Chapter 48: Sought Out at Home

Da Gou and Er Gou wailed and cried all the way home.

Qin Niang’s heart ached as she pulled the two bruised and swollen children into her arms and patted their heads one after another. “Who beat you two like this?”

Er Gou cried out, “Shuanzi hit us.”

“Wasn’t Shuanzi playing at your second uncle’s doorstep? Did you two go to your second uncle’s house again?” Qin Niang’s face hardened. They had only embarrassed themselves that morning; she was not thick-skinned enough to go to Qiu Sheng’s house again that afternoon.

“Shuanzi hit me.” Er Gou wiped his tears and hugged Qin Niang’s leg tight. “Mother, Shuanzi brought a bunch of kids to hit me.”

“Who told you to go to your second uncle’s house?” Qin Niang was heartbroken and angry at the same time. “Your second uncle is just a useless thing who turns his elbow outward.”

“I didn’t go to Second Uncle’s house. Shuanzi came to ask me to play, so I went with them, and then they hit me.” Er Gou felt wronged. He had not offended Shuanzi.

Qin Niang frowned. If Er Gou had not gone to Qiu Sheng’s house, how had he provoked Shuanzi? It had to be Xi Jue’s family egging Shuanzi on to come beat Er Gou.

“There were too many of Shuanzi’s people. Everyone I brought ran away. I saw Tuo Tuo and Xiao Cong. They were giving Shuanzi’s group honey water.” Da Gou could not understand it and muttered, “Honey water is bitter. Why do they like drinking it?”

“I already told you it’s sweet. Why do you keep saying it’s bitter?” Qin Niang lightly poked Da Gou’s forehead. “Who wouldn’t like sweet honey water?”

“It’s bitter.” Da Gou insisted, “Er Gou, San Gou, and I all drank it. It really is bitter.”

“Right.” Er Gou nodded. “Mother, honey water really is bitter.”

“You stubborn little fools.” Qin Niang snapped, “Why can’t you figure it out? Something else must have been put into the honey water you drank. Maybe your second uncle put it in.”

“Then what could they put in to make it bitter?” Er Gou looked up and asked Qin Niang.

“There are plenty of bitter things. You children know too little.”

The more Qin Niang thought about it, the angrier she became. She dragged Da Gou and Er Gou toward Qiu Sheng’s house to demand an explanation from Xi Jue’s family. Ideally, they would compensate them with two catties of meat.

After Da Gou and Er Gou left, Xiao Cong carried the bowls and honey back into the courtyard, while Tuo Tuo stayed behind to play with Shuanzi’s group of children.

Wan Niang watched Xiao Cong embroider half a handkerchief, and the worry in her heart completely faded. Aside from being young and a little playful, there was nothing to criticize about Xiao Cong’s skill, patience, or speed. She decisively assigned Xiao Cong four handkerchiefs.

After packing up her little basket, Wan Niang stood up to leave. “Xiu Niang, you all have to hurry with the embroidery. I’ll go around the village again and look for other people.”

Xiu Niang walked her to the courtyard gate, just in time to run into Qin Niang, who was coming toward them while dragging Da Gou and Er Gou by one hand each.

“Sister-in-law.” Seeing Da Gou and Er Gou’s faces marked with injuries, Xiu Niang asked with concern, “What happened to the two children?”

Wan Niang greeted her as well. Seeing that Qin Niang merely nodded twice, her expression displeased as she stood off to the side without speaking, Wan Niang immediately turned to Xiu Niang and said, “I really have to hurry off. Don’t forget what we discussed.” Xiu Niang’s elder sister-in-law had always been like a stalk of wheat awn, prickly and irritating. Wan Niang was unwilling to spend much time around her.

“I won’t forget. Don’t worry.”

As soon as Wan Niang left, Qin Niang dragged her two boys into the courtyard and started shouting at Hua Qi. “Didn’t we already come to apologize this morning? How could you tell Shuanzi to come beat my children? Look at how my children were beaten.”

Holding Yun Shan in his arms, Hua Qi replied bluntly, “Your children were beaten, so why are you looking for us? It wasn’t my family’s children who beat your children. Your children get beaten by someone else, and you still try to pin it on us. What kind of logic is that?”

“How was it not your family stirring things up?” Qin Niang put her hands on her hips and said furiously, “Why would Shuanzi suddenly beat my Da Gou and Er Gou for no reason?”

The noisy quarrel in the courtyard disturbed the people building the house in the back.

Liu Dali pricked up his ears and listened for a moment, then called to Qiu Sheng, who was digging a pit in front. “Qiu Sheng, sounds like someone came to your house to quarrel. Hurry back and take a look.”

Qiu Sheng dropped his shovel and ran home. Xi Jue and Dou Ming chased after him, and the three of them returned to the courtyard together.

Rushing into the courtyard and seeing that they were all familiar faces, Qiu Sheng let out a breath of relief and asked Qin Niang, “Sister-in-law, why did you come to my house to quarrel?”

“Qiu Sheng, good, you’re here. You judge this fairly. Your two nephews were beaten twice by Shuanzi today for no reason. Look at the children’s faces, beaten like this. Shuanzi usually plays at your family’s doorstep, but today he specifically ran to my house to find Er Gou and beat the child up. How could this not be Xi Jue’s family stirring things up?” At this moment, Qin Niang treated Qiu Sheng as one of her own and grabbed him, insisting he judge the matter.

Seeing the red and green marks on his two nephews’ faces, Qiu Sheng felt sorry for them too. His eyes swept around the courtyard and discovered Tuo Tuo was not there. With how crafty Tuo Tuo usually was, and given how biased he was toward Yun Shan, this really could have been his doing.

“Sister-in-law, children play and tussle. How could it be that complicated? You’re thinking too much.” Even if Tuo Tuo had told Shuanzi to hit Er Gou, if Qiu Sheng, as their own uncle, had to say something fair, this punishment was not that severe. It was nothing more than children hitting each other. Their faces looked ugly from the beating, but no one was truly injured. Unlike that morning, when Yun Shan, only two months old, had had his arm pulled out of joint.

“How am I thinking too much?” Qin Niang refused to let it go, staring at Qiu Sheng with dissatisfaction. “You’re Da Gou and Er Gou’s own second uncle, yet why do you keep turning your elbow outward? Is Xi Jue your real elder brother, or is Xia Sheng your real elder brother?”

“What do you mean by that?” Qiu Sheng’s face cooled. “It’s just children fighting and playing. It was Shuanzi who hit them, so why are you making trouble at my house?”

“Shuanzi is right outside. Da Gou, go call Shuanzi over. I want to ask Shuanzi myself whether someone told him to do it.” Qin Niang pointed outside the courtyard, and Da Gou promptly ran out.

Qin Niang rolled her eyes and said to Er Gou, “Look, this is your own second uncle.” She did not avoid saying it in front of Qiu Sheng at all.

Qiu Sheng could not be bothered with her. There was no reasoning with this fierce, unreasonable woman. Had both his elder brother’s and sister-in-law’s brains been kicked by an ox? Each one had more problems than the other. Hua Qi had not even made another fuss yet, but Da Gou and Er Gou had been beaten once, and Qin Niang was already making trouble first. What child had never been beaten by their peers? Was a fight between children worth quarreling over?

Tuo Tuo was lying in the grass, eyes fixed on a green, square-headed grasshopper. He covered it with his hands and was about to pounce when he heard Da Gou calling Shuanzi to come home. He immediately scrambled to his feet.

“What are you calling me for?” Shuanzi looked unhappily at Da Gou. “You tattletale. How embarrassing!”

“My mother told me to call you. Shuanzi, come here. Otherwise, I’ll have my mother go find your mother!” With his mother backing him, Da Gou spoke with even more confidence.

Shuanzi followed Da Gou into the courtyard, unwilling and reluctant.

Tuo Tuo, covered in dirt, ran back to the courtyard with them and stood beside Xiao Cong. He asked quietly, “What happened? Why is this bad woman at Uncle Qiu Sheng’s house?”

Xiao Cong replied in a low voice, “She came to quarrel. She says we told Shuanzi to beat Er Gou.”

Tuo Tuo’s eyes widened. He looked toward the expressionless Hua Qi, then leaned close to Xiao Cong’s ear and said guiltily, “But we really were the ones who told him to. I saw the stinky black snake get unhappy.”

Xiao Cong looked at Hua Qi and indeed saw his cold face, the corners of his mouth turned slightly downward. The whole demon looked extremely displeased.

“I heard the children in the village say that if you cause trouble, the adults beat you when you get home.” Tuo Tuo shared the news he had heard.

Xiao Cong gave a tiny shiver and said in fear, with a bit of hope, “N-no way. We were helping Little Temple Master get revenge. Hua Qi isn’t a demon who can’t tell right from wrong.”

“Hard to say.” Tuo Tuo clearly did not believe that. Everyone on Yunling Mountain knew just how bad Hua Qi’s temper was.

Qin Niang asked Shuanzi, “Shuanzi, was it Xi Jue’s family who told you to come beat Er Gou? If you don’t tell the truth, I’ll go back and tell your mother.”

Shuanzi took two steps back, putting distance between himself and Qin Niang. Stubbornly, he admitted it all himself. “I went to beat Er Gou on my own.” He was so loyal. Since he had helped Tuo Tuo and Xiao Cong, the two of them would definitely give him honey water to drink again.

“Why did you beat Er Gou? Did my Er Gou provoke you?” Qin Niang widened her eyes and snapped fiercely at Shuanzi, “Shuanzi, you’d better tell the truth. Otherwise, I’ll go to your house and find your mother in a moment.”

“He did provoke me.” Shuanzi had not been raised scared. He was tough and often got beaten at home, so his whole body had grown thick-skinned from it. He was not afraid of Qin Niang complaining to his mother. In a flash of inspiration, he said, “He hurt little brother Yun Shan. Little brother Yun Shan and my little brother are family. I’m the eldest brother, so I have to protect little brother Yun Shan. Er Gou hit Yun Shan, so I hit him.”

“Huh?” Hua Qi, who was holding Yun Shan, froze in confusion. “How is my Yun Shan family with your little brother?”

Yun Shan was playing with his own little hands. Hearing Hua Qi call him, he raised his head and looked at Hua Qi’s chin. He recognized his name now and knew that calling Yun Shan meant calling him, and calling Little Temple Master also meant calling him.

“We played house. Those two ended up together, so they’re family,” Shuanzi said.

“You’re talking nonsense! I never agreed to play house with you. Your little brother is a boy, and Yun Shan is a boy too. How did they become family?” Tuo Tuo was unhappy. He ran over to Shuanzi and confronted him. “Last time, I never agreed!” Just moments ago, he had thought Shuanzi was loyal. In the blink of an eye—just in the blink of an eye—this person had started spouting nonsense.

Hua Qi glared at the little ginseng spirit. Tuo Tuo’s body stiffened, and he immediately shook his head, the little topknot tied with a red cord on his head swaying rapidly in the air. He explained, “I really didn’t agree. If I’m finding someone for Yun Shan to play house with, I’d find a girl.”

Xiu Niang did not know whether to laugh or cry as she advised Qin Niang, “Sister-in-law, how can we adults possibly understand what children think? Who would’ve known Shuanzi took playing house seriously?”

“Afterward, Da Gou brought people to hit me. That’s why I hit him.” Shuanzi pointed at Da Gou. “This is Da Gou’s fault.”

Da Gou froze, then shouted, “You hit Er Gou first, so I went to hit you.”

“I think there’s no sorting this matter out. Everyone says it was just children playing around, so what are you still making trouble for, Sister-in-law?” Qiu Sheng complained.

“Qiu Sheng, what do you mean by that? The ones beaten are your own nephews, and I don’t see you feeling sorry for them one bit.” After Qin Niang finished speaking, she turned her spearhead toward Xiu Niang. “I think you treat Xiu Niang’s two nephews better than your own nephews. No wonder they say pillow talk works.” Between the lines, she was implying that Xiu Niang had been driving a wedge between Qiu Sheng and his nephews.

“Sister-in-law, stop talking nonsense!” Hearing his wife being accused, Qiu Sheng was truly furious. “Hurry and take the children home!”

Xiu Niang pressed her lips together and lowered her head, refusing to look at this troublemaking sister-in-law. Listening to her speak could anger a person to death. What pillow talk had she given Qiu Sheng? Da Mao and Er Mao had come over to play for two days and had played perfectly well with Tuo Tuo and Xiao Cong. When told not to touch Yun Shan, they truly did not touch him. The two children had not caused trouble at all. Da Gou and Er Gou, on the other hand, either wanted to eat meat or hurt someone else’s child. Could Qiu Sheng not see these things for himself? How had it become her fault? Her sister-in-law was truly unreasonable!

Xi Jue and Dou Ming turned their heads back and forth, faces full of confusion. Hadn’t this bad woman come to quarrel with Hua Qi? Why, after only a couple of lines, was she now quarreling with Uncle Qiu Sheng instead?

“Home it is, then. Who cares about coming to your house!” Qin Niang led the children away, muttering in a volume everyone could hear. “Other families’ brothers help each other. Who knows what kind of ghost popped up in ours? The younger brother doesn’t help his elder brother’s family, but helps outsiders deal with us instead. Maybe the family ancestral grave is in the wrong spot. I’ll go back and have Xia Sheng visit Yunling Temple, ask a master to point the way.”

The demons all looked at Qin Niang in unison, thinking the same thing: We are not taking this job!

The frustration from noon had not yet faded, and Qiu Sheng could no longer hold back. Standing where he was, he roared out all the resentment he had carried for the past two years. “How have I not helped your family? Before we divided the household, almost all the money I made from work went to Mother. I could earn five taels of silver a year. How much did your family earn in a year? When we divided the household, how much did I get?”

“When I was building my house, Elder Brother said he was going to town to work. I offered twenty-five coins a day. The work in town paid twenty-six coins. He would rather go work in town than come help me.”

“When our family bought the ox, I asked you to borrow money. You said you had none and only gave me one hundred wen. One hundred wen! I don’t believe your family was that hard up. Elder Brother goes to the county to work every few days, and your family doesn’t owe debts, so how could you have no money?”

“We’ve put up with you taking advantage of us on ordinary days. And you still say I don’t help you? Is it my fate, as the younger brother, to be an ox and a horse for your family? To let you spend the money I earn?!”

“And that business this morning—you call that human behavior? How old is Yun Shan? Two months! A child that small… You didn’t hurry over with things to visit. Instead, you carried over a handful of greens and came to the door, even deliberately choosing mealtime.”

With these ugly matters shouted out loud by Qiu Sheng in front of outsiders, Qin Niang could not save face. Her face flushed red as she shouted back at Qiu Sheng, “Your family paid less, so what was wrong with your elder brother going out to work for someone else? My family had no money, so we had no money! You wanted to borrow money, and it’s not like we refused to lend any. That one hundred wen was squeezed out of the household. Who said I came at mealtime on purpose? I was delayed by matters, wasn’t I? It was a coincidence. Our family’s circumstances aren’t good, and we didn’t have anything presentable to bring. We brought a little something, and you still looked down on it.”

“I think all you have is a clever mouth.” Qiu Sheng glared at Qin Niang. “For one more coin in town, he’ll run there before dawn and return after dark? Looks like your pillow talk is the one that works pretty well. My elder brother was never this kind of person before.” Qiu Sheng threw the words Qin Niang had just used to mock Xiu Niang right back at her.

“Blame me? I want to blame someone too! Have these years been easy for me? If the family weren’t struggling, would your elder brother run to town before dawn and return after dark for a single coin? You’re a carpenter. You can earn money. You don’t have to work hard. Our family scrapes food from the fields, and we still have three boys at home. Life is hard for us! We’re not as rich as you! You built a blue-brick house and could still afford an ox!”

“Qiu Sheng, stop talking.” Xiu Niang tugged at Qiu Sheng’s clothes and comforted him. “Calm down. Go to the back and see how the house construction is going.”

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