Ger, So Proud

Chapter 85

When He Ze looked over, Lin Tiangui happened to raise his head, and their eyes met.

Lin Tiangui’s hair was disheveled, his back hunched, and his sleeves were torn, revealing a withered arm that looked like a dried branch. He was a far cry from the commanding figure he had been in Xiao Yu’s house just a few months ago. Indeed, the old man had suffered one blow after another in recent months, almost losing his life.

He Ze felt nothing but indifference. He glanced at Lin Tiangui before shifting his gaze and did not slow down the ox cart, which quickly moved away.

Lin Tiangui seemed to snap out of it suddenly. He turned his head sharply, watching the ox cart disappear from view, his face twisted with hatred that seemed almost tangible. It took him a long time to regain his composure.

Previously mentioned, the Lin family had nowhere to stay and had set up a shack between He and Li Family Village.

After walking for a while, Lin Tiangui reached a shabby hut that offered little protection from the nature. The sight of He Ze seemed to have agitated him, his expression twisting momentarily.

Inside, his two grandsons, the children of his eldest son, sat by the bed. Unfortunately, they were delayed and still unmarried. Dad Liu lay half-reclined on the bed, groaning intermittently. Since the death of their third son, his health had deteriorated, and the doctor had said he wouldn’t last long.

Hearing the commotion, Dad Liu turned his head with difficulty. One of his eyes was blind, showing only the whites, which looked particularly eerie in the dim candlelight. “Back… back? How much?”

“Five taels of silver,” Lin Tiangui replied, knowing what he was asking.

“Good! Good!” Dad Liu seemed to gain some energy, raising his right hand to slap the bedboard hard. “Dazou… hurry!”

Lin Tiangui’s second grandson, Lin Shou, realized what was happening, his voice trembling, “Grandfather, did you really sell Dad?!”

Li Shanfeng, though harsh to others, had doted on his two sons. Lin Fu had been spoiled into a little tyrant. When the family first faced hardship, he hadn’t felt much. After causing trouble a few times, Lin Tiangui had to tie him up and whip him to quiet him down. Recently, no one had paid much attention to him except Li Shanfeng, who had done everything to appease him, becoming the person Lin Shou cared about the most.

Upon learning that his beloved dad had been sold, Lin Shou felt as though the pillar of his heart had collapsed.

Lin Tiangui’s silence was answer enough. Li Shanfeng was too old, and without a signed contract, no one would take him.

“Grandfather, where’s Dad? Where did you hide him? I want my Dad!” The elder grandson, Lin Fu, understanding his brother’s words, began to cry, tears and snot streaming down his face. He rushed to Lin Tiangui, grabbing his arm.

Lin Fu was slightly dim-witted but had been born with great expectations and had been spoiled all his life. Normally, Lin Tiangui would have softened at such a display. Now, however, he only felt irritation. He slapped Lin Fu hard, leaving his face swollen.

Lin Fu quieted down, seemingly frightened by the slap. Lin Shou quickly pulled him aside, but his eyes never left Lin Tiangui.

“He’s been sold, for five taels of silver.” Lin Tiangui glanced at him and then sat on the floor, which was covered with a wooden plank, his sleeping spot. The small hut had been stripped of everything valuable to save his eldest son, leaving the family destitute.

“Don’t worry. It’s a wealthy family; he won’t suffer. You shouldn’t blame your grandfather for being cruel; I’m doing this to save your father.”

The family’s savings had been depleted by the funeral for their third son and Dad Liu’s illness. With the five taels of silver and the proceeds from selling various household items, they had managed to scrape together ten taels.

Lin Tiangui planned to go to the county office the next day to try and get his eldest son released. This son was his lifeblood, and he worried about the suffering he might be enduring in prison among the hardened criminals.

As he thought about it, Lin Tiangui’s anxiety grew, but his voice became stern. “From now on, consider Li Shanfeng no longer your dad. The wives of the Lin family cannot be slaves. If anyone asks, say he ran off with another man. Even when your father returns, tell him the same. Do you understand?”

Lin Fu’s eyes were vacant, and it was unclear if he understood. Lin Shou felt a chill but didn’t dare say a word, cowed by Lin Tiangui’s long-standing authority and the recent whipping he had received.

“Alright, go outside. I need to talk to your granddad.”

Lin Shou led Lin Fu out, leaving the room quiet. Lin Tiangui half-closed his eyes, his gaze cloudy. “This situation can’t go on. I’ve been to the village head, but he won’t see me. We missed a good match for his nephew last time, too bad we don’t have a ger.”

Li Shanfeng had once tried to arrange a marriage for Lin Yu with the village head’s nephew, a scholar who had become a minor official but frequented brothels. Last year, he had contracted syphilis and wasn’t expected to live long.

To prevent their family line from dying out, they wanted to marry him to a ger, preferably one with a clean background. Lin Tiangui had volunteered to arrange it, intending to send Lin Yu.

However, Lin Yu had gotten involved with the He family. He Ze, a cunning fellow, had not only betrothed Lin Yu but also brought in the clan elders to sever Lin Yu’s ties with the Lin family, putting an end to those plans.

Without Lin Yu, where could he find another ger with a clean family background to send over? Failing in this task, the village head had lost all regard for him, and recently, he wasn’t even allowed past the door.

“That wh*re Zhang Su gave birth to a good ger!” Dad Liu cursed from the bed, panting heavily.

“Stop cursing, it won’t do any good.”

Compared to Zhang Su and Lin Yu, Lin Tiangui’s hatred for He Ze was far greater.

From Lin Dazou, he had learned that Wu Cui’s affair had been exposed by that He family’s boy. This had led to the death of his third son and left his entire family homeless. Lin Tiangui wished he could tear He Ze apart, but what could cursing accomplish?

“Dazou…”

“I’ll go to Dazou tomorrow.” Lin Tiangui got up and poured Dad Liu a cup of water. Despite everything, they had been together for decades, and seeing him in such a state made him feel wretched. “I’ll leave Fu and Shou at home to look after you. Don’t let them go out. Fu is alright, but I’m afraid Shou will run off to find Li Shanfeng and embarrass us.”

“Alright, I understand.”

The hut grew quiet as Lin Tiangui called his grandsons back inside. They lay down on another wooden plank in the room, covered by a damp thin blanket.

A draft blew in, and Lin Shou shivered, lying there with his eyes open, lost in thought.

…

Two days had passed since Luo Zhanming’s visit. The weather had been pleasant, with bright sunshine and gentle spring breezes. Besides teaching He An calligraphy, He Ze spent the rest of his time copying flyers.

He An had missed Doctor Xu during his visit, so He Ze had gone himself that evening. Xu Qingsheng had pointed out that few people in town could read, and hiring people to copy too many flyers would be wasteful. He Ze had to agree, so aside from Uncle Xu’s help, he handled the rest himself.

Feeling a bit stuffy inside, He Ze had moved his desk outside that day. While he was copying, He An, having finished watering the last pot of flowers, threw the porcelain bowl into a wooden bucket and eagerly ran over with a blooming flower pot. “Brother, brother, look, it’s blooming!”

He An was carrying a pot of camellias, with three flowers in total. Only one had bloomed, while the other two were still buds. The blooming flower was beautifully shaped, with pale pink petals layered delicately, sprinkled with slightly redder spots and some purplish-red stripes, making it very striking.

He An finished the last stroke, stretched, and leaned over to sniff, “The fragrance is a bit light but quite pleasant.” He looked up, “This camellia is a rare variety called ‘Yilan Jiao.’ A scholar from the previous dynasty gave it another name, ‘Tongque Chunshen,’ because of its beautiful meaning, and it became widely known. Hmm, it would probably fetch around twenty taels at the flower market.”

“Twenty taels?”

“Yes, twenty taels.” He Ze touched the camellia’s leaves. “Quickly put it back. Mature camellias love sunlight. Be careful not to let the flower wilt.”

“Ah?!”

He An, startled, hurriedly returned the flower. After all, it was worth twenty taels!

Seeing him scurry away, He Ze chuckled. The sound woke up Wang Fu, who had been napping by the courtyard. The dog came over, rubbed against He Ze’s pant leg, and lay down again. It had been eating a lot recently and growing fast, its belly bulging humorously.

He Ze scratched Wang Fu’s chin, making the dog lick incessantly.

He An ran back. “Brother, only one of so many flowers has bloomed. Can the rest bloom before the 12th next month? There are only half a month left.”

“Don’t worry, they’ll definitely bloom.”

There were forty-nine pots of flowers, most of them rare varieties like ‘Soft Fragrance Red’ and Black Beauty among the roses, ‘Deep Spring Copper Sparrow’ and ‘Three Scholars’ among the camellias, and ‘Yaohuang’ (Yellow) and ‘Weizi’ (Purple) among the peonies. In this small, remote county, their total market value could easily exceed a thousand taels of silver.

Their rarity was evident.

These flowers were difficult to cultivate, and some were not even in season. For others, getting two or three to bloom would be a stroke of luck, but with He Ze’s wood-type ability, he wasn’t worried at all.

As the two brothers were talking, He Youcai entered the courtyard with a worried look on his face. He had gone to see the village elders in the morning, and it was clear that the discussion hadn’t gone well.

He An asked, concerned.

“It’s nothing major. It’s just that it’s been three years again. The village head said the conscription officers should be coming soon,” He Youcai replied.

Although the country was generally at peace, the court was struggling. Nomadic tribes in the north were eyeing them covetously, and there were rebels seizing territories in the east. While there were no large-scale battles, skirmishes were constant. Thus, the court couldn’t relax and continued the previous dynasty’s conscription policy, requiring one adult male from every household with two or more to serve every three years.

He Ze had just turned twenty a few days ago, and the family had exactly two adult males.

“Father, isn’t it true that we can avoid conscription by paying a two-tael substitute fee?” He An, who had spent his entire life in the village, knew this better than He Ze.

“Yes, that’s correct. I’m not worried about Xiao Ze. It’s just that…who knows how many of the villagers will come back this time,” He Youcai sighed and went off to find Dad Li in the kitchen.

He was merely reminiscing about the anxiety of past conscriptions, and the matter didn’t stir up much in the He family. Time quickly passed.

On the eighth day of the second month, as soon as He Ze entered the house, He Youcai greeted him with good news—the new courtyard was completed!