“Nanny An, go and fetch the copper cash. Take five hundred wen, the extra counts as a gift from me to this young lady.”
Nanny An received the order and went.
“In future, if you have any rather good fruit you may bring it here, and vegetables can be taken too. The household has to buy them anyway, and getting them from you comes to the same thing. Only the vegetables mustn’t come late, past the hour the household won’t need them.”
Madam Liu meant to be on good terms with Yan Xi. With this girl’s looks and bearing she wouldn’t be a nobody in future, and doing her a small favor now would give her a word to say later, wouldn’t it.
Having got the money, Yan Xi was ready to take her leave. Seeing it was still early, she meant to sell to a few more houses, earning silver and clearing out stock at the same time, two birds with one stone.
Having said goodbye to Madam Liu, Yan Xi went round to three houses, and each of them bought some fruit, more or less, among them the lychees and the honey peaches sold best.
Coming out of the last house, Yan Xi had sold over three hundred catties of fruit that day. A good many of the servants with better monthly wages had bought some too. A day’s work had earned nearly three taels five mace of silver, and the lychees and honey peaches accounted for three taels of it. Now that she had some experience Yan Xi decided to bring more of those two next time.
The sun slanted west and Yan Xi decided to go home. Before leaving she went to Guixiang Zhai again, the same shop hand as yesterday, and once more she was defeated by his warmth. Yan Xi bought five boxes of pastries, three for the old house and two to keep for the nephews at home.
It came to a hundred and fifty wen in all. Say what you like, this money really was easy to earn. For an ordinary household that much money would have covered half a month’s food and drink, quite unlike now, when a few boxes of pastries were only enough for a taste.
Out of the town, Yan Xi hurried home with a light step. This time her luck was good and she met an ox cart, and asking, she found it was from Yanshi Village next door and she could ride half the way.
Yan Xi gave two wen for the ride, and the old man driving flatly refused to take it. After some pushing back and forth Yan Xi got the upper hand in the end and put the money into the old man’s hand.
It was only that Yan Xi wasn’t short of money now. You had to know that a debt of kindness was the hardest to repay, anything that could be settled with money was no great matter.
At the fork in the road Yan Xi thanked him and set off toward Yanjia Village.
She had barely got to the big locust tree when someone called out to stop her, saying that her mother and her two sisters-in-law had gone to the Wu house to make trouble.
Hearing this, Yan Xi couldn’t stand for it. She didn’t even have time to go home and set down her back basket but headed straight for the Wu house. When she arrived, Yan Xi’s mother was cursing at the top of her lungs, and the two sisters-in-law were standing beside her with their sleeves rolled up high, plainly meaning to lay hands on someone.
Xu Guihua and Xu Zhaodi, one sat on the ground howling, the other stood there abusing the mulberry to curse the locust [1]abusing the mulberry to curse the locust (zhi sang ma huai, 指桑罵槐) Idiom, criticizing someone indirectly by scolding a stand-in target jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3254423_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3254423_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, ostensibly cursing Wu Hehua but in fact aiming it all at Yan Xi.
“Your Hehua bullies Little Xi and you still think you’re in the right? If you don’t give me an explanation today, watch how I deal with you. Don’t think I don’t know, your Hehua has as many schemes in her as a hornet’s nest.”
“Nineteen and still no husband’s family found. Could it be her heart’s so bad nobody dares have her? They say that young man of theirs has a child already. If you ask me, breaking the engagement with your family was well broken. What decent daughter could a family-in-law like that raise? She dares name any price she likes before she’s even married out, once married out she’d be cadging every other day!”
“Liu Fengjuan, you dare ruin my daughter’s name, I’ll fight you to the death.” Xu Guihua wasn’t worried about her daughter’s name either, it was that her younger son would be looking for a match in a couple of years, and if the daughter wouldn’t do she’d just find somewhere far off and sell her. So saying, she stopped howling, scrambled up and rushed at Yan Xi’s mother.
“Come on then, do you think I’m afraid of you.”
The three of them weren’t vegetarians either. They rolled up their sleeves and went at Xu Guihua.
Yan Xi’s mother grabbed Xu Guihua’s hair and slapped her face, and Feng Yue and Zhou Fen looked as if they were pulling them apart, but in fact one had Xu Guihua round the waist and the other had hold of her hands, pinning her fast so that Yan Xi’s mother could get at her.
“Xu Zhaodi, you wretched girl, can’t you see your mother-in-law being bullied? Come and help.”
The two who had been hiding to one side for fear of being hit had to step out. If they didn’t help, come evening there would certainly be no good fruit for them to eat.
“Wu Hehua, I’m your opponent.” Seeing the situation turn bad Yan Xi stepped out and blocked her. Three against one was a bit much, but hadn’t the Wu family gone too far first? Out here in the countryside it was common enough for a whole family to pile in over something, and when others had bullied you to your face, if you didn’t give it back you’d never be able to hold your head up again. Only by being strong yourself would nobody dare bully you.
Just as both sides were about to fall into a general brawl, someone said the village head was coming.
“Separate them. So many people standing round and not one of you talks sense into them. What is there that can’t be settled by talking properly.”
Several aunties came out of the crowd and pulled Yan Xi’s mother and the others apart.
Seeing the village head come, Xu Guihua stopped laying hands on anyone, and meant to go on making a scene.
“Make a scene and I’ll send for your clan head and let him see what you look like. What is it you all want? Where are your menfolk? Call Wu Laoyao out. You’ve all had enough of a quiet life, is that it? Not a word of my earlier warning got through to you. Do you want to leave Yanjia Village?”
Before he came someone had told Yan Fusheng the whole of it. Hearing it was the Wu family’s mess again, he only felt vexed. Yanjia Village was made up of three big surnames, Yan, Wu and Zhou. The Yans were natives of the place, the other surnames had all fled famine and settled here one after another later on.
Only when he heard the village head had come did Wu Laoyao come slowly out of the house, and he raised his hand and gave Xu Guihua a slap in the face.
As Xu Guihua was about to make a scene again, he said sternly, “Make trouble again and go back to the Xu family. Look at the fine daughter you’ve raised. If we really do get driven out of the village, watch how I deal with you.”
Xu Guihua fell silent. She knew her man meant it. Although ordinarily the household’s affairs great and small were hers to decide, on anything Wu Laoyao wouldn’t agree to she had no way either. If she really did harm the Wu family, Wu Laoyao certainly wouldn’t let her off, and if he cast her off nobody would pity her.
“Village Head, this business is Hehua’s fault. I’ll have her apologize to Yan Xi, and let it end here.” Facing the village head, Wu Laoyao had none of the fierceness he’d just shown in hitting Xu Guihua, and wore an ingratiating face.
Everyone said Wu Laoyao was the honest man of the village and that inside the house and out it was Xu Guihua who decided. Looking at the man in front of her, Yan Xi thought that rumor really wasn’t to be relied on.
Ordinarily, when nothing had happened, Xu Guihua could take advantage of people by being shrewish and shameless, and once something did happen, Wu Laoyao pushed Xu Guihua out front. Everything was done by other people, and he was still the poor man everyone spoke of.
This sort of person was the most frightening. When there was an advantage to be had he said nothing, when something went wrong he came out and spoke a few words that cost him nothing. The bad things were all done by other people, what had it to do with him? Whoever’s name in the house was ruined, it was Xu Guihua’s pot to carry. Outsiders only said that Wu Laoyao couldn’t decide anything.
Sure enough, someone beside her was exclaiming that Wu Laoyao had actually shown some backbone for once, that he’d actually dared to deal with Xu Guihua, sure enough a household still needed a man in charge, what could an old woman accomplish.
“Hehua, come and apologize to Yan Xi. Your mother has been hit on your account, we can’t go on giving people something to laugh at.”
Without waiting for anyone else to react, Wu Laoyao took the whole thing on himself. So long as they weren’t driven out of the village, an apology was an apology, and it wouldn’t cost him a piece of flesh.
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