Chapter 57

By then everyone was actually hungry. They couldn't help swallowing as they looked at the table laden with fragrant, appetizing dishes. Li Qinghe had worked at the tavern for two years; sometimes Chef Chen would offer a tip or two, and after watching it day in and day out she'd naturally learned how to cook.
Mrs. Zhou had also set out wine; each person served a bowl. She herself didn't pick up any chopsticks, so if anyone beneath her wanted to eat, they'd have to hold their tongues.
She cleared her throat lightly. "It's the New Year; it's rare for the family to sit together. Before we eat, I have a few things to say."
Everyone looked up, turning to her.
The Zhou siblings needn't be mentioned; the three new daughters-in-law didn't dare talk back to Mrs. Zhou. No matter what they thought inside, outwardly they wore serious expressions.
"You've no doubt heard about the Qian family the other day. I only hope you don't grow up to be that kind of scoundrel."
Everyone went solemn and hurriedly said, "We won't."
Mrs. Zhou nodded. "Looking at how you've managed these past six months, I've seen you do well. So after this year's autumn harvest, each of you will give me fifty catties of grain every year."
The room, already quiet, fell so still you could hear a pin drop. Zhang Haiyao and Meihua exchanged glances, while Granny Liu had already furrowed her brow. "Sister," she said, "let me say something fair. You're still young, making your child start repaying you already, isn't that a bit much...?"
Mrs. Zhou raised a hand to stop her. "This is our Zhou family's business. If they have complaints, they should voice them themselves. It's not your place as an outsider to speak."
At that she went a little pale. "I thought that by sitting at this table you'd treat me like family. I didn't expect I couldn't even say a word. If that's the case, then I..." She rose abruptly and turned for the door, clearly angry.
Just as she was stepping over the threshold, Mrs. Zhou spoke: "You've been a guest in my house; it's the eldest who's responsible for providing for you. Either follow my example and have him give you fifty catties of grain each year."
What can fifty catties of grain actually do?
Granny Liu had expected Mrs. Zhou to beg her to stay, to say something to let her save face; she didn't expect her to be so firm. With no way to save face, she had no choice but to step outside.
Meihua, seeing this, exclaimed, "Mother," and rose to follow.
She ran to the doorway. Mrs. Zhou said in a low voice, "Sister-in-law may leave because she never was one of us. If you go, you can take her and get out of my Zhou family."
Eldest Brother Zhou hurriedly stood and patted Mrs. Zhou's shoulder. "Mother, it's the New Year, don't be angry."
Mrs. Zhou brushed his hand away and said solemnly, "I raised you when you were small; now you should provide for my old age, shouldn't you? Fifty catties a year is not much. You run off and make this fuss, do you think because people left the matter is done? If you go live with them at the Liu's, I will not ask anything of you. Just like with Second, leave your land to me and you won't have to give this grain."
"We'll give it," Zhang Haiyao said suddenly. "Mother, we're willing to. It's right to provide for you in your old age. And our sister-in-law, she will certainly agree as well."
Li Qinghe nodded, "We are willing to provide."
That made Meihua, who had been planning to leave, look particularly petty. Her face soured. "Providing for mother could be discussed. If you've all agreed, I have no reason not to agree as well. It's just that my mother, "
Granny Liu had only herself to blame!
After a moment, Mrs. Zhou spoke. "Send one plate of these dishes over to her."
After that, the mood at the table grew somewhat heavy; fortunately the food was good, and everyone focused on eating.
As the dishes on the table gradually dwindled, Mrs. Zhou suddenly said, "It's not that I'm trying to be mean to her; it's that her stirring things up makes Eldest's life difficult."
Meihua kept her head down. Mrs. Zhou looked at her: "You should have your own judgment, your life is yours to live. Is Eldest worse than your previous man?"
Meihua's face flushed and then slowly went pale. Her previous husband had always been sickly, bedridden and half dead, lingering for years before he finally died. She had tended to him endlessly. Eldest Brother Zhou was kind and treated her well, and he gave her all the money he earned, such a thing was rare in the whole village. She kept her head lowered, seeming to be deep in thought.
After the meal was finished, Li Qinghe helped clear the bowls and chopsticks before going home.
When the two returned, it was already late. There weren't many fish left in the pond now, so they fed them on the way back. The neighbor's chickens had been fed earlier, so there was nothing to tend to today.
After Zhou Chengkang came in, he first lit the brazier and the room gradually grew warm. On New Year's Eve they were keeping watch; Li Qinghe took out the shoe soles to mend, and the man opposite helped her sort the embroidery threads, cozy and hushed, utterly peaceful.
Night deepened outside, and he asked, "Are you hungry?"
To be fair, although there were plenty of dishes today, there were also many people to feed, so Li Qinghe hadn't eaten much. Besides, she wasn't especially hungry by nature, at his question she suddenly found that she was.
Zhou Chengkang smiled. "I'll go make you some noodles."
"All right." Li Qinghe put down her needle and thread. "Let's do it together."
They went to the kitchen, kneaded the dough and let it rest, and even stir-fried two small dishes. After half an hour they carried the finished food back to the room and sat facing one another in the warm, cozy room.
Li Qinghe ate her noodles and watched the man opposite, a little dazed. "That meal this afternoon felt more like the New Year, but I think it feels even more like New Year's now."
Hearing that, Zhou Chengkang reached out and took her hand. "That's because the two of us have been each other's longest companions."
Li Qinghe came to herself and smiled. "You're right."
Their first year after marriage passed just like that. On New Year's Day the two of them slept until noon; today they were to visit her parents' home.
In the afternoon Li Qinghe took the New Year's gifts she'd prepared earlier and, with Zhou Chengkang, went to the Li household. This year Madam Qian was bedridden, and Li Fu's New Year probably hadn't been a good one, he never could cook, and who knew what he'd eaten yesterday.
When Li Qinghe arrived, Hu Yanxi was already there, and he had brought Zhao Wanwan with him.
Li Fu really couldn't cook. With his two daughters and their husbands home, he felt awkward and went in to check on Madam Qian several times, likely urging her to get up and cook. But she never rose, and in the end Zhao Wanwan went to the kitchen to do the cooking. There was meat and vegetables, most of it had already been prepared, and Li Qinghe went to help.
The two sisters cooked together in the kitchen; this had been common before they married. Zhao Wanwan glanced at her a few times and asked, "Sister, has Mother still not gotten up?"
"I don't know." Li Qinghe said calmly. "Just because I'm nearby doesn't mean I come home often."
"Will you go back to the county after the New Year?" Li Qinghe asked.
Zhao Wanwan nodded. "Yes. After the New Year there's the county exam again. I quit the inn job; after the New Year I'll go back to care for Yanxi."
Li Qinghe lowered her voice. "Did he really take a concubine?" she asked, genuinely curious.
Zhao Wanwan shook her head with a smile. "No, not that. It's just a girl who fancies him, she often brings him things, and he can't refuse. Once I go next year it should settle down."
Li Qinghe was at a loss. If a man truly wanted to refuse a girl, he could; girls are sensitive, say a few harsh words or simply ignore her, and she'd back off. Do they really have no shame?
She glanced at Hu Yanxi talking with Zhou Chengkang in the yard; she hadn't expected him to be that sort of man.
That was mere curiosity; Li Qinghe had more pressing matters. "By the way, she gave silver to your father to pass on to you. Your father came back saying he'd found you and that you're doing well, and that he'll keep bringing you silver. Did you know about this?"
Zhao Wanwan was surprised and shook her head. "No, I didn't. Is that why you asked me then if I'd seen my father?"
Li Qinghe spread her hands. She brought it up because she didn't want the mother and daughter to keep being deceived. After all, Li Fu had raised her and done his best for her; if her birth father came looking and she went off to honor him, it would wound Li Fu. The money is a small matter, what she should fear is causing him pain.
The sisters finished the meal and each returned to her own home.
In the first month the two of them bought fish fry and released them into the pond, then went out to the fields, the spring plowing was imminent. Li Qinghe had planned to clear another two acres of fallow land; by next year she'd leave an acre for the chickens and prepare the rest for planting.
But last winter had come early and the rains had lasted so long. Not just them, many villagers' fields weren't ready either. Even before the tenth day of the first month you could see people heading into the fields with sickles and hoes.
They were no exception, mainly because they had no help. Over at Li Fu's, Madam Qian was still bedridden and likely to sleep through the spring. He couldn't even finish his own fields, let alone help others; it was better they didn't go to help him. The Zhou family was worse; Mrs. Zhou farmed those fields alone, and clearing them would take many days. Those brothers, except for the second, couldn't really be relied upon.
They worked clearing all day and blisters formed on Li Qinghe's hands. She gritted her teeth and spent the silver to hire laborers!
Once the word spread, many people went to Li Kui. For any work in the fields Li Qinghe had Li Kui help find men, from clearing wasteland to hiring builders, the family paid readily, so many came to work.
Li Kui led Li Xingwang's household and seven or eight hired hands from outside. In just a few days they not only cleared last year's plot but also cut two more acres of brush on the edge. Seeing this, Li Qinghe didn't want to leave it fallow and had that whole area cleared.
It took nearly half a month and Li Qinghe paid out more than a tael of silver in wages, but the results were encouraging: of the ten acres of wasteland she had bought, only a little over an acre remained for the chickens, the other eight acres had been turned into usable fields.
Whether good or poor, give it a couple of years of planting and it'll be fine.
When she first bought this strip at the foot of the mountain, most people, though they didn't say it aloud, thought she was wasting her silver. But now the land was cleared and such a large contiguous tract belonged to her, many looked on with envy.
No one's land had ever been such a neat, continuous plot. Though the soil was thin now, after ten or so years of cultivation it would be about the same as the other plots here.
So some people set their sights on the wastelands around Wang Village: spend the silver to buy them, put in the effort to clear them, and thereafter they'd have harvests every year.
These past two days quite a few people have quietly been going over to the town chief's house.
When Li Qinghe first measured this plot, she picked the flattest stretch of the wasteland; a narrow path on the left climbed up the hill, and to the right a route led out of the village.
A few days later the town chief showed up with his clerks and measured off five mu on the right.
The buyer was a surprise, it was the Yang family. Just like in her previous life, after being cheated in business they’d lost their shops and houses in town and moved to the village, keeping a low profile; no one expected they’d have the silver to buy land.