Chapter 61

Madam Xu wasn't slow, she understood her daughter's meaning instantly and the smile at her lips went cold. "Her mother and I are of the same standing; we see each other often and are fairly close. I can't believe she'd do something like this behind my back. I know now, don't worry."
She handed the purse back into her hands. "Keep it. I have more where that came from."
"I can't stay long, when I came I promised to be back in an hour. Seeing you doing well puts me at ease. If anything comes up, go to the Zhangs and find me." She was about to leave, and when she saw the pond outside the gate she laughed. "Catch me one of your fish, will you?"
Li Qinghe went to catch a fish. Just then Haiya came out from the backyard and, fascinated, squatted at the edge of the pond watching her. "Is keeping fish fun?"
"It is." Li Qinghe glanced at him. "Would you like to try?"
Haiya got excited and grabbed the fishing net. In one sweep he hauled up three fish of different sizes, the smallest no bigger than the palm of his hand. Li Qinghe laughed, fetched a bucket and put them in. "They're all yours."
From the moment Madam Xu arrived to when she left, less than half an hour had passed. Li Qinghe personally saw the mother and son off to the Zhou household and watched them climb into the carriage.
Nearby, Zhang Haiyao had a cloth wrapped around her head and wore a look of triumph. "My mother said that once I'm a full month old she'll let me go back to live there for a month."
"That's fine," Li Qinghe replied casually, not giving it much thought.
"Oh, and I brought a lot of pastries. Take some home to try, they're expensive." She said this as she turned into the house, and soon came out with a small packet of pastries. "Not many, I still have to set some aside for my mother."
Li Qinghe glanced at them but didn't reach for them. She smiled, "You need to build yourself up right now, keep them and eat them yourself."
After a moment she asked, "Earlier you said how many fish you'd need for the full-month feast? Same price as for the town restaurant, twelve wen. That way I can catch them ahead of time."
Zhang Haiyao's face stiffened. "Can't it be a bit cheaper?"
Li Qinghe replied calmly, "After they're weighed I can knock off a few dozen wen as a little discount." But half-selling or giving them away was out of the question.
"Then… forget it," Zhang Haiyao tried. "Buying more meat would do just as well."
Li Qinghe agreed, "That works." In the village, aside from her and the Yang family, no one served whole fish at celebrations.
"The baby is crying," Mrs. Zhou called from over there.
Zhang Haiyao sighed and lowered her voice. "I'm telling you, ever since they found out it's a girl, my mother hasn't been very happy. She rarely holds me; half the soups she makes for me get sent to my second sister-in-law. I think she's hoping the second sister-in-law will have a son."
There's no point in talking about that, Li Qinghe didn't like listening to it. The child was hers; if her grandmother doted on the baby that was fine, and if she didn't they'd still have to get on with life, wouldn't they? Obsessing over such small things every day was only courting misery.
Besides, Mrs. Zhou had been considerate, even after splitting households she had slaughtered a chicken and made soup to share. Giving some to Qingmiao was simply because she was far along and about to give birth; what's wrong with drinking a little broth?
After all, many of the older women in the village favored sons over daughters. If a daughter-in-law had a girl, they wouldn't even spare an egg, let alone stew a chicken, and those were houses that hadn't even split yet. Mrs. Zhou's partiality was one thing; how could that compare to them?
So it all comes down to how you look at it.
Seeing no movement over here, Mrs. Zhou called again, "The baby's hungry."
Zhang Haiyao shook her head and stood up. "Coming."
Li Qinghe didn't stay long; she had mainly come to ask about the fish. Since the girl didn't want it, there was no need to haul it in, which saved trouble.
Soon it was the first day of the full-month celebration. Not many villagers came to such feasts, unmarried girls and men generally didn't attend, so the crowd was small. Correspondingly, there weren't many helpers either; mostly close neighbors and relatives.
Of course Li Qinghe went, and everything went smoothly. It was worth mentioning that on the day of Zhang Haiyao's feast a cart came from town bearing whole chickens and ducks, half a hog, and two bolts of cloth. In all of Wang Village and even in the town that was a grand gesture. Many people praised the Zhangs for being generous and doting on their daughter. Zhang Haiyao demurred modestly, but her smile was unmistakably proud.
After the full-month party it was already April. Apart from pulling weeds in the fields there wasn't much to do, so Li Qinghe looked at the patch of sweet potato shoots and decided to start digging a cellar.
Li Fu came to stay for four or five days, then moved back.
The cellar would have to be dug by the two of them alone.
Zhou Chengkang was the sort of man who worked steadily and rarely refused Li Qinghe's suggestions. He began digging near the pigsty, and in four or five days they had hollowed out a fairly large cellar.
They piled all the excavated earth in the kitchen garden outside the back wall, a sizable heap. As they went back and forth carrying loads, Li Qinghe had just swung out with a basket when she saw Yang Lanrou standing there, smiling softly as she spoke to Zhou Chengkang.
She didn't hurry, merely walked over, and Zhou Chengkang, seeing her, came to take the load.
Li Qinghe rubbed her shoulder and asked, "Miss Yang, did you come for something?"
Yang Lanrou held a plate with three steamed buns. "I've been learning to make buns these last couple of days and made too many. Since we're farther from the village and your place is nearer, I brought some over for you to try. It's so hot, if you don't eat them they'll go bad."
"No need." Zhou Chengkang dumped the soil into the garden. "You're too kind, Miss Yang. Unfortunately neither of us likes buns, they'd spoil on us and that would be a waste."
Li Qinghe felt a bit relieved. To be honest, in her previous life she'd seen too much of the comings and goings between Yang Lanrou and Xu Changjie, both open and covert. Seeing them together now inevitably brought those memories back and made her uneasy, especially Yang's gentle smile, it was the exact same smile she'd given to Xu Changjie in that life.
But the difference was that Xu Changjie had never refused her; he accepted every request and gift with a smile. She had once thought herself too petty, but now she realized that sometimes neighbors simply didn't help one another.
"You're too polite. We're neighbors now; we should see more of each other." Yang Lanrou offered the buns to Li Qinghe. "Take one and try it."
"We really don't eat buns." Li Qinghe looked at the plate and smiled. "If you don't mind, Da Huang will probably like them."
Feed them to the dog!
Yang Lanrou's face changed; she forced a smile. "Well, I did bring them."
Zhou Chengkang took the plate and called toward the front yard, "Da Huang!"
Da Huang came rushing over so fast that Yang Lanrou stepped back several paces in alarm. He actually set the buns down on the ground and handed the plate back to her. "Thanks, Da Huang really likes them."
Yang Lanrou's smile vanished completely. Awkward with the plate in her hands, she turned and walked away quickly, looking half like she was fleeing in embarrassment.
Seeing her pale, Zhou Chengkang flashed an ingratiating smile. "Wife, what shall we have for lunch?"
Li Qinghe gave a half-smile. "Buns."
Zhou Chengkang blinked and pretended to be serious. "Buns? I don't like buns. How about I cook you some noodles instead?"
She truly hadn't expected Yang Lanrou to come running over with buns. She had gone to help at the Yangs' housewarming purely to keep people from gossiping; she had no intention of forming close ties with them. Feeding the buns to Da Huang was a little harsh, but it cut off any chance of further dealings with the Yangs. Anyone with a bit of pride wouldn't come back asking favors.
The two of them did have noodles for lunch. Making a proper bowl of noodles wasn't simple, the dough needed to be mixed and rested, and even at best it took half an hour.
Luckily they'd been free these past few days. Zhou Chengkang suggested, "Why don't we go hunting up the mountain? This time last year we had a pretty good haul."
Not to brag, but last year Zhou Chengkang had spent about half the month up the mountain and earned a full five taels of silver. Both of them kept quiet about it, so no one knew.
From the next day they went up the mountain together. Because there was much to do at home they left late and returned early. They didn't get much game, but they brought back plenty of firewood. In any case, they were never idle.
Because of that, Yu Yan stopped coming over so often.
Among the unmarried girls in the village Yu Yan was considered the prettiest. She had learned embroidery since childhood, had never been in the sun, and had not done hard labor. Even after arriving in the village, Third Aunt wouldn't let her work, largely because her embroidery earned money, which kept her skin fair and her hands smooth and delicate.
She could easily earn three or four taels a month; marry her, and it would be enough to support an entire household.
But the girl had high standards. Third Aunt, seeing her get older and showing no sign of wanting to return home, set about arranging matches for her; every one was refused.
They weren't blood relations to begin with, and any closeness between them had always been tentative. Third Aunt didn't want to force her and risk ruining what little intimacy they had, so she let it be.
Li Qinghe knew Yu Yan cared about appearances, she was pretty and could embroider, so she wasn't worried about marriage. They never pressured her, so Li didn't expect anyone would come to her asking about proposing to Yu Yan.
One afternoon, as she and Zhou Chengkang came down from the hill, they ran into Madam You.
Her memory of Madam You was limited to the time she came with Qian Laiman to inspect the house, and later the quarrel between Madam You and Qian Laiwen after Qian's father died, they really weren't close.
Madam You smiled. "Qinghe, heading back already?"
Li Qinghe had only meant to nod and pass on, but she nodded again at the question. "It's getting late. I need to go feed the fish."
Madam You drew closer. "I have something to tell you."
With that she turned and went down the hill with her. Li Qinghe was surprised, it felt as if she'd come specifically to find her. Madam You probed, "I hear you and Miss Yu are close, often sitting and embroidering together?"
People don't ask about other families' daughters without a reason. Li Qinghe thought for a moment and immediately understood what she meant.
Qian Laiman's elder brother, Qian Laixing, had just returned from the county. He had been on his way to the March county exam when he fell and bruised his arm, a streak of bad luck the village had been talking about for days.
"I'll be frank, Laixing's tutor insists he'll be on the list this year; who could have known this would happen," Madam You sighed. "He's already nineteen. If we don't talk marriage soon, it'll be a delay."
First she asked about Yu Yan, then praised her own son and said he ought to marry, she was clearly trying to arrange a match.