At the eastern end of the village, at the Yao family home, leaders from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative had come personally to deliver the disciplinary decision.
Yao Yulan had not stepped outside all day.
She had washed herself countless times, yet she still felt as though an unbearable stench lingered on her body and in her mouth.
Yao Daqiang, his wife, and their three sons had spent the entire day complaining, arguing, blaming one another, and hurling accusations back and forth. At one point, they even came to blows. Later, they vented their anger by smashing dishes and bowls, breaking quite a few household items.
After lunch, neighbors from all directions deliberately gathered outside their gate and loudly discussed how lively the Cheng family’s wedding had been.
They talked about how beautiful the bride was, how she had worn a traditional Miao wedding gown adorned with over thirty jin of silver jewelry, how even an army regiment commander had personally presided over the ceremony, and how many generous gifts had been presented.
Yao Yulan heard every word.
By the end, a surge of sweetness mixed with blood rose in her throat.
With a loud retching sound, she spat out a mouthful of blood.
The sight frightened her mother so badly that she nearly rushed her to the hospital.
What made matters even worse was that, in the afternoon, the deputy director of the town Supply and Marketing Cooperative personally came to Wankou Village and went straight to the production team leader’s house to investigate.
It turned out that Cheng Yuanxian and the others had indeed gone to the cooperative that morning to report the incident.
Although they had not caused a scene in the leadership offices, they had clearly explained everything that had happened and firmly demanded that Yao Yulan be disciplined.
Before the wedding ceremony, Commander Tan and the others had learned that the bride had been replaced at the last minute and that Cheng Yuanche had been publicly humiliated by his former fiancée’s family.
Commander Tan had been so furious that he slapped the table on the spot.
Later, after the production team leader arrived, Commander Tan spoke with him personally and remarked:
“Whether someone with this level of political consciousness is suitable to remain in a position serving the people is open to question.”
When the cooperative leadership came to investigate that afternoon, the team leader repeated those words exactly as they had been spoken.
Nor did he conceal anything else.
He recounted in full detail how the Yao family had raised the bride price at the last minute, insulted a soldier, and how Yao Yulan’s mother had cursed and shouted in the street.
The more the cooperative leaders listened, the darker their expressions became.
Afterward, accompanied by the team leader, they visited the Cheng family, verified the facts directly with Cheng Yuanche, and made a formal promise in front of Commander Tan.
“Commander Tan, Deputy Battalion Commander Cheng, please rest assured.
Our Supply and Marketing Cooperative is a socialist service institution. The moral and ideological conduct of our employees is extremely important.
Comrade Yao Yulan’s actions have severely damaged the cooperative’s reputation. She insulted and humiliated a serviceman and displayed serious moral failings.
I will report the matter truthfully and ensure it is dealt with severely.”
By evening, the disciplinary decision had reached Wankou Village:
“Yao Yulan has been given a major demerit, suspended from her position without pay, and ordered to undergo ideological reeducation.”
Such a punishment was practically equivalent to dismissal.
The chances of her ever returning to work were almost nonexistent.
Her job had always been her greatest source of pride and superiority.
Now she could no longer boast about it.
Her reputation was ruined as well.
This time she cried so bitterly that it seemed her heart and intestines were breaking.
The neighbors all heard her sobbing, but not a single person went to comfort her.
Instead, they shook their heads disdainfully.
“She had a perfectly good life and just had to stir up trouble.”
“She brought this on herself.”
“What an idiot.”
The news quickly reached the Cheng family.
A young girl who was friends with Cheng Yuanshu came running over to tell them.
After enthusiastically recounting everything, she asked,
“Brother Yuanche, does suspension without pay mean she can’t go to work anymore?”
“That’s right,” Cheng Yuanche replied.
“She can’t go to work, and she won’t receive any salary.”
He was very satisfied with the outcome.
In fact, he didn’t even want to hear Yao Yulan’s name anymore.
At the same time, he felt fortunate that she had not become his wife.
Otherwise, he and Qiu Yinong might have missed each other for the rest of their lives.
That evening’s dinner was exceptionally lavish.
There was a large basin of steamed sea snails, two bowls of stir-fried snail meat, braised octopus, steamed crabs, steamed razor clams, a tray of charcoal-grilled oysters with garlic, a large pot of fish soup, two huge dishes of stir-fried pork, and two vegetable dishes.
Two tables were pushed together in the courtyard for everyone to eat.
“Yinong, which dish do you like best?” Mother Cheng asked.
Qiu Yinong’s bowl was already piled high with food that her husband and mother-in-law had served her.
Smiling, she pointed at the oysters.
“I like these the most. I prefer strong flavors—especially spicy food.”
“Little Qiu’s hometown practically survives on chili peppers,” Commander Tan’s wife said with a laugh.
Being from the Southwest herself, her eating habits were somewhat similar, though not quite as spicy.
“When you move to the military family quarters, come to my house and take a couple of bags of peppers. My wife grows them every year. We have mountains of dried peppers and chopped chili paste. Whenever the men are away, she practically eats rice mixed with chili sauce.”
“I do the same thing!”
Qiu Yinong smiled.
“I haven’t eaten chili peppers for three days now. My mouth feels completely tasteless. These three days have felt like three years.”
“Hahaha!”
Commander Tan burst out laughing.
“If I’d known Yuanche was getting a different wife, I’d have brought a whole truckload of peppers with me today.”
“Commander, after you get back, please ask Sister-in-law to mail us a bag,” Cheng Yuanche immediately said. “I’ll pay her for it afterward.”
“Pay for what?”
Commander Tan waved dismissively.
“Our cupboards are overflowing with peppers. Nobody even wants them. Little Qiu should help us eat some. Otherwise they’ll just sit there attracting insects and mice.”
In fact, he looked as though he’d happily mail her every last pepper in the house.
Father Cheng was busy extracting snail meat from the shells as he joined the conversation.
“One place nurtures one kind of people. We hardly eat chili peppers here. I’ve never even seen a chili tree.”
“In our hometown, peppers are the most commonly grown crop,” Qiu Yinong explained.
“There are many varieties. Every household hangs strings of dried red peppers from their eaves and windowsills. They look beautiful.”
“We also make all kinds of chopped chilies, pickled chilies, sour chilies, chili oil, and chili flakes. Aside from light vegetable dishes and soups, almost everything else contains chili peppers.”
After hearing that, Li Shuangmei laughed.
“If I had to live at your parents’ home, I probably wouldn’t survive a single day.”
“That’s not true, Sister-in-law.”
Qiu Yinong shook her head.
“During the political campaigns, educated youths from other regions and people sent for labor reform came to our area. At first, they couldn’t eat spicy food either, but eventually they adapted.”
“The climate there is different from here. Chili peppers help dispel cold and dampness and have medicinal benefits. Eating them daily makes people feel better. Problems like ‘internal heat’ don’t really occur there. In fact, not eating peppers makes people uncomfortable.”
“Oh, I see.”
Li Shuangmei had never known that chili peppers could have medicinal uses.
Seated opposite the couple, Battalion Commander Lu asked casually,
“Little Sister-in-law, do the Miao people marry members of other ethnic groups?”
“Yes.”
Qiu Yinong nodded.
“In the area administered by our city, besides the Han people, there are five minority groups: the Miao, Yao, Dong, Bai, and Tujia peoples.”
“In the past, marriages mostly occurred within each ethnic group. But things have gradually changed. Intermarriage among the five groups has become more common.”
“Still, the majority of marriages remain within the same group because customs and lifestyles are more similar.”
“Do all five groups live together?” Cheng Yuanchi asked curiously.
“No.”
“They don’t live in the same place. Different groups are concentrated in different counties, and the distances between them can be considerable.”
“Well, if they’re in different counties, that is quite far apart,” Commander Tan agreed.
Curious about Miao culture, he continued,
“Besides food, what other differences are there between Miao customs and Han customs?”
“The differences are quite significant.”
“For example, our New Year is celebrated at a different time. We have different festivals, different religious beliefs, and even different languages.”
“Within our communities, we speak the Miao language. Many older people don’t speak Chinese at all. Generally speaking, only younger generations who attended school and learned Mandarin can speak it fluently.”
“Our architecture is different too.”
“You build houses from blue brick, red brick, or earthen brick.”
“We live entirely in wooden houses—stilt houses.”
“Rows upon rows of them stand along the mountainsides.”