Chapter 13Once the twelfth lunar month arrived, it was the most enjoyable season for farming families. The household had glutinous rice cakes pounded from new sticky rice, grass carp from their own pond salted and cured into preserved fish, bags of soft, fragrant late-season rice, a large jar of salted eggs laid by their own ducks, and radishes from their garden sliced into strips and dried. There were also bundles of dried green beans and daylily flowers.Old Woman Feng, along with Mrs. Jiang, brewed rice wine from grain and made fermented rice dregs. They also heated a wok with iron sand to puff rice, sifting out plump white puffed rice and storing it in jars…Yingniang shared in this joy of abundance. On the day of the Laba Festival, her grandmother rose early to cook Laba porridge, stir-fried seasonal vegetable shoots, pan-fried old tofu, and made a large plate of golden scrambled eggs with fermented black beans.That day was Yingniang's third birthday. Old Woman Feng gave her granddaughter five hundred wen, while Feng Li and Mrs. Jiang made her a new set of clothes. Yingniang couldn't help but smile.Feng Li placed some scrambled eggs on his daughter's plate and, seeing her smile, asked, "Yingniang, what is a little girl like you smiling about?""Daughter is happy that Father and Mother are both here with me." Yingniang had never felt the warmth of family before; after her rebirth, this warmth was almost carved into her bones.After the meal, Yingniang tried to help clear the dishes but was stopped by Old Man Feng. Yet even that single gesture earned her endless praise from her parents for being diligent, which made her feel quite embarrassed.After breakfast, Feng Li went into his room to read, Mrs. Jiang continued weaving, and Yingniang had Old Woman Feng accompany her in playing cat's cradle. The household was filled with harmony.The village was clearly not the same. People had just exchanged their grain for money, and during the idle days at year's end, someone set up a gambling den at their home, summoning the whole village to gamble.Lai Da also wanted to try his luck a few rounds, but this year had been too poor. Last year, that fellow Feng Li hadn't leased him any fields to farm, leaving them without a livelihood. The whole family had to work as hired laborers at a wealthy farmer's estate thirty li away—five dan of grain, wages of three qian, one liang and two qian for firewood and wine money, and one liang for travel expenses.Altogether that came to about twelve liang per person. He and his two sons had to manage sixty to seventy mu of fields for the master. After deducting food costs, he had only three to five liang of silver in his own hands.His eldest son was to be married, and the house needed repairs—how could such a paltry sum suffice? The family also needed to buy pigs, chickens, and ducks. His pockets were painfully empty.So he had no choice but to borrow money from Second Uncle Feng, his brother-in-law. Second Uncle Feng had always been rather intimidated by Lai Da, his wife's brother. Hearing that Lai Da planned to build a house after the new year, he gave him ten liang of silver, doing so only out of consideration for Mrs. Lai.Lai Da took the money, first handed eight liang to his wife, then told her to take hold of the eldest son's savings as well, saying, "In the end, won't it be used to marry him a wife? At least let him contribute some silver too."But his wife waved her hand: "The eldest's money still has to go toward the betrothal gifts—it's not enough. Better to take from the younger son. He's still young and doesn't need it yet."With the money settled, Lai Da took the remaining three or five liang to gamble. He won a few rounds at first, then lost two liang and pulled out. But the next day, he went back trying to win back his stake, only to lose every last coin in his hands.When he had lost it all, he suddenly woke up with a start. That was several liang of silver! A whole year of toiling with his face to the earth and his back to the sky had earned him no more than this. And who knew whether that wealthy household would still want the three of them next year? What was he to do?Just as he was mulling this over, he ran into the Miao Brothers. Originally, the Ding family had worked alongside the Miao family, but later Feng Li had entrusted nearly all the care of those eighty mu of fields to the Miao family. This time, the fish pond that Hu Si had contracted was also to be given to Miao'er to look after—helping drive the ducks and tend the fish.The Miao Brothers knew that Lai Da had once poisoned the fish pond, so they naturally gave him no friendly face. Lai Da, not daring to act tough against the brash Miao Brothers, could only bow and clasp his hands meekly before slinking home with his head hung low.When Lai Da's wife learned of this, the couple had a fierce fight, and she forced him to go to Feng Li's house to beg for a few mu of fields to farm.Lai Da then got Second Uncle Feng to plead his case at Feng Li's place. Feng Li spread his hands: "All the villagers pay their rent promptly. Whose fields am I supposed to take back to give to him? This matter can wait for another day. If someone no longer wishes to farm my land, then I'll seek out Uncle Lai."Second Uncle Feng had never been able to persuade this nephew of his, so he had no choice but to drop the matter. Lai Da, seeing the corner of the Feng family hall piled with local produce gifted by tenants, thought to himself: Feng Dalang lives in such a fine big house, runs a tavern, and has bought all those fields—his life is so good, yet he has to make things difficult for me?But seeing that Feng Li was tall and powerfully built, and had fierce men like the Miao Brothers under his command, Lai Da, though furious, could only return home for now.Second Uncle Feng thought nothing more of it and went to help at the tavern. During the year-end season, many people came to town to stock up on New Year goods, and some would stop there to rest, enjoying a bowl of morning wine and a bowl of noodles—quite a pleasant way to pass the time."When will Cang Ge'er and the others be back?" Old Woman Feng asked.Second Uncle Feng laughed: "They'll definitely be back before the Little New Year."Old Man Feng thought about inviting his younger brother's family over for a meal, but remembering his wife and son's attitude, he didn't bring it up. In truth, it was mainly because his eldest son disagreed. Dalang kept saying that since the families had split, each household was on its own—his own family could make do with a bit less effort, and there was no point in playing servant for others day in and day out.Besides, Second Uncle Feng's family had plenty of mouths to feed, all waiting for their meals, and not a single bowl would be washed by anyone else.At noon, Second Uncle Feng did stay for a meal—a plate of pepper-fried sausage, a bowl of stir-fried red chard, some cured fish, and a serving of lotus root and pork rib soup. He ate with great relish and even took half a bottle of liquor home with him.He returned home tipsy. Mrs. Lai was at home eating the steamed pork she had packed back from a wedding banquet at someone's house a few days ago, boiling it with some added water. Seeing him return, she asked, "How did it go?"Second Uncle Feng spread his hands. "Dalang won't agree.""They're all relatives—how could they do this? If you ask me, Dalang is far too cold-hearted." After saying this, Mrs. Lai couldn't sit still either. She hastily wolfed down a few mouthfuls of rice and hurried back to her natal family.The Lai family, of course, cursed without end, saying that Feng Li was ruthless, that he only let people farm the land because he coveted the gifts they brought, and that he wouldn't even look after his own relatives, and so on and so forth.The group was quite indignant, but there was nothing they could do about Feng Li—he was not someone to be trifled with.Lai Da's wife said, "No wonder Feng Li, a man of thirty, can't sire a son—he's gone too far in his deeds and stored up no virtue."Lai Da listened with growing irritation. He took a few coppers and went out to watch an opera. Under the stage, children ran about while the adults watched with great relish, paying them no mind. He paid no attention either. But when the opera ended, the torches that had been set up above the stage were not extinguished—they were said to be for the common folk to take and light their way home.Lai Da, who believed that not taking advantage of something was a loss, rushed over and grabbed a torch. But as he walked along the road, he found himself striding swiftly toward the Feng residence. He thought about begging Feng Li, but recalling Feng Li's demeanor, he knew the fellow would never let him farm the land. Since that was the case, he might as well go all the way.He circled around to the back of the Feng house, knowing where the firewood pile was, and hurled the torch straight into it.

Yingniang