Chapter Bonanza (8/10)

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“It’s still… a long way off. It takes over a month to travel from the provincial capital to our town, so news of the examination results won’t reach us until late October.” 

Zheng Er, determined to stall for as long as possible, brushed off the question with a vague answer.

Zheng Laotai didn’t suspect a thing; as an illiterate peasant woman, she knew nothing about the imperial examinations.

After her son finished eating, she took her grandson out for a stroll and stopped by the west bank of the river to see how the pork her eldest son was selling was turning out.

Along the way, they ran into quite a few neighbors carrying meat. Zheng Laotai stopped the woman from next door, Sun-shi, and asked, “Did you buy this meat from Daqiu?”

“Yes! You should go take a look. Daqiu hunted three wild boars on the mountain—each one fatter than the last! Pork this good is a rare find. I bit the bullet and bought three jin—I’m making pork buns tonight!”

Zheng Laotai looked at the fatty meat she was carrying, and her mouth started watering. She thought to herself, “That eldest son of mine—even though we’ve split the household, he’s still his mother’s son—and yet, after hunting so many pigs, he wouldn’t even spare a single piece of meat to send to me.

She immediately took her grandson over there.

By the time they reached the Zheng family’s doorstep, the second pig was almost sold out. Zheng Beiqiu had no intention of selling the third pig; he planned to clean it up later, keep half for his family, and send the rest to his younger sister.

“Ahem—” Zheng-niang cleared her throat.

Luo Xiu heard the sound and looked up. Seeing that it was her, he frowned at first, then quickly nudged his husband beside him with his elbow.

“Mother, why are you here?” Zheng Beiqiu said, greeting her with a smile, though he had no intention of letting her in. He washed his hands and carried the last piece of pork into the house, planning to stew it for dinner.

“Hey!” Zheng Laotai called out to him. 

“What is it?”

“Well… ahem, I heard you bagged three wild boars. Why didn’t you bring me even a single piece of pork?” 

“Haven’t we long since split up and cut ties? Why should I bring you anything?”

Zheng Laotai was left speechless by his retort. “No matter what, I’m still your mother. Have you really disowned me?”

“The deed of separation was written clearly and unambiguously—it stated that we would have no further dealings regarding weddings, funerals, or other family matters. You haven’t forgotten that, have you?” 

“Your younger brother passed the provincial examination!”

“Oh, well, congratulations to him then,” Zheng Beiqiu said nonchalantly.

“Stop being so sarcastic. Just wait until our second son becomes an official—then you’ll regret it!” 

“Fine, then I’ll cry every day from now on.”

Luo Xiu was left both amused and exasperated by his husband’s antics; he secretly pinched him. “Speak properly.”

Zheng Laotai continued to boast, “Once our second son becomes county magistrate, we’ll move into the county seat. By then, you won’t even have a chance to curry favor with us! You country bumpkins will just have to keep toiling in the fields for the rest of your lives!”

“Fine, then I’ll congratulate you in advance on becoming a noble lady.”

Seeing that he still had no intention of giving her any meat, Zheng-niang was furious. She cursed a few times and led her grandson away. Only after they had walked far enough away did Luo Xiu speak up: “She’s your mother, after all. Why not give her a piece of meat?”

“No way. Not a single piece. If his second son is so great, let Zheng Er go buy it! Anyone who dares call me unfilial will have to cough up all the silver they’ve taken from me.”

Seeing that he’d lost his temper, Luo Xiu had no choice but to go along with him: “All right, all right, don’t be angry. Let’s go stew some meat and eat.” 

Xiaoyu was hungry and grabbed Zheng Beiqiu’s hair, pulling it toward his mouth.

Luo Xiu quickly pulled the child away to breastfeed him.

While scraping the pork skin, Zheng Beiqiu said, “My mother is the kind of person who can never get enough of a free ride. You can’t let her get a taste of success, or she’ll come begging every day from now on. How are we supposed to get by then?”

“Oh, but I heard from her that Zheng Er’s passing the imperial exams seems to be a done deal. Yesterday, Li Fulang from next door even came over to talk about his family’s affairs.” 

“What’s going on?”

“Apparently, Zheng Er wanted to take a concubine, but his wife wouldn’t let him, so they had a big fight.”

Zheng Beiqiu snorted derisively. “That’s exactly the kind of thing Zheng Er would do. I just never thought the little bastard would actually get so lucky as to pass the provincial exam.” 

“I’m just afraid he’ll hold a grudge against you and come after us later.”

“Don’t worry—I’ve got everything under control. And you—you’d better be more assertive from now on. How dare he try to muscle in while you were selling meat today? You should’ve just chopped off his hand with your knife. With me backing you up, what’s there to be afraid of!”

Luo Xiu smiled. “As long as you’re here, I’m not afraid of anyone.”

“But what if one day I’m not around anymore? With a temperament as meek as yours, people will bully you to death.”

Luo Xiu’s heart skipped a beat. He picked up Xiaoyu and went into the bedroom.

Seeing this, Zheng Beiqiu quickly put down the meat he was holding and ran after him. “Are you upset?” Luo Xiu’s eyes were red-rimmed as he kept his head down, soothing the child.

“I’m saying this for your own good…”

“I know, but you mustn’t say things like that again… I have no other family. If you’re gone, what’s the point of me living? I might as well go with you!” Luo Xiu grew more and more agitated as he spoke, and tears streamed down his face uncontrollably.

Perhaps because a father and son are connected at heart, Xiaoyu also began to wail.

Seeing them like this, Zheng Beiqiu’s heart melted. He quickly pulled the two of them into his arms and, patting Luo Xiu on the back as if soothing a child, said, “I spoke out of turn. Your husband apologizes. You’re soft-hearted—so be it. I’m here, and I’ll protect you for the rest of your life!”

Luo Xiu cried for a while, then felt a bit melodramatic. Wiping away his tears, he said, “It’s okay now. You should finish preparing the pork. Once that pig is all ready, take it over to Xiaofeng’s family.”

“Okay.” Zheng Beiqiu kissed the top of his head, gave Xiaoyu in his arms a gentle squeeze, then stood up to continue butchering the pig. By the time they’d scalded the third pig to remove its bristles and gutted it, it was already dark.

Luo Xiu lulled the child to sleep and placed him in the cradle, then joined Zheng Beiqiu to help with the work.

This last pig was the largest. They selected the fattest cuts and set aside more than half a half-carcass. They rendered the fat into lard, filling three whole jars; the pork belly was saved for making buns; and the lean meat was cured as salted pork to be used in stews and stir-fries.

The remaining half-side of pork would be delivered to his sister’s family the next day; this meat would last them until the New Year. That evening, the couple sat on the kang and began counting their money.

They’d sold two pigs and collected a basketful of copper coins. It was clear that life in the village had improved over the past two years—everyone was willing to spend money on meat now.

Zheng Beiqiu twisted the hemp rope, and Luo Xiu strung the coins onto it. One guan is a thousand copper coins—after removing the bones and offal, these two pigs sold for a total of more than five taels!

“This wild boar meat really is a money-maker,” Luo Xiu couldn’t help but exclaim.

“It’s a shame we don’t come across them often. This time, we just got lucky and caught three of them.”

After stringing the coins together, Luo Xiu hid them back in the kang cavity, leaving only a few strings as pocket money. “But we should do this sort of thing less often in the future—we’re not short on money. Don’t get yourself hurt.”

A warm feeling welled up inside Zheng Beiqiu, and he reached out to beckon him over. Luo Xiu walked over to him and was immediately picked up around the waist and lifted onto the kang. “I haven’t washed my hands yet…”

“We’ll wash them together later.” Zheng Beiqiu pulled down his pants and began to make love to him right there, sitting as they were.

Luo Xiu had nowhere to brace himself, and when he couldn’t take it anymore, he wrapped his arms around Zheng Beiqiu’s neck and tried to pull away, only to be grabbed by the waist and thrust back down hard.

Zheng Beiqiu mumbled with the child’s mouthful still in his mouth, “Let’s have a second one.” 

“Mm…”

Once again, they spent half the night without sleep.

The next day, Luo Xiu didn’t get up until the hour of Chen. Seeing through the window that it was already broad daylight outside, he hurriedly got dressed and got out of bed.

Zheng Beiqiu had already prepared breakfast; with Xiaoyu on his back, he was feeding the chickens and ducks. The two dogs were enjoying the spoils too—the bones they’d picked clean yesterday had become their meal, and they were running wild all over the courtyard, bones in their mouths.

“You’re awake?”

“Why didn’t you wake me up sooner?” Luo Xiu drew a basin of water to wash his face.

“You looked so exhausted last night, and since there wasn’t much to do anyway, I figured you should sleep in a bit.”

“You’ve got some nerve saying that.” Luo Xiu rolled his eyes at him and took the child from him.

Zheng Beiqiu chuckled, “Xiaoyu’s had some goat’s milk. You should go eat, too. After we finish, we’ll head over to my sister’s place together.” 

“Okay.”

It had been more than half a month since his brother-in-law was injured; he wondered how his recovery was going, so today was the perfect chance to check on him. After breakfast, they hitched up the mule cart, loaded the pork they’d prepared the day before, locked the front gate, and set off for Xiaogou Village as a family of three. The weather was nice today; even though it was late fall, the sun still felt warm on their skin.

Xiaoyu, nearly five months old, had gotten much sturdier. Perched on Luo Xiu’s shoulder, he peered around, finding everything new and exciting. Luo Xiu kissed his son on the cheek. “We’re going to your aunt’s house to play with your sister Niuniu.”

“Ooh-ooh-oh.” Xiaoyu tilted his head and mumbled incomprehensible words. He looked so adorable that Luo Xiu couldn’t help but give his cheek another kiss.

The mule cart had been traveling for less than an hour when they arrived at Xiaguo Village. It was Luo Xiu’s first time here. He recalled that shortly after Liu Changfu’s death, his older brother and sister-in-law had wanted to sell him here.

Coincidentally, Zheng Beiqiu also recalled that incident. “Before we were together, I heard your brother was going to sell you to that blind man in Xiaguo Village. I was so furious that I went over and gave that blind man a good scare.”

“What? That really happened?” Luo Xiu was utterly surprised.

“You had no idea, but I was so worried back then—afraid you’d end up marrying someone else—that I hung around your front door every single day.”

Luo Xiu couldn’t stop laughing, his heart brimming with happiness.

When they entered Xiaogou Village, they encountered a group of people chatting at the village entrance. Seeing the pork loaded on their cart, they all came up to ask, “Are you here to sell meat?”

“No, we’re delivering some meat to my sister’s house.”

Among the crowd was Liu Er’s wife. She recognized Zheng Beiqiu as Zheng Xiaofeng’s older brother, and a pang of envy gripped her heart. She hadn’t realized before just how wealthy her fourth brother’s wife’s family was—did they really give away half a pig at a time?

When they arrived at the Liu household, Zheng Xiaofeng was sitting in the courtyard sewing a quilted jacket. Since the weather had warmed up these past few days, she’d just taken apart her old one, washed it, and was putting it back together.

“Big Brother, Sister-in-law, what brings you here?” Xiaofeng put down her needle and thread and rushed over joyfully.

“Your older brother hunted a few wild boars up in the mountains. He sold two of them, but there was too much left over to eat, so he sent half of it to you.” 

“Why did you bring so much? This is way too much—we can’t possibly eat it all. You’d better take it back and sell it.”

Zheng Beiqiu knew his sister would say that, so he feigned annoyance: “I came all this way to bring it to you, and you’re not even grateful—you’re wasting my good intentions.”

With that, he started to turn the mule cart around.

“What are you doing? Can’t I just keep some?” Xiaofeng hurriedly stopped her brother. “Niuniu, come out quick and see who’s here!”

Niuniu and Liu Yan heard the sound and came out of the room. “Uncle!”

“Oh my, it’s only been half a month, and our Niuniu’s already talking a mile a minute!” Zheng Beiqiu picked up the little girl and lifted her above his head, making Niuniu giggle. Luo Xiu also got out of the car with his child in his arms. “Is my brother-in-law’s head feeling any better?”

Liu Yan nodded. “He’s much better now. The superficial wounds have healed completely, but he still gets headaches sometimes. I’m not sure if it’s a lingering effect from the injury.”

“Why did you bring so much meat, Big Brother? We can’t possibly eat it all. Let’s keep one hind leg; you guys can take the rest to town to sell.” 

“If you can’t eat it all, you can cure it and save it for the New Year. Now that it’s all been delivered, there’s no way we’re taking any of it back.”

Once inside, Luo Xiu placed Xiaoyu on the kang. Niuniu sat beside him, playing with her little brother. Xiaoyu kicked his little legs and cooed happily; the two children were having a great time.

Zheng Beiqiu carried the meat into the kitchen, and Liu Yan followed behind to lend a hand, asking, “Big Brother, where did you get this pork?” 

“I hunted it in the mountains. I caught three boars and sold two of them in the village.”

“You caught three wild boars?!” Liu Yan was stunned. Ordinary people would run for their lives at the sight of even a single wild boar, yet his older brother-in-law had managed to catch three at once—he felt even greater admiration for him.

“I’ll stew some of the meat at noon and cut a piece for your old man to take home.” During the last family division, the Liu family patriarch had handled things fairly and shown his brother-in-law a fair amount of respect, so Zheng Beiqiu was naturally willing to let his sister take some meat over to maintain good relations.

Xiaofeng deftly cut a strip of meat, weighing about two or three jin. “You go deliver it. I’ll stay and chat with my older brother and his wife for a bit.” 

“Okay.” Liu Yan, carrying the meat, happily headed to the main house to give it to his parents.

Zheng Beiqiu knew his younger sister had sent him away so she could speak with him privately. “What’s going on?”

“It’s all about that property division!” Zheng Xiaofeng was seething with anger at the mere mention of it.

“Ever since the division of the family property that day, the second branch has been causing trouble. First, they thought they got too little money, and then they complained that the land they received wasn’t good enough. Their few mu of land in the back ravine are actually a bit farther away than ours, yet they used that as an excuse to argue for several days.”

Luo Xiu asked, “So what happened next?”

“You know how Liu Yan and I were planning to open a food stall in town? Since we were going to lease out our family’s land next year, his second older brother approached Liu Yan and suggested we swap plots.

You all know what Liu Yan is like—he’s easily swayed and very loyal. His second older brother shed a few tears, and Liu Yan agreed. It wasn’t until after the swap that I found out the family next to the land in Houbei village isn’t someone to mess with. Every year during the fall harvest, half a ridge of crops goes missing, and it’s hard to even lease it out!”

“Come on, I thought it was some big deal. Don’t worry about it. If it really doesn’t work out, just lease it to your eldest brother. I’ll see who dares to take more grain from me.”

Xiaofeng was amused by her eldest brother’s remark. “It’s fine—it’s all been leased out. Liu Yan’s third older brother heard we were leasing land, so he came by to ask about it. He figured it’s better to lease to family than to outsiders, so we gave him a slight discount.”

“That’s good to hear. How are the preparations for your shop coming along?”

“A few days ago, the two of us went to town to check out a few storefronts. The prices weren’t too different. One of them has a great location right by the road, with an inn and a tavern next door. We’re thinking of going to secure it tomorrow.”

“How much is the rent?”

“Six guan a year.”

Upon hearing this, Zheng Beiqiu thought the price wasn’t too high. “All right. If you’re short on silver, just let me know. Once you’ve rented the shop, I’ll come over and give you a hand.” Before long, Liu Yan returned, and the group didn’t bring up the matter again.

At noon, Xiaofeng stewed pork and radishes. It was a rare treat for Niuniu to eat meat; she held her little bowl, her lips smeared with grease, and kept saying, “Delicious, delicious.”

Zheng Beiqiu chuckled, “Our girl’s a good one—she didn’t take that meat for nothing.”

After lunch, Zheng Beiqiu took Luo Xiu with him as they left; they still had to deliver some cloth to the fabric shop in town and pick up some silk thread on their way back.

No sooner had they seen off her older brother and sister-in-law than the wife from the second branch of the family came over to pry, “Xiaofeng, did your older brother give you half a side of pork?”

Zheng Xiaofeng was annoyed the moment she saw her. Among all her sisters-in-law, she was the most scheming and insatiably greedy. Xiaofeng was still fuming over the land swap, so naturally, she had nothing nice to say to her.

“Yes, so what?”

“I was just thinking—you can’t possibly eat all that meat yourselves. Could you maybe…” 

“No, I’m not selling it. If you want some, go buy it yourself in town.”

“Huh? What kind of attitude is that? It’s not like I’m not offering to pay you.”

“So what if this is my attitude?” Zheng Xiaofeng was stocky and a half-head taller than the second son’s wife; when she glared, she looked as if she’d been carved from the same mold as Zheng Beiqiu.

“If you won’t sell it, you won’t sell it—what’s the big deal…” Startled, the second son’s wife stammered a few words and hurriedly retreated into the house.

She thought the matter was settled, but that night, just as she was getting ready for bed, Liu Yan’s second older brother showed up again. He couldn’t go three sentences without mentioning pork, and between the lines, he was clearly hinting that he wanted Liu Yan to cut him a piece.

Liu Yan was in a bind. The meat had been a gift from his brother-in-law to his wife—not to him—so how could he dare to take it upon himself to give any to his second older brother?

“Fourth Brother, we’re blood brothers. Your nephews and nieces were crying with hunger at noon just from the smell of the meat. As their uncle, are you really going to be so stingy—not even giving them a single bite?”

“Well, well…” Liu Yan was extremely torn.

“Besides, it’s such a big piece of meat—you won’t be able to finish it all. It’d be such a waste if it went bad. Just cut a few jin for Second Brother, and have your sister-in-law pay you back tomorrow.” 

“Sigh…” Liu Yan was so worn down by his persistence that he had no choice but to go inside and cut the meat.

Zheng Xiaofeng came out of the bedroom upon hearing the noise. “Don’t cut it!”

“Xiaofeng, the kids want to eat it…”

“I said —this meat isn’t for anyone! When our Niuniu was sick, how badly did your sister-in-law scold you for giving her a few eggs? Now all of a sudden, you’re feeling sorry for someone else’s child!”

Hearing his wife’s words, Liu Yan felt a lump in his throat. Not long ago, when Niuniu was sick with a cough and needed a fritillary bulb, the medicine had to be simmered with eggs. They didn’t keep chickens themselves, and the old lady’s eggs had all been sold. The only ones left were the ones the second wife had saved up.

Zheng Xiaofeng went over to borrow some, but her Second Sister-in-Law not only refused to lend them any but also gave them a good scolding, calling Niuniu a greedy little girl and saying, “Eggs aren’t medicine—how could eating them make her better?”

In the end, Liu Yan went out, traded some grain for six eggs, and brought them back.

He steeled himself and said, “Go home, Second Brother. This meat was brought by my brother-in-law; it’s not up to me. If my nephews want to eat meat, you can go buy some in town tomorrow.”

“You!” Liu Hai was livid. Pointing at Liu Yan, he unleashed a torrent of abuse: “You can’t even bring yourself to cut a tiny piece off that huge chunk of meat? May you bastards choke to death on it!”

Zheng Xiaofeng ran out clutching a kitchen knife. “Keep cursing! If you want meat, I’ll chop off my ribs and stew them for you!” Liu Hai was thoroughly scared and dashed back into the house, not daring to come out again.

Zheng Xiaofeng stood in the courtyard with her hands on her hips, shouting, “If you’re craving it, just slap yourself a couple of times! Don’t just look at other people’s stuff and want it—how thick-skinned are you?” 

“All right, Feng… calm down…” Liu Yan tugged at her sleeve and took the knife from her.

Zheng Xiaofeng felt even more strongly that she should move out. Her husband’s temperament was simply too soft—even if they split the household but didn’t live separately, sooner or later the other wives would take advantage of the situation!