Chapter 30: The Bagua Mirror…

Uncle Liugen’s life was better than expected!

When Fang Dahai carried the grain and followed Uncle Laogen into the east room of the adobe courtyard, he happened to see two adults and two children eating wild vegetable nest buns in the dimly lit room.

“Big brother, why are you here at this time? I’ve been waiting all morning—did something happen at home?”

“What could’ve happened? Nothing serious. I ran into Dahai on my way into the city this morning. Thought I’d drop by and visit him, but the kid was too polite—he insisted on treating me to a meal, which delayed things a bit. How’s your family doing? I heard from Dahai that food prices in the city have gone up a lot. Are you managing okay?”

As the eldest brother, Uncle Laogen didn’t even wait to sit down before expressing concern. Just a few words in, and he was already asking about his younger brother’s food situation—he even forgot about what happened with Fang Dahai along the way.

Thankfully, Uncle Liugen wasn’t blind to the gesture. After living in the city for a while, he had picked up on social cues. Seeing how urgently his elder brother asked, he quickly invited both visitors to sit at the bench near the table and answered thoroughly:

“I’m managing alright. A few days ago, I worked a short stint at the grain store, so I found out early about the price hikes. I spoke with the shopkeeper and arranged to get part of my wages paid in flour.”

Oh—so Uncle Liugen really is quite fortunate!

Look at that! The price hikes only just started recently, and Uncle Liugen had already heard the news beforehand. He must have stocked up before the rise. And since grain store workers usually get internal pricing, that’s another benefit on top of it. On top of that, he directly told the shopkeeper he was short on food and that times were tough. Under those conditions, as long as the shopkeeper wasn’t totally heartless, wouldn’t he give a little extra? All things considered, these were some solid advantages.

“That’s good to hear—very good.” Uncle Laogen nodded. “On the way here, I was still worried. With two more mouths to feed at home, I thought your family might be struggling.”

Uncle Laogen wasn’t as sharp as Fang Dahai when it came to reading between the lines. He didn’t pick up on how many hidden benefits there were, but knowing his younger brother was doing okay and hadn’t suffered losses made him feel much more at ease.

With that worry settled, he no longer felt rushed. At this point, he finally remembered Fang Dahai and turned back around, then pointed at him and said to Uncle Liugen:

“Dahai—do you still recognize him?”

“How could I not? But this kid’s grown so fast! When I came home last New Year’s Eve, he wasn’t this tall yet.”

“He’s at the age where they grow like weeds—changing by the day.”

Ah, finally talking about himself—Fang Dahai revealed a naive smile, scratched his head, and cast a glance at the mother and daughter who had quietly huddled together in a corner ever since they entered, almost invisible in their silence. Then, he set down the basket, took out the grain bag inside, and placed it on the table. Looking slightly embarrassed, he said:

“Uncle Liugen, I heard from Uncle Laogen that you got married, so I hurried over with a small congratulatory gift. Sorry I’m a bit late—please don’t take offense.”

There was really no need to blame anyone—after all, no invitation had been sent to his family. He was still a junior, so there was no obligation to bring a gift. Just showing up to recognize the new household would’ve been acceptable too. After all, the old saying goes: “If not invited, don’t attend red events; never invite yourself to white ones.” These customs had been passed down for who knows how many generations and had become unspoken rules.

Considering the two families lived in different places and travel was inconvenient, not sending a formal invitation made sense. Still, Fang Dahai thought that since he was now in the capital, he might have to interact with Uncle Liugen’s family more in the future. That’s why he took the initiative to come and strengthen the bond.

Liugen obviously hadn’t expected Fang Dahai to bring a gift. He froze for a moment, blinked, and asked in confusion:

“What’s all this? I didn’t send any invitations to the countryside, nor did I plan to have guests. Why would you bring a gift? By the way, where’s your father? Why are you the only one who came to town?”

Ha—looks like Uncle Liugen really doesn’t know what’s been happening in the countryside! It’s already been a week—why hadn’t he come to check in? And how did Fang Dahai even know about his marriage?

How else could he know? Naturally, it was because Uncle Liugen had sent a letter to the village.

In fact, Uncle Laogen’s trip this time was also partly to talk to his brother about the events in the village. So when he took the opportunity to ask Fang Dahai just now, it gave Dahai a chance to bring up the matter smoothly. Otherwise, it would’ve been extremely awkward to suddenly announce such tragic news on someone’s joyous day—it would’ve been a terrible omen.

“Dahai’s father—ah, no, I mean, Laogen—our village… something terrible happened…”

Uncle Laogen wasn’t much of a storyteller, but having personally experienced such bitterness, even a clumsy account could stir deep emotions.

Hearing that several people had died in the village, the Pei family had been wiped out, many homes were burned down, and the place was looted—Uncle Liugen’s face darkened. His jaw clenched, and veins bulged in his fists.

“Those animals—animals! What’s the difference between them and the devils during the war? It’s winter—how can people survive without food? They’re clearly trying to drive us to death!”

Then, a terrible thought struck Fang Dahai.

“Big brother… does that mean the family has no food?”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry—we still have some,” Laogen reassured. “Remember? Last year we cleared that acre of land up in the mountains. This year we planted sweet potatoes. That spot’s pretty remote—neither the Fu family nor the fleeing soldiers found it, so it was spared. A couple days ago I already checked it. The sweet potatoes are ready to harvest. With that acre’s yield, we’ll have enough to make it through the winter.”

“Oh, the family is safe? That’s good. But wait—something doesn’t add up. If the whole village is out of grain, then how did Fang Dahai…”

Uncle Liugen quickly opened the grain bag that Fang Dahai had placed on the table. After examining it, he turned over a portion in his hand and asked, puzzled:

“Dahai, did your family open up land too? Did you plant corn stalks?”

Open land? What open land? His father was a carpenter—he never had the time or attention to focus on farming like Uncle Laogen’s family.

Fang Dahai truly hadn’t expected it: the honest and humble Uncle Laogen’s family actually had the foresight and courage to secretly clear a plot of land in the mountains. In the eyes of the local landlords, such a thing would’ve been unthinkable. That kind of low-profile cunning—quietly preparing a fallback—could’ve made them rich in better times, perhaps even helped them reach the pinnacle of life.

“Then… did you buy this grain on the road? No, I can’t accept this,” Uncle Liugen said, pushing it back. “Hurry and take it home. Your family still has several children. Dahai, you need to make sure your younger siblings are fed first. Don’t be too generous—you understand?”

Though his tone was stern, even bordering on scolding, Fang Dahai could tell these words were coming from genuine concern for his wellbeing. He felt it clearly in his heart.

“Uncle Liugen,” Fang Dahai said sincerely, “I can hunt. And my father left behind his carpentry skills. We’re not short on ways to make money. I bought this grain a few days ago—just when prices had only started rising, so it wasn’t expensive. Now I’m the head of the household. At least give me a little face—don’t let others say we’re rude just because our parents are gone.”

This—this had already been said so plainly. To keep pushing the grain back now would really feel like a slap in the boy’s face.

So he accepted it… just like that.

“Big brother, this…” someone started to say.

“The boy really can hunt—and he’s good at it too,” Uncle Laogen chimed in. “The reason I followed him home this morning was because he dragged back a wolf.”

“A wolf?” Uncle Liugen was truly shocked. He had assumed when Fang Dahai said he could hunt, he meant setting a trap or snaring small animals. He never imagined the boy could actually take down a wolf. That kind of skill—he was practically a proper hunter, on par with those who lived deep in the mountain villages!

He couldn’t help but give Fang Dahai a thorough once-over. Who would’ve thought—this half-grown kid from the countryside had changed so much over just a few years.

Even so, for someone like him—an elder—to accept grain from a child during a time when food prices were climbing… it still didn’t sit right with him.

Just then, the woman who had been silently hiding in the corner while holding her child quietly approached. She stood behind Liugen and discreetly slipped something into his hand.

Liugen felt the weight and looked down. As soon as he saw what it was, his expression changed—he looked up sharply, startled. The woman still had her head bowed, her face unreadable to anyone else. Only Reunion caught the faint expression of reassurance in her eyes, the gentle warmth that lingered in her gaze.

Just that one glance—silent yet full of meaning—was enough. As if nothing had been said, and yet everything had been conveyed. Reunion couldn’t help but smile softly in response. Then, without fuss, he raised his hand and placed the item on the table, gently pushing it in front of Fang Dahai.

“Since you’re so polite as to bring a wedding gift in your capacity as head of the household, then I, as an elder, should naturally give you a housewarming gift. Here—take it. Go back and hang it up in your home; it’ll help protect the house.”

What was this—something to suppress the house?

Fang Dahai stared at the object. The moment he saw it, his pupils contracted, and his expression turned cautious.

“This… this is a Ming Dynasty Bagua mirror?”

He couldn’t help blurting it out—not only startling himself, but also shocking everyone else nearby.

A countryside boy, the son of a carpenter—how could he recognize something like this? He even knew the exact era? That… didn’t make sense!

“Dahai, you… you recognize this thing?”

Uncle Laogen, who had always been close to Fang Dahai, didn’t bother to hide his curiosity and immediately asked.

“I do. You see, our family moved to this village after the famine in ’42. Back in the old hometown, there was a Taoist temple nearby that had something almost exactly like this. The old Taoist priest there used to show it off and said it was the temple’s most treasured token, handed down for generations. It was supposedly used by the founding grandmaster when the temple was first built.”

Ah, so that’s why. That explained it. It wasn’t that Fang Dahai had some extraordinary talent for identifying antiques—it was simply that he had seen something similar before. That familiarity was what allowed him to speak with such certainty.

“Uncle Liugen, this is a valuable item. If it were sold to an antique dealer, it could fetch a decent price.”

That was true. But the real problem was: who could people like them even sell it to? Uncle Liugen gave a wry smile and told the blunt truth.

“I won’t lie to you. When I bought the grain, your aunt took this out and told me to bring it to the pawnshop for an estimate. Ha! The shopkeeper only offered two yuan—and even that was for a dead pawn. Dahai, don’t think this thing is easily sold.”

How could that be possible? Other people might not know—but he certainly did. Not to mention how astronomical the price would become in future generations; even during the Ming Dynasty, hiring a Taoist to install one of these would cost at least fifty taels of silver. By that measure, this thing was practically a treasure trove in itself.

“Uncle, I’m not foolish. What kind of place is a pawnshop? If they offered two yuan, that means this thing is worth at least two hundred. I can’t accept it—something like this should be kept as a family heirloom.”

“What family heirloom? For people like us, nothing is more practical than a bowl of stick noodles. This is for your family—to settle the new house’s energy and suppress any hidden ill luck. Keep it. And like you said earlier—don’t make your uncle lose face.”

Cryptic gas? The old house?
Oh my God—why would he say something like that? What if the kid gets a chill down his spine! Is that really something you should say to a child who just moved in? Doesn’t he know the boy might have nightmares? Uncle, you’re being way too careless!

But then again… what Uncle Liugen said was rooted in superstition, and frankly, that’s exactly what people talk about at times like this. Look—even Uncle Lao Guan was persuaded. He said the old house lacked something to “press down” its energy, and that could be bad for the child. With everyone agreeing, it really wouldn’t look good if Dahai refused the gift.

Of course, deep down, he was actually quite willing to accept it. After all, barring any unexpected events, by the time he reached sixty or seventy, this item could probably be sold for a decent sum—enough for his children and grandchildren to inherit a small fortune.

Still, even if he was willing to accept it, this was among his own village folk. And with people you care about, you can’t act too shamelessly.

“Uncle,” he said, “I’ll accept this… but I can’t let you take a loss. So, tomorrow I’ll bring over a hundred pounds of stick noodles—is that okay? Let me be clear: if you’re not willing to accept anything in return, I really won’t dare to take this. It just wouldn’t sit right with me.”

Another hundred pounds?

Uncle Laogen’s brothers exchanged glances, clearly stunned.

They had originally thought Fang Dahai’s talk of the mirror being worth 200 yuan was just polite exaggeration—a way to flatter them. But if the boy was now seriously offering another hundred pounds of grain… could the item really be that valuable? If that were the case, then maybe it wasn’t such a bad trade after all—an antique for some grain?

Uncle Liugen instinctively turned to his wife, seeking her opinion. After all, the item technically belonged to her.

“I picked it up,” she said. “It’s part of the family. You decide what to do with it.”

After sitting quietly this whole time, it was the first thing she’d said. And her words made Uncle Laogen—the eldest—look at her with a newfound respect for the first time.

To be honest, though he understood his younger brother’s circumstances, and knew he should be thankful just to have found a wife at all, when he first saw the woman—especially with the child she brought along—he couldn’t help feeling aggrieved on his brother’s behalf. A perfectly good young man, now suddenly saddled with a child that wasn’t even his. In times as hard as these, adding two extra mouths to feed seemed like a recipe for hardship.

So when he entered the house, though she was clearly present, he had deliberately ignored her. He busied himself with receiving Fang Dahai, acting as if she and the child didn’t exist.

But now, seeing this woman step up on her own initiative to smooth things over—willing to give away something valuable for the good of the household—and watching how she subtly supported her husband’s decision, his heart suddenly softened. For the first time, he felt genuinely happy for his younger brother. Whatever else people might say, this woman’s thoughtfulness and humility showed that his brother hadn’t married the wrong person.

With the tension eased, Uncle Laogen turned to his brother and finally spoke seriously.

“Liugen, treat this as part of her dowry. It’s right that you asked her before making a decision. But don’t be too accommodating, either. You’re the man of the house—it’s your job to support the family. If you rely on your wife’s dowry, then you owe her, and you also owe that child.”

Sure, the item was already gone, and there was no expectation of getting it back. His words came a little too late. But coming from Uncle Laogen, they carried more weight than mere concern about one or two objects—they represented the family’s formal recognition. Recognition of her as a proper wife, and of the child as part of the household.

And when she heard those words, the woman who had been keeping her head down finally looked up. Her expression was clear and touched, full of gratitude. Her eyes shimmered with emotion.

“What you said, elder brother,” she replied softly, “is true. In a marriage, we should all pull in the same direction. There’s no such thing as who owes whom.”

Even though everyone was quite excited, the polite formalities weren’t forgotten—every word was carefully chosen. Even Fang Dahai looked up at that.

Uncle Liugen really married the right woman this time. With such a sensible and understanding daughter-in-law, as long as they can get through this tough period, the family is sure to flourish in the future.

Liugen was clearly pleased with his daughter-in-law’s thoughtful reply. He turned to Fang Dahai with a smile and said:

“Do you have enough grain at home? If you give away these 100 pounds, will the rest last you until the start of spring? If not, let’s put this matter aside for now. When you’re in a better position, you can deliver it then.”

Huh? Is it okay to postpone it if he’s short on food? Does Uncle Liugen’s family have that much grain? Then why were they still eating just vegetables?

“First of all, because I was planning to marry your aunt, I figured I’d need to prepare a little something, maybe treat a few people. So I exchanged 30 catties of stick flour for 20 catties of black flour. Who would have expected all this chaos to happen outside? The wedding didn’t go as planned, so I just used the flour to build goodwill with a few families. After that, I worked at the grain depot and received 80 catties of stick flour and 20 catties of black flour as wages. With the 20 catties you brought today, that’s quite a bit of food. I think it’ll be enough to scrape by until the end of the year. So really, if things are tight on your end, don’t push yourself—there’s no need to insist on giving me more.”

170 catties of grain until the end of the year? When people say “end of the year” these days, they don’t mean December 31st—they’re talking about the Lunar New Year. That would be January 29th, 1949—four whole months away! How is that supposed to last?

Can 40 catties of grain per month really be enough? Uncle Liugen is a strong laborer; without any oil or meat, he might need nearly a catty of grain a day just for himself! Is he counting the vegetables? That can’t be right. That seems like too little food.

Wait—he’d almost forgotten! In times like these, poor families survive by mixing wild vegetables into their grain—that’s how they stretch their meals!

Now that he thought about it, the original body’s family had lived the same way. If that’s the case… then just how long could all that grain he saved last?

Good grief! Could it be that, in other people’s eyes, he’s hoarding enough grain for an entire year?

Cough, cough, cough—this problem… let’s think about it after we get home. For now, handling things here is the priority.

“Uncle Liugen, I’m really not short on grain. You can ask Uncle Laogen—don’t I have plenty? After the countryside got looted once, I got scared. So as soon as I heard prices were going up, I exchanged all the money I had for grain. Now I’m basically running a big household!” Fang Dahai laughed. “It’s settled—I’ll deliver it tomorrow. Honestly, I got a great deal on this housewarming gift. I probably saved at least half the money.”

Fang Dahai spoke with a smile, but in the ears of Uncle Laogen and his brother, it sounded very different.

A pawnshop was only willing to offer two silver dollars, but 100 pounds of flour from Fang Dahai? At today’s grain prices, that’s worth at least two silver dollars on its own! And if you include the 20 pounds he delivered today, the total cost exceeds 10% of the item’s supposed value. Who would believe that he actually got it for half price?

It was obvious to them: this kid, Fang Dahai, saw that Uncle Liugen was struggling to raise a family on his own and, out of the generosity of his well-stocked household, chose to lend a helping hand.

This kind of kindness… really made the two grown men feel ashamed.