◎ The “Betrothal” Wild Hare ◎

Recently, the busy double harvest season in Damei Village is coming to an end, and there is still some finishing work to be done in the fields. The villagers are working with their backs bent. After being busy for more than a month, they can finally take a breath and chat while working. 

Today, the most lively topic in the village was the marriages of the two daughters from the Liang and Dong families. Some were jealous, some envious, and others were simply there to enjoy the commotion. 

The sun was blazing hot. After chatting for a while, people’s mouths became dry. The ever-gossipy Aunt Hu pursed her cracked lips, “It’s so hot that I can barely keep my eyes open.” 

“That’s right. Why hasn’t Er Gou brought the water yet? I’m about to swallow my own spit,” someone complained. In such hot weather, it was common to return home for a pot of water and bring it back to the family working in the fields. 

“If you ask me, the Liang family’s daughter is really lucky. She’s about to marry into the city, so she doesn’t even have to work in the fields today. Liang Zhigao must be losing his mind. How can he spoil his daughter like this? I bet she’s just staying home and being lazy…” Aunt Hu continued, somewhat discontentedly, and muttered to herself, “Maybe she’s been up to no good with her match this morning.” 

However, she didn’t dare let anyone hear the second half of her sentence because if it got out, it would ruin the person’s reputation, so she could only criticize it in her heart. 

The words of the ladies, accompanied by the hot wind, reached the ears of Liang’s mother, Song Chunhua, who was working in another field. 

Song Chunhua with her hair tied up in a bun and her coarse sleeves rolled up twice was bundling wheat. Although she was busy, she still paid attention to the idle chatter around her and sometimes joined in. 

She was shocked to hear someone slandering her own daughter. 

When she was young, she was a hot-tempered girl. Now that she was over 40, she could not stand being bullied. She immediately put down the wheat bundle and rushed over aggressively. 

“Huang Guifen, what nonsense are you spouting? My daughter Baozhen had a fever. Didn’t you all see it yesterday? She even went to Doctor Luo for a pill,” Song Chunhua shouted loudly, making sure that the nearby villagers heard clearly. 

Nowadays, everyone values reputation, so she had to shout loudly. If these gossiping old women really accused her daughter of being lazy and not participating in labor, she would automatically be disqualified from being selected as an outstanding villager in the commune. Besides, if the reputation of laziness spread, how could the Chen family in the city be happy? She would be despised by her mother-in-law before she even entered the house. 

When the aunties who had been talking a lot saw that Song Chunhua was so aggressive, they immediately shut up and started to negotiate peace. Only Hu Guifen refused to give in. She was also impatient with a loud voice and loved to gossip. 

“Song Chunhua, what are you yelling about? We were just chatting casually. If she didn’t work, then she didn’t work. Look at how you’re acting as if I did something wrong with your daughter.” 

She just talked about someone behind their back and now turned around and blamed her for making a fuss. When Song Chunhua heard this, she became even angrier and started to curse. 

***

On the field path, Liang Baozhen walked toward the fields in black cloth shoes, carrying two water bottles. She and Liang Baoling had come from Dong’s house but had parted ways afterward. Liang Baozhen brought water to Song Chunhua and was about to start working.

However, before she got close, she heard an argument ahead. 

“Mother.” A clear voice interrupted the tense atmosphere. Song Chunhua turned around to see her daughter Liang Baozhen. 

“Baozhen.” 

Everyone looked as well and saw Liang Baozhen, the third daughter of the Liang family, standing on the ridge of the field. She was wearing a plain grey jacket and a pair of black trousers. Although her clothes were plain, she looked very pretty. 

Her cherry-like lips moved in a smile. 

“Aunt Hu, I had a fever last night and am still not feeling well today, so I rested at home for a while. But I’m fine now and ready to get back to work this afternoon,” Liang Baozhen said in a clear, gentle voice, like the gentle flow of summer water” 

She looked at everyone and continued, “The team leader and Doctor Luo have both seen me and advised me to rest. If you think I’m being lazy, then you’re accusing the team leader and Doctor Luo of helping me avoid work. If you have a problem, let’s go find the team leader together. If the team leader says there’s an issue, I’ll accept any punishment. If not, you’re just disrupting the unity of the commune, especially at the end of the double harvest season…” 

When Huang Guifen heard that she was going to look for the team leader, her face immediately changed. She pursed her lips and lowered her voice, “I was just talking casually. There’s no need to find the team leader.”

This was no joke. How could she dare to question the team leader, let alone say that she was distrupting the unity? It was scary to hear that. She was afraid that the commune would use the loudspeaker to criticize her… That would be so embarrassing! 

Liang Baozhen noticed that no one dared to speak up, so she took Song Chunhua aside to give her some water. Despite her delicate appearance, she was not someone to be easily bullied.

Song Chunhua worked hard in the afternoon. Her mouth was dry, so she drank half a pot of boiled water, which made her feel better. After wiping her mouth, Song Chunhua looked at her daughter and felt very happy. Her daughter was different after being educated; she handled the nagging old woman calmly and resolved the situation without raising her voice. 

Although Liang Baozhen’s fever had just subsided that morning, Song Chunhua was concerned for her daughter and wanted to handle her tasks but she didn’t expect that Liang Baozhen would start nagging. 

After taking a break to drink water, everyone started working again. 

Considering that Liang Baozhen was weak and had just had a fever, her work today was light. The team leader assigned her the task of cutting grass for pigs. However, the grass had almost all been cut everywhere, so Liang Baozhen put on her backpack and went up the mountain to look for grass. 

*** 

Xu Shengjie went to his aunt’s house carrying a piece of meat and a pound of fruit candy. 

His parents died unexpectedly over ten years ago, leaving only his grandma and younger siblings at home. Xu Shengjie joined the army at seventeen and gained valuable experience. Now he is much more stable than before. He retired and returned to Beijing this year. 

At twenty-four, he was still focused on his military career without a clear future, which worried his grandma. His family’s conditions in the city were average, and Xu Shengjie hadn’t returned to Beijing for three years. There were also rumors that he was seriously injured and had lost limbs, as if people had seen it with their own eyes. 

Additionally, many people were concerned about his elderly grandmother’s future, especially since she had to raise a twelve-year-old younger brother and sister. The younger sister had some health issues, and many girls in the city were unwilling to marry in such a situation. 

Some were willing but had even worse conditions or problematic behaviors, which nearly led to his grandmother making a poor choice and causing trouble for her grandson. She then thought of Lai Fengxia from Hongqi Commune in Damei Village, who had been a matchmaker for over a decade.

Lai Fengxia was a distant relative of the Xu family. Xu Shengjie would call her aunt, and the two families had occasional interactions. The Xu family hoped to ask her to find a country girl. There were no other requirements, just someone with decent looks, a kind heart, and the ability to live a sincere life. 

Nowadays, it is possible for city dwellers with fewer poorer conditions to find a good country wife. After all, moving to the city is the dream of many farmers. 

The most outstanding girl in Damei Village was Liang Baozhen. Lai Fengxia thought of her immediately. However, when she arrived at her house, she had just been engaged to the director of the state-owned cotton factory in the city the day before. Turning to look, Lai Fengxia then set her sights on Dong Jiayan. 

Dong Jiayan was also good-looking, with a junior high school education. Although she was inferior to Liang Baozhen in every aspect, she was not bad overall. She came to the Dong family to propose marriage and told them everything about Xu Shengjie. It was a great thing for a country girl to marry into the city, so the Dong family naturally had no objection. They agreed to wait for Xu Shengjie to return from his military service to complete the formalities and make the official visit. 

Who would have thought that, at the last minute, Dong Jiayan would go back on her word! 

“This Dong family is too unreasonable! How can they play with people like this?” Lai Fengxia, who had been a matchmaker for half of her life, had never seen such a situation, “I always thought Dong Jiayan was a good girl, but it turns out she’s like this.” 

The matchmaker was both angry and anxious, but the person who was deceived was surprisingly calm.

Xu Shengjie was strong and handsome, with sharp eyebrows and eyes, and a well-defined jawline that looked like it had been meticulously carved. In his military uniform, he looked even more spirited. This marriage was arranged by his grandmother. He had been focused on the military and had not paid much attention to the old lady’s marriage matchmaking. Now that he was returning home, he felt he should follow the elder’s wishes. 

Like most people of his age who are set up for arranged marriages, he had only met Dong Jiayan once and had not spoken to her. There were naturally no feelings involved, so he was mostly surprised by the situation. 

Since the agreement was only verbal and they had not yet performed the formalities, he couldn’t force the girl to marry him if she didn’t want to. There was no need to insist. 

“Aunt, please don’t be angry.” He put a piece of meat, the best pork belly, and a pound of fruit candy on Lai Fengxia’s desk. “These are for you to eat; don’t save them.” 

Originally, after the gift-giving ceremony with the Dong family, he was going to give half a pound of fruit candy to the matchmaker Lai Fengxia, but now he decided to give it all to her. 

Lai Fengxia was not angry with her distant nephew and thought the Dong family was truly blind! 

They chatted for a while. Lai Fengxia’s husband had died early, her daughter was married to the neighboring team, and her son had secured a temporary job at a steel plant in the city through relatives. Their life was pretty good. That’s why the villagers liked to find her to be a matchmaker. After all, she could make connections with the city, so she might be a good matchmaker. 

“Shengjie, don’t worry, I won’t agree to this. I’ll go to the Dong family to ask about it and also give your grandmother an explanation. It’s a pity that Baozhen was already engaged a day earlier; otherwise, I would have definitely matched you two together. What a shame.” Liang Baozhen was good-looking, and so was her nephew. Lai Fengxia felt it was a real pity! 

Xu Shengjie didn’t know who Baozhen was that his aunt mentioned; he just wanted to quickly get away from the matchmaking situation. Even a short period of peace was welcome. He glanced around the house and saw that there was not much firewood left, and said, “Auntie, I’ll go up the mountain to cut some firewood for you.” 

“That’s great, but be careful when you go into the mountains.” 

After saying that, Lai Fengxia watched her nephew pick up the axe in the yard with one hand and go out. 

***

Damei Village is surrounded by mountains and is a typical example of a community that relies on them for food and water. During hard times, many villagers hunted in the mountains and fished in the rivers to supplement their food. In difficult years, the commune organized strong young people to venture into the mountains. If they were fortunate enough to hunt a wild boar, each household would receive a few pounds of meat. 

Of course, some people also hunted wild rabbits and chickens in the mountains. These quieter animals could be hidden and taken home as long as they don’t get discovered by the authorities, then it’s fine. After all, this mountain belongs to the public. 

Xu Shengjie went up the mountain with an axe. Just as he reached the top of the hill, he heard a rustling noise in the bushes ahead. Upon closer inspection, he saw a wild hare with a fat body running quite fast. 

Recalling his previous hunting experiences in the military, Xu Shengjie smiled and chased after it. Soon, the fat wild hare lay on the ground with blood seeping from its legs. Xu Shengjie saw the foolish hare, which had run into a trap, and immediately fell down. 

Putting the hare aside, Xu Shengjie turned around and went deeper into the forest to look for branches. With quick and precise movements, he cut some branches and gathered some pigweed and purslane, bundling them up to take back to his aunt. 

When he was about to go back to pick up the hare, he heard a clear voice in the distance. It’s calling out a few times, “Is there anyone there?” Having marched and fought in the mountains and forests before, he walked lightly, and the person didn’t notice him. 

Through the woods, he could vaguely see a young girl in a gray coat ahead of him, holding the wild hare he had caught in her hands. 

“I’ve asked several times, but there’s really no one. I’m so lucky today,” Liang Baozhen said with a sweet smile. She put the hare that was caught in the trap into her backpack and turned to go down the mountain. 

Xu Shengjie was distracted for a moment when he saw the girl smiling sweetly. When he came to his senses, his prey had already been taken away. He just smiled and shook his head and carried the firewood and wild vegetables back to his aunt’s house. 

The author has something to say: 

Xu Shengjie: This is the first gift I gave to my wife. 

Liang Baozhen: I picked it up with my own ability! It’s not a gift from you. 

Stupid rabbit: I clearly offered myself up! ⊙﹏⊙