A huge thank you to KoshkaHP on Ko-Fi for the kofis. Enjoy the bonus chapters!

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Back home, Luo Xiu put away the groceries and let the chicks and ducklings out to run around the yard, chirping and quacking. He scooped a handful of grain from the bag and scattered it on the ground, and the chicks and ducklings scrambled to eat it.

He didn’t dare feed them too much millet—he didn’t have enough for himself—so he simply herded the chicks and ducklings to the back of the house. There, they found some newly sprouted wild greens and rotten vegetable leaves left over from last winter’s freeze, which were just right for the chicks and ducklings to peck at.

Luo Xiu still needed to make a cage for them; otherwise, they’d be easy prey for weasels at night, and his purchase would have been for nothing. He didn’t know how to do it himself, but he’d seen his neighbor’s son-in-law weave one before, so he took a few copper coins to hire someone to help make one. When Aunt Liu saw him at the door, she hurriedly invited him inside. “Xiu’s here! Were you in town?”

“I bought a few chicks and ducklings and thought I’d raise them so we’ll have eggs to eat once the baby is born.”

“All right. If you can’t eat them all yourselves, you can always take the rest to town to sell.”

Luo Xiu nodded. “It’s just that the chicks and ducklings are still small, so it’s not safe to leave them outside at night. I was hoping your son-in-law could help me weave a cage.” As he spoke, he took out the copper coins and placed them on the kang.

“Why are you paying me? It’s just a few pieces of rattan—I wouldn’t dream of taking your money. Take it back!”

“Then I’ll be troubling you, son-in-law.”

“It’s no trouble at all. I’ll have him weave one for you in a bit. By the way…” Aunt Liu lowered her voice. “Did Yang Dashun sneak into your room last night?”

“Who said that?”

“This morning when I went to the village to grind rice, I heard a few women talking about it in great detail. I thought it must be true!”

“No, someone did sneak into the yard last night. They were trying to pry open the door, but I yelled at them, and they ran off. Who’s so heartless as to spread such gossip!” Luo Xiu’s eyes were red with anger.

“Ah… A widower’s doorstep attracts a lot of gossip; don’t let it get to you too much.”

Aunt Liu offered a few words of comfort. Yang Dashun wasn’t the only bachelor or idler in the village, and since they were all getting on in years, there was nothing they could do to stand up for him. So Luo Xiu would just have to come to terms with it on his own.

As soon as Luo Xiu got home, he began wiping away her tears. Changfu had only been dead for six days, and already gossip about him was spreading through the village. Who knew how hard life would be from now on? Those heartless, malicious gossips!

After crying, he wiped his face dry and got back to work tilling the soil. He didn’t own any land of his own; the only plots he could cultivate were the few empty patches in front of and behind his house, which together amounted to no more than one mu and two fen. He had to get them tilled and prepared before spring arrived.

As he worked, he noticed someone loitering by the front gate. He didn’t recognize the man—he was half a head taller than Yang Dashun, somewhat balding, and walked with a slight limp.

Luo Xiu suddenly remembered that when he’d seen the man leave last night, he’d seemed to be limping a bit…

His heart skipped a beat; his hands and feet went instantly cold, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead. The man from last night wasn’t Yang Dashun—it was this bald man! Bald Tian, at the gate, noticed Luo Xiu staring at him, grinned, baring his teeth, and tried to greet him.

Terrified, Luo Xiu quickly turned away and continued tilling the soil; fear mixed with anger made his body tremble slightly. After all, he was just an eighteen-year-old lad with no one to rely on; if he really angered this man, he feared he wouldn’t even have anyone to back him up.

The standoff continued like this until the man finally walked away. Only then did Luo Xiu breathe a sigh of relief. A cold breeze blew, sending a chill through his entire body; his clothes were soaked through with cold sweat.

He hurried inside to dry off, huddled by the stove for a while to warm up, and managed to get somewhat warm, but the chill in his heart simply wouldn’t melt away. He had underestimated what it meant to live alone.

When Luo Xiu first moved in, he’d clung to a sliver of hope, thinking it was a good thing he hadn’t returned to his parents’ home—that way, her older brother and sister-in-law wouldn’t sell him off to a blind man. But now he felt a twinge of regret…

If he’d married the blind man, at least he’d had his birth family to rely on—no one dared to mess with him. But now that he’d been driven out by his in-laws and had no birth family to back him up, left to guard this dilapidated old house—who knows when some villain might take advantage of him.

The more Luo Xiu thought about it, the more terrified he became. Tears streamed down his face like beads on a broken string, pitting the dusty ground beneath him. Thinking of his younger sister, who was struggling just as hard back in town, his heart felt as if it were being roasted over a raging fire.

Father, Mother, if your spirits are watching from heaven, I beg you to protect us and help us escape this sea of suffering as soon as possible.

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That night, Luo Xiu still barely slept. In the middle of the night, a strong wind picked up, causing the door panels to creak and groan. Clutching his wooden stick, he stared intently at the doorway, terrified that the lame, bald man might burst in at any moment.

He held out until dawn was breaking, but Luo Xiu could no longer endure it. The grief and fear of the past few days overwhelmed him; his vision went black, and he fainted onto the kang. He had no idea how long he’d been unconscious until the sound of someone knocking on the door roused him.

“Luo Xiu, is Luo Xiu home?”

Luo Xiu opened his eyes dazedly. He tried to sit up but found his body completely limp; it took a great deal of effort to drag himself off the kang and slide the wooden bolt from the door.

Liu Hua, standing at the door, was startled by his appearance. “Are you sick?”

“Auntie…” Luo Xiu’s voice was so hoarse he could barely speak.

“Hurry up and sit down. Today is Changfu’s seventh day of mourning. I was wondering why you hadn’t gone, so I came over to check on you—I never expected you’d be this sick.” Liu Hua’s eyes were filled with concern.

Luo Xiu felt lightheaded and dizzy, his face alarmingly pale. He forced himself to say, “Perhaps I broke a sweat while plowing the field yesterday and caught a cold from the wind.” 

“You’d better get up on the kang and lie down. I’ll make you some congee.”

“Thank you, Auntie…” Luo Xiu was truly too weak to move; even lying on the kang under the quilt, he still felt a chill creeping through him. Liu Hua lit a fire and placed two pieces of firewood under the pot; only after the kang had warmed up did he begin to feel warmer.

Before long, the porridge was ready. Liu Hua ladled a bowl, brought it over, and handed it to her. “Drink it while it’s hot to warm yourself up. Since you’re sick, you shouldn’t go to the gravesite

—I’m sure Changfu won’t hold it against you.”

Luo Xiu nodded, took the bowl of porridge with tears in her eyes, and sipped it little by little.

Liu Hua had originally wanted to ask him about the gossip circulating in the village, but seeing him like this, she couldn’t bring herself to ask.

“Why don’t you ask your mother-in-law to let you move back home? At the very least, while you’re sick, you’ll have someone to look after you. Living out here all alone isn’t right—to put it bluntly, if you died, no one would even know.”

Luo Xiu said, “I want to go back too, but… but my in-laws won’t let me.” “Why is that?”

Luo Xiu had no choice but to tell Liu Hua about Erfu’s intention to marry her. After hearing this, Liu Hua was quite angry too. That Erlang—even if he had his eye on his own sister-in-law, he should have waited a few years and brought it up after the mourning period was over. How could he be making his advances right after his older brother had just been buried? Wasn’t that just adding to the elders’ grief?

“Why don’t you go back to your parents’ house and beg your older brother to at least arrange a marriage for you? No matter how good or bad the match is, it’s better than this.”

Luo Xiu neither nodded nor shook her head. In truth, she was also hesitating about whether to go back and ask, but she really didn’t want to marry a blind man—what difference would that make from marrying Yang Dashun, that bald, lame man…?

Seeing how stubborn she was, Liu Hua knew it was pointless to argue. It was the kind of thing she’d only understand once she’d suffered a major setback herself.

There had been widowers living alone in the village before, but any woman without the backing of her natal family either remarried early or was taken advantage of. Being taken advantage of was still the better outcome—there were even cases where the men went so far as to kill their wives; just hearing about it was terrifying…

“I’m heading home now. There’s still some porridge left in the pot—just heat it up and have a bowl tonight so you don’t have to cook for yourself.”

“Take care, Auntie…” Luo Xiu propped himself up, trying to get out of bed to see him off.

“Don’t get up—just lie down and rest. I’ll come see you again tomorrow.”

As soon as Liu Hua stepped out the door, she ran into Bald Tian standing there. Remembering the gossip that had been circulating in the village these past few days, her expression changed, and she said, “Isn’t that you, Brother Tian? What brings you here?”

Bald Tian hadn’t expected Liu Hua to be there. Scratching at his sparse patch of hair, he chuckled sarcastically, “I was just out for a stroll and ended up here. What brings you here, Sister Zheng?”

“I came to check on my nephew-in-law. Changfu is gone, but the child he was carrying is still flesh and blood of the Liu family. As his aunt, I can’t just turn a blind eye. Otherwise, when I meet my maker, I won’t be able to explain myself.”

“Yes, yes, yes. You’re so kind, Sister Liu.”

“It’s a shame my nephew died such a tragic death. I knew my son-in-law wouldn’t feel at ease living here all alone. Today is the seventh day of mourning—maybe coming to see him has even made me catch a cold.”

As soon as Bald Tian heard this, goosebumps broke out all over him. He quickly made up an excuse about having chores to do at home, turned around, and hobbled away. Liu Hua watched his retreating figure and spat, “He’s got his mind set on all sorts of filthy, stinking things—doesn’t he even look at what kind of person he is himself!”

Luo Xiu is such a well-bred ger—there’s no way he’d ever end up with a lazy, good-for-nothing bachelor like that. He’s in his sixties, and his family is as poor as church mice; marrying into that family would only mean a life of hardship and suffering.

As she walked home, pondering whether there was a suitable match in the village, she bumped right into Zheng Beiqiu.

He was carrying several pieces of wood toward her; each was as thick as a bowl, and together they must have weighed over a hundred jin. Yet he walked with such lightness—he must be incredibly strong.

Liu Hua suddenly remembered that her cousin hadn’t been betrothed yet; she just didn’t know if he’d be interested in Luo Xiu. If he were, he’d actually be a good match.

“Cousin-in-law.”

“Oh, Daqiu, where are you off to?”

Zheng Beiqiu stopped and pointed to a spot not far ahead. “I bought a plot of land a few days ago. I plan to build a new house come spring, so I got a few pieces of Chinese pine for the window and door frames.”

These past few days, he’d set up a simple thatched shelter on the new plot to live in. Since he didn’t have much to his name, he wasn’t worried about anyone eyeing his belongings—and even if they did, they’d have to think twice about whether it was worth getting a beating from him.

“What made you suddenly decide to build a house?” Liu Hua recalled that his family’s four-room house hadn’t been built that long ago, and the two brothers had already moved out after getting married. “We’ve split up.”

Liu Hua didn’t ask for details—every family has its own troubles—but she guessed it was likely a falling-out with the second son. “It’s better this way. Fewer complications when you live on your own.”

Zheng Beiqiu grinned and nodded. “That’s the spirit. What brings you over, Sister-in-law?”

“I just went to check on my nephew-in-law. You know, I’m always worried about him living out there all by himself. I went over today to see how he was doing, and he was too sick to get off the kang. Thank goodness I stopped by—otherwise, he might have died of his illness without anyone even knowing!”

Zheng Beiqiu’s heart skipped a beat upon hearing this. “I saw him in town just yesterday. How could he have gotten so sick overnight?”

“He caught a cold from the cold wind. On top of that, with Changfu’s death, he must be harboring pent-up resentment he can’t vent. It’s a pity he doesn’t even have anyone around to look after him. I’ve got a whole mess of things to take care of at home that I can’t just leave unattended, so I could only squeeze in a quick visit. I’ve got to go back and cook now.”

As Zheng Beiqiu walked past Luo Xiu’s house carrying a piece of wood, he paused. He’d intended to go inside and check on him, but then felt it would be inappropriate to drop in unannounced.

After much deliberation, he decided to go to town to buy some medicine for a cold and bring it back to him.

He walked briskly; after setting down the wood, he headed straight for town. It was already getting late when he left, and by the time he returned with the medicine, it was completely dark. He borrowed a pot from a neighbor to boil the medicine, then slipped over to Luo Xiu’s house while the night was still and quiet.