Chapter 20: If She Married Him…

Hui Niang staggered backward, nearly losing her footing. The word “beast” brought tears to her eyes, her fingertips trembling with rage. She couldn’t bear to hear Zhuang Mei utter even the slightest insult about Wei Shen.

“Don’t push me too far,” she warned.

Zhuang Mei’s loud tirade had drawn everyone’s attention. Yet she showed no shame, instead lifting her chin with pride. “Mother lives with us too, but we don’t see you contributing a single coin. How dare you show your face? Mother doesn’t just have our family’s Shoucai as her only son!”

She marched over and ripped the cloth off Hui Niang’s basket. Upon seeing a few bones stripped of meat and some unsightly pig intestines, she recoiled in disgust, taking several steps back.

“You can stomach eating scraps like this? What, run out of money again? Ready to cry poverty and beg for more?”

“Let me tell you now: don’t even think about coming to us for money. We won’t fill your bottomless pit!”

She sneered, deliberately taunting, “I thought you might deserve some pity, so I was willing to take a loss. But with everyone here today, let me make myself clear: after Wei Shen dies, even if you come crawling back begging, I won’t agree to let you adopt a son.”

Her words struck like daggers. Hui Niang’s face turned ashen.

At that moment, a crisp, melodious laugh rang out.

Everyone turned to look in confusion.

Yu Tingwan offered a half-hearted apology: “Sorry about that.”

“I couldn’t help laughing when I saw someone with such thick skin.”

Zhuang Mei glared at her, knowing full well how sharp Yu Tingwan’s tongue could be. She opened her mouth to retort, but Madam Wang, who had come to buy pig’s blood, held her back.

“Don’t stoop to her level,” Madam Wang advised with a cold sneer. “She didn’t name you directly. If you make a fuss and she claims she wasn’t talking about you, you’ll just look like a fool.”

Madam Wang clearly understood Yu Tingwan’s cunning tactics! Zhuang Mei considered the logic. But just then, Yu Tingwan lazily drawled, “But…”

She broke from convention: “I was talking about her specifically.”

Madam Wang: ???

Zhuang Mei: !!!

Furious, she rolled up her sleeves: “You little wretch—”

The village chief stepped out. “What’s all this noise about?”

Besides Yu Tingwan, only the Chief didn’t need to save face for Zhuang Mei. Yu Tingwan had her audacity, while the Chief had age and authority on his side.

“Isn’t Miss Wan right?” he demanded. “Have you forgotten how you begged Hui Niang on your knees? Aren’t you ashamed?”

“When you didn’t want your son conscripted, you spent money treating the yamen runners to wine so they’d register your nephew instead. Would you have remembered if I hadn’t brought up these old matters? How dare you quarrel with her now?”

His words dredged up memories long buried. The older women started to remember.

That year, it had also been a snowy day.

Zhuang Mei hadn’t possessed today’s arrogance. She had knelt, humbling herself before the nearly broken Hui Niang.

«This was my fault, but I had no choice. Military service is harsh—one wrong move means death. Your Wei Shen is always active, even swimming in rivers. He’s clearly cut out for martial training.»

The usually gentle Hui Niang, as if possessed, raised her hand and slapped her hard across the face.

«So my son deserves to die? You couldn’t bear to send your own son to die, so you pushed my Ah lang out instead?»

Wei Shen was even two years younger than Wei Qintian.

Zhuang Mei’s expression changed. “That… that was so long ago. Why bring it up now?”

The crowd’s murmurs grew disapproving.

“So she knows she’s guilty…”

“Wei Shen’s been back for some time, but the main house hasn’t visited once. That’s not right.”

“Yes, Qintian is married with children now, while his cousin lies there injured…”

When no personal interests were at stake, the village chief was particularly fair and willing to uphold justice.

He spoke sternly, “Heaven sees everything we do. Aren’t you afraid of retribution? There’s a limit to selfishness.”

Zhuang Mei bristled. “This is just women’s quarreling, nothing serious. You’re the Chief—this isn’t your business.”

The Chief remained unruffled. “If you’re dissatisfied, let your husband come argue with me!”

“And your mother-in-law too. That Wei Shen boy needs peace to recover, yet she makes a ruckus there daily—is that how a grandmother should behave?”

Unable to bear the humiliation, Zhuang Mei stomped her foot and spat threats at Hui Niang before storming off to find someone to back her up.

Yu Tingwan watched thoughtfully. These days, it was clear how much Wei Shouzhong and his wife valued Wei Shen. But something puzzled her.

“If the names were wrong, couldn’t they have reported it to the authorities?”

Li Lian, standing closest to her, shook her head. “It’s not that simple.” Seeing the young woman’s autumn-pool eyes looking over curiously, she explained how the Main branch couple and Old Madam Wei had kept everything secret.

When the time came, those on the registration list had to report to the yamen, where names would be sent upward together. The military camps would gradually send people to select recruits, who would then be taken away.

“The Main branch couple accompanied him that day. Old Madam Wei said since they were brothers, Wei Shen should go along to see them off.”

Who could have suspected such calculation and deceit?

Unexpectedly, Wei Shen never returned, while Wei Qintian, who should have been conscripted, came back with his parents.

“By the time Hui Niang rushed to the yamen, Wei Shen had already been sent away.”

“What could be done about such a thing?”

Yu Tingwan finally understood. The Chief’s daughter-in-law, holding her child, looked confused: “Why couldn’t they make a fuss at the yamen?”

Before Li Lian could speak, Yu Tingwan explained gently, “Military conscription isn’t a small matter. If they got the wrong person, the county magistrate would be charged with dereliction of duty. How could he take on such a case?”

“If Hui Niang’s family had persisted and actually reached the military camp, the entire Wei family might have lost their heads.”

And the Wei family hadn’t divided their property—the second branch wouldn’t have fared well either.

“Wei Shen’s departure was final, unchangeable. And Hui Niang still had a daughter. Old Madam Wei calculated these two points, which is why she dared to be so bold.”

Li Lian was surprised at how clearly Yu Tingwan saw through things. She sighed: “If you were born a man, you probably wouldn’t be inferior to Yaozu.”

Yu Tingwan smiled, lost in thought.

So on the third day, next door they made sour cabbage with pig intestines. However when Hui Niang prepared it, there wasn’t any unpleasant smell. The aroma was exceptionally strong, wafting straight into Yu Tingwan’s nose.

It seemed delicious, making her mouth water.

The mushrooms were finished, and at home there were only boiled wild vegetables, wilted from sitting too long.

They were tasteless.

She hugged her small pot, sat down in the courtyard, and looked toward next door, but could only see the high wall separating two houses.

The young girl hung her head dejectedly, falling into a long silence.

For the first time, an inappropriate thought crossed her mind:

If she married Wei Shen, would she also get to eat pig intestines?