“Please, come in and sit down. Have a seat.”
“Madam Guang, your courtyard is so nicely kept. Look at how plump your chickens and ducks are.”
“They’re just a few little things. Madam Zhang, please don’t laugh at us.”
After Zhang Fangyuan entered the courtyard, the two women immediately began chatting like close family members. When it came to this sort of social interaction, he was truly clumsy with words. Women were much better at handling such conversations. Asking his aunt to accompany him had indeed been the right decision.
He obediently followed behind Madam He. When told to hand over the gifts, he did so. When told to greet someone, he greeted them. Everything was arranged quite properly.
“Why don’t we ask the young lady to come out and meet him? After all, these young people should see whether they find each other pleasing. Isn’t that right, Madam Guang?”
After chatting about household matters for a while, Madam He finally returned to the main topic.
Madam Guang understood immediately and called toward the house, “Qiu’er!”
Zhang Fangyuan waited for the girl to come out. Madam Guang didn’t have an ugly appearance, so he figured her daughter, who was still in her prime, would probably be fairly presentable too.
Usually, according to the customary etiquette, a young woman had to be called out two or three times, pretending to be shy before finally appearing.
Zhang Fangyuan patiently waited.
But the girl hadn’t appeared yet when a man carrying a chicken suddenly stumbled headfirst into the courtyard from outside.
Everyone’s attention was naturally drawn toward him.
When Madam Guang saw him, she immediately scolded him in a familiar tone, as though he had returned at an inconvenient time.
“Even though you’re sick, you still don’t know how to rest properly. Is there some work so important that you had to go out while your younger sister is having her marriage meeting?”
Then she turned around and smiled as she introduced him to Madam He and Zhang Fangyuan.
“This is our useless second son.”
Zhang Fangyuan turned his head. Looking at the round, plump figure, he found him somewhat familiar, but for a moment couldn’t remember where he had seen him.
When the second son of the Guang family raised his head, however, his shifty, rat-like appearance immediately made Zhang Fangyuan stand up, completely forgetting his manners.
His face was already rather fierce-looking. Even the slightest hint of anger made his expression all the more intimidating.
Madam He was startled and quietly asked, “Fangyuan, what’s wrong?”
She gently tugged at the hem of his clothes, hoping he wouldn’t cause some sort of conflict at such a crucial moment.
The second son of the Guang family seemed to have drunk a little. His mind was muddled, but when he raised his head and saw the man standing in the courtyard, he instinctively shuddered and retreated. His grip loosened, and the half-dead chicken in his hand immediately flapped free and escaped.
Zhang Fangyuan glanced at the frightened domestic chicken, narrowed his eyes slightly, and asked the second son of the Guang family, “Are you a member of this household?”
The man shrank back, trembling, and didn’t dare answer. Instead, he hid behind Madam Guang.
“Mother…”
Madam Guang also realized that the two men had some history between them. She immediately tried to smooth things over.
“You child, if you’re feeling unwell, go inside and rest. You’re a grown man, yet you’re acting so timidly in front of outsiders.”
Then she turned back to Madam He. “Madam Zhang, where were we?”
Madam He was just about to respond when Zhang Fangyuan spoke directly.
“There’s no need for a marriage meeting anymore, Aunt. Let’s go.”
“W-what happened?”
Madam He hurriedly grabbed the man, whose face had turned dark with anger.
Zhang Fangyuan replied, “We’re simply not fated to be.”
Madam Guang knew that Zhang Fangyuan had a bad reputation, but when she saw him in person, her eyes had lit up. She thought he was quite an impressive young man, and he had also behaved modestly in front of his elders.
Young girls were too narrow-minded when choosing a husband. They only knew to look for gentle, considerate scholars who spoke in a soft and refined manner. Little did they know that after marriage, someone like Zhang Fangyuan had plenty of advantages.
At first, she had been quite satisfied with him just by looking at his appearance. Although he and her son clearly didn’t get along, she hadn’t thought too much of it.
But now, seeing how his expression changed in an instant and how he didn’t even bother maintaining appearances, she became displeased too.
“Madam Zhang, what exactly do you mean by this? You asked the matchmaker to arrange this meeting, and now, before you’ve even met the girl, you’re suddenly backing out. Do you really think our Guang family is easy to bully just because we’ve only recently moved here?”
Madam He was in a difficult position and looked toward Zhang Fangyuan.
“This…”
Zhang Fangyuan hadn’t wanted to expose the family’s shameful affairs directly. But since Madam Guang insisted on making trouble, he didn’t bother being polite.
“May I ask what kind of work the second son of the Guang family does?”
Madam Guang’s expression immediately darkened upon hearing this. Nevertheless, she answered, “Our second son isn’t particularly successful. He takes odd jobs in the city and occasionally works as a hired hand in neighboring villages.”
Zhang Fangyuan cast a sidelong glance at the chicken in the courtyard.
“Madam, I imagine you know perfectly well what kind of work your second son does. After all, he’s already brought his goods home. A person may be poor, but they shouldn’t be poor in character. I, Zhang Fangyuan, may not amount to much, but I certainly won’t become the younger brother-in-law of someone like your second son.”
“Last time, when he tried stealing from me, I already warned him. Heh.”
Zhang Fangyuan let out a cold laugh.
“Looks like your second son has no intention of changing his ways. I can’t possibly go through with this marriage.”
Although he hadn’t explicitly spelled it out, Madam He was a clever woman. She immediately understood what he meant.
Although she had been unhappy with her nephew for suddenly changing his attitude, she certainly wouldn’t tolerate a family with a brother of such poor character becoming relatives through marriage.
“Madam Guang, since things have turned out this way, we’ll take our leave.”
Madam He firmly stood on her nephew’s side. She picked up the gifts they had brought and prepared to leave.
This action, however, made Madam Guang fly into a rage.
The family’s shameful affairs, which should never have been brought into the open, had been exposed, and because of them, the marriage prospect had fallen through. Feeling both humiliated and furious, Madam Guang, having lost the argument, tried to regain some dignity by finding fault elsewhere.
“So you’re the one who beat our second son into that state! You broke his ribs and frightened him so badly that he was bedridden for two whole days. He can barely manage to go outside now, and you’re still intimidating him! Just because you’re a butcher, does that mean you can bully people with your strength? We can call off the marriage today, but you must compensate my son for his medical expenses!”
The second son of the Guang family was hiding behind the door. The siblings stood together, listening to the argument outside. The fifth daughter of the Guang family glanced at her own brother, feeling terribly ashamed. She wiped her eyes and ran into the inner room crying.
“I told you that kind of work was no good, but you insisted on continuing to do it!”
The second son of the Guang family cursed, “When you were eating meat, why didn’t I hear you say any of that? You were the one who ate the most!”
After cursing, he secretly glanced at Zhang Fangyuan in fear, secretly resenting his mother for saying such things.
He had personally experienced just how fierce this butcher could be. Since the marriage wasn’t going to happen, they could simply have let the man leave. Why bring up compensation now? If the butcher flew into a rage, wouldn’t he beat the whole family, young and old alike, until they were seriously hurt?
He was terrified, yet didn’t dare come out. He could only blame himself for not having gone to listen when the matchmaker first came to arrange the marriage, so he hadn’t known which family the man belonged to. But all these household matters were handled by his mother. They could barely afford enough food to eat, so who had the mind to pay attention to such things?
After hearing Madam Guang’s words, Zhang Fangyuan gave a cold, humorless smile and moved directly in front of Madam He, shielding her behind him. Looking down at Madam Guang, he said, “What is it? If I don’t pay today, is Madam Guang going to keep me here for dinner? I thought I’d seen plenty of shameless people in my time, but I never expected you to surpass them all.”
Madam Guang had completely abandoned her usual quiet demeanor in the village. Thinking that she was on her own territory, with many children and a large household behind her, she assumed Zhang Fangyuan would be wary of her. She pointed directly at his nose and cursed, “You beat someone and refuse to pay compensation? Do you think you’re the Son of Heaven himself, with the Emperor as your father? Never mind that you refuse—I wouldn’t give my daughter to such a violent man as you anyway! Let’s see who in this village or beyond would marry their daughter or young man to you. Go be a bachelor for the rest of your life, you old widower!”
All sorts of scenes from his previous life flashed through Zhang Fangyuan’s mind. His gaze turned sharp. With a loud bang, he slammed his fist down in front of Madam Guang, smashing off a corner of the wooden table in the courtyard.
Madam Guang jolted, her shoulders trembling. She stared blankly at him, no longer able to shout.
“Madam Guang, why don’t you see whether your mouth is harder or my fist is?”
Zhang Fangyuan turned and called to Madam He, “Aunt, let’s go.”
The two of them left just as they had come.
After they had gone some distance, Madam Guang’s legs went weak, and she dropped back into her chair. The second son, the fifth daughter who was still at home, and the youngest son hurriedly gathered around her.
“Mother, are you all right?”
“That butcher is terribly fierce. It’s a good thing the marriage fell through. Otherwise, our daughter would have suffered plenty after marrying into his family.”
“Mother, will he report us to the authorities?”
The voices around her buzzed incessantly like mosquitoes, and Madam Guang hadn’t even had time to catch her breath.
“What could he report us for? Just because he says so, does that make it true? The court needs evidence. Can he produce any?”
Hearing this, the second son finally relaxed.
“Mother and Fifth Sister, don’t be angry anymore. We can stew this chicken tonight. Mother can calm her nerves and nourish herself with some meat.”
Madam Guang felt both physically and mentally exhausted. Her legs were too weak to support her as she sat in the chair, so she waved her hand.
“Let the fifth daughter cook tonight.”
The fifth daughter of the Guang family twisted her fingers. Her heart was a little heavy, but she still obediently went to fetch the chicken and slaughter it. It seemed that no matter how serious a matter was, it couldn’t compare to having a bite of meat to eat.
“Fangyuan, don’t let this matter upset you too much. It’s better to discover someone’s character early than to find out after getting married, when things are much harder to disentangle. You did the right thing. We can’t marry into a family of thieves.”
After learning what had happened, Madam He comforted him. “Who could have imagined that this family would be like this? The second son does such things, yet Madam Guang doesn’t even try to admonish or teach him. How can that be acceptable?”
Zhang Fangyuan let out a long sigh. “I was wondering why that brat on the mountain recognized me as a butcher when I didn’t recognize him at all. It turns out he was from the Guang family. I only regret that I didn’t break that brat’s hand last time. He still has the nerve to go around doing things like this.”
Madam He shook her head. “Forget it. We won’t have anything more to do with the Guang family from now on. I’ll go visit your Aunt Gan again. I’m sure I can still find someone suitable.”
“We’ll see.”
Zhang Fangyuan was rather irritated. He had considered the possibility that the marriage might not work out, but he hadn’t expected it to fall through in such a manner.
The matter of arranging his marriage had already been a hot topic throughout the village. Although he hadn’t told anyone that the marriage meeting had failed, there were always busybodies who came asking about it.
The villagers naturally didn’t dare question Zhang Fangyuan himself, but they kept finding excuses to chat with Madam He and ask her about it.
Madam He wasn’t a woman who liked gossiping or speaking ill of others. She didn’t intend to spread the family’s shame, so she only said that the two sides weren’t suitable for each other. Thinking of all the children in that household, and how they were someone’s sons and daughters, she ultimately left the Guang family a little dignity.
The marriage falling through seemed almost like an expected outcome. The village women laughed and chatted about it, but didn’t pay much attention.
Yet, before many days had passed, a strange rumor began to spread through the village.