After eating and drinking their fill, the family took Old Man Wang’s ox cart and arrived home early. Eschewing the main entrance, they headed straight for the back gate and stepped into the cramped, pungent air of the rear courtyard.
Jiang Yue was already beginning to map out her grand plan for a family split. However, for this to work, Jiang Youshan had to be the one to take the first step.
“Dad,” Jiang Yue began, “you went to school once. Why did you let Brother grow up without knowing a single character?”
Jiang Youshan let out a long, heavy sigh. “I wanted him to go, I truly did. But back then, the family was already struggling just to keep your fourth uncle in school… Your grandfather had a hard time of it, too.”
“Hard time?” Jiang Yue countered. “Jiang Changshun from the second branch is the same age as my brother. How is it that every one of them can go to school, but we can’t?”
“I was the one who decided not to go,” Jiang Ming interjected, reaching out to ruffle Jiang Yue’s hair. “Besides, what’s so great about school anyway?”
“Well, Lei’er is reaching school age now,” Jiang Yue pressed, ignoring her brother’s deflection. “What do you say to that, Dad?”
“Should I… should I go and beg your grandfather?”
Jiang Yue nodded firmly. “Go. Go now.”
Jiang Youshan blinked, startled by her intensity. “Right now?”
“Right now,” she insisted.
Madam Cai set down her needlework and stood up to join him. “I’ll go with you. We’ll beg him together.”
Watching them go, Jiang Yue felt a twinge of pity. There was no helping her “filially pious” parents; they had to run head-first into a wall and get burned before they would finally wake up.
Jiang Xue watched Madam Cai disappear toward the front courtyard, her face etched with worry. “Sister, should we follow them?”
“Not yet. Let’s see how things play out first.”
Throughout the afternoon, Jiang Yue sat sharpening a needle. She could hear Madam Liu’s shrill curses drifting from the front courtyard, but she didn’t look up.
“I knew she wouldn’t let Lei’er go,” Jiang Ming muttered, his voice thick with resentment.
Jiang Yue stopped her work and inspected the needle’s point. It was ready. She looked at her fuming brother and asked quietly, “Brother, do you honestly have no desire to learn?”
Jiang Ming lowered his head. “If I went to school, it would only make life harder for Mom and Dad.”
“So, you do want to go?”
“Even if I did, it’s too late,” Jiang Ming said flatly. “I’m fourteen. The schools won’t take someone my age.”
“Have you even asked?”
Jiang Ming froze, then slowly shook his head.
“If you want to learn, it’s never too late. Once this mess is settled, all three of you are going to school.”
Jiang Xue’s eyes went wide. “Even me?”
“Yes, even you.”
“What about you, Sister? Won’t you go?”
Jiang Yue shook her head. “I won’t. I already have a Master.”
Jiang Xue looked confused. Her sister was with them every single day; when did she ever have time for a teacher?
A spark of realization lit up Jiang Ming’s eyes. “Sister, these past few years… ever since you got better, everything you do has been incredible. I just assumed you were born this way.”
“Actually, all those years I was silent… my spirit was following an immortal on the mountain, learning his ways.” Jiang Yue decided to use the local folklore Luo Douzi had mentioned. She couldn’t explain the truth, so a bit of mysticism would have to do. Near Muchuan County, there was a famous “Immortal Mountain” where people went to pray for blessings.
Jiang Xue’s eyes sparkled. “No wonder you’re so amazing, Sister!”
Little Jiang Lei put a finger to his lips, looking like a tiny, serious elder. “Shh! This is a secret.”
Jiang Ming and Jiang Xue exchanged a solemn look and nodded vigorously. Their sister’s secret was safe with them. And just like that, Jiang Yue had unilaterally decided the future of her siblings’ education.
Eventually, the shouting from the front courtyard died down. When her parents still didn’t return, Jiang Xue grew anxious.
“I’m going to the front to see what’s happening.”
Jiang Yue sighed. She knew her “soft-bun” parents were likely having a miserable time, but this “Strategy of Bitterness” had to be played out to the end if they ever hoped to be free.
In the front courtyard, Madam Liu had finally exhausted her breath. Once her cursing subsided, she tried to shoo the couple away.
Madam Li, the second daughter-in-law, watched Madam Cai emerge and offered a greasy smile.
“Oh, look at Big Sister-in-law! You’re finally better. You know, the family pigs have grown so thin without you, and those hens you raised—they won’t lay a single egg unless you’re the one tending them.”
Madam Qian, the third daughter-in-law, shot Madam Li a look before adding her own barb. “The vegetable garden is crawling with bugs, too. Sister-in-law really needs to get in there and pick them off.”
Madam Cai’s expression was a painful knot of confusion. Her sisters-in-law were speaking to her with uncharacteristic politeness, but every word was a trap designed to pull her back into her old life of drudgery. She didn’t know whether to feel relieved or miserable.
Jiang Youshan rubbed his hands together nervously.
“Your sister-in-law still needs to take her medicine. We have it warming in the back courtyard.”
Madam Fan, the fourth daughter-in-law, waddled over while cradling her pregnant belly.
“If you ask me, this family only needs one scholar. Sending more kids to school is just throwing money away.”
The group fell into an awkward silence until Jiang Youfang, the youngest sister, emerged carrying a heavy basin of laundry.
“Sister-in-law, you can start by washing these,” she commanded.
Youfang’s clothes had always been Madam Cai’s responsibility. Over the last few days, Youfang had been too terrified of Jiang Yue to venture into the back courtyard, and her pile of dirty laundry had grown into a mountain. Now that Madam Cai was back in the front and begging for favors, Youfang saw her opening.
Madam Cai reached for the basin out of sheer habit. She had spent years catering to this sister-in-law, who was the apple of their mother’s eye. Besides, she reasoned, if she pleased the girl, perhaps Madam Liu would soften her heart and allow little Jiang Lei to attend school.
Just as her fingers brushed the rim of the basin, a sharp voice cut through the air.
“Mother, what are you doing?”
Jiang Xue had just burst into the courtyard. Seeing her aunts and aunt-in-laws ganging up on her mother, she shoved through the crowd and grabbed Madam Cai’s arm to pull her away.
Youfang’s face darkened. “What are you doing here? What business is it of yours if I ask my sister-in-law to wash a few clothes?”
Jiang Xue was clever; she knew her aunt’s upcoming marriage prospects were her weak point. With Jiang Yue backing her up now, she wasn’t afraid to raise her voice.
“Does my Aunt not have hands of her own? Why on earth should my mother wash your clothes!”
Youfang was livid. She might be afraid of Jiang Yue, but surely she could handle a brat like Jiang Xue. To make matters worse, the girl was shouting—did she want the whole neighborhood to hear?
Youfang swung her hand back, aiming a vicious slap at Jiang Xue’s face.
Jiang Youshan didn’t dare grab his younger sister, so he did the only thing he knew how to do: he spun around, pulling Jiang Xue into his arms and shielding her with his own body.
Smack!
Thud!
The blow landed on Jiang Youshan’s back. To everyone’s horror, the impact sent him and Jiang Xue crashing to the ground.
“Ah!” A collective gasp went up. How much strength did Youfang have to knock two people down with a single slap?
“Husband!”
“Dad!”
“Second Sister!”
The three children from the back courtyard rushed forward to surround the fallen man. In the chaos, no one noticed Jiang Yue’s hand flash toward her father’s lower back, discreetly withdrawing a silver needle from his spine.
“I… I can’t get up,” Jiang Youshan stammered. He tried to brace his arms against the dirt, but his legs remained motionless, as if they had simply ceased to exist.
Old Man Jiang and Madam Liu hurried out of the house. “Eldest Son, how did you manage to fall so hard you can’t stand?”
Jiang Xue wailed, her voice carrying over the fence.
“He didn’t fall! Aunt hit him!”
“Aunt hit him!” Jiang Lei echoed, sobbing.
Youfang turned pale, her eyes wide with shock. She never imagined a single slap could paralyze a grown man. She backed away, her voice trembling.
“It wasn’t me! It wasn’t! You’re tricking me… your whole family is trying to frame me!” Madam Liu grabbed Youfang’s arm, pulling her back and signaling her to shut up.
As Jiang Youshan pounded his useless legs in despair and Madam Cai dissolved into tears, Jiang Ming squeezed his fists until his knuckles turned white. He spun on his heel.
“I’m going for the doctor!”
Only Jiang Yue remained eerily calm.
“Let’s get my father inside first.”
Panic finally set into the other brothers, Jiang Youtian and Jiang Youcai. If their eldest brother became a cripple, who would do the heavy lifting in the fields? For once, they moved in unison, lifting Jiang Youshan and carrying him back to the cramped quarters of the rear courtyard.