Pursuit of Jade
Chapter 15: He Takes His Own Side
“That must be Changyu’s husband who marries into her family, right?”
“I caught a glimpse of him on their wedding day. Haven’t seen him in all this time, but he looks even more handsome now!”
“A live-in husband going up against her former Juren fiancé? Now that will be a show worth watching!”
The neighborhood women spotted Xie Zheng, then glanced over at Song Yan, and soon began whispering among themselves.
Changning spotted her elder sister too. She immediately tugged on Xie Zheng’s sleeve and came running over as fast as her little legs could carry her: “Ah Jie!”
The two little buns of hair atop her head bobbed with every step. Her round face was soft and fair, and bundled up in her thick padded jacket, she looked like a snowball that had sprouted a pair of short, stubby limbs.
A thin layer of ice had formed on the ground, making it easy to slip. Fan Changyu hurriedly called out, “Slow down! Your Jiefu’s leg is still injured. Be careful you don’t fall!”
The moment the word “Jiefu” left her mouth, Fan Changyu herself felt a little awkward.
She glanced at Yan Zheng’s face. His features remained clear and composed, and he showed no particular reaction to the way she addressed him, as though he were perfectly accustomed to being called that.
In truth, Changning did often call him “Jiefu”. It was just that Fan Changyu wasn’t quite used to teaching Changning to address him that way.
Changning had already reached Fan Changyu. She stuck out her tongue guiltily, then wrapped her short, chubby arms around one of her sister’s legs, eyeing the mother and son from the Song family with open hostility.
She had deliberately dragged Jiefu along with her. If these two nasty people dared bully Ah Jie again, Jiefu could whack their legs with his crutch and make them limp too!
She simply hadn’t told Ah Jie about her brilliant plan.
Fan Changyu, completely unaware of the little scheme brewing in her younger sister’s mind, ruffled her hair before looking toward Xie Zheng: “Your injuries haven’t healed yet, and it’s inconvenient for you to go out. There was no need to indulge Ningniang in her antics…”
She spoke very politely, but to everyone watching, it looked exactly like a wife thoughtfully caring for her husband.
Quite a few people let their eyes wander back and forth between Song Yan and Xie Zheng.
In their minds, they had already made the comparison: when it came to looks, the husband Fan Changyu had married into her family was certainly the better-looking of the two. But when it came to ability, Song Yan still had the edge. After all, not just anyone could become a Juren.
Xie Zheng lowered his eyes to the faint redness that still lingered around hers and merely said, “It’s nothing.”
Yet his handsome phoenix eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
Had she been crying?
For that former fiancé of hers?
Then it seemed she really hadn’t let him go.
Pathetic.
The northern wind raged around them, stirring the long hair that fell over his chest. He lazily lifted his eyes and looked toward the blue-robed man standing behind Fan Changyu.
His gaze was languid, almost careless, yet it carried an intensely oppressive force.
The moment their eyes met, Song Yan felt as though he had been singled out by a wild wolf. Every hair on his body rose instinctively, and he hurriedly looked away. Even so, a tightening sensation continued to constrict his chest in waves.
Like prey trembling after narrowly escaping the jaws of a jackal.
Xie Zheng had no intention of wasting words on the mother and son. He simply said, succinctly, “Pay back the money.”
Not only Song Yan and his mother, but even the onlookers—and Fan Changyu herself—were momentarily stunned.
Xie Zheng had very little patience for repeating himself. When the mother and son failed to respond, a trace of impatience had already crept into his handsome phoenix eyes.
“Just because the parents are dead, you think you can just welsh on the debt?”
Changning pressed her little lips together nervously, but the excitement in her eyes was impossible to conceal as she stared at her brother-in-law’s crutch.
Is Jiefu going to hit someone?
Song Yan and his mother finally came to their senses, only to hear the latter half of Xie Zheng’s sentence. Mother Song was so furious she nearly keeled over on the spot.
The tongues of this Fan family husband and wife were truly something else—each sharper than the last! Her family hadn’t even said a word yet, and they had already branded her with the accusation of refusing to repay a debt!
Mother Song trembled with rage, needing two women to support her to keep her upright. “When did my family ever say we weren’t going to repay it?”
Then she called to Song Yan, “Yan Ge’er, count out the silver for them!”
Even back when she had been poor enough to be washed clean, when her husband died and she had knelt by the roadside, kowtowing and begging someone to give them enough for a coffin, Mother Song had never felt as humiliated as she did today.
After saying this, she headed straight out of the alley, as though she couldn’t bear to remain there a moment longer.
That was the strange thing about dignity. When you had none, you could be trampled and tormented however people pleased, and it hardly seemed to matter. But once you had finally gained some standing, having that dignity stripped away again left a bitter taste in the heart that was almost unbearable.
Fan Changyu hadn’t expected him to reduce Song’s mother to such a state with just a few words. She looked at him in surprise.
He merely gave her a calm glance in return.
For some reason, Fan Changyu read something like You’re hopeless. I’ll collect the debt for you in that look, leaving her utterly bewildered.
When Fan Changyu’s father had provided the Song family with a coffin back then, it had of course not been just the coffin. He had also paid for burial clothes and the expenses of the funeral. Altogether, he had given them ten taels ()of silver.
As for Song Yan’s tuition, the teacher at the village school charged two taels a year. Song Yan studied there for five years before finally qualifying for the county school. Knowing that his family was poor, the teachers at the county school had discussed the matter among themselves and waived his tuition. The ten taals her father had advanced were therefore entirely for his tuition at the village school.
When Song Yan handed the two silver ingots to Fan Changyu, a large, knuckled hand reached over and took the money for her. Song Yan looked up.
It was the husband she had married into her family.
His expression was cold as he said only, “Then we’re even.”
Yes. From this point on, the two of them were even.
Song Yan looked at Fan Changyu, bitterness curling at the corners of his mouth.
But the man gave neither him nor Fan Changyu a chance to meet each other’s eyes. As he handed the two silver ingots to Fan Changyu, he cast Song Yan a cold sidelong glance and simply said to her, “Let’s go back.”
As a fellow man, Song Yan was certain that there was no hostility in that look whatsoever. It was pure disdain—like a mother hen fiercely guarding her chick.
As the calf being protected, Fan Changyu still hadn’t quite realized what had happened even after they had made it home.
The moment the front door closed behind them, the man no longer bothered to hide the disdain in his eyes and brows: “Someone like that is actually worth your pining over all this time? You even cried over him?”
Fan Changyu remembered the lie she had told and found herself unable to explain. Feeling rather sheepish, she said, “When did I cry?”
Xie Zheng hated trouble, and naturally had no interest in meddling in other people’s affairs. The only reason he couldn’t stand by and watch this woman continue making a fool of herself over a man like that was because she had once saved his life.
Now that he heard her trying to argue her way out of it, he couldn’t be bothered to say anything more.
Just then, their neighbor, Auntie Zhao, hurried over: “I heard that before the Song family left, they even put on a show of giving you money. They were just doing it for the neighbors to see, weren’t they? That mother and son really have a whole bag of tricks when it comes to making people sick! On your wedding day, he even sent over a pair of those ridiculous clay dolls…”
She was halfway through when she caught sight of Xie Zheng and immediately regretted it. She covered her mouth with one hand and swallowed the rest of her words.
Xie Zheng said nothing. He merely swept Fan Changyu a glance with those sharp, cold, and utterly unsympathetic phoenix eyes. The look unmistakably carried the mocking message: Go on. Keep trying to explain yourself.
Fan Changyu could only stew in silence.
She hadn’t expected the lie she had blurted out in the heat of the moment to become a source of ridicule, earning this man’s contempt for so long.
It wasn’t until Xie Zheng had gone inside that Auntie Zhao finally looked at Fan Changyu apologetically. “This mouth of mine really has no door…”
Fan Changyu looked a little weary. “It’s nothing.”
At most, she’d just have to endure that fellow looking down on her for a while.
She invited Auntie Zhao over to sit by the fire pit and warm herself. Once Auntie Zhao had sat down, she couldn’t help saying, “That man surnamed Song pulled another stunt like that today. Let’s just hope it doesn’t affect things between you and your husband.”
Fan Changyu thought to herself that it would be a wonder if she and that sharp-tongued, merciless fellow had any feelings for each other at all.
She had been about to tell Auntie Zhao the truth, but the lawsuit over the house and land had yet to be settled. To avoid any branches going outside the main trunk, she merely said, “It won’t.”
Auntie Zhao suddenly asked, “Are you still sleeping with Ningniang in the north room at night?”
Fan Changyu gave a small hum of acknowledgment, and Auntie Zhao’s brows immediately drew together.
“How about letting Ningniang come sleep with me tonight?”
Catching the implication behind her words, Fan Changyu nearly choked on her own saliva and hurriedly said, “No need.”
Auntie Zhao couldn’t help shooting her an exasperated look. “You and your husband have properly bowed before Heaven and Earth—you’re a legitimate married couple. What are you being so coy about?”
Fan Changyu trotted out her usual excuse. “He’s injured.”
Auntie Zhao’s eyes widened. “You didn’t read that booklet I gave you? There are plenty of ways…”
She trailed off before she could say anything more, apparently too embarrassed herself, and merely sighed. “Daniang is only worried for you. Your husband is even better-looking than Song Yan, and he can even read and write. Right now, with him injured, he needs to rely on you. If the two of you don’t build some affection while you have the chance, what will you do if he decides to leave once he’s recovered? And even if we assume for the worst that you really can’t keep him, you ought to at least have a child to rely on. Otherwise, your eldest uncle’s family will surely come causing trouble again.”
Fan Changyu knew Auntie Zhao meant well, so she only vaguely said she understood.
It wasn’t until Auntie Zhao had left that she let out a somewhat dejected sigh.
She couldn’t get the silver hairpin back, and she’d been thoroughly disgusted by the Song mother and son all over again. Still, she had managed to recover the twenty taels of silver her father had once given the Song family to help them. With such a hefty sum now in the household, that was at least something to be happy about.
The only thing that really rankled was being constantly subjected to that fellow’s Are you blind or something? look—and knowing that she had only brought it upon herself with the lie she’d told.
Fan Changyu rose, intending to head to the kitchen, when suddenly she froze.
The booklet… Auntie Zhao’s booklet!
Back when they were getting married, she had been so overwhelmed with preparations that her head was spinning. The day Auntie Zhao gave her the booklet, she had hastily flipped through a couple of pages before quickly closing it and slipping it beneath the pillow in the bridal chamber.
All these days had passed, and she had completely forgotten about it! She had no idea whether that man had found it while he was in the room.
Just thinking about it made Fan Changyu’s scalp prickle.
She hurriedly found a fresh set of bedding covers, carried them to the door of the south room, and knocked.
From inside came a clear yet cool voice: “Come in.”
She pushed the door open and said, “New Year is almost here, so I’m changing all the bedding covers in the house and washing them.”
Everything in this room had only just been arranged for the wedding not long ago, so there was really no need to wash or change any of it. The excuse was a little flimsy, to say the least.
But Xie Zheng was seated before an old wooden desk with uneven leg, a writing brush between his fingers. He didn’t even spare her a glance, merely giving a faint nod.
Seeing that he was engrossed in writing something, Fan Changyu quietly let out a breath of relief, like a thief who had a guilty conscience. She quickly lifted the pillow to look for the booklet, only to discover that it was nowhere to be found.
Fan Changyu was instantly dumbfounded. She secretly stole a glance at the man sitting by the window. Seeing that he seemed not to have noticed anything amiss, she continued stripping off the sheets and bedding in search of it.
But even after she lifted and shook out the mattress beneath everything else and searched under the bed, she still couldn’t find the booklet. Her heart sank into utter despair.
Suddenly, a cool, clear voice came from behind her.
“Need any help?”
Fan Changyu’s entire back went rigid. Keeping her face blank, she said, “No. I was just dusting things off before making the bed.”
She tossed the removed sheets and bedding into the laundry basket, then expressionlessly spread the slightly worn sheets and quilt cover over the bed.
The quilt cover consisted of two layers: plain cotton cloth underneath and a decorated outer embroidered fabric. The quilt itself was placed between the two layers, which then had to be stitched together with needle and thread.
Nervous, Fan Changyu pricked her fingers with the needle several times while sewing the quilt cover. She kept her face taut and didn’t make a sound.
It wasn’t until she had left the room that Xie Zheng finally set down his brush. His gaze fell upon the booklet he had used to prop up one of the desk’s legs, and his handsome brows unconsciously drew together.
The room was separated from the main room by nothing more than a wall, so he had naturally heard everything that old lady had said.
Was she looking for this booklet?
The title of this chapter is 他护犊子 (tā hù dúzǐ) which literally means “he protects his calf”. The phrase comes from the image of an animal fiercely protecting its young, and is used to describe someone who is overprotective or fiercely defensive of their own, especially when they’re willing to overlook—or outright defend—their faults.
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