Meng Wan took on the role of a junior cook in the kitchen, while Chang Jinhua, after presenting her wedding gifts, left without even sitting down at the table. She was a widow, and on such a joyous occasion, the host family was bound to be cautious. Since she had a good relationship with the sixth’s wife, it was best not to make things difficult for her.
Even so, gossip still reached Meng Wan’s ears, and it was none other than the husband who was staying at his house.
”They’re so stingy, they didn’t even find us a thick quilt, just those two thin ones.”
“Five people are crammed into one kang (a heated brick bed), but her little ger has a room all to himself. There’s no such logic to that.”
“In the morning, her little ger was given a good meal and drinks, while my girl and little ger watched from the side. What kind of heartless people are they who wouldn’t even give their child a bite to eat!”
”Those who have lost their husbands are heartless. They have a face that looks like they’re bringing misfortune to others, and their faces are as long as a donkey’s.”
After the man had eaten and drunk his fill, he sat down at the table and started spouting nonsense. Seeing that his relatives, who were also well-fed and satisfied, were listening intently, he proudly raised his voice even higher.
Meng Wan and a group of aunties, grandmothers, and wives who helped him gathered at a table, and Aunt Song specially reserved a table of dishes for them.
Just as the group started eating, Meng Wan heard some incoherent ramblings coming from the other table.
The table was filled with women from the village. When Meng Wan slammed down his chopsticks, they all stood up and tried to persuade him to stop.
”Wan-ge’er, don’t go over there. You’ve been working hard all day, so eat properly. Why bother with him?”
”Of course, you’re not married yet. Arguing with a scoundrel like him will only cause controversy.”
Aunt Tian, who was in charge of cooking, was the most reliable. She got up and said, “Don’t move yet. I’ll go find your sixth aunt. She’s had a lot of bad luck. She’s been busy all day and has to deal with a bunch of unpleasant relatives.”
Meng Wan paused in his aggressive movements. Indeed, today was Brother Dali’s big day, and she was already extremely busy. If she made a scene, she would certainly vent her anger, but wouldn’t her sixth uncle and aunt’s family complain that she was causing trouble? He would have to stay in Sanquan Village for some time, and he couldn’t afford to offend anyone.
But seeing her husband insulting Chang Jinhua like that, if Meng Wan pretended not to hear anything, it would be unfair to Chang Jinhua for all the care she had given him.
He gritted his teeth and suddenly left his seat despite everyone’s attempts to stop him. However, instead of going to the women’s table, he went to the table of Aunt Song’s fourth brother.
”Is this the fourth Uncle Wang from the Wang family?” (Aunt Song’s maternal family surname is Wang)
The men were all sitting here. Because there was wine at the wedding banquet, the food took longer to arrive than at the women’s table, so they were all leisurely drinking and chatting. Wang Laosi’s table was surrounded by older uncles and elders, and when a young ger suddenly asked him a question, Wang Laosi was stumped.
”Whose kid are you? What do you want with me?”
Meng Wan smiled, his eyes crinkling. “Uncle Wang, I’m from the Song family. Your husband happened to stay at my house last night.”
Old Fourth Wang had spent his entire life wandering around the village; everyone simply called him “Old Fourth”—never using any honorifics—so Meng Wan’s use of a respectful form of address left him completely flustered.
Seeing that this young man was very handsome and spoke politely like an adult, they also exchanged pleasantries, “Then we’re sorry to have troubled your family. We have many children; we hope we didn’t disturb you?”
“The child is very well-behaved, but my home is simple, and my fourth aunt doesn’t seem to be very satisfied.”
Wang Laosi sensed something was off. He knew exactly what kind of person his husband was. He glanced at the man and saw that in front of them was an empty bowl that had been licked clean, like a dog’s bowl. The two older kids were with their younger brother, and the man was spitting as he lectured them. He knew without a doubt who the man was talking about. Didn’t he see that the young man had come looking for them?
Meng Wan said with difficulty, “My family has really not been hospitable enough, so I came to ask my fourth uncle. Otherwise, perhaps my fourth aunt should stay at another house.”
In ancient times, people valued their reputation highly. Being kicked out was a huge loss of face. Meng Wan’s argument was reasonable and well-founded. It was you who first complained about the poor living conditions of the other party’s home, so the other party simply refused to entertain you. In the end, wasn’t it your own fault for being so talkative and embarrassing?
Uncle Wang was being stared at by the Wang family members at the table, and he was even more embarrassed. One of the older members said a few words to him: “Fourth brother, today is our nephew’s big day, so I won’t say anything. But you’d better keep an eye on him when you get home.”
What a disgrace! He’s made a fool of himself all day long!
Uncle Wang’s eyes widened in anger, and he threw down his wine glass in fury. “I’m going to take this disgraceful thing home right now!”
Meng Wan was so anxious that sweat beaded on his nose as he tried to stop him, “Fourth Uncle, please don’t! With so many people watching, where will you put Fourth Aunt’s face? It’s not a big deal anyway, please don’t ruin your family’s harmony.”
He should have stopped trying to persuade him; the more he tried, the angrier Uncle Wang became. He stopped drinking and strode towards the women’s table.
Meng Wan didn’t follow. He quietly returned to his seat, ignoring the commotion over there, and ate his meal by himself.
Food cooked in a large pot is so delicious; he was exhausted after a long day of work.
The group of people at the table looked at him in bewilderment. They had tried to dissuade Meng Wan but failed, only to see that he hadn’t gone to confront him or argue with him. Instead, he had gone to talk to the men for a few minutes and then returned. Everyone was confused, but they were all exhausted from the day and didn’t care about anything else, so they started eating.
After leaving the kitchen, Aunt Song Si was persuaded by Aunt Song Liu to stay for a while and did not go back to the kitchen. Instead, she sat down at the women’s table in the courtyard. Her family had given gifts and were relatives, so why should she leave without eating a bite?
She sat down at the table, picked and chose her food with her chopsticks, pointing out what she didn’t like and what she thought was too spicy. In the end, she ate the most.
She was picking her teeth and listening to gossip when suddenly the table was overturned, startling her so much that she almost jumped under it.
Uncle Wang’s face was flushed red, whether from drinking or from anger, even his forehead was a deep crimson.
He grabbed his husband, who was still rambling on, and without saying a word, slapped him across the face. The farmer’s slap was a real blow, and his husband was knocked to the ground, covering half of his face in a daze.
”Wang, you want to die? Why did you hit me!” He reacted and shouted shrilly, his shrill voice could be heard throughout the courtyard.
The Song family, who were talking to the accountant at the door, also heard it. Song Liu left her husband and son to check the accounts and hurriedly ran to the women’s table in the courtyard.
Then she saw her fourth brother dragging his husband away, but his husband grabbed and shouted and refused to leave, cursing, “I’m not leaving! I gave so much money as a wedding gift, and I only ate two meals at her house before I have to go back? If you want to go back, go back yourself. I’m taking my son and leaving tomorrow.”
Wang Laosi wanted to slap him a few more times, “If you don’t leave, don’t ever come back to the Wang family. Go wherever you want!”
After saying that, he actually let go, snatched his youngest son from the eldest girl’s arms, and, ignoring his two older ones, headed home with his youngest son in his arms.
Aunt Song rushed over to stop him, “Your nephew’s big day has made you so arrogant. Why can’t you talk things out at home instead of making a scene at the banquet?”
Wang Laosi couldn’t bring himself to be polite to his sister, so he broke free from Aunt Song’s grasp and said without turning back, “Ask your good brother-in-law what he’s been doing.”
Aunt Song knew what kind of person her fourth brother-in-law was. He was a bit gossipy, but that wretched Wang Laosi was also someone who would leave his husband at someone else’s house and go on his own.
Aunt Song pulled him, “If you really want to leave, take him with you. You have to make things unpleasant for me on such a joyous occasion. Go home quickly so I can have peace of mind.”
She was also annoyed. Her family home was in a village far away in the west of the town. After the wedding banquet, she kindly asked these distant relatives to stay overnight and leave the next morning. Now she realized that this had caused trouble. In that case, everyone should go back to their own homes.
Wang Laosi’s husband put on a long face for a while, but seeing that no one paid any attention to him, he still slunk off and followed Wang Laosi away.
After finishing their meal, the others watched the commotion. Those who lived nearby went home, while those who lived far away, not wanting to be disliked, went home together that night.
Meng Wan’s table ate late. After seeing off her relatives, Aunt Song Liu came back to thank them profusely, gave Aunt Tian, who was in charge of cooking, a red envelope, and distributed the remaining meat and vegetables. Everyone helped Aunt Song Liu clean up the mess, and Uncle Song Liu and Dali returned the borrowed tables and chairs.
After working until the moon was high in the sky, around 7 or 8 o’clock, Chang Jinhua came to the Song family’s door to call out, “Wan-ge’er, are you still not done?”
Aunt Song quickly pulled Wan-ge’er out, saying, “Sister-in-law, I was just about to take Wan-ge’er home. There are many things to do at home, so please bear with me today.”
She had already heard from others about the outrageous things her fourth brother-in-law had said at the banquet today. She felt both guilty and grateful to Chang Jinhua for Meng Wan’s sincere help today. A young man who was not yet married had done so much work for an old woman.
When her eldest son got married, her sisters-in-law and younger brother caused her a lot of trouble. On the contrary, the widow Song and her orphan ger lend them a hand. She accepted this kindness.
Chang Jinhua exchanged a few polite words with her, then took the meat and vegetables she offered and brought Meng Wan home.
When they opened the basket at their own stove, they found a whole fish, a bowl of braised pork with radish, a bowl of stir-fried river shrimp, and a bowl of braised chicken with mushrooms. There were four meat dishes and four vegetable dishes on the table. Meng Wan had brought all four meat dishes, while the other families who helped out had brought at most one meat dish and two vegetable dishes.
Chang Jinhua put the vegetables into the cupboard. Now that the weather is getting cooler, these vegetables will last her and Meng Wan for three or four days.
”Auntie, did you boil water for me?”
Meng Wan took out his large wooden bucket and was about to boil water when he discovered there was already a pot of warm water in the pot.
Chang Jinhua’s tone remained reproachful, “You’re so obsessed with cleanliness, you still want to take a bath every day in this cold weather. There’s not even enough firewood in the house to heat up your bathwater.”
Meng Wan scooped water into the bucket, feeling rather embarrassed. “If it gets any colder, I won’t take a bath every day. Otherwise, I’ll go to the mountain to collect firewood tomorrow!” Meng Wan really enjoyed going to the mountains; the scenery was expansive and refreshing, and he could also collect some mountain produce.
Chang Jinhua finished putting down the vegetables and was about to go inside to rest when she said, “If you don’t mind being tired, then go ahead. It’s strange, didn’t Lao Liu’s wife say yesterday that her brother-in-law was going to stay at our house for two nights? Why didn’t he come today?”
Meng Wan said without changing his expression, “Many of them went back to the village together tonight, and it seems that none of Aunt Liu’s relatives stayed overnight.”
”That’s fine. The children and the husband are so careless. If they stay here for one night, I’ll have to take apart and wash the bedding they used tomorrow. It’s such a hassle.”
Chang Jinhua entered the main room and instructed Meng Wan through the door, “Wan Ge’er, after you take a bath, get into bed. You can empty the bathwater tomorrow.” She was afraid that Meng Wan would get chilled by the wind if he went out to empty the water.
Meng Wan responded. It was cold today, and he finally didn’t have to wear that shameful little undergarment anymore. Chang Jinhua made him two sets of undergarments. They weren’t as elaborate as modern pajamas. Undergarments were worn under outer garments during the day. Most people would just take off their outer garments and sleep in their undergarments. Meng Wan wasn’t a clean freak, but he had been busy in the kitchen all day and smelled of cooking oil. He took a shower, changed into a clean undergarment, and quickly fell asleep in his warm bed.
He was woken up again in the middle of the night by that muffled groaning sound. This time, in addition to the sound of a fist hitting something, a “hoho” sound came after a while. It was very faint, and Meng Wan should not have been able to hear it. But he felt that the “hoho” sound was like a cry for help.
Meng Wanteng sat up abruptly on the kang (a heated brick bed). He quickly put on his clothes and shoes and crawled over the wall between his house and the Tian family’s house.
His small house was right next to the east wing of the Tian family’s house. The Tian family had many people and many houses. In addition to the three main rooms where Grandpa Tian and his eldest son and daughter-in-law lived, the west wing was newly built before Tian Wang married Xiao Mei, and the east wing was where Tian Xing and his wife lived.
Meng Wan stared intently at the doors and windows of the east wing. His room was separated from the east wing of the Tian family by two walls. He could hear it more clearly from the top of the wall than from his room. The “hoarse” sound was like an old man in his final moments, taking a long breath from his chest. When the breath stopped, the man was gone.
But Brother Zhu was still young. He shouldn’t have suffered like this, and then died silently in the dark, moonless night.
Meng Wan lay prone on the earthen wall and coughed twice, pretending to cough.
But it was no use; the voice continued to grow weaker and weaker. Meng Wan hesitated for three seconds before finally unable to bear the sight of a vibrant life withering away just a wall away from him.
”Brother Zhu!”
There was no entertainment in the countryside, and people went to bed early. His shout was especially loud in the quiet night. The noise in the east wing finally stopped, and after a while, a voice like sandpaper scraping against the floor came through, “Wan… Ge’er?”
Meng Wan’s voice was clear and energetic. He called out, “My family will finish selling tofu tomorrow at noon. I’m thinking of going to Snake Gully to collect some firewood. Do you want to come?”
”Go.” Zhu Ge’er’s hoarse voice carried a hint of a sob from relief after surviving a disaster.
Xiao Mei, who was in the west wing, also heard Meng Wan’s shouts. She yelled back, “Wan Ge’er, are you saying we’re going to Snake Gully tomorrow? I’m going too!!”
Meng Wan was shivering from the cold on the wall. He was in a hurry to go back inside, and only after he climbed down from the wall did he reply, “Go, go, go, let’s go together tomorrow.”
After locking the kitchen door again, Chang Jinhua suddenly appeared in the kitchen and said coldly, “You’re so bold as to meddle in other people’s business. You deserve to freeze.” It was obviously Meng Wan’s shout that woke her up.
Her words were cold, but she still bent down and added the two remaining bundles of firewood from the corner of the kitchen into the stove in the small hut.
A fire broke out in the dark kitchen, and Meng Wan’s eyes saw the flickering light and the woman squatting on the ground.
He suddenly blurted out, “Auntie, tonight is the first time someone has picked me up to take me home.”
After Chang Jinhua finished tending the fire, she got up and scooped half a spoonful of water into the pot. Her voice was not gentle. “You’re already sixteen and still acting all fussy. When I was your age, I was almost ready to get married. And mind your own business with the Tian family. They’re not a good family.”
As she chattered on and on, she deftly sliced ginger and put it in a bowl. When the water in the pot boiled, she scooped it up and poured it into the bowl. The smell of raw ginger hit his nose, making Meng Wan’s eyes well up with tears.
Chang Jinhua washed her hands and put the bowl on the table. “Let it cool down a little before drinking it and going inside. I can go to sleep now; I still have to grind tofu early in the morning.”
Meng Wan shamelessly blew his nose, washed his hands and face, drank the hot ginger soup, and got into bed. This time there were no strange noises from next door, but Meng Wan still couldn’t fall asleep. The newly heated kang was so warm that it made his whole body feel cozy. He tossed and turned a couple of times, successfully wetting both pillows.