In Huizhou, during the first lunar month, at dawn, white steam billowed from the Tiger Stove at the city gate tunnel.
“Water’s boiling! The water’s boiling! Come get your hot water early!” The rhythmic sound of bamboo clappers accompanied an old, hoarse voice echoing through the deep tunnel.
The announcement instantly stirred the residents of the gate tunnel to life.
At the end of the tunnel lived the Li family.
Madam Zhao bolted upright in bed, forcefully pushing her pig-like sleeping husband Li Jingfu beside her. When he merely grunted and turned over to continue sleeping, anger flared in her heart. She spat out heavily, “This good-for-nothing!”
Wrapping herself in a worn blanket, Madam Zhao got out of bed and strode to the middle of the room, yanking open the curtain that divided the space.
On the other side stood a wooden bunk bed. The lower bunk belonged to the Li family’s fourteen-year-old second daughter Li Zhenniang, while the upper bunk housed their eight-year-old son, nicknamed Xi’er.
What family would have their fourteen-year-old daughter still sharing a room with her parents, let alone sharing bunk beds with her eight-year-old brother? But the Li family had no choice. They only had two rooms total, with the other occupied by their eldest son and his wife. They couldn’t exactly make their younger children squeeze in with them.
Madam Zhao’s anger intensified at the sight of Li Zhenniang curled up under a thin blanket on the lower bunk. She gritted her teeth, marched to the bed, yanked off the covers, and grabbed Li Zhenniang’s ear, shrieking, “You worthless girl! All you do is sleep! Get up and fetch the hot water now. If there’s no hot water for the family to use later, I’ll tear your hide off!”
The early spring chill combined with the pain jolted Li Zhenniang awake. She felt bitter and angry. Her eyelids felt heavy as lead—how could she open them? Last night, her father had returned late from gambling again. After Madam Zhao berated him, he turned the tables and pinned her to the bed, making her shriek like a pig being slaughtered.
With only a thin curtain separating her from her parents, Li Zhenniang had naturally been unable to sleep all night. Even stuffing cotton in her ears couldn’t block out those heart-wrenching sounds.
“I’m getting up, I’m getting up!” Li Zhenniang repeated as she wrestled free from Madam Zhao’s grip and quickly jumped down to put on her clothes.
“Hehe!” Xi’er, who had awakened on the upper bunk, laughed gleefully at seeing his second sister being scolded by their mother.
Li Zhenniang glared at him. The little brat stuck out his tongue at her before rolling over to go back to sleep, leaving her fuming.
“Hmph, hurry up, stop dawdling!” Seeing Li Zhenniang rise, Madam Zhao finally returned to her bed, though her scolding continued unabated.
Such scolding had long since become commonplace to Li Zhenniang.
With the family’s dire financial situation, everyone seemed to have an especially bad temper. Cursing and venting were the most normal expressions for the common folk, particularly when the entire family consisted of such peculiar characters.
Her father Li Jingfu spent his days either in a drunken stupor or gambling himself senseless, not to mention his schemes and cons. In the eyes of the tunnel residents, he was simply a worthless good-for-nothing.
Her mother Madam Zhao was fierce, stingy, sharp-tongued, and money-grubbing. The tunnel residents would avoid her not just for fear of her tongue-lashing, but because they worried she might take advantage of them somehow.
Her elder brother, Li Zhengliang, lived up to his name as the best person in the family, but he was far too honest. Not just family members but even strangers could order him around. Add to that his wife Madam Du who could match Madam Zhao barb for barb, and Li Zhengliang had become synonymous with “useless coward” among the tunnel residents.
As for her eight-year-old brother Xi’er, the little fellow was full of schemes. Better not to mention him—it would only bring tears.
Of course, even Li Zhenniang’s original self had been quite the character. She was greedy for food. Just for a scallion pancake, she’d douse herself with cold water in the middle of winter, then after falling ill, she’d go con money from her grandparents who lived alone. Even after getting the money, she didn’t think to seek treatment, only caring about eating scallion pancakes. In the end, she got her pancakes but died from her illness, making way for the current Li Zhenniang.
What a collection of people!
Wearing a padded jacket, wide-legged pants, and a waist-tied horse-face skirt, such attire was hardly enough to ward off the chill of early spring morning. Li Zhenniang could only stamp her feet vigorously and jump up and down a few times. Then she scooped water from the large water vat outside the kitchen door to wash her face.
She squinted her eyes, listening to her mother’s various crude curses from inside. Finding humor in hardship, these curses had become Li Zhenniang’s morning accompaniment in the days since her rebirth—a sort of entertainment.
After washing up, Li Zhenniang picked up a large copper kettle, ready to go fetch hot water.
“Zhenniang, take Xiaoguan with you. He cried half the night and I haven’t slept at all. I need to catch up on rest,” her sister-in-law Madam Du emerged with her one-year-old son Xiaoguan and a long carrying strap, directly stuffing both into Li Zhenniang’s hands before turning back to her room for more sleep.
“For heaven’s sake!” Even the usually composed Zhenniang couldn’t help but curse under her breath. Then seeing little Xiaoguan laughing carefreely in her arms, she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
In the end, she could only use the carrying strap to support Xiaoguan’s bottom on her back. The little one stared at her with bright eyes, pulling at her hair playfully. Li Zhenniang impatiently swatted his small hand away, but he simply switched hands and continued pulling, making her scalp ache.
In short, everyone in this family, down to the nursing infant, was troublesome.
Li Zhenniang grumbled internally as she headed out.
Though it was already dawn and daylight had broken, the tunnel remained as dark as deep night.
The city gate tunnel was a passage for bringing goods into the city, built under the gate tower. Only occasional gaps revealed patches of sky; the rest was like a tunnel. Add to that its narrow width, and even on sunny days the environment remained dark and damp. No wealthy person would desire such a place—even those of moderate means wouldn’t fancy it. Thus, the tunnel had become home to day laborers and odd-job workers.
In modern terms, this would be considered a slum or shantytown.
Over hundreds of years, the tunnel had developed its unique way of life.
Fetching hot water from the Tiger Stove in the morning was one of the tunnel’s distinctive scenes. At this hour, people from every household emerged with wooden buckets or copper kettles, gradually forming a stream of humanity—quite a lively sight.
Li Zhenniang carried her large copper kettle and Xiaoguan on her back, following the flow of people. Soon she spotted the distinctive tiger-head lantern at the Tiger Stove’s entrance. Its yellow light diffused through the rising steam like a watercolor painting, creating an atmosphere both nostalgic and warm.
Several aunties and matrons queuing for hot water in front of the Tiger Stove chatted while they waited, discussing various neighborhood gossip.
Inside, Uncle Shui was busy running back and forth, sometimes drawing water for people, sometimes adding firewood to the stove, and occasionally refilling the empty cauldrons with cold water.
Li Zhenniang watched from outside, placing her copper kettle in the queue. There was no need to worry about people cutting in line—people were more orderly about such things in this era than in later times. With the kettle in place, others would even help move it forward; no one would dream of cutting in line.
After exchanging greetings with those around her, Li Zhenniang squeezed into the Tiger Stove. She began helping Uncle Shui of her own accord, filling the cauldron with water and then sitting by the stove to add firewood.
Though her parents weren’t well-liked by the neighbors, the surrounding residents would still help when they could, given the family’s poverty. For instance, when she came to fetch hot water, others paid two copper coins per bucket, but Uncle Shui only charged her one. This was neighborly goodwill.
“Oh, isn’t that the Li family’s second daughter Zhenniang? This girl used to be such a mindless glutton, but now she knows how to help others?” an elderly woman outside observed Li Zhenniang adding firewood, her tone full of surprise.
“Yes, I’ve seen her helping Uncle Shui every day these past ten days or so. She’s more sensible than before,” another auntie commented.
“With parents like hers, she’d better become sensible, or she’ll have no future. Have you heard about what happened with the Tian family?” an older woman asked mysteriously.
“What happened?” everyone around asked curiously.
“A few days ago, Young Master Tian Benchang of the Tian family took some classmates to tour Huangshan Mountain and accidentally fell off a cliff.”
“Ah…” everyone exclaimed in shock. “Surely he didn’t survive?”
“Not only did he not survive, I tell you, they probably won’t even find his remains. Have you ever heard of anyone recovering the body of someone who fell from Huangshan’s cliffs? It’s tragic.”
“Oh my, then Zhenniang is done for. Didn’t Madam Zhao just recently force the Tian family to set a wedding date? Now Zhenniang will become a widow before marriage. It’ll be hard for her to find another good marriage in the future.”
“Pah! With her family background, even if she weren’t a widow-to-be, no good family would dare take her,” the seemingly well-informed older woman said, then lowered her voice, “My sister works in the Tian family kitchen, and I heard from her that the Tian family has already spread the word that Tian Benchang’s accident was because Zhenniang brought him bad luck. They don’t even want her as a widow-to-be, and even though he’s dead, they want to break off the engagement.”
“Breaking off the engagement might not be bad for Zhenniang, but Madam Zhao is obsessed with money. She forced the Tian family to set a wedding date just for the betrothal gifts, didn’t she? Now those gifts have probably been squandered by Li Jingfu—how can they return them?”
“That’s exactly it,” the others sighed at the older woman’s words. Madam Zhao had no self-awareness. Zhenniang’s engagement to Tian Benchang had been a casual comment between Li Jinshui and Old Master Tian years ago. Now Old Master Tian had passed away, and Li Jinshui was no longer the head manager of the Li family ink shop, just an old man running a general store. Times had changed—though the Li family might still be considered wealthy in their area, Li Jinshui’s branch had long since faded from the family’s prominence. How could the Tian family look favorably upon them now? Everyone understood this in their hearts, and not mentioning it was as good as forgetting about it. But Madam Zhao had gone mad with greed and forced the Tian family to honor their word, causing a citywide scandal. If the Tian family hadn’t honored their word, she would have accused them of breaking faith. As one of Huizhou Prefecture’s notable timber merchants, the Tian family lived by the merchant principles of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trust—no one dared violate these. With no choice, the Tian family had sent the betrothal gifts. But unexpectedly, shortly after setting the wedding date, Tian Benchang met with disaster. Poor Zhenniang.
Sitting by the stove adding firewood, Li Zhenniang couldn’t help but knock her head in frustration.
Though the women spoke quietly, the Tiger Stove was small enough that Li Zhenniang could still make out most of what they said. She knew a little about this fiancé surnamed Tian, but having only been in this world for about ten days, and being only fourteen when most women in this dynasty married after seventeen, she hadn’t given much thought to these matters. She hadn’t expected such events to unfold.
“Hmph, the Tian family has also said that if the Li family doesn’t return the betrothal gifts, they’ll make Zhenniang join their son in death. I’ve figured it out—the Tian family’s talk of breaking the engagement is just for show. Everyone knows that gambling addict Li Jingfu has already lost all the betrothal gifts. What engagement is there left to break? I fear their real purpose is to make Zhenniang join their son in death. Such vicious thoughts!” The older woman raised her voice slightly, seeming to deliberately let Li Zhenniang hear.
Li Zhenniang understood clearly that though this woman appeared to be gossiping like a busybody, she had good intentions. She was warning Li Zhenniang to prepare herself.
Just a few days ago, when Li Zhenniang was carrying water past this woman’s door, her carrying pole broke, spilling two buckets of water at the woman’s doorstep. The woman had caught and scolded her thoroughly, even extorting three copper coins from her elder brother. When Madam Zhao found out, she stormed over to the woman’s house and made a scene until she got the three copper coins back.
Those three copper coins had created enmity between the two families, but despite this grudge, the woman was now warning her in this roundabout way.
This was how people in the tunnel lived—they might quarrel and fight over trivial matters daily, never giving an inch, but when serious matters arose, they wouldn’t stand idly by.
They were all poor families making a living in the tunnel. If they didn’t help each other somewhat, wouldn’t they be bullied to death by outsiders?
At this point, Li Zhenniang stood up and said to the woman, “Thank you, Auntie.”
“Hmph, don’t flatter yourself,” the woman refused to accept Li Zhenniang’s gratitude—she wouldn’t submit to Madam Zhao. Then she left with her hot water.
By now, Uncle Shui had drawn hot water for Li Zhenniang and said to her, “Your water’s ready. Go home quickly and discuss this with your family.”
“Mm.” Li Zhenniang nodded, picking up her copper kettle to leave. On her back, little Xiaoguan had fallen asleep at some point and was softly snoring.