Ever since Xu He had gone into the city and gotten medicine, he hadn’t been going out much these past few days. Using the excuse of burning winter charcoal, he had stayed home to recuperate for a while.
The weather was nice that day. Seeing that the scab on his knee had formed and that his cold had mostly recovered after taking several doses of medicine, he carried a basin down to the river to wash clothes.
The clothes of the entire family, young and old, filled a huge basket. He carried it on his back while also holding a wooden basin in his arms. There weren’t many fine-weather days in winter, so quite a few young men and women had already gathered by the river to wash clothes. Everyone was chatting and laughing, making the place quite lively.
“Brother He, you’ve come to wash clothes too? Come over quickly. I’ll make room for you.”
A woman warmly beckoned him over. Xu He didn’t stand on ceremony and went straight over to set down his basin.
“Madam Mao, you called Brother He over. Don’t tell me you’re trying to ask about his second older sister?”
“What? Is a grown woman not allowed to be asked about? Can’t we inquire about her circumstances?” Madam Mao was quite straightforward and spoke bluntly. “Brother He, has your family found someone suitable for your older sister? Have they chosen a husband for her yet?”
Xu He scrubbed the clothes as he replied, “No.”
He was telling the truth. It was also the answer his second older sister and mother had instructed him to give. Whenever anyone asked him about it, he was to say that no one had been chosen yet. That way, there would be more families to choose from.
“Madam Xu is very particular when it comes to choosing a husband for her daughter. How could she settle on someone so quickly? If Madam Mao is interested, why not simply find a matchmaker and have them come directly to the house to discuss it? Wouldn’t that be better?”
Aside from married women, there were also quite a few unmarried girls and young men washing clothes there. Hearing a woman with a son keep questioning Xu Shaochun’s marriage prospects, everyone naturally felt displeased. All the good things in the village already seemed to go to Xu Shaochun. Now, even while washing clothes, they had to listen to talk about her marriage. Who would be happy about that?
Just then, a man passed by on the distant field ridge. Someone’s eyes lit up, and she immediately changed the subject.
“Look, isn’t that the second son of the Guang family? He’s really come back from the city after getting medicine.”
“How pitiful! That butcher in our village really isn’t a decent human being.”
Two girls who hadn’t been out much weren’t very well informed. Hearing that there seemed to be some juicy gossip, they couldn’t help asking, “What happened?”
“You don’t know about Zhang Fangyuan’s marriage proposal?”
At the sound of that name, Xu He’s hands paused in the middle of scrubbing the clothes. He couldn’t help raising his head to look at the man in the distance, and his brows immediately drew together.
“Some time ago, the matchmaker arranged for Zhang Fangyuan to meet the fifth daughter of the Guang family. A while back, the butcher went to meet her, but he looked down on the Guang family’s poverty and even insulted the second son of the Guang family, saying he was no good and didn’t do proper work. The two sides got into an argument, and with that butcher’s violent temper, he started throwing punches. He smashed their table and beat up the second son. Madam Guang was so furious that she’s still lying at home!”
The two girls’ mouths fell open in disbelief.
“Is that true?”
“How could it be false? The second son of the Guang family can barely walk properly now. He even went to the herbal doctor to get medicine. Whenever anyone asks Madam Guang about it, she just wipes away her tears. I feel sorry for her whenever I see it.”
“Zhang Fangyuan was never any good to begin with. Doesn’t he himself spend his time fooling around in the city, getting into fights and causing trouble? He even runs a gambling den for people. How is that supposed to count as an honest occupation? His standards are so high, finding fault with this and that. No wonder he can’t find himself a wife.”
“His fourth uncle and fourth aunt even defended him when people pressed them for answers. They said the Guang family wasn’t a decent household and that the second son had sticky fingers, telling everyone to be careful around them.”
The woman gave a snort.
“I’ve never seen anyone defend their relatives so blindly. Even if the marriage didn’t work out, they’re still fellow villagers! He gets into a huge fight with them, and when he can’t come up with a reasonable explanation, he resorts to saying such nasty things, smearing a family that moved here from elsewhere. He’s really gone too far.”
“I originally thought Madam He was a reasonable person. Who would have thought she had such poor character? From now on, I won’t even bother arranging a marriage for Xiaomao from their family.”
“And you’re already talking about Xiaomao? He’s still so young. The Zhang family’s biggest headache right now is probably their eldest nephew, Zhang Fangyuan. Does anyone who behaves like that look like a respectable person? Even if he offers a huge bride price, I’m afraid he won’t find a wife in this village.”
“You unmarried girls and young men had better be on your guard. Keep your eyes open and don’t let yourselves be deceived. Otherwise, you’ll have plenty of suffering ahead of you!”
Everyone was talking animatedly when a voice suddenly cut through the commotion, cold and firm.
“What Aunt He said is true. She wasn’t defending Zhang Fangyuan. The second son of the Guang family really does have sticky fingers.”
Everyone was taken aback. They saw Xu He sitting there with a cold expression, openly refuting what they had been saying. They were surprised that someone as aloof and quiet as him would join the conversation, but they were also displeased that he wasn’t going along with everyone else’s talk.
“What would a young man like you know? Your family isn’t even related to the Zhang family. Why are you speaking up for them?”
Xu He remained expressionless. “I’m only telling the truth.”
The woman said, “Well, look at Brother He. He’s getting quite worked up over this!”
A young man teased him, “Brother He, you’re defending that butcher so much. Don’t tell me he’s going to come to your house to propose? Has your family agreed?”
“That’s right! Your older sister has such high standards, so she certainly wouldn’t be willing. Are your parents going to marry you off to him instead? Even if you don’t have many choices, you’d better think carefully. Zhang Fangyuan isn’t someone easy to get along with. Who knows when he might turn around and hit you?”
Everyone burst into laughter.
Xu He paid no attention to their jokes. He picked up his washbasin, intending to leave this troublesome crowd and wash his clothes somewhere by himself. Before leaving, he said coldly, “Believe it or not, it’s up to you. You’d better keep your guard up around the Guang family. Otherwise, when your things go missing, don’t come crying and wailing.”
“You young man! How can you speak so nastily?” The woman threw down her washing mallet, put her hands on her hips, and immediately began cursing. “No wonder the men in the village all think your second older sister is good enough for them but look down on you! With a temperament like yours, you’re a perfect match for that savage butcher!”
Xu He wasn’t embarrassed or angered in the slightest. After all, people compared him with his second older sister behind his back all the time. The only difference was whether they said it to his face or behind it. He had heard such words far too many times already. He simply went over and crouched down elsewhere to continue scrubbing the clothes.
The woman wanted to pick a fight, but the other person wouldn’t take the bait. It was like punching a wad of cotton, leaving her so frustrated she didn’t know what to do. Yet she couldn’t do anything about him either. She cursed a few more times before the others finally managed to talk her down.
“What kind of person is he, honestly?”
“His temper is just too strange.”
Xu He acted as though he hadn’t heard a thing and continued washing the clothes in an orderly manner.
Little did he know that on the other side of the small river, hidden behind a dense bamboo fish trap, Zhang Fangyuan had been fishing with his bait cast into the deep water and had listened to the entire quarrel for the length of an incense stick. He hadn’t made a sound the whole time.
He had heard so much gossip these past few days that his ears were practically growing calluses. It really was like being a mute eating bitter herbs—he had grievances he couldn’t voice.
He hadn’t expected the Guang family to be so shameless. He had spared them the embarrassment, yet they had turned around and bitten him, going everywhere to cry and play the victim. His reputation in the village was already poor, so the Guang family had taken advantage of that. Now everyone really believed he was using his strength to bully the weak and picking on a family that had only recently moved here. As a result, wherever he went, the villagers avoided him.
His skin was thick enough now that he could take such things in stride. He didn’t particularly mind what people thought of him. He just felt terribly sorry toward his fourth uncle’s family. They had gone to so much trouble arranging things for him, only for everything to turn out like this. Now they were even being talked about so maliciously by these sharp-tongued women in the village.
If Xu He hadn’t stood up and spoken for him just now, given his temper, he would have thrown down his fishing rod and gone over to deal with those gossiping women on the spot.
But Xu He was over there. He held himself back and ultimately didn’t get involved. He still couldn’t bring himself to hit women or young men.
The fishing rod twitched. Somewhat irritated, he yanked it up. A two-inch crucian carp was flopping wildly on the line. He roughly pulled it off the hook and tossed it into the fish basket.
Xu He seemed to have recovered quite well. Compared to before, when his throat had been so hoarse that he sounded like a wild duck, his voice was now clear and bright.
His voice was actually quite pleasant once he had recovered.
Especially when he said the three words, Zhang Fangyuan.
He was someone who disliked talking and didn’t like paying attention to others, yet he had actually spoken up for him. In the entire village, aside from the fourth uncle’s family, no one else had stood up for him.
Only after a long while did Zhang Fangyuan belatedly realize that he seemed to be smiling.
……
“Aunt, I caught a few fish in the river. Let’s stew them for dinner tonight.”
After carrying his fish basket home, Zhang Fangyuan headed straight to his fourth uncle’s house, shamelessly bringing ingredients along so he could freeload another meal.
He possessed most of the shortcomings common to men of this era: he spent money extravagantly, couldn’t cook, and didn’t know how to do housework. Recently, he had become more and more accustomed to eating at Zhang Shicheng’s house.
“Also, these are the things I bought for the marriage meeting before. There’s nothing here that I can use, so Aunt, take them and see whether you have any use for them.”
He had given the pastries to Xiaomao to eat that very morning. Those things couldn’t be kept for long. The remaining bolts of cloth and silk flowers had been left in his room. Today, when he returned home and saw them, they bothered him, so he brought everything over to Madam He as well.
“The cloth and silk flowers can still be kept for later.”
Zhang Fangyuan said, “No need. I probably won’t have any use for them.”
“You child, how can you lose heart so quickly?”
“I’m not discouraged. It wouldn’t be appropriate to take the things from one family’s marriage meeting and use them to propose to another family. What if people found out?”
Madam He nodded. That was true.
Everyone tacitly avoided mentioning the gossip currently circulating around the village and instead talked about happier things.
“Fish is good for dinner tonight. Let’s cook it with some pickled bamboo shoots and pickled vegetables. It’s just right, since both you and your fourth uncle like eating it. Xiaomao has been pestering his father for ages to go catch a couple of fish for him. Your fourth uncle’s fishing skills are only good enough for catching fish in the fields during summer. If you ask him to go fishing in winter, he’ll spend half the day out there without catching anything. He’s always making excuses and refusing to go.”
Zhang Fangyuan laughed. He wandered around the kitchen for a while and chatted with Madam He before going into the main room.
Xiaomao was practicing needlework. The plum-blossom sachet he was embroidering had already become lifelike. He had heard that he could now take embroidery work from a cloth shop in the city, and he was very enthusiastic about it. He no longer even went out to play.
His fourth uncle, Zhang Shicheng, was rubbing and preparing dried hemp in the main hall. Zhang Fangyuan sat down beside him with a plop and helped rub a few strands as well.
“Don’t take what people outside say to heart. You did nothing wrong in that matter. If you can’t find someone in our village, then look in another village.”
Zhang Fangyuan had originally been anxious to settle down and establish a family. But after this incident, he had instead calmed down. When all was said and done, this sort of thing depended on fate. There was no rushing it.
“I haven’t taken it to heart. Tell Aunt not to keep running around and making arrangements for me either. I’ve got other plans in mind.”
Zhang Shicheng put down the work in his hands, worried that Zhang Fangyuan might have become discouraged again.
“What plans have you made?”
“An honest livelihood. I’ll start a small business,” Zhang Fangyuan said. “The villagers look down on me for two reasons. First, my reputation was ruined in the past. Second, I don’t have a proper occupation.”
“Don’t worry, Fourth Uncle. I won’t do anything reckless.”
Zhang Shicheng looked at the person before him for a long moment, but ultimately said nothing.