Chapter 15Hou Wang and Cheng Qiqiao knew that Old Man Feng was the key to breaking through, so they specifically came to plead their case with him. He naturally couldn't bear to refuse, but his son Feng Li was firmly against it: "That sounds nice—saying she'll get treatment in town and we'll help take care of her? Take care of her for how long? Who's going to do it? What if she ends up bedridden forever and the Hou family just washes their hands of her again?""How could the Feng family possibly abandon her? That won't happen." Old Man Feng hastily denied it."That's hard to say—aren't they the ones refusing to take care of her right now?" Feng Li gave a cold snort.These people all kept their distance when his own family was down on their luck, but the moment something came up, they started treating his household like a bottomless purse. Everything he had today was earned through his own hard work—so much so that he now suffered from frequent dizzy spells, depleted qi and blood, and his body was nowhere near what it used to be. Even his wife, Mrs. Jiang, who wove cloth year-round, had a sore neck and a slightly hunched back.It had taken great effort for his family to finally enjoy good days, and now this started again.Seeing his son's reaction, Old Man Feng mumbled a few words and let out a heavy sigh.Feng Li put it even more bluntly: "Father, isn't your and Mother's old house still standing? Why don't the two of you go take care of her instead?""Count me out." Old Woman Feng quickly waved her hands and scolded Old Man Feng: "Her son has you figured out—he doesn't want to look after his own mother himself, so he's shipping her off to us."Refusing troublesome matters from the start was far better than agreeing and then backing out later—either way, everyone would end up at odds.And if you actually asked Old Man Feng to go take care of her, he clearly didn't want to either. So he had no choice but to turn down his nephew Hou Wang. Hou Wang pressed on stubbornly: "Uncle, I can't exactly push my mother into town on a cart every day to see the doctor, then haul her back home again, can I? And in this household, if I collapse, who's going to earn the money to support me? You're her own flesh-and-blood brother. If you won't take care of her, who will?"Those words jolted Old Man Feng into alertness. His son's point was actually right—Hou Wang had already taken it for granted that his mother's entire situation should be dumped on the Feng family. Using the phrasing Feng Li had taught him in daily life, he said: "It's not like I'm the one who brought this on her. As her son, the responsibility is yours to begin with—yet here you are pointing fingers at me. Besides, you still have an older brother. Even if he married into his wife's family, doesn his own birth family still owe him some duty?""How am I supposed to manage my brother's side?" Hou Wang was equally defeated.Normally, his cousin Feng Li was extremely warm in dealing with people, but he alone seemed to lack any sense of blood kinship. Hou Wang had thought his uncle would be more sympathetic, but it turned out his uncle was just the same.Further argument was useless. Hou Wang and his wife left with their daughter.Yingniang overheard her father say: "I can see it now—the tree wants to be still, but the wind won't stop. If I agree today, tomorrow some other relative will come knocking. Some will want land to farm, some will want to borrow money, some will want to stay at our house—the troubles will pile up. When his own mother falls ill, the son won't fulfill his filial duty and instead expects relatives to wait on her. What a way to think."Mrs. Jiang couldn't help but nod. She deeply admired her husband's resolve. Seven years into their marriage, she was no longer the naive, ignorant young girl she once was. Her husband acted with particular decisiveness—when he knew a matter was thorny, he wouldn't dither or waver, but would refuse from the very start.After the couple finished speaking, Feng Li's stern expression softened, and he looked at his daughter with affection: "Yingniang, when I came back from Wuchang Prefecture, I heard that a husband-and-wife pair from Hangzhou Prefecture plan to open a private school in our Cloud Water Town. When the time comes, we'll send you to study too—how about that?""Let me go study? Just to study?" This was something Yingniang had never imagined.Feng Li chuckled: "Of course. Those pedantic families don't like women to read, always going on about the Three Obediences and Four Virtues. But teaching that way is just making people stupid. Look at the women of ancient times—Ban Zhao, Deng Sui, Shangguan Wan'er—every one of them had talents and abilities that surpassed men's."What he left unsaid was that these so-called Three Obediences and Four Virtues were nothing but a way to send daughters off to their husbands' families to be worked like oxen and horses. He would rather his daughter be a fierce shrew than what people called a virtuous woman.To be tormented to death and still have to endure it—to be jealous, yet still help her husband take concubines for the sake of bearing heirs.He had seen too much of that and didn't want that for his daughter.Hearing that she could study, Yingniang was overjoyed. Even that Miss Fu in her previous life had never had a proper tutor to teach her—and yet she herself had achieved this."Father, Mother, you're too good to me."Mrs. Jiang pulled Yingniang close: "Mother will sew you a beautiful book bag, and we'll make you two new sets of clothes."Yingniang realized her father put all the money into developing their own household. Though his reputation among relatives was poor, his own family reaped endless blessings. As for her mother—even in her twenties, she was still so endearing. Yingniang nestled into Mrs. Jiang's arms.On Little New Year's Eve, the whole house needed a thorough cleaning, and they had to make millet cakes and glutinous rice cakes for the ancestral offerings. Fortunately, with servants in the household now to help, Mrs. Jiang had much less burden, and the family could speak freely and comfortably among themselves.Mrs. Jiang pointed toward the back. "The house behind ours was built three years ago. The day before yesterday, when they moved in, they sent us some pastries. I thought today I'd bring Yingniang over with some rice cakes and see who our new neighbors are.""That's fine—you two go on. I want to sleep a bit more." He had only arrived last night and had planned to sleep in today, but then the Hou family had come with this business.Mrs. Jiang had someone bring over two gift boxes—one filled with osmanthus cakes made from fresh glutinous rice, the other with steaming hot yellow millet cakes. Her maidservant, Caixia, packed them up quickly and carried them along behind.Yingniang and her mother walked around from the front. When they had first settled in Cloud Water Town, there hadn't been so many people, but now the population had grown considerably, and the surrounding area was gradually being developed. Though not as crowded with officials' residences as the west side of town, more and more wealthy households were appearing. Directly across from their house stood a new medical clinic and a private school. Three or four li further ahead was a large market, where noodle shops and bun shops abounded, and within the market itself there were vegetable stalls, taverns, and snack shops—everything one could want.They soon arrived at the new neighbor's gate, which was paved with patterned bricks—unlike the local style of plain gray bricks with plastered or whitewashed walls. Two young servants stood guard at the entrance.When they heard that the visitors were neighbors from across the way, a matron was sent to escort them in. Yingniang thought to herself that this household's manner was not that of ordinary folk, but rather resembled those official families—she had seen such ways before in her previous life at the household of Grand Madam Fu.There was no time to take in the scenery before they were led inside. Dark-tiled roofs and whitewashed walls half-enclosed the courtyard. Passing through the hanging-flower gate, they entered the main courtyard, where Taihu rocks were piled in artistic arrangements and dozens of bamboo stalks grew in the garden. Walking along the small path, one felt the deep seclusion of a grand estate.They entered through the central hall. The five rooms all had carved lattice partitions, fitted not with Korean paper but with translucent mingwa shells.The mistress of the house was an elderly woman nearing sixty, dressed in a deep crimson silk padded jacket with an understated eight-treasure pattern, trimmed at the collar and cuffs with a border of black gold-thread embroidery, the stitching fine and meticulous. She was clearly a lady who had lived a life of comfort. On her outstretched hand she wore a jadeite bangle of excellent water quality.Seeing Mrs. Jiang curtsy in greeting, she quickly said, "Rise at once—we are neighbors, we should all visit one another."Mrs. Jiang smiled. "My husband also says that a close neighbor is better than a distant relative, so he sent me to call on you." She then asked, "I can see you are a lady of great bearing, madam—may I ask what business your family is in?"The old lady laughed heartily, and it was the matron who had led them in who replied, "This good madam, our family has no need to engage in business. The old master served as Assistant Prefect of Tengzhou. Now that his health is failing and he has grown weary of official life, he has returned to his hometown to retire."Mrs. Jiang hastily said, "I was too forward in asking."Old Madam Chang waved her hand. "Don't say such things." Then, pointing at Yingniang, she asked, "Little girl, how old are you?"Caught off guard by the question, Yingniang smiled and replied, "In answer to your question, madam, I turned six this past twelfth month.""Have you studied any books?" Old Madam Chang found the little Miss Feng girl pleasingly plump and adorable.Yingniang said, "My family has taught me to read a few poems at home. I'll be starting school this year.""Oh, that's wonderful—studying is a good thing." Old Madam Chang praised her, then said to Mrs. Jiang, "I also have a grandson, just about the same age as your daughter—only a year older. They can visit each other often."Mrs. Jiang readily agreed. Yingniang tugged at her mother's sleeve, and Mrs. Jiang knew her daughter wanted to leave, so she smiled and said, "I feel we've become fast friends today. I hope you'll come to my humble home for a chat another day. For now, I'll take my leave."The Chang family was very courteous and insisted on seeing them out. Once they were outside, Mrs. Jiang asked, "Why did you tug at my sleeve just now?"Yingniang knew that people were most courteous at the beginning of an acquaintance, and that to keep someone interested, one had to maintain a bit of mystery. Her mother was a straightforward person who tended to pour out everything when socializing. Since it wasn't yet clear whether the Chang family was friend or foe, why reveal all their own secrets?So she lied: "I'm hungry for noodles with meat sauce. My stomach was growling.""So you're hungry! Alright, I'll take you to get some." Mrs. Jiang was actually a bit hungry herself—the thin porridge she'd had that morning had long since disappeared to who knows where.Mother and daughter soon arrived at a braised meat noodle shop. Yingniang still ordered her usual one liang of noodles, but she could also manage a lotus root pan-fried bun. Suxin had bought the buns and returned, and Yingniang was just about to eat when she heard her mother say, "Isn't that Lai Da? Didn't he go to work in the neighboring county? Why is he back?"Yingniang looked up at Lai Da. She knew a bit about him—after her father had stopped giving Lai Da land to farm, Lai Da's eldest son had gone to the neighboring county after getting married and hadn't come back for the New Year in several years. Mrs. Lai had complained that they might as well have gone to the ends of the earth.But judging by Lai Da's appearance, he seemed to have done well for himself. He was wearing fine cloth clothing, his meat sauce noodles came with two braised eggs, and beside his feet sat several catties of fresh pork—he looked to be living quite comfortably.Lai Da naturally had an easy life after that. When he returned home after setting the fire, the alcohol had worn off, and he was scared half to death. Although he later heard that the Feng family was unharmed, he was always afraid they would come looking for him, so he moved to a neighboring county. There, he knew no one, and as an outsider, it was hard to get by. He enjoyed watching opera, so he did odd jobs near the theater, earning only a meager income.Until one day, a little girl went missing near the opera stage. He initially thought of returning the girl to her parents, but then remembered that the family living around the corner had always wanted to adopt a daughter, and on a whim, he sold the child for six taels of silver.With those six taels, he also picked up a money pouch behind the opera troupe, which happened to contain twenty taels of silver ingots. With this money, he started some small business. He didn't earn much, but it was enough to renovate his house and forcibly buy a few acres of thin farmland from Widow Zhao before returning home.He finished his meal in a hurry, and seeing Mrs. Jiang and Yingniang, he squeezed out a simple, honest smile: "Take your time eating. I'll head back first."Mrs. Jiang nodded: "Go ahead."Lai Da strode off. Yingniang frowned and said to Mrs. Jiang, "I don't know why, but whenever I look at this man, I always feel somewhat uneasy."A villager from Lai Da's village was also eating noodles there. He was a tenant farmer of the Feng family, and hearing Yingniang's words, he quickly said, "The young miss is right to be wary. This fellow is no good. Widow Zhao's son died of a sudden illness, and her grandson is too young. Lai Da claimed he was renting her land to farm, but after a few months, he said it was his own, claiming Widow Zhao had sold it to him. It's utterly lawless—he's nothing but a scoundrel."But in the countryside, unless such a scoundrel provokes someone truly formidable, no one will help you.

Yingniang