BFDNS 027

Chapter 27: Madam Qian

Xu Yi couldn’t figure out the visitor’s intentions, so he temporarily tucked the card away. He lifted the wild boar meat he was carrying and looked at Madam He, asking sincerely, “Madam He, do you know how to cook wild boar meat?”

In this kind of weather, if the wild boar meat wasn’t processed, it would spoil by tomorrow.

He had worked hard to get this back from Butcher Duan; he couldn’t just leave it to waste.

Thinking back, Madam He had offered him food she’d made several times before. While the taste wasn’t amazing, it was still quite good.

His topic shifted too quickly. Madam He couldn’t keep up at first, pausing before looking at the chunks of meat in his hand. “Eh,” she said, “This is the meat from the wild boar you killed? It looks quite mangled. Why didn’t you keep some better pieces for yourself?”

Xu Yi replied, “…”

He had forgotten.

Of course, he wouldn’t tell Madam He this.

A moment later, the wild boar meat was transferred into Madam He’s hands.

“I still have spices at home to marinate it, but I’m low on soy sauce. Brother Yi, go buy some soy sauce and bring it back. Get two taels’ worth. Buy it from the Li’s; theirs tastes the best.” Madam He instructed, picking up the meat and heading back to her house first.

Xu Yi set down his bamboo basket in the courtyard. Little Huang wagged his tail, sniffing around him warily. Detecting the smell of blood, he began barking.

“I’m fine.” Xu Yi patted his head to comfort him, went inside to change out of his dirty, blood-stained clothes, then went to the courtyard to wash his face before picking up a bamboo container and heading out to buy soy sauce.

–

A gentle breeze blew by. Xu Yi lit the oil lamp at home. He trimmed the wick, and the light brightened considerably.

The medicinal herbs dug from the mountain hadn’t been processed yet. He first took out the cloth bundle pressed at the bottom. Unwrapping it, the agarwood inside was intact, emitting a faint, subtle fragrance.

Agarwood releases a rich aroma when heated; at the moment, the agarwood was still in its very raw state.

Xu Yi rummaged through the chest for clean cotton cloth, rewrapped them properly, and placed them on the roof beam where it was dry and not easily noticed.

After finishing this, he called the errand runner to fetch well water and also had him buy two portions of food.

While the food hadn’t arrived yet, he washed up and used boiled dandelion water to disinfect the scabbed wounds, then took tougucao and turmeric, mashed them together, and applied the mixture to his wounds.

After bandaging himself, the errand runner arrived with the food.

Xu Yi set aside one portion for Little Huang. After eating, he took a box of soybean cakes and knocked on Madam He’s door.

The person who came to open the door wasn’t Madam He, but He Linqiu, who had returned home on leave.

“Brother Yi, are you looking for my mother?”

He Linqiu asked while stepping aside to let Xu Yi enter. “My mother is busy in the kitchen. I’ll go call her over.”

Xu Yi said there was no need. “Brother Qiu, when did you return? I didn’t see you this morning.”

He Linqiu said he’d arrived home around noon. His employer had granted him three days off, so he thought he’d come home for a short stay and keep Madam He company.

He was the same age as Xu Yi. Two years ago, he went to work as an errand boy for a wealthy family in Yanting County. He got three days off every three months.

This was Xu Yi’s first time meeting him since transmigrating. The original body had been very familiar with him before, but after He Linqiu went to work, they gradually grew distant. Xu Yi even less so. After chatting briefly, he made an excuse to go to the kitchen to find Madam He.

Madam He was in the kitchen cooking the wild boar meat. Seeing Xu Yi arrive with mung bean cakes, she couldn’t help but scold him a few times.

“What’s our relationship? I’m just cooking some meat for you. Is it necessary to spend money on something that won’t even fill your stomach?”

Xu Yi smiled and said, “Even blood brothers must settle accounts clearly. If I keep taking advantage of you, Madam He, won’t you eventually feel resentful over time? I don’t want to needlessly exhaust our goodwill. In the future, if I want to eat something else, I’ll still come to you.”

Madam He gave him a sideways glance. “Since you stopped studying, you’ve become much more glib than before.”

Xu Yi smiled. After all, he wasn’t the original body and couldn’t be exactly the same.

If he couldn’t do it, then he’d be himself. Now that he was familiar with the environment here, he actually found a bit of enjoyment in it.

By the light of the oil lamp, Madam He moved nimbly as she added water. She told Xu Yi to cook it over high heat for an hour first, making sure the clay pot didn’t run out of broth, adding more whenever it reduced a bit.

Then change to low heat and simmer slowly. Madam He picked up a pair of chopsticks and tasted a piece of meat, saying, “It’ll be ready to eat in another hour.”

“How many days can I eat this?” Xu Yi asked, looking at the pot that was more than half full of meat.

Madam He pressed her lips together. “If you’re diligent and boil it every day before eating, it can last several days.”

Xu Yi was dismayed. No, no, that was far too long to be eating this.

Later, when the meat was cooked, Xu Yi divided out a third for Madam He. She tried to refuse, but he deflected her with “what’s our relationship?”

He picked up the pot to leave. Behind him, He Linqiu chased after him. “Brother Yi.”

Xu Yi stopped. “What is it?”

He Linqiu bowed to him and said, “Thank you, Brother Yi, for taking care of my mother during this time. I’m often away from home, and my mother has no one at home to help her when she needs it.”

“Madam He has been very good to me,” Xu Yi looked at him. “You don’t need to thank me.”

He Linqiu fell silent. He raised his eyebrows, conflict appearing in his eyes.

Seeing him standing there without speaking, Xu Yi said, “If you have something to say, just say it directly.”

He Linqiu was considering how to broach the subject when he heard Xu Yi’s words and said, “I do have something to trouble you with. I heard from my mother that you’ve stopped studying and changed to learning medicine. Could you please take my mother’s pulse?”

“Oh?” Xu Yi looked at him with cool, clear eyes.

His gaze made He Linqiu feel embarrassed first. He looked away and explained softly, “Since I came home this time, in less than half a day, I’ve seen my mother rub her waist several times. When I ask if she’s uncomfortable, she always says it’s nothing. I can’t help feeling my mother is hiding something from me.”

This time, it was Xu Yi who fell silent.

It seemed Madam He hadn’t taken his instructions to heart. Considering that she did embroidery work day and night, sitting for most of the day, problems with her waist and eyes were only a matter of time.

Xu Yi said, “Tomorrow then. After I see my visitor tomorrow, I’ll come over.”

Delight flashed in He Linqiu’s eyes. “Good, good. Then I’ll thank Brother Yi in advance.”

He had always admired Xu Yi before, thinking he was good at studying and such a good person. Now it seemed he was still such a good person.

…

The next day, Xu Yi got up and cleaned the courtyard, then splashed water around to settle the dust.

He moved Little Huang’s doghouse to a different position, placing it closer to the kitchen. There was meat braised until tender in the house, smelling quite fragrant. Without being careful, thieving rats would come visiting.

The wild boar meat with its strong gamey smell, under Madam He’s culinary skills, became chewy and tender at the touch of chopsticks, leaning toward the salty side. Madam He said this made it last longer.

He steamed rice, stir-fried a plate of dried bamboo shoots, and ate two large bowls of rice with the wild boar meat.

Xu Yi wasn’t bored living alone. After eating his fill, he still had plenty to do. The medicinal herbs dug yesterday needed to be sold, and he needed to buy more ingredients to make digestive pills.

He had just returned home carrying medicine when, shortly after, the courtyard gate was knocked on. Xu Yi walked out and saw a brightly dressed woman standing outside the gate.

If there were no surprises, this person should be Madam Qian.

“Young Master Xu?” Seeing someone come to open the door, Madam Qian looked him over with an appraising gaze, noticing the scabbed scrapes on the young man’s face and his cotton robe washed somewhat pale; a picture of poverty.

It seemed this was him. The people who’d come to Yanting County to gather information hadn’t passed along wrong intelligence. The Xu family had spent all their money treating the parents’ illnesses, to the point where they didn’t even have money for studying anymore.

If they found such a husband’s family for Meimei, she would have plenty of hardship to endure in the future. Though the Wang family wasn’t extremely wealthy, they were at least a prosperous household in Pengxi County. In the past, they’d wanted to form a marriage alliance with the Xu family because the Xu family had produced a promising son.

Looking at it now, the betrothal had been made too early. They should have considered a few more families for Meimei.

“Are you Madam Qian?” Xu Yi opened the door for her, asking in a clear, gentle voice. “I received your card yesterday. This student was truly surprised. Please come in and have a cup of humble tea.”

There was only loose tea at home. Xu Yi calmly poured her tea and asked, “I wonder what urgent matter brought Madam Qian all this way?”

Madam Qian’s phoenix eyes lifted. She glanced at the beech wood furniture that didn’t match the thatched cottage at all, then looked down at the cup of cloudy tea, displeasure surfacing in her eyes. She didn’t touch the tea.

She frowned and began, “Some time ago, the family only had the young men send funeral money. It wasn’t entirely proper. Since I happened to be coming to Yanting County to purchase household items, I came to see Young Master Xu.”

Xu Yi lowered his eyes. “Thank you for your concern, Madam Qian. Please give my regards to Uncle Wang and Madam Wang on my behalf.”

“That’s easy enough to say.” Madam Qian’s eyes shifted. The words in her heart felt as heavy as a stone, difficult to bring up.

Coming to the door to break off a betrothal was truly unreasonable. Nowadays, breaking betrothals was strictly regulated. If one party disagreed, it would be very troublesome for the other party to break it off.

If handled poorly, it could even lead to a lawsuit, ruining her Meimei’s reputation.

But they also couldn’t let Meimei step into this pit of fire to live decades of a poor, water-thin life.

Thinking left and right, Madam Qian first asked about Xu Yi’s future plans, then confirmed that Xu Yi had stopped studying to learn medicine instead. Her brows furrowed deeply.

“How confused you are! How could you stop studying!” Madam Qian’s temper flared up immediately. “How can the art of medicine compare with being a scholar? What good do you think learning medicine does? What future is there for someone who gives up halfway like you?”

She spoke so harshly because she wanted to provoke Xu Yi.

If he had a fierce temperament, hearing these words would surely make him retort immediately. If she could seize the opportunity then, she could propose breaking off the betrothal.

Anyway, the Xu family had no elders left. As Meimei’s aunt by marriage, she had the authority to sever this marriage alliance.

Xu Yi frowned slightly. “What do you mean by this, Madam Qian?”

Even without having experienced this before, he was gradually sensing something was wrong.

This Madam Qian had probably come with ill intentions.

Madam Qian was about to lose her temper. Without good humor, she pointed at the main hall. “Look at this house! It’s become so ruined. You’re not studying or changing your family’s fortunes. Don’t tell me you want Meimei to marry over and suffer hardship with you?”

Meimei…

Was that the name of his unseen fiancée?

Xu Yi’s eyes were sincere. “If Meimei marries over, I certainly won’t let her suffer.”

Though he’d never met her, he knew that ancient marriages emphasized parental authority and matchmaker arrangements. It wouldn’t be easy for him to refuse this marriage unless the other party proposed breaking it off first.

Madam Qian was taken aback by his response. Worthy of someone who had studied, he was articulate and hadn’t fallen into her trap.

Since the other party was pretending not to understand her meaning, she could only be direct.

“Young Master Xu, I didn’t come today to form marriage ties with you. Now that you’re unwilling to continue studying, I think the marriage alliance with my family must be severed.”

The words fell.

Xu Yi turned his head to look at her, the corners of his lips curving into a smile. She should have said so earlier. With all that preamble, he’d almost thought she was up to something else.

So she’d come to break off the engagement.