Several pairs of eyes in the kitchen swiveled toward the doorway. A tall, slender woman stepped inside—it was Xie Yushu.
She had been at home, enjoying her sweet red bean bun, when halfway through, a terrible wailing pierced the air. She stepped outside to trace the source and found it coming from the house diagonally across from hers.
The sound was truly grating to the ears.
She’d only been here a few days, and the original owner hadn’t grown up here either, so naturally she didn’t know the neighbors. Without much thought, curiosity drove her to check out what was happening.
Xie Yushu stood outside the kitchen, eavesdropping for a while, and pieced together that the two families were relatives, and that one household had a sick person. The visiting family was shamelessly demanding things, speaking with utter entitlement and no sense of shame. It made her blood pressure spike. She couldn’t help but intervene.
She looked at the father-daughter pair, her eyes immediately locking onto the little girl, who barely reached her waist—she was the one wailing.
The little girl, intimidated by Xie Yushu’s fierce expression, clung to her father’s leg and hid behind him.
Xie Yushu turned her gaze to Cai Zhi, putting on a look of sudden realization. “Well, well. In these prosperous, bountiful times, I didn’t expect to see beggars. Begging right in someone’s home, no less.”
“A big beggar leading a little beggar—how utterly shameless.”
Cai Zhi, flustered by this unfamiliar woman’s words, blurted out, “W-Who are you?!”
Xie Yushu couldn’t be bothered to look at him. “Who I am is none of your business.”
Cai Zhi’s face reddened as he retorted, “This is between me and Chi-ge’er—family matters! Outsiders have no right to interfere!”
Chi-ge’er? That name sounded familiar.
Xie Yushu finally looked up at Su Chi, and it all clicked—name and face matched.
So this was the Chi-ge’er the people on the ox-cart had been talking about—the bun stall owner from town. What a coincidence—he was her neighbor too.
She’d be eating well from now on, able to enjoy his buns regularly.
Since he was a neighbor—and one who made delicious buns—she couldn’t just stand by and watch him get bullied by his rotten relatives.
Xie Yushu shot back at Cai Zhi, “Who wants to meddle in your family affairs? But your little beggar here was wailing so loud it’s disturbing the peace—understand?”
Disturbing the peace? Cai Zhi didn’t know what that meant and didn’t care to find out. This woman was just sticking her nose where it didn’t belong.
And who was she calling a beggar?
Cai Zhi glared at her angrily, but he knew he was in the wrong, and his face flushed even redder.
Xie Yushu pressed on: “He already told you there’s a sick person at home who needs nourishment—are you deaf? Even if there were no sick person, if he says he doesn’t want to give, you can’t keep forcing him! I’ve never seen anyone so brazen. Even beggars don’t barge into people’s homes and snatch things!”
Cai Zhi was so furious he could barely breathe. He steadied himself and shot one more venomous glare at Xie Yushu, his lips moving but unable to form a retort.
Seeing that the fish head had stirred up trouble—and that this woman had appeared out of nowhere—today’s haul was clearly a lost cause. Cai Zhi took his little daughter’s hand and headed for the door.
At the gate, the little girl tugged at his sleeve: “Father, are we not getting the buns? I still want some.” The child’s craving was strong—she couldn’t let go of the idea of big, meaty buns and asked if there was any chance.
Cai Zhi, already fuming, tapped his usually beloved daughter on the forehead and scolded, “Eat, eat, eat—that’s all you know! Are you a beggar or what?”
A moment later, the sound of wailing erupted again from outside, along with Cai Zhi’s veiled curses. After a while, silence returned.
Seeing that they’d finally left, Su Chi let out a breath of relief.
Only two people remained in the kitchen. He’d recognized her from the start—this was the woman who had touched his hand when paying earlier.
Su Chi’s feelings were complicated now—grateful yet guarded. He didn’t know how to start.
It was Xie Yushu who spoke first: “Are you alright?”
Su Chi set down the fish head and said, “I’m fine. Thank you for just now.”
“No problem. We’re neighbors—and I bought your buns this morning. You’re really skilled—your buns are delicious.”
So she remembered him too. Then she… Su Chi’s heart stirred, but he quickly suppressed the shameful thought and pushed it away.
“Does he come to you often—” Xie Yushu almost said “beg,” but since he was still family, that felt harsh, so she changed it to, “—come to take things from you?”
Su Chi paused for a moment, then replied, “Mm.”
Xie Yushu could see he was a man of few words, but he also seemed easy to push around—his relatives had probably gotten away with it many times. She couldn’t stand it and started coaching him on how to get rid of them.
“Next time they come, be fierce. Grab a broom—or anything—and drive them out. Then—”
She was about to teach him how to raise a ruckus to draw the neighbors’ attention and expose the family’s freeloading ways, but she suddenly stopped herself. She remembered he was an unmarried man—such a shrewish display would harm his reputation.
So she softened her advice: “—then shut the door immediately! I doubt they’d dare force their way in.”
Seeing that Su Chi was still standing there in a daze, Xie Yushu told him to take in what she’d said, then said goodbye and returned to her own home.
Only after Xie Yushu left did Su Chi think about the advice she’d given him. It seemed too difficult for him to actually carry out.
And this person—she was a bit strange.
This matter had nothing to do with her, yet she’d still stood up for him, unafraid of getting into trouble. His aunt’s family was no pushover.
For some reason, his mind wandered to the gossip the villagers had been spreading these past few days. There were hardly any unfamiliar faces in the village—she must be the newly arrived Zhai family daughter.
They said she’d lost her job by offending the wrong people, gone to gamble at the gambling house, and lost everything, forcing her to return to her father’s old home.
How much of that was true, he had no way of knowing. The villagers always loved to gossip—they’d turn even baseless rumors into something that sounded real.
Su Chi glanced at the sky. It was getting late. He needed to start the fire and cook dinner.
—
In the Meng family yard, smoke rose from the kitchen as the husband and his youngest son were busy preparing the evening meal.
The husband covered the pot and complained, “Why isn’t your mother back yet? She’s usually home by this hour. Did you ask her to pick up something for you again?”
Meng Dongxue, who was setting out bowls and chopsticks nearby, pouted and whined, “Father, I just asked Mother to bring some thread. That shop isn’t far—she should have been back by now. Besides, we ran out at home, and I wasn’t buying it just for myself.”
“Fine, fine, not your fault. Hurry and take the bowls out.” The husband doted on his youngest son and couldn’t bear to scold him.
Meng Dongxue was the youngest of the Meng family. He had an older sister and an older brother. His sister had already married, and his brother had married into another village—leaving him as the only unmarried man at home. His mother, father, sister, and brother all adored him.
On top of that, the Meng family had fertile land. Meng Su and her daughter were hardworking and skilled, producing good harvests year after year. Their large yard housed plenty of chickens and ducks, well-fed and plump thanks to the husband’s care, and they had no trouble selling them. They were one of the wealthier households in the village.
As a result, Meng Dongxue had never done farm work since birth. He only did light chores at home—embroidering handkerchiefs, weaving cloth, or at most helping his father feed the poultry. He’d grown up fair and delicate, making him one of the most handsome young men in the village.
A noise came from the gate—Meng Su pushing it open.
The husband wiped his hands and went out to greet her. “You’re finally back. What kept you so late today?”
Meng Su walked inside with her husband and explained, “I came back early, but I went to the village chief’s place first.”
“What for?”
“Just asked about a few things.”
Before the husband could ask more, his youngest son’s voice rang out.
“Mother! You’re back! Where’s my stuff?” Meng Dongxue scurried out happily, holding out his hand to Meng Su.
Meng Su pulled out the bundle from her robe and handed it to him. “Here it is. I got all the colors—have a look.”
She’d sold a pair of fat ducks early that morning and had spent a long time picking out threads at the shop, finally getting all the colors her son wanted.
Meng Dongxue counted the thread colors: plum red, apricot yellow, indigo, bean green, and deep purple. This time, they were all there. His face lit up with joy as he dashed back to his room.
“It’s getting late—let’s eat first. We can talk later.” The husband lifted the pot lid and ladled out the food, calling his youngest son out for dinner.
The Meng family’s eldest daughter had gone back to her husband’s family home, so only the three of them were eating tonight.
Near the end of the meal, Meng Su finally brought up the serious matter.
She set down her chopsticks and said to her father and son, “I saw the Zhai family daughter today. I think she’d be a perfect match for our Dongxue.”
Meng Su was the honest-looking woman who’d ridden the same ox-cart as Xie Yushu that morning and struck up a conversation with her.
The husband was startled by her seemingly random remark. “Wh-What?”
Meng Su relayed what she’d asked the village chief, adding, “Her parents are gone, and she’s all alone—young, too. She could marry into our family, and then Dongxue wouldn’t have to suffer in someone else’s home.”
“Mother, what are you talking about?! She’s a gambler!” Meng Dongxue shot up in fierce opposition, the first to disagree.
His understanding of Xie Yushu clearly came from village gossip. He’d heard all kinds of colorful stories these past few days, so naturally, he had a poor impression of her.
And his mother’s talk of a “perfect match”—he didn’t believe it for a second.
Aside from him, his mother had barely seen any good-looking people—let alone beautiful women—yet she claimed it was a match. It was infuriating.
Meng Su tried to reassure him. “Dongxue, I asked the village chief. She said her gambling debts are already paid off, and she’ll settle down and stay away from gambling from now on. You don’t need to worry about that.”
Su Quan had a high reputation in Qingluo Village. Whatever she promised, people believed—and Meng Su trusted her.
“Mother, gamblers don’t change that easily! A gambler could end up drinking and beating her husband!” Meng Dongxue grew more frightened as he spoke, retreating into his father’s arms.
Meng Su waved her hand soothingly. “No, no. My idea is to have her marry into our family—right under our noses. Your father and I will keep an eye on her. She wouldn’t dare step out of line.”
The husband, who doted on his son, told his wife to stop pushing for now.
In the end, Meng Dongxue refused outright. Meng Su sighed and didn’t force him, telling him to think it over.
The Meng family wasn’t the only one with their eyes on Xie Yushu.
The Huang family husband, Maidong, had also gone to ask the village chief about Xie Yushu’s situation and brought it up with Huang Xiaomi later.
Huang Xiaomi was naturally willing to follow his parents’ wishes. He was no longer young and didn’t want his family to keep worrying about his marriage prospects.
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