And so, the two of them returned together to Old Man Sha’s house.
Upon hearing the location they had chosen, Old Man Sha felt it was somewhat detached from the village. But upon second thought, there wasn’t such a spacious place within the village to build a courtyard either.
With their large household, he eventually agreed.
Silver Moon Beach was remote and isolated; there was no need to register any property deeds with the county government.
Moreover, being by the sea, property deeds were practically useless—who knew if a sudden tidal wave might wash the entire village away?
So, it was best to heed the Sea Goddess. If the Sea Goddess said it was safe to build, that was more reliable than any property deed issued by the authorities.
The villagers agreed with this reasoning.
Materials were readily available, and construction began that very day with foundation laying and piling.
Sha Pozi had been worried all along, fearing that he would stubbornly insist on building a treehouse. Now, hearing that he had agreed to build a Diaojiaolou like the others in the village, she was overjoyed.
She credited it all to Xie Mingzhu, thinking that marriage had naturally made the young man more mature and sensible.
As a result, she grew fonder of Xie Mingzhu. Seeing all the children helping and learning to process seafood, each one diligent, added to her delight.
Xie Mingzhu was also very happy. Besides the smooth start of their new house construction, the highlight of the day was meeting Su Yurou.
Su Yurou had come with her mother-in-law to help with cooking. Though she was a young lady who had never done a day of housework in her life, her circumstances had changed after marriage. No longer enjoying her former privileged status, she had to learn everything now.
Dressed in local attire, her hair styled in the typical married woman’s bun, and adorned with a crescent-moon silver hairpiece, she jingled as she walked, just like most women in Silver Moon Beach. At first, Xie Mingzhu didn’t recognize her.
It wasn’t until Su Yurou was right in front of her that Xie Mingzhu exclaimed, “A-Rou!”
“Sister Xie, I never expected to see you here in Silver Moon Beach!” Su Yurou was equally surprised. “Earlier, my mother-in-law mentioned that the village idler had brought a wife back from the county, but I never imagined it would be you.” (Though, to be precise, the gossip had referred to her as the “ugly wife.”)
Because of this, her brother-in-law had been beaten up by Yue Zhixian.
Su Yurou was deeply concerned about Xie Mingzhu’s future. Her husband was notorious in the village as a lazy idler who was quick to resort to violence.
Seeing no one around, she lowered her voice and asked anxiously, “How does he treat you? I heard he’s nothing but a ruffian. Today, he even beat up one of my brothers-in-law.”
Xie Mingzhu was initially displeased to hear Yue Zhixian described as a ruffian.
After all, the term “ruffian” originally referred to the rootless and unemployed, but nowadays, it had come to mean lazy, good-for-nothing scoundrels.
But then, hearing about the brother-in-law being beaten, she immediately recalled the three young men who had been thrashed earlier.
She quickly explained, “This morning, while we were selecting a house site in the village, we ran into three young men who insulted me outright. He couldn’t stand it and ended up fighting them. I don’t know if your brother-in-law was among them. Are you here to seek justice for him?”
Su Yurou detected the protective tone in Xie Mingzhu’s words and chuckled. “Sister Xie, since when did you start defending him? But the fact that he fought for you shows he has at least some conscience.”
She then pointed to the woman below who was following Sha Pozi in prying open oysters. “The one you called A Xiang is my mother-in-law. Don’t worry, I think most people in this village are decent. If my mother-in-law really minded this matter, she wouldn’t have come to help today.”
And up until now, she hadn’t mentioned it at all, clearly implying that her brother-in-law deserved the beating.
As it happened, Sha Pozi and A Xiang were discussing the very issue.
A Xiang was cursing her own son, “That good-for-nothing is already fourteen this year. In a few more years, it’ll be time to find him a wife, and then he’ll learn that the pot is made of iron.”
How dare he call someone’s wife ugly? By then, he probably won’t even be able to find an “ugly” wife!
At this thought, she couldn’t help but sigh. “Sister, what should we do? I still have several boys at home, but in our village, you can count the number of girls on one hand.” And they’re all so young.
By the time those girls grow up, her sons will already be old and withered.
Will they really have to look for wives out at sea in the future?
But then she recalled how, in the past, someone had married a sea-dwelling Tanka woman and was struck by lightning as punishment.
She quickly dismissed the idea.
Sha Pozi was even more worried. “It’s not just our village or county. I heard from A Kan that even in the prefectural city, it’s hard to find a wife.” In a few years, A Kan’s son would also need to marry.
She still had no idea where her future granddaughter-in-law would come from!
Even the brother-in-law of the constable married the younger sister of Xie Mingzhu!
Just imagine—if even people like them had to find wives among the exiled convicts, then ordinary families in the city would find it even harder to secure a bride.
Their Silver Moon Beach was actually quite lucky to have gotten three slots this time.
This made A Xiang even more anxious. “Then what should we do?”
After chattering for a while, she remembered that although her family had gotten a daughter-in-law, the girl was utterly useless—she couldn’t even handle the simplest chores. This also troubled her.
She asked Sha Pozi, “How about the one A Xian brought back? Does she work?”
“Of course she does. She’s an excellent cook, quick and tidy.” Sha Pozi’s face lit up with a smile and satisfaction whenever she mentioned Xie Mingzhu.
This made A Xiang somewhat regretful. They had arrived at the government office first to make their selection that day, but as if possessed, they hadn’t even glanced at Xie Mingzhu.
They simply thought she was ugly and came with too many dependents.
Otherwise, this hardworking daughter-in-law would have been theirs.
Seeing A Xiang fall silent, Sha Pozi asked, “What, your daughter-in-law doesn’t work?” Then why bring her today? She’s just taking up a spot that could have gone to A Xian.
And if she was in the kitchen with A Xian’s wife but couldn’t do anything, wouldn’t that mean A Xian’s wife had to cook for so many people all by herself?
Immediately displeased, she said, “A Xiang, this won’t do. If she can’t work, why did you bring her along?”
A Xiang looked helpless. “Sister, don’t rub salt in my wounds. My eldest son and his father are helping A Xian with his new house, and the other boys have run off to play. I couldn’t just leave her alone at home. If I did, I’m afraid she’d set the house on fire by the time I returned.”
She then mentioned how she had asked Su Yurou to cook, and she nearly burned the kitchen down. When told to fetch water, she couldn’t even carry the bucket. Even cutting fruit almost resulted in her injuring her hand.
When asked to wash dishes, she broke two clay pots. Fortunately, the bowls were made of coconut shells and were more durable.
Sha Pozi listened to her words and felt rather sympathetic. “Then what can be done? You can’t keep her tied to your waist like a belt forever, can you?”
A Xiang sighed. “I’m thinking of teaching her slowly.”
Sha Pozi had no better suggestions. “True. But I reckon maybe she’ll come around once she becomes a mother. Look at A Xian’s wife—she takes such good care of her five children.”
At this point, it was inevitable to mention how Xie Mingzhu had protected herself, her sister-in-law, and all those children during their exile.
No matter the hardship, she could endure it all—composed, clever, and even knowledgeable in herbal medicine. On their way back, passing through Fish Tail Gorge, she crafted a miasma-preventing mask using mugwort and palm leaves. Now those who dislike taking the Poisonous Miasma Pill can use this method to cross Fish Tail Gorge.
All this, of course, was what Old Man Sha had told her last night.
After hearing this, A Xiang never imagined Xie Mingzhu would achieve such great things.
Perhaps in the future, she could even take over Ji Popo’s position!
This made her even more envious, filled with regret. If only she hadn’t judged by appearances back then and had chosen Xie Mingzhu as her son’s wife—how wonderful that would have been!