The more Wu Hehua thought the more resentful she became. They were both daughters, why should Yan Xi get everybody’s love, with everyone at home, elder or junior, giving way to her, and she didn’t have to go to the fields or do housework? Whereas she herself not only had to work at home but had to go down to the fields in the busy season, and a moment’s rest earned her a beating or a scolding.
Blinded by envy, Wu Hehua rushed up meaning to hit Yan Xi, to ruin her face and see whether she still dared be so arrogant.
If she had been born into the Yan family she would surely have done better than Yan Xi. She was a good hand at work and would certainly have been better liked than Yan Xi.
Yan Xi didn’t expect Wu Hehua to be so unreasonable. Without a thought she lifted her leg and kicked, catching her squarely. Seeing this the people around hurried up to help Wu Hehua up, and all blamed Yan Xi for hitting people, what if something had happened to her?
“Wu Hehua struck first. Didn’t you see, or what? So it’s right for me to stand there and be hit,” Yan Xi said, speechless.
“She didn’t hit you, did she? You could have just dodged, you didn’t have to hit her. We’re all from the same village, what’s wrong with giving way.” Wu Chunhua spoke up.
Listening to this matter-of-fact talk, Yan Xi laughed in anger. So it was all her fault. She shouldn’t have gone up the mountain today, running into a crowd with holes in their heads.
“If you’re willing to see it that way, that’s your own business, it’s nothing to do with me. If Wu Hehua dares raise her hand, I dare hit back. If you don’t like it, come and try.”
So saying, Yan Xi didn’t intend to pay them any attention. She took her group around them by the side, and when they had gone a little way she heard Wu Hehua’s whimpering crying, and the voices of a few of her friends comforting her.
“What a way of acting the white lotus [1]the white lotus (bai lian hua, 白蓮花) Metaphor, someone who feigns innocence and purity while scheming jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3254422_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3254422_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. She did wrong herself, and she sheds a few tears and there are people speaking up for her. Sure enough, whoever cries is in the right.” Yan Xi rolled her eyes inwardly.
“Auntie Yan Xi, you hit Wu Hehua today, be careful she goes home and tells on you. Her mother and her eldest sister-in-law curse people terribly.” Tie Dan, afraid Yan Xi didn’t know how shameless the Wu family was, said this at Yan Xi’s side. “My mom won’t let me play with Wu Ergui, she says their family is unreasonable.”
“It’s all right, my family isn’t easy to cross either. If they really dare come, my mom will tear them apart alive.” Yan Xi knew her mother’s fighting strength well enough. Don’t be fooled by her temper being much better lately, that was only because nothing had come along to fire her up.
At the foot of the mountain the group parted ways. Yan Xi carried the back basket home, and the nephews stayed at the foot of the mountain picking amaranth, getting ready for the dumplings that evening.
“Mom, I picked some wild grapes. I’m going to go into town now and see whether I can sell them. Share these few bunches with the old house,” Yan Xi said as she came in.
“And Mom, when we were coming down just now we ran into Wu Hehua at the foot of the mountain and there was some unpleasantness. Her mother will probably come and make trouble later.” Thinking of what had happened, Yan Xi thought it best to warn the family so they wouldn’t be caught out.
“What, did Wu Hehua bully you? Are you hurt anywhere? Quick, let me see.”
“It’s all right. She tried to raise her hand and I gave her a kick. She never touched me.”
“As long as you’re all right. Hmph, I knew that Wu Hehua was no good either. With Xu Guihua for a mother, what sort of decent daughter could she raise.” Yan Xi’s mother snorted coldly.
“By the way, today isn’t a market day. Will you be able to sell them if you go? Don’t waste the trip. Or else tomorrow morning I’ll have your eldest sister-in-law go with you.”
“It’s all right, there are plenty of rich people in town. I’ll go and walk about in the lanes, however much I can sell is fine. Kept till tomorrow they won’t be fresh and certainly nobody will want them.” Yan Xi certainly couldn’t agree. The grapes were only a pretext to begin with, she meant to go into town and clear out some of the things in the space, and taking someone along would be inconvenient.
“All right then. If you go now you can still get back for dinner. And if you meet an ox cart on the road, ride part of the way, don’t grudge the money.”
Yan Xi drank a bowl of water, put on the back basket and went out. It was three hours’ walk to the town, and if she didn’t hurry it would be very late coming back.
She was nearly at the town and hadn’t met a single ox cart. There was no denying her luck was bad.
Having caught her breath, Yan Xi went into the town. She didn’t wander about but went straight for Yongfu Lane, which she had asked about earlier. The people living in this quarter were all the town’s wealthy, and their household buying was normally done by the maids and matrons of the house. Yan Xi meant to try her luck.
The lane was very quiet. Sunlight came down through the leaves, and in the mottled lane there was nothing to hear but Yan Xi and some cicadas and birds.
Yan Xi moved some muskmelons, lychees and honey peaches out of the space, not a large amount, about ten catties of each. With the grapes in the back basket it came to some sixty catties.
Yan Xi picked a house at random and went up and knocked, and before long a voice came from inside the door.
“Who is it!”
With a creak the door opened, and a servant boy put his head out. He looked Yan Xi over and, finding he didn’t know her, thought she had knocked at the wrong door and, paying no attention, was about to shut it.
“Don’t be in a hurry, young sir, I have some fruit here. We really can’t finish it at home, so I thought I’d let the honorable household see whether they need any.”
So saying, Yan Xi took the cloth off the back basket, showing the fruit underneath. The servant boy looked down and it really was good, bigger and fresher than what the household usually bought, especially the lychees, which still had the dew on them as if they had just been picked from the tree.
“Let’s do this, you wait here, and I’ll go and report to the mistress and see whether she needs any.” So saying he shut the door and went into the courtyard.
In about the time of a cup of tea, the young man came back panting, with a matron.
“This is Nanny An, from the mistress’s side. You may bring your things and go in with the nanny!”
Yan Xi answered and followed. She didn’t look about much along the way, and they walked nearly the time of a stick of incense before they arrived.
“Wait a moment, miss, let me go in and inform the mistress first.”
Yan Xi waited until word had been passed and then followed her in, and under Madam Liu’s inspection she stepped briskly forward. “Madam, I have some fruit here, and they all taste quite good. Have a taste and then see what you need.” So saying she took a spray of lychees and handed it to the servant beside her, and the servant peeled them and handed them up.
Madam Liu took the lychees and tasted one. “Not bad. My daughter is fondest of these. Go and invite her here, and tell her there is fresh fruit.”
The servant received the order and went.
“I’ll take all the fruit you have here. You say what the price comes to.”
“Lychees fifteen wen a catty, honey peaches eight wen a catty, muskmelons ten wen a catty, and the grapes three wen a catty. There are over sixty catties here in all, call it sixty, and you need only give four hundred and twenty wen altogether.”
Afraid Madam Liu would think it dear, Yan Xi said, “Madam has seen these fruits, their appearance is much better than what’s on the market, and you simply can’t buy them elsewhere. Eating them often is good for the body.”
Hearing this, Madam Liu looked Yan Xi over again privately. This bearing, neither servile nor overbearing, really wasn’t like a farm girl, there wasn’t the least constraint about her, and instead she seemed poised and at ease. If it weren’t for the clothes on her, which weren’t good and had patches on them, you could easily say she was the daughter of some family in the city.
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