Breaking Off the Engagement

Though it was already late at night, Zhao Youlin's household was bustling as they secretly prepared an extra meal. They carefully skinned and butchered the roe deer, taking out the heart and liver to stir-fry and cutting off some meat for porridge.

In this year of disaster, when even eating coarse rice was difficult for the entire village, the Zhao family secretly ate the meat they had hunted, feeling a fiercely suppressed thrill and happiness.

Even if I have to smash the pot and sell the iron, I'll still support Feng'er in learning martial arts. At worst, he can become a hunter, Zhao Youlin thought.

At the table, Zhao Youlin took out his treasured millet wine for the first time ever and poured Zhao Feng a cup. Though the millet wine was bitter and astringent, seeing his father so happy, Zhao Feng still drank two cups with him.

Zhao Youlin picked up a piece of stir-fried roe deer heart and swallowed it with a mouthful of millet wine, squinting his eyes in delight. Then he picked up another piece and gave it to his wife.

Tian Cuihua busied herself adding meat porridge to the two children's bowls. The scene was one of warm domestic joy, and the shadow Huang Biao had cast over the Zhao family was temporarily forgotten.

"It would be wonderful if Shuo'er could come back before the New Year." Zhao Youlin's words made both Yang Shi and Tian Cuihua's eyes redden, and they kept wiping away tears.

Zhao Feng took another swallow of the bitter, astringent wine. He had already asked around: none of the young, able-bodied men from the nearby villages who had gone off together for corvée labor had returned, and there had been no word from them at all.

But that did not necessarily mean something had happened. In this age, communication was cut off, and temporary changes in corvée assignments were perfectly normal.

After dinner, Tian Cuihua and Yang Shi set about wrapping up the finest large cuts of roe deer meat, along with the rabbit skins, roe deer hide, and antlers, preparing to sell them at the county market early the next morning.

The rest of the meat would be dried into salted meat for long-term storage.

The remaining offal would be chopped up and used in porridge over the next few days. The bones would also be ground into bone meal with the millstone and mixed into the porridge. Nothing would go to waste.

Early the next morning, Zhao Feng had barely gotten up when he heard a commotion at the door. He went out to take a look.

In the courtyard stood a middle-aged woman with white powder caked on her face and lips painted blood-red. Her features were harsh and overbearing as she stood with her hands on her hips, speaking to his mother.

She was none other than the original owner's future mother-in-law, Zhang the Widow. Years ago, Zhang the Widow had supposedly brought death upon both her mother-in-law and husband. She was notorious throughout the countryside for being domineering and unruly, famous in several nearby villages.

Behind her stood a young woman whose face was painted just as ghostly, with two enormous patches of rouge on her cheeks. She was the original owner's goddess, Wang Jinlian. The original owner had stolen his sister-in-law's hairpin to pawn for silver just so he could buy things and curry favor with her.

But now that Zhao Feng looked at her, what the hell was this? She was merely an ordinary village girl, at most a five out of ten in looks. Most village women in this era went bare-faced, yet because she had painted herself up like a ghost, she had become the original owner's goddess?

In his memories, she was even two years older than the original owner. He had fallen in love with her at first sight, crying and making a fuss that he wanted to marry Wang Jinlian. With no other choice, his parents had agreed and asked a matchmaker to arrange an engagement. They were only waiting to gather the betrothal gifts before formally proposing.

"Dear in-law, isn't a betrothal gift of twenty taels of silver a little too much?" Yang Shi asked with a forced smile.

"What? The betrothal gift is twenty taels?"

Zhao Youlin and Tian Cuihua, who had come out upon hearing the news, were both stunned.

Twenty taels was equivalent to two or three years of income for an ordinary farming household, not counting the taxes they had to hand over.

"My daughter is pure and spotless, a renowned beauty across ten villages! I still think twenty taels of silver is too little!" Zhang the Widow shouted aggressively.

"If you can't afford it, then break off the engagement. Plenty of people want to marry my daughter anyway."

"Your son's madness hasn't even been confirmed cured. How is he worthy of my daughter? Does your family even deserve her?" Zhang the Widow said disdainfully.

"My brother-in-law merely muddled his mind after falling into the water and coming down with a fever. He'll recover in a few days. How can you break off the engagement while kicking someone when they're down?" Tian Cuihua said.

"Dear in-law, give us some time. We'll find a way to gather the betrothal gifts." The moment Zhao Youlin said this, he seemed to have aged ten years. Even his gaze dimmed.

He knew his son liked Wang Jinlian deeply and would marry no one but her. Now there were the twenty taels for the betrothal gift, plus ten taels in tuition for martial arts—a total of thirty taels, nearly enough to crush him.

"Then again, we're all fellow villagers, and Zhao Feng likes my daughter so much, so I'll point you toward a clear road." Zhang the Widow's tone softened at this point.

"Master Li in town handles mortgages. You can mortgage your land and house to him, and wouldn't that get you the money? If you can't gather the betrothal gifts before the New Year, then forget about this marriage," Zhang the Widow said.

So this was what they had been waiting for. Zhao Feng sneered inwardly. Yesterday, Huang Biao had come to the door, threatening the Zhao family inside and out to mortgage their property. Today, Zhang the Widow had brought Wang Jinlian to demand betrothal gifts and press them into taking out a mortgage, threatening to break off the engagement if they refused.

If those two were not colluding, then ghosts must be at work.

He turned and picked up a firewood cleaver before walking out.

"Zhao Feng! You said last time that you'd buy me rouge. Give me the money." The moment Wang Jinlian saw him, she held out her hand.

But she immediately sensed that something was wrong. Zhao Feng, who used to beam from ear to ear whenever he saw her, now had a crooked mouth, slanted eyes, and was mumbling something incomprehensible.

"Why do you look like such a ghost?" Wang Jinlian asked strangely.

Holding the cleaver, Zhao Feng swung it straight at her.

"Ah!" Wang Jinlian screamed in fright and hurriedly ran away.

"You little bastard, have you gone mad?" Zhang the Widow cursed.

"Wah! Yaaah!"

Zhao Feng let out a strange howl and hurled the cleaver. Thud! The cleaver grazed Zhang the Widow's face and embedded itself precisely in the wooden gate.

"Ah! This little bastard's madness is acting up! This marriage is off!"

"Break off the engagement, break off the engagement!" Zhang the Widow cried in terror.

She wanted to use the betrothal gifts to extort money, but she did not want to truly marry her daughter to a madman.

She grabbed the stunned Wang Jinlian and tried to flee.

Zhao Feng blocked the doorway, howling strangely and waving the cleaver about. The mother and daughter were so frightened their legs went weak.

"I don't want the engagement silver!"

In her desperation, Zhang the Widow had a sudden idea. She pulled out one tael of silver from her pocket and threw it in another direction. When she saw Zhao Feng go to pick up the silver—

She seized the chance, dragged her daughter along, and ran out through the gate.

"Just you wait! This isn't over!" Zhang the Widow shouted from far away as she fled.

Once the two had run far away, Zhao Feng set down the cleaver. His mouth and eyes were no longer crooked, and he returned to normal.

"Feng'er, are you all right? Don't scare your mother." Yang Shi choked out as she rushed forward. Zhao Feng's crazed appearance had terrified her; she thought her son had gone mad again.

"Mother, I'm fine. I'm not mad." Zhao Feng supported Yang Shi and spoke calmly.

Seeing the clarity in his son's eyes, Zhao Youlin was reassured. He understood that Zhao Feng had been pretending to be crazy and playing the fool.

"You rascal, you scared us all half to death!" Tian Cuihua let out a long breath.

Her brother-in-law had only just begun to come to his senses. If he went mad again, this family truly would fall apart.

"Feng'er, then what was that all about... I'm afraid this marriage is ruined," Yang Shi said anxiously.

"Mother, I won't marry Wang Jinlian." Zhao Feng shook his head. He would not take over the original owner's foolish mess. Besides, from his memories of Wang Jinlian flirting with Huang Biao, combined with everything that had happened today, perhaps a whole green grassland had long since grown atop the original owner's head.

"Not marrying her?" Zhao Youlin and Yang Shi both froze. Their son had liked Wang Jinlian so much back then, always stealing things from home to please her. And now he said he would not marry her just like that?

"That's right. I've thought it through. A man should establish his career before talking about starting a family. I want to learn martial arts first." Zhao Feng did not wish to mention Wang Jinlian any further. This was his dark history, even if it had been done by the original owner.

Hearing that he would not marry her, Zhao Youlin, Yang Shi, and Tian Cuihua all breathed a sigh of relief. Zhang the Widow and her daughter had always been vulgar and detestable, but Zhao Feng had insisted on liking her. Now that he had changed his mind and they had gotten back the engagement silver, it was perfect for both sides to go their separate ways.

Once our son succeeds in martial arts, we'll find him a fine girl, the old couple thought.