“Drought?”
Jiang Ci was in the middle of eating, so her reaction was a split second slower.
Just then, Qin Huainan chimed in, “I haven’t heard Father mention anything about a drought recently at home.”
Qin Yanlou shook his head. “Your father works at the Department of Health. Drought isn’t an epidemic, so it doesn’t fall under his jurisdiction. Besides, this actually happened last year.”
“If it happened last year, why are you only dealing with it now?”
Seventh Madam Wei Dongqing laughed upon hearing this. “Do you think farmers are like us, buying rice only when they need to eat? They harvest in the autumn and set aside enough grain to last them the entire year. That’s why, even though the drought hit last year, the real crisis didn’t start until winter. In many parts of Guanzhong, the harvest failed completely. Some entire villages were forced to become beggars and wander around looking for food. And that’s the better scenario. I heard that in some areas, entire counties were affected. There was nowhere to beg for food, so people had to eat tree bark and grass roots just to survive!”
Qin Huainan couldn’t imagine such a thing and exclaimed in shock, “Tree bark and grass roots? How can you even eat that!”
Jiang Ci had put down her knife and fork sometime ago. She said, “When a person is desperate to live, they can eat anything. It’s not just bark and roots; there are even people who eat Guanyin Clay, the kind used to make porcelain. Eating that might fill the stomach temporarily, but if you eat too much, it blocks up your intestines, and you die a terrible death.”
As she spoke, Jiang Ci’s eyes seemed to drift far away, making her pupils look exceptionally dark.
“But those people die sooner. The ones who eat bark and roots might hold on until the very end, when things are truly hopeless. That is when the real disaster begins. Difficulties can be overcome, but disaster cannot. When you are trapped in it, all you have left is a desperate struggle. Your empty stomach growls again and again, stomach acid churns up like burning fire inside you. Yet you have to keep searching for food on an empty stomach just to stay alive. In the end, even when you have no strength left, you find no peace. Because by then, the people around you have often lost their humanity. They just wait for someone to take their last breath, so they can swarm over…”
Qin Huainan was so disturbed by Jiang Ci’s description that her hand slipped, and her knife clattered loudly onto her plate.
Jiang Ci snapped back to reality. Looking up, she saw everyone at the table staring at her. She paused, her eyes flickering slightly, and said, “My father traveled all over the country when he was young. These are things he told me.”
Zeng Juemi, sitting to her right, seemed to have been holding his breath. He let out a long sigh of relief and said, “You really gave me a fright! The way you were talking just now, it sounded like you saw it with your own eyes!”
Jiang Ci only smiled faintly.
For some reason, Qin Yanchi, sitting on her left, felt that smile looked somewhat forced.
Then Qin Yanlou spoke again. “What your father said sounds shocking at first, but it is actually very insightful. Clearly, he has truly seen the world.”
He then said to the others at the table, “You don’t travel for business, so naturally you don’t know what happens outside of Shanghai. Thanks to my horse caravans, I have actually seen such tragedies with my own eyes. We wouldn’t even dare pass through those places; we had to take detours, or the whole caravan might not have come back alive.”
However, such topics were too heavy for a dinner table, so the conversation quickly shifted back to the charity bazaar.
Jiang Ci took the invitation card passed by the waiter and said, “This is a virtuous cause. Even if it weren’t for networking, I should go. But I wonder what kind of things others usually donate, and roughly how valuable they are. It doesn’t matter if I donate something expensive, but I’d be embarrassed if I give too little and it looks improper.”
Qin Yanting waved her hand. “Actually, it doesn’t matter if the items are valuable or not. The key is whether people are willing to bid. Don’t worry too much about it.”
Qin Yanlou said, “We were supposed to support you today, but it didn’t quite work out. For the charity auction, no matter what you donate, we’ve got your back. We won’t let you lose face. Oh right, new rough stones are arriving at the gambling house in a few days. These past few days, they’ve only been selling leftovers that others picked through. I advise you not to go…”
Before they knew it, the conversation turned back to gambling on stones, and the atmosphere finally became much lighter.
***
Meanwhile, at the Central China Hotel.
Qin Huai’an sat stiffly on the sofa in the living room of his suite. Liang Manyin sat on the armrest, rolling a peeled boiled egg against the left side of his face to reduce the swelling.
“If you ask me, you were being too stubborn today. You clearly wronged her. What’s the big deal about saying sorry? In the end, you got slapped. I just hope the reporters didn’t get a picture of it.”
Hearing this, Qin Huai’an turned his face away. He looked up at Liang Manyin and said, “Now you’re lecturing me too? Do you think I did all this for myself?”
Liang Manyin put the egg back on the saucer on the coffee table. She lowered her head to smooth out the wrinkles in her dress and said softly, “You think you did it for me, but I don’t see it that way.”
Qin Huai’an stood up and walked to the window, turning his back to her. “Then tell me, who else would I do it for? Was it for myself?”
Instead of answering, Liang Manyin was silent for a moment. Then she looked at his back and said slowly, “Huai’an, I’ve been feeling uneasy these days, but I couldn’t figure out why. After hearing what Jiang Ci said today, I finally realized what was bothering me.”
“So she achieved her goal! Now you’re saying this, no matter what you mean, it means you have a problem with me too, right?” Qin Huai’an turned around sharply, looking at her as if seeking confirmation.
Liang Manyin avoided his gaze. “Why don’t you ask me what was bothering me?”
“Fine, tell me. I’d love to hear what other accusations Jiang Ci put in your head against me!”
“Saying that just shows you are still biased against her.” Liang Manyin felt an increasing sense of distance between them. She sighed and said, “Huai’an, I think our views have diverged. Although I criticize old traditions, I still pity the women who live under them. But you criticize them as well, along with the system. You have no compassion for those women who are poisoned and oppressed by old ideas.”
“Why should I pity them? Today that was my sister, but if it were anyone else—coming up and calling another woman a vixen, insulting her with such harsh words—wouldn’t you call that malicious?”
“That is because the feudal system oppresses them. It denies them the chance to study and understand the world, robs them of their own thoughts. If she had an education, she would know that I didn’t seduce you, but that you yourself refused to accept an arranged marriage you weren’t free to choose. The real blame for today doesn’t lie with Huainan, but with the entire outdated system.”
Liang Manyin frowned and took a step closer to him, lowering her voice. “You are her brother. You should try to understand her perspective. Imagine if you had never left home, never gone to school, and just stayed inside the house every day. Then, when you marry someone, that person’s affection would mean the world to you. Because your world is so small, losing that person would feel like a catastrophe.”
“What does that have to do with me? I’m not her husband!”
“Put yourself in her shoes. She sees her sister-in-law waiting alone at home. Do you think she wouldn’t worry about her own future? That’s why she understands Jiang Ci. She loves you as her brother and can’t bring herself to hate you, so she directs all her anger at me instead.”
Hearing this, Qin Huai’an only felt it was twisted logic. “That just proves she has no sense of right and wrong! It’s completely unreasonable for you to hold it against me!”
He didn’t realize that his attitude was what disappointed Liang Manyin the most.
She was looking for a meeting of minds, but today she felt like she was talking to a wall.
Everything she said seemed to go in one ear and out the other. Or perhaps, he simply couldn’t understand.
Liang Manyin looked at him with a complicated expression and remained silent for a long time. Then she stood up, took her hat and coat from the hook, and walked towards the door.
At the threshold, she looked back at him one last time and said, “Perhaps we both need some time to think.”
With that, she opened the door and left.
Qin Huai’an had had a terrible day, and he didn’t get the comfort he expected from Liang Manyin either. Standing by the window, he watched her walk out of the main entrance below, get into a car, and drive away. Finally, he couldn’t hold it in anymore. He swept his arm across the side table, sending a crystal decanter and several glasses crashing to the floor.
Glass shattered everywhere, and the whiskey inside spilled onto the carpet, leaving the room in a terrible mess.
***
That afternoon.
Jiang Ci and Qin Huainan were sitting in Qin Yanchi’s car, being driven home by him.
Since Qin Yanchi was going there partly to discipline the younger generation, Zeng Juemi didn’t want to go along and watch the fun. So he called his family from the restaurant and went back to the Lu residence together with Qin Yanting.
Therefore, besides the driver, only Qin Yanchi, Jiang Ci, and Qin Huainan were in the car.
The ride was silent, and they soon arrived at the Qin family mansion.
The gatekeeper saw the familiar license plate 0009 and quickly opened the main door. He then called over a young servant boy and said, “Hurry and tell Master and Madam that Ninth Master from the Third Branch is here!”
Jiang Ci had never seen such a reaction from the First Branch before.
The servants were all rushing around in a panic, as if the Emperor had suddenly arrived at some neglected palace.
Soon, her so-called parents-in-law hurried out. They were smoothing their hair and straightening their collars as they walked, clearly caught off guard and anxious to look proper.
Master Qin looked nervous and confused. Ignoring Jiang Ci and Qin Huainan for the moment, he walked up to Qin Yanchi and greeted him, “We didn’t expect you to visit today, Ninth Uncle. Please forgive us for not welcoming you sooner. Please, come inside.”
“I just happened to meet Huainan and the others, so I came along to pay a visit.”
With the servants present, Qin Yanchi didn’t want to air the family’s dirty laundry in public. He only said this vaguely, nodded, and followed Master Qin towards the inner courtyard.
Only then did Master Qin glance at Jiang Ci and Qin Huainan. He asked, “They are young and inexperienced. I hope they haven’t caused you any trouble, Ninth Uncle?”
Qin Yanchi didn’t answer that directly. He simply said, “Let’s talk inside.”
Master Qin grew even more nervous. He signaled Madam Qin with his eyes. She immediately said, “You go inside and talk, Ninth Uncle. I’ll go tell the kitchen to prepare tea and snacks.”
As she spoke, she shot a sharp glance at Jiang Ci and Qin Huainan, secretly waving her hand for them to follow her.
But then Qin Yanchi turned around and said, “There’s no need for that trouble. What I have to say today, you might all want to hear.”
Madam Qin froze in place, not daring to say another word. She could only follow them into the living room.
Watching from the side, Jiang Ci felt quite puzzled.
Hadn’t they said that the First Branch rarely interacted with the Second and Third Branches?
Then why did they act like mice seeing a cat just because Qin Yanchi, a young man in his twenties, showed up?