Your wife must have run away.
The next day, with the break-of-dawn crowing of roosters among the farmhouses, Pei Xiuwen awoke from his slumber. The side of the pillow was slightly creased and empty. Reaching out to touch the lingering warmth, he guessed that Shen Mingyu had not been up for very long.
Pei Xiuwen got out of bed and dressed. With his movements, the wooden bed creaked loudly.
He had spotted this bed five years ago at the village entrance market. Because the old timber was aged, it wasn’t very sturdy, and getting on and off the bed made quite a commotion. The original owner didn’t want it anymore and asked for only three guan of copper coins.
At the time, he was growing taller, and the wooden bed at home was far too narrow, forcing him to curl his body in sleep for a long time. After pondering, Pei Xiuwen haggled and ultimately bought this worn-out wooden bed for two guan of copper coins—back then, his only thought had been that making do with it for sleep was enough.
Now, however, Pei Xiuwen cast a glance at it and couldn’t help pondering… it really was about time to save up and replace it.
Especially during those intimate moments when the commotion was simply too loud.
Though there wasn’t anyone else in the household anyway.
When Pei Xiuwen was ready to leave, the sky was overcast and gray, not yet fully bright.
“Pei Lang, wait!”
The young girl came running over, breathless, and stuffed two dry ration cakes into his bundle. “You’ll get hungry on the road, and I’m afraid you won’t be able to buy anything to eat. It’s better to bring a bit more!”
Pei Xiuwen looked at the dimples blooming on her cheeks, his gaze then dropping to her wrists.
That wrist was slender, and the red chalcedony bracelet made her skin look as white as snow, lustrous and translucent.
It looked truly lovely on her.
Softness filled the depths of Pei Xiuwen’s eyes as he touched the dimple on her cheek and gave a soft “Mm.”
Shen Mingyu loved this jade bracelet very much; he could tell. Back at the shop, from her initial look of astonishment to later on when she insisted it was too expensive and dragged him away, her gaze would still occasionally sneak a backward glance when she thought he wasn’t looking.
This red bracelet was far too extravagant for the two of them. Ten taels of silver meant saving for two or three years without eating or drinking, while working desperately hard.
Yet for reasons unknown, the very moment he saw it, Pei Xiuwen simply wanted to buy it.
He thought that given her fair skin, wearing it would definitely look exceptionally beautiful.
Yet this red chalcedony bracelet had graced her wrist for merely two days before vanishing.
At noon, when the sunlight was blazing, Pei Xiuwen stood by the well with his lean, well-defined frame, drawing water. Shen Mingyu was washing vegetables at the open-air small stove, her sleeves rolled up to reveal a section of her wrist—which was now completely bare.
Pei Xiuwen glanced at it, wiped the sweat from his brow, and casually brought it up: “Why aren’t you wearing it?”
At first, Shen Mingyu was humming a little tune, entirely focused on washing, and didn’t immediately register what he was asking. It took a moment for it to dawn on her, and she turned around to smile at him: “I put it away! Since I’m always doing chores and physical labor, I’m always afraid of chipping or bumping it. Such a precious thing, it would be terrible if I ruined it.”
Shen Mingyu had stored it inside a small jewelry box.
When night fell and all her chores were done, she would carefully fish it out again to examine it closely.
Shen Mingyu slid it over her wrist, walked a circle around the courtyard, and made it gleam under the fireflies before his eyes: “Pei Lang, it’s so pretty.”
Beneath the midsummer night sky, the youth bent his waist, rising and falling as he chopped firewood in half. She watched him and said softly, “You are so good to me. You’re the best person to me in this entire world, even better than my mother.”
Pei Xiuwen kept his head lowered. Though he didn’t utter a word, a smile curved the corners of his lips.
Days drifted by quietly. In the blink of an eye, the noisy midsummer insect chirps and the scorching sun beating down on the fence gave way to late August.
Some time ago, after agreeing on a price with Uncle Zhang, the village’s ox-cart driver, Pei Xiuwen began dedicating himself to his new venture. He dug up medicinal herbs from the mountains and made several trips back and forth to the county town.
In the past, village women would also dig up medicinal herbs on the mountain, which would be collected once a month by visiting gentry coming to the village in exchange for a meager savings. However, through trial and error, once Pei Xiuwen found a profitable sales channel in the county town, the silver he earned doubled.
After running around busily for several days, an extra string of coins rested inside his money pouch.
Pei Xiuwen weighed the coin pouch in his hand, hearing the crisp, pleasant clinking of copper coins. He pushed open the door of the small courtyard to find no one at home, save for the small stove in the corner of the wall that still retained a dying ember.
Pei Xiuwen lifted the pot lid and, as expected, found a bowl of noodles kept warm inside.
Shen Mingyu was always like this; no matter the hour, and regardless of whether he had returned home or not, she would always specially reserve a bowl and keep it warm for him.
She had gone out, though it was unclear where.
Perhaps she was at He Qiuxiang’s house, or maybe visiting some family in the village, or perhaps at the western market. Wherever Shen Mingyu went, it rarely strayed beyond these few places.
She was a warm-hearted person, always sharing whatever food she made with this family or that household.
Pei Xiuwen washed his hands, sat down, and ate the noodles she had cooked, chewing slowly and thoroughly.
A fluffy, drifting cloud of happiness inevitably rose in his heart—
He was thinking that upon his return, he would tell her how much money he had earned these past few days. Shen Mingyu loved money, and she also loved it when he made money; upon hearing the news, she would certainly be delighted.
After filling his stomach, Pei Xiuwen briskly washed the dishes, chopped firewood, and took care of a pile of household chores. He waited expectantly for his wife to return, waiting all the way from dusk until pitch-black night.
Yet Shen Mingyu did not come back.
Pei Xiuwen’s expression darkened, and the composure on his face finally cracked with a trace of intense anxiety and unease.
Having searched every corner of White Cloud Village, Pei Xiuwen still could not find her.
By then, the vegetation rustled, and the river was swallowed by thick evening shadows. Refusing to give up, Pei Xiuwen asked He Qiuxiang once more. A lean, pole-like man poked his head out from a neighboring house, a blade of foxtail grass clamped in his teeth: “Could your wife have run away? Come to think of it, she only came here in the first place because of those thirty taels of bride price. You’re the only fool who married her without asking around about her maiden family’s background. If it were me, even if I married her, I’d hold back a portion of the money. Fellow surnamed Pei, let me give you some advice: instead of searching for her here, you’d better hurry home and check whether your money is still there.”
“She wouldn’t run away.”
Pei Xiuwen stated flatly and coldly, having zero desire to converse further with this person.
He Qiuxiang also chimed in angrily: “What kind of nonsense are you spouting?! Mingyu isn’t that kind of person at all.”
The lean man spat out the grass blade, declared that they lacked judgment, and slammed his door shut with a bang.
“Sister Qiuxiang, do you truly have no idea where Yu-niang went?”
“Why would I lie to you?! This morning I even wanted to look for Mingyu. I knocked on your door and she wasn’t in; I figured she might have gone to the market. Mingyu spends all her days right here in our village, how could she just walk off and get lost? If you ask me, you should stop worrying and just go home peacefully to wait. Maybe Mingyu will be back in a little while.”
Worry consumed Pei Xiuwen like a raging fire, sweat pouring from his palms and spine.
Yet at this moment, he forced himself to calm down.
Pei Xiuwen took a breath and asked slowly, “Think carefully—did she mention anything to you over the past few days?”
“Not really anything special!” He Qiuxiang scratched her head while holding her vegetable basket. “Mingyu only said she wanted to make another set of clothes for you. As it happened, I was planning to make some for Tiesheng too, and she mentioned wanting to teach me some delicate embroidery patterns…”
“Mingyu also said that the jewelry you bought her made her incredibly happy, though she was too shy to wear it out. I even teased her about wanting to take a look, and the little girl blushed and refused no matter what.”
“Oh right, Mingyu also asked if I had any shopping to do, and when we’d have time to make a trip into town together. But I’ve been busy with farm work these past few days, and Hui-ge’er came down with summer heat sickness, so I haven’t had any free time…”
Pei Xiuwen listened to her ramble on about a bunch of details without any clear focus.
However, upon hearing the very last sentence, his gaze suddenly froze.
When Pei Xiuwen found Uncle Zhang, the old man was squatting in his courtyard washing up. Hearing that he wanted to immediately hire the cart for a trip to Pingyang County, Uncle Zhang stared at the pitch-black sky as if he had seen a ghost: “It’s already this late, why go out now? Are you planning to go visit ghosts?”
Under the dim twilight, the youth could be seen gripping his sleeves tightly, radiating a tense urgency unlike anything anyone had ever witnessed. Though he tried his best to stay composed, his deepened tone trembled uncontrollably: “My wife is missing, so please have pity on me, Uncle, and take me there. I’ll pay triple the silver. Or if you prefer, I can leave a deposit with you, and you can just lend me the ox cart so I can drive it myself.”
“A-Min, it’s not that your uncle refuses to help. Even if I drove you there, at this hour the city gates have long since been locked; you wouldn’t even be able to get inside. How about early tomorrow morning? I’ll get up at the crack of dawn tomorrow and drive you over, how does that sound?”
The youth didn’t respond, and Uncle Zhang assumed he had listened. Just as he was about to stand up with his washbasin, he suddenly heard the youth declare: “No, I can’t wait. I have a way to enter the city.”
The place where Pei Xiuwen found Shen Mingyu was near the wonton stall they had eaten at previously.
The owners had packed up and left long ago, leaving the desolate spot reduced to broken frames without a single soul around. She was hugging her knees, hiding in an inconspicuous corner.
Pei Xiuwen’s heart practically stopped. Overwhelmed with anxiety, the rush of relief, lingering terror, and sudden anger upon finding her all surged like a tidal wave blocking his throat.
He strode over quickly. His tall, aloof figure stood right before her tiny, huddled form. Just as he was about to interrogate her, she suddenly raised her head. Her eyes were red and wet, her face stained with tears as if she had been silently weeping into her knees.
A sharp pain pierced Pei Xiuwen’s eyes, finally suppressing the anger in his chest. He took a heavy breath, striving for calm yet speaking with an icy edge: “Where did you go? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Pei Lang, I was wrong, I was tricked…” Shen Mingyu choked out, tears falling uncontrollably. “He cheated me out of all the money I brought, and now I can’t get back home… Pei Lang, I’ve let you down, I, I…”
She lowered her head, clutching the bundle in her arms tightly.
Pei Xiuwen’s heart gave a painful twitch.
The hand he had extended stopped right above her shoulder, lingering without coming down. He forcibly suppressed the swirling emotions inside him: “Forget it. Don’t do this next time; never leave without saying a word.”
“If the money is gone, it’s gone. Get up, let’s go home first.”
Yet she still refused to move, burying her head in sobs as if unable to forgive herself.
Pei Xiuwen’s expression sank into gloom. His hand finally descended, gently patting her back. After a long moment, he reached out again to pull her hand so she could stand.
To his surprise, small as she looked, she clung to him like a sticky piece of plaster, making her difficult to pull up. Pei Xiuwen exerted some effort, then noticed the bundle she was clutching firmly to her chest, which seemed to contain something inside.
“What is this?”
He tried to take it, but Shen Mingyu shrank backward, shielding it to keep him from getting it.
At that instant, the lean man’s words flashed across Pei Xiuwen’s mind—that she had come for the bride price, that she had stolen his money. Even though he was reluctant to believe it, suspicion inevitably took root.
This was the first time he forcefully snatched something away from Shen Mingyu’s arms.
She held onto it stubbornly, and amid their struggle, the bundle dropped to the ground, abruptly spilling out a brand-new book—The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art.
Pei Xiuwen froze.
“Where did you get this from? Doesn’t the house already have a copy?”
“The one at home is battered and tattered; you picked it up second-hand, and who knows how many hands it passed through—several pages were even missing.”
Shen Mingyu picked up the bundle slowly, her ears drooping as she realized she had done wrong: “You flip through it every single day, so I figured I should buy you a new copy. Who could have known I’d run into a swindler? He took advantage of the fact that I can’t read and told me…”
“My money…” Thinking of the silver she had been defrauded of, she burst into loud sobs.
Pei Xiuwen’s eyes turned red. Unable to hold back any longer, he rushed forward and pulled her tightly into his embrace.