Tao Qinghe stared straight at Qian Zhenniang. From the moment they’d met until now, the woman hadn’t uttered a single kind word. Did she really think she could treat her like a pushover?
She wouldn’t put up with it any longer and spoke up directly: “What on earth are you getting at, Auntie? Do you think I’ve eaten too much? Or are you disappointed I haven’t managed to die yet? If not, I’ll go and die again. I’ll leave this flesh of mine for you to boil and eat—who knows, perhaps it might even shut your mouth!”
No sooner had she spoken than Tao Qinghe sprang to her feet and headed for the door. The others in the room, having heard her words, were not about to let her leave. Zhao Liniang rushed over and grabbed her, then turned to shout at Qian Zhenniang: “Qian Zhenniang! You heartless, wicked woman! What have you done to Qinghe? How dare you drive her to her death!”
Seeing her elder sister, who had only just regained consciousness, being driven to the brink of suicide once more, Tao Qingmiao seized the moment to lunge at Qian Zhenniang and shove her with all her might, shouting incessantly: “Don’t you dare bully my sister! You wicked people!”
Qian Zhenniang stumbled at the shove, nearly losing her footing, but dared not say another word. She hadn’t expected Tao Qinghe, who’d always been so quiet and reserved, to be possessed by some strange force and act in such a manner. Fearing that the girl might lose her head and do something foolish—which would bring trouble upon herself as well—she hid behind Tao Erlang and remained silent. Meanwhile, the two little children standing nearby had long since been frightened into wailing, and the scene descended into utter chaos.
Seeing how things had escalated, Tao Erlang quickly stepped in to smooth things over. “My dear, your auntie was merely speaking in the heat of the moment; why did you take it so seriously?”
Having said this, he turned to Zhao Liniang and forced a smile. “Eldest Sister-in-law, do we have any steamed buns left? Warm some up for Qinghe. Though we’re poor now, we can’t let the child go hungry, can we?”
Hearing this, Old Man Tao’s expression darkened. He bellowed, “What on earth is all this fuss about? Don’t you have enough troubles at home already?”
Tao Qinghe watched coldly as the people before her played out this charade, going through the motions in perfect unison. She had no desire to get entangled in it any further. She took Old Lady Zhao and Tao Qingmiao by the hand and led them out of the kitchen, leaving the others behind with a variety of expressions on their faces.
Inside the main house, Mother Zhao leaned against the earthen wall, her eyes brimming with tears once more.
Tao Qinghe hurried to comfort her. “If you keep crying like this, you’ll ruin your eyes. I was only scaring them just now. Since I’ve promised you, I won’t do anything foolish again.”
Wiping her eyes, Mother Zhao murmured, “It’s all my fault. I’m useless—I can’t protect you all…”
Qinghe quickly cut her off. “Think—is there any other food left? Once they’ve finished, we’ll cook some more. Let’s make sure we’re all properly fed first.”
No sooner had the few people in the kitchen finished their meal than Qian Zhenniang, tugging the little one with one hand and pushing Tao Erlang with the other, returned to the room.
As soon as the door closed, she said with a sneer, “Tao Erlang! How many years has it been since I gave birth to Chunsheng and Shuisheng? We’re still crammed into this one room—don’t you find it stifling? “And what’s more, we haven’t divided the household yet. Are we supposed to keep feeding those three freeloaders? Your eldest brother certainly left us in a hurry—who’s supposed to look after this mess now?”
Tao Erlang frowned at these words. “Our eldest brother has only just passed away, and the eldest branch has no male heir to carry on the line. Wouldn’t dividing the household now just invite gossip?”
“What? Your eldest brother is gone, and you’re waiting until next year when the eldest branch might have a male heir?”
That was a rather crude remark, and Tao Erlang retorted irritably, “Then what do you suggest? Are we to simply throw them out?”
Qian Zhenniang looked at the useless man before her and clutched her chest in exasperation.
Tao Erlang was deeply troubled. He had no desire to support three extra mouths to feed, yet with his eldest brother having just passed away, if he could not devise a more appropriate plan before dividing the household, the villagers would one day drown him in a torrent of scorn. But no matter how he turned it over in his mind, what solution could possibly satisfy all parties? The couple, each lost in their own thoughts, fell silent.
Meanwhile, hearing the commotion from the second household, Tao Qinghe recalled the recent arguments and turned to ask Zhao Liniang about it.
Zhao Liniang, thinking of what Qian Shi had said, explained with a worried expression: “This matter hasn’t been settled yet. Originally, your grandfather said we’d divide the property after the harvest, but then your father had this incident… Now that Qian Zhenniang has brought it up again, she is clearly driving us to our doom.”
Tao Qinghe suddenly realised: Qian Zhenniang’s relentless pressure clearly meant she intended to cast the three of them out onto the street. Yet she knew nothing of the laws of the Great Wei Dynasty, and the original host had no memories of such matters either; this lack of information left her momentarily unable to devise a way out of the impasse.
She gathered her thoughts and asked Zhao Liniang again, “If we follow our earlier discussion, how exactly would the division of the household be carried out?”
Zhao Liniang fell silent for a moment before replying, “Your grandfather’s intention was for us to live in the new house built for us in the village, whilst your younger uncle and his family would remain in the main house.”
“Just a single house? What about the money and other possessions?” Tao Qinghe pressed.
Zhao Liniang shook her head. “They didn’t go into such detail back then; we only agreed to build a house.”
……
Tao Qinghe felt a headache coming on. Saying nothing meant they’d be given nothing! If the second branch of the family took a hard line, who knew what underhand tactics they might resort to.
She tried to collect her thoughts before asking again, “What if they insist on dividing the household?”
Zhao Liniang replied in a low voice, “There are no male heirs in our household; it cannot be divided…”
It cannot be divided? If they’re determined, they’ll always find a way. She needed to plan an escape route now, so as not to be caught off guard.
Tao Qinghe pressed on: “Since our household has no male heirs, if they use that as an excuse…”
Zhao Liniang understood the implication of her words. If she were to be divorced on those grounds, never mind having nowhere to turn in her own family, wouldn’t the two girls be left at the mercy of that Qian woman here in the Tao household?
“W-what… what are we to do?” Zhao Liniang felt a chill run through her body.
“Mother! If they dare do such a thing, I’ll protect you and Sister even if it costs me my life!” Tao Qingmiao suddenly spoke up.
Tao Qinghe took the young girl’s hand and patted it soothingly before continuing, “It hasn’t come to that yet. Although they’re planning to split the household, they’ll still have to save face. The real fear is that they might come up with some underhand schemes to force us into a split. If it comes to that, we’ll still have to find a way to secure as much of the household goods as possible.”
Tao Qinghe pondered for a moment. The original owner had followed her biological father from a young age and had picked up some skills in flower cultivation. If it really came to being driven out of the house, she was, after all, a horticulturist; making a living should… surely not be a problem?
“Do you know where our family’s flowers are sold?” she ventured, trying to find out Tao Dalang’s distribution channels.
“In the past, your father used to go to the county town with your Uncle Li; I suppose they sold the flowers there.”
The county town… It seemed, then, that there were no major clients who bought exclusively from them.
Come to think of it, that made sense. Tao Dalang could only tend to the flowers in his spare time; if he’d had a steady customer base, things wouldn’t be in such a dire state now.
……
Zhao Liniang’s mind was in utter turmoil. Her own father was a compulsive gambler; if she were to return to her parents’ home, what difference would it make from walking into a den of wolves? Since marrying into the Tao family, although she had not borne a son, her husband had treated her very well. Even though Qian Zhenniang looked down on her, she had been on the verge of living separately from them. Who would have thought that in just a few short days, things would have come to this…
It was bad enough that she was useless, but now she had to ask her two daughters to risk their lives to save this family. She wished she could die in her husband’s place; at least then she could protect the children…
Seeing the sorrow on Zhao Liniang’s face, Tao Qinghe could only try to lighten the mood. “Let’s not talk about this. Before they’ve even had a chance to work out how to divide the family, let’s not lose our composure ourselves.”
Zhao Liniang nodded in agreement.
……
Early the next morning, before dawn had even broken, the roosters in the village began to crow.
By this time, Tao Erlang, who was due to go to the county town, had already risen. Unlike Tao Dalang, Tao Erlang had been clever from a young age and knew how to win people over. It was precisely through this that he had persuaded Old Man Tao to send him to the county town to learn a trade.
Consequently, he had to rise early every day to make his way to the county town, so he could be fully prepared before the market came to life. Today, just as he had finished putting on his coarse cloth clothes, Qian Zhenniang also got up and began dressing.
Tao Erlang was puzzled. “It’s not even dawn yet. Are you getting up this early to make breakfast?”
Qian Zhenniang rolled her eyes at him and said irritably, “You’re always thinking about food. I’m actually going to the county town to find my eldest brother today.”
“What’s this about? Why do you have to go yourself?”
“I’m going to look for someone and ask around. Mind your own business.” Qian Zhenniang was thoroughly exasperated.
Left speechless, Tao Erlang said nothing more, merely packing his things in silence.
The two walked all the way to the county town. Tao Erlang saw the shop was open and Qian San was busy arranging various wooden utensils, so he hurried over.
After exchanging greetings, Qian San stopped what he was doing and looked at Qian Zhenniang, who had come as well. “Why have you come over so early today?”
Qian Zhenniang waved her hand and replied, “I’ve come to discuss something with my eldest brother. Has he arrived yet?”
Qian San nodded. “Eldest brother is at the shop to the east. Father reckons he’ll be a bit later.”
A look of delight spread across Qian Zhenniang’s face. She grabbed her third brother’s arm and headed east, without so much as a word of farewell, leaving Tao Erlang standing there all alone.
Tao Erlang watched the siblings walk away, seething with anger. Ever since Old Man Tao had sent him to work at the Qian family’s carpentry shop many years ago, he had never received a kind word from them! Although he had later married Qian Zhenniang, his father-in-law remained wary of him. The Qian father and son never included him when crafting large pieces, nor were they willing to teach him any of the finer skills. Not to mention the present situation: now that Qian Da, relying on his newly acquired connections, had rented a shop on the east side of town, Tao Erlang was left to linger here doing menial tasks—a situation that infuriated him day in, day out!
While Tao Erlang was still mulling over the trials of recent years, Qian Zhenniang, for her part, had not rested for a moment; she had hurried all the way to the eastern shop and arrived there before long.
Qian Da had been sitting in the shop since dawn. A family at the end of the street was marrying off their daughter and had placed a large order at his shop last month; they had agreed to hand over the goods today, which would bring in a tidy sum. Thinking of this, he was in high spirits.
He had only just finished tidying up the clutter in the shop and sat down to catch his breath when he saw Qian Zhenniang and Qian San approaching.
He had no choice but to rise again to greet them: “In this sweltering heat, why have you come all this way?”