The old man stroked his beard and said with ill intent, "It’s easy to find out if someone’s blind, deaf, or mute. But if you really had an accident and broke an arm or leg, that’s genuine disability, and surely you wouldn’t have to join the army then."
After finishing, the old man deliberately talked to the people nearby about how ten years ago during the conscription drive, someone intentionally broke their limbs to avoid military service and succeeded.
Seeing foolish Ding Wulang staring intently at the butcher’s knife held by the seller, seemingly torn between chopping his hand or not,
Yu Xiaolian hurriedly spoke, "If you’re the only man in your family, the court won’t take you."
The conscription notice clearly states that a single man in a family will not be conscripted.
Being exempt from conscription means a family with an only son, the sole male heir, is not drafted.
In ancient times, the feudal belief of valuing males over females was particularly severe; the sole male heir was seen as the person who carries on the family lineage and was also the family’s only source of labor.
Joining the army and going to war, there’s a high chance of sacrifice, so to ensure the continuation of the family line, the idea of exempting sole male heirs emerged.
The young man, upon hearing Yu Xiaolian’s words, was like seeing a savior.
He excitedly ran over to Yu Xiaolian, "Is what you said true?"
Startled by his sudden actions, Yu Xiaolian stepped back several paces, "It’s true, it’s written on the notice, exempt from conscription."
The young man grabbed a basket of peaches he brought to sell at the market and without hesitation handed them to Yu Xiaolian, as if she was the reason he was exempted from military service.
Yu Xiaolian pushed them back, "Brother, don’t give it to me. I don’t want it. You keep it to sell!"
Ding Wulang chuckled shyly and loudly declared, "These are peaches from Taohua Village. Just try them; they’re delicious, super sweet. Others want them, but I won’t give any!"
Oh, so Taohua Village is named because it produces peaches, huh?
Unable to refuse, Yu Xiaolian asked Zhao Erya to accept the peaches and then, ignoring Ding Wulang’s protest, tossed a piece of broken silver into his basket before she and Zhao Erya walked to the lamb stall to buy five pounds of lamb.
Before leaving the market, Ding Wulang familiarly waved goodbye to her.
As they passed the old man who caused trouble, the old man glared sinisterly at Yu Xiaolian, and Yu Xiaolian wasn’t polite, glaring back at him.
The old bastard, so malicious?
Almost tricked the nice young man into becoming disabled.
The old man didn’t expect a little girl like Yu Xiaolian to blatantly glare back at him, making his beard twitch in anger.
Yu Xiaolian and Zhao Erya walked ahead while the old man followed at a distance that wasn’t too close or too far.
Zhao Erya anxiously said, "Why is that old man following us all the time? What’s he trying to do?"
Yu Xiaolian wasn’t the least worried that the old man would pose any physical threat to them, but his actions were like a dying frog bouncing on her toes; it couldn’t bite, but it was irksome.
Yu Xiaolian nudged Zhao Erya, telling her to take the basket and head back first, while she turned around and stood in the middle of the path, arms crossed, watching the old man with interest.
Come on, let’s have a stare-off.
Come on, let’s hurt each other, she has plenty of time anyway.
The old man was shocked by Yu Xiaolian’s actions; he had never seen such a shameless little girl. Typically, a young girl would blush and flee if glared at, not her; she glared right back.
Normally, being followed would scare one into running home, but not her; she sent the maid away and turned back to have a stare-off with him, clearly having an attitude like, if you’re unhappy, let’s fight.
Old Mate knew Ding Wulang; he was actually the father-in-law of Ding Wulang’s big sister. However, when Ding Wulang’s sister got married, Ding was still young, and Ding Wulang, you could call him simple-minded but not completely foolish, and sharp? Definitely not.
Though they were relatives by marriage, they only met once during the elder sister’s wedding.
Except for Chinese New Year, when the Dings would visit the family home, their families rarely interacted otherwise.
But when Ding Wulang shouted about peaches from Taohua Village, by observing his appearance, Old Mate guessed this person was Ding Wulang, his eldest son’s brother-in-law.
With a bit of inquiry, he confirmed it was indeed Ding Wulang from Taohua Village.
Because Ding Wulang was somewhat asphyxiated at birth, causing his brain to be less agile.
Though Ding Wulang lost his father when he was six, Ding Wulang’s mother was capable.
After her husband was taken by the court as a laborer, Mrs. Ding didn’t collapse like other women, resorting to tears and tantrums, but instead raised her five children to adulthood through excellent embroidery, marrying off those who needed to marry and arranging marriages for those who needed to wed.
Old Mate’s reason for harassing Ding Wulang has roots in when the Ding family arranged a marriage proposal for Ding Wulang last year during the New Year.
After delivering New Year’s gifts from her home village, Ding’s sister returned and spoke of how her brother and a girl from the Liu Family village had taken a liking to each other, planning to engage the pair after the New Year.
Old Mate casually inquired, how much was the bride price? What was the family’s condition?
Mrs. Ding explained that her future sister-in-law’s family was quite poor, with a sickly mother requiring treatment, so the Liu girl asked for a bride price of fifteen taels, which was steep, but given her brother’s flaws and interest in the Liu girl, it was agreed.
Upon hearing the bride price of fifteen taels, Old Mate developed a cunning plan.
Fifteen taels! That Old Mother-in-law of his actually managed to gather fifteen taels to arrange a marriage for her foolish son—what does that signify? It shows the Ding family is doing well, and perhaps fifteen taels is just small change.
If he could marry his younger daughter, Ma Ni’er, into the Ding family, that would truly keep the resources within the family.
Though Ding Wulang had flaws, he was the only male seed in the family; the four sisters had all married out, so all the future assets of the Ding family would be Ding Wulang’s, and Ding Wulang’s would then belong to his younger daughter.
If his daughter married into the family, she’d only enjoy prosperity, not hardship.
After mulling it over, Old Mate shared his thoughts with his eldest son’s wife.
Mrs. Ding felt troubled, as her mother had already verbally agreed to the engagement with the Liu family. Although it wasn’t formally recognized with a ceremony, the two lived in the same village; changing the engagement the next day would ruin their family’s reputation.
Old Mate said, "I’ll prepare a gift for you when you return to your mother’s home; bring your younger sister-in-law Ma Ni’er along. On the surface, we’ll say we’re visiting relatives, but in reality, let your mother and brother take a look at Ma Ni’er. She’s visually appealing, maybe they’ll find compatibility."
"Our families are already in-laws, more kinship would be better, right?" ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮·𝙣𝙚𝙩
Mrs. Ding wasn’t quite convinced, but given her father-in-law’s insistence, she took her sister-in-law back to Taohua Village once more.
However, Ding Wulang didn’t fancy Ma Ni’er.
If he didn’t, he didn’t, but Ding Wulang proclaimed it throughout the village.
The villages were close anyway, and the matter soon spread far and wide, damaging Ma Ni’er’s reputation and leaving her sobbing at home daily.
Old Mate resented Ding Wulang for this, and it just so happened today he found the chance. He wanted to teach Ding Wulang a lesson, but this blasted girl interfered.