Song Erlang’s little girl Sanyang was restless, and Erlang’s wife carried her back to her mother’s house to ask Mrs. Tian from the village to massage her stomach.
Mrs. Tian had been doing this trade for decades, and her technique was very skilled. It didn’t take long for the little girl to calm down, and she reached out to ask Erlang’s wife for fifty coins.
Erlang’s wife widened her eyes, "Last time it was just thirty coins, why is it so expensive today?"
Mrs. Tian said, "This time it’s more serious than last time, so the fee is definitely higher."
"But you can’t just fleece people without a conscience!"
Erlang’s wife was furious, what did she mean by more serious than last time? No matter how serious, could it warrant an extra twenty coins?
Mrs. Tian insisted on fifty coins, and wouldn’t let her take the child away if she didn’t pay.
Erlang’s wife was helpless; she had come in a hurry and only had thirty copper coins on her, not a single one more.
Knowing that Mrs. Tian, the stomach masher, was notoriously difficult to negotiate with, she had no choice but to turn back and ask her mother, Mrs. Tian Zhang, for a loan.
When Mrs. Tian Zhang heard about spending money on that girl again, her face darkened, "Why borrow money? It’s just a worthless girl, and only you treat her like a precious treasure. People grow up eating the grains of the earth, who hasn’t had a headache or fever from time to time? Just boil a couple of bowls of hot water for her to swallow, and see if she still acts so delicate!"
Erlang’s wife was full of helplessness, "Mother, you say that, but since the massage has already been done, I can’t just refuse to pay, right? If I don’t give the money, she won’t let me take Sanyang away!"
"If you don’t pay, that’s better, let their family raise her. It’ll save you some money, and you’ll need money everywhere when raising a son in the future, won’t you?"
Seeing Erlang’s wife struck silent by her words, Mrs. Tian Zhang turned her head, "What, does your family really not want a son anymore?"
Erlang’s wife raised her hand to wipe her tears, "I do want one, but with that jinx staying home every day, I can’t give birth to a son! What can I do? Cause a scene and kick her out?"
These words reminded Mrs. Tian Zhang, "Didn’t you say last year you’d invite a spiritual master to perform a ritual at home? Why didn’t you mention it later?"
"It was my mother-in-law..." Erlang’s wife’s voice trailed off towards the end.
Mrs. Tian Zhang was incensed, "You’re always on about your mother-in-law. You’ve been living separate for so many years, are you still afraid she’ll eat you up?"
Erlang’s wife spoke softly, "When I went to ask for a spiritual master, my mother-in-law also talked about separating households, meaning I have no say over the younger brother-in-law."
"If she won’t let you control, then I’ll personally go and help you as your mother!"
Firmly determined to make a scene at the Song family, Mrs. Tian Zhang asked Erlang’s wife if Song Wei was around.
Erlang’s wife thought for a moment and said that the Third Son had gone to the county town for an exam, and before coming, she overheard the mother-in-law next door muttering that he would be back today.
"An exam? What exam?"
Nobody knew better than Mrs. Tian Zhang, the in-law, how unlucky Song Wei was. Ever since he started taking county exams at the age of ten, for eighteen years, he hadn’t even firmly sat on the exam stool. If he could pass, the sun would rise from the west.
Upon mentioning this, Erlang’s wife straightened her back, "He’s been gone for several days, taking that mute wife along. Eight years ago, he went for the county exam and brought back the bodies of his elder brother and sister-in-law. Who knows what trouble he’ll stir up this time."
"That’s perfect, let’s go to their house for a good laugh. If we catch him today, I refuse to believe your mother-in-law, who checks the almanac for even going out, would still treat Song Sanlang as a treasure!"
Xie Tao’s ox cart hadn’t even entered the village when Wen Wan called it to a halt.
Song Wei quietly asked if she needed a bathroom break. Wen Wan nodded, taking the cue, and after getting off the ox cart, she dove into the wildflower thicket by the roadside, picking large handfuls of wildflowers and carefully spreading them on the path through the flowers.
This was the nearest path from Tian Family Manor to Upper River Village, and at this time of early spring, there were plenty of bees in the flower bushes.
Wen Wan had clearly seen the beehive hanging on the big pine tree not far away before she came to pick flowers to pave Mrs. Tian Zhang’s path.
After spreading them over a distance of about thirty to forty feet, Wen Wan dusted her hands and turned back.
When Song Wei pulled her back onto the cart, he vaguely thought he saw a sly smile at the corner of his little wife’s mouth.