Pursuit of Jade
Chapter 27
Early that morning, Fan Changyu went around the market and bought an old hen to bring home for Yan Zheng to nourish himself with.
Whenever she ran into familiar faces in the alley, she greeted them as warmly as ever, but the others seemed to be avoiding her, offering only a reluctant word or two in reply.
The woman who were on good terms with the Song family went a step further, rolling her eyes at Fan Changyu and keeping distance as though she were the plague. “She really is a jinx. Her eldest uncle went to her house several times, and she ended up being the death of him. And that husband who married into her family has been sickly all this time without getting any better. It’s only because Song Lao Jiejie went to have their birth charts matched that the marriage was called off. If Song Yan had actually married her and brought her into the family, who knows what sort of misfortune she would have brought down upon the Songs!”
Some of those who had previously been on fairly good terms with the Fan family also quietly edged away from Fan Changyu after hearing this.
If the Song family had previously called off the engagement on the grounds that she was born under the fate of aLone Star of Heavenly Calamity, few people had taken it seriously. But with misfortune striking her household one incident after another these past two days, and with the old Zhao couple quite possibly having suffered the same fate had the soldiers not arrived in time last night, it was only natural that the neighbors had begun to regard her with wariness.
Under ordinary circumstances, Fan Changyu would have retorted long ago. But it was a fact that the Zhao family had nearly been dragged into danger last night, and Yan Zheng really had been injured.
She pressed her lips together and silently made her way toward the Zhao residence, the chicken dangling from her hand.
Just as she passed the doorway of the sharp-tongued old woman from earlier, the woman came right behind her and flung a basin of rice-rinsing water out the door. The cold droplets splashed all over the toes of Fan Changyu’s embroidered shoes and the hem of her skirt.
Fan Changyu stopped in her tracks. She lifted her calm, steady gaze toward the woman.
The old woman’s surname was Kang. She had originally been a neighbor of the Song family, and ever since Song Yan had passed the provincial examination and become a Juren, she had gone out of her way to curry favor with the Songs. To please Mother Song, she would periodically visit her for a chat, taking every opportunity to heap all manner of badmouthing about Fan Changyu upon her.
Perhaps it was also because she still served some small purpose in keeping Mother Song company and relieving her boredom that, after the Song family moved to the county town, she alone from the entire alley had been invited to eat at their new residence.
Granny Kang took great pride in this. Naturally, after returning home, she went around boasting to anyone who would listen about how beautiful the Song family’s new residence was, how they even had servants there for Mother Song to order about, and how Song Yan was truly a man of ability. And, of course, she would take the opportunity to put Fan Changyu down once or twice.
Now, seeing Fan Changyu looking over, Granny Kang simply tossed the remaining half-basin of rice-rinsing water out the doorway again and cursed, “What rotten luck this early in the morning! I’ll have to find some dried pomelo leaves and hang them by the door later!”
It was a common folk belief that rice-rinsing water and pomelo leaves could drive away bad luck.
Fan Changyu’s lips moved as though she wanted to say something, but when she saw the other neighbors either keeping silent or discreetly putting more distance between themselves and her, she merely pressed her lips together more tightly and quickened her steps toward the Zhao residence.
The rice water had soaked through her shoes and socks. The cold dampness clung tightly around her ankles, creeping from flesh into bone and sending a chill straight to her heart.
Once Fan Changyu entered the Zhao family’s courtyard, she found Auntie Zhao sweeping snow. Seeing that Fan Changyu’s skirt hem, shoes, and socks were all wet, she hurriedly asked, “What happened?”
Fan Changyu went straight toward the kitchen and said, “The snow on the road hadn’t fully melted. I stepped on it and got wet.”
Auntie Zhao frowned as she watched Fan Changyu’s retreating back, knowing full well that she had not told the truth.
Fan Changyu’s mind was in turmoil. After slaughtering the old hen and setting it to simmer in the earthenware/clay pot, she feared Auntie Zhao would press her for answers, so she made the excuse that she was taking medicine to Yan Zheng and went up to the loft.
“Time for your medicine.”
Her voice lacked its usual vitality and instead sounded somewhat subdued.
When Xie Zheng took the medicine bowl from her, he couldn’t help studying her expression.
There seemed to be nothing amiss on her face, yet he could tell at a glance that something was wrong with her mood. He asked, “What happened?”
Fan Changyu only said, “It’s nothing. Drink the medicine while it’s hot. If you find it too bitter, there are dried tangerine-peel candies by your pillow.”
She sat curled up on a low stool, warming herself by the brazier. With her head lowered, she revealed a slender stretch of neck, making it impossible to see the expression on her face.
Xie Zheng noticed that the hem of her skirt, as well as her shoes and socks, seemed to be damp. He said, “The snow was coming down pretty heavily in the latter half of the night.”
Fan Changyu gave a vague “En.”
Xie Zheng frowned. There hadn’t been any snow at all in the latter half of the night. She was acting rather strangely today.
She said nothing, and after finishing his medicine, Xie Zheng set the bowl on the round stool beside the bed without saying anything either.
After a long stretch of silence in the room, Fan Changyu suddenly said, “How about I find you an inn? I can give the shopkeeper’s assistant some extra money and have him look after your meals and daily needs.”
The fingertips Xie Zheng had resting against the edge of the bed tightened slightly. He asked her, “Why?”
Fan Changyu said, “The authorities haven’t closed the case yet. I’m afraid those people might come back looking for revenge.”
Xie Zheng said, “Didn’t you say there were soldiers secretly keeping watch over this place?”
Fan Changyu fell silent for several breaths before looking up at him. With solemnity, she said, “Then stay here and recover from your injuries for now. Once you’re healed, you should leave.”
After she rose and went down from the loft, Xie Zheng picked up a dried tangerine-peel candy. His lips pressed into a tight line, and in the blink of an eye, the candy crumbled into powder between his fingertips.
It was not until noon that Granny Kang, who lived in the same alley, suddenly came storming over to the Song family’s house, cursing and demanding justice. Only then did Xie Zheng finally understand the reason for Fan Changyu’s strange behavior that day. “Fan Changyu! You get out here!”
Granny Kang had a booming voice, and when it came to making a scene in the street, she was second to none.
Her bellow drew quite a few people to the Zhao family’s doorway to watch the spectacle.
Auntie Zhao heard the pounding on the door, hard enough to sound as though someone were kicking it, and hurried over to open it. Seeing Granny Kang standing there with her grandson, looking thoroughly aggressive, she asked, “What happened?”
Granny Kang shoved her grandson forward, planted her hands on her hips, and cursed, “Get Fan Changyu out here! Her little sister shoved my Hutou down the steps and knocked out one of his front teeth! You tell me what happened!”
Fan Changyu had been stewing the chicken in the kitchen. Hearing the shouting outside, she came out into the courtyard.
She saw Granny Kang’s chubby, round-faced grandson crying so hard that both his eyes were swollen. Two strings of snot hung beneath his nostrils, which he kept sniffling back in, only for them to run out again the next moment. His chin was swollen, and he had indeed chipped a front tooth.
Fan Changyu said, “My younger sister has always been in poor health. Your grandson is several years older than her. How could my sister possibly have pushed him?”
The moment Granny Kang heard Fan Changyu trying to deny it, she spat flying with every word as she snapped, “Would I make something like this up? Call your Ningniang out and ask her yourself. Then you’ll know whether she pushed him!”
Seeing quite a few people in the alley poking their heads out to watch, Auntie Zhao urged, “Whatever happened, come inside and talk about it. Children roughhousing and taking a tumble is nothing unusual. Making such a racket at the door will only give the neighbors something to laugh about.”
Granny Kang would have none of it. “I came here to demand justice for my grandson. Why should I care if anyone laughs?”
Fan Changyu knew that Granny Kang had long been notorious throughout the alley for her sharp tongue and vicious, unreasonable ways. She had even driven her own daughter-in-law away through sheer cruelty. To this day, whenever Granny Kang mentioned her daughter-in-law, she still called her one “shameless slut” after another, claiming the woman had run off with some wild man and had no sense of shame whatsoever. It never occurred to her that there was anything wrong with treating her daughter-in-law like an ox or a horse and ordering her around as though she were one.
Later, her son took up with a widow. Granny Kang objected that the woman had already been married and had lost her husband, and who knew whether she was a husband-killer who brought misfortune to her husbands. After Granny Kang interfered and stirred up trouble, the widow saw which way the wind was blowing and promptly broke things off with her son as well. To this day, her son remained a confirmed bachelor.
Fan Changyu had no desire to waste her breath arguing with this woman. She said coldly, “Whether you can demand justice or not is not up to you to decide. I’ll ask my younger sister first, then we’ll talk.”
Fan Changyu called out, “Ningniang, come out here.”
Little Changning shuffled out of the room and stood behind Fan Changyu like a little shadow.
Fan Changyu lowered her head and asked, “Did you push Hutou?”
Changning pressed her lips together, both hands clutching the hem of her clothes tightly. She nodded, then shook her head.
Granny Kang shrieked, “See that? A child this young already knows how to lie! What fine family values the Fan family has! She nodded herself, and now she’s shaking her head…”
“Shut your mouth!” Fan Changyu’s sharp rebuke rang out, her voice like a blizzard instantly drowning out Granny Kang’s shrill screech.
That morning, Granny Kang had thrown that basin of rice-rinsing water at her. Seeing Fan Changyu say nothing, she had assumed the girl was easy to push around. Now, suddenly shouted down by Fan Changyu, she froze for a moment before immediately screeching even more shrilly, “Is there any justice in this world? Everyone, come look! These Fan family people are so damn arrogant! They knocked my grandson into this state, and now they’ve got the nerve to act as though they’re in the right!”
Up in the loft, even Xie Zheng’s ears hurt from the woman’s shrill cursing. He frowned impatiently.
Were all the old women of the common streets this noisy?
Just as he was growing irritated, he heard that woman’s cold, cutting voice, “Keep shouting. Let’s see if I don’t throw you headfirst into the pig-slop vat!”
Coldness showed in every line of Fan Changyu’s eyes and brows. This morning, she had tolerated Granny Kang because, deep down, she did feel guilty about the trouble brought upon them by the enemies she had provoked. But now that Granny Kang was trying to take advantage of her restraint, Fan Changyu was not about to indulge her.
Under Fan Changyu’s cold stare, Granny Kang felt a sudden, inexplicable pang of fear. She hurriedly looked toward the crowd that had gathered to watch. She opened her mouth as though she still wanted to say something, clearly intending to use the onlookers to put pressure on Fan Changyu.
Fan Changyu seemed to have seen through her little ploy long ago. She said coldly, “You and that old witch from the Song family have been making up stories about me behind my back every day. Did you really think I didn’t know? My reputation has already been dragged through the mud by the two of you. Do you honestly think I still care what other people think of me? If I really were to lay hands on you, how many of these people do you think would actually step forward to stop me?”
Those words extinguished the last of Granny Kang’s bravado. She swallowed hard. The mouth that could usually curse for an entire day without so much as pausing for breath seemed to have been stitched shut with needle and thread. Try as she might, she could not force out another word.
Only then did Fan Changyu squat down and ask her younger sister, “Just now, when Ah Jie asked whether you pushed Hutou, why did you nod and then shake your head?”
Little Changning’s round, dark eyes were already rimmed red. Her pale, plump little fingers clutched the hem of her clothes as she said, “I did push him, but he was too fat. I couldn’t budge him. He chased after me and slipped, falling down the steps himself. That’s how he chipped his front tooth.”
Granny Kang immediately started shouting again. “My Hutou said it was you who pushed—”
Fan Changyu shot her a cold look, and Granny Kang fell silent once more.
Fan Changyu continued asking her sister, “Ningniang, why did you push him?”
Little Changning lowered her head. Tears the size of beans instantly rolled from her eyes. “He pulled my hair, snatched my pine-nut candy, and splashed water on me. He said his grandma had only just thrown that basin of rice-rinsing water all over Ah Jie this morning to drive away the bad luck, and that I was the jinx’s little sister, so he had to splash water on me to drive away the bad luck too…”
By the time she finished speaking, Fan Changyu’s face had turned frighteningly cold.
Auntie Zhao’s eyes reddened with anger. No wonder Fan Changyu had come home that morning with wet shoes and a soaked skirt, it turns out that old wretch had thrown the rice-rinsing water on her.
That rice-rinsing water was meant to drive away evil and dispel malign influences after breaking ground. For her to deliberately splash it on Fan Changyu after she had passed by—how vicious could she be?
Auntie Zhao gritted her teeth and cursed, “You filthy old hag, you won’t even have a coffin lid over you when you die! If you won’t accumulate any virtue for yourself with that foul mouth of yours, then at least accumulate some for your children and grandchildren! Aren’t you afraid that when you meet the King of Hell, he’ll have your tongue hooked out?”
Granny Kang was somewhat guilty at first, but after decades of never letting anyone get the last word, she could not resist lifting her chin and firing back, “How am I not accumulating virtue? Was I the one who killed her parents? Was I the one who killed all those people from her family these past two days? Everyone in this town knows by now that she’s a jinx! It’s only you and your old man, with no one to see you through to the grave, who’d go out of your way to take in that disaster of a family. Aren’t you afraid that one day she’ll get you both killed too? If you ask me, the Fan family should have cleared out of this alley long ago. Who knows when her enemies will come looking for them again?”
“You…” Auntie Zhao was so furious that she trembled.
Fan Changyu wiped the tears from her younger sister’s face with her thumb and slowly rose to her feet, her gaze as cold as a blade of ice, “Even if I really were a jinx, I’d start with an old corpse like you!”
She gave a cold laugh. “And why exactly should I move out of this alley? Because you’ve got a mouth full of spit and rotten meat to chew the rag on? Since you’re so afraid, why don’t you move away yourself?”
Granny Kang was left speechless. She pointed at Fan Changyu, clearly wanting to hurl another insult, but Fan Changyu continued, “And another thing—keep your grandson in line. If he ever dares lay a finger on my younger sister again, I’ll cut off whichever hand he uses!”
The moment Granny Kang’s grandson met Fan Changyu’s fierce, murderous gaze, his mouth crumpled and he burst into tears, snot and tears flying together.
Granny Kang hurriedly shielded her grandson behind her and said with more bluster than courage, “What kind of person threatens a little child…”
Fan Changyu’s lips curled coldly, “Threatens? I’m not threatening you.”
As she spoke, she cast a cold glance at Granny Kang’s grandson’s arm.
“I can cleave a pig’s trotter in two with one stroke. Cutting off an arm would be even easier.”
Granny Kang’s grandson instinctively clutched one arm and, sobbing, tugged at his grandmother. “Ah Mo, let’s go home… I wanna go home…”
Seeing her grandson frightened to this state, Granny Kang was both furious and anxious, yet she did not dare confront Fan Changyu head-on.
All she could do was curse and grumble as she led her grandson away. As she stepped down the stairs outside the Zhao household, a sudden pain shot through the back of her knee for no apparent reason.
“Ahhh!” She let out a miserable cry and tumbled down the steps, her chin striking the very bottom step. She lay there for a long while without being able to get up, screaming in agony, her mouth streaming with blood.
The onlookers in the alley exchanged glances.
Fan Changyu herself was stunned for a moment. Almost instinctively, she looked up toward the Zhao household’s loft—and, just as she expected, caught sight of a fleeting glimpse of dark blue fabric.
After her initial shock, Auntie Zhao quickly said, “Instant retribution! Everyone saw it—the old woman and Changyu never even left the doorway! That old wretch fell by herself! This is instant retribution!”
Granny Kang was advanced in years, and the fall had knocked out several of her teeth. She crawled into a sitting position and simply sat on the ground, wailing as she pointed at Fan Changyu, “It was her! That jinx kicked me, it had to be her!”
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