If Mi Niang heard these words last night, she might have accepted his intentions willingly.
“I need some time to think,” Mi Niang hesitated. Bahu and his old man turned the world upside down to help his mother vent her anger. She admired such a man, much more than those silent ones who just stood there watching his mother get beaten up.
“What? What else do you need to think about?” Bahu didn’t know what to do next if Mi Niang accepted him. But if she didn’t nod, he would be on edge again.
“You can hesitate, why can’t I?” Mi Niang took the milk pot from his hands, proudly raising her head. “Continue to bring it to me tomorrow night.”
Others cursed him for being unfilial and disobedient, and Bahu cared about the gossip outside. Subconsciously, Mi Niang didn’t want to say that their father-son relationship affected her perception of him.
“Tired of it, aren’t you?” Bahu couldn’t help but smile.
Mi Niang ignored him, her face slightly red, and she ran towards her waiting companions, Pandi and Bai Mei. Bahu watched her go, turned around, and lifted his wet pants, preparing to wade through the water. As he took a step into the water, he suddenly looked to the left, realizing a man had been standing behind the cow dung pile for who knows how long.
The two men stared at each other like rutting male camels, mutually resentful, wishing they could kill each other with their eyes.
“Don’t look for her anymore, she fancies me,” Bahu warned coldly, a subtle hint of satisfaction in his words.
He remained silent, gave a wry smile, and quickly walked away.
“Is it settled then?” Away from the river, Pandi teased with a smirk.
“Well, more or less,” Mi Niang said indifferently.
“Then why do you still look like this? Are you dissatisfied with him? Don’t want to get married?” Pandi stopped for a moment, looking towards the densely packed felt bags not far away. Except for the dead of night, whenever someone was awake, this place could never be quiet. There was always the noise of trivial arguments, chicken feathers, and garlic skins flying around.
“Bahu’s family conditions are much better than where we live. If you can move, then move,” Pandi’s eyes revealed a hint of confusion. She didn’t know what her future would be like or what kind of man she would marry.
Seeing that they were not far from the felt bags, Mi Niang raised her finger and whispered, “Stop talking; there are outsiders around.”
“This might not be an outsider. In the future, you two will be sisters-in-law,” Pandi laughed, noticing that Mi Niang didn’t seem to like hearing that. “Enough about that. Bai Mei and I will help you keep it a secret.”
As night fell, milk boiled in the pot, and in the dark gray ceramic jar, white bubbles simmered. Holding a bowl of lukewarm milk, Yinshi gently blew on it, “Do you have sugar? My mouth is bland, and I want to drink something sweet.”
“No, but there’s salt.” Sugar was a precious commodity, and Mi Niang and the others never thought about buying such a thing.
“Never mind then.” Yinshi sighed, feeling a bit out of sorts, and asked, “Mi Niang, didn’t you say Bahu can’t be free? How did he manage to give you this milk?”
“Sister Yinshi, you might have misunderstood. This isn’t specifically sent by Bahu for your pregnancy.” Mu Xiang, unaware of the evening incident at the river between Bahu and Mi Niiang, spoke straightforwardly, “We’ve been drinking it every night before you came; it’s delivered by the servants from Bahu’s house.”
“Does Bahu know about this?” Yinshi asked, sitting up straight.
“I know,” Mi Niang lightly tapped the rim of the bowl, “We wouldn’t secretly touch things in his house, and we wouldn’t stop him from seeing you. Sister Yinshi, do you urgently need to see him? We can go and pass on a message for you.”
“No, it’s not necessary.” Yinshi lowered her eyes and smiled, “I was just anxious. I don’t know the situation outside. If I say something wrong, don’t take it to heart.”
“Anxious about what? We won’t harm you,” Lan Niang muttered. She looked at Yinshi strangely, wondering about the attitude of a new daughter-in-law who was not recognized by her in-laws in a foreign land. What was the point of putting on airs in front of those who had no family or power? True, they were poor and unfortunate, with no relatives or influence, but they had never received a single grain of rice from Yinshi.
Yinshi’s face immediately turned unpleasant after this retort. She put down the bowl and stood up, saying, “My back has been aching all day from lying down. I’m going for a walk.”
“Don’t go too far,” Mi Niang instructed.
Yinshi didn’t listen. With fewer people around at night, she walked towards the dark area, her hand supporting her back, lost in thought as she heard the fragmented words carried by the wind. To think that she would experience such things after coming to the Northern Wastes; even if she had to abandon Mandu Ratu, she couldn’t have come. However, it was also good; with this experience, Mandu Ratu had given up on returning to the Northern Wastes. They could peacefully spend the second half of their lives together after the turmoil of Dakang.
“Does she know about your relationship with Bahu and want to flaunt her superiority in front of you?” Pandi leaned in next to Mi Niang, whispering in her ear.
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
“I’m not talking nonsense. I’ve seen her secretly sizing you up more than once. When she talks to you, she has this condescending attitude.” Pandi rolled her eyes. Apart from Mi Niang, who cared for her despite being pregnant, who else bothered with her?
Mi Niang remained silent. Given the current situation, even if she succeeded with Bahu, she would rarely have the opportunity to interact with Yinshi. She saw no reason to fuss over trivial matters with a pregnant woman.
“The temper of a pregnant woman is strange. Let’s give in a bit. In a few days, Bahu will come and take her away,” Mi Niang glanced at the blurry figure getting farther away, stood up, and shouted, “Lan Niang, don’t go too far when it’s dark. Be careful not to fall.”
“Why borrow my name?” Lan Niang complained.
Two more days passed, and Bahu’s father came for a visit, taking away two male servants without any gain.
“Do you think Bahu has set his eyes on the refugee who came fleeing?” Ang Qin, upon hearing from the servants that Bahu had been getting close to a refugee girl these days, even giving her meat and milk, snorted and chuckled. He disdainfully curled his lips, “He can only pick a beggar from the refugees to marry, how embarrassing.”
The male servant remained silent.
“Retribution.” Ang Qin couldn’t hide his satisfaction, but when he thought about his three sons, two of whom married women from the Central Plains, the eldest son married into another family, and the second son married a refugee, the old man’s face instantly darkened again.
Damn it, embarrassing him.
“Uncle Ang Qin, is there any news about Mandu Ratu?” He returned from Xushui and saw Bahu’s father. He greeted him with a friendly smile.
Ang Qin glanced at him and nodded without saying a word. This person seemed familiar, but he couldn’t recall the name. He regretted making a big fuss about finding that rebellious son. It was better to let him quietly run away.
“Don’t pay attention to Mandu Ratu’s news anymore. Also, regarding Bahu’s matters, pretend you don’t know, and don’t mention it to the madam.” Ang Qin instructed the two servants, treating it as if he only had one son, Agula.
“Uncle Ang Qin, I heard that Bahu is interested in a refugee from the south…” He knew that this old man cared about his reputation, and was thinking about how to induce him to have a conflict with Bahu, preferably tarnishing the reputation of his mistress.
This statement hit Ang Qin’s sore spot, and he immediately interrupted him, disgustedly spat, “Stop pretending, damn it. Just because you’re smiling, doesn’t mean I don’t know what you’re up to. Playing tricks with me? When I was fooling around, you were still squatting in your mother’s lap.”
His face turned purple with anger, too scared to utter a word. He gritted his teeth, wishing he could break this old man’s bones. However, with two strong servants by his side, he forced down his resentment, angrily lashing the horse’s buttocks.
Feeling utterly wronged, he went to Xushui hoping to find some lecherous scoundrels to cause trouble for his mistress. While some showed interest, they hesitated, claiming tight family constraints. On the way back, he encountered the old drunkard again, attempting to play his old trick, only to be scolded by the old man again. The fire in his heart burned stronger.
As Ang Qin left with his men, Bahu quickly followed on his horse-drawn carriage, turning west after crossing the river. Many people saw him along the way, but none dared to initiate a conversation. Anyone who dared to beat their father to death would make anyone uneasy.
Bahu tightened his face; scenes of being rejected and cursed behind his back were not something he could completely ignore, no matter how accustomed he was to them. Why wasn’t his father condemned and cursed when he beat his mother? Why wasn’t the drunkard cursed when he was beaten to a pulp? Why wasn’t his father cursed for kicking him out of the house when he was not yet fourteen?
Ying Niang sat on the doorstep, seeing Bahu with a gloomy face and, a cold glint in his eyes, chilling her to the bone. Unable to withstand it, she scrambled back into the felt bag, intending to push the door closed, but a large hand squeezed through the crack.
“Don’t recognize me?” Bahu was puzzled and said to the person inside who heard the commotion, “Hurry up, I’ll take you to find Mandu Ratu.”
“Okay, okay.” Yinshi quickly got up, put on her shoes, and grabbed a quilt as she walked out.
Bahu glanced at her, went inside, casually rolled up the felt, and walked out holding it. As he left, he said to Ying Niang, “I’m taking her away; let Mi Niang know.”
“I don’t want this.” Yinshi sat in the carriage, watching Bahu bring the rolled-up felt over. She waved her hand disdainfully, “It’ll get dirty on the ground. I won’t take it with me. Leave it for them to use.”
“If you think it’s dirty, why leave it for others to use? They’re not beggars.” Bahu insisted on stuffing the felt behind the car door, closed the door, and thought to himself, Mandu Ratu said the Yin family runs a tavern, but why does Yinshi still act so petty?
Someone noticed Bahu driving towards the felt bag where Mi Niang and the others lived, stopped for a short while, and then turned south. After the carriage had gone far, someone came to ask Ying Niang what was going on.
“I don’t know. He suddenly came over and scared me half to death, looking like he wanted to eat someone.” Ying Niang patted her chest, still scared, and said, “He came to ask Mi Niang where Da Huang (the dog) was taken. I told him, and then he left.”
No one would have expected a seven-year-old like Ying Niang to lie without changing her expression. The person who came to inquire muttered a few words and left disappointed. It was evident that they were not satisfied with this answer.
He heard the news that Bahu wasn’t at home from a woman he usually bought meat from that evening. His hand shook, and he cut an extra half pound of meat for the woman.
“Oh, I only bought a pound of meat. I didn’t bring much money with me.”
“If it’s extra, it’s extra. Consider it an extra for you.” His dark thoughts couldn’t help but surge, but on the surface, he maintained a kind and generous appearance.
“That’s great.” The woman, happy with the extra half pound, said with a smile, “The shopkeeper is generous. I’ll come to buy from you next time.”
He didn’t pay much attention to her words. After seeing off the meat-buying woman, he promptly closed his shop and swaggered towards the west side of the river to inquire about Mi Niang’s whereabouts.
