Chapter 10 Leaving Home
As the rooster crows at dawn, the rising sun gradually devours the dim starlight on the horizon, and the yellow mud walls of Dujiawan, surrounded by clear water, emerge from the blue mist.
Meng Qing and the child were still asleep. Du Li tiptoed out of the door and saw smoke rising from the kitchen across the way, but no one was inside. He noticed that the water vat was still half full, so he didn't need to fetch water this morning. He tiptoed towards the main hall.
"Jinshu, wake up quickly." In the north room, Li Hongguo patted her son awake and said, "Get dressed quickly and go to your third uncle to study. He's home for half a day today, so you can study with him for half a day."
Du Ming was woken up by the noise. He turned over impatiently and said irritably, "Does it have to be so early? Don't disturb Third Brother's sleep."
“Your third brother got up a long time ago. I heard him reciting his lessons in the study when I went to fetch firewood.” Li Hongguo pulled Qiaomei up as well and said, “Sleep less. Learn from your third uncle. Don’t be like your father, who only thinks about sleeping when he’s eating.”
Du Li entered Du Min's room, where the smell of burning candle oil still lingered. Looking at the oil lamp, he saw that the oil inside was almost gone, indicating that Du Min had stayed up late studying again last night.
Just a wall away, Du Min stood in front of the wide-open window, reciting his lessons with intonation and rhythm, his eyes closed, completely absorbed.
He only opened his eyes with satisfaction after he had memorized the entire book.
Du Li knocked on the door. "Third brother, I'm coming in."
"Come in." With his major concern resolved, Du Min was in high spirits. Seeing Du Li push the door open and enter, he called out in a strong voice, "Second Brother, you're up quite early."
"Not as early as you? You got up before dawn?" Du Li pointed to the oil lamp on the table, the candle inside still burning.
"Oh dear! I forgot." Du Min went over and blew out the candle. He put down his book and said, "You and I are different. You are busy with farm work in the fields and are tired every day. You should sleep as much as you can when you can. I can't sleep now. I need to sleep less and work harder. If I indulge in sleep and enjoy myself, I will be letting down all the hard work you have put in."
Du Li felt comforted. "You've been sensible and hardworking since you were little. It's like you were born knowing how to make a name for yourself. With such a promising brother like you in the family, your older brother and I are willing to work hard."
Du Min smiled. "Second Brother, did you dream about me last night? Why are you saying such sentimental things so early in the morning?"
"Third Uncle! May my sister and I come in?" Jinshu and Qiaomei stood obediently in the main hall and asked loudly.
"I have something to tell you." Du Li gestured for him to send the two children away.
Du Min went out for a while, and after a moment he closed the door to the back hall, went into the study and closed the study door again. "Second brother, you can speak now."
“I thought about it for half the night, and I still feel that we can’t keep what you discussed with us from our parents. Before they get up, come with me and tell them,” Du Li said.
Du Min frowned, his good mood from the morning instantly gone. He closed his eyes and sighed softly, suppressing his irritation, and asked with renewed spirit, "What is it now? Second brother, can you please stop being so impulsive, changing your mind every now and then, and dragging things out and repeating them several times? It's really exhausting, and now I can't even concentrate on reading."
Du Li saw the look on his face and felt a chill in his heart. After hearing his accusations, he felt somewhat embarrassed. He hurriedly explained, "I didn't agree to that last night. When I was about to tell you, Jinshu and Qiaomei came back with the ox."
“My second sister-in-law and I have already discussed it, and she has agreed to keep it a secret from our parents, so you shouldn’t interfere.” Du Min returned to his desk and sat down. He picked up a book and flipped through it, looking like he didn’t want to talk about it anymore.
“No, she…” Du Li’s words trailed off as he remembered Meng Qing’s instructions not to mention her opinion, lest it create a rift between him and his sister-in-law and affect their future relationship. He swallowed the words he shouldn’t have said and said firmly, “I can’t stay out of it. If we don’t make this clear to our parents, they won’t tolerate your second sister-in-law taking the children back to her parents’ house so often, and they certainly won’t tolerate her going back to her parents’ house to help instead of working at her husband’s house. Once or twice is fine, but over time, our parents will scold her for being unfilial, and the whole village will mistakenly think she’s clinging to her parents’ family and isn’t a good daughter-in-law, which will damage her reputation. Third brother, your second sister-in-law is doing so much for you; you can’t not consider her reputation.”
Du Min looked at him coldly, "My second sister-in-law knows what you're thinking? Did you two discuss it last night?"
“She knows, but she doesn’t care. After all, she did something like moving back to her parents’ house after arguing with her mother last year. She doesn’t care about the reputation.” Du Li told a little lie. “But she doesn’t care that I do. She has a bad relationship with her family, and as a result, Wang Zhou will also be disliked by his grandparents. It’s fine if my parents don’t like me, but I can’t let my child follow in my footsteps.”
"Second brother, how can you say that? You're both our parents' son. How could they not like you?" Du Min was unhappy to hear him say that.
Du Li shook her head with a wry smile, "Never mind, I don't want to talk about it anymore. It makes me sad."
Du Min sighed, slumped wearily onto his desk, "Second brother, my parents have always been proud of me and have always looked down on cunning merchants. But they even went so far as to sell their own son's marriage for me. If word got out, they would be scorned, which was already enough to make them lose face. If they find out today that I'm involved in business, how heartbroken they will be, more heartbroken than if they had their flesh and bones torn out."
Du Li was unmoved by his words, and he said dryly, "My parents will understand."
Du Min remained silent.
"Where's the second son? The water in the vat is empty, why isn't anyone fetching it?" Father Du asked, standing in the yard. "Where is he? Is he still sleeping?"
“I heard my second uncle’s voice when I went to find my third uncle in his study,” Jinshu replied.
"What are your third uncle and him talking about?" Du's father found it strange. He went into the main hall and knocked on the door. "Second brother? What are you doing in your third brother's room? Come out and fetch water."
Du Li went straight to open the door. "Father, my third brother has something to tell you. You go in first, I'll go call Mother."
Meng Qing carried the child out of the south room and happened to run into Du Li calling for his mother. The couple exchanged a glance and went about their own business as if nothing had happened.
After Du Li called Du's mother away, Li Hongguo came out of the kitchen, glanced at the main hall, and asked in a puzzled tone, "Second sister-in-law, what happened?"
"I don't know, I just woke up," Meng Qing said, feigning ignorance.
Li Hongguo ordered Jinshu to call Du Ming, "Your father has gone to lead the cow to graze. Call him back."
Jinshu ran out the door briskly. Meng Qing looked up at Li Hongguo, but Li Hongguo ignored her gaze and offered no explanation. She went back to the kitchen to continue cooking.
In the study, Du Min refused to speak, but Du Li, not wanting to dawdle, recounted the events of the past two days.
As Mr. Du listened, his face grew darker and darker. He instinctively refused to believe that his proud son would get involved in such lowly business dealings, especially with the unlucky paper horse shop.
"Could it be that Wang Zhouniang abducted your third brother to work for her family?" The more Du Laoding thought about it, the more convinced he became. He angrily cursed, "I knew she was a vicious and ruthless person. We shouldn't have let her into the Du family. She almost harmed your third brother."
"Du Min!" Du Li shouted, "Are you mute? Tell your parents to shut up. I'm warning you, if your second sister-in-law gets scolded again because of you, even if you kneel down and beg her, I won't let her do anything for you again."
Du Min was terrified by him. Du's parents were as if their hearts had been ripped out. One cursed him as a short-lived ghost, and the other cursed him as a debt collector.
"Father! Mother! What are you doing!" Du Min quickly called out to stop them. He didn't dare to look at his second brother's face and hurriedly explained, "This was all my idea, not my second sister-in-law's. She only agreed to help me."
“Du Min came back the night before Meng Qing gave birth, and it was about this. Neither she nor I agreed, and he left dejectedly the next day. Yesterday, while we were working in the fields, he kept bothering Meng Qing about it again,” Du Li added coldly. “Du Min, you’d better explain yourself clearly, or your second sister-in-law will be wronged.”
"Shut up," Mother Du snapped. "Get out of here."
Du Li didn't move at all.
"Mother, don't talk to my second brother like that. He's a father now, not a child anymore. Don't scold him all the time. He's not wrong, I'm the one who's wrong," Du Min said in defense.
"What were you thinking? Why did you get involved in that?" Father Du didn't dare mention the words "business," for fear of being overheard. He lowered his voice and asked, "Do you know that if outsiders find out about this, you're finished?"
"I know, I know all of this, but I'm short of money..." Du Min repeated what he had said yesterday in a mournful voice.
Mr. and Mrs. Du remained silent after hearing this.
"Father, Mother, I'm sorry, I've let you down. I've dragged you down and this family down," Du Min said dejectedly.
“My child, don’t say such things. Your parents are the ones who have wronged you. If you had been born into a noble family, you wouldn’t be suffering like this.” Mother Du was heartbroken. She wiped away her tears and said, “It’s suffering for you to be born into our family. We are the ones who have dragged you down.”
Du Li gritted her teeth; it was truly ironic.
Fortunately, he's gotten used to it and can still stand here and watch and listen like an outsider.
Just then, Du Ming returned. When Meng Qing saw him, she walked into the main hall and asked loudly, "Du Li, your older brother is back. Everyone's here. When are we going to eat?"
"Father and Mother, this matter cannot be known to my elder brother and sister-in-law. It's not that I don't trust them, but I'm worried that Jinshu and Qiaomei might overhear and then let it slip outside," Du Min hurriedly said.
"Alright, alright, we won't tell him. Only a few of us know about this." Father Du knew the seriousness of the matter. "Second son, tell your wife to keep her mouth shut outside."
"Whether she can keep her mouth shut depends on whether you are willing to treat her well. You insult her all the time, and she will be heartbroken and capable of doing anything." Du Li said the same thing as Meng Qing, truly befitting a husband and wife.
Upon hearing these familiar words, Du's father became angry and shouted, "You've really grown wings and are trying to rebel!"
"I shouldn't have agreed to let you marry her last year. It would have been better for you to remain a bachelor than for her to incite you to go against us." Du's mother was filled with regret.
Du Ming barged in and heard this. Like a dog that takes advantage of its master's power, he ran out and barked wildly at his master's whistle: "Second brother, what are you doing now? Can't you shut up? You've already held your son's full moon celebration, are you going to hold a first birthday celebration too?"
Du Li looked at him like he was a fool.
"Let's eat, I'm hungry," Du Min said.
Mr. and Mrs. Du kept their mouths shut and walked out. Du Ming turned around and followed them, asking, "Dad, Mom, what are you arguing about so early in the morning?"
"It's none of your business, don't pry." Mr. Du was in a terrible mood, and he snapped impatiently.
Du Ming was also annoyed. "How can this not be my business? If you give the second son any more money, I'll send Jinshu to elementary school."
"Money, money, money, where did you get the money? You can cut off my flesh and sell it. And when you're eating, just shut up!" Father Du cursed.
When Du's mother saw Meng Qing, she opened her mouth to scold him, but before she could say anything, she remembered Du Li's words and swallowed her words back.
"The weather's changed!" Du's mother shouted at the top of her lungs. The weather had really changed; the mother-in-law was now afraid of her daughter-in-law.
Li Hongguo looked up at the sky and saw that the weather was indeed about to change; the clouds had covered the sun.
"Third brother, you should leave after you've had breakfast. If it rains this afternoon, you'll get soaked on the way." Li Hongguo was genuinely concerned for Du Min.
Du Min looked at Meng Qing and asked, "Second Sister-in-law, are we leaving this morning?"
Meng Qing looked at Mr. and Mrs. Du and asked, "Father, Mother, can I leave?"
"Where are you going? Back to your parents' house again?" Li Hongguo asked unhappily.
“She can’t do anything at home with a child, and we have to cook for one more person. Let her go back to her parents’ house for a few months.” Mr. Du was in a mess, but he made a decision. “Second son, you take her back to the city later.”
Li Hongguo protested, "Father, what do you mean by this? You didn't make this arrangement when I gave birth to Jinshu and Qiaomei. When the children were young, I took care of them while cooking and washing clothes for you. I was also involved in silkworm rearing and weaving. I was a maid, and she is the young mistress?"
Mr. Du was speechless.
“She’s going back to help her family, not to enjoy a life of luxury,” Du’s mother said. She told Meng Qing, “If you’re not working at home, you have to pay money to the family, three hundred coins a month.”
Meng Qing disagreed, "I don't eat at home, why should I pay? My family is raising your daughter-in-law and grandson for you, they're really losing out by not asking you for money."
“You weren’t home, so your share of the work was done for you by your sister-in-law and me. Why didn’t you pay us?” Du’s mother glared at her.
“I have to work because I eat your food. I don’t eat, so why should I do any work?” Meng Qingcai wasn’t going to do something that would put her at a disadvantage. She deflected the conflict by saying, “If you think my sister-in-law is being taken advantage of and working hard at home, then give her three hundred coins a month.”
Mr. and Mrs. Du both gasped.
"Sister-in-law, is three hundred coins enough?" Meng Qing asked.
Li Hongguo dared not speak.
“That’s not true. She still has Jinshu and Qiaomei to raise. Don’t those two children need to eat?” Father Du quickly dismissed his eldest daughter-in-law’s idea. He looked at Meng Qing and said, “When we’re busy at home, we’ll call you back. We don’t need you to work in the fields. You can cook a few meals at home and bring them to us in the fields.”
“Okay,” Meng Qing readily agreed.
Mr. Du dared not let her stay any longer. He said impatiently, "Stop eating, you'll get seasick if you eat too much. Second son, you two go back to your room and pack up. Go to the ferry dock and wait for the boat as soon as possible."
Meng Qing's luggage was already packed. Du Li went to get it, and after Du Min came out with his things, the three of them left home together.
Mr. and Mrs. Du stood outside the courtyard watching them go, wondering whether this departure would bring them good fortune or misfortune.
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