046 – Lei Xiangzhi
Qin Mian asked with a smile: “How is it?”
Fang Hongliu said in a low voice: “It’s done. As soon as we returned to the village, we let others hear what you taught us to say. Now, it has been spread to the whole village.”
Zhou Cuihua then said: “Everyone knows that today’s thing is because the old couple is being heartless that they came to find fault with you when you’re already separated from them. At this time, the whole village is talking about it. Everyone is mostly on your side.”
“That’s good.” Qin Mian took out the two shares of 80 Wen that he had prepared. “Sisters also had seen it today that Brother Tie and I were forced to do nothing by them. Without any other choice, I just came up with this method. We only seek to live peacefully in the future. Therefore, I don’t want a fourth person to know that today’s thing is what I asked people to do. Can sisters understand?”
The teenager’s usual kind eyes suddenly became sharp and showed a kind of compelling aura. Zhou Cuihua and Fang Hongliu both looked shocked.
Fang Hongliu hurriedly stated her stand: “Little brother, you can rest assured that no other person will know.”
Zhou Cuihua also nodded incessantly.
Qin Mian gave a wee smile and handed over two strings of copper coins. “Thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome.”
Once the money was in hands, the two women were all smiling and stood up to leave.
“We won’t disturb your lunch time.”
Qin Mian sent them until to the gate of the courtyard and snapped two osmanthus flowers to give them. “These flowers are very fragrant, sisters should like them. Put them in the side room and the smell will give you a refreshing spirit once you wake up.”
Zhou Cuihua and Fang Hongliu felt moved in their hearts and said thanks as they received it.
When they hadn’t walked far away, they met an old aunt.
“Which house did you go just now?” The aunt forced a smile as she glanced at the enclosed wall of Qin Mian’s house.
Fang Hongliu smilingly said: “Oh yes! We heard that their family dug up two osmanthus trees from the mountain; it is very fragrant. We both had the cheek to break a branch. Don’t you smell it, Auntie?”
…….
After lunch, Qin Mian and Lei Tie went to Zhang Dashuan’s house. The Zhang couple had three children in total. The eldest was an 11 years old son and his name was Zhang Baolu. The second and the third were girls. They were very beautiful little girls. The second was 9 years old named Zhang Yimei and the third was 6 years old named Zhang Erli. [Note[1]]
When Qin Mian first learned of this, he had even joked with Zhang Dashuan that he (ZDS) knew how to pick a name.
When they arrived in front of the half-person high fences, Qin Mian saw the door of the main house was opened.
“Is Brother Zhang at home?”
After a while, a tall and big man came out of the house with a smile on his face. “Here. Come in and have a seat.”
Qin Mian and Lei Tie scraped mud off their feet at the door before entering.
“How come you two are free to visit today?” Sister Zhang poured tea for them while asking with a smile.
Zhang Baolu was not at home. Zhang Yimei and Zhang Erli were a little timid and clung to Sister Zhang.
Qin Mian handed the snacks in his hand to Sister Zhang, “This is a snack that I made up myself at home to give to the children.”
Sister Zhang and Zhang Dashuan looked at each other and burst into laughter. In their eyes, Qin Mian himself was still a child. Thus, it sounded especially funny.
The relationship between the two families was good. Sister Zhang politely received it and opened it. “If every time you come here and bring food, be careful that the children might run to your house every day. How to make this? It looks quite nice and smells good.”
Qin Mian disagreed and said: “Simple. It’s called sweet guozi[2]. When mixing flour, adds some sugar in, kneads the dough into small lumps, roll it in sesame seeds, and then fry it.”
Fried food required oil, which no one would eat aside from during New Year and festivals. From this, Sister Zhang thought deeply that not only Qin Mian had a good relationship with Lei Tie, but Qin Mian also managed their family.
Seeing that the two children were staring at the oil paper package, she gave them each a small handful and wrapped up the rest. “Quickly thanks Uncle Qin.”
“Thank you, Uncle Qin.” The two little children held the guozis in hands and happily ran out to play.
“Are you coming for something today?” Zhang Dashuan asked. Knowing that Lei Tie didn’t like to talk, he simply didn’t look at the man, but asked Qin Mian.
Qin Mian said that he was going to open a restaurant and wanted to hire people to make bamboo sticks.
Lei Tie was drinking tea on the side with the attitude that said he followed Qin Mian’s decision in everything.
Sister Zhang was overjoyed. “This is a good thing. Our family head has been thinking about going to the town or the county for work these two days. Look, your two brothers still keep you in mind.”
Zhang Dashuan was also happy. At the moment, the farmers were idle. Many people went to the town to look for work, but they might not be able to find one. In addition, some jobs were tiring and the pay was little.
“Make bamboo sticks, simple, and hands over to me.”
Having said that, Qin Mian still wanted to make the request clear, “The pay is according to the number of bamboo sticks. A hundred bamboo sticks is paid for 10 Wen and because they are for food, the bamboo sticks can’t have bamboo spines. It is not clear how the business will be in the first few days of opening, but first prepared 400 bamboo sticks on the first day. 100 of them should be painted with red paint at one end of the stick. After that, how much sticks to paint red depends on the actual situation.”
Bamboos grown everywhere, it costed nothing; this was a business without any cost. Zhang Dashuan and Sister Zhang wouldn’t decline, thus they nodded at the same time.
“You guys seek me because you guys trust me, so I’ll definitely do it to your satisfaction.” Zhang Dashuan promised.
Coming out from the Zhang’s house, Lei Tie went to find a well digger. Qin Mian had nothing to do, so he went with Lei Tie and they got things done.
The next day, four well diggers came to work in the yard. Qin Mian and Lei Tie couldn’t help and didn’t go to add to the mess.
Qin Mian recalled the water pressure well he had seen in the countryside in his previous life and drew a structural diagram. He planned to take it to the iron shop to build it immediately, but he changed his mind and put the drawing into the space for later discussion.
Unexpectedly, not long after breakfast, a rare guest came to their home.
“Eldest brother, eldest sister-in-law.” Lei Xiangzhi had a warm smile on his face.
“Fifth brother has come back. Come in and sit down.” Qin Mian warmly welcomed him. He had heard many times that Lei Xiangzhi was a good at learning. He would participate in the county level imperial exam in February next year and very likely to win a Xiucai[3]. As the saying went, ‘things could be handled easily with having someone in the Imperial Court’, it was necessarily to make a good relationship with such talented people.
The trio sat in the living room. Lei Tie rarely took the initiative to care about the youngest brother, “Today’s holiday?”
“Yes. I’ll go back to school again tomorrow morning.” Lei Xiangzhi held a teacup as he answered his older brother respectfully.
Lei Tie said: “We have an ox cart. I’ll send you off tomorrow.”
“Alright, thank you very much, eldest brother.” Lei Xiangzhi gladly accepted.
After the basic greetings, Lei Tie was silent.
Lei Xiangzhi looked at the osmanthus trees in the yard. “The house of eldest brother and eldest sister-in-law has changed a lot. I can see that you two are doing well. The other brothers and I can be at ease.”
Qin Mian cheerfully said: “The change is quite big. You and your other brothers can visit when you guys are free.”
Lei Xiangzhi nodded, looked at him and was about to speak, but saying nothing.
Qin Mian said: “Fifth brother came here because of the rumors circulating in the village?”
Lei Xiangzhi was taken aback. Subconsciously, he avoided Qin Mian’s sharp eyes. After thinking that he had no malice, he met Qin Mian’s eyes again. With a helpless expression, he said frankly: “Such is the case. This little brother knows that there has been a long-standing conflict between eldest brother, father and mother. I dare not ask eldest brother and eldest sister-in-law to forgive them, only hopes that it will not break the mutual affection between us brothers and little sister.”
Lei Tie was silent without words.
“Of course.” Qin Mian nodded and motioned to Lei Xiangzhi to drink the tea. “Fifth brother is knowledgeable and reasonable. I think you know that this contradiction is difficult to reconcile, so it is not as good as to let nature take its course. Your eldest brother is not unreasonable. You guys are still brothers and sister. Just, I’ll speak out of turn and ask fifth brother not to take offense.”
When Lei Xiangzhi heard his extraordinary speech and on point wording, he knew that his family had looked down on the teenager before. He stood up and bowed with hands folded in front as he said: “Eldest sister-in-law’s counsel, Xiangzhi dares not ignore. There will be no harm for eldest sister-in-law to say it.”
“Don’t regard me as a stranger. Sit down.” Qin Mian was fond of this child and didn’t mind giving him more advice, “If possible, fifth brother should persuade father and mother often. 《The Book of Rites》said ‘to govern the country and bring peace to all, one should first be able to govern one’s family; to govern one’s family successfully, one should first learn to govern oneself’. The family’s reputation is related to fifth brother’s examination as an official. If fifth brother can’t ‘govern one’s family successfully’, how will others think of you?
Judging from today’s situation, even if you brothers are separated in the future, father and mother most probably will follow you. After all, the old parents are big on leaning upon benefits. The sooner you deal with them, the better. There is no need for me to say much about the principle within it.”
Lei Xiangzhi nodded and faintly smiled, “Thank you for your advice. I understand. The child that father and mother most care about is me. In other words, I’m the one who can keep them within bounds. Eldest sister-in-law can rest assured. After I go back, I’ll give them a detailed justification.”
“That’s exactly what I meant.” Qin Mian nodded approvingly.
After chatting with him, Lei Xiangzhi only felt that his downheartedness had dissipated a lot. He stood up and said: “Eldest brother and eldest sister-in-law are still busy here, so I won’t disturb you guys anymore.”
“You wait first.” Qin Mian walked into the bedroom. When he came out, he had two small silver ingots and two oil paper packages, and handed them to Lei Xiangzhi. “A few days ago, your eldest brother said he would like to support his youngest brother’s study. You take these two silver taels. It isn’t much, but it’s your eldest brother’s regard. These snacks are for you bring home to try.”
Lei Xiangzhi refused to accept, “No need, father and mother give me enough money.”
Qin Mian put things into his hand, “Take it, be a man and get it over with, don’t be like an overly caring woman.”
Woman… Lei Xiangzhi was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
Lei Tie indisputably said: “Just take it.”
Lei Xiangzhi had to take it.
Qin Mian said: “Don’t tell others about this money, keep it to yourself.”
Lei Xiangzhi nodded: “I understand.”
He put the money into his sleeve pocket, bid farewell to his eldest brother and sister-in-law, and went far away. He walked along in a leisurely way while thinking about how to persuade Du Shi. Before he even reached the gate of his home, he saw Du Shi and two women of her age with hands on their hips, traded insults at each other. There was also a circle of people watching the fun. “Why is this old hag scolding me? A thing that didn’t give birth to a son! My son will be a Xiucai next year. Where is your son, ah?”
After hearing this, the initially high spirited woman’s red face turned white. She screamed and rushed at Du Shi, “AHH— EMBROIDERER DU! WHAT ELSE CAN YOU DO WITH YOUR MOUTH APART FROM SWEARING AND TALK CRAP? I’LL TEAR YOUR MOUTH!”
Note:
[1]张宝路 [Zhang Baolu] Bao= treasure/precious; lu=path/journey
张一美 [Zhang Yimei] Yi=One/First; Mei=beautiful
张二丽 [Zhang Erli] Er=Two/second; Li=beautiful
[2] 果子 [guǒ zi] is fruit, but since it is a snack, I leave it in pinyin bcuz I couldn’t find a suitable name for it.
[3] 秀才[xiù cai] a person who has passed the county level imperial exam (historical); scholar; skillful writer; fine talent
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