”I saved you, so you and your man conspired to kill me…” Meng Wan was furious. What an ungrateful wretch!
Brother Zhu pleaded, “Brother Wan[1]not literally brother, but calling Wan-ge’er jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2996152_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2996152_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, I heard from Aunt Song that you have no parents in your hometown. In that case, wouldn’t it be nice for you to come to my house and keep me company? We are both unfortunate people. If we stay together and live our lives, I will take care of your child as if he were my own flesh and blood.”
Meng Wan bluntly said, “Accompany you? You’re used to being beaten, and you’re too cowardly to fight back, so you agreed to Tian Xing’s request to deliberately lure me up the mountain, right?”
Zhu Ge’er had invited him to the mountain once before, but Xiao Mei wasn’t there and it was just the two of them. If he had agreed then, Tian Xing would probably be waiting for him somewhere in Zhaoshan!
”You married an abusive man, and not only did you get beaten up, you wanted to drag me down with you? Don’t you know what kind of people the Tian family is? You even dared to dream of making me concubine! Bah!”
He wouldn’t even look at a handsome and cultured scholar like Song Tingzhou, but instead went for an ugly, abusive domestic man?
”I’m not afraid of him hitting me!” Meng Wan’s words provoked Zhu Ge’er, who suddenly retorted fiercely.
After that, his tone dropped again, and he said mournfully, “I just like talking to you, and I want to be with you every day.”
Meng Wan looked at Zhu Ge’er in disbelief. Why was he with him? He couldn’t let him have a baby!
He didn’t have much interaction with Zhu Ge’er, so why did he set his sights on him?
Meng Wan felt that Zhu Ge’er, who was usually honest and quiet, seemed to be acting crazy and his mind was not quite right.
Having learned his lesson, he dared not pay any more attention to him. After moving the radishes and cabbages, he slipped away, ignoring the urgent calls from behind the wall.
”What’s the rush? Is a dog chasing you?”
As the weather gets colder, every household is stocking up on cabbage and radishes, with no other leafy greens available. Tofu is inexpensive and suitable for both the elderly and children, so it’s selling faster than it did two months ago. Chang Jinhua sold out a plate of tofu today and packed up her stall early to go inside, only to see Meng Wan running away at breakneck speed.
”Auntie, I’ve finished moving the cabbages. Shall we put them in the backyard to dry and then move them to the cellar tonight?” If we go there now, won’t we have to face the crazy Zhu Ge’er again?
”That works too. The tofu sold out quickly today. I’m free this afternoon, so I’ll go visit your sixth aunt. Do you want to come?”
With something like this happening next door, Meng Wan didn’t dare stay home alone, so he hurriedly said, “Go.”
Chang Jinhua carried a basket for needlework and made one for Meng Wan as well.
Meng Wan picked up the small, exquisite basket, both amused and exasperated, “Auntie, I don’t know how to do it either.”
The clothes he wore and the shoes he wore were all made by Chang Jinhua. Chang Jinhua had long since realized that Meng Wan couldn’t do needlework and knew that the slave trader had been talking nonsense, so she wasn’t angry.
”I’m only asking you to learn because you don’t know how. Otherwise, will you still expect me to make clothes for you after you get married?”
Meng Wan thought to himself: There’s a high chance I’ll still marry into your family, so of course I’ll have to ask you to make clothes for me again.
Ever since Aunt Song suffered a great loss at the market, she only remembered the strong fishy smell in her house.
Before the wedding, fearing that her son and his husband would dislike her after marriage, she built a small courtyard next to the main house. The courtyard was half-walled in the middle and had no gate, so from the outside it still looked like one family. When entertaining guests, she would take them to the small courtyard, which was clean and odorless. On the day of the wedding banquet, the two sides were connected.
When Chang Jinhua and Meng Wan entered the house, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were doing needlework. This was the first time Meng Wan had seen this new husband’s appearance. He was not tall, slightly chubby, with fair skin, a small round face, big eyes, a slightly flat nose, and small lips. A bright red birthmark the size of a grain of rice was on his lip. He had the kind of appearance that elders liked.
Chang Jinhua was meeting him for the first time and complimented him on his good looks and fair complexion.
Aunt Song was happy and smiled, “Man-ge’er just got married, and I was worried that he would be bored at home. I’ll have Wan-ge’er come to visit him more often in the future.”
Chang Jinhua shoved Meng Wan, “Go inside with Man Ge’er and do some work, let him teach you too.”
Mange’er’s real name is Yang Chunman. He was newly married to someone from another village and didn’t know anyone. He was very happy to have a boy of the same age come to visit. He pulled Meng Wan into the house, leaving the two elders outside to do chores and chat.
Aunt Song was also sewing shoe soles. Most of the villagers did manual labor, and this was the most physically demanding job.
”Sister-in-law, didn’t you always go up the mountain to collect firewood this year? Why haven’t you done so yet?”
After the off-season, there’s not much important work to do, so the men go up the mountain to chop and store firewood for the winter, including for the whole year ahead—the more the better. Every household has two stacks of firewood outside their courtyard. Winters in the north are tough; people stay indoors all day, and their cotton-padded clothes are easily pierced by the cold air conditioning when they go outside. Without modern appliances to keep warm, firewood is of paramount importance, the most essential thing besides grain.
Uncle Song Liu and Song Dali no longer fish; they spend their days chopping firewood on the mountain.
Chang Jinhua took out needles, thread and shoe soles from her small satchel. “In previous years, I would go out to collect firewood every day before winter, but it was only enough for myself to get through the winter. This time, my son came over in the evening, and said yesterday that he would come back every day. I also have to sell tofu during the day. So no matter how much I collect, it won’t be enough for the three of us.”
Aunt Song nodded in agreement, “That makes sense. So, are you going to buy it?”
Chang Jinhua made the shoes for Meng Wan. As it got colder and colder, Meng Wan had a cotton-padded coat, but he was still missing a pair of shoes.
As she busily made shoes, she replied to Aunt Song Liu, “I saved some money from selling tofu in the second half of the year. I bought a stack of firewood to use for the winter. When I have free time, I’ll go up the mountain to collect some good flammable firewood and pile it in the yard. I came to your house to ask you first. If Lao Liu and Dali cut too much firewood and want to sell it, please give me a discount. I’ll pay the market price, and I won’t shortchange you. It will also save you the trouble of sending it all the way to town.”
The two men from Song Laoliu’s family went up the mountain to chop firewood. They had enough firewood for the winter and would definitely have some left over to sell in town. They figured they should keep the money within their own village instead of buying firewood from outsiders.
Aunt Song, who was also doing her work, readily agreed, “That’s great. I’ll just tell them when they come down the mountain, and they can carry the firewood down and stack it at the gate for you.”
”That would be great.”
The two women finalized the purchase of firewood outside, while the two boys inside chatted.
Because Yang Chunman was already married, he didn’t wear his hair down like Meng Wan; instead, he pulled it all up to reveal the back of his neck.
He was the same age as Meng Wan and had the liveliness of a teenager, but he was clearly more measured than Xiao Mei. He spoke and acted slowly and patiently.
”Wan-ge’er, don’t you know how to sew? Why does my aunt want me to teach you?”
Meng Wan said awkwardly, “I really don’t know how, I can only do acupuncture.”
Yang Chunman chuckled, “Then shall I teach you how to sew shoe soles? I see you have some pre-made shoe soles in your basket, do you know how to cut them?”
Isn’t that just cutting out the sole? Meng Wan knows how to do that, but she needs to measure the dimensions carefully.
”I didn’t bring a pattern with me. Why don’t I go home, cut it out, and then come back to find you?”
Yang Chunman reminded him, “Why don’t you just cut it according to the sole of the shoes you’re wearing now?”
Meng Wan knew that Chang Jinhua was making cotton shoes for him, so his first thought was to make a pair for Song Tingzhou, since he would definitely wear out his shoes while commuting to school.
But after Yang Chunman said that, he felt embarrassed to bring it up himself. He suggested that he try making a pair using his own size first, and then make one for Song Tingzhou once he was more skilled.
”That works too. Do you have any scissors? Mine are in my aunt’s basket.”
Yang Chunman found him scissors and taught him how to cut out the soles from the lining, and then use longer scraps of cloth to edge them, since it wouldn’t look good if the sole edges weren’t the same color.
Then, paste the seven or eight layers of the shoe sole with glue, drill a ring of small holes with an awl, and attach a hemp rope that is two turns thicker than cotton thread with a pin. Then, put the shoe on repeatedly.
Meng Wan struggled to complete just these two steps. By the time Chang Jinhua called him home, he hadn’t even finished sewing one shoe sole, and he had pricked his hand several times because of his incorrect needle-holding posture.
”Wan-ge’er, come visit me again tomorrow!”
Yang Chunman accompanied his mother-in-law to see them off, and didn’t forget to tell Meng Wan to come see him tomorrow.
Chang Jinhua envied other people’s daughters-in-law for being well-behaved and sensible, but when she turned around, she saw her own daughter-in-law still rubbing his hands.
She teased, “Aren’t you not only literate, but also skilled in needlework and sewing? How come a pair of shoe soles stumped you?”
Meng Wan looked up at the sky and said, “Oh dear, it’s getting late. My cousin will be back soon, right? I’ll cook dinner tonight.”
Chang Jinhua followed behind him with a smile in her eyes, carrying a basket on her shoulder.
When they arrived home, Song Tingzhou was still not back. The town was not close to Sanquan Village; it would take at least half an hour to walk there.
Although the Song family earned a little extra income each month by selling tofu, they still couldn’t afford to eat lavish meals of fish and meat every day.
Today, all the tofu was sold out, and there were still some pancakes left this morning. Meng Wan took a few radishes, washed them, and cut them into chunks. In ancient times, the yield of vegetables and grains was low, and they didn’t grow very big, but everything had a rich flavor.
He sliced three pieces of braised pork belly, a local specialty from northern China, similar to cured pork belly from the south. As the weather gets colder, he buys pork belly, cuts it into large cubes, cleans the skin, boils it once, drains it, and then drizzles half a bowl of sugar water over it, spreading it evenly on the meat to allow it to absorb the sugar. He leaves a little oil in the pan, then fry the pork belly in the large pan. The longer it simmers, the more oil is added, and the sugar water combined with the hot oil turns the outer layer of the pork increasingly reddish. After frying, it cools, is placed in a bowl, and stored away. When ready to eat, it’s sliced and won’t spoil all winter.
Add three large slices of meat to the pot, along with some chopped green onions, radish, and water, and simmer.
The pot in the cabin was small and shallow, and Meng Wan used it to cook a pot of brown rice.
Normally, this one dish would be enough for Meng Wan and Chang Jinhua, and it would usually not contain meat. But tonight, when Song Tingzhou came back, Meng Wan took another cabbage, sat at the kitchen door, and started peeling it while looking at the front door.
Let’s stir-fry some cabbage when Song Tingzhou gets back.
Meng Wan sighed inwardly. He was tired of eating tofu, and eating only cabbage and radishes all winter without tofu would be even more unbearable. In the end, he still didn’t earn enough, but the village’s spending power was limited, and he couldn’t come up with anything else.
He actually wanted to go to town to make money, but he was still held back by his current status as a slave and a young ger.
After what happened with Tian Xing, Meng Wan was much more docile. He dared not hope that Song Tingzhou would pass the imperial examination and let him go. Even if the two of them got married, it would be better than being reduced to a plaything.
The Song family treated him well, and Song Tingzhou was not a particularly wicked person.
Meng Wan closed his eyes. To escape slavery, he would have to wait for Song Tingzhou to pass the imperial examination. At that time, whether he married him or released him, he would be able to break free from slavery. Everything depended on April after the New Year.
After a while, the radishes in the pot started to smell fragrant, but Song Tingzhou still hadn’t returned when the door next door was pushed open.
The Tian family opened the gates wide, and the oxcart drove straight in. Tian Wang and Uncle Tian carried Tian Xing, who was wrapped up like a dumpling, off the cart and into the east wing. Along the way, they could still hear him groaning and moaning in pain.
Aunt Tian followed behind, carrying the wrapped medicinal herbs, into the house.
After a while, Tian Wang came out of the east wing, said a few words to Xiao Mei who was guarding the house, and then led the oxcart to the village chief’s house to return it.
Meng Wan strained his ears to listen to the sounds from next door, and only realized what was happening when Song Tingzhou was almost in front of him.
”Cousin, you’re really back?”
As soon as Song Tingzhou entered the courtyard, he saw him standing to the side, lost in thought, clutching cabbage leaves in his hands, his eyes slightly narrowed, as if listening to something.
Meng Wan’s profile can be described as flawless. From this angle, the bright red birthmark between his cheek and eye is extremely striking and immediately catches the eye.
Song Tingzhou put down his book box, his fingers unconsciously twirling a couple of times. He wanted to ruffle Meng Wan’s hair, but then felt that it would be impolite, so he could only carry the book box into the house.
”I’ll be even later tomorrow, so you don’t need to wait for me for dinner.”
Meng Wan served the radish on the table, washed the cabbage and stir-fried it with lard, adding a small spoonful of vinegar just before it was done.
Chang Jinhua set out the rice bowls and chopsticks, and the three of them sat down at the table to eat. Song Tingzhou picked up a piece of cabbage and frowned slightly.
Meng Wan noticed this by chance and realized that he didn’t like the taste of vinegar, so he pushed the radish in front of him and said, “You eat the radish, and I won’t put vinegar in it next time.”
Song Tingzhou’s lips curved into a barely perceptible smile. “I’m fine with anything I eat.”
There were three slices of meat in the stewed radish. Chang Jinhua gave two slices to her son and one slice to Meng Wan, but Meng Wan, without changing his expression, gave the meat from his own bowl to Chang Jinhua.
Chang Jinhua glared at her disobedient son and asked, “Dalang, you just said you’d be home late tomorrow? Why is that?”
In this day and age, although there are no bandits waiting on official roads, and there’s no one to rob people on country lanes, but near the mountains, there are occasional starving beasts that come out at night to hurt people, so it’s never safe.
Watching their actions, Song Tingzhou gripped his chopsticks tightly. As the only male in the family, he couldn’t even afford to feed his family meat. His mother and fiancé had to get up early to make tofu to improve their meals and earn money for his books.
If one cannot even pass the county-level examination next year, how utterly incompetent one would be.
”A new batch of books arrived at the bookstore. I went to copy them after school. Each book cost three hundred coins.”
Three hundred coins is quite a lot. Chang Jinhua opened her mouth, but finally said, “It can’t be later than Shenshi (3-5 PM). You have to be home before sunset, otherwise you won’t be able to see the road clearly when it gets late.”
Song Tingzhou nodded in agreement, then divided a piece of meat from his bowl into pieces for Meng Wan, saying, “One piece for each of you, don’t keep refusing, Mother, you too.”
The three of them then fell silent and ate their meal in quiet.
Meng Wan was thinking that when he went to the market again, he would buy a few pounds of big bones to make soup. Those bones were cheap, but they used a lot of firewood. When it snowed and it got cold, he would put a brazier in the house and sit on it during the day to slowly simmer the soup. This would save firewood and also nourish all three of them.
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