Chapter 13: Selling Herself to Bury Her Father?

“There’s this too.”

Lu Qiniang came in again and stuffed two sheets of coarse paper into his hand. “This stuff is expensive. There was just a little left at home, and I’m giving it to you. Once it’s gone, I can’t bear to buy more…”

Xiao Yan: “I don’t need it!”

Lu Qiniang’s eyes widened. “What, you don’t use paper when you shit?”

Xiao Yan: “Get out!”

Seeing that his face had turned from pale to red, red to green, and then to a shade tinged with black, Lu Qiniang couldn’t help muttering, “You’re so temperamental. I told you already—I’m just an uneducated, rough woman. Didn’t I just say ‘go relieve yourself’ earlier?”

She had blurted it out mostly because she was shocked that he didn’t use paper to wipe. That’s why she didn’t bother using more refined words like “relieve oneself.”

But really, what difference does it make?

Saying “relieve oneself,” or calling it something poetic—it’s still shitting, isn’t it?

Lu Qiniang was feeling a bit disgruntled.

What time was it already, and Xiao Yan was still being so pretentious?

But when Lu Qiniang came in to clean up and saw the chamber pot spotless, she started to worry about Xiao Yan again.

“What’s wrong, got too much internal heat and can’t go?”

“If you’re feeling backed up, I can boil some croton seed water for you to drink?”

Xiao Yan closed his eyes, pulled the blanket over his head, and silently protested.

“Such good intentions, treated like donkey liver and lungs.^[1] *Note: “Donkey liver and lungs”  is a Chinese idiom implying that one’s good intentions are misunderstood or unappreciated. No, seriously, Xiao Yan, if something’s wrong, you have to say so. I paid a hefty price to bring you back—if anything happens to you…”

Xiao Yan hated how sharp his hearing was.

But upon hearing this, he thought, maybe Lu Qiniang just didn’t know how to talk properly—her concern made her speak nonsense.

Then came her muttered grumble: “…If I have to buy you a coffin, I’ve got no money. Probably can’t even get one on credit. Sure, hosting a funeral brings in some condolence money, but that still won’t cover the banquet costs…”

Xiao Yan thought, maybe he should just try his best to stay alive.

Judging by what Lu Qiniang said, she’d be ready to have him buried in the mountains by tomorrow.

The next day, he learned a hard truth: just like food shouldn’t be eaten carelessly, words shouldn’t be spoken lightly either, or else—

It might become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Lu Qiniang had gone out early.

Xiao Yan overheard her talking to Daya, who was busy in the kitchen.

Daya tried to give her an egg, but she declined.

“Save it for the man on the kang. I’ve been fine for ages. If I don’t come back for lunch, take another egg and make some egg drop soup. You three sisters need to eat too.”

Last time when she was sick, people had brought over seventy or eighty eggs. She hadn’t had the heart to eat many of them, and now there were still over thirty left.

“Mom, wear a bit more. It’s so cold heading out this early.”

“I’m going to the butcher’s to see if they’re slaughtering pigs today. If they are, I’ll lend a hand—maybe they’ll give me a bowl of pig’s blood in return.”

Lu Qiniang was skilled in raising, selling, and butchering pigs—an expert in all of it.

“The egg’s peeled for you…”

Daya was persistent. Lu Qiniang didn’t have much choice. She took a small bite, only to be caught off guard when Daya shoved the entire egg into her mouth.

Lu Qiniang was immediately speechless. After a long moment, she mumbled with her mouth full, “You little rascal… Watch over your younger sisters at home. If there’s work to be done, let them do some too. Don’t take it all on yourself.”

With those instructions, she finally left.

No sooner had she stepped out than Erya sneered sarcastically, “‘Let them do some too, don’t take it all on yourself’…”

She was clearly mimicking Lu Qiniang’s tone, laced with jealousy.

Sanya yawned and said, “Second Sister, why’d you drag me up so early?”

Listening to the girls chatter, Xiao Yan, for the first time, found that having a house full of people wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

There were squabbles—but even more, there was warmth flowing quietly between them.

 “You’re stupid. I told you about it yesterday, and you just ate like nothing happened?” Erya scolded, hands on her hips. “Go, call Tiezhu over for me! Quietly—don’t let his mother hear. I’ve already talked to him. Just tell him I’m looking for him, he’ll know.”

Tiezhu was the blacksmith’s son next door, thirteen this year. He worked the forge with his father—simple, honest, and very obedient to Erya.

Xiao Yan thought, What is this Erya up to now?

Daya hesitated and said, “How about I go with you?”

“What for?” Erya retorted. “You know how to fake it? Don’t ruin our plan. Alright, big sister, heat up some of the leftover food for us. I’m going in to talk to him!”

Xiao Yan hadn’t figured out who this “him” was yet when he heard the sound of Erya’s approaching footsteps.

The curtain was lifted, and her delicate but impatient face appeared in front of him.

She didn’t even step in—just stood at the door and said, “Hey, you saw what happened yesterday, right? My mom went to borrow money, and people chased her down and scolded her. If you’ve got any conscience, you wouldn’t want something like that to happen again, right?”

Listening to her awkward delivery of the word “right?”, a single phrase floated through Xiao Yan’s mind:

—No good deed comes without a catch.

Even though her tone was stiff, this was the nicest Erya had been to him since he’d come into the household.

“What do you want to do?” he asked.

Xiao Yan figured she was probably going to use this chance while Lu Qiniang was out to drive him away—get rid of this burden.

Alas, so vast is the world, yet there’s no place for him.

 “Or rather,” Xiao Yan thought bitterly, “it’s not that there’s nowhere to go, but that I refuse to drag others down with this crippled body, sold off like a broken thing.”

Yet now, he had ended up dragging Lu Qiniang’s whole family into his mess.

Where could he go?

His mind raced with possible answers.

But Erya’s next words took him completely by surprise.

Head held high like a proud little swan, she declared, “I’m going to take you out to earn money—so my mother can pay that old hag back sooner and shut her filthy mouth!”

“Take me to earn money?” Xiao Yan was stunned.

In his condition, he couldn’t even take care of himself, let alone do labor. What kind of money could he possibly earn?

“Yes! Are you coming or not?” she said impatiently.

Xiao Yan asked cautiously, “What exactly do you need me to do to earn money?”

It was best to get the terms clear first.

“You don’t have to do anything. You just lie there,” Erya said confidently. “That’s as easy as it gets. The rest, leave it to me.”

“Lie there?” Xiao Yan was still confused.

“Exactly,” she said. “Lie there, close your eyes, don’t move—can you manage that?”

“…That’s playing dead,” Xiao Yan finally said, speechless.

“Precisely!” Erya gritted her teeth. “No moving allowed!”

Xiao Yan was at a loss for words—but finally, he seemed to grasp what she was up to.

“You want to… sell your body to bury your father?”