Chapter 82: Adding People
In the afternoon, Da Zhuang ran over and relayed his great-grandmother’s message: the five Li siblings were invited to their home for dinner.
The whole family had a lively dinner, and Li Yuzhu, Li Yin Zhu, and Li Xiaonan left first. Li Jin Zhu and Li Xuedong were kept behind by Li Shikuan to talk.
Before long, Li Jin Zhu and Li Xuedong returned, still talking.
Li Yuzhu and the other two hurried to surround them.
Before Li Jin Zhu could speak, she started laughing.
“Tang Weng Weng said that it’s indeed not cost-effective to build a new clan school. The clan isn’t well-off, and there aren’t many disciples who need to attend school. It’s best to co-manage it with another family,” Li Jin Zhu said with a smile.
“Is that Tang Weng Weng’s idea? What about the other clan elders?” Li Yuzhu was very surprised.
“Tang Weng Weng’s exact words were: ‘After everyone discusses it’,” Li Xuedong said with a laugh, cutting in before Li Jin Zhu.
“Tang Weng Weng also said that as the clan leader, Xuedong needs to learn to manage clan affairs and must return often in the future. I’ve discussed it with Tang Weng Weng, and from now on, between the first and fifth of each lunar month, Xuedong and I will pick a day to return once to see if there are any clan matters to discuss, and also to look into the clan school and such,” Li Jin Zhu continued.
Li Yuzhu was astonished, and Li Xiaonan was also a bit surprised.
This was quite a concession from Tang Weng Weng and the clan.
The Li family’s Yueyang Preserved Egg Business was set to open on the sixteenth of the first lunar month. On the morning of the fifteenth, Li Jin Zhu, Li Yuzhu, and Li Wenliang’s family of four set off for Pingjiang City.
Li Xuedong, Li Yin Zhu, and Li Xiaonan stayed until the twentieth of the first lunar month. They brought Li Xuemei from the Man character room. One cart was for people, and another cart was for belongings. Li Xuedong rode a mule, and they headed back to Pingjiang City.
Li Shikuan suggested they bring Li Xuemei from the Man character room over to manage household chores. Li Jin Zhu and Li Yuzhu discussed it at length, secretly observed Li Xuemei a few times, and then found excuses to talk to her a few more times before Li Jin Zhu finally agreed.
It was too difficult for A Nan to learn household chores, so bringing Li Xuemei home to manage the household was indeed the best solution.
After returning to Li Family Market for about a month, Li Xiaonan had only played. This matter of Li Xuemei was the first she heard of it; it was a half-joking suggestion from Tang Weng Weng. The second time, it was when Eldest Sister instructed them to bring Li Xuemei along.
The cart stopped in front of Li Xuemei’s elder brother’s house to pick her up, and then they left Li Family Market.
Li Xiaonan, with her hands tucked in her sleeves, carefully observed Li Xuemei, who was huddled in the corner of the cart door.
Tang Weng Weng said she was thirty-three this year, but she looked like she was in her forties or fifties.
Slightly short, thin and gaunt, with slumped shoulders and a hunched neck, her eyes downcast, she huddled in the corner. Her discomfort was such that she seemed entirely superfluous, no matter how or where she placed herself, nothing felt right.
“Move further inside, it’s cold by the door,” Li Yin Zhu said warmly.
“Here is fine, it’s fine here,” Li Xuemei tried to shrink back as much as possible.
Li Xiaonan patted Li Yin Zhu, moved closer, and observed Li Xuemei more closely.
Li Xuemei tensed up as she shrank back.
“Cui Ye said everyone calls you Mei Jie?” Li Xiaonan asked with a smile.
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll call you Mei Jie too. Mei Jie, what happened to your head?” Li Xiaonan leaned forward, carefully looking at a long, diagonal scar above Li Xuemei’s eyebrow, making conversation.
“I was beaten.”
“Who beat you? The Zhang family?”
Li Xuemei’s former in-laws were surnamed Zhang.
“Beaten to induce labor,” Li Xuemei mumbled.
Li Xiaonan froze for a moment.
When she was pursuing her master’s degree, she had worked on a folklore project and heard of a method of beating to induce labor.
“After this attempt to induce labor, you didn’t get pregnant, so you came back?” Li Xiaonan asked, holding her breath slightly.
“Yes.”
Li Xuemei, already tightly curled up, seemed to shrink even smaller.
Li Xiaonan looked at Li Xuemei, who seemed to wish she could disappear, and opened her mouth, but couldn’t say anything.
Li Yin Zhu listened, completely confused. She looked at Li Xiaonan, then at the increasingly withdrawn Li Xuemei. Intuitively, she felt that A Nan’s question had a hidden meaning, and judging by Mei Jie’s reaction, this hidden meaning was not good. She decided not to ask for now.
The three of them fell silent, and the atmosphere in the cart became awkward. Li Yin Zhu looked at the shoe sole in her hand, had a sudden idea, and smiled at Li Xuemei, “Mei Jie, can you sew shoe soles?”
Li Xuemei immediately nodded.
“Then you can sew this one. We need to twist some threads first.”
Li Yin Zhu handed the shoe sole she had just started sewing a few stitches to Li Xuemei, leaned over to get the needlework bundle, and took out a bundle of thread. Li Xuemei quickly picked it up with a needle, and the two of them pulled and twisted, quickly making about ten threads. Li Yin Zhu and Li Xuemei each started sewing a shoe sole.
Li Xiaonan moved aside and watched them.
As Li Yin Zhu sewed the shoe sole, she chatted about how A Nan’s feet were light and didn’t wear out shoes quickly, while Eldest Sister’s feet were heavy and wore out shoes the fastest. With something to do, Li Xuemei gradually relaxed a bit and occasionally replied to a sentence or two.
Both carts were pulled by strong mules and trotted along. The sun was still high in the sky when the group entered Cai Lian Lane.
Li Jin Zhu and Li Yuzhu were not at home. Li Yin Zhu used her key to open the Courtyard Gate. The two cart drivers carried the belongings to the Under the Corridor and rushed back to Li Family Market that night.
The fields were already busy, so they had to hurry back.
Li Xuedong went to the Prefectural School to take a look.
Li Yin Zhu and Li Xuemei quickly tidied up their things.
Li Jin Zhu had already instructed Li Yin Zhu to clear out the room next to the Kitchen for Mei Jie to live in.
Li Yin Zhu and Mei Jie worked together to move the miscellaneous items out of the room, carried in the frame bed that had just been unloaded from the cart, cleaned and scrubbed it, and laid out the Bedding.
Li Xiaonan boiled a kettle of water and made a pot of tea, which was also considered helping.
After tidying up Li Xuemei’s room and organizing the New Year Goods and a pile of things brought from Li Family Market, it was already dark. Li Yin Zhu went into the Kitchen to quickly prepare dinner.
Li Xuemei followed Li Yin Zhu into the Kitchen. Li Yin Zhu reached for a basin, and Li Xuemei quickly snatched it from her hand, “I’ll do it, I’ll do it!”
Li Yin Zhu was wiping the cutting board, and Li Xuemei quickly grabbed the rag, “I’ll do it, I’ll do it!”
Li Xiaonan, sitting by the stove, laughed, “Third Sister, don’t snatch from Mei Jie. You sit here and tell her what to do, and let Mei Jie do it.”
“I don’t have anything to do…” Li Yin Zhu’s words were cut short when she saw Li Xiaonan waving at her. She handed the rag to Li Xuemei and asked Li Xiaonan, “What dishes are for Dinner?”
“Steamed Sausage, Cabbage stewed with pork belly, dried salted eel…”
“Steamed Sausage and stewed pork belly are two meat dishes. We just need to stir-fry a vegetable dish,” Li Yin Zhu interrupted Li Xiaonan.
“Then let’s slice some Salted Eggs,” Li Xiaonan said dejectedly.
Li Yin Zhu gave Li Xiaonan a look and said to Li Xuemei, “Boil the Salted Eggs first. We’ll ask Eldest Sister when she gets back. If Eldest Sister says to slice them, then slice them. You slice the Sausage, and I’ll steam the rice.”
Just as the rice was ready, Li Jin Zhu and Li Yuzhu returned one after the other.
Li Xiaonan and Li Xuedong wiped the Table and got Bamboo Chairs. Li Yin Zhu brought out a full Dish of glistening, transparent Steamed Sausage, a large bowl of Cabbage stewed with pork belly, and a plate of stir-fried radish shreds. Li Xuemei brought over several bowls of rice.
As they sat down, Li Yuzhu saw Li Xiaonan point to five bowls of rice and quickly signaled to Li Yin Zhu, “Ask Mei Jie to come and eat.”
“Mei Jie!”
Li Yin Zhu called out loudly and went into the Kitchen. A moment later, she entered the Main Hall, holding a bowl of rice in one hand and pulling Li Xuemei with the other.
“I’ll eat in the Kitchen, I always eat in the Kitchen…” Li Xuemei was very flustered.
“We’re all family,” Li Jin Zhu said, pressing Li Xuemei to sit down.
Li Yin Zhu handed the bowl to Li Xuemei and sat down next to her.
Li Xuemei was stiff all over, holding the bowl, her head bowed, bringing the bowl to her lips.
Li Yin Zhu picked up a piece of pork belly and put it in Li Xuemei’s bowl.
“Mei Jie, eat it yourself. If you don’t eat, I’ll take a bite and then give you a piece.”
Li Yin Zhu then picked up a piece of Sausage and put it in Li Xuemei’s bowl.
“I’ll eat, I’ll eat…” Li Xuemei’s throat choked up.
………………………………
Explanation of beating to induce labor: In the ignorant past, this was a bad custom in many places. If a daughter-in-law didn’t get pregnant after marrying into the family, the in-laws would get anxious and invite young men from the clan to come at night, masked or with the daughter-in-law’s head and face covered, and beat her, taking turns to do unspeakable things. You understand. If the daughter-in-law then got pregnant, it meant it wasn’t her fault, and the child would be raised as their own. If they didn’t have a son, or felt one son wasn’t enough, they would do it again once or several times. If the daughter-in-law didn’t get pregnant, she would be divorced, or, if they did it again, she would be beaten to death, and they would remarry.
I had fun writing a metaphysical story today.
I owe one chapter and will make it up tomorrow.
