Chapter 13: Li Lian'er

Ni Wenyu, not having gone far, heard Jiang Lihua’s cry and hurried back, wrapping his arms around the frightened girl.

"Lihua, what’s wrong?"

"There’s a snake in my courtyard."

"What? Snakes should be hibernating this time of year."

"I don't know what happened."

"How about this? Why don't you come to my house to rest for the night, and we’ll come back to check when it’s light out?"

"Okay," Jiang Lihua nodded, still feeling a lingering fear.

The next day, Jiang Lihua and Ni Wenyu emerged from the courtyard together. As soon as they stepped out, they ran into Li Lian'er.

"Well, well, you shameless little wench! How old are you, and you’re already crawling into a man’s bed?"

Ni Wenyu stepped forward and glared at her. "Li Lian'er, watch your tongue. She is my cousin."

Jiang Lihua couldn't fathom why this village was filled with so many bizarre people. Did everyone here think she was a pushover? Without a word, she stepped forward and slapped Li Lian'er across the face.

Li Lian'er was stunned, left completely bewildered by the strike. By the time she snapped out of it, Jiang Lihua and Ni Wenyu had already walked some distance away.

"Ah! I’m going to kill you, you little wretch!" Li Lian'er shrieked and charged toward them.

Seeing Li Lian'er rushing straight at them, Ni Wenyu pushed Jiang Lihua aside, only to be knocked hard to the ground himself by the charging woman.

Jiang Lihua hurriedly went to help him up. "Are you alright?"

Ni Wenyu stood up and brushed off the dust. "I’m fine. I’m wearing thick clothes."

Jiang Lihua glared at Li Lian'er. "Are you sick in the head? Coming here early in the morning to throw a tantrum?"

Li Lian'er spat out curses. "You’re the one who’s sick, you little brat! You’re just a child, and you’re already trying to snatch a man away from me!"

"Your man? Who is your man?"

"Brother Ni, obviously!" Li Lian'er said, casting a coy, coquettish glance at Ni Wenyu.

Jiang Lihua looked at Ni Wenyu and asked, "Cousin, are you her man?"

Ni Wenyu turned bright red. "Li Lian'er, stop spouting nonsense! I... how could I be your man?"

"How could you not be? Who in the village doesn't know I like you? I’m going to marry you in the future!"

"Pfft," Jiang Lihua was speechless.

"What are you laughing at, you little brat?"

"I’m laughing at your broken brain. Just because you want to marry him, does that mean my cousin has to marry you? If you wanted to marry the Emperor, would the Emperor be your man too?"

"I don't know about the Emperor, I only know I’m going to marry Brother Ni."

"Get lost, Li Lian'er, before I beat you into a pig's head."

Jiang Lihua couldn't be bothered to reason with a fool like this early in the morning.

"You dare!"

"Just watch if I dare." Jiang Lihua clenched her fist and shook it in front of her.

"Hmph, you little brat, we’ll see about this!"

Li Lian'er’s face still stung where she had been hit. She decided to go back and consult her mother. Her mother would surely have a way to deal with this brat.

Aunt Li and the others arrived carrying cabbage just as they saw Li Lian'er retreating. "Lizi, what’s going on so early in the morning?"

Jiang Lihua waved her hand. "It’s nothing. Let’s go, Auntie, leave the cabbage at the gate for now."

"Why? We’ll carry it into the courtyard for you."

"Auntie, there are snakes in my yard."

"Oh, I’ll go in and take a look. I’m not afraid of snakes."

With that, Aunt Li set down her basket, grabbed a sickle, and went into the courtyard. In no time at all, she emerged holding three thick, colorful snakes.

"Lizi, don't be afraid. These aren't poisonous, just scary-looking. Do you want them?"

Jiang Lihua quickly waved her off. She knew some people loved eating snake meat, so she decided to be generous. "No, no, Auntie, if you want them, take them."

Aunt Li smiled embarrassedly. "Then I won't be polite, Lizi. My old man just loves snake meat. But it is strange; snakes shouldn't be out this time of year." Aunt Li muttered to herself.

The group carried the cabbage into the courtyard. With a yard full of women, it wasn't appropriate for Ni Wenyu to stay, so he went home to study.

"Lizi, what do you need us to do now?"

"Auntie, wash the cabbage clean, then cut it like this." Jiang Lihua demonstrated with a head of cabbage.

Once they understood, Jiang Lihua went inside; she needed to retrieve the sauce for the kimchi from the department store. She had meant to prepare it last night, but the snake incident had delayed her. Someone had definitely thrown those snakes on purpose, though she didn't know who.

Jiang Lihua put the sauce into jars and brought them out to the women. "Auntie, once you've cut the cabbage, just spread the sauce on it like I did, then pack it into the jars."

"You got it!"

With five people working quickly, the 100 catties of cabbage were finished by noon. Jiang Lihua paid them their wages; even though they had only worked half a day, she still paid them 50 wen each.

The five women left happily, promising to come back whenever she needed help. On the way home, the others looked at Aunt Li with envy. "Aunt Li, you’re so lucky. You earned 230 wen this morning between the cabbage and the work."

Aunt Li rolled her eyes at them. "What do you mean 'I' earned? It was my daughter and daughter-in-law working with me; there were three of us working!"

The two women laughed sheepishly. "Right, right. Aunt Li, you’ve got those three snakes—since we were all there, we should share. We haven't had meat in a long time, look..."

Another one chimed in, "Exactly, Aunt Li, let's have one per family."

Aunt Li was instantly annoyed. "Why should it be one per family? Tell me, Aunt Zhang, Aunt Zhao, why didn't you go catch them yourselves when we were at the yard?"

"We aren't as quick as you!"

"Then move faster next time." With that, Aunt Li left with her daughter and daughter-in-law in tow.

Aunt Zhang and Aunt Zhao spat on the ground behind her. "Bah! She’s just fawning over that girl because she sees profit."

"Exactly."

"Forget it, let's just be faster next time."

At Wanfu Pavilion, Jiang Lihua waited outside the back door with an oxcart full of pickled kimchi. When the attendant came out, she asked, "How about it, young man? Can we bring the goods in?"

"No. The manager said we aren't accepting any pickles."

"But did you tell the manager that we had already made an agreement with your boss?"

The attendant eyed Jiang Lihua sideways and said dismissively, "The manager said he’s seen plenty of people like you. Plenty of folks bring goods here claiming they’ve talked to the boss; our manager has had enough trouble with that."

He then began to shoo her away. "Hurry off, don't block our way."

"Lihua, do you know where the boss is?" Ni Wenyu asked from the side.

"Let's go, we'll take the oxcart to the rouge shop," Jiang Lihua said. It was a good thing they had rented the cart today, or it would have been a real hassle.

Just as they were about to leave, Gu Qingran’s voice came from behind them.

"Lihua, why aren't you going in?"

Hearing his voice, Jiang Lihua turned around.