Chapter 36 – A New Life

As soon as the words left her mouth, the expressions on everyone’s faces shifted subtly.

Especially Madam Zhou—her face turned half dark, mixed with some other complicated emotions.

Xia Daohua sensed something was off. “What’s going on?”

The group exchanged glances, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back. In the end, it was Madam Zhou who resolved her confusion:

“Your sister-in-law moved her fetus. We just had a physician examine her—she needs to rest quietly now. Your eldest brother and sister have already taken her back home.

“Anyway, after the Lantern Festival, the New Year is considered over.

“Your eldest uncle needs to return to the restaurant for work, and your eldest aunt has to take care of their household.

“Your eldest brother has to go back to Songxi Academy, and your eldest sister, now that she’s of age, needs to stay in town for matchmaking.

“If we were to take little Yinhua alone back to the village, your eldest aunt fears she’d miss her parents.

“So, your eldest uncle’s whole family went back today.”

Xia Daohua instantly realized she had fully mastered the art of “saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.” She gave an awkward laugh:

“Haha, I see. Then, shouldn’t we head home too?”

Madam Zhou nodded. “Let’s go home.”

Everyone got up together. Erlang borrowed a flame from the wonton stall’s proprietress and lit a pine torch, quietly holding it to light the way for everyone.

Although the town was brightly lit, the road from town back to Beiguan Village had a particularly dark stretch. The moonlight helped, but the torch made everyone feel safer.

Madam Zhou, unwilling to spend money on a cart, had everyone walk home again.

Though they’d rested at the wonton stall, Madam Zhou and Old Master Xia were getting on in years. They were very tired by the time they got home, so they said little, washed up simply, and went to bed.

Each family returned to their own quarters.

Sun-shi looked visibly delighted, and Wu-shi also wore a satisfied smile.

Clearly, these two sisters-in-law were quite pleased to see the eldest branch fall out of favor with the elders today.

Jiang-shi undressed Xia Daohua and thoroughly inspected her from head to toe, gently and carefully. She kept asking if this part hurt or that part ached.

Xia Daohua felt rather embarrassed.

Although she understood Jiang-shi’s concerns and could sympathize with her emotions, she still found being touched like this extremely uncomfortable.

When Jiang-shi discovered a large bruise on Xia Daohua’s back, she wept again in distress.

Then, gritting her teeth, Jiang-shi took out the half-jar of murky liquor that Xia Youtian treasured from the cupboard and used it as medicinal alcohol to massage out the blood clots from the bruise.

Xia Youtian looked utterly torn.

He was heartbroken for his child—and for his wine. In the end, he simply closed his eyes. Out of sight, out of mind.

That night, Jiang-shi slept holding Xia Daohua in her arms.

Xia Daohua fought hard against the urge to push her away and waited until everyone was asleep before gently slipping out of her arms.

Even then, Jiang-shi unconsciously pulled her back twice in her sleep.

Clearly, she had been truly frightened.

Xia Daohua let out a soft sigh and exhaled deeply.

Today, she had been enduring it all.

She really didn’t like physical contact with others.

Occasional brief hugs—like a dragonfly skimming the surface—were fine.

Sometimes, she would even take the initiative to hug others.

But she genuinely disliked and was uncomfortable with such prolonged, intimate physical contact.

Fortunately, Jiang-shi’s trauma response wasn’t too intense. By the next day, she had basically returned to normal. The Xia family resumed their peaceful daily life.

Except for Sun-shi and Wu-shi, who occasionally bickered or picked little fights, everyone lived harmoniously.

Cheng-shi, grateful for Xia Daohua saving Liu-lang previously, would often sneak her little treats—

Like dried sweet potatoes, fried silkworm pupae, smoked rabbit meat, and so on.

Xia Daohua declined several times, but Cheng-shi was too sincere, leaving her no choice but to give in each time.

Time flew quickly. Days passed without notice. While traces of winter snow still clung to the ground, flower buds had already begun to sprout on the magnolia tree branches.

Xia Daohua also found an opportunity to exchange some valuables she had taken from that foreigner.

She selected a few items and exchanged them with the supermarket system.

The fur cloak was appraised at 15,000 yuan and was traded for 15,000 points. The golden dagger brought in 8,000 points. A rather ornate wine pouch earned her 1,600 points.

“Mr. Moneybag” really was her lucky star, hehe.

As for the gold, silver, and copper coins in the pouch, along with some jade pendants and rings, Xia Daohua checked their value and decided to keep them. After all, these would come in handy later.

Inside the mysterious oil-paper bundle was a large stack of documents that looked like blueprints.

Xia Daohua took them to the service desk for appraisal but did not exchange them. Instead, she stared blankly at the label shown on the redemption platform.

“Defense Map”?

Were those words really what she thought they meant?

If this truly was a military defense map, wouldn’t that be incredibly important?

During the Lantern Festival, the authorities launched an “anti-bandit” operation. Could it have been to track down that foreigner who collapsed in the alley?

Should she hand this over to the authorities?

But how could she spin a convincing story about how she came into possession of it?

On the twenty-sixth day of the first lunar month, news came from the eldest uncle’s household: Xia Dalang’s wife, Zhu-shi, had given birth—to a baby girl. Her nickname was A-Liu, though a formal name hadn’t been decided yet.

Madam Zhou was puzzled. “She’s already given birth? Isn’t this more than a month early?”

The message had been brought by Old Lady Fang from the same village. Her grandson worked at the same restaurant as Xia Youcai. The two families stayed in touch and often passed messages or delivered clothing.

Old Lady Fang curled her lip and said, “How would I know all that? I’m just delivering a message.”

Then she lowered her voice, leaned close to Madam Zhou’s ear, and whispered:

“Actually, I heard that Jinhua had a fight with her sister-in-law. In a fit of anger, she shoved her…”

After seeing Old Lady Fang off, Madam Zhou paced around the house several times.

In the end, she still wasn’t at ease. She picked the largest red-shelled eggs, filled a basket, and grabbed a packet of brown sugar before hurrying off to town.

Just as she was leaving, she happened to see Xia Daohua and impulsively asked her to come along.

Aside from Xia Dalang and Zhu-shi, Xia Daohua became the first of the Xia grandchildren to meet little A-Liu.

Wrapped in swaddling clothes, A-Liu had a wrinkly little face and slightly dark skin—possibly from jaundice.

But her hands and feet were delicate and finely shaped. Each finger was slender, as if a light touch would break them.

Xia Daohua had never seen such a tiny baby before.

She stared at A-Liu with great interest for a long time, but the baby didn’t give her “auntie” any face—her eyes remained tightly shut as she sucked on her little fist and slept soundly.

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(End of Chapter 36)