Zhou Daya told Chen Xiaoman, “You eat your noodles in the yard, your father and I have something to discuss.”
Once the little girl nodded, Zhou Daya pulled Old Li into the house.
Chen Xiaoman carefully set the bowl down on the stone drum, put both hands behind her back, and did her best not to look at the fragrant bowl of egg noodles.
Inside the house, Old Li doubted he’d heard right, and leaned closer to Zhou Daya. “What did you just say, how much?”
Zhou Daya took a deep breath and said quickly, “Five strings of cash.”
The smile on Old Li’s face froze, then cracked apart bit by bit.
His vision went black, and he nearly fell over.
Zhou Daya hurried to grab his arm.
Old Li exploded with rage. “What five strings, are you trying to drink my blood!”
Zhou Daya held his arm and deliberately lowered her voice. “Keep your voice down!”
Old Li shook Zhou Daya off and pounded his fist hard against his chest. “Send her back, I want my five strings! I want my blue-brick tile house!”
Zhou Daya said hastily, “We can’t send her back, her father is going to sell her.”
“If her father’s willing, is it any of your business?”
Old Li thumped his chest until it went “thump thump.”
Their entire family savings was only five strings.
And it had taken the whole family tightening their belts a lifetime to save it up.
The more he thought about it, the more it hurt, and he threw open the door and stormed out.
Chen Xiaoman clutched the little bundle Zhou Daya had left on the threshold tightly to her chest.
When Old Li saw Chen Xiaoman, the fire in his chest surged up higher.
He’d never heard of taking in a child bride costing money.
And five whole strings at that.
Was this girl made of gold?
He walked over to Chen Xiaoman in a few steps, scooped her up with one big hand, and carried her toward the bamboo fence.
Chen Xiaoman was jolted a couple of times, and her empty stomach churned.
She clenched her small fists around the front of her clothes and struggled hard not to throw up.
Zhou Daya chased after him from behind. “Li Mancang, put Xiaoman down!”
Old Li walked even faster. “If you won’t send her back, I will. Our family can’t afford this young lady.”
“My life was saved by Qiuniang. Now that Qiuniang is dead, we can’t just stand by and watch her daughter be trampled on!”
Old Li’s steps faltered.
But his softness lasted only a moment, and he said again, “Five strings is too much.”
In the time it took him to hesitate, Zhou Daya had already caught up to him.
“That beast Chen Shuisheng wants to sell Xiaoman to Landlord Liu for Camel Bridge, and you still want to send her back!”
Old Li was stunned, and it took him a long while before he cried out, “What?”
Zhou Daya wiped hard at her tears.
“If Chen Shuisheng takes Xiaoman back, she’ll be buried alive!”
Chen Xiaoman’s small body trembled.
Old Li muttered shakily, “No wonder…”
No wonder a little girl could be sold for five strings.
This Chen Shuisheng wasn’t even human!
Zhou Daya said mournfully, “Old man, save Xiaoman! We’re not people with hearts of wolves and lungs of dogs!”
Old Li panicked, sweat breaking out on his forehead.
Five whole strings.
If he played the good man, what would his family eat and drink?
Even with that thought, he’d still have to discuss it with his eldest and second sons.
He couldn’t just empty out the house while they were away at their mothers-in-law’s for the Dragon Boat Festival…
His mind was in a tangle, his eyes darting around, and he happened to glimpse the bowl of egg noodles on the stone roller, still steaming.
The little girl hadn’t eaten that bowl at all!
All the strength drained out of him instantly.
He trudged unsteadily over to the threshold and sat down.
He pulled the long-stemmed pipe from his waistband, packed it with tobacco, lit it, and took a hard drag.
The smoke made him cough again and again, until even old man’s tears were coughed out.
He rolled up his ragged sleeve to wipe the tears, his shoulders shaking as he began to sob.
Even the pipe was dropped to the ground.
Zhou Daya led Chen Xiaoman over to stand in front of him, helpless. “A grown man your age, aren’t you afraid people will laugh at you.”
Old Li turned his body away, not looking at Zhou Daya, and found himself facing Chen Xiaoman instead.
The old man and the little girl stared at each other.
Chen Xiaoman hesitated, then tilted her head and gave the old man a big smile.
Old Li’s chrysanthemum face twitched.
Who did she think she was smiling at.
He gave a cold snort inwardly, turned to sit on the other side, and wiped away his old tears in passing.
Chen Xiaoman bent over, picked up the egg noodles, and lifted them upward with all her strength.
“For you.”
Old Li lowered his head and saw the little bean sprout looking up at him, mouth stretched wide, showing off a mouth of baby teeth.
He took the bowl, wiped the chopsticks on the underarm of his shirt a couple of times, picked up the egg and shoved it into his mouth, then gave another cold snort inwardly.
Zhou Daya glared at him.
With one egg in his stomach, he felt much better, and the old tears stopped flowing.
Old Li sniffled and said to Chen Xiaoman, “I spent five strings to buy you, so from now on you have to work hard and support the whole family.”
“Start learning to spin thread at four! Earn back those five strings!”
Chen Xiaoman nodded her little head, her mouth stretching all the way back to her ears.
She could stay at Auntie’s house now!
She had to work hard to earn money too.
How should she earn it?
An old voice suddenly spoke up, “With me here, what’s there to earn money for!”
Chen Xiaoman immediately spun her head to look around, but saw no one.
The voice spoke again, “Don’t bother looking, I’m inside your body.”
Chen Xiaoman, troubled, pinched her own little belly. “I came out of my mother’s belly. If there’s someone inside my belly, does that mean I’m going to have a baby?”
The old man laughed heartily.
Chen Xiaoman frowned her small brows.
What was so funny about that.
“I’m Half-Immortal Zhang, in my own cave paradise. Letting me lodge here is a great fortune for you.”
Chen Xiaoman’s little face scrunched up.
Small as she was, she really didn’t understand what a cave paradise was.
She rested her chin on her hand and thought for a moment, then asked seriously, “Do you have five strings of cash?”
Half-Immortal Zhang was left speechless.
If he had money, he wouldn’t have had to watch helplessly as Chen Xiaoman was sold off by Chen Shuisheng.
“So you’re just as poor as I am.”
Chen Xiaoman began to feel sympathy for Half-Immortal Zhang.
Half-Immortal Zhang grew even more depressed.
Here he was, a dignified half-immortal, being lumped together with a three-year-old girl.
Chen Xiaoman patted her belly generously. “You can stay here for now, and move out once you have money.”
Half-Immortal Zhang nearly choked to death.
He decided not to talk to this little brat for a while.
Zhou Daya shot Old Li a look. “She’s only three, how is she supposed to earn you money?”
Old Li glanced sideways at Zhou Daya. “Let’s see how you’re going to explain this to our eldest and second sons.”
As he spoke, he made a point of slurping his noodles loudly.
Zhou Daya choked for a moment, then let out a deep sigh.
“We only have three hundred twenty-six copper coins left at home, and we still have to send a Dragon Boat gift to Chuyuan’s teacher. What’s left will be even less.”
Old Li’s brow furrowed into the shape of the character “川.”
Summer would arrive in just a few days, and once the house collapsed, where would the whole family live?
What a worry!
Old Li put his head down and finished the whole bowl of noodles, and drank every last drop of the broth too.
He set down the bowl and chopsticks, and only then said slowly, “Take my tobacco and sell it.”
Zhou Daya was stunned. “Then you won’t have any tobacco to smoke?”
“We’re so poor we can barely make ends meet, how can I still be smoking.”
Old Li answered gloomily.
He was a heavy smoker, and he’d grown quite a bit of tobacco on his own field ridge, enough to smoke for a whole year once harvested and dried.
If there were truly no other way, he wouldn’t have been willing to sell his tobacco.
“Get it packed up and go into the county town to trade it for some money, so we’ll have something to tell the eldest and second sons.”
Zhou Daya agreed, and found two carrying baskets, one to hold the tobacco, one to hold Chen Xiaoman.
Old Li carried the tobacco on his back and turned to leave.
Zhou Daya tucked a corn cake into Chen Xiaoman’s hand, then hoisted her onto her back and ran after Old Li.
“Taking Xiaoman to the county town to play!”
Running fast, Chen Xiaoman’s short hair flew up and down in the air.
Chen Xiaoman’s eyes were bright and shining, and she broke into a brilliant grin.
She was going to the county town!