Chapter Ninety-One: The Fierce Mother of the Bingzi Family

After leaving Chen Xin with a contact number for online communication, the young couple departed the town with Xin Auntie at their side. When Xin Auntie returned, she said that the pair had sworn they would never come back to that town again. The others also knew about what had happened at the Zhou household that day. No one said much; it had all become so routine that it bordered on indifference.

"Ah, such a decent little town, ruined by those people until it’s full of smoke and filth. They envy other people’s earnings instead of thinking of a way to make something of themselves, and all day long they only know how to cheat and swindle. They don’t even feel sick spending money like that."

As she picked through vegetables, Xin Auntie told Chen Xin many things about the Zhou family. None of it sounded truly monstrous, yet every single incident was enough to make one cringe.

"The people in town know they’ve got connections, so no one dares offend them too much. It’s enough to keep your distance. Our A Xin used to be classmates with their younger uncle, so every now and then he can still say a few things to them. But if anyone else dares mention that couple, their daughter-in-law can stand at the door and curse at them for a whole day without stopping."

After washing the vegetables, Xin Auntie seemed to remember something. She turned and smiled at Chen Xin. "The old lady from the Bing family is the real formidable one. Years ago, when Bing’s cousin married in, she also suffered at the Zhou family’s hands. Back then it was still the old Mrs. Zhou who ran things. Just because her tofu-making wasn’t as good as other people’s, that old woman would all day long make veiled insults, and even say Bing’s cousin was a barren hen and all that. That month, Bing’s cousin cried and went back to stay one night at her parents’ home. The next day, Bing’s mother brought twenty or thirty relatives and male cousins from the family into town, blocked the Zhou front gate, and cursed the old Mrs. Zhou to her face. Then she took an axe and split the Zhou gate right open. The town originally wanted to stop them, but the men from the Bing family all practiced martial arts; one of them was worth three ordinary men."

"The Zhou family didn’t call the police?"

"How could they not?" Xin Auntie laughed heartily. "They did, but no officers came. The police said, isn’t your town always saying that arguments are just quarrels between women? Then let them finish arguing; no need for anyone to step in and mediate. Why are you calling the police now? When they asked, the Bing mother had only brought people to block the door, and hadn’t hurt anyone in the Zhou family—just wouldn’t let them go out. So the police said to keep an eye on it, and if there was any physical contact, then call again and they’d come. But the Bing family’s men were fierce enough that a few shoulder poles could pin you in place without hurting you even a little. The Zhou family was blocked in for several days in the end, and finally they gave in, apologized publicly to Bing’s cousin, and swore they would never provoke her again. Oh, and when they were forced to swear, they had to do it in the name of the Zhou men. You have no idea what their faces looked like then—black as stove soot."

Chen Xin smiled with her lips pressed together. Outside the window, Bai Mengqing, who was also listening in, curiously asked what happened afterward. Had the Zhou family really swallowed such a loss in silence?

"Hah. Their family has always bullied the weak and feared the strong. The Bing family was tough, and later Bing’s uncle even became an official. The Zhou family would have been dodging them, so how would they dare go looking for trouble again? But Bing’s cousin is a good person too. She’s been proper and steady all these years. Aside from that one quarrel with the Zhou family, there’s no one in the whole town she doesn’t get along with. People may be jealous in their hearts, but tofu-making is her own craft. However jealous they are, they can’t steal it."

Xin Auntie did not think much of any of it. Her own family was the same. Her man’s skill at making fish—could other people’s jealousy possibly make it worse? A craft like that was in one’s own hands. So long as one did not perform badly oneself, no one else could take it away.

Before dinner, Bing’s cousin had her son-in-law deliver a whole crate of well-made aged tofu, along with some tofu sticks, dried tofu, and tofu skin their family had made themselves.

Xin Auntie got along well with Bing’s cousin, and since Chen Xin had been coming over to Xin Auntie’s place these past two days, and since they were leaving town tomorrow, Bing’s cousin and Xin Auntie arranged to eat together that evening. Xin Uncle made a cold-pot fish dish, and all the soy products in it were supplied by Bing’s cousin’s family.

Chen Xin and the others went out to the street to gather some side dishes and wild mountain foods, then brought them back to eat together.

The two families, along with Chen Xin’s group of four and one child, sat at two large tables placed side by side, with one pot on each table.

The fifth aunt who lived next door to Xin Auntie also ran a restaurant, selling noodles. Her fish-ball noodles were not like those from the coastal regions; the flavor was stronger, and the spicy fish balls were especially delicious. The noodles were homemade hand-cut noodles, sliced with excellent knife work so that they cooked as soon as they were dipped in boiling water. Yi Bai and Zhou Hao especially loved coming in the morning for a bowl of fish-ball noodles and a bowl of tofu pudding.

Fifth Aunt sent them some fish balls and noodles to serve as staple food. They had originally invited Fifth Aunt and her husband to join the meal, but Fifth Aunt said they were going to their daughter’s house that night and couldn’t come, and they wouldn’t be back by tomorrow morning either. It seemed that tomorrow morning’s breakfast would have to be handled by Yi Bai and the others themselves.

Fifth Aunt’s daughter was about to give birth. She had started having labor pains that afternoon and had been taken to the town clinic to await delivery. Fifth Aunt was uneasy and planned to go over after dark to keep watch over her daughter.

Everyone offered their blessings, and after that Fifth Aunt and Fifth Uncle locked the door and left. Turning around, Chen Xin saw the worried look on Xin Auntie’s face.

"What’s wrong, Xin Auntie?"

Xin Auntie hesitated for a moment, then sighed. "Nothing much. Just a little worried."

She did not explain further. Though Chen Xin found it somewhat strange, she did not take it to heart. After all, giving birth was dangerous for women at any time, especially here in a small town where medical care could not compare with the big cities. A normal delivery was fine, but if complications arose, it was common enough for both mother and child to be lost.

They ate and laughed until nearly midnight. After tidying up, everyone went back to rest. Early the next morning, Chen Xin and the others would leave, and Xin Uncle had helped arrange a van to take them to the railway station.

Their train was at seven in the morning, so they had to leave by five-thirty. By the time they reached the station and got through ticket collection and security, it would already be close to six, and all that fuss would take more than ten minutes.

Little chubby Zhang Zhang was in Zhou Hao’s arms, sleeping like a piglet. No matter how they called him, he would not wake. When it was time to dress him, he even whimpered and tried to burrow back onto Zhou Hao’s body.

"It’s lucky Zhou Hao is here. Otherwise, the two of us bringing the little one along would probably be in for it," Bai Mengqing said with a click of her tongue. Having never experienced a child’s clinginess, she truly could not imagine how troublesome it could be to bring one along.

"Yes. The year before was still manageable, since he was small and I could just carry him. But this year he’s grown quite a bit, and gotten heavier too. I’m almost unable to hold him anymore." Chen Xin had not thought of all that either. It was only after taking Zhang Zhang out on this trip that she realized what an astonishing existence a single mother traveling with a child could be.

Their next stop was that ethnic minority ancient town.

It was called an ancient town, but in fact it was just a large village, a very typical clustered settlement in this region. Not only was the ethnic group distinctive, even their architecture was highly characteristic, and their everyday clothing and color combinations were unlike the mainstream. Yet that was also what made them so appealing. In these past two years, everyone had been talking about opening up, and even this village had stepped into the tide of openness.