It was nearly dinner time when Mrs. Wei finally returned from outside. Mrs. Chen glanced at her but didn't say anything, just told everyone to wash their hands for dinner. It wasn't until dinner was almost over that Mrs. Chen spoke up, "The meal is almost finished, hold on before clearing the table, I have a few words to say."
Everyone put down their chopsticks and looked at Mrs. Chen. Zhixiang, who had been preparing for the central examination and frequently went out to study articles with his classmates, happened to be at home that day. He looked at his mother with a touch of surprise, seemingly unfamiliar with her serious expression.
"Let's talk about the second son's family today. Yurong, you're only twenty-seven this year, and the second son has already passed away. Our family isn't that old-fashioned, we can't let you spend your youth widowed for Yong'er. I'm thinking, within our village or nearby villages, to find you another family. That way, you would have a place for the rest of your life, otherwise, it'd be too much of a pity for someone as young as you. Yurong, if you agree, I'll go find a matchmaker tomorrow, to start arranging a marriage for you." Mrs. Chen had observed Mrs. Wei's behavior recently and was afraid she might be getting into trouble outside, which would ruin her reputation. She thought it better to arrange the marriage openly and properly, leaving no grounds for gossip.
Upon hearing what Mrs. Chen said, Mrs. Wei was taken aback and quickly knelt in front of Mrs. Chen and Xu Chengkuan, "Father, mother, I am a daughter-in-law of the Xu family, and I will be for all my life. I won't remarry, I still have Wencheng and Wenchang, they're still young, they haven't grown up yet." As she spoke, she kept kowtowing to the elderly couple.
"Ah, I'm not trying to test you or anything, I really am considering your best interest. You're still young and have a long life ahead of you, it's hard living alone. Our family treats you like a daughter, which is why we're planning for you. If there's a good match, then go ahead and marry, spending life with a spouse is the nature of things. As for Wencheng and Wenchang, we will raise them to adulthood." Mrs. Chen continued to persuade her daughter-in-law.
Xu Chengkuan hadn't said anything until now; he'd been living with Mrs. Chen for many years and knew her temperament well. He understood that she must feel something was inappropriate to be advising like this. The rest of the family remained silent too, with their elders present, it wasn't their place to speak.
Mrs. Wei remained kneeling, refusing to get up, "Mother, I will not remarry, I am and will forever be a person of the Xu family," she said as tears began to fall.
Mrs. Chen sighed, "Get up. Let's leave this matter as it is for now, and if one day you find someone you like, just tell me, and the family will surely send you off to marriage just like sending off a daughter."
Mrs. Wei got up from the ground, wiped her tears, and then stood there.
"Alright, everyone clear away the table now, the kids have been up in the mountains all day, they must be tired. If there's nothing else, go to sleep early, there's work to do tomorrow." Mrs. Chen was about to pick up the table when Mrs. Xue quickly stopped her and led Jingya and Jing Hanju to clear away the meal.
When only the old couple was left in the room, the old master looked at Mrs. Chen, "Did you notice something, that's why you said what you did today?"
"Sigh, what premonition, it's just that I think it's such a shame for her to become a widow at such a young age. To tell the truth, although the second son's wife is a bit lazy, she has still treated Zhiyong fairly well over the years. Zhiyong is often not at home, leaving her alone, it's pitiful when I think about it. That's also why the wife of my eldest son and I have always been indulgent with her. I mean, if there's someone suitable, let her marry, don't force her to remain a widow, it's too harsh," the old lady said as she spread out the bedding, continuing to talk with the old master. "What do you think?"
"Alright, what you say goes. Our family isn't that old-fashioned, it's better to find someone good for her than to keep her here. It's Yong'er's misfortune, no blame on others," the old master sighed and said no more. Watching Mrs. Chen make the bed, he undressed and lay down in it. "Sleep, we have to get up early to go up the mountain tomorrow, haven't even weeded half of the grass yet," he said and fell asleep.
Mrs. Chen, busy with the household chores every day, didn't have it easy. She looked up to blow out the oil lamp and went to bed as well.
Since that night Mrs. Chen spoke her mind, Mrs. Wei had become steadier, doing household chores like cooking and feeding the pig, mending and patching, and seldom going out. Mrs. Chen saw it all but didn't know what to say.
Wenhan and Wencheng had gone to the school to study, leaving Jinghan, Wenxuan, Wenchang, and Yumei from the Lin family to go collecting lady fern together. Mrs. Xue naturally worried, so she followed them up the mountain, leaving Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Wei at home to watch over the drying lady ferns. The drying of lady ferns had its own tricks; they couldn't just be dried directly as that would make them straight, which was not desirable. They had to be sun-dried while constantly being massaged to make each stem spiral-shaped for a better result.
At this time, the sun was already intense and one couldn't stay under it continuously. Mrs. Chen would gather the lady ferns that had been in the sun for a while, find a cooler place to massage them, and then return them to the sun to continue drying. The lady ferns needed to be massaged three times before being dried completely.
By noon, most of the lady ferns were partially dried, and Mrs. Xue led the children back. Mrs. Chen hurried to boil water for blanching the vegetables, and once blanched, everyone busily peeled the lady ferns.
"Mother, Dragon Boat Festival is coming, should we buy some glutinous rice?" Mrs. Xue asked while working.
Mrs. Chen thought for a moment, "Oh dear, we're already into May, look at my poor memory, completely forgotten. Alright, if you have time this afternoon, go to town and buy some glutinous rice. The festival is coming, and we must make some rice dumplings."
"Okay, the grocery store in our village has some too, but it's a bit more expensive than the town's. Anyway, I don't have much else to do, so I'll head over this afternoon. I wonder if the third and fourth will come back for the festival?" Mrs. Xue continued working as she spoke, and in no time, had gathered quite a bit.
"Who knows? The third is quite far away, it's unlikely he can make it back. After all, he works in someone else's shop, it's not up to him. The fourth is closer, but he's closer to his mother-in-law's side, perhaps he'll go there for the festival? It doesn't matter. Whoever wants to come back can, if not, let it be. We shouldn't hope for too much to avoid the flare-ups when they're back; it's even more distressing to see," the old lady also pondered, realizing that once a son gets married, he's not just a son anymore. Too many expectations will only make it hard for the son caught in the middle.
After lunch, Mrs. Xue went to town to buy the glutinous rice. This place doesn't produce rice, let alone glutinous rice. Mrs. Xue bought 20 pounds of glutinous rice, spending 70 coins, and then another packet of honey dates, totally using up the 100 coins. "Sigh, the prices have gone up again," Mrs. Xue thought to herself.
Returning home, she found a large basin to soak the rice. Just glutinous rice alone was not enough, so Mrs. Xue took out some millet and soaked another 20 pounds. Today was already the third day of May, the rice dumplings would be made tomorrow, cooked in the evening, ready to eat by Dragon Boat Festival morning.
On the fourth day of May, Mrs. Xue didn't follow to the mountains but stayed home to make rice dumplings. In total, with 40 pounds of rice, Mrs. Xue, Mrs. Chen, Mrs. Wei, as well as Huixin, all worked together to wrap the dumplings. Jingya was also learning on the side, and in not too much time, they finished them all.
On the morning of the fifth, it wasn't yet bright when Mrs. Xue called everyone to get up. The children dressed and ran to the riverside to wash their faces, then headed to the southern mountains. Pacing themselves, they reached a small hilltop and sat waiting for the sunrise. Before long, the orange-red sun slowly rose.
The children cheered, "The sun is out, the sun is out!"
After watching the sunrise, they went down the mountain, picking mugwort on their way home, and placed it on their front doors. Once inside, Mrs. Chen had already fished out all the dumplings, and there was also a big basin of eggs. "Come and eat rice dumplings and eggs. This is breakfast today; just sit down and eat wherever," she said.
The children each took two eggs, of course, they couldn't eat them right there because soon they'd take them out to see whose egg was the hardest. It was a game where two children would each hold a boiled egg and knock them together to see whose would break first. This was their most beloved game, and only during the Dragon Boat Festival would they have eggs to play like this.
"Today is Dragon Boat Festival, so you young ones don't need to go up the mountain, you've worked hard enough already," Mrs. Chen looked at her grandchildren with unspeakable joy.
"Grandma, school is closed today, and Wencheng and I have agreed that we still need to go up the mountain. There are not many good days left; in a few days the lady fern will be too old. We have to take the opportunity to gather some, that's all money," Wenhan said, holding a dumpling and peeling off its wrapper.
"Alright then, suit yourselves, I just don't want you getting too tired. It's good to gather more to sell for money," Mrs. Chen also sat down to eat dumplings.
After eating, Wenhan took his younger brother and sister up the mountain.
The lady fern could only be picked a few times before getting old. Jinghan and the others went up the mountain around ten times in total before they could no longer gather it, managing to get approximately 40 pounds of dried lady ferns. This was quite a lot, especially considering the plant didn't weigh much. The dried lady ferns, packed in two bags, had to be separated between the eldest brother's family and the second brother's; they couldn't be mixed.
Peddlers who bought dried vegetables had already come to the village, offering 32 coins per pound for the dried lady ferns, which really was a decent price. Mrs. Chen sent Wenxuan to bring the peddler back, then sold all the dried lady ferns they had at home. In total, they received over 1,300 coins for around 40 pounds of dried vegetables.
Jinghan's batch was slightly more, selling for about 700 coins, Wencheng's less so, around 600 coins. The children were very happy to see the money. Mrs. Xue found a box for Wenhan to put the money in. He placed the money in the box, then handed it to Jingya for safekeeping. "Big sister, you're always at home and more careful; you take care of this. Jinghan is too rash and unreliable."