Bai Muban’s striking appearance, with pheasants hanging around his neck, was spotted by You Jingui’s mother.
Through her promotion, the news quickly reached the Village Head’s house. Unable to contain herself, the Village Head’s wife hurried out to the Old Bai family home to scout for gossip, arriving just in time to see the Bai men pushing the wild boar into the courtyard.
Thus, the news of the Old Bai family catching pheasants and hunting a wild boar spread rapidly through Shenshu Village via the mouth of the Village Head’s wife.
It had only been a few days since the “catching large fish” incident had dropped from the top of the Shenshu Village gossip rankings, and the Old Bai family had once again become the center of the news. The village was in an uproar once more!
Before the Bai family could even finish processing the game in their courtyard, the villagers swarmed the place, just as they had during the fishing incident. People gathered everywhere—inside the courtyard and outside the fence—to watch the excitement. Whether they were jealous of the Bai family’s “dog-shit luck,” envious of their sudden fortune, or genuinely happy for them, everyone flocked to the house.
Old Lady Bai gazed at the sea of people with worry. The fence that had been trampled during the last spectacle had only just been repaired; now a new wave had arrived, and a fence wasn’t built to be stood upon!
“Brother Bai, how impressive! How on earth did you catch this string of pheasants?” the Village Head asked Bai Muban with an expression of amazement while helping to shoo people off the fence.
“I didn’t really do much; it was purely good luck,” Bai Muban laughed modestly, inviting the Village Head to smoke a pipe. “Big Brother, you wouldn’t believe it, but I was just wandering through the reed marsh and happened upon these pheasants that had fainted.”
Bai Muban kept a secret to himself, omitting the miraculous detail of the pheasants crashing into the tree right before his eyes. Even so, this confession stirred up a wave of resentment among the crowd.
Fainted pheasants?
And ten of them fainted all at once?
No one in Shenshu Village had ever heard of such a thing. Those teenage boys who spent all day crawling through the reed marsh were lucky to find a single pheasant egg; none of them had ever caught so many birds. But everyone knew Bai Muban was an honest man and wouldn’t lie. Luck—everyone firmly pinned the Old Bai family’s situation on “striking grand luck.”
“And what about this wild boar? I heard your nephews hunted it?” the Village Head continued to press.
Indeed, compared to the pheasants, everyone was more curious about how Bai Dazhuang had hunted the boar. After all, wild boars were incredibly destructive; over the years, instances of them ravaging crops or injuring travelers occurred frequently. Every spring, the county organized groups to catch them, yet despite all the commotion, they hadn’t caught a single tuft of pig hair. No one in Shenshu Village had ever heard of Bai Dazhuang having such skill; if he did, he would have stepped up long ago when the county offered rewards.
“Uncle Zhao, I don’t have the skill to hunt a wild boar. We were just up the mountain cutting wood when the boar ran into a tree and knocked itself out. Zhaomei and I simply hauled it home,” Bai Dazhuang narrated calmly, though he couldn’t hide the pride in his heart.
To be honest, Bai Dazhuang’s understated description stoked even more jealousy than his father’s. If he had said he had hunted the boar through a fierce life-and-death struggle, people would have merely admired his courage and felt the boar rightfully belonged to the Bai family. But hearing that it had simply hit a tree and been “picked up” made people incredibly envious and left them with a sense of imbalance. They often went up the mountain for wood themselves; why had they never encountered a boar fainted from hitting a tree?
“I’ve heard that a person’s luck can’t strike three times. Your family caught fish, caught pheasants, and now a wild boar… be careful your fortune doesn’t leak away,” someone said in an ill-timed, sour tone.
The entire Bai family hated hearing this. Just as Old Lady Bai was about to snap back, the Village Head stepped forward and scolded the speaker: “What nonsense are you talking? This is what the Old Bai family deserves. Their ancestors were accumulating merit before you were even born! If it weren’t for the well the Bai family dug at the village entrance years ago, you’d still be walking ten miles of mountain roads just to fetch a bucket of water.”
The scolded person slunk away in shame. The younger onlookers looked at each other; it was the first time they had heard that the village well had been dug by the Bai family.
“Old Madam Bai, this is a blessing! When fortune comes, no one can block it. Your good days are yet to come,” the Village Head, Zhao Defu, said happily to Old Lady Bai.
Village Head Zhao Defu and Bai Muban were childhood friends. He remembered that when they were young, the Bai family had a few years of great prosperity that were notable in the entire Nanguan mountain range. The Bai family were not the type of harsh people who ignored their neighbors once they had money; when his own family struggled in his youth, he had eaten many of the Bai family’s fruits and worn Bai Muban’s old cotton jackets. Even the few characters he could read were learned alongside Bai Muban, though neither of them were cut out for scholarship and never made it far in their studies.
Later, the Bai family fell on hard times and spent over a decade struggling. But now it was different; this was a scene of full-blown prosperity. He thought of his wife mentioning the words of the lame Taoist and felt a shiver. Could it be that the little daughter sleeping in the Bai house really brought fortune? If it were false, how could one explain this consecutive “striking of grand luck”?
If it were true…
Village Head Zhao Defu’s heart began to tremble. The fortune-teller had said the Bai family’s little daughter was “noble beyond words.” What did “noble beyond words” mean? The only noblewoman he knew was the County Magistrate’s wife—or rather, he didn’t “know” her, but he had caught a few glimpses of her from afar when he took men to the county to pay the grain tax. She wore gold hairpins and silk clothes; she looked very wealthy and noble indeed. As for what a noblewoman higher than that looked like, he didn’t dare to imagine.
Old Lady Bai felt slightly mollified by the Village Head’s praise, but she remained modest: “What luck? We just happened upon it.”
“Brother Zhao, in a few days, we’re holding a one-month feast for my daughter. I’d like to invite you to oversee the event,” Bai Muban invited the Village Head cheerfully.
“Sure, I’ll definitely come,” Village Head Zhao agreed readily while smoking his pipe.
The onlookers erupted in excitement again. No family in the village had ever held a one-month feast for a daughter. This was a first for the village. It seemed the Bai family’s newborn daughter was truly extraordinary!
If they had been skeptical before about Xiao Fuyuan bringing luck, the pheasants, wild boar, and rabbits today had completely “hammered home” the conclusion that she brought fortune to the Bai family.
Old Lady Bai saw the gossiping looks of the crowd and knew exactly what they were thinking. She had come to terms with the fact that she couldn’t stop their thoughts, but she had to suppress any expectations about Xiao Fuyuan that went too far. This task required the Village Head, as he held authority in the village.
“Defu, our family just happened to strike luck by chance. In the future, if anyone in the village tries to link this to my granddaughter, you must speak up for us. It’s fine to say Xiao Fuyuan brings luck, but those talks about ‘everlasting nobility’ or her becoming an ‘Empress or Princess’ cannot be allowed. If those words spread and invite an investigation from the authorities, it will be your fault as Village Head.”
Zhao Defu’s heart trembled a few more times. The source of those rumors about Empresses and Princesses was his own wife. He hadn’t believed it, thinking his wife was just stuck in the mindset of the operas she listened to during the New Year; he hadn’t taken it seriously when she whispered to him at night. Hearing Old Lady Bai’s words now, he felt he needed to intervene. Not just anyone could become an Empress or Princess, and such things shouldn’t be discussed lightly. He didn’t want to be dragged off to be beheaded. Just the thought made his legs weak.
“Old Madam Bai, don’t you worry. Leave this to me. I guarantee that in the future, no one in this village will link your granddaughter to Empresses or Princesses again.”
In his heart, he didn’t believe it either; even if all the ancestral graves in Shenshu Village were combined, they probably couldn’t produce such a figure. However, a County Magistrate’s wife… that was something one could still dream about.
The Village Head gave his guarantee to Old Lady Bai, his eyes searching through the crowd. There she was—his wife was currently engaged in a heated, spittle-flecked discussion with the person next to her. When he got home tonight, he had to give her a piece of his mind; he had to take this seriously!
The sky was soon covered in darkness. Having seen enough of the excitement, the villagers left in small groups.
The immediate consequence of watching the drama was that for the next few days, a swarm of people spent their time crawling through the reed marsh, hoping to find fainted pheasants. However, aside from the Village Head’s grandson finding two pheasant eggs, no one found a thing. As for going up the mountain to find a boar that hits trees—everyone decided to pass. That wasn’t something to play around with; one could lose their life. After all, no one could guarantee they had Bai Dazhuang’s luck.