Chapter 21: Visiting relatives
Description: Wu Wei: After I leave, what will happen to Xiuniang?
During that night, Wu Wei felt exhaustion all over her body; however, she still found it hard to fall asleep.
Xiuniang, who was in her arms, was already asleep; she was sleeping very deeply.
In a place with almost no aid of modern technology, getting by the days was way harder than Wu Wei thought. In the past when Wu Wei was living in the coffin home temporarily, she was not as tired, but it wasn't about living her life. It was about survival.
Before Wu Wei and Xiuniang fell asleep, they talked a lot. From Xiuniang's words, Wu Wei could hear Xiuniang's guilt and unease. Xiuniang felt that it was unfair that all the heavy burdens of the home fell on Wu Wei's shoulders. She really wanted to help support this home, but the current situation didn't allow it.
They were really too poor at the moment. They were so poor that they had to share a blanket between themselves and there was only one cotton-padded clothing for the two of them too. Xiuniang was still wearing non-padded shoes up to this point. Xiuniang's health needed to recover, or else this symptom of menstrual pain would be enough to torture her for many years. Anyone knows that you need to wear more clothes on a cold day, but they didn't have anything, anything!
Hearing Xiuniang's guilty words, Wu Wei's heart felt very upset. Wu Wei knew very well: Whenever she went out, Xiuniang would never be idle. The house would be spotless, the water jar would be completely filled; every day when she went home there would be warm food and the courtyard would be piling with firewood. Wasn't this Xiuniang's contributions?
"In prosperity, the common people suffer; In adversity, the common people suffer too." These words inexplicably flashed in Wu Wei's mind. Wu Wei felt that her experiences these days were deeper than the history books she had read and the historical dramas she had watched. She and Xiuniang were the most classic example of "ancient time" commoners, poverty-stricken commoners. They were poorer than most small farming families.
(T/N: Wu Wei is thinking of an idiom here, "兴, 百姓苦;亡, 百姓苦" An explanation for this can be found here. It comes from the poem"山坡羊·潼关怀古"it's about a travelling man lamenting on the ruins of an empire)
Most average small farming families at least had a young and strong labour force, right? They at least had their own self-sufficient land, right? Xiuniang and her didn't even have this most basic structure.
Wu Wei and Xiuniang's preparation for any "accidents" was almost zero. This was to say, they relied on their youth and good health. Otherwise, with their current circumstances, a bout of sickness could easily wreck this home.
Ancient society was very cruel towards families like Xiuniang and herself, for example…they had clearly already worked very hard and a lot of basic necessities were already considered extravagant to them.
They could afford food, but they couldn't afford refined grains. They could eat vegetables, but only the old three — carrots, cabbages and potatoes. They could eat meat; however, they would need to go hunt for it. They could afford to wear clothes, but they couldn't afford to buy a single seasonal cotton-padded clothes. Don't even mention the fox fur coats, cloaks or leather boots that everyone has in those time travel dramas, the prices are simply a frightening luxury!
Wu Wei felt that: This wasn't even the scariest thing. It was the fact that Xiuniang and herself had used their greatest efforts already, doing almost every labour possible, but they could only barely maintain this current level.
Wu Wei wanted to go back to the modern era and be a salted fish, it would be way better than being a local wealthy landlord here!
But she couldn't help but think: After she left, what would happen to Xiuniang?
Would she encounter any dangers on the way to the marketplace? Would she be treated unfavourably by any Liu family members or outsiders with evil intentions? What if she got sick? There would only be one person at home…What would happen if someone found out about the trajectory of her life and took advantage of when Xiuniang was absent to steal all of her savings at home?!
Wu Wei felt like she was being trapped in a net. She couldn't think of any way to break through.
No matter what, earning more money was always right. Before she could find a way to travel back to her time, the only thing Wu Wei could do was to work hard to upgrade this small home's resistance to "accidents" as well as "self-defence" abilities. Only then could Xiuniang continue to survive in this world.
...
Wu Wei made two trips to the market and Xiuniang's cotton-padded clothes were also ready. Under Wu Wei's strong pleading, Xiuniang had also made herself a pair of thick-soled shoes. The household savings had increased to thirty-five coins.
Dawn had just arrived, Xiuniang and Wu Wei dressed neatly, they carried the four fish and set off. They imitated Liu-erniangzi's appearance, grabbing a coarse cloth and wrapping it around their neck and face to resist the biting cold wind.
After searching for a while, they finally found Liu-erniangzi's home as it was reaching noon. Xiuniang let out a heartfelt smile.
This was Xiuniang's first time here, she was still young when Liu-erniangzi was married off, so she was left at home to look after the house as her dajie took care of every matter. Even though erjie's husband's courtyard wasn't as spacious as her mother's house, the courtyard walls were sturdy. There was a neat stack of firewood piled beside the wall, there was also a very big grain pile. Two pickled vegetable jars and they reared chickens as well.
There were two rooms in the inner courtyard, and even though they were built from mud clay, they still looked very new. Smoke was rising from the kitchen chimney at this moment, erjie's life was going well. Xiuniang felt happy from the bottom of her heart.
"Xiuniang, wait here. I'll go ask if this is erjie's home."
"Alright."
Wu Wei walked to the doorway, she wanted to knock symbolically on the firewood door, but in the end, she raised her neck and shouted, "Is this the Zhang family? Is erjie or er-jiefu at home?"
Liu-erniangzi recognised Wu Wei's voice, she placed her chopsticks down and wore her shoes and poked her head out from the west room. Seeing that her meimei and Wu Wei were outside, she quickly came out, "What are you doing here on such a cold day? Come in quickly!" The old couple in the east room had heard some noise and Liu-erniangzi's popo came out the door and asked, "Who is it?"
(T/N: 婆婆, popo = husband's mother)
"Mom, my meizi and her friend have come. It's cold outside, go back in and eat. I'll let them eat in the west room first, after that I'll pay respects to you and dad."
"Oh, okay." Liu-erniangzi's popo responded, going back to the room.
Xiuniang affectionately called out, "Erjie" and gave her the fish. Liu-erniangzi smiled brightly and looked back at the direction of the east room, it was too bad that her popo had left already.
"Coming over is fine, what did you bring, it's winter…tsk tsk tsk, how can you get fresh fish, you're really so sincere!" Liu-erniangzi raised her voice as she said that Afterwards, she pulled Xiuniang's arm and led her inside.
"Wu-guniang, come in quickly. You haven't eaten yet, right? You're just in time!"
The kang bed in the room had a kang table on it. There were steamed potatoes and sweet potatoes; there was a bowl of fermented soybean paste beside it, together with stewed white cabbage, tofu and golden-bright cornmeal flatbreads. However ,Xiuniang's er-jiefu was not seen in the house, but his tableware had been set up. The bowl had half a potato and a flatbread that had two bites in it. Maybe something had happened while he was eating, so he had to go out.
"The two of you sit down, I'll fry a few eggs for you."
"Erjie, there's no need to go through such trouble, this is really good already!" Xiuniang said.
"How can this be okay? What did we eat when me and er-jiefu went to your house? I really didn't prepare anything today, so frying a few eggs is a must!" Liu-erniangzi didn't wait for Xiuniang to speak again and walked away.
Liu-erniangzi took 6 eggs in one breath, even if her popo saw her today, she wouldn't be afraid!
Liu-erniangzi was really too happy. Normally, she would be criticised behind her back by her popo, while her gonggong was tolerant and didn't talk much. It's just that Liu-erniangzi had been married for so many years but her family had never come to visit once. It really was, 'Marry off a daughter, throw out the water'. On the contrary during the New Year and other festivals, Liu-erniangzi had to go back home to take some things, adding onto the fact that Liu-erniangzi's stomach showed no signs of movement, her popo's complaints started to increase more.
(T/N: The phrase 'marry off a daughter, throw out the water' (娘出去的女儿,泼出去的水了), basically means once a daughter is married off she no longer can associate with her mother's family, hence it's like throwing out water.)
The previous time, Liu-erniangzi had heard her own xiaomei had been separated from the family, she hurriedly grabbed her things to help her meimei. Her popo's face didn't look good. Luckily, they had eaten good food at Xiuniang's house. Zhang Shuisheng had given lots of praise to Xiuniang and Wu Wei once they came home, he only said they were well-mannered, had a strong friendship and they had refined rice and wheat flour despite their hard circumstances. They had also welcomed them with fish and meat, so Liu-erniangzi's popo didn't say anything. This trip Xiuniang had come with Wu Wei again and dropped by with fresh fish, Liu-erniangzi felt strong-willed in a second. It was winter in the twelfth lunar month, what kind of people could eat fresh fish? This was more valuable than husked rice and wheat flour, what's wrong with them eating a few eggs?
Thinking up to here, Liu-erniangzi grabbed two more eggs.
Liu-erniangzi plucked a green onion and sliced it up, she beat the eggs and was about to ladle some lard into the pot when Xiuniang came to her side and said, "Erjie don't be too anxious, let's wait for er-jiefu to get back before you start to cook?"
Liu-erniangzi thought for a bit and smiled, "That's fine too, your er-jiefu has been summoned by the village chief, he will probably be back soon."
"Then let's wait for er-jiefu to come back and eat together."
The pair of sisters entered the room, Xiuniang asked uneasily, "Erjie, why don't you and er-jiefu eat in the east room?" If they weren't eating together, wouldn't that mean the family was separated? Zhang Shuisheng was the only son, if his parents still "separated the family", the couple would definitely be talked about behind their backs. Xiuniang understood this truth.
Liu-erniangzi happily patted Xiuniang's hand, indicating that she didn't need to worry. She answered, "The east room the old couple have been living in was built a long time ago. The bed is narrow, once you put the kang table on it, it would be too crowded for four people. Gongdie and your er-jiefu weren't so particular about it, the women need to eat on the table too. Your er-jiefu and I built this room before we got married, we left a spacious area for the children's room. Normally, the old couple would come to our room to eat, but winter is cold, and gongdie's legs and feet aren't good. Your er-jiefu didn't want him to go back and forth, so we discussed and let them eat in their room. Once I make the food, I'll deliver it to them. We are all eating the same food, so don't worry anymore."
(T/N: 公爹, gongdie, has the same meaning as gonggong. (husband's father))
"Er Niang! Where did our red paper go? Hurry up and find it for me!" Zhang Shuisheng's energetic voice came from the courtyard, Liu-erniangzi answered and went outside.
(T/N: The red paper looks like this)
Wu Wei took the opportunity to move closer and said secretly, "Did you see? If you don't take care of your body now, once you're old, your legs and feet might not work as well. It'll be especially painful!"
Xiuniang glared at Wu Wei, seeing that her erjie had already gone out made her feel at ease. She said in a low voice, "Don't let er-jiefu ever hear what you just said!"
"Don't worry, I'm not stupid."
Zhang Shuisheng heard that Xiuniang and Wu Wei had dropped by with four fresh fish. He entered the house with a bright smile and greeted Wu Wei and Xiuniang, "Meizi, do you want to watch some excitement? Zhang Xiucai is writing couplets for everyone at the village chief's home!"
(T/N: couplets are a pair of lines of verse written vertically down on the sides of doorways, they look like this, it's normally hung beside doors of houses to bring in good luck during the New Year. 张秀才, Zhang - surname, Xiucai - scholar)
"Look!" Wu Wei stood up with a "whoosh", Xiuniang also stood up with her, but she had some worries. She hadn't gone to a place with a lot of people in a long time. Xiuniang had some lingering fears at the thought of children throwing rocks at her in the past.
Wu Wei pulled Xiuniang's hand and stepped forward, she smiled brilliantly, "Er-jiefu, the two of us would like to see, take us there!"
"Let's go, Er Niang, the red paper? Did you find it?"
"Coming, coming, it was in dad and mom's room. Here!" Liu-erniangzi passed the rolled-up red paper to Zhang Shuisheng.
"Er Niang, are you coming?" Zhang Shuisheng asked.
"Isn't it just writing two broken characters? It's the same characters every year, I won't go. What if dad and mom call but there's no one home?"
Author's note:
A new chapter has arrived, thanks for reading.
Wu Wei: I should leave some inheritance for Xiuniang, no, property.
Chapter 22: Such a couplet
Description: Wu Wei: The last time I felt so speechless has to be the last time.
"Then we'll go now!" Zhang Shuisheng said.
"Go early and come back early, Wu-guniang and San Niang haven't eaten anything yet!"
"How can you be hungry while eating and watching the excitement?" Zhang Shuisheng said with a smile.
Wu Wei was especially supportive, she answered, "Right right right, one scene of excitement is worth 3 mantous." It made the two sisters burst out laughing, and after that, Zhang Shuisheng led Wu Wei and Xiuniang out.
As they were walking to the village chief's house, they would occasionally encounter people hurriedly running to the village chief's house carrying red papers. Men and women, young and old were all there; everyone had an expression of jubilation brimming on their faces.
After leaving the lonely place beside the coffin home and coming to a village full of people and the smell of fireworks, Xiuniang felt as if she had been cut off from the world for ages. She then suddenly realised: It would be the New Year in less than a month.
On the contrary, Wu Wei was completely immersed in this environment full of bustling people, she pulled Xiuniang's hand and quickly followed Zhang Shuisheng. Her eyes looked in every direction, her face revealed a novel expression.
Xiuniang had to jog to keep up with Wu Wei as she dragged her, the heaviness in her heart seemed to have drifted away along with the cold wind…
In this village most people's surname was Zhang, there were a few hundred households living here and thousands of people living here. However, few could read and write, studying was no different from burning joss paper in these farmers' eyes. Just by finding a somewhat well-known teacher and paying the admission fees would already be enough to build a room. Also whatever four scholarly treasures, costs of books; more well-known shuyuans would require students to wear large-sleeved cheongsams. Students also had to send 10 kilograms of refined grains and wheat flour to the shuyuan every month as well. Other students could eat those, but it wasn't good to let their own family and children barely survive on chaff and wild herbs.
(T/N: joss paper is basically ghost or spirit money, normally burnt during the seventh lunar month. 书院, shuyuan, is a type of school in imperial China. Cheongsam is a chinese traditional costume, the ones scholars need to wear look something like 1, 2)
It really could be said: Ten years of strenuous studies was worth a hundred liangs of silver.
Even if they studied, they may not necessarily reach a high level. Furthermore, these people, once they studied, most of them would become "delicate", like they had gotten some kind of illness, so they couldn't work in the fields anymore. Rather than losing a family fortune by raising an arrogant idler, it would be better to let their child work in the fields from a young age. In short, this was what most of the villagers thought.
Wu Wei had some excitement, this was a scholar. He could enjoy reduced taxes in his lifetime, he had a privilege of not needing to kneel when he saw his parents or a government official. If he advanced, he could become a follow-up court official. Once he retired, he could go back to his hometown and educate people, he could have pupils everywhere!
Most of the written scripts the later generations could see came from scholars, how could one be considered a scholar if they didn't have an identity!
One who is filled with knowledge always behaves in elegance, books are humanity's stepping stones! How pitiful would it be if she did not see a single scholar during her time travel?
Bringing such a mood, Wu Wei pulled Xiuniang, following Zhang Shuisheng to the village chief's home.
Zhang Xiucai was brought here by Zhang Shuisheng and a few other men on a sedan chair, Zhang Shuisheng who had exerted all his energy would of course enjoy the priority of going first. Once the villagers saw Zhang Shuisheng, they silently squeezed back, allowing Zhang Shuisheng, Wu Wei and Xiuniang to go over.
Coming to the front of the crowd, Wu Wei saw: There was a square table placed in the open space, the brush and ink were ready as well. There was a jar on the table which she didn't know the use for, but where was Xiucai?
At the table, two white-haired old men were sitting a distance away from each other, one at the host seat and the other at the guest seat. There were two cups of tea placed on the centre of the small table, the two old men were drinking tea as if no one else was present.
"How's your rest, sir?" One of the old men asked.
"It's alright, let's continue." After saying this, the other old man stood up and went behind the table.
"Crash!" Wu Wei felt like a basin of cold water was poured over her head. Wasn't this old man hitting his seventies? Aren't scholars chosen from the best from the imperial examinations? This, this, this, this was a seventy year old scholar, or was he a scholar for sixty years?
She didn't mean any offense, but Wu Wei was very disappointed.
Wu Wei didn't give up, she tugged at Zhang Shuisheng's sleeve and asked in a low voice, "Er-jiefu, this is Xiucai?"
"Ah." Zhang Shuisheng nodded.
"...Ah." Wu Wei felt very disappointed.
"Next."
"It's my turn, my turn!" A man around his twenties rushed to the front, he placed the cut red paper from his arms onto the table. With a smile on his face, he fished out something from his chest, following that was the sound of crashes. The stuff in his hands entered the jar. Wu Wei's eyes widened and she said in a low voice, "You need to pay for a writing couplet?" This voice wasn't loud, but since they were standing too near and the old man had sharp ears, he raised his head to glance at Wu Wei and the others.
Zhang Shuisheng blocked Wu Wei and Xiuniang at the right time, he gave a silly laugh and explained, "That young lady hasn't seen the outside world, may this old one not blame her."
Xiuniang was so scared that her palms started sweating, she pulled Wu Wei's arm and signalled to her to not talk any more nonsense.
The old man tucked his hands into his sleeves, relaxing with his eyes closed. That young man took the opportunity to say, "Sir, I just got married, my mom wishes to carry a grandson early, you see…"
"...Mn." The old man muttered to himself for a while, he slowly opened his eyes. He picked up the pen and wrote with a "swish, swish, swish." on the red paper.
The young man thanked him repeatedly, he said respectfully, "Could you read out what you've written? If my mother asks when I get home, she will be happy."
"There is a lot of happiness in the old year. Next year, a plump son will arrive at the warmer end of the kang bed. Horizontal scroll: May a cheerful atmosphere fill the house."
"Pfft!"
"Alright!!"
Wu Wei raised her hand and guiltily wiped off the saliva she had accidentally spat on Zhang Shuisheng's back. Zhang Shuisheng clapped and turned around at the same time, taking a glance before turning back.
Luckily Wu Wei's defence breaking was suppressed by the waves of cheers, but Xiuniang who was next to Wu Wei heard everything clearly, causing her to break into cold sweat for Wu Wei again.
"Xiuniang~" Wu Wei said in a low voice, coming close to Xiuniang's ear.
"What is it?" Xiuniang answered softly as well.
"So that's to say…the people here, do they not have any sense of aesthetic?"
Xiuniang didn't understand what "aesthetic" meant, but guessing from Wu Wei's expression it probably wasn't anything good. She really wished to cover Wu Wei's mouth but she was afraid of others seeing, so she grabbed Wu Wei's arm and pleaded in a low voice, "This is the village chief's home, don't talk nonsense."
"Alright."
Wu Wei stood there and watched a few, could it be that he wrote too much? Could this old man's knowledge reserves be completely drained out? Anyways, Wu Wei had never seen such outrageous couplets before.
Someone raised chickens, so for the couplet he wrote, "A basket of eggs every day". Someone said they were raising pigs this year, so this old man wrote, "Have a litter of eight piglets." Someone wished for their parents to live to a ripe old age, good lord, he just wrote, "Live to a ripe old age" on the horizontal scroll… he was really following the customer's commands directly.
Hearing the sounds of the copper coins entering the jar, as well as the cheers that grew louder and louder, Wu Wei gradually began to lose herself. She felt that her decade's worth of studying may have gone to waste.
Wu Wei really wanted to earn this money. When Wu Wei was four years old, her mother had sent her to soft brush calligraphy classes, two hours on Saturday and Sunday, up until Wu Wei had graduated from primary school. Even though it was purely a hobby class, the advantage was that Wu Wei had studied calligraphy when she was a child, her calligraphy skills were just enough to be able to write couplets, mottos and stuff like that.
Wu Wei endured it very rationally, she couldn't take this limelight. Erjie and Er-jiefu were kindhearted, Wu Wei had also thought of ways to let Xiuniang move closer to them before she left and trouble them to take care of Xiuniang. She could never cause this couple any difficulties.
Very quickly, it was Zhang Shuisheng's turn. After the couplets were written, Zhang Shuisheng placed ten copper coins into the jar, he carried the couplets and happily walked home with Xiuniang and Wu Wei.
Zhang Shuisheng first went to the east room to let his parents take a look at the couplets, then he let Liu-erniangzi have a look before he kept it, they would hang it up once it was the New Year. Liu-erniangzi fried the eggs and placed the newly reheated food on the table. The four people started to eat.
Wu Wei hadn't eaten tofu in a long time, she ate several pieces in a row. As the two sisters saw this scene, they looked at each other and smiled in tacit understanding: They had thought of the same thing.
One potato, one sweet potato, two flatbreads as well as some other dishes entered her stomach. Wu Wei felt incomparable satisfaction.
Zhang Shuisheng almost finished eating, he smiled and asked Wu Wei, "How is it, was seeing others write couplets interesting?"
Wu Wei smiled awkwardly, she didn't answer.
Suddenly, an idea flashed in Wu Wei's mind, she straightened her back and stared at Zhang Shuisheng, as if she was staring at a pile of copper coins.
Seeing this, Zhang Shuisheng touched his face a few times, then he looked at his own wife.
"What is it, Wu-guniang?" Liu-erniangzi asked.
"Weiwei?" Xiuniang also called.
"Er-jiefu, how much does a single couplet cost?"
Zhang Shuisheng was stunned, he looked at Xiuniang again and hesitantly said, "Your family… doesn't need to put up couplets this year right?" Xiuniang's father had passed away earlier this year, Xiuniang didn't need to hang couplets for three years at her house.
"No, I saw that all of you gave money just now, so if I were to go to the marketplace to buy a couplet, how much would it cost?"
Zhang Shuisheng and Liu-erniangzi looked at each other with a smile, they felt that Wu Wei was really too innocent.
Liu-erniangzi explained, "We don't know about other places, but we don't sell couplets at our marketplace. All of us are making a living at the market, how many people can actually recognise characters? Those who can write out couplets are either studying and preparing for imperial exams, or… are old men like Zhang Xiucai, who already have a status. Zhang Xiucai writes couplets for us out of the friendship between him and fellow villagers, he also has the support of the village chief. Even though we paid him copper coins, it's out of gratitude. How can a scholar lower himself to do business? If the authorities found out, wouldn't that be destroying their future careers? I heard people say that… there are some poor scholars who copy books in their study. They would have their own nicknames and when no one is around, they secretly sell the books, so don't even talk about selling couplets."
Wu Wei was overjoyed at the unexpected good news, so it was indeed like this. Even though this place didn't exist in Earth's history, the societal structure was still very similar to Earth's ancient times. They probably paid attention to "the four classes" too. In ancient times on Earth, emperors of some dynasties believed that "merchants" engaged in business by buying low and selling high, which didn't create value and harmed production. As a result, they restricted merchants to low statuses, there were even clear-cut restrictions on eating and dressing. Some dynasties didn't allow merchant's future generations to take part in imperial exams as well!
(T/N: Four classes: Farmers, merchants, artisans, scholars)
For those who had already stepped into, the "land-owning" class or were considered to be low-levelled "land-owning" people, it was impossible for them to "wallow in the mires" with the merchants.
(T/N: wallow in the mires (同流合污) is an idiom which means follow the bad examples of others)
Wu Wei suppressed her excitement, she asked Zhang Shuisheng, "Er-jiefu, would you mind doing some small business with me? Would it affect you in any way?"
Author's Note:
A new chapter has arrived, thanks for reading.
Wu Wei: Won't this make us rich? Hee hee.
T/N: VIP chapters officially start here! If you want to support PDL, you can buy the novel here, a simple guide here.
Chapter 23: Showing off your skills
Description: Xiuniang: Weiwei's poem touched my heart.
"Business? What kind of business?" After Wu Wei finished speaking, all three people asked this question in unison.
As the old saying goes: 'The end of the year is difficult to pass, the end of the year is difficult to pass…' The New Year was not only the most important festival on Earth, but it was also just as important in this time and space. Only, this place could not be compared to Earth, where technology could be used to make up for the difficulties caused by different seasons.
In this time and space, during the cold winter of the twelfth lunar month, the prices of goods would skyrocket as well. The people who had worked hard for the year hoped to wear new clothes for this day, eat delicious food that was hard to obtain in the previous year or buy some things for their family. All these simple and plain wishes needed copper coins to achieve.
Zhang Shuisheng's family also experienced this kind of trouble; otherwise, Zhang Shuisheng wouldn't have planned to take the risk of picking herbs in the mountains.
Wu Wei didn't answer, but she asked again, "Er-jiefu, if you do a little business, would it have any negative effect on your family?"
Zhang Shuisheng immediately answered, "It won't, it won't. Every year's end, the farmers in the village will also sell some polished rice and noodles at the marketplace for some extra money for the New Year. As long as the land is not left uncultivated, then the government will not care."
Hearing Zhang Shuisheng's words, Wu Wei's heart relaxed. She cleared her throat and said seriously, "I would like to sell couplets with er-jiefu. Er-jiefu can go out and sell it at the marketplace and I will write the couplets. After the costs have been deducted, we can split the profit thirty-seventy. Erjie and er-jiefu can take seventy, Xiuniang and I can take thirty."
"You can write?" Liu-erniangzi and her husband exclaimed at the same time.
"She knows! Weiwei knows how to write!" Before Wu Wei could answer, Xiuniang spoke first.
Wu Wei continued to say, "I observed a little just now. Those people who asked Zhang Xiucai to write couplets for them gave around ten coins to him. How about we sell every couplet for ten coins after deducting costs?"
Zhang Shuisheng thought for a moment and said cautiously, "Meizi, Zhang Xiucai has been in our village for over a few decades, he's studied for his entire lifetime. He has a belly full of ink and his calligraphy is good, can you do it? Couplets can't be compared to others; they need to be stuck on someone's door for a year. If any accidents happen…people will come knocking on the door."
Wu Wei was satisfied with Zhang Shuisheng's cautiousness. Looks like even though this Er-jiefu was tall and strong, he had attention to detail despite being rough at times. He could understand the stakes and not blindly follow the crowd to go pick herbs. She could also see that he was actually a person who's relatively rational and seeked stability.
"Er-jiefu, words alone are not proof. Could you get a brush and ink for me to try?"
"Okay, wait here!"
After Zhang Shuisheng said this, he turned around and got up, put on his shoes, and went out. Liu-erniangzi looked at Wu Wei in a daze, clearly she wanted to question her, but seeing Wu Wei's confident and calm expression, she didn't know how to speak. She could only give Xiuniang a glance and the two sisters got up to put away the dishes.
Coming to the central room, Liu-erniangzi pulled Xiuniang, she lowered her voice and asked, "San Niang, can this Wu-guniang really write?"
"Erjie, I trust Weiwei." Xiuniang said resolutely. Even though Xiuniang couldn't recognise characters, she couldn't understand what Wu Wei had written on that birch bark. She also didn't know if Wu Wei's writing looked good or not, but there was a point that Xiuniang knew: Wu Wei was never an empty talker.
Ever since they had met, every promise that Wu Wei made was all fulfilled.
She had helped Xiuniang repair her house; she said there would be people who would send them food; she said she wanted to let Xiuniang wear cotton clothes before the weather became completely cold; she also said that she wanted to buy some needle and thread for her…all these things, Wu Wei had done. Even if it was something she had casually said from time to time.
Liu-erniangzi was speechless and she said in a low voice, "Oh my god, who is this Wu-guniang, don't tell me she's actually a troubled daughter from a large and wealthy family? How wealthy were they to allow their daughter to study!"
Zhang Shuisheng had been away for two hours. Not only had he borrowed a four scholarly treasures set, but he had also brought a male that was of similar age to himself.
Seeing the person who had come, Liu-erniangzi's expression was somewhat ugly. She shot a glare at Zhang Shuisheng but the latter was unconcerned. He smiled and invited the man into the house.
Seeing an outside man had come, Xiuniang hid behind Liu-erniangzi's back. When the two of them entered the house, Xiuniang then asked in a low voice, "Erjie, who's that person?"
"He's from the notoriously run-down house in this village. I heard that his ancestors were quite wealthy, so they were able to send him to a small town to study and take the imperial exams. Only, I'm not sure if this guy's luck is terrible or if he's just a pretty face with no talent, but he retook the exam multiple times and failed. Afterwards, his father and mother died, the house no longer had a source of income and gradually went into poverty. This person also doesn't know how to do any farm work; he relied on selling off family property to get by, and the fields in his home are all uncultivated. He's already thirty years old yet he doesn't have a single wife! Your jiefu is really good, how did he invite the God of Plague into our house!" Don't look at how Liu-erniangzi had only been married into the Zhang family for a few years, she already knew every big and small matter of the village well.
After she finished speaking, Liu-erniangzi threw the clean cloth on her hands and entered the room. Xiuniang bit her lips and also followed her in. However, she didn't step forward. She stood behind her erjie as before. Peeking out half her head, just enough to see Wu Wei.
On the kang bed, Wu Wei sat in a cross-legged position in the same spot as before, opposite her sat the poor man that Liu-erniangzi had talked about. Zhang Shuisheng stood behind Wu Wei.
Wu Wei took a deep breath. Seeing the familiar objects on the table, Wu Wei recalled how she decided not to take the soft brush calligraphy test a while ago, not wanting to learn it again when she entered junior high school. Looking at the things she thought were insignificant at that time, Wu Wei unexpectedly felt moved to tears.
There were five things on the table. Other than the four scholarly treasures, there was one more thing, sitting opposite of Wu Wei was a man named Zhang Cheng. He was looking at Wu Wei with a narrow expression, as if waiting for Wu Wei to make a fool of herself.
(T/N: 张成, Zhang Cheng. Zhang - surname, Cheng - success)
Wu Wei glanced at the other person's face and she didn't care at all. She took the fine writing paper and gently spread it open; afterwards, she picked up a long black stone which was almost as black as ink and pressed it down on the paper.
That's right, the extra thing was a "paperweight", it had the same function as its name. It was used to press down on paper. In the more technologically advanced Earth, if you weren't particular about the quality, then you could buy one piece for 10 yuan. However, in this place where studying was the same as burning joss paper, those who could use "paperweights" were either from scholarly families or well-off families.
(T/N: 10 yuan is around USD$1.40)
In the room, other than the owner of the four scholarly treasures set, Zhang Cheng and Wu Wei, none of them had seen a paperweight before. Even Zhang Shuisheng had just seen this thing while on the road.
This paperweight was a test given by Zhang Cheng to Wu Wei.
Zhang Shuisheng understood: It wouldn't be good to let Zhang Xiucai and the others know about Wu Wei's idea of writing couplets, so he thought of Zhang Cheng. Even though their family statuses were different, they had grown up together after all. They had played with each other for several years. Besides, all of Zhang Cheng's family's couplets were written by Zhang Cheng himself, so he was the right person to look for.
After Zhang Cheng had listened to the whole sequence of events, he was immediately interested. Not only did he readily agree, he also requested to come with him to see how "literate" this girl was. He especially brought this paperweight over and planned to humiliate Wu Wei.
Seeing that Wu Wei used the paperweight correctly, Zhang Shuisheng grinned, the corner of Zhang Cheng's mouth twitched as well, but he still felt scornful in his heart.
"Erjie, give me a cup of water."
"Oh, alright."
Wu Wei poured some water into the ink slab, she grinded the ink. As the ink stick and ink slab met, it produced an exquisite "rustling" sound, and the ink's colour became more and more concentrated. Wu Wei dipped the brush in the ink and gave it a tap, every move Wu Wei made was filled with sincerity.
Wu Wei recalled her mother's earnest teachings in the past: "Weiwei, it's always good to have more skills, take advantage of your age and learn everything in primary school, just learn a bit more. Someday, you will have a use for these skills. You can watch your cartoons at any time because when you grow up, your cartoons will still be there, but when you want to learn then, it will be too late…"
Wu Wei never thought it was wrong to have given up soft-brushed calligraphy lessons; only when she had truly experienced the hardships of life did she finally understand her mother's painstaking efforts that year.
Wu Wei's heart moved, she raised the brush and wrote: 'A loving mother busied herself in needlework, on clothes for her daughter who was going away. On the eve of her departure, she sewed thread after thread, worrying that her return may be late. Who says that the heart of inch-high grass could repay the sunshine of the deepest spring?'
(T/N: The poem here is "游子吟"by 孟郊, a Tang dynasty poem about a mother's love, using a metaphor of grass for children and sunshine as the mother, also about how hard it is to repay a mother's love towards their child. Translations used: 1 , 2. Explanation: 1. Originally the poem uses he/him but to fit this context I decided to go with she/her)
After she finished writing, the rim of Wu Wei's eyes turned wet. She hated how rebellious she was when she was young. She wanted to go home. She wanted to eat her mom's hand-wrapped dumplings, dumplings filled with three fresh ingredients…
Wu Wei wrote one sentence and Zhang Cheng read out one sentence. After reading the last sentence out, the whole room became absolutely silent.
Xiuniang was especially silent. She covered her mouth with tears streaming down her face. Even though Xiuniang had never studied before, she knew what it was like to 'Sew thread after thread on the eve of his departure'. Liu-erniangzi was emotionally moved as well.
This was a poem that almost everyone would memorise on Earth; it did not exist in this time and space. Even though the concept of this poem wasn't deep, the love that flowed in between the lines was understood by everyone regardless of time and space.
Zhang Cheng's mouth opened and closed, he asked in a quivering voice, "This poem…is written by this lady?" Zhang Cheng had read a lot of books, but he had never read this poem before. He felt that such a poem certainly wouldn't be buried, so he subconsciously believed that Wu Wei wrote it.
Wu Wei was still deep in thought about her family, she didn't answer yet, then she heard Zhang Cheng ask, "What's the name of this poem?"
"Song of a Wanderer."
"Okay okay okay, this is genuine, sincere and truly touching, but it's just these characters…are just passable."
"What? Is Wu-guniang's writing not good?" Liu-erniangzi said, her eyebrows furrowed.
"Sao-furen, just passable doesn't mean it's not good. Rather, it's barely enough to make someone satisfied, that's to say…this lady's writing is just enough to write couplets." Zhang Cheng shook his head as he explained.
(T/N: 嫂夫人, sao-furen = ms sister-in-law)
After sending off Zhang Cheng, Zhang Shuisheng's face glowed, looking at Wu Wei's expression, he was filled with admiration and a trace of surprise.
"Meizi, these eyes really failed to recognise Mount Tai, I didn't expect meizi…ai, I really need to apologise to you." Zhang Shuisheng said earnestly.
(T/N: The idiom here used, 'eyes failed to recognise Mount Tai' (有眼不识泰山) means to fail to recognise somebody's talent.)
"Er-jiefu doesn't have to be like this, caution is the parent of safety, I really admire er-jiefu's prudence."
Zhang Shuisheng laughed loudly and said, "Meizi if it isn't a problem, you and San Niang can stay at our house for a few days. I'll sleep in the east room, you and the two sisters can sleep in this room. Tomorrow, I'll go to the marketplace in the morning and buy red paper, brushes and ink. I think this couplet selling business will work!"
Wu Wei turned around and looked at Xiuniang, the latter smiled back and nodded. Wu Wei then answered, "Alright, then I'll trouble you."
Author's note:
A new chapter has arrived, thank you everyone for reading.
Xiuniang: On the eve of his departure she sewed thread after thread, worrying that his return may be late. Wu Wei's poem was written very well~
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