This village was somewhat larger than the one Liu’er came from, home to several dozen households. It was currently midday, the time for making lunch. Smoke curled from the chimneys of every home, and the air was filled with the scents of firewood and food.
As soon as Qin Zhan entered the village, someone noticed him.
“Oh, Big Brother Qin is back!”
“Big Brother Qin, I heard you bagged a two-hundred-catty wild boar yesterday? Great skill!”
“Hey? Who’s that lass with Big Brother Qin? She looks really…”
Before he could finish, the man caught sight of Yu’er’s face and instantly fell silent, his gaze turning subtle.
Although separated by several mountain ranges, news travels fast. The matter of Qin Zhan carrying a wild boar in exchange for a wife yesterday had likely already spread over here.
Qin Zhan’s expression remained unchanged. Holding Liu’er’s hand, he strode forward, turning a blind eye to the scrutinizing gazes.
Sensing those stares falling upon her, Liu Yu’er broke out in a sweat and instinctively shrank back behind Qin Zhan.
Feeling her withdrawal, Qin Zhan tightened his grip on her hand just a fraction, as if telling her, “Don’t be afraid.”
They stopped in front of a small courtyard.
The courtyard wall was built of stones and wasn’t very high, allowing a view of the three main rooms and one wing room inside. The yard was kept clean, with split firewood piled in the corner and strings of dried chili peppers and corn hanging under the eaves.
Before Qin Zhan could push open the courtyard gate, a voice filled with vigor rang out from within—
“Qin Wen! Second Brother Qin! You stop right there for your mother! Look at your trousers, you’ve only worn them for a day and they’ve already got such a big tear! Are you wearing your clothes or eating them?”
“M-Mother, I didn’t mean to…”
“Didn’t mean to? Were your eyes just growing there to breathe? Get over here! Take those trousers off!”
“Mother! I’m already sixteen! You can’t keep making me take off my pants!”
“What of sixteen? Even if you were sixty, you still crawled out of my belly! Besides, aren’t you wearing cotton trousers underneath? Stop talking nonsense, take them off!”
Frightened by this scene, Yu’er froze in her tracks, looking up at Qin Zhan with eyes full of alarm.
Qin Zhan’s mouth twitched slightly as he reached out and pushed open the courtyard gate.
The moment the gate opened, the voices inside abruptly ceased.
In the courtyard, a fair-faced sixteen-year-old youth was flushing red while holding up his trousers. He looked scholarly and refined, and at the moment, he wore an expression of utter despair.
Standing next to him was a woman in her forties, tall with a straight back. A pair of sharp, piercing eyes were embedded in her round face, and her hair was neatly coiled at the back of her head. In her hand, she held an awl for sewing shoe soles, making it look like some formidable divine weapon.
She was Qin Zhan’s mother, Zhang Guilan.
Catching sight of Qin Zhan, Zhang Guilan was first overjoyed, but immediately upon seeing Yu’er being led behind him, her eyes lit up instantly. Tucking the awl into her apron, she strode over in two steps.
“Eldest is back? This is…”
Her gaze landed on Yu’er’s face, looking her up and down before she suddenly sucked in a sharp breath and slapped Qin Zhan hard on the arm with a loud crack.
“You brat! When did you take a wife? Why didn’t you tell the family?”
Bearing the slap with an expressionless face, Qin Zhan replied concisely: “Yesterday.”
“Yesterday?!” Zhang Guilan’s voice spiked an octave. “You married a wife yesterday and are only bringing her back today? Are you trying to piss me off to death? If your father finds out, he’ll definitely beat you with his walking stick!”
With that, she had already bypassed Qin Zhan and walked straight up to Yu’er.
Yu’er shrank back in fright, clutching Qin Zhan’s coat hem tightly until her whole body was practically hiding behind him.
Looking at her terrified, bunny-like appearance, Zhang Guilan frowned, but her expression quickly softened. She reached out and, with unexpected gentleness, “picked” Yu’er out from behind Qin Zhan.
“Let Mother have a look.”
Yu’er froze. She had never heard anyone refer to themselves as “Mother” in front of her. To her, the word was both familiar and strange—familiar because her younger brother always had it on his lips, and strange because it had never belonged to her.
Cupping Yu’er’s face, Zhang Guilan looked at her left and right, up and down. The more she looked, the brighter her eyes shone, until she finally let out a “tsk” and turned back to glare at Qin Zhan.
“Such a watery, delicate girl, following you is truly like a fresh flower stuck in cow dung.”
Qin Wen muttered quietly from the side: “Mother, the cow dung is your son…”
“Shut up! You’re no good cow dung either!” Zhang Guilan retorted without even looking back, turning her attention back to Yu’er with a radiant smile blooming on her face.
“Lass, don’t be afraid. Mother calls the shots in this family. If he dares to bully you, tell Mother, and I’ll break his legs.”
Yu’er looked helplessly at this overly enthusiastic woman. Her speech was as fast as a string of firecrackers, a complete polar opposite to Qin Zhan.
Not knowing what to say, she simply and instinctively gave a slight nod.
Qin Wen hurriedly waved his hands: “Mother, I’m late for the cart to the academy, I’m off!”
Ignoring the scoundrel, Zhang Guilan took Liu Yu’er’s hand and walked toward the house: “Go, go, go, let’s talk inside. It’s cold outside, look at how frozen your little face is. Eldest is something else too, not even knowing how to wrap his wife up properly…”
Following behind, Qin Zhan remained expressionless.
Inside the house, Qin’s father was sitting on the kang, leaning against a stack of bedding while holding a tobacco pouch in his hands.
Not yet fifty, he looked much older than his actual age. His face was emaciated with high cheekbones and deep-set eye sockets, carrying the sallow tint of chronic illness.
One of his legs was curled up, and the trouser leg hung down emptily, revealing the trace of a disability.
Yet his eyes were very gentle. Seeing Yu’er enter, a hint of affectionate smile appeared in them.
“You’re here?” His voice wasn’t loud, carrying a breathless hoarseness. “Sit, sit on the kang, it’s warm.”
Yu’er cast a timid glance at him, then looked back at Qin Zhan. Only after Qin Zhan nodded did she cautiously climb onto the kang, sitting right against the edge, not knowing where to put her hands and feet.
Zhang Guilan had already bustled into action, digging a package of red date cakes out of the cabinet and bringing a bowl of piping-hot brown sugar and ginger tea from the stove, setting everything down in front of Yu’er all at once.
“Eat something. You must have frozen on the way here, right? This eldest son of mine, not even knowing to hire a ox-cart…”
Qin Zhan stood at the doorway and finally spoke a sentence: “She just ate breakfast.”
“Breakfast is breakfast, this is your mother’s gesture!” Zhang Guilan said righteously. “Stop meddling!”
Qin Zhan shut his mouth.
Holding the brown sugar and ginger tea, Yu’er sipped it in small mouthfuls. The ginger tea was both sweet and spicy, warming her all the way from her throat down to her stomach. She secretly lifted her eyes, sizing up the room.
The room wasn’t large, but it was kept impeccably neat. Several faded New Year pictures were pasted on the walls, and a few pots of unidentified small plants sat on the windowsill. Although in this season only bare branches remained, it was clear they had been carefully tended to. Clean mattresses were spread on the kang, with several stacks of quilts piled neatly, all made of thick, new cotton wadding.
Everything exuded an atmosphere Yu’er had never experienced before—someone to care for it, someone who cared, the scent of a home.
“The eldest brother is back with his wife!”
A childish voice suddenly rang out from outside the courtyard, followed by a patter of footsteps. A seven- or eight-year-old little boy rushed into the room like a cannonball, buried his head straight into Zhang Guilan’s arms, and then poked his head out, staring wide-eyed at Yu’er.
It was Qin Zhan’s youngest younger brother, Qin Xiaoman.
“Wow—” Qin Xiaoman opened his mouth wide. “Eldest brother’s wife is so pretty!”
Zhang Guilan smiled and patted him on the head: “Call her sister-in-law.”
“Sister-in-law!” Qin Xiaoman called out crisply, then pulled something out from his bosom, handing it to Yu’er like he was offering a supreme treasure: “Sister-in-law, for you! I saved these up—three glass beads! They’re so pretty!”
Yu’er lowered her head to look at the glass beads refracting colorful lights in the sunlight, her eyes widening slightly. She had never seen anything so beautiful.
Not knowing whether she should accept them, she looked up at Qin Zhan.
Qin Zhan said, “Keep them.”
Only then did Yu’er cautiously reach out, taking the three beads and cupping them in her palm as if holding some rare and precious treasure.
The corners of her mouth curved up slightly, revealing an extremely faint, faint smile.
That was the first time Qin Zhan saw her smile.
Inside and outside the room, the family sat clustered together. Zhang Guilan bustled about busily arranging lunch, her tongue never resting as she scolded Qin Zhan from head to toe—starting from “not giving a heads-up beforehand” to “getting married at such an old age,” and finally to “not even knowing how to buy a well-fitting outfit for your wife.” Every single detail she mentioned hit home.
Qin Zhan listened with a completely expressionless face throughout, occasionally uttering an “hmm” to show he understood.
Qin Father listened from the side and couldn’t help laughing, but as soon as he finished laughing, he coughed. Zhang Guilan immediately stopped her scolding and walked over to pat his back, scolding him while she patted: “I told you to smoke less, but you refuse to listen. Cough yourself to death why don’t you!”
Yet the hand patting his back grew lighter and lighter.
Sitting on the kang, hugging the warm red date cakes and clutching the three glass beads in her hand, Yu’er watched this bustling, bickering family.
She couldn’t quite understand all the words, but she could feel something.
It was warm and cozy, like a winter hearth, wrapping around her from all directions.
She lowered her head, her eye sockets burning slightly.
This time, it wasn’t because of fear.
Near noon, the courtyard gate was pushed open again.
A young woman walked in carrying a slab of pork, followed by a tall, sturdily built man with a goofy smile plastered all over his face.
“Mother, I heard eldest brother brought his wife back?” The young woman’s voice was crisp and laced with a smile.
Qin Zhan’s elder sister, Qin Xiulan.
She was twenty-four this year, bright-eyed and white-toothed, her brows carrying a spirited air somewhat similar to Qin Zhan’s, but with an added touch of gentle charm. She was married to Zhou Dazhong, who ran a butcher shop in town. Their life was prosperous, and every few days she would send meat back to her maiden home.
Zhou Dazhong followed behind his wife, carrying a kicking, lively old hen, grinning foolishly with an honest and sincere expression.
“Sister,” Qin Zhan greeted.
Qin Xiulan ignored him, walking straight up to Yu’er to look her up and down before turning back to glare at Qin Zhan: “Not bad, Eldest Qin. Without a peep, you managed to trick such a pretty girl into your hands?”
Qin Zhan: “…”
“Sister, look at her face, her brows and eyes,” Qin Xiulan praised with a click of her tongue. “She’s prettier than the young miss of Magistrate Li’s family in town. You really hit the jackpot.”
Qin Zhan continued in silence.