Huang Guixia said, “The village head said they have to compensate ten taels of silver. You only have four taels, so you’re still short six.”
Kang Rong immediately replied, “There’s still a white fox pelt at home. It should be worth six taels.”
Kang Rong’s father, Kang Tongpu, was already in tears. Choking back his sobs, he said, “Xiao An, take these four taels first. Give us another day or two for the remaining six. The village head is here, so I’ll write you an IOU for the six taels. I’m an old man; I guarantee I won’t go back on my word. Tomorrow, Kang Rong will go to the county and sell the pelt. As soon as it’s sold, we’ll bring you the money. If it isn’t enough, I’ll find another way to make up the difference.”
Xiao An said nothing. She looked at the village head, and the village head looked back at her. From his expression, Xiao An could tell that he hoped she would agree.
Xiao An sighed. “I’ll agree for the village head’s sake. But if you dare offend me again, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”
There was no paper or brush in the bamboo hut. As Xiao An’s eyes moved around, she noticed that Lin Feng’s skirt was gray. She walked over and, with one slash of her knife, cut off a piece of the skirt.
Lin Feng screamed in fright. “What—what are you doing?”
Before Xiao An could say anything, Huang Guixia explained, “There’s no paper, so we have to use your skirt to write the IOU. Xiao An didn’t cut your undergarments, so stop making such a fuss.”
Then she muttered under her breath, “You’ve already had two men and you’re still pretending to be innocent.”
The village head spread the torn piece of cloth over a large stone. There was still no ink or brush.
Kang Rong looked at Xiao An and said humbly, “Lend me your knife for a moment.”
Xiao An tossed the knife to him.
Kang Rong caught it, walked over, and dragged Lin Feng closer. He grabbed one of her fingers and made a cut.
Blood immediately flowed. Lin Feng screamed from both pain and fear.
Kang Rong held her bleeding finger and wrote on the torn cloth:
“Six taels of silver owed. This note serves as proof.”
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lin Feng began to cry, looking at Kang Rong while repeatedly saying that it hurt.
Huang Guixia couldn’t stand watching her anymore. “Stop putting on an act. Even after getting beaten, you still haven’t learned your lesson.”
Kang Rong said coldly, “Look at our parents’ foreheads. Compared to what they suffered, what is this little pain of yours?”
Lin Feng immediately understood. Kang Rong was deliberately using this painful act to help his parents vent their anger so that they wouldn’t punish her even more severely after returning home.
Kang Rong’s mother understood his intention as well. She thought to herself, Because of this one incident, the father and son have basically wasted a whole year’s earnings. How could we possibly forgive her so easily? We’ll settle the rest when we get home.
Once the IOU was written, Kang Rong took the torch from Wang Dashan and led his family away.
The village head, Wang Dashan, Huang Guixia, and Zhu Cui also went down the mountain and returned home.
Xiao An watched them descend the mountain, her heart filled with gratitude and emotion. She stood there watching for a long time, until they disappeared from sight.
Xiao An put away the IOU written by Kang Rong, secured the bamboo hut’s door, and entered her space.
First, she prepared a large basin of dough. Then she took the four jin of meat she had bought in town and minced it into filling.
She blanched the mushrooms and chopped them finely, then used wild chives in place of scallions and mixed everything together.
That night, Xiao An steamed several batches of large meat buns.
At dawn, she carried her bamboo basket down the mountain.
Her first stop was Huang Guixia’s house because Huang Guixia usually went out after breakfast to arrange marriages for people.
Huang Guixia smiled when she saw her. “Xiao An is here. Come inside and sit.”
She added, “The Kang family paying ten taels of silver is enough to hurt them. Lin Feng is such a vicious and ruthless woman. She’s nothing but trouble.”
Xiao An smiled. “Auntie, we were up most of the night yesterday. I don’t have much to repay you with, so I brought you some buns to try and show you my appreciation.”
She took twenty buns out of her basket. Each one had a thin wrapper and a generous amount of filling, neatly placed on clean bamboo leaves.
“Oh, Xiao An, in a famine like this, I can’t possibly take so many.”
“How about this? I’ll keep five and you take the rest home.”
Xiao An smiled. “I brought them for you, so please keep them. Think about it—if I didn’t have them, I wouldn’t be able to give them to you in the first place. Don’t be polite. Take them.”
“Oh my, what a thoughtful girl.”
Amid Huang Guixia’s endless thanks, Xiao An also brought twenty buns each to Zhu Cui’s family and Wang Dashan’s family.
Her final stop was the village head’s home.
The village head and his wife refused them as well. The village head felt that helping Xiao An catch the culprit was simply part of his duty.
Xiao An smiled. “Village Head, don’t be so polite. Just take the buns. I still have something important to discuss with you.”
The village head was stunned. “Are you worried the Kang family will go back on their word? Don’t worry. If Kang Rong dares to refuse payment, I’ll go to them myself and demand it.”
Xiao An shook her head. “I’m not worried about that. If Kang Rong really dares to break his promise, I’ll just chop off one of Lin Feng’s arms.”
Xiao An said it so naturally that the village head was completely stunned.
He had watched the original Xiao An grow up. At that moment, he suddenly felt that the girl standing before him seemed somewhat different from the girl he remembered.
That’s right, he thought. The hardships of these past two years must have forced her to change.
The village head gave himself that explanation.
Xiao An asked, “You said yesterday that Yongzhou in the northwest hasn’t had rain for three years, including this year? Is that information reliable?”
The village head nodded. “I have a maternal uncle by marriage who lives in town. His own elder cousin came from Yongzhou with his whole family because they could no longer survive there. He said that many people in Yongzhou are preparing to flee their homes and seek food elsewhere.”
Xiao An’s brows furrowed tightly.
“Isn’t the entire land under the emperor’s rule? Doesn’t the imperial government distribute disaster relief grain?”
The village head sighed. “How would people like us understand matters of the imperial court?”
Xiao An blinked her large eyes.
“People fleeing their homes become refugees. If their numbers grow, will we still be able to harvest our crops in autumn? Won’t the refugees resort to stealing or raiding?”
The village head froze for a moment.
“The government will probably send soldiers, right? Otherwise, wouldn’t the refugees become like locusts, leaving nothing behind wherever they pass?”
After leaving the village head’s home, Xiao An headed toward East Mountain.
Originally, she had planned to use her silver to buy a house in the village.
Now, however, she decided against it. She would wait until after the autumn harvest and see how things developed.
If everything remained peaceful, she could return to the village and buy a larger house.
She also planned to sell the other thirty-year-old ginseng, buy some corn, and open a small distillery.
But judging from the current situation, she couldn’t do that just yet.
On the third day of April, Xiao An had just finished watering her fields and was preparing to make lunch when Kang Rong arrived.
He looked at Xiao An for a long moment before finally speaking in a low voice.
“The white fox pelt at my house was originally being kept. I had planned to make you a fox-fur vest after we got married because it gets cold in the mountains.”
“This morning, I went to the county and sold the pelt. I’ve come to give you the money.”
As he spoke, he took six taels of silver from his clothing and placed them in front of Xiao An.
Xiao An generously picked up the silver and carried it into the bamboo hut.
A moment later, she came back out and returned the piece of cloth bearing Kang Rong’s IOU.
Kang Rong took the torn piece of cloth and stared at it for a long time before looking up at Xiao An.
“After we returned home that day, my parents hung Lin Feng from a roof beam and whipped her.”
“She still can’t get out of bed. Are you satisfied now?”
Xiao An immediately became furious.
“Kang Rong, if your parents hung Lin Feng up and beat her, and you’re angry about it, then take it up with your parents.”
“You and I have absolutely nothing to do with each other. If you want to vent your anger on me, forget it.”
“If you ask me, they did the right thing. A vicious, heartless woman like that wouldn’t be wrong even if she were beaten to death.”