Translated By April

Lin Yu carried his own basket and strolled through the marketplace. When he encountered someone interested, he would show them his items. After making a round, Lin Yu was about to return when a ger called out to him, “Let me have a look.”

Lin Yu handed over all the silk handkerchiefs in his hand for him to see. That ger picked and chose for a while and finally took one embroidered with a pair of twin lotus flowers. Lin Yu tidied up his handkerchiefs and went back together with Wei Qingshan.

As Qingming approached, the sky began to drizzle again. Lin Yu moved his embroidery frame to the front of the main room to embroider by the door. Since it was raining, Wei Qingshan couldn’t go into the mountains, so he stayed home as well.

Their family had no farmland. This was the busy farming season—paddy fields needed transplanting, dry fields needed watering. It was rare for him to have some free time. “After next year, let’s buy two plots of land and do some farming.”

“How much silver would that take?”

“Dry land would probably cost ten taels per mu, paddy fields twenty taels per mu.”

“That expensive?”

“Exactly. But after buying it, you can harvest crops every year.”

Lin Yu also wished their family had land. That way, they wouldn’t need to buy grain to eat.

On Qingming, the drizzle still hadn’t stopped. Wei Qingshan brought a bamboo hat and a straw raincoat to put on Lin Yu, and the two of them headed toward Lin Yu’s home village.

They walked for about half an hour and arrived. Standing on the hillside, Lin Yu pointed to a courtyard for Wei Qingshan to see. “That used to be my home.”

Two rooms—the house was built with earthen walls and thatched roofing. In the courtyard, white cooking smoke was rising.

“Do you want to go take a look?”

“No, it was sold by Zhao Jiazhu for twenty taels of silver.”

Wei Qingshan didn’t say anything more and followed Lin Yu up the mountain. When they reached a grove nestled against the hillside, there was a low, humble grave. It was overgrown with withered, yellow weeds, and new wild grass was sprouting. It was clear no one had tended to it for many years.

Seeing the state of his mother’s grave, Lin Yu’s nose stung, and tears fell. Wei Qingshan set down the basket silently and began cleaning the grave. He pulled up all the weeds, then fetched some broken stones and piled them around the grave. Lin Yu wiped his tears and helped move stones. After they rebuilt the grave, they lit incense and candles.

“Mother, I got married this year. This is Wei Qingshan. He treats me very well. You don’t have to worry. Take care of yourself over there.”

Wei Qingshan also knelt and kowtowed three times. “Mother, don’t worry. I will take good care of Xiao Yu. If I ever bully Xiao Yu, feel free to come find me.”

Lin Yu tugged on Wei Qingshan’s clothes. “What nonsense are you saying?”

The gloom in Lin Yu’s heart had mostly been swept away. The two of them burned incense and candles in front of his mother’s grave and then prepared to head back.

“Is that Yu-ger?”

Lin Yu looked at the old woman in front of him, but couldn’t recall who she was. The old woman walked up with a basket, “I’m your auntie from next door. Don’t you remember?”

Then Lin Yu remembered, “Are you Auntie Ma?”

“Yes, it’s me. I didn’t expect you’d already grown this big. You’re married?”

“Mm, this is my husband.”

“That’s good, that’s good. Your mother will be happy to see you’re doing well.”

That old woman chatted idly for a few words and then left. Lin Yu hadn’t expected anyone to still remember his mother, and for a moment, his heart was full of mixed feelings.

On the way back, Lin Yu still felt a bit down. His mood wasn’t great the entire day. It wasn’t until the next day, when the rain stopped and the sun came out, that he felt much better.

Wei Qingshan packed his things and went up the mountain to hunt. Lin Yu saw him out the door.

In the afternoon, after getting tired of embroidering, he took a bowl and went to Chun-ger’s house to buy two pieces of tofu. He planned to stir-fry tofu for dinner.

When he arrived, the wives and husbands in line ahead of him gave him strange looks and whispered among themselves with their heads lowered, not knowing what they were talking about. Lin Yu didn’t pay it any mind. There was even a ger who looked at him and let out a strange laugh.

The people in front bought their tofu and left. When it was Lin Yu’s turn, Chun-ger warmly cut two pieces for him. “Yu-ger is here.”

“Mm.” He smiled at Chun-ger.

Xia Hehua also walked over carrying a bowl. “Chun-ger, and you’re still selling tofu to this kind of person. Ay, he looks decent enough on the outside, who would’ve thought he’s so promiscuous behind closed doors.”

Xia Hehua’s words stunned Lin Yu. “What are you talking about?”

Lian-ger had also come to buy tofu today. Ever since his husband Shunzi earned some silver, their family’s days had improved a little. Every few days, they could afford to buy a piece of tofu with a couple of copper coins. Seeing Lin Yu being bullied, he tugged Lin Yu’s sleeve, “Yu-ger, let’s go home.”

Xia Hehua walked over and deliberately knocked over Lin Yu’s bowl. The two pieces of tender white tofu fell to the ground. “What, you dare to do it but don’t dare to admit it? I was wondering why you married Wei Qingshan so quickly—turns out you had a thing going on with your own cousin. And that Wei Qingshan sure can endure it, wearing that green hat so peacefully, hahahaha.”

Lin Yu’s face instantly turned pale. He trembled all over from anger. “You—you’re talking nonsense!”

“How am I talking nonsense? I heard that on the day you returned to your family, you were pulling and tugging with your cousin, and Wei Qingshan saw it. I heard that Wei Qingshan was so angry he even took back the wild pheasants he brought on the wedding day.”

Chun-ger couldn’t stand it anymore. “Xia Hehua, what kind of nonsense are you spouting? Don’t come spewing shit around my house.”

“Chun-ger, I didn’t say anything about you. Why are you standing up for this little whore?”

Everyone around looked over. Lin Yu’s mind went blank for a moment. He was overwhelmed with shame and anger and didn’t know what to do. Lian-ger quickly supported him. “Yu-ger, let me take you home.”

Lian-ger helped the trembling Lin Yu walk away. Xia Hehua was still shouting behind them: “Don’t go! You dare to do it but don’t dare to admit it!”

Once she had gloated enough, Xia Hehua stepped up to buy tofu. “Chun-ger, give me two pieces of tofu.”

“There’s none left.”

“What do you mean there’s none left? Aren’t there still two slabs right there?”

“I said there’s none, so there’s none. I’m just not selling to you.”

“Hmph, you’re just siding with that Lin Yu!” Xia Hehua stormed off in a huff.

Wang Fulang was hiding in the crowd, watching the commotion. Seeing Lin Yu like that, he felt much better. He had heard about this yesterday when he went to his maiden home to burn paper offerings for Qingming. Last time, because of Wei Qingshan and his husband, he got his hair pulled by Wang Da and had been holding a grudge ever since.

When Lin Yu got home, his face was still pale. He didn’t even know how his reputation had spread through the village. Lin Yu felt terrible inside but didn’t know what to do.

Lian-ger was getting anxious. “Yu-ger, wait here. I’ll go get Aunt He over.”

The He family’s two brothers were close with Wei Qingshan, so they had to hurry and get someone to go up the mountain to bring Wei Qingshan back. A ger being slandered with a ruined reputation was a big deal. He could already imagine the worst things.

In his mother’s home village, there had been a widow rumored to be having improper relations with a man. Once her reputation was ruined, the other old women pointed fingers at her behind her back, and even scoundrels started harassing her. The widow couldn’t bear being bullied anymore and hanged herself with a rope.

The more Lian-ger thought about it, the more scared he became. He hurried off to the He family to get help.

As soon as He Daniang heard about it, she immediately came with Dong-ger. She told He Dazhu and He Erzhu to hurry up the mountain to find Wei Qingshan and bring him back.

As soon as He Daniang arrived, she began cursing loudly. “That black-hearted Xia Hehua, truly vicious—she just can’t stand to see you two living a good life!”

He Dongdong held Lin Yu’s hand. “Yu-ger, don’t be upset. We all know what kind of person you are. That Xia Hehua is purely slandering you—just too wicked!”

Lin Yu shook his head. “I didn’t do it. Qingshan knows.”

“Mm! Qingshan-ge definitely believes you!”

Seeing people in Wei Qingshan’s yard, Qian Laotai from next door poked her head in and looked around sneakily. She felt pleased with herself—Wei Qingshan had dared to discipline her son before, and now look at him, wearing a green hat and not even knowing it.

Before long, He Ersao also came. “Mother, I found out—it was that Wang Fulang’s doing.”

“Ah, so it was him! I was wondering who would spout such nonsense. Turns out it was that rotten-mouthed Wang Fulang scheming behind the scenes.” When He Ersao said this, He Daniang immediately understood what was going on. During the canal digging, Wei Qingshan hadn’t let Wang Da from their family join in, so they held a grudge.

“Yu-ger, don’t be afraid. Auntie will stand up for you. When Qingshan gets back, wherever he wants to go, we’ll let Dong-ger and the two brothers go with him to fight it back.”

Lin Yu felt a warmth in his heart. “Thank you, Auntie.”

He had calmed down now and didn’t feel so scared anymore. He hadn’t expected so many people to stand up for him—he was truly moved.

He didn’t care what outsiders thought. What mattered was that Wei Qingshan believed him. As long as Wei Qingshan believed in him, he wasn’t afraid.

Lin Yu told He Daniang and the others about what had happened to him at Zhao Jiazhu’s house. He Daniang slapped her thigh in anger. “That’s a blood-related uncle! How could there be such an uncle!”

Wei Qingshan rushed back in a hurry. “Xiao Yu!”

“Qingshan, you’re back.”

Wei Qingshan pulled him into his arms to comfort him. “It’s okay now. It’s okay. I’m back.”

“Mm, I’m not afraid. I have Qingshan.”

When Wei Qingshan heard that his husband had been slandered, he angrily rushed down the mountain. Even the He family’s two brothers hadn’t caught up to him yet. He was afraid his little husband had been bullied.

He didn’t care about his own reputation, but when it came to Lin Yu, he wouldn’t let those people off!

He Daniang was off to the side, telling Wei Qingshan about Wang Fulang. He had gone back to his maiden home yesterday, and today he was back gossiping. Normally, he only said some trivial things that didn’t hurt anyone, but this time, he actually slandered the reputation of someone’s ger. If Wei Qingshan had been a muddled person, the days of those two would’ve been completely ruined.

“Aunt He, could you please help me look after Yu-ger while I go out for a moment?”

“Take Dazhu and Erzhu with you. No, forget it, I’ll go too. Dong-ger, you stay here and watch over Yu-ger.”

Lin Yu also stood up, wanting to go, “Qingshan, I’ll go with you.”

“You stay home and wait for me, this noise and ruckus will upset you.”

Wei Qingshan was afraid that if Lin Yu went, he’d be frightened. His husband had a timid heart and a gentle temperament.

Lin Yu was left behind. Wei Qingshan turned and headed out the door. He arrived at the Wei Family’s courtyard and, without a word, smashed the iron pot in the kitchen.

Wei Er stepped forward to stop him and was shoved to the ground by Wei Qingshan. Wei Er cried out in pain, “Wei Qingshan, what are you doing!”

Wei Qingshan ignored him and began smashing the bowls in the kitchen one by one out into the courtyard. The crashing and clattering made a rather crisp sound.

Xia Hehua tried to step forward and stop him, but He Ersao pulled her sleeve, “Hehua, don’t go over there, you’ll get hit.”

Xia Hehua flung off He Ersao, “Oh, so that’s how it is! I only said a few things about your family’s marriage!”

Ever since He Ersao had seen clearly what kind of person Xia Hehua was, she never dealt with her again. Last time, she had tried to matchmake Dong-ger with Xia Hehua’s older brother. That Xia Hehua had praised her brother like there was no one else like him in heaven or on earth. Only later did she find out that Xia Hehua’s brother was nothing but a scoundrel and a rogue.

This time, her family had angered Wei Qingshan, so naturally, He Ersao took his side.

Just as Xia Hehua was about to step forward, a jar of cooking lard shattered right in front of her with a loud smash. Her vision darkened, and she nearly fainted. That was the lard they couldn’t even bear to use for cooking!

Hearing the commotion, Wei Laotai walked out of the house. Seeing Wei Qingshan smashing things in her home like a madman, she started cursing loudly, “Wei Qingshan, you unfilial brat! Your birth nearly killed your old mother! Your father was cursed to death by you! After the family split, not only did you not support your old mother, but you still came here, causing trouble. Are you trying to kill off our whole family?!”

Wei Laotai was cursing and yelling, but Wei Qingshan didn’t care in the slightest. He had long grown tired of hearing her curses.

“Xia Hehua, was it you who slandered my husband’s reputation behind his back?”

Xia Hehua saw that her jar of cooking lard was smashed, and her heart ached like it were bleeding. She shouted back, “So what if I did? Did I say anything wrong? You’re unfilial, and your husband isn’t any good either. He hadn’t even married yet, and he was already messing around with his cousin! He’s just a–”

He Daniang couldn’t bear it any longer. The reputation of an innocent and upright ger was being destroyed—what difference was there between that and murder? She went up and grabbed Xia Hehua by the collar and gave her two solid slaps across the face. “Xia Hehua, what nonsense are you spouting!”

The eldest and second daughters-in-law of the He family quickly stepped forward to pull her back. “Mother, don’t hit her anymore, stop hitting her.”

During the scuffle, Xia Hehua’s hair was pulled into a tangled mess, and she took a kick to the leg. She was being pushed and shoved by the three of them like a bobblehead.

Wei Er wanted to step in and help, but the two He brothers weren’t having it. They immediately blocked his way.

He Daniang had long wanted to teach Xia Hehua a lesson. She had tried to push Dong-ger to marry her rogue older brother. Her family had asked Lin Yu for help with embroidery, but Xia Hehua claimed it was bad luck, always speaking in ways that made it seem like she wanted to ruin their family’s match. How could He Daniang swallow that anger?

Taking this opportunity, she gave Xia Hehua a good beating. After she was satisfied, the eldest sister-in-law of the He family finally pulled her away. “Mother, stop hitting her.”

Wei Qingshan couldn’t hit Xia Hehua, but he could hit Wei Er. He grabbed Wei Er and gave him several hard slaps. “You heard it yourself. Your wife said that—it was she who slandered my husband’s reputation.”

Wei Laotai was so furious she kept cursing beside them, “Wei Qingshan, you heartless little bastard, I’ll beat you to death, beat you to death!”

The big black dog that had followed along saw its master being bullied and crouched low, barking at Wei Laotai. She got so scared she flinched on the spot.

Wang Fulang, who had been hiding in the crowd watching the show, shrank his neck and slipped away quickly—Wei Qingshan was really angry this time. Hopefully, he wouldn’t cause trouble for him.

“Qingshan, Qingshan!” Lin Yu came running over in a panic.

When Wei Qingshan saw Lin Yu, he finally restrained some of his aggression. Though he still looked cold, his expression softened a bit. “Why did you come?”

“I came to check on you.” Lin Yu couldn’t stop worrying about Wei Qingshan. He Dongdong couldn’t dissuade him, so he ended up following him over.

As soon as he arrived, he saw two people lying on the ground, groaning. The couple—one had a face swollen like a pig’s head, the other had scratches all over their face. He Dongdong couldn’t hold back and let out a snort of laughter.

Lin Yu was finally relieved to see that Wei Qingshan was alright, but Wei Laotai was still scolding him from the side, which made Lin Yu feel upset.

Lin Yu was so angry his eyes turned red. He squatted down, grabbed a handful of dirt, and threw it over, “No—no one’s allowed to talk about Qingshan like that!”

Wei Laotai got dirt in her eyes and stumbled backward with a wail, falling hard on her backside. Now the whole family of three was all lying on the ground together.

Wei Qingshan was a little stunned. He looked down slightly at the little husband who had stepped in front of him. Even though his voice was trembling, he still stood firmly to protect him. This was the first time in his life that someone had stood up to protect him—especially his timid little husband.

Wei Qingshan swept a cold glance over the crowd of onlookers. “Anyone else who’s been gossiping behind my husband’s back, come out now and confront me. If you have evidence, I, Wei Qingshan, will admit it, and I’ll take my husband and leave the village immediately. But if you can’t show any proof, then don’t blame me, Wei Qingshan, for being rude!”

No one in the crowd dared to make a sound. Some of the men here had earned silver by working with Wei Qingshan, so naturally they stood on his side. “That’s right, who’s been talking about Yu-ger behind his back? Step out now.”

“Where’s that Wang Fulang? He was talking at the village entrance today like it was all real. Where is he now?”

“Who in the village doesn’t know? His husband Wang Da was driven back after going to work with them, and only then did they start slandering others behind their backs. That heart of his is just too black.”

Lin Yu listened as the crowd spoke one after another. He had originally thought that his reputation would be utterly ruined, since things like this were hard to explain clearly, and the more one explained, the worse it looked. He hadn’t expected that quite a few people would actually be on his side.

Wei Qingshan took Lin Yu with him and said, “Let’s go. I want to ask Wang Fulang exactly which of his eyes saw it!”

Many others followed along. Slandering a ger’s reputation was no small matter—it could cost lives if handled poorly. They wanted to see just where this Wang Fulang had gotten his story from.

With Wei Qingshan standing up for him, Lin Yu was no longer afraid. This Wang Fulang had slandered him behind his back again and again, and he was very angry.

Wei Qingshan went straight up and kicked open the Wang family’s door. Wang Da was startled, and a whole crowd of people rushed into his house.

“Wang Da, tell your husband to come out.”

“Qingshan, what’s going on?”

“What’s going on? Your husband has been slandering my husband’s reputation behind his back—what do you think is going on?”

“There’s no such thing!”

Wang Fulang was hiding in the house, too afraid to come out. Lin Yu directly walked into their house, and Wang Fulang was startled.

“Was it you who said I had a thing going on with Zhao Dazhi before I got married?” Lin Yu was usually timid and always kept his head down, but this time he stood with his back straight, eyes fixed fiercely on the man hiding at the foot of the bed.

“No, it wasn’t me.”

“Then who was it?”

“Someone from your village said it.”

“Who are these people? I’ll go find them one by one and ask them myself.” Wei Qingshan stood behind Lin Yu, backing him up.

“I—I don’t know.”

“Hmph!” Wei Qingshan gave a cold snort. “Then you’ve just been slandering and defaming recklessly. According to the law of this dynasty, that’s enough for ten strokes with the rod. You’re coming with me to see the official right now!”

The moment Wang Fulang heard they were going to see the official, his legs went weak. “It was people from my mother’s side who said it—it was them! It has nothing to do with me!”

“So, Zhao Jiazhu and Cai Chunhua, greedy for my ten taels of betrothal gift, rushed to marry off Yu-ger to me. Then, on the day of returning to the bride’s home, they bullied my wife and got taught a lesson by me, and that’s why they slandered his reputation. As for you, you held a grudge just because we didn’t call your Wang Da to help dig the river last time. You heard a few baseless rumors and dared to come back to the village and slander my husband’s reputation!”

Only then did everyone piece together the whole story. No wonder that Wang Fulang’s words had sounded so vivid and detailed—it turned out to be out of spite!

“Wang Da, what do you say we do about this?” Wei Qingshan turned his head to look at Wang Da beside him.

Wang Da was terrified that Wei Qingshan would really go report this to the authorities. They were just country folk—when had they ever seen an official? The moment he heard that, he was scared out of his wits and went up to press down on Wang Fulang’s head. “Apologize to them—apologize!”

Only then was Wei Qingshan satisfied. Lin Yu stood up straight. “This is an apology I deserve, but I will not forgive you.”

Lin Yu knew that he had to act upright and open at this moment, otherwise, who knew what others might say about him in the future. He wasn’t afraid of having a bad reputation, but he couldn’t let Wei Qingshan suffer unjustly because of him.

Seeing that Wei Qingshan’s face was still cold, Wang Da realized this matter wouldn’t be settled easily. He struck Wang Fulang with a few hard slaps. “That’s for talking about others behind their backs! That’s for gossiping!”

Wang Fulang’s mouth was bleeding from the slaps, and only then did Wei Qingshan leave with Lin Yu.

After all this commotion, the sky had gradually darkened. Everyone went back to their homes to cook, and Lin Yu and Wei Qingshan returned home as well.

That night, Wei Qingshan held his little husband in his arms to comfort him. “Were you scared today?”

“At first, when Xia Hehua was yelling at me, I was a bit dazed. But later, I wasn’t scared anymore. I didn’t do anything wrong, and you were by my side.”

Wei Qingshan gently patted Lin Yu’s back. “You did great today. If you don’t want to live in the village anymore, we can move into the mountains and live quietly.”

Lin Yu raised his head. “That won’t do. What about when we have children later? What if they want to farm or study?”

Wei Qingshan laughed. “Why are you thinking so far ahead?”

Lin Yu muttered softly, “Because it’s true.”

Wei Qingshan touched Lin Yu’s little belly. “I wonder if there’s already a little one in there.”

Lin Yu’s face turned hot. “No… there’s not.”

“Then I just need to work a bit harder, so my little husband can quickly carry our baby.”

Lin Yu let out a small exclamation of surprise, and Wei Qingshan was already kissing the corner of his eye. Lin Yu was bullied until his tears kept falling, but Wei Qingshan still did not let him go. “Call me ‘Husband’ and I won’t bully you.”

Lin Yu called him Husband, but instead, Wei Qingshan became even rougher. What a big liar.

At that moment, Wei Qingshan was thinking that the money spent on this new bed was really worth it. The two of them had been tossing around like this, yet the bed didn’t even make a single creak.

After a round of nonsense, Lin Yu no longer let his thoughts run wild, and he fell asleep lying in Wei Qingshan’s arms.

Lin Yu got up late again in the morning. By the time he woke up, Wei Qingshan had already made breakfast. Thinking about how Wei Qingshan had forced him to call him Husband yesterday made his face flush red.

As soon as Lin Yu got up, he took the blanket outside to air it. Thinking the weather was nice, he also wanted to air out the straw mat underneath. As soon as he picked it up, something fell to the ground with a plop.

Lin Yu looked and saw that it was actually a book. Books were expensive items. Lin Yu immediately put down the mat in his hands to pick up the book, gently patting it for fear of getting it dirty. He casually flipped open a page—Lin Yu’s face turned bright red. Why would Wei Qingshan be hiding this kind of thing?!

When Wei Qingshan came into the house to call Lin Yu for breakfast, he saw his little husband blushing so hard he looked like he was bleeding, and still holding that book he had hidden. Wei Qingshan quickly walked over and stuffed the book back into his chest. “It’s not anything good, don’t look at it.”

Lin Yu gave a few nervous “uh-huhs” and hurriedly hugged a pillow. “I, I’m going to air the pillow.”

As soon as Lin Yu picked up the pillow, a few small bottles rolled out onto the ground. Lin Yu looked and saw there were five or six of them!

He knew what those things were—Wei Qingshan had used them on him before. He hadn’t expected there to be so many!

Wei Qingshan quickly bent down to pick them up. “Cleaning up—cleaning up. Time to eat.”

Wei Qingshan quickly walked out of the house. Lin Yu also flusteredly went to air the bedding.