Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It was a small courtyard enclosed by a picket fence.

There were two or three small earthen houses. One wing faced east and another faced west, with a central hall connecting them. Most of the houses in this area shared this layout, though the one before me looked particularly dilapidated.

He set me down in the courtyard.

Children who couldn’t keep a secret had already run to every corner of the village, spreading the news to every household that Brother Mancang had bought a wife.

Quite a few neighbors were peeking out from their houses, their constant chattering and giggling filling the air. I stood in the yard with my head bowed, awkwardly avoiding their gazes.

Noticing my distress, he said, “Let’s go inside.”

Then, he instinctively reached for my hand to lead me, but he pulled back immediately just before we touched. I noticed this and took the initiative to grab his hand.

He startled, his entire body stiffening.

I smiled at him. “Brother, once I step through this door, will I be part of your family from now on?”

His face flushed a deep red instantly. It took a long while before he gave a muffled, “Mm.”

I continued to smile, my voice sweet. “Then you have to be good to me, Brother.”

While his face was burning and he was speechless, I added, “I’ll be good to you too.”

Li Mancang’s face was now completely crimson. His steps were even a bit clumsy as he nodded hurriedly, not even daring to make eye contact.

Just then, a joyful shout came from the inner room. “Big Brother! Big Brother is back!”

It sounded like a young boy.

“That’s my brother,” Li Mancang explained to me, though he still didn’t look my way.

“Granny, Big Brother is back!”

Two people emerged from the inner room: a boy around ten years old and an old woman leaning on a cane.

The air went silent for a moment.

“Mancang,” the old woman said, her voice raspy. “Come here.”

Li Mancang took a few steps forward and called out, “Granny.”

Suddenly, the old woman raised her cane and struck him hard across the back.

I jumped in fright.

Li Mancang let out a muffled groan of pain but didn’t say a word, taking the blow stoically.

“Showing off! I told you not to show off! Spending twenty thousand yuan just like that!”

The old woman spoke in a thick dialect that I could barely understand, though I could vaguely guess her meaning. It was something along the lines of: twenty thousand yuan was their entire life savings, and it was the wrong time to buy a woman; he had wasted that money just to spite someone else.

I didn’t know what to do and stood there, fidgeting.

The old woman suddenly looked up and glared at me, hobbling toward me with her cane.

Li Mancang stood up abruptly and shouted, “Granny!”

The old woman trembled, then muttered a low curse. “You little brat, you really have no conscience left now that you’ve got a wife.

“I have to see for myself if this wife of yours is worth the twenty thousand you spent!”

The old woman stopped in front of me and pulled aside the jacket draped over my shoulders, sizing me up from head to toe. She shook her head as she looked, sighing repeatedly.

“With these thin arms and legs, she clearly isn’t built for childbearing. Never mind working in the fields-can she even give us a big, healthy grandson in the future?”

She pinched my face and said to Li Mancang, “What’s the use of being pretty?

“Go trade her back. In another two years, Granny will buy you one who’s built for breeding.”

Li Mancang’s expression darkened.

“Mangu,” the old woman called out to Li Mancang’s younger brother nearby, “go get your Uncle Yushuan. I, your grandmother, will speak with him personally.”

Just as the boy was about to step out the door, Li Mancang barked, “Don’t you dare!”

Perhaps because they had never seen him lose his temper like this, everyone present was momentarily stunned.

“Granny,” Li Mancang said, his tone cold, “don’t worry. Your grandson has plenty of strength. You didn’t go hungry before, and you won’t in the future.”

The old woman opened her mouth, but for a long time, she couldn’t say a word.

Finally, he looked back at me.

“She’s the only one I want. I’m not trading her for anyone.”