Chapter 5: The Lesson

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After placing the sweet potato cakes into the steaming basket of the large steamer, Shao Diandian picked up a basket of dirty clothes and headed to the small river behind the village.

This was a flowing river that passed through several villages; villagers were accustomed to coming here daily to wash clothes and rinse rice.

Although it was just dawning, quite a few people had already gathered by the river to do laundry.

When everyone saw Shao Diandian carrying a wooden basin, they were as shocked as if they had seen a ghost!

This lazy woman actually got up early to work? Had they mistaken her, or had the sun risen in the west?

No, Shao Diandian must be here to swindle money!

Fear flashed in their eyes. Before Shao Diandian even approached, they hastily grabbed their basins and fled!

Shao Diandian shrugged helplessly and found a spot by the river to squat.

In ancient times, without industrial pollution, the river water was crystal clear, and even the air was fresh and pleasant.

She spread the clothes on a large stone, applied soapberries, scrubbed vigorously, then beat the clothes with a wooden stick to squeeze out the soapberry foam, rinsed with clear water, repeating the process over and over.

After washing a whole basket of clothes, Shao Diandian was drenched in sweat.

Carrying the wooden basin home, she met Xiao Wu, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Liu family, who was carrying a basket of clothes toward the river.

Seeing Shao Diandian, Xiao Wu shuddered in fear, dropping the wooden stick from her basin right at Shao Diandian’s feet.

Terrified, Xiao Wu wanted to pick it up but dared not.

Shao Diandian extended a hand, bent down, and handed the stick back to her.

Xiao Wu quickly closed her eyes!

But the imagined pain never came.

Cautiously opening her eyes, Xiao Wu looked at the stick in her basin and turned to see Shao Diandian silently walking away with the laundry.

“Just… left like that?”

At the Shao household, the three little ones had woken up.

Shao Erdan and Shao Kang usually slept until noon, and as for Wei Ting, he was seriously ill and still unconscious.

No one was there to dress the three children, so they got out of bed barefoot.

After wandering around the house, they found the adults could not be roused.

At that moment, the noise of children came from next door, stirring the three little ones’ curiosity.

Next door was the Liu family.

The eldest daughter-in-law, Xiao Wu, had gone to wash clothes, and the loud voices came from He Shi, the second daughter-in-law’s son, Niu Dan.

Niu Dan was seven years old and the only grandson in the Liu family.

“Mom! Dress me!” he shouted.

“All right, wait a moment, first let your dad take his medicine,” his mother replied.

Niu Dan’s father had twisted his waist a few days ago while fishing in the pond, and the doctor prescribed some herbs to promote circulation and relieve bruising.

The three little ones tiptoed to lean on the windowsill, staring blankly at the family.

Niu Dan had long noticed the three children, knowing they were the newcomers from the Shao family, and looked down on them.

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He stuck out his tongue disdainfully, “Ptooey! I’d beat you all!”

“Get down!” He Shi patted her son’s bottom, making him sit on the bed and dressing him one piece at a time.

“Mom, I want sweet boiled eggs!” Niu Dan said.

“All right, I’ll make them for you!” He Shi responded.

With many girls in the house, having a boy was a rare treat, and the whole family doted on him. Not to mention one sweet egg, they could afford two.

Niu Dan held the sweet boiled eggs his mother made, teasing the three little ones through the window while eating.

Shao Diandian, carrying her wooden basin home, saw the triplets staring longingly at Niu Dan eating.

They were barefoot and wore thin clothing.

Frowning, Shao Diandian put down the basin and approached.

At the sight of Shao Diandian, Niu Dan immediately lost his arrogance and ran away.

Shao Diandian took the three little ones home, dressed them in clothes and shoes.

They were thinner than she had imagined.

Wei Ting and the children did not seem like people who could not afford food, so why were they all so emaciated?

“Are you hungry?” she asked.

The three nodded.

“I’ll get you something to eat,” Shao Diandian said, heading to the kitchen.

The three followed closely, their eyes fixed on the eggs in the basket.

“Do you want eggs?” she asked.

They nodded again.

Shao Diandian boiled three sweet eggs, one for each.

The kitchen, having just been fired up, was warmer than the living room. Shao Diandian brought a small stool for them to eat inside.

She then went to Wei Ting’s room and woke him: “Time to take your medicine.”

Wei Ting groggily opened his eyes.

Shao Diandian helped him sit up and fed him anti-inflammatory and blood-clot-dissolving medicine.

Wei Ting did not want to eat yet and lay down to continue sleeping.

All this was watched by the three children hiding at the door.

They recalled the scene they had seen earlier at the neighbor’s house.

That woman fed medicine to Niu Dan’s father, dressed Niu Dan, and made sweet boiled eggs for him.

Niu Dan called her “Mom.”

Shao Diandian woke Shao Erdan and told him to watch the children and the patient; she needed to go to town.

Though Shao Kang had gone to town yesterday, as a grown man, he did not know how to budget carefully. After receiving the bride price, his first thought was not to buy rice or flour but to buy pastries for his daughter.

The pastries took up most of the bride price, leaving less than two hundred wen.

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With the New Year approaching, prices were rising. Two hundred wen was barely enough for a family of three, let alone four more mouths.

They had to find a way to make money.

Just then, a sharp shout came from ahead.

“Shao Fatty!”

Hmm?

Was that He’s family?

Liu Tongsheng, whose real name was He Jian, was the third son in his family.

After the broken engagement yesterday, Shao Erdan said he had fled to town, but today he unexpectedly ran into him at the market entrance.

He was accompanied by two young men dressed as scholars, presumably his classmates.

Liu Tongsheng stormed over angrily, sneering, “Shao Fatty, enough already! Don’t haunt me like a restless ghost!”

Shao Diandian frowned. “Did you think I came looking for you?”

Liu Tongsheng retorted coldly, “Didn’t I?”

Shao Diandian nodded calmly and extended her hand.

Liu Tongsheng recoiled as if avoiding a poisonous snake. “What do you want?”

Shao Diandian smiled, “The bride price. You’re not planning to break off the engagement without returning it, are you?”

“You—”

“What ‘you’? Let me warn you, don’t try any nonsense. When you go to a brothel, you have to grope the boys before you pay. We never had a wedding ceremony or consummation, so don’t try to stiff me!”

Liu Tongsheng trembled with rage.

How dare this plump woman compare him to a boy in a brothel!

That was outrageous!

Especially since he had already spent part of that money!

Shao Diandian said calmly, “If you don’t pay back, we’ll have to go to the magistrate.”

Liu Tongsheng gritted his teeth. “Are you not afraid of losing face going to the magistrate over this?”

Shao Diandian asked, “Can face feed you? Besides, shouldn’t the one losing face be you? You accepted the bride price and agreed to the match.”

Liu Tongsheng blushed. “I was deceived by the matchmaker—”

Shao Diandian stared coldly. “But you still broke off the engagement! Breaking off means you should return the money! That’s not an excuse to stiff me!”

“You’ve studied for so many years, where did all that knowledge go? A rural matchmaker could trick you? If your brain wasn’t full of water, how could you be fooled?”

“Honestly, you should stop studying and go farm! Maybe the water in your head could irrigate two acres!”