to me. I’ll cut some for him when I have time.”
Madam Qian guessed it had come from Madam Xu, who in her right mind would buy an entire bolt? Even if the whole Zhou household made new clothes together, they wouldn’t use it up.
Madam Qian wasn’t bothered. “Well, that’s all right. Wanwan-”
Li Fu shot her a glare. “Are you going to eat or not!”
Of course they ate. Some rabbit from yesterday remained, and Zhao Wanwan, without a word, tucked in eagerly. When she finished and cleared the bones, she was still savoring it. “I wish I could hunt,” she said.
The next morning, Li Qinghe rose early, took a knife and hoe, and went out to the fields to clear new ground.
From then on, whenever it didn’t rain they were in the fields. Between Li Xingwang’s household, her, and Zhou Chengkang, there were quite a few people; they worked hard all day without shirking.
Li Fu only came by occasionally, and Li Qinghe understood, he had his own large plot to manage. Besides, whenever he did come Li Kui would needle him, and the pair of father and son, Li Fu and Li Kui, always squabbled when they met, each feeling the other owed them.
After the autumn harvest there were several weddings in the village. Before long it was Zhou Chengwu’s turn to marry into the Li family. This match drew much more fanfare than his older brother’s. Matches where a groom married into the bride’s family were rare in Luoyue Town; a strict bride’s family might even ask the son-in-law to take their surname.
Of course, Li Qingmiao’s parents didn’t demand that. Li Qingmiao walked to the Zhou household, knelt and kowtowed to Mrs. Zhou with Zhou Chengwu, then the two returned to the Li home to pay respects, and the ceremony was complete.
Li Qinghe went too, helping slice vegetables and tidy up. She and Li Qingmiao were closer to each other than to the Zhou family.
Many people were saying that once this wedding passed, it would be the turn of the third Zhou son.
Sure enough, it was their turn. A few days later word spread from the Zhou family: Zhou Chengcai’s wedding was set for the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month, exactly two months away.
The Zhou family’s good fortune this year made many envious; last year they hadn’t been so prominent, but by this New Year they were the talk of the town.
It took Li Qinghe and the others a full month to clear the land, more than three mu in all. The new field, though with thinner soil, was level; they’d even cleared the small stones by hand. In another ten days they fenced off a plot and built a makeshift chicken coop. Once the New Year passed and the weather warmed they could begin raising chickens.
Winter had set in. Though others still worked outdoors, Li Qinghe thought it unnecessary and went to Li Xingwang’s to settle wages: everyone got fifteen wen a day. That was the going rate for casual labor in the village, fair to all.
Li Kui, his son and grandson, plus her grandmother and Mrs. Liu, five people in all. But Mrs. Liu flatly refused payment. A month’s wages wasn’t a small sum; she looked reluctant but insisted on returning it. “I can’t take it. We agreed I’d cook for you and you’d cover my meals. If people found out I charged you labor for cooking they’d laugh me out of the village. Besides, your sister ate too, would that mean I have to pay you for her meals?”
In the end the old couple Li Kui and his wife also refused pay. Li Qinghe shoved the money on them and hurried away.
A little over a month’s wages and the grain they’d bought cost her nearly four taels of silver; little was left at home. Fortunately the fish in the pond were growing; by New Year they could sell them and expect another sum.
With the cold outside, few people loitered. As she neared home, Li Qinghe spotted a slender figure in the distance; drawing closer she saw it was Yu Yan.
Since taking on embroidery work, Yu Yan spent her days either inside stitching or working in the yard and rarely went out. Even though she’d been there nearly two months, many in the village still didn’t know her.
Since the day she woke and asked about the road to the county seat, she’d never mentioned leaving again. Occasionally Li Qinghe heard Third Aunt say Yu Yan was polite and grateful, and shared some of the money she earned from embroidery with them.
Yu Yan was the first to speak, smiling cheerfully. She looked well and had a faint flush on her cheek. “Qinghe,” she said, “it’s so cold, where have you been?”
Li Qinghe answered casually, “Went to my uncle’s. You?”
Yu Yan’s face reddened. Li Qinghe was surprised; she had only asked in passing, not intending to pry, but Yu Yan’s expression suggested something was going on, it looked very much like a budding crush.
Not wanting to pry, she turned and stepped inside, smiling politely. “Would you like to come in and sit?”
“I’d love to,” Yu Yan replied at once.
Li Qinghe was momentarily taken aback by Yu Yan’s promptness; she had only offered out of courtesy and hadn’t expected such eagerness.
Recovering, she hurried to usher her in. “Then come on in.”
She led her to her room, which was much warmer. Li Qinghe had lit the brazier and brushed the ash from the coals. She poured some warm tea into a cup and handed it over, smiling. “You said you’d learn embroidery from me. I was busy these past days, but starting tomorrow I should have time.”
Hearing this, Yu Yan wasn’t displeased; she smiled. “Why don’t I come to your place? My room’s a bit cold. I’m not good at tending fires, my foster mother taught me several times but I still can’t keep it going. I’m not used to it.”
“Do you ever think about going home?” Li Qinghe added more coal to the stove; the more she fed it, the brighter the blaze became.
“I used to,” Yu Yan said. A smile lingered at her lips as if she were somewhere off in thought, then she came back. “I heard you saved Young Master Xu, true?”
Xu Changjie?
Li Qinghe had been busy lately; she would come home and fall straight into bed, with no time to dwell on the bitter events of her previous life, and she had purposely avoided him. It had been a long while since she'd seen or heard anything of him.
Seeing curiosity and shyness on her face, Li Qinghe’s smile dimmed slightly. “I did. How do you know him?”
Yu Yan grew more bashful. “I often go to town to deliver embroidered pieces. I ran into him a few times, walked back with him twice.” Her voice dropped. “Did you ever… have feelings for him?”
Meeting Li Qinghe’s look, she hurried to explain, “Back then you almost lost your life saving him, lots of people said you might have had a thing for him. But for some reason no match was made. May I be bold and ask why you saved him but didn’t ask to marry him?”
“Because he had someone in his heart.” Li Qinghe answered calmly. “What you can’t have always seems the best. That girl’s family wouldn’t agree to the match, and I wasn’t going to marry a man whose eyes and heart weren’t mine.”
“I see.” Yu Yan thought for a moment. “Thank you for telling me.” She produced a fresh silk handkerchief, embroidered with an almost-open orchid, exquisitely done. “This is for you.”
Li Qinghe took it, admired it a moment, then handed it back. “It’s too precious. You could take it and sell it for silver.”
Yu Yan pressed it into her hand again. “Keep it to fidget with. This news matters to me. Besides, when I hadn’t woken up yet you and Brother Zhou helped me so much, I ought to have given you a token of thanks long ago.”
They exchanged a few more words. Li Qinghe walked her to the gate and only looked away after Yu Yan had gone into the neighboring yard. She truly hadn’t expected Yu Yan to be connected to Xu Changjie, this girl hadn’t appeared in the village in her last life. Did he really have to marry his original match? Was waiting a year out of the question?
If she could, Li Qinghe would have tried to advise him. Yu Yan seemed all right, but she was an adult from the county, sharper and more worldly; Li Qinghe had said her piece, Yu Yan ought to be able to figure it out herself.
The weather grew colder. After that day Yu Yan did come by to embroider fairly often; Li Qinghe learned some simple stitches from her, and after half a month her work began to take shape.
One day the two of them were embroidering in the house again, with Third Aunt there as well. They traded the occasional village anecdote, it was a quiet, pleasant scene.
Just as the atmosphere warmed, someone knocked at the door, hard and fast, as if in urgent haste.
When Li Qinghe opened it she saw a surprising figure standing at the gate.
Xu Changjie’s mother.
She had met Mother Xu once before when she and Zhao Wanwan worked in town; since then they’d only seen each other from a distance. She hadn’t expected her to return in person.
And she wasn’t calm, she rattled the already flimsy gate with furious force. “Open up! I have business here!”
Madam Qian went to open the door. “Aunt, what’s the matter?”
Li Fu stepped out into the yard as well, frowning as he watched.
Her arrival plainly announced ill intent.