Although she was also sad and upset, it was by no means because of Zhang Huai's marriage rejection. 'I have my own troubles, I don't have the headspace for this. Besides, I hadn't even transmigrated yet back then, so of course I can't feel what she felt!'
Zhang Huai watched the plain-faced girl's retreating figure, feeling that something wasn't right. 'Why wasn't she timid and avoiding my gaze like usual? Instead, she just looked at me quietly with those clear, bright eyes.' Her stare made his heart feel as if it had been gently scratched by a kitten's paw, leaving a ticklish, tingly sensation.
'She doesn't seem angry, or sad at all!'
'Didn't they say she was so heartbroken about me not wanting to marry her that she jumped into the lake to end her life? When I saw her by the lake just now, I was worried she was going to try it again. I even wasted the whole morning secretly keeping an eye on her, neglecting my own work.'
Three days ago, after Juhua jumped into the lake and was pulled out, it took a great deal of effort from Doctor Qin to save her. The incident got Zhang Huai a harsh scolding from his parents, and he was too ashamed to face his good friend, Qingmu.
'But... even though Juhua is a good girl, that face of hers...'
Zhang Huai was deeply conflicted. His family was poor and couldn't afford the bride price Liu'er's mother demanded, so his own mother had told him to marry Juhua. It was a truly difficult situation!
As it turned out, the two families hadn't even begun formal marriage discussions—Juhua still had an older brother who wasn't betrothed. It all started when Zhang Huai's mother sent a go-between to Liu'er's family to propose a marriage, only for Liu'er's mother to demand a bride price of twenty taels of silver. Furious, Zhang Huai's mother came home and told him, "What's so great about that Liu'er? If you ask me, Juhua is far more gentle and virtuous. So what if her face isn't pretty? She's a good girl, the kind you can build a life with. Can you eat pretty?"
Zhang Huai grew frantic. "Mother, what are you talking about? Juhua is a good girl, but that doesn't mean I can just marry her!"
Unfortunately, his voice was a little too loud, and Granny Hua next door overheard. And if she heard it, that meant the entire village heard it—that Granny Hua was the textbook definition of a Big Mouth!
And so, as the rumor spread like wildfire through the village, Juhua threw herself into Jing Lake to end her life. If she hadn't been rescued, she'd be buried in the ground by now.
Juhua's family was furious. 'Who said our daughter wanted to marry you? How dare he spread such a rumor and ruin her reputation?' Even if they had secretly entertained such a hope, they had never dared to voice it!
When Juhua's brother, Qingmu, learned the full story, he flew into a rage and gave Zhang Huai a brutal beating. He's refused to speak to him ever since!
'Sigh... Qingmu really dotes on his sister. He must be truly furious this time.'
With a grim expression, Zhang Huai watched Juhua walk toward the lone, mud-brick house at the foot of Little Qing Mountain to the west. He sighed, then turned, shouldered his hoe, and strode back toward the village.
******
Juhua walked along the ridges between the fields. From a distance, she could see her home nestled at the foot of Little Qing Mountain, with a forest of vibrant colors rising behind it. Unlike the static green of spring, the intoxicating colors of autumn seemed to flow into one another. With no clear boundaries, the reds, oranges, yellows, and greens mingled in a breathtakingly brilliant display.
The Little Qing River emerged from Little Qing Mountain like a jade sash, flowing south before making a turn in front of her house and meandering away to the east.
'If I ignore how poor the house is, this is actually a beautiful picture!'
Her family was the only one living at the foot of Little Qing Mountain, a good distance from the village to the east.
It was a three-room, mud-brick house with a thatched roof. A bamboo fence, interspersed with some mujin shrubs, enclosed a small yard in front of the threshing ground. It reminded her of a beautiful line she'd once read in a book—"thatched eaves and earthen walls, a mujin hedge and bamboo windows"—but that described an intentionally rustic farmhouse. Her home, on the other hand, was just plain poor.
On the left side of the yard, near the kitchen, was a small vegetable patch growing crown daisies, spinach, green garlic, Cong, and the like. The plants were a luscious, vibrant green, looking almost ready to drip with dew. Hyacinth bean vines covered the fence on this side, though their leaves were already thinning, a clear sign their season was almost over.
On the right were the outhouse and a firewood pile.
Little Qing Mountain rose up right behind the house. The leaves on the dense shrubs and assorted trees had begun to turn yellow, some already transitioning to red.
Under the eaves of the main house, strings of corn cobs were hung to dry. Their golden yellow color was enticing—they were far more pleasant to look at than to eat.
'Backed by a mountain and facing water... In my past life, I heard people say this is a prime location in terms of feng shui! So how is this family still so poor?'
Behind the kitchen stood a low pigsty. Juhua hurried to its entrance and tossed some of the dew-covered fodder into the trough. The big black pig, already weighing over a hundred pounds, immediately trotted over with a grunt and buried its snout in the pile of greens.
Juhua hung the remaining greens to one side to air-dry before finally stepping through the front door.