Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Big Man’s Tenderness The family had not eaten meat in a long time, and river delicacies like these were even rarer. Looking at the fish, Xie Nian’s eyes sparkled. She hardly dared imagine how delicious the crucian carp soup would be. Shen Qingwu was delighted as well. “Come on, let’s go home and eat fish.” She spread a layer of grass in the carrying basket, placed the crucian carp on top, and covered them with another layer of weeds before adding a few pieces of deadwood. After all, people’s hearts were hard to fathom in this world, and they could not afford to draw too much attention. As they passed the village entrance, quite a few people were gathered together chatting. Naturally, they noticed the basket of lamb’s quarters in Xie Nian’s hands, and their faces filled with astonishment. “Oh? There are so many wild vegetables in the mountains!” “Little girl from the Xie family, where did you find those wild vegetables?” “That’s right. I went into the mountains yesterday to look, but I didn’t see a thing.” Everyone began talking at once. Xie Nian hurriedly said, “We were lucky today. We went farther in and just happened to find them,” then pulled Shen Qingwu and Shen Qinghuai away in a hurry. If she really told them where they had dug up the wild vegetables, would there be any left for them to eat in the future? It was not that Xie Nian was selfish. It was simply that the times had forced her to be that way. When they returned to the small courtyard, Liu Cuilan was in the kitchen preparing the day’s food. Xie Gensheng had already gone back to his room to rest, and Xie Heng was nowhere to be seen in the courtyard. He had probably gone to town to sell firewood and had not returned yet. Xie Nian was a clever girl. As soon as she entered, she hurriedly closed the courtyard gate, then called excitedly toward the house, “Mother, look what we found!” Liu Cuilan looked at the basketful of wild vegetables and exclaimed in delight, “You actually dug up so many wild vegetables this time! That’s enough for several meals!” Shen Qingwu set down the carrying basket and removed the dead branches on top. “Auntie Xie, look.” When Liu Cuilan saw the crucian carp underneath, she covered her mouth in shock. “Where did you get so many wild crucian carp?” “Sister-in-law caught them all! Sister-in-law is amazing!” Xie Nian excitedly told Liu Cuilan all about their trip into the mountains. Xie Gensheng was drawn out by the noise as well. When he saw the basket of crucian carp, he was so happy that he could only say, “Good, good.” Xie Nian looked at him eagerly. “Mother, are we eating fish today?” Liu Cuilan rolled up her sleeves. “You all sit down and rest for a while. I’ll cook the fish for you right now!” Shen Qingwu wanted to help, but Liu Cuilan chased her out of the kitchen. “You’ve already done our family a great favor today. I can handle things here. Go rest for a while and wait for the food.” Liu Cuilan was quick and efficient. Before long, she had slaughtered and cleaned the crucian carp. There were no extra spices, so she merely sprinkled on some coarse salt and simmered the fish slowly over low heat. Soon, a rich, savory fragrance drifted from the stove and filled the entire courtyard. They had caught quite a few fish this time, and every one of them weighed at least a jin. They decided to indulge themselves for once and prepared two fish for the meal—one stewed in soup and the other braised. They also blanched the lamb’s quarters and tossed them with seasoning. The rest were coated in batter and made into flatbreads. The remaining plump crucian carp were cleaned, rubbed with coarse salt, and hung in the courtyard to dry, so they could take them down whenever they wanted to eat them later. Just then, someone knocked on the courtyard gate. If it had been Xie Heng, he would not have needed to knock, so Shen Qingwu went to open the gate. Standing outside was a man wearing a patched long gown. When he saw her, the man smiled. “You must be the Xie Family’s New Daughter-in-law. I’m the Village Head. This is the Marriage Allocation Document issued by the government. Keep it safe. Now that you’re registered with the Xie family, make a good life together from here on.” With this document, Shen Qingwu was officially registered in this frontier region and finally had a home. Shen Qingwu accepted the document solemnly and carefully put it away. “Thank you, Village Head.” The Village Head had naturally smelled the fragrance from the courtyard as well. He instinctively glanced inside and saw the dried fish hanging near the wall. A trace of envy flashed through his eyes. Seeing this, Shen Qingwu turned around, took down a crucian carp, and held it out to him. “There isn’t much in our household. This crucian carp was just caught today. Please accept it.” During a famine year on the frontier, every household lacked enough food to eat. Seeing such a large crucian carp, the Village Head could not help swallowing, but he still declined. “How can I accept this? It’s far too valuable. I can’t take it.” “Please accept it. It’s only a crucian carp—take it home and have a taste. I’ve just arrived here, and I’ll have to trouble you if I need help in the future.” Shen Qingwu was not merely being polite. The Xie family was poor and had a bad reputation. If they wanted to build a future, they would need someone as respected as the Village Head to support them. Only after hearing her say this did the Village Head accept the fish. After he left, Liu Cuilan looked at the single crucian carp and felt a pang of heartache, though she did not say anything. Shen Qingwu naturally noticed. She comforted her, “Auntie, our family will need the help of capable people in the village in the future. This fish counts as a favor.” Hearing this, Liu Cuilan nodded. Her daughter-in-law was capable and had ideas of her own. Although she did not understand what they might need the Village Head’s help with, it could never be wrong to listen to her. By the time the food was ready, Xie Heng finally returned home. The man was carrying quite a lot this time. He had bought rice and flour, some dried jujubes, more than a dozen eggs, the red paper and red candles needed for the wedding, a string of firecrackers, and a bolt of cloth. Shen Qingwu hurried forward to help. Just the sack of rice alone was heavy, and she had no idea how he had managed to bring everything back at once. Xie Heng did not let Shen Qingwu take anything from him. Instead, he handed her a small object. “This is for you.” Shen Qingwu accepted it and found that it was a wooden hairpin carved with an orchid. Xie Heng awkwardly turned away and placed the things he had bought on the table. “While I was waiting to sell the firewood earlier, I carved this for you. Don’t look down on it. Once I earn more money, I’ll buy you a better one.” Shen Qingwu had never expected him to possess such a skill. She gently ran her fingers over the wooden hairpin. Although the workmanship was somewhat rough, it revealed the man’s tenderness. She removed the twig from her hair, replaced it with the hairpin, and smiled at Xie Heng. “Thank you. I like it very much.” Seeing that she had not disliked it and had even put it on immediately, Xie Heng glanced at her before quickly looking away. The corners of his cold, icy lips lifted into the faintest smile. “Aheng is back! Come, get ready to eat.” Liu Cuilan rose and carried out the fish soup she had kept warm. Xie Nian followed behind her with the braised crucian carp, while Shen Qinghuai helped carry the bowls and chopsticks. Seeing this, surprise flashed through Xie Heng’s eyes. “Where did the fish come from?” Liu Cuilan went to bring out the flatbreads, and Xie Nian immediately began explaining with animated gestures. “Sister-in-law caught them! We dug up lots of wild vegetables today, and we still have four large crucian carp left to eat later!” Xie Heng looked toward Shen Qingwu. His dark, narrow eyes held a few additional, indescribable emotions. “Oh, I could smell the fish from far away. The Eldest Brother’s household is doing better and better. You even have fish to eat now?” Everyone’s expression instantly darkened. The visitor was none other than Xie Heng’s younger paternal uncle—the second son of the Xie family, Xie Shoucai. Seeing that everyone’s expressions were off, Shen Qingwu also looked toward the gate. She saw a middle-aged man in a brown short shirt enter without invitation, his hands clasped behind him. His triangular eyes darted around as he stared intently at the dried fish in the courtyard, greed shining in them.