Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I do not understand what Sister Yun means. Why would I run?

Not only am I staying, I am going to rescue her too.

Then she can keep Sister Qiuwu company!

On the Winter Solstice, gongs and drums thunder along the riverbank.

Not only has everyone in our county come to watch, villagers from the neighboring county are here too.

As before, the magistrate worships Heaven and Earth.

Then, at the shaman’s command, the bamboo raft carrying Sister Yun is pushed into the river.

The villagers cheer. Sister Yun’s mother hides in a corner and sheds a few tears before taking the rice and silver home.

“Yuniang, where are you going?”

Just as I am hurrying off to save Sister Yun, Mother stops me.

“All you do is run around. You are seven now, old enough to work harder for the family.”

“Mother, lots of delicious food just rolled off the raft into the river. I want to fish some of it out.”

I am telling the truth. If the magistrate had not still been present, plenty of others would already have jumped in after it.

Mother swallows. “You clever little imp. Be careful no one sees you.”

“All right!” I answer, then dart away.

By the time I reach the middle of the river, Sister Yun and the raft have already disappeared.

I dive to the bottom before I finally find her.

“Can we still save her?”

Sister Qiuwu and I press on Sister Yun’s swollen belly.

“Cough… cough…”

Our hands are aching by the time she wakes.

“Yuniang, why are you here? Did they sacrifice you too…?”

Sister Yun stares at me in shock.

I burst out laughing, and Sister Qiuwu joins me.

Sister Yun looks utterly confused. “What is going on? Am I in the underworld?”

“This is the mortal world,” Sister Qiuwu says in her habitually refined way.

It takes us a very long time to explain everything.

Sister Yun looks from Qiuwu to me, then suddenly bursts into tears.

“Yuniang, thank you.”

I return her sachet. “Sister Yun, you and Sister Qiuwu can live here together from now on.”

“I will visit you often!”

After saying goodbye, I grope around the riverbed for ages before finding half a roast chicken.

The fish and shrimp have already picked it nearly clean.

“Next time, look for the pig’s head. That meat tastes better.”

That evening, Father drinks wine and eats the chicken until his lips glisten with grease.

Days and years pass.

Ten years go by in the blink of an eye.

Right under everyone’s noses, I rescue girl after girl.

My parents always assume I disappear to retrieve the food offerings. Not only do they keep my secret, they make excuses for me when anyone asks.

“Strange. Weren’t the girls supposed to be chosen by lot?”

“Why have none of them been daughters from wealthy families? Why is it always poor farm girls like us?”

Sister Lan’er is perceptive. Within days of being rescued, she senses that something is wrong.

Once she says it aloud, everyone else realizes it too.

There are now eighteen young women in the mountains, and not one of them comes from a rich family.

Sister Qiuwu is the oldest and now leads the household.

“Why else? The lives of the poor are worthless.”

“And the lives of poor daughters are worth even less!”

Over the years, Qiuwu has organized life in the mountains remarkably well. Everyone learns to swim and works together, and they live good lives.

To keep nearby villagers away, the women sometimes come out at night disguised as ghosts to frighten passing boatmen.

They even light little torches and leap about on the mountaintop.

Before long, everyone says the mountain is haunted.

Almost no one dares come near it.

“Yuniang, how old are you this year?” Sister Yun suddenly asks as I am about to leave.

I hang an oil-paper bundle of clothes around my neck. “Fifteen. Why?”

The moment I answer, all seventeen women approach me.

Their expressions are grim.

“Yuniang… perhaps you should not go home,” Sister Qiuwu says, taking my hand.

Sister Yun sighs. “Yes, Yuniang. Stay here!”

“Live with us. Life here may be hard, but we are free.”

“No one bullies us. As long as we work hard, we can live well.”

“You cannot think next year’s sacrifice will be me, can you?”

Every year, the River God’s sacrifice is chosen from unmarried girls who have reached the age of sixteen.

But I am already betrothed!