Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Taking Sides

The whole village owned a single ox cart, and its driver was a lifelong bachelor. People called him Third Master, or Third Elder, depending on their mood.

On market days, anyone who wanted to go into town waited at the village entrance for his cart. A round trip cost two wen per person. It wasn’t an outrageous price—only two little coins—but to an ordinary family, those two wen could buy a jin of cornmeal. Most villagers would rather walk than pay.

Unless they had something heavy to sell and needed to catch the early market. Otherwise, why waste money when their own legs worked just fine?

Li Tao Hua had never been the sort to wrong herself. Back when she had silver in her purse, she’d never even heard the word saving. Now that she was broke, she should have tightened her belt, but in her eyes, a few extra wen wouldn’t make her rich—and a few less wouldn’t starve her. If that was the case, why suffer?

She climbed onto the ox cart with Qin Hui Yin and Tang Lu Wu.

Li Tao Hua was still dressed in bright, showy finery, spine straight, chin lifted, as if she were sitting in a sedan chair instead of a creaking wooden cart. She didn’t flinch from the looks thrown her way.

Qin Hui Yin and Tang Lu Wu were about the same age. Sitting on either side of her, one looked like a flower bud about to open, the other like the green leaf beside it—quiet, plain, and steady.

The moment the trio appeared, the women who’d planned to walk slowed at the cart, eyes darting to the back baskets the girls carried. The baskets were covered with weeds. No one could tell what was inside.

Curiosity tugged harder than thrift. One woman grit her teeth and climbed up.

Once the first person boarded, the rest followed, one after another, as if the cart were a pot at a boil. In minutes, what had been empty was packed tight.

Third Master Tang hadn’t had business this good in a long time. One run like this meant his rice and flour money for the month was secured. His smile toward Li Tao Hua turned noticeably warmer.

A woman named Madam Zhang leaned forward with a false-bright grin. “Hui Yin’s mother, what’s in your basket?”

Her hand reached to lift the weeds. Li Tao Hua’s palm came down, firm as a lid.

Li Tao Hua brushed Madam Zhang’s wrist away and smiled sweetly. “What else could it be? We can’t even keep the pot going, so we have to find a way to live. I turned the house upside down, and the only things worth anything are a few sets of my clothes. I packed the extra ones to sell. I’ll trade the money for grain.”

The cart hummed with satisfaction.

No woman in the entire village wore powder and rouge the way Li Tao Hua did. Whether she’d been married to Song Yi or Tang Da Fu, she’d had new clothes nearly every month. She dressed up bright and bold every day until the village men stared too long and their wives went home fuming.

They were all women—so why did Li Tao Hua get to live like that, while the rest of them scraped and saved, going without so their husbands and sons could eat better, wear better?

Now she was selling even the clothes she loved. Now she’d have to wear patched garments like everyone else.

The thought delighted them more than they wanted to admit.

Let her go without food. Let her go without clothes, without powder, without rouge. Let’s see how long she can keep preening. Once she looked like any other village woman, surely the men would stop thinking about her.

Qin Hui Yin hooked both arms around Li Tao Hua’s and murmured, soft as honey, “Mom, I’m so sleepy.”

Li Tao Hua’s expression gentled. “Then sleep a little. We’re almost there.”

That tenderness lit another match.

A woman clicked her tongue. “Da Fu’s wife, you spoil your child too much. Look at Lu Wu—she works from before dawn till after dark. That girl can do anything. She’ll definitely find a good husband.”

Li Tao Hua’s lips curved, but there was no warmth in it. “Oh? So if you work well, you get a good husband? In the end, women marry just to find a place to work, is that it?”

The cart went quiet, watching.

Li Tao Hua tilted her head. “Then Tang Lu Wu doesn’t need to marry at all. We’ll keep the work at our house for her. She can work as long as she wants.”

Tang Lu Wu’s face burned.

Another woman leaned in, emboldened. “No matter what, you married Lu Wu’s father. That makes you her mother now. Lu Wu works all day—why does your daughter get to act like a young miss and do nothing?”

Li Tao Hua looked straight at Tang Lu Wu, who had gone stiff as a board. “Lu Wu-girl,” she said lightly, “look at how many people are standing up for you. Why aren’t you thanking these aunties?”

Tang Lu Wu twisted the corner of her sleeve until her fingers went white. “Aunties,” she said, voice small, “I work because I want to. It has nothing to do with Auntie Li. Before Auntie Li married in, I worked like this too. And Sister Yin doesn’t do nothing. She sews clothes for me, sweeps the yard, and cooks meals.”

Li Tao Hua snorted, triumphant. “Did you hear that? My daughter doesn’t do nothing.”

She shifted Qin Hui Yin closer against her side as if staking a claim. “And even if she did nothing, neither Tang Da Fu nor I have said a single word. What right do you have to talk about her? If the man she ends up marrying is someone who makes her work all day, then don’t you dare come to my door to ask for her hand. My daughter can’t swallow that kind of hardship.”

Tang Lu Wu stared at Qin Hui Yin’s peaceful face, then at Li Tao Hua’s arm curved protectively around her, like a hen shielding a chick. Something hot and tight rose in her chest.

So this was what it felt like—to have someone stand in front of you.

It looked… happy.

If her mother were still alive, would she have protected her like that?

Tang Lu Wu didn’t even have to think long. No. She wouldn’t.

Her memories had blurred with time, but she could still recall the shape of those days: her mother, like most women in the village, favored sons over daughters. Every conversation circled back to the same plan—when Tang Lu Wu grew up, they’d trade her for a bride price, use it to marry a wife for her brother Tang Yi Chen, and buy a bigger house.

The village said Li Tao Hua wasn’t a good woman. Yet the way she treated Qin Hui Yin made village girls jealous beyond words.

The women on the cart heard Li Tao Hua’s defense, then looked at Qin Hui Yin sleeping like a pampered kitten, and their sourness bubbled up all over again.

To them, Li Tao Hua was simply wrong. Too different. Too out of place. And when something didn’t fit, everyone wanted to shove it into the mud and watch it sink.

Third Master Tang pulled the cart to a stop outside town. “We’re here. Same rules—two hours. Gather here again. If you’re not here, I’m not waiting!”

The women climbed down with stiff faces. They hadn’t gotten the upper hand with their tongues, and they were already irritated at having spent money on the cart. One by one, they shot Li Tao Hua looks sharp enough to cut.

Li Tao Hua smiled and deliberately called out, loud enough for all of them to hear, “Oh my, I’d better buy more good stuff later.”

The women who’d been itching to tell Third Master Tang not to wait for them froze. Curiosity hooked them again, hard. They wanted to know what she would buy—and how much money her clothes could possibly fetch.

When they’d gone, Li Tao Hua finally nudged Qin Hui Yin. “Up. We’re here.”

Qin Hui Yin blinked awake, yawned, and looked around, dazed. “So fast?”

“From the village to town, even walking only takes about an hour. By ox cart it’s half that. Of course it’s fast.”

Once they were down, Li Tao Hua turned back with a smile. “Third Master, I brought you business. Aren’t you going to give us a discount?”

Third Master Tang coughed. “I’m just running a small business…”

“Fine.” Li Tao Hua fanned her cheek as if annoyed. “Next time I won’t ride your cart. The next village’s is wider. I’ll ride theirs.”

His eyes widened. “All right, all right.” He raised his hands in surrender. “The two girls are young. I’ll count them as one person.”

Li Tao Hua’s smile returned, satisfied.

Third Master Tang leaned closer, eager now. “If you can bring me more business, I’ll give you an even better price.”