Chen Dasheng’s Fourth Uncle had died, and outsiders couldn’t see whether there was more to the story within the household — they only looked at Chen Dasheng, at She Qingling, at Chen Dazhong, Chen Dayi, Chen Dayong, and so an unusually large number of people came to pay respects.
Once someone was dead, only the good remained to speak of — the old lady had her son’s coffin set up at the old family estate and paid out of her own pocket for his funeral.
Qiqian’er still hadn’t gone over, but it was at home that she saw Chen Siniu’s other children for the first time — a thin, scrawny lot, five little flower-named girls in a row, plus one boy who’d just been weaned, named Shiru.
Listen to that name — Chen Shiru! Had Chen Siniu not died, he clearly had had great expectations for this youngest son.
The concubine named Wang Xiaorou wailed as if her heart were being torn out — she’d caused a great disaster, and now clutched her son for courage, refusing to let anyone near him; touching the two of them felt to her like being murdered.
With a concubine from a separate branch of the household involved, how was Chen Dasheng even supposed to manage this?
The old lady, growing impatient, had one of the household women go over and give her a couple of good slaps on both cheeks, which finally settled her down.
Still, trouble persisted — this Wang Xiaorou was a native of Yandu, and although Chen Siniu had paid a hefty sum to take her in, once this incident happened, her own clan sent a male cousin over, apparently hoping to buy her back out.
Would the old lady allow that? If it weren’t for the delay in getting help for Qiao Shi, Cuiying wouldn’t have had to die — and if Cuiying hadn’t died, her son wouldn’t have died either.
So things were at a standstill.
This whole crowd of thin, withered little girls gathered in the courtyard, actually named Third Blossom, Fourth Blossom, Fifth Blossom, Sixth Blossom, Seventh Blossom — Qiqian’er thought, had Chen Siniu not died, sooner or later he’d have pieced together an entire garden of them.
“Blossom” was just a childhood nickname, following on from their eldest sister’s position in the family. Chen Siniu had no sense of humanity at all — he’d fed himself well and cared for nothing else; even these little pet names had been decided among the concubines themselves.
The whole group of children huddled together, dazed and frightened; those with mothers looking after them had a little meat on their thighs, while those without were just two black sticks for legs.
Qiqian’er had someone make a few bowls of tofu soup for them to eat; the youngest, Seventh Blossom, had barely gotten a grip on her spoon before she nearly choked herself eating so eagerly.
Was this any way for children to live?
The Fourth Branch household was nothing but a chaotic, filthy mess without a shred of proper order.
What kind of man was Chen Siniu — a country farmhand, an indentured servant, illiterate, gutless, and utterly unable to conduct himself properly. The one chance in his life that might have let him grow, he’d deliberately dodged out of pettiness toward his nephews. Even once he’d gained wealth, he had no capacity to hold onto it, managing his household terribly.
Qiao Shi’s refusal to manage things for him — looking back now, it seemed deliberate; the moment she let go, he fell completely apart, and even to his dying day he never realized it.
But even so, now that this worthless father was gone, the children’s whole world had collapsed with him.
Over the past several years, Chen Siniu’s household had bought quite a few people and taken in several concubines — once he tired of them, he’d hand them off to drinking companions or sell them outright. Coming and going as they had, among these children only the boy named Shiru was born of Concubine Xiaorou; Fifth Blossom was born of another concubine, Niu Yuegui; the mothers of the rest had scattered and were untraceable.
What to do? These were all lives at stake, and cousins besides — whose household would take these children in?
The old lady wouldn’t allow any Chen family child to be left drifting outside the family.
With that first day drawing to a close, when Chen Dasheng returned to the courtyard, he called together his three elder brothers and their three wives to discuss matters.
These were all younger siblings of direct blood — the eldest, Xique, was still so small, she couldn’t be expected to handle any of this.
No one spoke for a good while, until finally Chen Dazhong slapped his thigh helplessly and said: “Let’s all speak up. Who could have imagined he’d cause such a mess — this whole crowd showing up gave me quite a shock today…”
Chen Dayong sneered: “Grandmother was in such distress yesterday — look at her today, is she even allowed to grieve properly? Seeing this whole lot, she doesn’t even dare be sad anymore.”
Chen Dasheng said with a bitter smile: “The old lady understands perfectly well in her heart — she just can’t bring herself to say the words asking the four of us to take charge, so she’s been keeping it bottled up. Now that her son’s gone, she’s lost her nerve — the four of us shouldn’t wait for her to have to beg and struggle over this.
Let’s just discuss it and settle things properly — worst case, we spend a bit more. Grandmother is all we have left in this family; if anything happened to her too, none of us would have anyone left to feel for.”
Why did the old lady care so much about Chen Siniu — because he was her son. Whether she scolded and struck him, or gave him tasks to do, she had every right to. That was just how it was.
If she no longer had a son — what could she say to her grandsons? Most elderly people carry a knot in their hearts over such things.
Now, as it turned out, her son had left behind eight younger half-siblings for his nephews — even if the grandsons were kind-hearted and willing to overlook things without complaint, there was simply no precedent for one branch raising eight children from a separate branch all at once.
Not to mention, the Fourth Branch still had three concubines besides — should they be provided for too?
It was as if Heaven had arranged it this way — children outside died one day after another, yet Chen Siniu’s own children, neglected as they’d been, had somehow survived unscathed.
Now the old lady had set aside even her beloved grandsons for the moment — she wasn’t holding back on anything, not her stinginess, and certainly not her pride.
She just lay on the heated platform bed, constantly calculating her modest savings, thinking that once she was gone, at least these children should have a bowl of rice to eat.
But what savings did she really have? What little she held in hand, by old custom, came from being supported by the other three branches — once the men of those three branches had earned something, it couldn’t be redirected to a separate branch alone, or it would breed resentment.
The old lady was a sensible woman — that was exactly why she was so troubled.
The Chen brothers were at a loss, no one speaking, until finally Madam Li, seated by the door, said: “Even though Grandmother doesn’t care for Qiao Shi, in the eyes of the authorities she’s still the official primary wife…”
It fell to her to speak first, being the clan’s principal daughter-in-law.
Chen Dayi, who’d been silent all along, sighed: “Ah, primary wife or not, she simply can’t take charge of the other children — there’s something in this that I haven’t told you all, the grudge behind it runs deep.”
Qiqian’er looked at Chen Dasheng in surprise. Chen Dasheng raised an eyebrow helplessly and said to her: “Ah, it’s all troublesome business — I never told you, and kept it from Grandmother too. Only the few of us know.”
Qiqian’er nodded: “Go on, tell me.”
Chen Dasheng thought a moment and said: “You remember she was carrying twins? The whole family knew that. Later when Qiao Shi gave birth, she came back with just Cuiying, and we all assumed the other one hadn’t survived.”
Qiqian’er was stunned: “You mean the other one did survive?”
Chen Dazhong nodded: “Mm, at first it survived. It was around the third month — that Fourth Uncle of ours had been out drinking, and when he came home that night he got into it with Qiao Shi, beat her quite badly. He just went to sleep after beating her, and the next day, when Qiao Shi finally managed to get up and tend to the baby — they’d all been sleeping on the same platform bed — he’d sprawled out in his sleep and smothered his own child without even realizing it…”
Qiqian’er drew in a sharp breath: “No wonder she hated him so.”
Enough to drown him with her own hands.
Chen Dayong nodded: “Exactly. Otherwise why would a proper official’s wife give it all up to go live on Quanqian Street?”
Second Sister-in-law, Madam Kou, sneered: “If the man couldn’t even keep his own household in order, why would a woman have to go out scraping for coins herself? Everyone says Qiao Shi was ambitious, bold enough to go dabble in money-lending — but her circumstances had already been reduced to that. Hmph! Still the Fourth Uncle’s fault! If her husband had provided for the household, kept the branch secure, she wouldn’t have needed to go scraping after loose change…”
Qiqian’er stayed silent on the side, turning over in her mind the whole matter between Qiao Shi and Chen Siniu — should she say something, or not?
If she spoke up, the whole clan’s reputation would be ruined, Qiao Shi would face death by a thousand cuts, Xique and Lanting would resent her for the rest of their lives, and they’d still be stuck raising eight children — what was the point? Especially since Chen Siniu’s death was hardly worth mourning.
Just as she was struggling with this, someone at the courtyard gate called out loudly: “The old lady’s here!”
At once, everyone in the courtyard stood, watching as the trembling old lady was helped in by one of the household women.
In just a day and a half, the old lady’s back had become so stooped she could no longer stand straight.
Chen Dasheng hurried forward to help the old lady to a seat; her lips trembling, she let her grandson arrange her onto the highest cushioned couch as he directed.
Once she was settled, Chen Dasheng said reproachfully: “Grandmother, you mustn’t run about like this anymore. Just rest easy on the bed — we brothers will handle everything.”
Chen Dazhong and the others nodded quickly, their words all implying that with so many grown men in the family, whatever the trouble, they could bear it.
But the old lady didn’t see it that way. Once seated, she looked around at each of her grandsons, then slowly spoke: “My own grandsons — do you think I don’t know you’re good boys? I sat over there today and thought it through all day, and I’ve come to feel… this isn’t really for you all to decide. This old woman who won’t die yet — I’m still alive, aren’t I…”
Chen Dazhong said reproachfully: “Grandmother, what’s this talk of dying…”
Chen Dayong added: “You’re already so advanced in years, you should just rest at home…”
The old lady cut him off: “What of my advanced years? Oh, so because I’m old, I no longer get a say in household matters… I’m not dead yet, and already you’re all arranging things on your own?”
Before she could finish, the old lady broke into a fit of coughing and gasping.
“You decide, you decide!” Chen Dasheng hurried to reassure her, stepping forward to pat her back and help her catch her breath: “Don’t get worked up. Say whatever you want to decide — even if you wanted the moon, I’d go pluck it down for you.”
The old lady reached out and slapped him.
Qiqian’er also stood up, gently rubbing the old lady’s chest: “Yes, yes, no rush, no rush at all.”
This time no one dared interrupt; they waited for the old lady to calm herself, and after a good while she finally said: “You all — how old are you really, what have you actually lived through? Do you truly think your grandmother has gone senile?”
No one spoke, no one dared to — provoke her into a third funeral, and they’d regret it for the rest of their lives.
“…I’ve been thinking about it all day — I know my own grandsons’ temperaments well enough. This matter, no matter how you discuss it, in the end it’ll just mean one household taking a loss, each branch bringing back one or two of them to raise separately. Isn’t that so?”
The four brothers exchanged glances, and finally all nodded at the old lady together. Chen Dazhong, being the eldest grandson, spoke up: “They’re just small children — how much could it cost to raise them? Just feed them and they’ll grow up soon enough. Worst case, a dowry set or a betrothal gift each — it’s nothing much.”
“A dowry set?” The old lady’s eyes flared, and she pointed at the silent granddaughters-in-law: “Say that out loud again and see if you don’t get slapped for it. Have you even discussed this with your wives? Are your wives even willing? It’s daily life we’re talking about — don’t go making decisions blindly! Oh, you men have it easy in your official posts, and who ends up struggling with it in the end but us women! These are living people, not livestock — you don’t just lead them home on a rope and toss them some fodder and expect them to grow up fine!”
Madam Li’s face reddened slightly; even though she had her own reservations, she felt compelled to speak her mind now: “Grandmother, please don’t say that. They’re only four or five years old — we can certainly afford to raise them.”
The old lady patted the low table beside her with a sigh: “You’re all good children, I know that. But… however good you are, you have your own children too, your own lives to look after.
Outsiders are outsiders — it’s not that I don’t trust you, but even if you carried them on a mountain of gold, it still wouldn’t compare to the sting of a slap from their own flesh-and-blood parents.
Those who’ve died are the lucky ones in a way — they’re so young, they’ll never know what kind of man their father really was!”
Qiqian’er poured water for the old lady and helped her drink; the old lady’s voice grew a bit stronger as she continued: “Don’t say it so lightly, splitting these children up among the branches to raise separately? Oh, and while your own children are cradled warmly in your arms, they’ll just watch?
Even fed and clothed with nothing lacking, over time — do you know whether a child’s heart might twist crooked from it? Among all the people in this world, why do good people need to be immortalized in operas and praised in stories? Because good people are rare — do you understand? Very few!”
Qiqian’er’s mouth curved slightly; she finally let go of some of the things weighing on her heart.
She pulled over a small stool to sit beside the old lady and began massaging her legs.
The old lady stroked her hair, tears falling as she said: “My heart aches so much, it truly does. They’re all my grandchildren — how could I not feel for them? If it were just one or two, Xique and Lanting, I’ve raised them well enough. But this many — what’s to be done?
You four brothers are all officials in the government now, proper gentlemen at that — your own children will surely be raised in the manner of a great household.
But these little ones — watching their nephews and nieces get this today, that tomorrow — never mind whether they’re petty or grateful, that’s just pitiful… that’s hard to bear! Living isn’t so simple. The moment you bring them home, that becomes a debt of gratitude and resentment both — all that effort, and still no thanks for it.
Even blood brothers can turn into enemies over unequal treatment, let alone cousins from a separate branch. Never mind distant examples — take the Chang family nearby. Aren’t Qiqian’s own foster parents shrewd, capable people?
Don’t count on anyone else having a conscience — we were poor once, we know this well enough, a conscience only grows once there’s money in the pocket…
Back in our old hometown, your Fourth Uncle was the youngest, and I doted on him the most. Back then, everyone in the old village said he was the best of you brothers — honest, dutiful, never left home, never got into trouble. But who could have known what he really was?
Raising them isn’t the issue for our family — but whether they’re raised well or raised crooked depends entirely on conscience. It’s not a matter of worrying they’ll amount to nothing — the fear is that you’re prosperous while they’re poor. This generation might be fine, but I fear your descendants being burdened by theirs for generations to come.
Oh, and here you all live so well while the Fourth Branch is so pitiful — once we’ve all passed on, and their descendants come begging bowl in hand to your doorstep, tell me, will the children care for them or not?
The fear is, once you reach out to help, you can’t stop. Outsiders will look at their ancestry — is it fitting for you or not? People will see us all as one lineage, and their descendants will become a debt owed by you all! Isn’t this old woman’s reasoning sound? Tell me if it isn’t.”
There was nothing to disagree with — it was exactly what everyone had been thinking, yet none had expected Grandmother to be the one to say it first.
Chen Dasheng sighed: “Grandmother, then what do you have in mind?”
The old lady thought a moment and said: “I’ve thought about it all day, and here’s what I think — sell off the house in Yandu on their behalf, and settle your Fourth Uncle’s remaining estate. Whatever I’ve saved these past years that belongs to the Fourth Branch’s share, let’s combine it and plan it out — set up a modest estate for that mother and her children near Jiangzhu. That would be most proper, and from then on we’d simply treat them as relatives.
Our clan is over there too, right next to your Second Uncle’s family — they won’t be shortchanged, and I’ll rest easy knowing that.
As for me — I never thought much of Qiao Lanxiang before, but for the Fourth Branch’s household, it does need her to hold it together. If she wants to make something of her life, she’s capable of it. Isn’t she officially recognized in the government registry as Fourth Uncle’s wife? With you elders still here, it’s not your place to raise the Fourth Branch’s children — isn’t that right?”
Everyone’s eyes lit up — of course, by propriety Qiao Shi was the principal mother, the legal mother of these children. As long as she was alive, she should be the one responsible for them.
Chen Dazhong, still uneasy, asked: “Grandmother, but… what if she mistreats those children? They’re still cousins after all, and so young — sent all the way off to Jiangzhu, what if it turns out like these past few days, where they had nowhere to turn for help when trouble came?”
The old lady said: “Do you think your Second Uncle and the rest of the clan are blind? Besides, as long as I’m alive, she can’t get herself entered into the clan register — for Xique and Lanting’s sake, she’ll have to endure my terms. Don’t worry about this — tomorrow, once your Fourth Uncle is buried, I’ll discuss it with her. As for these children, as long as she’s willing to comply, she won’t be able to wrong them.”
Chen Dazhong pressed further: “And if she does wrong them?”
The old lady opened her mouth, lips trembling for a good while before she said: “If she does wrong them, all the better! With nowhere else to turn for help, sooner or later they’ll come to your doorstep begging you to take charge. By then… Qiao, Qiao Lanxiang will be the villain, and your kindness will truly be kindness worth having…”
As the old lady said this, her hands trembled violently; Qiqian’er barely managed to steady them, feeling a pang of sorrow — Qiao Lanxiang had struck the old lady, and the old lady, unable to voice that wrong, unable even to resent it openly, now seemed prepared to compromise with that woman for the sake of these children.
Thinking of this, Qiqian’er felt a cold, private satisfaction — this truly was retribution ordained by Heaven. But as long as she, Huo Qiqian, was alive, even if Qiao Lanxiang wanted to measure herself against the old lady, she’d have to grovel instead.