WSMTATMC C55

Chapter 55

At noon, after selling out all the ice pops, the few of them started heading home together.

On the way, Wang Ying spotted a vendor selling cherries. He stopped in his tracks, pulled out some money from his chest pocket, and handed it to Qingyun.

“Go buy some cherries, sister-in-law.”

“Alright!”

It was exactly cherry season. Diligent farmers picked them from the mountains and sold them in town, and for just ten copper coins, you could buy a big basket.

Last year, Wang Ying had even transplanted a cherry tree into the experimental field, but he had been too busy and gradually forgot about it. Now, upon seeing the fresh cherries, he suddenly craved them badly.

Qingyun ran over to ask the price and tasted two cherries before quickly running back.

“Why didn’t you buy any?”

“They’re way too sour! Just one cherry and my teeth feel like they’re about to give out.”

Wang Ying’s mouth immediately flooded with saliva at the thought.

“Sour is just what I want. I suddenly have a craving for sour food.”

Seeing this, Qingyun ran back and ended up buying the whole basket. Along the way, Wang Ying grabbed cherries by the handful, eating as he walked, praising the taste nonstop. Lin Qiu and Lin Sui tried a few, but they were so sour that their faces scrunched up into knots.

Wang Ying couldn’t help bursting into laughter. Oddly, though, he didn’t actually find the cherries all that sour. Could it be that his sense of taste had gone astray?

Turning the corner of the street, the group froze. Unexpectedly, after more than four months, they ran into Scholar Zhang again.

He was seated on a roadside stone, clothes tattered, hair scattered wildly around his face, with his cheeks smeared with twigs and leaves. Tilting his head back toward the sun, he wore a foolish, empty smile.

Chen Qingyun immediately shielded her sister-in-law and spat:

“That’s the one who ruined big brother’s chance at the imperial examination. Serves him right for ending up like this.”

Lin Qiu and Lin Sui also looked at him warily.

As if sensing their stares, Zhang Shiqiu turned his head and suddenly grinned, revealing blackened, yellow teeth. The three children shrieked in fright.

“Don’t bother with him, let’s go.”

Now that he’d been reduced to such a state, Wang Ying felt no inclination to quarrel and turned to lead the others away.

Back at home, Wang Ying went to the back garden to tend the vegetables. Out of concern that he’d be bored, Chen Rong and Madam Li especially brought cloth and needlework to his courtyard to make clothes, chatting with him while they worked.

“You should have the servants care for the garden. Don’t tire yourself.”

“It’s fine, mother. A little work like this isn’t tiring.”

Chen Rong quickly patted Madam Li and winked at her. She had already told her sister-in-law on the way, don’t watch him too closely. Ying was a measured person, and being too fussy now that he was pregnant would only make him uncomfortable.

When Wang Ying, feeling warm, went inside for water, Chen Rong said softly:

“Ah Ying isn’t fragile at all. Before he was pregnant, he worked in the fields every day at the manor. A little work won’t harm him.”

“I know… it’s just that I worry too much. You also know that our family is small, and this is the very first grandchild of the next generation…”

“I understand. If Qiu’er were expecting a child, I might be even more anxious than you.”

“I heard ge’er giving birth is even harder than women. My heart always feels uneasy.”

“Don’t dwell on it. Wang Ying is blessed. Ever since he married into your family, life has grown better every day. Even Qingyan’s imperial exam has shown hope. Surely, this child will be born safely and healthily.”

Madam Li nodded and lowered her head back to cutting fabric. Today she was making clothes for the baby.

By her reckoning, the due date would be in the third or fourth month of the coming year.

Neither of them had sewn children’s clothes for many years and weren’t sure about the sizes anymore. They had to borrow a couple of garments from another family to copy as patterns.

Newborn babies have delicate skin, and the choice of fabric was crucial. Madam Li brought out two bolts of fine silk she had treasured since her wedding day, cutting them up to make bellybands and undergarments.

Chen Rong, who had excellent embroidery skills, decorated the clothes with beautiful patterns. Her stitches were fine and neat, so that even worn close to the skin, they wouldn’t chafe.

Soon, one small bellyband was ready — red satin embroidered with plump golden ingots, festive and auspicious.

Coming out after drinking water, Wang Ying caught sight of the tiny garment.

“Is that a handkerchief?”

Chen Rong burst into laughter.

“What handkerchief! That’s a bellyband!”

“It’s so small!”

Madam Li chuckled too.

“Oh heavens, newborns are only the size of a small arm. This size of bellyband is more than enough.”

Wang Ying scratched his head awkwardly. He didn’t understand these things. He picked up a spade and went back to digging. In fact, he had secretly moved a few melon seedlings from the experimental field — otherwise, when ripe watermelons suddenly appeared out of nowhere, it would look suspicious.

“Do you still feel nauseous lately?”

“Not too bad. Only when I smell greasy oils, then I get sick. Without that smell, it’s fine.”

Madam Li clapped her hands.

“Exactly the same as when I was carrying Qingyan! I couldn’t stand the smell of oils either. The moment I caught a whiff, I’d vomit everywhere.”

“I wasn’t that bad,” Chen Rong added.

“When I was pregnant with Qiu’er, I just craved meat constantly. But my family was dirt poor — you wouldn’t even see a drop of fat in the food. I craved it so badly once that I secretly bought a chicken and stewed it at midnight. You should’ve tasted it, it felt like the most delicious thing I had ever eaten in my life.”

“Don’t remind me,” said Madam Li.

“When I was expecting, I craved sour radishes, but we hadn’t pickled any. Your elder brother carried a bowl all over until he finally got some for me. That meal, I ate six whole steamed buns. Scared him so much he nearly forbade me from eating anymore.”

The two women laughed until their eyes watered, their stories bittersweet yet humorous.

Fortunately, their hardships were behind them now. Soon, Lin Qiu would be married, and Cao Kun promised that after the wedding, he would bring both Chen Rong and Lin Sui with him to live in his two courtyards in the county.

Madam Li, however, was reluctant. With so few people in the household, it would be even quieter once they left.

“It makes me uneasy to live in that county where that wretched man might linger. Just the thought disgusts me.”

Wang Ying remembered what Cao Kun had mentioned earlier and quickly added:

“Right, third aunt — the matter you asked me to look into today, I did. It was indeed Cao Kun who took Lin Changbin back to the county.”

“Cao Kun dragged him back there?”

“Mm, mostly to keep him from running loose.”

“Pfah! Best place for that kind of scum!”

“At least Kun has a good head on his shoulders. With him, Qiu’er won’t be wronged.”

“I only hope they can be as harmonious as you and Qingyan.”

In Wang Ying’s heart, he thought: Hah, those two are even clingier than us.

By midsummer (*the “dog days of summer” known as Sanfu^1), the heat grew more unbearable every day. Wang Ying stored up blocks of ice inside the experimental field, and when Dunzi came into town with ice pops, he also carried big chunks back to place in the rooms to keep them cool.

The hotter it got, the more ice pops they sold. Some days they sold six hundred — four hundred retail from the town shop, plus another two hundred wholesale via a trader named Qianzi.

Within days, the number had risen to eight hundred. Even in the vegetable shop, five hundred ice pops a day weren’t enough to meet demand.

Children came running with coins in hand to buy them nonstop.

And don’t underestimate the two or three copper coins each cost. In just one day, they earned more than one full string of cash — in a month, nearly thirty strings! To put it in perspective, their family’s several hundred acres of farmland yielded only sixty or seventy strings per harvest.

With such savings piling up, Wang Ying felt that exchanging it all to silver was a waste, so he simply stored the copper directly inside the experimental field, where no one could ever steal it.

That evening, after dinner, Wang Ying returned to his bedroom and entered the experimental field. He noticed that the progress bar had increased slightly — from 98% to 99%. Touching his stomach, he had a faint guess why.

After waiting awhile without seeing Chen Qingyan arrive, Wang Ying got anxious.

Usually Qingyan would come early; why was he delayed today? Could something have happened?

Growing more uneasy, and with no modern means of communication available, Wang Ying could only wait. After another quarter of an hour, Chen Qingyan finally entered, appearing tired.

Wang Ying hurried forward.

“Why are you so late today?”

Wiping sweat from his forehead, Qingyan answered,

“Something happened in the village.”

“What happened?”

“Grandma Chen from the estate passed away. The three of us went to help, and we delivered some ice too.”

Wang Ying’s heart sank.

“But the last time I saw her, she was still in good health. How could she suddenly leave?”

“She apparently took a fall while up in the mountains. By the time she returned home, she couldn’t get back onto the bed. Uncle Chen Xi called for the village doctor, but before the medicine could even finish boiling, the old lady was gone.”

“What was she even doing in the mountains at her age?”

“Picking wild greens. Ah… she passed without much suffering. Consider it her good fortune.”

“I should go and pay respects.”

Holding his hand, Qingyan replied,

“Don’t trouble yourself running back and forth. Focus on taking care of yourself. It’s too hot these days; the funeral probably won’t run the usual full seven days, just three before burial.”

Funerals in the village were simple. The elders all had coffins prepared ahead of time. Once buried in the ancestral grave and some paper money burned for them, things were complete.

“Then make sure to help out more. Uncle Chen Xi’s family has treated us well. Whatever needs paying for, see it done decently.”

“Don’t worry, I know.”

The two talked for a while until the alarm chime rang, signaling their time was almost up.

Clutching Qingyan’s waist, Wang Ying refused to let go.

“If only I could pull you into my bed with me. Without sleeping beside you at night, I just can’t rest easy.”

Pregnancy seemed to make him even more sensitive and dependent. Sometimes, waking in the middle of the night without Qingyan’s presence, he felt unbearably empty inside, hollow with longing.

Kissing his forehead, Qingyan reassured him,

“Don’t worry. In a few days, I’ll come back to town.”

“Why are you coming into town?”

“Teacher calculated the dates. He said Uncle’s letter should be arriving soon.”

“Then stay with me for a few nights.”

Sure enough — it was just as Uncle Liang said, proving his deep friendship with Chen Jing. The very next day, their fourth uncle’s letter arrived at the house.

Madam Li read it first, then called Wang Ying over so he could read as well.

The letter said that Fourth Uncle’s family had settled well in Shanzhou. Though the land was poor in resources, it had one advantage: it sat right along the ancient Tea-and-Salt Trade Route^2, making road transportation well-developed.

Unfortunately, in recent years, due to poor governance, bandit groups flourished. Merchants avoided the main road entirely, choosing long detours instead. He therefore planned to first suppress the bandits, then repair the official roads, build post stations, and revive commerce.

Shanzhou’s specialty was sheep’s milk cakes — though the current heat made them impossible to transport. Once autumn cooled, he’d send some home for the family to taste.

This sheep’s milk cake was essentially a kind of cheese made from sheep’s milk, a staple food among herders.

The letter also asked about the health of the family members and the children’s studies. Finally, he wrote that if Chen Qinghuai failed to pass the xiucai exam next year, he shouldn’t return, but stay home to keep studying with Master Liang.

From the tone, it was clear that Fourth Uncle had adjusted his mindset well and was quickly adapting to his new official position.

Folding the letter carefully, Wang Ying found himself filled with anticipation for Chen Qingyan’s return.

notes

 

1. Sanfu (三伏): The hottest period of the Chinese lunar calendar, “dog days of summer,” usually mid-July through August. 
2. Tea-and-Salt Trade Route: A historical route across western China, vital for trade of tea and salt between Han agricultural regions and nomadic pastoralist areas.