Chapter 50, Part One

Lin Baoqiang and Jiang Guini jumped back in fright. Firecrackers crackled beside their ears, and flying fragments pelted their legs. By the time the firecracker sounds faded away, Lin Baoqiang recalled Lin Yuexia's cry of "begone, bad luck," and rage flared up inside him.

Among the younger generation of the Lin family, the three brothers considered themselves superior to others, and he was the son most favored by his own mother and grandmother. When had he ever suffered such humiliation?

Now, even Lin Yuexia dared to set off firecrackers right on top of him.

"Lin Yuexia, how dare you! I'll teach you a good lesson—" Lin Baoqiang rolled up his sleeves and started to charge forward, but a tall, dark-clothed man blocked his path like an iron wall.

Fu Wei grabbed his wrist and kindly reminded him, "Your house is over there. Don't go to the wrong door."

Stared down by those eyes, which resembled those of a fierce wolf, Lin Baoqiang felt his legs go weak, an urge to urinate washed over him, and his face turned abruptly pale.

Hiding behind her brother-in-law, Lin Yuexia made a funny face at Lin Baoqiang. "Get lost, you unlucky ghost! Come to our house again, and I'll let the dogs bite you! Dahuang, Dahei, come out quickly! Today you'll get to eat more meat. Good days are coming to our family, tra-la-la..."

With dark and ugly expressions, Lin Baoqiang and Jiang Guini retreated into the neighboring house. Once inside, they shut the front door, and everyone's mood was sour. Outside, firecrackers started up again, and the neighboring house was bustling with the lively preparations for slaughtering chickens and ducks.

Jiang Guini threw a tantrum. "I'm not eating this meal! How does your family treat guests?"

Li Yinhua and Zheng Qiaoli happened to be holding back their anger, and they instantly found a target to vent upon. "Good, make your family pay for it! From start to finish, we spent twelve hundred on you. Pay up!"

"If you dare to step one foot out of this room, pay up!"

"Second brother, find yourself another match. This one brings too much bad luck! Make her family pay! It's all because of her messing things about."

The Lin family's eldest daughter-in-law stood to the side, pressing her lips in a smile. She could easily eat two extra bowls of rice today because of this.

Lin Baoqiang exchanged a glance with Jiang Guini. Remembering all that money, Jiang Guini bit her tongue and endured it.

Lin Fujia smoked his cigarette. What should have been a fine matter had now turned into an unpleasant mess for everyone, though who told them to deliberately pick these past two days to humiliate and bully the household next door—yet he conveniently forgot that his own family had orchestrated this explicitly to torment them.

Lin Fujia muttered, "The second brother's household has actually turned out this way. They've gone bad; they're rotten to the core."

"They never should have let him marry that woman, Zhang Yuqin, who gave birth to three demonic daughters," Li Yinhua said.

Zheng Qiaoli rolled her eyes. She certainly didn't want the second brother's household to live well. Even if he found a wealthy son-in-law, so what? She would make sure their household remained in constant turmoil. "I think that Zhang Yuqin is the root of the disaster. She ruined their brotherly bond and raised all her daughters crookedly. I'll go ask the matchmaker if there are any widows with sons so we can fix one up for the younger uncle. That way, the youngest brother will at least have someone to carry on the family incense."

Li Yinhua nodded. "He should thank you for being such a good eldest sister-in-law, helping him realize his mistakes, correct them, and walk the righteous path."

"A daughter should listen to her father. Could she possibly listen only to a mother? We need to straighten out their roots early on."

"Xuexia is a daughter of the Lin family, and both her roots and her blood belong to the Lin family. Her eldest uncle and her cousin are her heaven. She should speak while kneeling. Can a mere girl turn the heavens upside down?"

Lin Baoqiang asked, "What does that man she brought back do?"

"Coming back and spending so much money—could it be stolen?" Zheng Qiaoli said with a sarcastic sneer. "Some kind of soldier? I bet he's just a street hoodlum. When your sister and brother-in-law come over this evening—his parents are town cadres and leaders—we'll scare him to death and make him see he can't act wild in our village. We have people backing us; we aren't afraid of him."

"What's so great about a little stinking money? Does his family have cadres? Do they have status?" Speaking of her own son-in-law, Zheng Qiaoli was filled with pride. Her son-in-law drove for leaders; just a few casual words from him would frighten these ignorant country hicks to death.

"Mom, you're right." Lin Baoqiang took a sip of liquor. "When brother-in-law gets here, we'll chew him out. What's so great about a little stinking money? When the time comes, I'll make him toast me and brother-in-law one by one!"

"He'll probably be so scared he'll fork over money to suck up to us."

*

Lin Yongfu bought pig stomach and pork knuckles. Since there was a joyous occasion at home, a large pork knuckle was a must. Several stoves were burning in the house, with multiple large woks set up to cook simultaneously. White smoke drifted through the kitchen, and waves of meaty aroma wafted outward.

Perhaps sensing that they would get to eat large chunks of meat today, the two dogs of the household were restless, wagging their tails and darting back and forth.

Lin Xuexia took Fu Wei to their own plot of land to pick vegetables and casually showed him around.

Lin Xuexia had very complex feelings toward her hometown. She both loved and hated this place; certain people and events left her brooding, and only the scenery among the fields felt truly pleasant.

In November, the rice had been harvested, and round stacks made of straw dotted the fields. Some children would smoke out field mice here, while others hunted birds with air rifles, all for a special taste of meat.

Along the road, several grain-drying grounds sat at varying heights and levels. A duck herder passed by beneath the dense sweet osmanthus trees at the edge. Children loved the large jujube tree at the intersection most of all; it belonged to no one in particular, but when the season arrived, it would be covered in jujubes. How many a child could stuff into their pockets depended entirely on their own skill.

When she was little, Lin Xuexia loved watching the adults pull the giant saws, pound glutinous rice cakes, and sun-dry mud bricks.

By this season, the northern fields lay fallow, but here they could still grow a crop of winter vegetables. The nurtured rapeseed seedlings formed patches of verdant green, and many people were busy transplanting them in the fields.

"Hold these." Lin Xuexia shoved a few large radishes into Fu Wei's hands, smiled, and nudged a scrawny peach tree by the roadside with her chin. "I planted that peach tree."

Fu Wei asked with curiosity, "Really? What kind of tree is it?"

Lin Xuexia: "It's obviously a peach tree."

"Does it bear fruit?"

Lin Xuexia: "...It blooms with peach blossoms in spring."

Fu Wei rested his chin in his hand: "Will I ever get to eat peaches grown by my own wife?"

Lin Xuexia kicked him: "You're asking when you already know the answer."

"I'll take you to pick ugly tangerines. I'll pick the ugliest and sourest ones for you—I grew them!"

Lin Xuexia led him back to her family's plot to pick a few bright orange tangerines before finally turning back toward home.

In the afternoon, the six of them sat around the dining table, which was loaded with a large spread of meat dishes. Finding the pork knuckle greasy, Lin Xuexia preferred to scald Chinese cabbage in the meat broth.

Zhang Yuqin remained silent, while Lin Yongfu swallowed hard, feeling he ought to say something, yet unable to open his mouth for a long time. Sisters Lin Yuxia and Lin Yuexia ate with great relish, occasionally tossing a piece to the little dog darting back and forth near their legs.

"L-Little Wei, what is the situation like in your family?" Lin Yongfu asked.

Fu Wei replied, "My parents were both military cadres. They divorced when I was little and now have their own new families. I established my own household independently, developed my career in the south, and haven't been in contact with my family for a long time.

"When I marry Xuexia, I make my own decisions.

"I will make sure Xuexia marries me in glory and splendor."

Lin Yongfu uttered an "Oh," but didn't dare ask anything further. With Fu Wei acting like this, was it that he didn't want to notify his family? Or was his relationship with them so thoroughly ruined that notification was unnecessary? Or perhaps the so-called cadre family was entirely fabricated by him, and in reality, he was completely an orphan without parents?

The son-in-law Xuexia brought back had some serious issues! Not knowing his background—that was the classic problem here; you couldn't tell whether what he said was true or false.

A girl from a neighboring village had reportedly also brought home a wealthy son-in-law a few years ago, someone who ran a factory and acted as a boss elsewhere, bragging about how rich he was. Who could have known that after the wedding, it was all fake!

"Wealthy"—the money was borrowed.

"Running a factory as a boss"—preparing to open a factory.

After marrying the swindler, the woman and a crowd of her relatives went to work as laborers at his factory. Once they arrived, there was no factory at all—just odd jobs, and even their wages weren't paid.

If Xuexia had also run into a swindler, their family would be completely finished!

Yet what could they do about it?

"Tomorrow I'll take the second sister to transfer her household registration."

Fu Wei added, "And we'll get the marriage certificate too."

Lin Yongfu and Zhang Yuqin were struck with shock and dismay. "You're really transferring her registration?"

They had assumed that when Lin Xuexia talked about transferring household registration, she was just blowing hot air, or at most that she would only move her own out.

"Transfer it out... transfer it to where? If your sister goes over there, does she have a place to live?"

Fu Wei answered, "I have a building over there—a small three-story one. It's not huge, and we're living there temporarily for now. After Xuexia and I have children, I'll build an even larger house."

A building? A small three-story one? Not huge?

The couple and sisters Lin Yuxia were all dumbfounded. Just how big was that supposed to be, then?

That was a whole building! A whole building!