CFJWF : Chapter 54

Xu Li was stunned by the slap, his cheek quickly swelling up red. He covered his face, feeling the burning pain, and with tears in his eyes, quickly left the alley. Wan Hai wanted to call out to stop him, but opened his mouth without speaking. He lowered his head and slapped himself, closed his eyes, and didn’t open them for a long time.

Now let’s talk about Xiao Wan Shi. With the one tael of silver Wan Hai gave her, she went to exchange it for copper coins, then hired a cart and left for Chishui Village. After arriving, she rushed to He Donglai’s house. 

The villagers had lived so many years and had never seen such a strange thing – wasn’t Xiao Wan Shi supposed to be dead? How did she suddenly appear again? Seeing her go to He Donglai’s house, and crying as she entered.

When He Donglai saw the lost and found Xiao Wan Shi, he said: “What are you doing here?” Xiao Wan Shi began telling the story of how she was almost dead but was saved by someone in the end. Her story was full of holes. Xiao Wan Shi cried: “Originally, the King of Hell was going to take me away, but I really couldn’t bear to part with you all. I was afraid my sons would have no one to care for them, so I forced myself to hold on and came back.”

He Donglai said: “That good eldest son of yours – I raised him for so many years for nothing. When he met a wealthy father, he patted his butt and ran off with him. How much have I sacrificed all these years to support their family of three, and what have I gotten in return?”

Xiao Wan Shi said: “He’s having difficulties over there too. It’s probably that they haven’t settled in yet. If in the future they don’t support you in your old age, I won’t forgive him.”

Although Xiao Wan Shi was covered in lice with disheveled hair and a dirty face, He Donglai wasn’t much better off either. He had an indescribable stench on his body. The house was in complete chaos with no place to step.

He Donglai knew there was something fishy about Xiao Wan Shi leaving and then coming back, but he was too lazy to bother with it. He had originally thought that with silver in his pocket, he could find a young woman and have a son or something, but not only did it fail, it also made the villagers laugh at him, calling him an old shameless man.

He had thought that when He Zifeng’s mother came back, they could renew their old relationship, but she was doing well thanks to her son and completely ignored him. With eighty taels of silver in his pocket, he had become an annoyance to everyone. He really couldn’t live such a dirty life anymore. Now that Xiao Wan Shi was back, it was just right.

He Donglai said: “When you left, you took my silver with you. Don’t think you can get me to put money with you again now. If you behave, the family won’t lack a bowl of rice for you. If you don’t behave, then get out. I have silver – where can’t I find a wife? I don’t lack you.”

Xiao Wan Shi was really caught by her weak spot and had no choice but to humble herself and stay.

He Fan came back from cutting firewood outside and heard that his mother had returned. He was immediately happy: “Mother! That’s great, I thought someone was lying to me.” Only He Tong snorted and didn’t look at Xiao Wan Shi properly.

Xiao Wan Shi didn’t mind. Hearing that He Zifeng’s mother had also returned, she was afraid they might get together, so now she was determined to perform well.

First, she bathed herself, then applied a lot of anti-lice powder. Then she brought out all the dirty clothes in the house – there was a pile as tall as a person – and carried them out to wash.

These days, the He family had quite a few incidents, so they kept the front gate closed during the day. But now that Xiao Wan Shi was back, she opened the front gate to let the outside air blow away the smell in the courtyard.

As soon as Xiao Wan Shi returned, the villagers said all kinds of things. Some even said she and Wan Hai had conspired to try to kill Liangzi, but since Liangzi’s mother had taken money back then, and Wan Hai had also kowtowed in apology, it wasn’t good to bring up old accounts again. The other things they said seemed insignificant. Xiao Wan Shi had experienced begging for a living outside, so being mocked by people was nothing to her.

After washing the clothes, she hung them all up to dry. The sun was strong, and the clothes dried quickly. She folded them neatly. Xiao Wan Shi first cooked food in the pot, then began tidying up the house. The more she cleaned, the more shocked she became – basically all the ceramic jars in the house had been smashed. Now it was empty, and with Wan Hai’s family gone, the quite large house lacked any human warmth.

When He Donglai came back from outside, he felt the long-lost cleanliness and tidiness of the home for the first time. Coming home, there was even someone making hot food. The crutch of third son He Tong had also been fixed by Xiao Wan Shi, so now he could eat in the courtyard with everyone.

Having experienced so much, the four of them gathered around a table to eat, and there was actually some warmth to it.

In the evening, Xiao Wan Shi first went to her two sons’ rooms and casually chatted with them for a few sentences. When she returned to the main room, He Donglai’s lustful nature wasn’t dead yet, and he still wanted some indescribable activities.

Xiao Wan Shi was with him for less than half a quarter-hour before he couldn’t continue, but Xiao Wan Shi wanted to please He Donglai. Not only was she full of desire to perform, she also said many praising words. This made He Donglai think he was as vigorous as when he was young, and he looked at Xiao Wan Shi much more favorably.

Xiao Wan Shi’s ability to make him abandon his wife before was exactly this touch of gentle sentiment that people loved.

He Donglai was also tired and wanted to sleep. But Xiao Wan Shi said: “Master of the house, what do you think – our family has had so many incidents this year, is it because the house has bad feng shui? I heard Baiyun Temple is very efficacious. Let’s go pray to the gods and Buddha.”

He Donglai said: “You go tomorrow. I’ll give you five wen.” Two wen to light incense there, and there was a shared ox cart for one wen per person for the quite long journey. Going there would take at least a day. The remaining one wen could only buy some tea water by the roadside – not even enough to buy a pancake.

When Xiao Wan Shi used to manage the money, she had whatever she wanted, when had she ever been so constrained? Fortunately, she had the money she got from her eldest son. Xiao Wan Shi knew five wen wasn’t much, but she still agreed. She was performing for He Donglai, letting him know she was truly repentant and had come to live with him. Hopefully, He Donglai would soften in the future.

He Donglai was already snoring heartlessly. Xiao Wan Shi woke He Donglai up and said: “With a prosperous family, life can get better and better. How about this – I want to arrange marriages for third and fourth sons.”

He Donglai had been thinking the same thing before. According to their ages, this should have been arranged long ago. He Donglai said: “You handle it. Five taels of silver per son to bring wives home.”

He didn’t want to spend an extra penny. Thinking of this matter still made him angry: “When He Zifeng got married back then, it didn’t cost me much money. Look at the children you gave birth to – each one costs money to get married. Do you think your father-in-law is a mint?”

Xiao Wan Shi was scolded and didn’t dare make a sound. Life in Chishui Village was more prosperous, so bride prices were high, but they could buy women from small poor villages, which should be cheaper. People from small places were easier to handle.

After discussing this matter, the next day Xiao Wan Shi asked for her two sons’ opinions. He Tong said he wanted to find a ger for marriage. As for He Fan, he shyly said he wanted a woman.

She hadn’t been in a hurry before and hadn’t arranged marriages for the two children. Now that she was in a hurry, all the matters came together at once.

…

He Zifeng heard that Xiao Wan Shi had returned to the village and seemed to have reformed, becoming much more diligent, but he didn’t say much about it. 

When he returned home, he heard someone running over shouting “Daddy.” He Zifeng picked up his good son and kissed him. Even Fang Shi said upon seeing this: “You as a father really love children too much.”

He Zifeng said: “My son and I are of one heart!” Little He Ran also obediently lay in his arms.

Qiu Yu said: “Are you tired?” While speaking, he wanted to take the child, but little He Ran liked clinging to his father. Having finally found the opportunity, he refused to let go. At four years old, he was still acting spoiled with daddy.

He Zifeng said: “Not tired.” He sat there holding his son. The little guy reached out his hand, revealing a grass-woven grasshopper. It looked lifelike – this was from his grandmother. It was his treasure that he had been playing with all day.

He Zifeng knew his son loved these things and said: “For me?” 

“Mm.” Little He Ran nodded.

Qiu Yu was envious from the side: “Why don’t you give me one?” Little He Ran looked troubled – he had already promised to give it to He Zifeng. He said: “Then can I give little daddy a kiss instead?”

This was probably something the child had thought of with all his effort. Qiu Yu couldn’t bear to make things difficult for his son and said: “I was just teasing you.”

He Zifeng put his son on the ground, and he ran off again. With various small animals at home, he could play with anything for a while. Having a child running around at home made everyone feel good.

Fang Shi had now begun the great enterprise of basket weaving. Her capital wasn’t much, but she had already collected more than two hundred baskets. Not just traditional styles – she discovered that people in the county liked lighter ones that didn’t need to be so big, just able to carry some vegetables. She also ordered some with more complex craftsmanship from skilled elderly people in the village. Two wen or three wen depending on how good the workmanship was.

Although Fang Shi came back later, with this skill, she was unrivaled in the village. Every household in the village had people who could weave. Being able to sell some was better than just leaving them there.

Fang Shi was also skillful with her hands. Although she couldn’t weave baskets, she could use grass to weave little rabbits, little grasshoppers, and such. All the children loved her very much.

He Zifeng said: “Why don’t you take these little toys over there and try selling them too.” When Fang Shi heard this, she repeatedly said no – she just casually wove these for play, how could they be sold for money?

He Zifeng said: “Children in the county aren’t like village children who have seen these things – they haven’t seen them. Besides, you can sell them cheaply.”

When Fang Shi heard this, she was suddenly enlightened and said: “Then I’ll try it.”

He Zifeng then told her about Xiao Wan Shi returning to live with He Donglai, saying: “Mother, if you don’t want to find an old man, I’ll support you. If you do want to find one, I’ll pick a good one for you.”

Hearing her son’s words, Fang Shi’s cheeks reddened as she said: “At my age, what would I do that for!”

He Zifeng made an “mm” sound. After a while, they saw Ranran running back, pestering grandmother for grass-woven little rabbits. Fang Shi good-naturedly made them for him.

Qiu Yu was preparing food. He Zifeng went into the kitchen and saw there was his favorite stir-fried pork with chili peppers.

He Zifeng said: “It smells delicious.” Qiu Yu picked up a chopstick full and said: “Want to taste it?”

He Zifeng tasted it and immediately gave a thumbs up, saying to Qiu Yu: “Delicious.”

 There was some joy hidden in Qiu Yu’s eyes as he said: “Then eat more of it.”

R Tmi : This novel has been selected for the Summer Event! ☀️✨
That means translations will be speeding up before the team heads off on vacation!

I’m thinking we’ll go for 5 to 10 updates a week, maybe even more!
What do you think? ┌(⌤◡⌤)┘