Chapter 5 I, Meng Qing, am not someone to be bullied.
"Benefiting from the Du family?" Mother Meng smiled, looked at Du Li, and asked, "Son-in-law, will Wangzhou's surname be Meng or Du?"
"My surname is Du." Du Li cooperated readily.
Meng's mother turned to look at Du's father and called him by his name: "Old Ding Du, isn't Wang Zhou your grandson? Or isn't Du Li your son? What honor has he gained from your Du family? He is a member of your Du family, not an outsider."
"Auntie, please be more polite." Du Ming, who had been silently eating, looked up.
Meng's mother glanced at him, ignoring him completely. She stared at Du Laoding and asked, "You both agreed to the marriage between Du Li and Meng Qing, and you even accepted the dowry of 120 guan. It was a matter of mutual consent between our two families. Meng Qing didn't marry above her station, did she? Now that you've taken the money, you look down on her, and you even look down on the child she gave birth to?"
"No, no, I was out of my mind and said the wrong thing," Mr. Du said with a sheepish smile, regretting his words.
Mencius' mother did not respond.
"Eldest daughter-in-law, go check the kitchen. The chicken soup isn't ready yet?" To ease the awkwardness, Mr. Du turned to talk about something else.
Li Hongguo got up and left. A moment later, she brought back a bowl of golden chicken soup and said, "Auntie, give me the bowl, I'll scoop some chicken for you."
Mencius' mother did not move.
Du Li bent down, took the bowl from her, and handed it to her. Meng's mother glanced at him, and out of respect for him, the expression on her face relaxed.
Li Hongguo served Meng's mother a bowl of good meat. Du's father took it and leaned over to hand her the bowl, saying in a kind voice, "Mother-in-law, please don't be angry. I'm just an old farmer, clumsy with words. I really didn't mean what you said. Please don't take offense."
He had gone to such lengths; to argue further would only make her seem unreasonable. Mother Meng breathed a sigh of relief and took the bowl.
"Mother, Chun-di, you eat first, I'll take a bowl to Qing-niang." Du Li stood up to greet them.
Seeing his behavior, Meng's mother felt less remorse. The Du family was not good, but at least Du Li was a good person. The couple could understand and care for each other, which could offset many of the unpleasant things in life.
After a hasty meal, Meng's mother didn't want to stay any longer and suggested leaving.
Du's father did not keep the guest. He said to Du Li, "Second son, take your mother-in-law to the ferry to wait for the boat."
After saying goodbye to Meng Qing, Meng's mother left, with Du Li and Meng Chun following behind. Once they reached a secluded spot, Du Li apologized to Meng's mother, "Mother, you suffered a lot at my house today. I'm so sorry."
"Sigh..." Mother Meng sighed, "I can't blame you, never mind... I just hope you'll treat Qingniang better."
“Mother, you don’t need to worry about that. You know that my parents favor my eldest brother and my third brother, and don’t like me much. Under these circumstances, Qingniang, the child, and I are the only family. If I mistreat her, I’m blind and stupid, and I deserve to be unloved in this life.” Du Li was a little agitated.
Meng's mother thought highly of him and took the opportunity to win him over, saying, "They may not care about you, but your mother does. We only have two children, Meng Qing and Meng Chun. If Meng Qing marries you, you will be both my son-in-law and my son. When the farming season is over, you and Qing's mother can take the children home and stay in the city for a while. Your father and I will be very happy."
“Yes, brother-in-law, you should come back more often. It’s just me and my parents at home, it’s so lonely.” Meng Chun chimed in.
“Okay, Qingniang and I will bring the children back to visit you often in the future,” Du Li said.
As they approached the ferry crossing, villagers were washing clothes on the stone steps by the river. The three of them spontaneously changed the subject.
After a stick of incense had burned, a covered boat carrying vegetables and eggs passed by. Du Li stepped forward and asked, "Boatman, is your boat going into town or somewhere else?"
"Going to town? Need to take a boat? I have plenty of food on my boat, so I can only accommodate one more person," said the boatman rowing the oars.
Mencius' mother quickly walked down the stone steps and said, "I'm traveling alone by boat. I'll disembark at the fish market in Wumen. How much is the fare?"
"Five coins." The boatman punted the boat closer to the stone steps and said, "Hurry up and get on."
"Mother, I'll carry you across." Du Li kicked off his straw sandals, stepped barefoot onto the waterlogged stone steps, bent down to carry Meng's mother onto the boat. Once she was steady, he took out a handful of copper coins from his sleeve.
"Hey, hey, hey! I'll pay for it myself," Meng's mother pushed him.
“I’ll give it to you, I’ll give it to you.” Du Li stepped aside to block her, counted out seven copper coins and handed them to the boatman, saying, “Here are seven coins for you. Take my mother-in-law to Jiayufang in Wumen.”
The Meng family lived in Jiayufang, near the fish market. If Meng's mother disembarked from the fish market, without taking another boat, she would have to cross a river and two bridges to walk from the shore, which would take at least half an incense stick's time.
“Alright,” the boatman agreed, and he said to Meng’s mother with a smile, “Sister-in-law, you have a very filial son-in-law.”
Meng's mother looked helpless but was secretly satisfied. She pointed at Du Li and said, "You, I can get off the boat at the fish market. Never mind, I'm leaving now. You should hurry back to work."
Du Li helped push the stern of the boat, helping it leave the shore. He then waded ashore, put on straw sandals, and took Meng Chun home.
"I'll get you some of my old clothes to change into. The fields are muddy and dirty; don't get your nice clothes dirty," Du Li said.
Meng Chun looked down and examined the clothes. They were new ones he had made this spring and were indeed unsuitable for working in the fields.
"Try going to the fields today. Plowing and transplanting rice seedlings is not easy. If you can't handle it, go back tomorrow. Don't force yourself to suffer," Du Li instructed him.
"If I get too tired, I'll stay home and help my sister take care of the baby." Meng Chun was determined to stay in the Du family and wouldn't leave until his sister finished her postpartum confinement.
Du Li raised his hand and patted his shoulder. He said enviously, "No wonder your sister dotes on you. You two siblings have such a good relationship."
Meng Chun proudly said, "I grew up with my sister, and we have the best relationship."
...
At the Du family home, Qiaomei was squatting in the yard playing with ants. She heard voices approaching and saw that it was her second uncle and Wangzhou's uncle who had returned. She stood up and whispered, "Second Uncle, my grandma and my brother went to the field to pick mulberry leaves, leaving me at home to look after my second aunt."
"I'll get you some candy later," Du Li said, pushing open the door to the room. Meng Qing and the child were asleep. He quietly opened the trunk, took out some old clothes, and went out.
“I’ll take you to my third brother’s room to change your clothes, and you’ll sleep in his room tonight,” Du Li said.
Meng Chun followed him, passed through the central hall, and opened a door. Behind the door was the room where Du Min slept. There was another door on the back wall of the room, with a copper lock on it, which locked Du Min's study.
Having heard Du Li's statement to his mother, Meng Chun considered Du Li one of his own. He asked in a low voice, "Brother-in-law, will your mother not let me sleep in your third brother's room?"
Du Li punched him lightly, "Change your clothes and come out quickly."
Meng Chun chuckled and began unbuttoning her clothes to change.
Du Li returned to the south room, put the remaining copper coins from his sleeve back into the wooden box, took out the oil paper package containing maltose from the drawer, and gave it to Qiao Mei to eat.
"Second Uncle, I'm not going out to play today," Qiaomei promised, licking her candy.
“You can go out and play when your grandma comes back,” Du Li said.
Meng Chun changed his clothes and came out. He was three inches shorter than Du Li, but a bit fatter. Du Li's clothes barely fit him.
"Let's go." Du Li led him to work.
The Du family ate lunch late. Meng Chun and Du Li spent a lot of time seeing Meng's mother off at the ferry, and another incense stick's worth of time on their way to work. By the time they went to the fields to lead the oxen to plow, it was already quite late.
After finishing work in the dark, Meng Chun had only worked for a little over an hour. On the way back, he said cheerfully, "It wasn't that tiring, brother-in-law, you're exaggerating."
Du Li didn't explain; he knew how tiring it was when he was transplanting rice seedlings.
When he got home, Du's mother had already prepared dinner: porridge made with the chicken soup that wasn't finished at noon, and braised bean sprouts that hadn't been served at noon.
Meng Chun looked at the food and then at the dishes, and asked, "Has my sister eaten? Is she eating the same food as us?"
“We didn’t mistreat your sister; she got an extra bowl of steamed egg compared to us,” Mrs. Du said irritably. “Eat up, she’s already eaten.”
Du Li had a big argument with her at noon, and Du's mother didn't dare to cause any more trouble. No matter how much she disliked the Meng family or the daughter-in-law surnamed Meng, she could only suppress her disgust and obediently take care of Meng Qing during her postpartum period.
“My sister doesn’t like boiled eggs. We’ve caught a hen, so you can slaughter one every other day and stew it for her,” Meng Chun instructed. She added, “We can eat what she can’t finish. Uncle works hard, so we’ll give him something to eat.”
Father Du: ...
How did he get involved again?
“Yes, slaughter one every other day. Your in-laws provide the chickens, and you provide the labor. Make sure your second son’s wife gets some nourishment,” Mr. Du said kindly.
Du's mother didn't say anything, but she gritted her teeth and muttered to herself, "Who eats so much chicken during postpartum confinement?"
"Dad, my third brother isn't home. My brother-in-law is sleeping in his room tonight," Du Li told her father.
Just as Du's mother was about to object, the old man said, "Alright, he can sleep in Amin's room, and the hired helper can sleep in the east wing. Mother, you tidy up the loom in the east wing, lay out two straw mats, and the helper can sleep there."
"...I understand." Du's mother had no choice but to listen to him.
"Go to the city early tomorrow morning and bring back two quick and efficient helpers," Du's father told Du Li.
"I'll go," Du Ming said. He would go to the city to hire help, and the round trip would take a whole day, with most of the time spent on the boat, so he wouldn't get too tired.
"Alright, then you go." Father Du changed his mind.
Du Li didn't say anything. He turned to look outside and heard a child crying. He put down his chopsticks and went to the south room. He saw Meng Qing striking a flint and steel to start a fire.
"I'll do it, I'll do it." He took the flint and steel, looked at the bed, and asked, "Why is this kid crying?"
"I peed." Meng Qing rubbed his forehead. "Is it going to rain? It's so stuffy in here, it's making me dizzy."
The flint and steel struck the oil, sending sparks flying into the oil lamp. The sparks ignited instantly upon contact with the oil, illuminating the room in a flash. Du Li put down the flint and steel, then touched her forehead with the back of his hand; it wasn't feverish.
"Besides dizziness, is there anything else bothering you? There are stars in the sky tonight, and it won't rain tomorrow," he said.
"That's because I slept too much." Meng Qing stretched and said, "Go eat, or there won't be any food left."
Du Li picked up the wailing baby, changed his diaper, and turned to say, "He smells much better now that I've washed him with mugwort water."
Meng Qing raised her hand to smell her own scent.
Du Li immediately explained, "I didn't mean that."
“In a few days, when I’m a bit cleaner, pick a sunny day and boil a bucket of mugwort water for me so I can wash myself,” Meng Qing said.
“You don’t smell, you don’t need to wash.” Du Li’s tone remained unchanged.
“My nose isn’t broken.” Meng Qing walked over, picked up the child, and said, “Go eat quickly.”
Du Li then left.
*
At this time, the Meng family was also eating. When they talked about what happened during the day, Meng's mother was so angry that she cursed loudly. After cursing, she said in a fit of pique, "From now on, when my grandson celebrates his one-month and one-year birthdays, you go to the Du family and I will stay and watch the shop. I'm not going to suffer that kind of treatment."
Mencius' father didn't believe him. He took a sip of wine and said gruffly, "How can you be at ease if you don't go and see for yourself?"
"Even after seeing it, I'm still not reassured." Seeing that he was still in the mood to drink, Meng's mother angrily snatched the wine bowl from his hand and gulped it down herself.
"The Du family is so stingy. What kind of feast did they put on today? There wasn't even a drop of wine," she complained, wiping her mouth.
Meng's father laughed heartily, picked up the wine jar and poured half a bowl of wine, saying, "Stop worrying. Don't you know your own daughter? She won't suffer any loss. Just wait and see."
...
Meng Qing quietly stayed indoors to recover after childbirth. After the third-day bath, she didn't inquire about anything happening outside, focusing all her attention on taking care of herself and feeding her child. She was quiet and docile, as if she had become a different person, which made Meng Chun, who had grown up with her, feel very unfamiliar and also very uncomfortable.
On March 21st, ten days before Meng Qing finished her postpartum confinement, the Du family had already planted their early rice and were preparing to plant soybeans on the paddy field ridges and in the higher-lying paddy fields.
"Little brother, you should go back now." Meng Qing sat on the bed watching Meng Chun skillfully wash the child's bottom.
"I'll go back after you finish your postpartum confinement and after my nephew's one-month celebration," Meng Chun said without looking up.
“Go back and do me a favor. Go to Ruiguang Temple and find your eldest uncle. Try every possible way to get him to come over and bring more young monks to the feast on the day of the full moon celebration. If Mother agrees, have her invite our three uncles as well, as many people as possible,” Meng Qing said with a mischievous smile.
Meng Chun didn't react immediately. He nodded blankly, "You're going to throw a big full-moon celebration for Wangzhou, right? Will your in-laws agree?"
“How can we not entertain guests? It would be shameful if word got out.” Meng Qing rolled her eyes at him. “Why are you being so foolish now? Let me ask you, what do my in-laws cherish most? It’s Du Min and money. The Du family took my dowry, they’re selling their son, and they still have the nerve to look down on my Meng family. This time I’m going to make them pay a price and teach them a lesson. I, Meng Qing, am not someone to be trifled with.”
"Go back and plead with your uncle at the temple. Make sure he comes. Once he agrees, take a boat over and tell the Du family to prepare a large feast," Meng Qing instructed.
Meng Chun was overjoyed and patted his chest, guaranteeing, "I will definitely get this done for you."
That's just his sister's personality.
Meng Qing smiled. In Jiangnan, the worship of Buddhism was prevalent, and scholars pursuing the imperial examinations especially admired Buddhist teachings. Du Min was no exception. Influenced by him, Du's parents would also visit temples to pray during festivals. This time, with monks coming to their door, no matter how much it hurt them, they had to prepare a good feast, even if it was a little shabby. They didn't want to have to go to Buddha for blessings again if they didn't prepare a proper meal.
What's more, at this time most monks had not yet become vegetarians; they were the type to eat meat and drink alcohol in large quantities, eating mutton and drinking fine wine.
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