Chapter 87: Setting Out Alone Once More

Clop-clop-clop... For the first time, young Jia rode on her family’s ox cart, but once they reached the township, the cart would have nothing further to do with her. She was no longer the new wife of the Wang family, and Wang Er was no longer her husband.

The newly paved country road did not yet allow livestock carts, so they had to take a rough, hastily cut side path, which jolted and bumped with every turn. Riding in the ox cart was far less comfortable than walking.

Not far from the village, young Jia’s face was already blue with cold. Wang Erlang’s cheek bore the marks of her nails, raked like the tines of a rake, and worse—every sniff of his nose sent a fresh wave of pain.

Fearing young Jia would try to renege, Old Wang himself escorted his son to the township office.

As for the Jia family, it was her father and elder brother who accompanied her.

The couple’s bitter oath, sworn before all their neighbors—“Whoever goes back on this today shall die without a burial place”—was not something to be taken lightly. So when young Jia heard her mother mention that Wang Peng, that boy, had sent fish sauce and salted beans to their home, she understood she’d been set up, but it was too late to repent.

“Wang Er!” Young Jia could not resign herself. Her voice, shaken by the cold wind and the jolting ride, was barely human: “You’d planned to abandon me long ago, hadn’t you?”

Wang Erlang did not speak.

She looked at the profile of his face and gave a cold snort. How long had it been? They’d lived in the same courtyard, yet always separated by the main house; she’d barely seen his face. Could this be called marriage? “Having Wang Peng deliver the sauce to my family—that was Wang Ge’s idea, wasn’t it?”

Wang Erlang, enduring his pain, replied, “If you slander my niece’s reputation again, when we reach the township office I’ll report you as a discarded wife!”

“You think you can discard me just like that? You spineless man! The only thing you’re capable of in this life is bullying me!” Young Jia lunged at him from the other side of the cart, her hands ready to scratch.

“Ajia, what are you doing?” Her father and elder brother intercepted her, but Old Wang, with a stern “Whoa,” reined in the ox cart, and young Jia toppled onto the cart’s plank.

Old Wang said, “Brother Jia, if our two families become enemies over this woman, it’s not worth it. Let us part ways here; we’ll meet at the township office.”

Elder Brother Jia pulled his youngest sister back with such force that the veins stood out on the back of his hand.

Old Jia hung his head in shame, covering his face with his sleeve as he watched the ox cart move ahead.

Watching her husband grow more distant, young Jia was overcome with sorrow, realizing that this stretch of road would be the closest she’d ever come to him for the rest of her life. “Wang Er! I liked you since I was thirteen! Can you really bear to abandon me? Can you? Wuu... Can you really bear it?”

Elder Brother Jia said impatiently, “Enough! You’ve already broken Mother’s heart—do you want to distress Father as well?”

“Brother, oh brother, let me tell you.” Young Jia’s eyes bulged so fiercely they seemed about to fall from their sockets. Though she spoke to her elder brother, her gaze fixed instead on the space behind him. “Second Brother died wronged! He told me himself—Wang Er’s niece, that illegitimate child, should never have been born, she should have died. When Second Brother died, why was that wretched girl brought into the world by that harlot? Even wild tigers couldn’t kill her. Brother, don’t you see—”

Elder Brother Jia shoved her into the grass, pointing at her with an angry curse: “Stop with your devilish tricks! As if I don’t know you? Ever since you were a child, you’ve been scheming and pulling your cheap tricks whenever you please—even I have been punished by our elders because of your false accusations...”

“You’re talking nonsense! That illegitimate child stole Second Brother’s life! She did!” Young Jia scrambled up to claw at her brother. He pushed her away twice, but she wouldn’t let go and nearly scratched him.

Old Jia, desperate, picked up a large clod of earth and hurled it at his youngest daughter’s face.

“Aah!” Young Jia screamed and fainted on the spot.

Old Jia, spitting with rage, declared, “Fainted? Drag her along—drag her all the way to the township office if you must! If she dies here, wouldn’t that fulfill the curse that whoever goes back on their word dies without a burial place? Then our Jia family would never be able to hold our heads up in the village!”

“Yes, Father.” Elder Brother Jia grabbed his sister by the collar and dragged her along. After only a few steps, her waistband came loose, and she had to clutch at her clothes, unable to feign unconsciousness any longer.

In the Wang family’s main house—

Wang Shu nestled in Grandmother’s arms, whimpering with grief. Wang He wiped away his tears again and again; the side of his mouth that had been slapped by his mother still bled.

Wang Dalang and Sanlang each held their young sons, even little Ai understood something grave had happened at home, and sat obediently at Wang Ge’s feet without making a sound.

Wang Ge’s gaze shifted from her family to the window lattice. Sunlight filtered through a layer of coarse linen, the straight bars dividing it like prison grates; dust drifted in the beams, yet nothing could truly block the light.

At this moment, she confided in the sunbeams, and to her departed mother as well: Mother, you are this light—resolute and warm. You passed your strength to your daughter, and to Tiger-head. How could I let your death be in vain? See how—Tiger-head has grown up safely; next year he will be five. The Yao woman and the Jia woman have both become discarded, infamous wives.

Mother, I... The Tiger-treasure you fought so desperately to protect has finally avenged you.

The chance for revenge was delivered into Wang Ge’s hands by young Jia herself.

That day, with open provocation, young Jia had deliberately gone to the kitchen storeroom for sauce and salted beans, leaving the jars uncovered. Wang Ge knew then that the woman could no longer restrain herself. She also knew young Jia must have heard her planned departure date, and would surely choose to stir up trouble before she left.

All these years, the wicked woman had never figured out Wang Ge’s character, while Wang Ge had learned all her ways.

Young Jia’s pretext for making a scene was nothing more than complaints of mistreatment by her husband’s family, and the pettiest of quarrels about the storeroom’s sauce, meat, and beans.

So Wang Ge had taught her father what to say, instructing him to discuss it with her grandfather: “No matter how precious fine food is, nothing is more valuable than reputation. The Jia woman sneaks little things home time and again; our Wang family not only suffers repeated losses, but also earns a reputation for stinginess and meanness. Better to part with some good food and let Peng deliver it to the Jia family. If the Jia woman truly wishes to live well with Erlang, she’ll be ashamed and repent. If she makes a scene and the whole village finds out, it is she and the Jia family who will be disgraced.”

“Why have Peng deliver it?”

“Don’t you think, Father, that Peng is the least conspicuous person in our family?”

“Haha! Very well. Which day shall we send it?”

“Erlang and Tiger-treasure depart in twenty days—send it the night before, on the nineteenth.”

“Will it delay their journey?”

“At most a day—it doesn’t matter.”

Yes, in the end, the Jia woman was to be cast out of the Wang family; one day’s delay was nothing. Wang Ge collected herself, turning away from the barred sunlight and refusing to listen to the siblings’ weeping.

She said, “Grandmother, Father. Second Uncle’s face is injured; he may not be able to see me off to the next township.”

“What?” The heavy atmosphere in the house was scattered by their startled exclamations.

“The pass token describes Second Uncle’s appearance. Now he suddenly has five bloody scratches that won’t heal for several days; it no longer matches the description.”

Grandmother Jia was anxious: “What now? In this freezing weather, it’s not like September when we could trust you to travel alone!”

Wang Dalang said, “Hurry, catch up with your Second Uncle and go together to the township office to ask if they can change the pass token. And the luggage! If your Second Uncle can’t leave, the description on your own pass token—”

“Luggage is fine. The gifts for the county magistrate are all listed in my travel documents.” Wang Ge was nothing if not cautious, always guarding against the Jia woman’s scheming and her uncle being ensnared.

Grandmother Jia no longer spared a thought for Wang He and his sister, glaring at them as she scolded, “It’s all your mother’s fault! Crying for her? If you want to cry, go to the Jia family and wait for her there—cry your hearts out!”

Wang Ge stood up. “Don’t worry, Grandmother, it doesn’t matter if it’s delayed a day. I’ll go to the west end of the village and ask the officials at the Waterside Pavilion; they’ll know if Second Uncle’s pass needs to be changed. Third Uncle, will you come with me?”

“Oh.” Third Uncle briskly followed his niece, thinking he could swing by and see Azhu on the way back.

Ren Suozhi had already returned to the Waterside Pavilion, but fortunately, Cheng Shuang was there. After Wang Ge explained the situation, Cheng Qiu Dao said frankly, “To leave the township, any sudden injury, whether to the face or body, requires a new travel document. But at year’s end, no official is willing to vouch for such matters. Without a guarantor, the pass can’t be changed.”

So, to avoid further delay, Wang Ge had no choice but to set out alone.

(End of chapter)