Wen Wan sat under the jujube tree, sorting beans.
Inside the house, her stepmother, Mrs. Zhou, was speaking softly with her mother, Mrs. Wu.
Mrs. Wu said, "Your stepdaughter will be sixteen after the new year, right?"
Mrs. Zhou, sitting cross-legged on the kang, was doing needlework, and upon hearing her mother's words, she lifted her eyelids slightly and responded with an 'um'.
Mrs. Wu, seeing Mrs. Zhou's indifferent demeanor, couldn't help but feel anxious for her daughter, "How is it that no one has come yet to discuss a marriage?"
Mrs. Zhou shook her head, "Not yet!"
"Why aren't you worried?" Mrs. Wu's voice became more intense.
Mrs. Zhou glanced out the window to ensure Wen Wan couldn't hear the conversation between the two women, then lowered her voice, "Why be anxious? It's better she stays home, handling everything inside and out, as her stepmother, I can take it easy. If she leaves, who will do all this work at home? The cattle and sheep, do I expect to manage them all myself?"
Mrs. Wu clapped her thigh in disapproval, "Oh, my dear daughter, you must think beyond the present and consider Shunzi."
Wen Shun is the name of Wen Wan's stepbrother.
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Zhou paused in her action of biting the thread, and looked at Mrs. Wu, "Mother, what do you mean?"
Mrs. Wu, thinking of recent events in her village, couldn't hold back her envy, "Do you remember that poor scholar from our village?"
"Wasn't he the one who failed the scholarly exams for several years and had his marriage canceled by the wealthy master himself?"
"That's right. You know, a few years ago, he vowed to the town's rich master, promising he would pass and then marry his daughter.
Eventually, he failed the exams miserably. Ning's wealthy master's daughter waited from a young girl to an adult; how could she not be angry? Ning's wealthy master has a temper too, and without any hesitation, went to cancel the marriage.
That scholar became the laughingstock of our village. He tried the provincial exam again this year, and guess what happened?"
Mrs. Zhou widened her eyes, "Did he pass?"
Mrs. Wu's voice was tinged with sourness, "Just yesterday, they held a banquet, and your father went for a drink. He said several wealthy merchants from the town came to bring gifts to Mr. Scholar! Half the hall was piled up; good heavens, they were all valuable."
Mrs. Zhou listened with enthusiasm, "Passing the scholar's exam can have such benefits?"
"Why else call that poor scholar 'Mr. Scholar'? If he passes, he has a chance to become an official in the county government. Who wouldn't try to curry favor, especially those businessmen, they're crafty, tying up connections now to have someone to rely on later." Mrs. Wu looked at her daughter, "I say, you should send Shunzi to study. Who knows, he might earn a title and bring you honor, become Scholar's Mother, hang fields for benefits, and you won't worry about food and clothes anymore?"
In the Great Chu Dynasty, a scholar's land could be tax-exempt for four hundred acres, exempts eight people from corvée labor.
Therefore, if one passes the exams, people from far and wide will come, begging to have their land under the scholar's name for tax reduction, and those without relations will seek exemption from labor through connections.
After hanging it for several years, even if a scholar doesn't become an official, he remains a wealthy master with no worries about food and clothing.
Mrs. Zhou, though envious, curled her lips, "You speak nicely, but where would we find the money to pay for his studies? A year's tuition costs two silver taels, and even selling a pig raised all year only amounts to two taels. If it all goes to him, how do we live this life?"
Mrs. Wu thought of something, glanced at Wen Wan sitting quietly outside, and whispered, "Need money? That's easy; marry off Wan Niang, and you'll collect a sum of dowry money, enough for Shunzi to study for years."
Seeing Mrs. Zhou's hesitation, Mrs. Wu seized on it and added fuel to the fire, saying Wan Niang, who lost her mother young and is mute, couldn't spit out a word even under pressure. It's fortunate if someone wants her, who would care for being picky?
And also mentioning that last year, Limp Wang from their village lost his wife, his family has lots of paddy fields, he couldn't handle them alone, so he leased them out, now living off rent. Limp Wang hasn't remarried yet, he's noticed Wan Niang and already expressed that as long as Wan Niang agrees to marry and serve him, the dowry is negotiable, offering two acres of paddy fields and adding five silver taels.
Upon hearing this, Mrs. Zhou felt tempted.
Limp Wang's few acres of paddy fields have good location, being high-yield fields, costing five silver taels per acre if buying. If given two acres, adding five taels of silver, it amounts to a profitable and loss-free deal.
...
Before leaving, Mrs. Zhou specifically went to the vegetable garden to pick some cucumbers and eggplants for Mrs. Wu.
Having conveyed Limp Wang's interest in Wan Niang and put on a little show for her daughter, Mrs. Wu, carrying the basket, contentedly walked out of the hall and stopped beside Wen Wan. Her voice carried a loving elder's tone, "Wan Niang, sorting beans?"
Wen Wan looked up to meet Mrs. Wu's smiling eyes and nodded.
Mrs. Wu squatted down and patted Wen Wan's hand, "Good girl, you look so lovely, I'm sure you'll marry into a good family and live a happy life."
When Mrs. Wu's hand touched Wen Wan's, a strong premonition suddenly surged in Wen Wan's heart. She foresaw being tormented to death by a man with a lame leg.
Regarding this strange sense of foreboding, since having her voice burned out by a high fever at age three, Wen Wan was already accustomed to it, unable to speak from then on but always able to anticipate and avoid any impending troubles.
In the autumn of her fifth year during potato harvest, she foresaw being bitten by a snake if she went, so she feigned illness to stay home, avoiding for a day. That evening Father Wen told her a snake appeared in the field as they dug potatoes, which he killed with a hoe.
When she was eight years old, Hehua from next door invited her to herd cattle. She had a premonition that she would lose the cattle and get beaten when she returned, so she found an excuse to follow Father Wen into the fields. Mrs. Zhou went to herd the cattle and came back crying in the evening saying the cattle were lost.
The summer before last, on a day with not a cloud in the sky, she had a premonition that the roof of her bedroom would be destroyed by a rainstorm that night, and she would catch a cold and fever. So, during the day, she asked Father Wen to help reinforce the tiles on the roof, and sure enough, there was a storm that night. She curled up under her quilt, secretly relieved.
Though her previous premonitions were unpleasant, they never endangered her life.
Yet this time, she had a premonition that she was going to die.
Wen Wan couldn't speak, but she wasn't stupid.
She had the premonition the moment Mrs. Wu touched her, indicating this matter was related to Mrs. Wu.
Without a word, Wen Wan withdrew her hand and took the prepared beans to the well to wash them.
Since she couldn't speak, she didn't have to worry about being impolite.
Mrs. Wu glanced at the silent girl, sneering coldly in her heart: just keep you for a few more days, and then sell you for a good price!
...
Wen Shun had gone somewhere wild and returned covered in mud, following Father Wen closely home at dusk.
At the dinner table, Wen Shun kept insisting on going to study.
During the day, he had been at Little Fatty's house, and saw Little Fatty's father braising meat for him, saying it was to help scholars nourish their brains.
Seeing that studying meant having meat to eat, Wen Shun couldn't sit still and shouted even louder.
Father Wen disagreed, saying there was no money.
Wen Shun wouldn't have it, and in a fit of anger ran out, accidentally falling into the river. By the time they found him, he was half dead, had a fever, and in his delirium, kept mumbling about wanting to study.
Mrs. Zhou wept at her son's suffering.
Seeing his son like this, Father Wen's hard heart softened, and he relented, "Since he wants to study, then we'll send him to the village school. At worst, I'll sell the cattle."
Mrs. Zhou disagreed, "If you sell the cattle, what about spring plowing next year?"
Father Wen said, "We'll borrow from his uncle's house. They have two cattle and can spare one."
Mrs. Zhou saw Father Wen was determined to sell the cattle for Wen Shun's education, and she panicked. While Father Wen was out, she called Wen Wan to help look after Wen Shun, saying she needed to go back to her parents' house.
When Mrs. Zhou met her mother Mrs. Wu, she didn't even have time for a glass of water, hastily saying, "Mom, Shunzi's father wants to sell the cattle for Shunzi to study, you have to find a way to have Limp Wang send a matchmaker for a proposal. Otherwise, if the cattle are really sold, we won't be able to get by."
Mrs. Wu patted her daughter's hand reassuringly, "Don't worry, since Limp Wang has already spoken, he's definitely going to marry Wan Niang. You go back and wait for news, I'll go to Limp Wang's house now."
...
The day Father Wen was going to sell the cattle, he hadn't left yet when a matchmaker from the neighboring village came to the door, smiling from ear to ear. After greeting Father Wen, the matchmaker directly stated her purpose and emphasized that as long as Wen Wan agrees to marry, Limp Wang would give two acres of paddy fields and five taels of silver as a dowry.
Mrs. Zhou was in the kitchen making porridge for her son who had just recovered from a serious illness. Upon hearing the matchmaker's words, she wiped her hands on her apron and came out, asking the matchmaker, "Is this person reliable?"
The matchmaker patted her chest and guaranteed, "If you don't believe it, ask around. Other than Limp Wang's left leg being crippled, what else is wrong with him? His wife died early, otherwise, your Wan Niang wouldn't have the chance."
The words were unpleasant, and Father Wen was about to refuse when the matchmaker spoke again, "After the New Year, your Wan Niang will be sixteen. At her age, if you delay another year or two, you'll only be in the position of being chosen by others. Besides, Limp Wang has fields and a house, Wan Niang marries there and can live a good life from the start. What are you still worried about? If you miss this village, where will you find that shop?"
Father Wen was silent, his grip on the cattle slackening.
At lunchtime, Wen Wan came back from collecting firewood on the mountain. Just as she put down her basket and took a breath, Father Wen came over and told her about the matchmaker's proposal in the morning.
Father Wen sighed, "I had hoped to keep you for a couple more years since your birth mother died early, but I'm afraid if I delay your age, you won't find a good family in the future."
Wen Wan pressed her lips tightly and clenched her fingers.
If Limp Wang was a good man, she might have agreed, but she had a premonition that she would be tormented to death by that man. How could she foolishly agree to the marriage?
She neither nodded nor shook her head, pondering how to escape this arranged marriage.
Father Wen saw she didn't respond and softly called, "Wan Niang?"
Wen Wan looked up and gestured to Father Wen, indicating she needed some time to think it over.