Pastoral Splendor

The sun slowly sank in the west. Just moments ago it seemed to be hanging in the center of the sky, but in an instant it flashed over the mountaintop, with a bright golden sun beside it, melting and burning red, dyeing the western sunset with a golden-red hue.

Old Xiao squatted outside the house, anxiously peering inside. Although it was only spring, beads of sweat were already pouring down his forehead. This was truly a tumultuous situation; his wife had finally endured over seven months of labor, and in the blink of an eye, the baby was about to arrive!

He scraped the steps with his straw sandals, leaving several yellow mud stains on the large stones. Old Xiao, hunching his shoulders, stared at the yellowish-brown stains, his mind replaying the day's events. It was all Third Sister's fault; life was going so well, yet she slaughtered Old Lady Sijin's sheep, causing all this trouble. Ever since Third Sister hit her head, she'd become stranger every day. She used to be obedient, sensible, and quiet, but now she was even more cunning than Second Sister. Old Xiao couldn't help but sigh; what was he going to do?

Today, Erhua brought lunch to the fields. He rummaged through the rice and was surprised to find a few pieces of meat in it. Where would his family get the money to buy meat? Erhua replied that Sanhua had picked up a civet cat on the mountain. He didn't think much of it. He hadn't eaten meat for several months. Whether it was a civet cat or something else, as long as it was meat, it would taste delicious.

But to his surprise, the meat wasn't civet at all; it was mutton, from Old Lady Sijin's sheep! The thought sent shivers down Xiao Laoda's spine. How could Sanhua be so audacious as to kill Old Lady Sijin's sheep today? After learning this from Xiao Wenhua, Xiao Laoda was utterly devastated. Wasn't Sanhua just causing trouble? He had finally managed to cultivate this vegetable garden, and now she was going to take it to compensate Old Lady Sijin? Would his family be left with nothing but rice from now on?

What's even more infuriating is that Sanhua has lost her mind. Today she got into a fight with Xiao Wenhua, and she, she, she... she actually dared to hit the village chief, and even caused her mother to be pushed to the ground. Who knows what's going on inside the house now? His wife says it's a boy, and he's moving a lot in her belly, so please, please keep him! Xiao Laoda clasped his hands together and prayed devoutly to the heavens: "Heaven above, please bless my wife and son with peace and safety!"

Strangely enough, just as Boss Xiao finished his prayers, a loud "waa waa waa" sound came from inside the house, as if it were telling the people outside that he had been born.

"Wow, judging by that loud sound, it's definitely a boy!" Boss Xiao squinted his eyes with joy, and the four, five, and six flowers squatting beside him also stood up, their faces beaming with happiness: "The little brother is born!"

Old Master Xiao stared longingly at the door of the house, hoping the midwife would come out quickly. A short while later, there was a creak, and the midwife emerged carrying a swaddled baby: "Congratulations, sir!" She paused, glanced at the maids following behind Old Master Xiao, and added somewhat hesitantly, "Congratulations on the arrival of another daughter!"

"What?" Boss Xiao's eyes widened. "The crying is so loud, isn't it a boy?"

"Some baby girls are loud too." The midwife looked embarrassed as she handed over the swaddled baby. "Brother Xiao, don't you want to take a look at your little girl?"

Boss Xiao turned his head away, straightened his neck, and said, "What's so interesting about it? It's not like he's a guy with a penis!"

Seeing that Xiao Laoda ignored the midwife, Erhua reached out and took the swaddling clothes from him, glancing down at her younger sister: "Oh, Qihua is so pretty!"

Liu Hua was still grieving along with Xiao Laoda, but upon hearing Er Hua's words, she stood on tiptoe and grabbed Er Hua's arm, saying, "Second sister, let me see! I'm not the youngest anymore! Now I have a little sister to bully!"

Erhua laughed and showed Qihua to Liuhua: "When have we ever bullied you? You're just talking nonsense!"

Yan Ying came out of the house, her hands still stained with blood. Wu Hua quickly scooped water to wash them off, and asked softly, "Where is Mother? Is she alright?" Her little face was full of worry. She glanced timidly at Xiao Laoda, then looked back into the house. "It's another girl. Father is angry."

What's there to be angry about? Yan Ying scoffed. Isn't the sex of a child determined by the man? How could he blame Aunt Xiao? It's just that people in the Great Zhou Dynasty don't understand this principle and only know how to scold women. It's really frustrating! "Our mother is tired and sleeping. Let's make her something delicious later to help her replenish her energy."

"What good food is left at home?" Old Xiao took off one of his straw sandals and kept tapping it against the stone, with a lot of yellow mud falling off. He sighed deeply, "Sigh, she gave birth to another girl, and there's another mouth to feed in the family!"

"Father, does having a boy mean we don't need to eat?" Yan Ying was a little angry. This eldest son of Xiao was really too sexist! "Father, if we have a younger brother, you'll have to save money to get him a wife. Won't that cost even more?"

Old Master Xiao scratched his head, speechless for a long time after being choked by Yan Ying's words. After a while, he said, "The girl belongs to another family, and the boy spends money to get a wife, but the children born will all have the surname Xiao!"

"What's so difficult about that?" Yan Ying smiled and pouted. "If Father cares so much about surnames, then half of the children I give birth to will take Father's surname, Xiao!"

Boss Xiao's expression changed slightly, and his gaze towards Yan Ying shifted: "Sanhua, do you perhaps intend to find a son-in-law?"

Good heavens, she was only fourteen! How could Boss Xiao be thinking about taking in a son-in-law? But taking in a son-in-law might not be a bad thing. In her previous life, Yan Ying had seen many sons-in-law who married into the family; usually, they were poor and that's why they didn't dare to defy their wives. That was a good thing. Yan Ying nodded: "Father, if Mother can't give birth to a son, I'll take in a son-in-law. As long as the Xiao family line doesn't die out! But I have to choose this son-in-law myself; I have to agree to it first!"

The eldest son looked at Yan Ying with a more fervent gaze: "San Hua, the fact that you think this way shows you have a filial heart!"

The dining table was moved outside. The moon had already peeked out, but the light was still not very bright, and the dishes on the table were not very clear; several dark bowls were placed there.

Having just arrived at Old Master Xiao's house, Yan Ying was not used to the way dinner was eaten. She was a little confused as to why dinner had to be eaten outside. Liu Hua hugged her neck and said coquettishly, "Third Sister, how come you don't remember? Our family needs to save lamp oil, so we definitely can't eat inside."

"It's not about saving lamp oil, it's that there's no lamp at all!" Yan Ying searched the house and finally found an oil lamp in a corner of the kitchen. It was completely dry, without a drop of oil. How could she talk about saving anything? She had been living in darkness at Old Master Xiao's house for almost half a month and was really not used to living without light at night. Today, when she went to Yuzhou City to buy groceries, the first thing she bought was lamp oil, and she also bought two wicks, afraid that the wicks wouldn't light.

The midwife sat at the table, pleasantly surprised that there was meat in Old Master Xiao's dinner. She poked at it with her chopsticks and picked up a small piece of meat, quickly stuffing it into her mouth and crunching away, her cheeks puffing out like a frog.

Looking at the young girls of the Xiao family, the younger ones were squatting to the side eating with bowls in their hands, while the older ones were sitting at the table eating their food slowly and methodically, as if they ate meat all the time. The midwife suddenly felt a little ashamed; at her age, she was not even as good as the young girls of the Xiao family.

But this Mr. Xiao was really strange. He looked like he had no money and even had to take the table outside to eat dinner. But there was meat and white rice in his dinner. The midwife remembered the dozens of coins that had been stuffed into her hand and thought to herself, "He really doesn't flaunt his wealth."

“Brother Xiao, with your family’s wealth, it’s no problem for Sanhua to find a son-in-law to live with her family!” The midwife put another piece of meat into her mouth, her mouth glistening with oil. “Money makes things easier. I’ll go and find out who’s willing to be a son-in-law. Sanhua is about fourteen or fifteen now, right? She can start getting married in another two or three years.”

Yan Ying was taken aback. Marrying at fifteen or sixteen? Wasn't it said that girls in the countryside married late, usually around seventeen or eighteen? Er Hua was already sixteen, and no matchmaker had come to propose marriage. "It's too early, too early. I was thinking of waiting until I was seventeen or eighteen!" Yan Ying put a piece of meat into the midwife's bowl. "Thank you, Auntie."

Boss Xiao waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "Where would our family get money? Are you joking? Didn't you see that half of our house collapsed and we don't have the money to repair it?"

The midwife chuckled as she chewed on some meat, "My dear husband, I know you don't want others to know you're rich. I'm a tight-lipped person, I won't go around telling everyone, don't worry, don't worry!" She glanced at Yan Ying and tapped her bowl with her chopsticks, "San Hua, you're such a clever child sometimes, why are you so muddle-headed at other times?"

A married daughter is like water spilled from a cup; if she can stay at home for a few more years and do as much work as possible, she should stay as long as possible. But it's different with a live-in son-in-law. Naturally, the sooner they get married, the better. It's like having a free long-term worker in the family. All you have to do is feed and sleep him. And the children they have will even take the family name. It's really a great deal.

"Sanhua, if you don't understand, ask your mother when she gets better." The midwife picked up the fourth piece of meat with satisfaction, which made Xiao Laoda's heart tremble. She really can eat! He looked at Yan Ying, his heart filled with worry. He didn't know where this third girl got so much meat and rice. It was not good to ask now that there were outsiders present. He hoped that she didn't get it through any crooked means.

Boss Xiao picked up a piece of meat, chewed it a couple of times, but couldn't detect any aroma. Instead, he felt uneasy. He stood up, ladled out a bowl of rice, added some vegetables to the bowl, and carried it into the house.

Yan Ying smiled gently. At first, Xiao Laoda was angrily shouting outside the house, which made her think that Xiao Laoda only cared about the child in her belly and didn't care about Xiao Da Niang's life or death. She was still a little angry. Now it seems that Xiao Laoda is actually quite good to Xiao Da Niang. He just doesn't know how to express it.

"Second Sister, Third Sister, Father won't give Qihua away, will he?" Wuhua, who was squatting to the side eating, suddenly raised her head, looked at Yanying and Erhua with some worry, and asked, "I don't want Qihua to be sent away, I want her to stay."

"Give it away?" Yan Ying was somewhat surprised. How did Wu Hua come up with this idea?

Erhua reached out and patted Wuhua's head: "Don't overthink it, our father and mother aren't those kinds of people."

Yan Ying glanced at Er Hua without saying anything, but a few doubts arose in her heart. Wu Hua must have a reason for saying that. She sat there holding her bowl, looking at the bowl of meat on the table. Apart from the few pieces the midwife ate and the ones Xiao Laoda took, almost nothing had been touched. Her younger sisters were really sensible.

"Fourth Flower, Fifth Flower, Sixth Flower, come and eat meat! Do you think Third Sister's cooking isn't good enough?" Yan Ying called out, and the three little flower-headed girls stood up and quickly surrounded her, their faces full of happy smiles.

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