I am not Ximen Qing.

"Sister, it's not that I'm heartless towards our brother, but he throws a tantrum at the slightest smile. Our father is heartbroken over him. How can father and son be so different? Father confronted Huang Yumin, planning to send him to study in Japan, but he's a stubborn mule. Father even promised him that he could stay abroad, but study the Four Books and Five Classics properly, so that even if the family falls into ruin, he could become a teacher. Or he could become an apprentice of Uncle Huang Jinxian, learn traditional Chinese medicine for a few years, and become a doctor. Father knows he loves women, and he even promised to find him a concubine if he studies hard." Raising a daughter-in-law and such. It's all fate! Don't fight against God. Now it's my turn to make a decision. We can't hesitate anymore. We need to cut the Gordian knot and deal with the house and land. These are all external possessions. Dad's old saying, "You can't have your cake and eat it too," makes sense now. He's so smug now. It's true what they say, fortune and misfortune are intertwined. No wonder Dad always lamented the ups and downs of life. Even if Liu Bang and Cao Cao had foresight, they couldn't protect their descendants' lives. What are we? Just small fry. I don't care if Yumin understands or not. What kind of sister in the world would be so heartless to her brother?

"Sister, now that you've sold off the house, where will you live?"

“Sister, I’ve already made up my mind. I’ll go to the mountains, deep in the forests. Your brother-in-law can work as a charcoal burner or brick maker. We can live off the land. Leaving the Yalu River, it’s still more secure to live off the land. I don’t want to stay in this county town anymore. Dad said we can start over somewhere else. People move to live, trees move to die. I’m a strong woman and I have my pride. I can’t face this place anymore, and I don’t want to stay here.”

"In the mountains? Which mountains? Are you going to Baekdu Mountain?"

"Sister, why do you insist on having bound feet? When Dad and I went to the mountains to collect and wholesale goods, we saw real mountains and rivers. We only have the Yalu River here. Yes, the Yalu River has all kinds of fish, but life can't just be about eating fish. We still need to make money. As long as we work hard and the situation stabilizes, we can make enough by buying and selling mountain products and furs."

Sister Yupei is confused again. Yuhuan's thoughts are beyond his comprehension. On one hand, she's frantically selling houses and land; on the other hand, she's planning to go to the mountains to make charcoal, bricks, and trade in mountain products and furs. She's so contradictory—one minute she's talking about dividing the family fortune, the next she's scheming to trade in the mountains. Yuhuan is her father Huang Jinshan's darling daughter. He fears she'll become too much like Mulan, so he specifically wanted to leverage her status as one of the Four Beauties of ancient China. But no matter what, Yuhuan's personality is tomboyish, bold yet meticulous. In business, she's Huang Jinshan's best friend. Like father, like son, the family is dominated by women. If only Yumin were a girl, if only Yuhuan were a boy—this is Huang Jinshan's own wishful thinking. Fate always likes to play tricks, and life is unpredictable; nothing is perfect. Yuhuan wants to pull Huang Yumin out of the money trap and help him pay off all his romantic debts. Fortunately, it was just the money Huang Yumin spent on brothels and opera houses. These brothels! Places of pleasure and debauchery everywhere, a paradise for the gentry. But Huang Yumin, the younger brother, wouldn't understand his sister's intentions. His sister was a miser, a penny-pincher, even more greedy than their father. Huang Yumin couldn't comprehend this, but his sister was comparable to Huang Shiren (a notorious landlord in Chinese folklore), and he, Huang Yumin, was her long-term laborer, her tenant. She couldn't be a savior of suffering, and Huang Yumin never considered the mistake of associating with brothels and opera houses. They were unfortunate people; Huang Yumin was a Liu Yong-like figure abandoned by his family. Don't let Huang Yumin's lack of learning and ambition fool you; he was a qualified opera fanatic, occasionally dabbling in plays, playing clowns to satisfy his passion for opera, and even playing a few tunes on the erhu. He dabbled in all sorts of low-class professions.

In Yu Pei's eyes, Zhang Sirui was a highly accomplished scholar. But in Yu Huan's mind, figures like Yan Hui, Zisi, Confucius, and Mencius were irrelevant to him; he was just a penniless commoner. Yan Hui, though living in a humble alley, remained steadfast in his principles—that was Yan Hui. Huang Yu Huan couldn't understand what kind of bewitching spell her sister had fallen for him. He had already sacrificed himself; he couldn't let her sister stoop to marrying a rough, uneducated laborer like "Old Zhang." He was responsible for her marriage, visiting Zhang Sirui's thatched-roof mud hut many times. "The Autumn Wind Breaks the Sky"—that was the poem of Du Fu, the poet saint, a monster of the New Culture Movement. It was too incredible! Such an oddball existed in the world—able to understand the traditional Four Books and Five Classics, yet unable to write them? Who would believe it? Living with her second uncle, a lifelong bachelor, was too impoverished. In her elder sister's eyes, Yu Huan was too snobbish in her dealings with people, but the younger sister became increasingly high-profile and flamboyant. She felt that her sister, Jinlian, should at least find a gentlemanly, gentry-like figure, or a cultured and respectable scholar. He and his father suffered greatly from a lack of education; without culture, they couldn't enter high society, which was also the reason for their career stagnation. The free-spirited and dashing Huang Yumin had more poise and charisma than Zhang Sirui. Although he was overly promiscuous and addicted to hooking up with prostitutes and actresses, he was still a charming young gentleman!

Now, Huang Yuhuan finally understood that Zhang Sirui's poverty was his greatest advantage. "Sister, I think love is irrational. If you want to marry him, then marry him. Now the trend is for the poor and lower-middle peasants to rise up and become masters of their own destiny. The working class is the greatest and most glorious. So, although your brother-in-law and I are reasonable, I know that's not love. Irrationality is love. Who cares about love or anything like that? Your brother-in-law and I will go to the mountains to work as laborers."

"Little sister, can't you work as a laborer here?"

"Sister, intellectuals from big cities are all heading to the mountains."

I still don't understand.

"Sister, you are too naive and innocent."

"Sister, why don't you have children?"

"Sister, I have to follow the rules of etiquette. If you don't get married, he can forget about touching me."

When Huang Yumin learned that his sisters had paid off his debts, he was so happy that he invited all the opera troupes he often patronized to his home to perform for a week.

Don't underestimate Huang Yumin, this scoundrel and playboy. His mind is filled with the ancestors of the Peking Opera world—Emperor Li Longji, Dongfang Shuo, Sima Xiangru—they are all his idols. The Peking Opera world is the best dream in the world; it's a place where you can go to heaven and earth, a dreamlike illusion, immersed in the alluring beauty of various female performers. Slender waists like willow branches, graceful figures, petals falling on flowing water, ethereal and dreamlike, lotus blossoms swaying, hibiscus flowers in full bloom, flower goddesses vying for beauty, passionate and loving, like the fairyland of Penglai. Huang Yumin inwardly mocks his money-loving father, Huang Jinshan. Money comes and goes, and his son, Huang Jinshan, is most fond of the charming, passionate, and alluring female performers after they've put on makeup. This is the entire meaning of Huang Yumin's life.

He wasn't oblivious; the world was too kind to the poor. He knew this might be his final act of indulging in worldly pleasures. This was the best of times; he wanted to find that feeling of 'Paradise Lost.' Huang Yumin couldn't understand the saying, 'Enjoy life while you can,' or 'A thousand cups of wine are not enough when you meet a bosom friend.' He couldn't conjure up images of the 'Li Sao,' 'The Fallen Goddess,' 'Ladies and Prostitutes,' or 'The Twelve Beauties of Jinling' while drinking with them, even his money-loving sisters becoming saviors like Guanyin, Ksitigarbha, Manjushri, and Samantabhadra. Ah! The Money-Giving Boy has arrived, the Dragon Girl has arrived! This world is just; it will liberate these beautiful women with their radiant faces. He, Huang Yumin, was a man without morals, but not a bad one. His price was spending a mountain of gold; they were already living in his flesh and bones. Women have feelings, men have righteousness—it's only natural. He couldn't bear to part with them. It was all a grand, fleeting dream. Huang Yumin didn't care about anything else. He was possessed by the spirit of Liu Shan, living the life of a carefree Marquis, oblivious to his impending doom. In truth, Huang Yumin knew perfectly well that his own foolish and immoral behavior was the very thing that could redeem the Huang family. Everything was ultimately empty; only through emptiness could one find liberation. But this whole affair, coming and going in vain, could redeem the lives and destinies of his sisters. So, money lost would return. Huang Yumin understood that this was also the essence of Li Bai's bold, unrestrained, and otherworldly spirit—inviting prostitutes and actresses to his home for entertainment, for a grand performance, to become a memento of Huang Yumin's fleeting dream.

"Sister, I saved you, it was I who saved you! Because of my eating, drinking, and having fun, you almost didn't become a female landlord. Thank goodness I didn't listen to Father and go to Dongyang to study. Father said I wasn't ambitious, that I didn't study hard, that I was a little Ximen Qing (a notorious womanizer in Chinese folklore). I have to refute Father's insults about my character. He said I was Ximen Qing, but I'm not. First, I haven't married, haven't taken concubines, and there's no such thing as *Jin Ping Mei* (a famous Chinese novel). I'm completely innocent. I don't run a pharmacy, I don't lend money at exorbitant interest rates, right? I'm clean. I play, I enjoy myself, I gamble, but I've never harmed anyone, especially women. I'm not Ximen Qing. Don't think that because I don't read, I'm a fool. The world has changed; having money is a sin. Think about it, Li Bai was the wisest. Not spending money is a sin; my immorality atoned for Father's sins. How pitiful they are! I'm the one who spends money to make them happy."

Huang Yumin truly considered himself Yuan Keding, the nation's most powerful young master. He not only disregarded his father's favors but also those of his sisters; he only appreciated the affections of his "sister Yao," those prostitutes, and those actresses. He was deeply poisoned by this ideology, and his path astray deepened. One could only say he was lucky; he was a true opportunist. The land reform policy in Northeast China received enthusiastic support from the poor and lower-middle peasants—a momentous event. Liberation! Liberation! Liberation! It was proceeding with great fervor, liberating Northeast China, liberating all of China, everything moving towards a happier and more prosperous life for the people. Huang Yumin also saw his fortunes rise. His eldest sister, Yupei, was getting married, and his second sister and brother-in-law... he thought there was something wrong with him; why would he choose to suffer in the mountains instead of enjoying a comfortable life? He probably never imagined that his life of eating, drinking, and merrymaking would lead him to own a house. This world is truly amazing! Thank goodness he didn't listen to his father and go to Japan to study; not listening to his father was the right thing to do.

Mother Liu was unusually reserved and low-key in her actions, a tradition of her maternal family. Her love was passed down in another way, as a pair of gold bracelets for Yupei and Yuhuan. Yuhuan, however, was shrewd; these were gifts from her mother's dying mother, whispered in her ear, and now part of Yuhuan and Yupei's dowry. But for the two sisters to wear such glittering, luxurious jewelry on their wrists would be somewhat ostentatious, because times had changed, and gold always attracted attention; its glittering brilliance was perhaps too dazzling. Liu, without a husband, had foresight. She practiced the strategy of diversifying her wealth, a strategy her father, Huang Jinshan, employed—spreading out assets to reduce risk. Yuhuan understood this perfectly and simply had a goldsmith craft the bracelets into rings. The mother's gold bracelet was heavy, as if afraid it wouldn't be heavy enough. It represented her mother's love for her daughters, a love that was passed down to the sisters, Yupei and Yuhuan. They were still happy, unlike the Empress Dowager Cixi, whose ten fingers were covered in gold rings. The Empress Dowager wore them with majesty, embodying the dignity of the Qing Dynasty's Empress Dowager. But wearing jade pendants and rings was too vulgar, too ostentatious. This troubled Yuhuan, who had been painstakingly trying to find the perfect balance. She pondered deeply, and suddenly, a lightbulb went off. Her mother, Liu, had a good tradition of keeping things in order: a woman needed something to place at the bottom of her coffin. Instead of gold or silver ingots, a few gold rings were fine. Without such items to ward off evil, one would suffer poverty in the underworld. Liu was quite traditional, not superstitious. In the past, ancestors valued life and death above all else. The Zhou rites followed the Yin rites, and Confucius strongly advocated the system of rites. The *Book of Rites*, *The Book of Etiquette*, and *The Rites of Zhou* were essential texts for Confucian scholars. In the past, Fu Sheng's teachings on the *Shangshu* (Book of Documents) returned to the issue of life and death being of paramount importance. Children in the past didn't look forward to life, but rather to death. This was because the Chinese were very particular about ritual; death had to be celebrated with grand ceremonies. Cattle, horses, sheep, and even cars were crafted by artisans. Even the poor had to carry out elaborate rituals, with Buddhist monks, nuns, and priests performing rituals and chanting mantras and scriptures, along with Taoist priests playing music and drums. Ritual and music were inseparable; monks and Taoist priests were almost indispensable. There was food and drink, because death was considered a great event, so children could eat and drink. The forty-nine days of chanting and reciting scriptures would help the spirit to be reborn in the six realms of reincarnation, avoiding hell and the animal realm, at least being reborn as a human.

Yu Huan had made up her mind that no matter what, everyone should have burial goods. There were several gold ingots in Huang Jinshan's coffin—a secret only Yu Huan knew, arranged by her father before his death. He had instructed her that if things became unbearable, she should dig up the gold ingots under the guise of relocating the grave to use as capital, and hide the capital in the coffin for peace of mind. Liu Shi was also buried with a thousand Yuan Shikai silver dollars. These were all Huang Jinshan's methods of hiding wealth. He knew he couldn't tell his son, Huang Yumin, that spendthrift son, nor his gentle eldest daughter, Yu Pei; he could only let his hard-hearted youngest daughter, Yu Huan, fulfill her will.