RMCF: Chapter 63

 

Chapter 63

When Zhang Fangyuan returned home after buying livestock, he spotted Liu Xianglan walking back along the ridge, carrying a blac carp. He figured she must have come by the house.

He didn't call out to her or say anything, just went home on his own. Seeing the extra old hen in the yard, he laughed.

“The sun must have risen in the west. My mother-in-law actually brought something over.”

Xu He was washing rice. He glanced at the man. “But she never takes a loss. She took a fish with her.”

“No matter. I caught plenty from the river anyway.” They'd eaten their fill the past couple of days, and there were still many left in the vat. Xu He had already planned to take them to the tea stall to sell, either live or as cooked dishes. Fish were cheap anyway, not worth much. 

“Found any suitable livestock?”

“Yeah. People around here know about my business now, so it's much easier than before. As soon as I enter a village, people call out to me.”

But then he sighed slightly.

“Yesterday, Chen Si came to me. He wants to learn this trade.”

Xu He's brow furrowed slightly at this. He knew the recent rainstorm had damaged crops, and no family had been spared. The Chen family had a field by the river that got flooded. With so many mouths to feed, once they paid their land tax this year, they might not have enough grain to eat.

Actually, it wasn't just their family—many villagers were worried about this.

When he went out to pick vegetables and ran into villagers, the women and other fulang would grab him and say he was lucky to have married into such a good family. 

Now that he was pregnant, his husband was buying old hens from all over and feeding him well at home. As for them, they had to work in the fields even when six months pregnant, let alone eat well. And now with this natural disaster—when it rains, it pours. Their lives were so hard.

Then they'd start wailing.

Xu He understood that farming families had difficult lives, but crying to him as if their misfortune was his fault didn't make sense.

Of course he knew what these people were thinking. simply felt that he used to be as dull as a grey wall—useless and worse off than them—someone at the bottom to compare themselves to. Now that he had risen above them, made them feel increasingly resentful.

Faced with disaster, instead of thinking about how to remedy the situation and find solutions, they blame heaven and earth. Solving nothing—just making themselves more miserable. 

“It's good that the Chens want to find another way out.” At least they weren't like other families, who besides complaining about fate and cursing the rich, did nothing else.

Zhang Fangyuan squatted by the stove to tend the fire, tossing in some kindling. “I've been thinking—it wouldn't hurt to teach him the trade. After all, I've known him since we were kids, and I know what kind of person he is.”

The trade was Zhang Fangyuan's livelihood. Xu He couldn't make the decision for him, but he said honestly, “From selling pork alone, we can earn from at least three to even five or six taels in a good month, and that's thanks to the fact that we're the only butcher in the village. If there's another one, they'll inevitably take some of our business.”

“Have you thought it through?”

Zhang Fangyuan certainly understood this principle. The truth was, the money from running the meat stall already put them at the top among village households. They could earn a steady income every month, and if they kept at it, business would remain stable, and life would be secure. Add the tea stall's earnings—though it had only been open a short while, it still brought in two or three teals a month. Together, it was quite substantial. 

But you couldn't just count income; you also had to count expenses.

This storm had caused leaks everywhere. Though their house wasn't soaked too badly, a few patches of thatch had been torn from the roof. The other day, when he saw how badly the Chen family had been affected, he realized his own household was already much better off. 

But a couple of days ago, he passed by the landlord's house east of the village. That place had green brick walls and gray tile roofs—not a single leak, not a single tile dislodged. There were even servants sweeping the yard. For the first time, he felt that his own home was too poor and shabby. 

Thinking back to how the family home in his previous life had leaked like a waterfall, he tossed and turned over it and finally decided he still needed to build a house with blue bricks and tiles.

If they built something a bit smaller, the money they had would be enough. But building a house would clean them out. To earn this much again, relying on their two small businesses, he didn't know how many years it would take to save up again.

He told Xu He his thoughts.

Building a green brick house was something Xu He had never dared imagine. Only the landlord in the village had such a house; even the village head hadn't managed to build one. Truth be told, when Zhang Fangyuan brought up the idea, Xu He was quite tempted. "If we clean out our pockets, we can earn it back again. Even if we won’t have money on hand, at least the house itself would be standing there, solid.”

Zhang Fangyuan said, “If we're going to build, we should build a big one.”

“Once you've set your mind on a brick house, there's no such thing as a small one anyway. Even the smallest brick house has five or six rooms. Isn't that enough for four of us?”

Zhang Fangyuan immediately exclaimed, “Where are there only four!”

Xu He laughed. He had forgotten about the one in his belly.

“You and I have a room, Second Aunt and Xiao'e have a room. Besides that, we need at least two more rooms for children—and then a storage room, a main hall, a utility room…” Zhang Fangyuan counted on his fingers. “How could we manage without ten rooms?”

Xu He furrowed his brow as a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. So he wants at least two children. 

“Even with ten rooms, the money should be enough. We can buy the bricks and tiles from the kiln, hire workers from the village, and buy timber locally. That will cut the cost a lot.”

“Then there'd be nothing left. When the children get a little older, we'll have to send them to school—that costs a lot. When they're even older, they'll need to marry—that costs even more.”

Xu He's brow twitched. “They're not even born yet. Aren't you thinking a bit too far ahead?”

“A parent's love for their child means planning for their distant future.”

Xu He was quite happy to hear Zhang Fangyuan's plans. It showed he intended to send the children to school to learn to read and behave properly, not just raise them to do farm work. It gave him hope for them. But, “You're only thinking about sons marrying and having children. What if it's a ger or a girl?” 

“Then they'll need to get married*, won't they? We'd need to prepare more dowry so they can hold their heads up in their husband's family.” Zhang Fangyuan said, “And girls and ger need even better care—can’t be raised as casually as sons.”

*qu / jia (娶 / 嫁) — both mean to marry but, as it was traditionally, the first is for a man to take a wife (娶妻 qu qi — to get married/take a wife) and marry her into the family; and the second is for a daughter to take a husband (嫁人 jia ren — to get married/take a husband) and be married off

Xu He smiled lightly. “So you're thinking of saving the house-building money for the children's future?”

Ever since learning about the pregnancy, Zhang Fangyuan had lain awake night after night thinking about the future. Perhaps many men share the joy of becoming a father, but the surprise and delight was beyond what most could understand. Having once lived a solitary life, dying alone and childless, now that he was given a second chance he found himself particularly attentive to such matters.

“I've thought it over. I want a house, but we can still live in this one. Let's hold steady for now. Use the money to do more business and earn more. Then when we build, we'll have enough and still have something left over, so the children won't have to live a hard life in this village.” 

Xu He was moved. “I'll listen to you. But do you have a plan?”

Zhang Fangyuan said, "I'm planning to take Chen Si on soon and teach him the trade. Once he's ready, he can mind the stall in town, and I can free up my hands to do other things.” 

“Of course, even though we're close, I'm not teaching him for free.”

During the apprenticeship period, he wouldn't pay any wages. After Chen Si finished training, Zhang Fangyuan would hand over the stall to him but take a thirty percent cut of the profit each month.

It might seem like he was making money for nothing, but he had paved the entire road ahead. He wasn't about to do a losing business. 

Hearing his plan, Xu He nodded. “That sounds good.”

After getting his wife's approval, Zhang Fangyuan went to the Chen household.

Chen Si was overjoyed to hear his proposal. “Good, done!”

Zhang Fangyuan said, “Don't agree so readily. Think it over properly and talk to your family about it.”

Chen Si sighed, however, and asked Zhang Fang to step outside with him, saying they were going for a stroll, but really because he couldn't speak freely at home.

“If it weren't so hard, I wouldn't have come seek you out. I know with He Ger just pregnant, you must have a lot going on.” Chen Si put his hands on his hips, his brow furrowed tight. “After I got married, my eldest Sister-in-law started pestering my brother to split the family. Her family is well-off and provides her with some financial support, so it’s only natural she’d want to split up.”

“The family hasn't had a good year. My brother got married a few months before me, and then I followed right after—the household money was all used up. My parents advised my Sister-in-law that we should pay the taxes and wait for the autumn harvest to get back on our feet. They said it would be easier to divide the family property then. But who knew that such heavy rain would come.” 

“With things getting tough at home, my Sister-in-law is kicking up a fuss again. She won't do any work all day, just bullies Lin Ger. And my brother also can't see straight. To be honest, I want to separate and live apart too, but the family has no money, and I have no money either. If we split, we'd have nowhere to live.” 

Zhang Fangyuan knew the Chen household wasn't harmonious. With many siblings, there was bound to be trouble. Madam Chen had a soft temper and wasn't the type to bully her daughters-in-law, but unfortunately, she'd gotten a fierce one, and the household had been in chaos ever since.

He and Xu He had been staying at home these days, and often heard arguing from the Chen family's courtyard, loud enough to reach their walls. More than once, Chen Si's fulang had run out crying, and the couple would wander outside for a long while before going back home.

“If I had some kind of work, I could build a mud-brick house quickly, like your tea stall. Separating then, never mind the rest, at least Lin Ger wouldn’t have to put up with so much.”

Chen Si understood the reason his sister-in-law pushed Lin Ger around was that he didn't earn much. In a household, besides having a naturally strong personality, you also need money to stand tall.

By learning the trade from Zhang Fangyuan, he could earn something, and it was only right that Zhang Fangyuan made demands. Even students had to pay their teachers.

“It's good that you're thinking that way.” Finding a way out for the family was a good thing, especially when it was for the sake of giving his ger a better life—that showed real responsibility. 

Zhang Fangyuan genuinely wanted to help him out. In the end, both just wanted to make a life for their own families. He patted Chen Si on the shoulder. “Tomorrow morning, come with me to Zaojiao Village to slaughter a pig. After that, we'll go straight to town.” 

 

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