Pastoral Splendor

"Sanhua, let your grandparents come in."

Aunt Xiao, holding Qi Hua, stood under the eaves and called out to Yan Ying. Although she knew why Xiao Mugen and Xiao Wangshi had come, she couldn't stop them from coming in. It wouldn't sound good if word got out that a granddaughter was keeping her grandparents out. People would say that San Hua was unfilial, and it would be difficult for her to find a husband in the future.

Yan Ying turned to look at Aunt Xiao, and seeing her earnest gaze, she could only step aside and make way for her. Xiao Mugen walked in, leading his grandson, and glared at her hatefully: "Sanhua, how can you have no manners at all? How can a girl be so unfilial? If you treat us like this now, you'll be even worse after you get married."

"Grandpa, you must have come here with no good news. Why should I let you in?" Yan Ying followed closely behind, glancing back at the man who looked like a pregnant woman. He must be the Jiang family patriarch who came to buy Qi Hua.

Xiao Mugen, his face flushed with anger, stopped and took out his pipe from his waist, then swung it at Yan Ying's head: "You dare talk back to me? I'll beat you to death, you little brat!"

"Father, don't hit him too hard!" Aunt Xiao's face turned pale when she saw this. She rushed over with Qi Hua in her arms and reached out to grab the pipe. Yan Ying had already nimbly twisted to the side, and Xiao Mugen's pipe missed its mark.

Xiao Mugen put away his pipe and glared at Aunt Xiao with dissatisfaction: "Eldest daughter-in-law, look at how you raised these girls! They're all capable of climbing on the roof and tearing off the tiles!"

Aunt Xiao stood in front of Xiao Mugen, holding Qihua, her head bowed and not daring to utter a sound. Yan Ying's rudeness towards her grandfather was indeed unreasonable, and she couldn't speak up for her. She could only let Xiao Mugen nag her.

Xiao Mugen stretched out his hand: "Let me hug Qihua."

Aunt Xiao hesitated for a moment, glancing at the round, fat man standing behind Xiao Mugen. But Xiao Mugen's murderous gaze made her a little scared, and she shakily handed Qihua over: "Father, hold her tight, don't drop her."

Yan Ying watched anxiously from the side. How could Aunt Xiao give Qi Hua to Xiao Mugen? It was obvious that Xiao Mugen had brought that Jiang fellow to buy Qi Hua! She was so angry that her eyebrows stood up, and she stared intently at Xiao Mugen. She wanted to see what this biased grandfather was planning to do.

Xiao Mugen bounced Qi Hua around in his arms, grinned, and said, "The eldest son's daughters are all beautiful."

The round, plump man came closer, took Qi Hua's hand and looked at it, then reached out and touched her delicate skin, nodding repeatedly: "Isn't that right? Look at this snow-white skin, without a trace of any other color! I heard it was premature, but looking at her, it doesn't seem like it at all, she was born full-term!"

Madam Xiao smiled, her eyes crinkling: "All the girls in our family are beautiful. Look at those other girls, which one is ugly? If you take this one home now, she'll definitely remember everything, but when she grows up, she'll be so sweet and call you two 'father' and 'mother'!"

The chubby man nodded happily, "That's right, now is the perfect time to raise them, they don't know anything yet. We just had a baby boy, we have plenty of milk, so we don't have to worry about not having enough."

Aunt Xiao's face changed color upon hearing this, and she stretched out her hand: "Father, we said last night that our Qihua is not for sale."

Xiao Wangshi brushed her hand away and said in a high-pitched voice, "Oh my, this is really going against the grain. Aren't children supposed to listen to their parents? Now that your parents have made the decision for you, do you think you can just say whether you want to sell or not?"

Upon hearing this, Aunt Xiao turned pale and her body went limp, almost collapsing. Erhua, who was beside her, quickly caught her and said, "Mother, don't worry, we definitely won't let Grandpa and Grandma sell Qihua."

"Us?" Madam Xiao raised an eyebrow, glancing at Erhua with schadenfreude. "Even your mother doesn't dare to say anything, so how dare you, a little brat, say you won't sell? Let me tell you, when the ruler commands the subject to die, the subject has no choice but to die; when the father commands the son to die, the son has no choice but to die. What's more, now it's just that your family has to sell a girl!"

Xiao Mugen glanced at Aunt Xiao and sighed, "Eldest daughter-in-law, can't you see how bad your family is? Why are you still trying to hold on? Wouldn't it be better to send Seventh Girl to another family to enjoy a better life?"

Aunt Xiao's eyes were full of tears. She kept shaking her head, and the tears rolled down her cheeks as her head shook. "Father, please have mercy and give Qihua back to me. It doesn't matter if our family is poor, as long as we are all together."

Seeing Aunt Xiao pleading so desperately, Yan Ying became angry and stormed up to Xiao Mugen. She reached out to snatch Qi Hua, but Xiao Mugen was startled by Yan Ying's aggressive approach. He grabbed Qi Hua and tried to walk to the side, bumping into the round, fat man. The two of them almost rolled to the ground.

Yan Ying reached out and grabbed Xiao Mugen: "Don't hurt my sister!"

Erhua, quick-witted, saw Yanying tugging at Xiao Mugen's sleeve and darted over from the side, snatching Qihua from Xiao Mugen's arms. Seeing Erhua succeed, Yanying quickly let go, and Xiao Mugen fell to the ground with a thud, his pipe flying a considerable distance.

"Oh dear, your unfilial granddaughter has hit her grandfather!" Seeing Xiao Mugen and the chubby man rolling around in a heap, Madam Xiao clapped her hands and feet and shouted, "What an unfilial daughter! No wonder there are no descendants; they're all good-for-nothings who were born but not raised!"

Yan Ying raised her hand. When Xiao Wangshi saw that Yan Ying's five fingers were spread apart like small fans, she was frightened and slowly moved to the side. She reached out to pull Xiao Mugen: "Old man, look, look! Your granddaughter is going to hit me!"

Xiao Mugen was thin but fairly agile. He got up from the ground, glared fiercely at Yan Ying, and rolled up his sleeves: "Third girl, are you being unruly? If I don't teach you a lesson today, I'm not a Xiao."

Yan Ying smiled and glanced at Xiao Mugen: "Grandpa, what surname are you planning to use?"

Erhua, holding Qihua, chuckled beside her: "He could also have the surname Xiao, the one with the grass radical. Anyway, it's the same sound, so other people wouldn't be able to tell."

Sihua and Liuhua laughed heartily at Erhua's words, while Wuhua hid behind Aunt Xiao and timidly tugged at her clothes: "Mother, you must hurry and persuade Second Sister and Third Sister, lest you anger Grandpa."

Xiao Mugen was so angry at Yan Ying and Er Hua that he could hardly speak. His eyes darted around and he saw a stick in a corner of the courtyard wall. He walked over quickly, picked up the stick, and started hitting Yan Ying on the head: "How dare you talk back to me? I'll show you whether you know how to respect your elders!"

"Sanhua, watch out!" Erhua cried out, grabbing Qihua and hiding under the eaves. She watched in alarm as Xiao Mugen, like a madman, lunged at Yanying in the front yard.

The onlookers at the courtyard gate were pointing and whispering, "Uncle Mugen has really gone wild today."

"Sigh, it was Sanhua's fault too. How could she push her own grandfather? No matter how wrong she was, she could only talk to him calmly, not lay a hand on him!" An old woman shook her head and said, "The world is going to the dogs these days, and people's hearts are no longer what they used to be!"

The old woman, Sijin, squeezed through the crowd, tiptoed to peek into the Xiao family's courtyard. When she saw Xiao Mugen hitting Yanying with a stick, she felt a surge of satisfaction and kept shouting, "Brother Mugen, you really need to teach those girls in your family a good lesson! If they don't get married, their in-laws will always say they're inferior goods raised in our Xiao family village, as if everyone in our Xiao family village is unruly!"

Yan Ying tilted her head, dodging the blow from the stick. As soon as she regained her balance, the stick came hurtling towards her again. Enraged, Yan Ying kicked the stick. Her shoes were soft, and the kick stung, but she managed to knock it away.

Seeing the stick slip from his grasp, Xiao Mugen quickly chased after it. Yan Ying stepped on the stick and sneered, "Grandpa, I advise you not to use your fists, or don't blame me for being impolite."

Xiao Mugen bent down to pick up the stick, but Yan Ying stepped on it and it wouldn't budge. He tried to pull it out twice but couldn't. He could only straighten up and look around. Yan Ying hooked the stick with her foot and pulled it up. She grabbed it with one hand and twirled it a few times, making a flourish. Xiao Mugen was dumbfounded.

"Grandpa, if you keep making trouble like this, I won't be able to keep my hands still." Yan Ying gave Xiao Mugen a contemptuous smile: "I don't know why you have to interfere in this matter, Grandpa. Is it something to be proud of to force your son to sell his daughter? Even if you are thinking of our family, we already refused last night. No matter how poor we are, we will not sell Qi Hua. Why do you have to come and make decisions on your own?"

Xiao Mugen's face turned bright red as he glanced at Yan Ying and said, "You have no right to speak here, not even your father!"

"Everything must be based on reason. If he is unreasonable, no matter how noble he is, I will still speak up against him!" Yan Ying looked at the round, fat man who had gotten up from the ground, her face darkening: "Master Jiang, I heard that your family has only ever had boys? Well, I'll offer you twenty taels of silver to buy a boy. Will you sell him?"

The man surnamed Jiang was so angry that his face turned red and his neck bulged: "Our family will never sell our children!"

Yan Ying smiled slightly: "We don't sell them either!"

Chapter Thirty-Six: Beating the Dog

"Make way, make way, Boss Xiao is back!" someone shouted at the gate. Everyone stepped aside to make way, and Boss Xiao, his feet covered in mud, rushed in from outside.

When Xiao Mugen saw Xiao Laoda walk in, he was as if he had grabbed a lifeline. He grabbed Xiao Laoda's clothes and said, "Brother, come and see what your third daughter has become! So arrogant! I don't know who she learned it from! Our Xiao family has always been strict in its family rules. I never thought that a good bamboo could produce a bad shoot. How could we have such a long-mouthed scoundrel!"

Boss Xiao glanced at Yan Ying: "San Hua, put the stick down!"

Yan Ying obediently put down the wooden stick, but her momentum didn't diminish: "Father, do you know why Grandpa came here? He came to sell Qihua. That Master Jiang came along too. I offered him twenty taels of silver to buy one of his sons, but he refused. Yet he wants to buy our Qihua for twenty taels of silver. Isn't that ridiculous?"

The man surnamed Jiang, with his neck stretched out, shouted, "Our son is precious! All you maids in the house are just money-losing goods! I only bought this one because my wife wanted a maid. Otherwise, who would want her?"

"You good-for-nothing?" Yan Ying pointed the stick at the man surnamed Jiang. He was a little scared and involuntarily trembled, taking a step back towards the courtyard gate: "What are you doing? What are you doing!"

Yan Ying smiled contemptuously: "Don't you even think about it? Who does all the housework in your household? If it weren't for the women doing the housework and helping with the farm work, how could you live such a comfortable life? You keep calling them money-losing goods, but you have no idea how much money they've earned!"

The man surnamed Jiang was dumbfounded and somewhat at a loss. Yan Ying tapped the ground with her stick: "You should leave quickly. Our family doesn't sell daughters. We want to live happily together as a family. Even if we are poor, we will never sell Qi Hua!"

Seeing that Yan Ying spoke with such certainty, seemingly leaving no room for negotiation, the man surnamed Jiang glanced at Aunt Xiao and Boss Xiao standing there, and suddenly perked up: "You little brat, you have no say in this family. Your father and mother haven't even said anything, and you think you can make decisions?"

Boss Xiao nodded beside him: "We've handed over the management of our household to Sanhua. We all agree with what she says."

The man surnamed Jiang stared wide-eyed, almost unable to believe his ears. He stood there at the door, dumbfounded. Several birds hopped up and down in the tree beside the door, startling the blossoms on the branches, causing them to fall to the ground along with a thin, sticky substance. Jiang reached down and pulled a puddle of yellowish-green liquid from under his hat. He angrily wiped his hand on the door of Boss Xiao's house, glared at the people in the yard, and hurriedly went out.