’What kind of man would Juhua have to marry for to finally rest easy?’
’An old man is definitely not an option, and neither is soone too ugly—even though Juhua is ugly too, she’s so capable that being a bit ugly is forgivable!’
’Why am I acting just like her father?’ he thought with a bitter smile.
His mind wandered again for a while as he ambled aimlessly along the ridges between the paddies. He nearly fell into the ditches several tis and soon had no idea where he had wandered off to.
Not until he ran into Shorty Zhou.
Shorty Zhou asked Zhang Huai in surprise, "Huai Zi, what are you doing? How’d you end up all the way out here?"
Zhang Huai was startled. "Huh?" he blurted out, looking all around—
He had sohow wandered to the banks of the Little Qing River, yet his family’s land was nowhere near it. The gurgling sound of the flowing water seed to mock him for being so dazed and out of it.
He gave Shorty Zhou an embarrassed, perfunctory reply, "Oh, it’s nothing! Just taking a walk, looking around!" With an awkward laugh, he turned and started walking back toward his own fields.
Although Shorty Zhou found him a bit strange, he didn’t press the matter and just went back to work in his own field.
******
Qingnan Village wasn’t very large, with only forty or fifty households. So even without Granny Hua’s big mouth, the drama that had unfolded in front of Zhang Huai’s house at noon spread rapidly through the village. The story of Li Laoda actually asserting his husbandly authority and putting Granny Hua in her place, in particular, was being passed around like a legend. Overshadowed by this event, Juhua’s own ordeal drew less attention.
Of course, those who cared about Juhua didn’t overlook her situation.
Zhao San and his wife were furious when they heard the news. They imdiately decided to visit Juhua’s family to offer so comfort.
As it happened, ever since eating the Huang Shan Juhua had made while he was digging the well at her house, Zhao San couldn’t stop thinking about it. Little Shitou was also clamoring for more. After getting ho, Zhao San had copied Li Changxing, using a trap to catch so Huang Shan, and was just about to cook them for dinner.
When he heard Shi Tou’s mother say they were going to Juhua’s, he said to her, "The Huang Shan you usually make isn’t that tasty. Why don’t we take these over to Brother Changhe’s place and have Juhua cook them? You can watch her closely, and then you’ll know how to do it next ti. We’ll just have dinner at their house tonight."
Shi Tou’s mother was well aware her cooking wasn’t the best, so she nodded. "Alright. Let’s gather so eggs to take with us, then. It wouldn’t be right to just freeload off them."
Zhao San nodded. "You go get them. I’ll be ready to go as soon as I finish shelling this corn."
Little Shitou was in the middle of a ga of war with Gou Dan and a few other boys when his mother called him ho. He pouted unhappily, "Mom, it’s not ti for dinner yet!"
His mother, who was in the kitchen gathering eggs, heard him and poked his forehead. "You’re about to start school, and all you do is run wild all day! Your father and I are going to Sister Juhua’s house for dinner. If you’d rather play with Gou Dan, then you can just stay ho!"
As soon as he heard that, Shi Tou grabbed his mother’s sleeve, looked up, and asked excitedly, "Really, Mom? Did Sister Juhua invite us for dinner?"
Shi Tou’s mother chuckled. "Pfft," she said, giving him a sidelong glance. "Why would she invite you to dinner for no reason? Your father and I are going to see your Uncle and Aunt Zheng. Now go wash your hands. They look like a turtle’s claws."
Shi Tou quickly ladled so water from the vat into a wooden basin. As he scrubbed his "turtle claws," he said to his mother, "Mom, I heard Gou Dan say earlier that so Matchmaker Wang tried to marry Sister Juhua off to an old man in his forties! His forties... Mom, isn’t that even older than Dad?"
His mother’s face darkened as she scolded, "Don’t listen to such nonsense! How could your Aunt Zheng possibly agree to sothing like that? It’s just a baseless rumor."
Outside, Zhao San overheard his son and called out unhappily, "Shi Tou, what nonsense are you spouting? You think your dad is old?"
His wife couldn’t help but laugh. She walked outside, rolled her eyes at him, and said, "And you think you’re still a spring chicken?"
Zhao San grinned. "Whether I’m a spring chicken or not, wouldn’t you know better than anyone, wife?"
Ignoring his cheeky comnt, she placed the eggs in a small basket, picked up the wooden bucket of Huang Shan, and looked at Zhao San. "Are you ready?"
"Ready!" Zhao San said. He stood, carried the shelled corn inside, swept the cobs on the floor into a pile, and then dusted himself off. "Let’s go!"
With a shout of, "Sister Juhua, I’m here!" Little Shitou bolted over to where Juhua was picking vegetables.
Juhua looked up at the family of three, a little puzzled. ’What are they doing here this late in the evening?’
Zhao San laughed heartily. "Juhua, don’t just stand there staring. We ca all this way just to have dinner with you!"
Though surprised, Juhua genuinely liked Zhao San’s forthright personality, so she suppressed a smile and said softly, "What’s there to stare at? If you want to eat, you can eat! It’s just simple ho cooking, though. I’m afraid Uncle Zhao San might find it too plain." As she spoke, she got up to bring small stools for them.
Before Zhao San could answer, Little Shitou jumped in, "Sister Juhua, we brought Huang Shan and eggs!" His face lit up with excitent at the thought of eating Huang Shan again.
Shi Tou’s mother sat on the stool Juhua provided and said with a laugh, "This father and son both say the Huang Shan you make is delicious. I ca today to learn how you cook them."
Juhua replied softly, "Auntie, you’re flattering ."
Her eyes were still red, and she was still shaken from the incident at noon. She had spent the entire afternoon trying to figure out how to make her family rich so her brother would be able to afford a wife.
’But after wracking her brain, she had to admit that earning money was incredibly difficult. There were just too many obstacles. Other than slowly raising livestock and using the profits to buy more land, there were no quick fixes. Even starting a business was easier said than done. Her parents would never let her go out on her own, for one, and the nearby Xiatang Market didn’t get enough foot traffic to offer much opportunity anyway.’
’In the end,’ she concluded, ’she had to be practical and build their fortune through farming and animal husbandry. You can’t get rich overnight.’
She composed herself and mustered her spirits to show Shi Tou’s mother how to prepare the Huang Shan.
A short while later, Zheng Changhe returned carrying several bamboo poles. Yang Family followed behind, holding a string of crucian carp threaded through the gills with a grass rope. The fish were about the length of a chopstick and still struggling, thrashing their tails.
A delighted Little Shitou scurried over to point at the fish.
Zhao San roared with laughter. "See? I told you I was in for a treat! Look how big these carp are. Excellent, we have plenty of food for tonight now. Where did you catch them?"
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