Chapter 6

By lunchtime, Zhu Xuan was still nowhere to be seen, and it was only then that the Zhu family realized she might be missing.

Earlier, when Zhu Xuan had stormed out of the house, Zhu Lian had gone out to look for her but returned empty-handed and told Old Lady Sun. Old Lady Sun had merely grunted, “Leave her be. When it’s time for the midday meal, she’ll show up on her own.”

After a while, an ox cart pulled up at the gate. Old Lady Sun’s adopted daughter, Zhu Qing, stepped down, followed by two young lads, arms laden with gifts. They pushed open the little courtyard gate with cheerful voices: “Mother, I heard Ming’s home!”

At her daughter’s call, Old Lady Sun immediately forgot about Zhu Xuan, hurrying out to greet her. Although Zhu Qing was not her biological daughter, the affection between them was deep. Old Lady Sun’s eyes crinkled as she smiled at her precious girl.

Zhu Qing had grown even plumper over the years, her round, well-fed face quite distinct from the rest of the Zhu family. Her hair was styled in a high topknot, adorned with silver ornaments. She wore a dark-patterned, square-collared short jacket and a pomegranate-red skirt; her fair wrists, glimpsed between sleeves, were encircled by twisted silver bangles.

Life had been good for Zhu Qing since marrying into the Wang family, and over the past twenty years she had built Wang’s Butcher Shop into the leading meat business in Qingyang Town. They’d bought land, set up shop, dined well every day, and she’d become the mistress of a prosperous little household.

In one hand, Zhu Qing carried a half side of marinated pork face, and in the other, a bottle of zhuyeqing wine, both of which she set down on the Zhu family’s Eight Immortals table.

The boy who’d driven the ox cart was her youngest, Wang An, aged fifteen, still at his studies. Though they’d never lacked for meat at home, he was slender and tall. He, too, fetched things from the cart and set them on the table.

After mother and daughter exchanged affectionate greetings, Old Lady Sun turned to her grandson, smiling: “An, you’re still so thin—eat more.”

Wang An gave a sheepish smile, and only then did Old Lady Sun notice a small boy beside him, no more than five or six, beautiful as a little golden child, his right arm wrapped with plain white cloth—a sign of mourning.

Old Lady Sun didn’t know this child and looked questioningly at Zhu Qing. Zhu Qing smiled, offering no explanation for his origins, merely saying, “His mother passed away a hundred days ago. There’s no taboo in bringing him here.”

Old Lady Sun wasn’t superstitious, just curious where the child had come from, but refrained from asking in front of him.

At news of Zhu Qing’s arrival, Zhu Lian, Zhu Ying, and Zhu Di all came running out.

“Big Aunt!”

“…Big Aunt!”

“…Gu!”

The three children called out in quick succession. Zhu Qing chuckled, stroking one child’s cheek and then another’s. “Children really do grow and change by the day.”

Shen Yun also came out to greet her sister-in-law. “Eldest Sister.”

Zhu Qing, seeing her, toned down her smile. “No need for such formality, sister-in-law. Just take good care of yourself.”

She glanced around and asked Old Lady Sun, “Where’s Tang and Xuan?”

Old Lady Sun replied, “Tang went to the fields with his father and grandfather; he’ll be back at noon.” She paused, gritting her teeth a bit as she explained Zhu Xuan’s absence. “That girl, Zhu Xuan, who knows where she’s run off to. She quarreled with me early this morning and made a show of feeling wronged. Still hasn’t come back—so headstrong! There are guests at home and she hasn’t even bothered to check in.”

Zhu Qing, knowing Zhu Xuan’s temperament, laughed. “You’re getting more stubborn as you get older, still fussing with children. However old she is, that’s how old you are, after all. She’s always been like this—no need to make a mountain out of a molehill.” Then, with a note of concern, she added, “But you shouldn’t let her roam just because she’s young. The country may be peaceful now, but there are still child-snatchers. And Xuan is pretty—what if she’s snatched away? You’d regret it then.”

Old Lady Sun was stubborn. “She’s clever—no child-snatcher could get her.”

As Zhu Qing chatted with her mother, the Zhu children, their cousin, and the little boy Zhu Qing brought were playing elsewhere.

None of them knew the boy in mourning. Though he was pretty, he had a chill about him that made him hard to approach. The Zhu siblings glanced at him and felt they couldn’t play together. Zhu Lian quietly asked Wang An, “Cousin, who is he?”

Wang An glanced at the boy and whispered, “He’s a relative from my mother’s biological family—my cousin.”

“Huh?” Zhu Lian was puzzled.

Old Lady Sun was also asking her daughter, “Whose child is that little boy you brought?”

Zhu Qing looked a bit awkward. “He’s my biological younger sister’s son. He bears her surname—Yuan. His given name is Feng Yi, but just call him Yi.”

Old Lady Sun had been about to ask, “Doesn’t your sister care for her own child?” when she realized Yi was in mourning for his birth mother. So she asked, “What about the boy’s father?”

Zhu Qing, seeing that her mother wasn’t annoyed about her keeping ties with her birth family, relaxed a little. “Yi’s father followed His Majesty when he was still a rebel leader over a decade ago and became a soldier. Yi had an elder brother, but he didn’t survive. In all these years, the father came home only once, and that’s when Yi was conceived. After that, he was never seen again, likely died far from home. Yi never met his father.”

If he had an elder brother, shouldn’t he be named Feng Er, not Feng Yi? Old Lady Sun muttered to herself.

This poor Yi had neither father nor mother—clearly, it was up to Zhu Qing to care for him, as she implied.

Still, Old Lady Sun had to fuss: “But he shouldn't be your responsibility. I remember your birth family has brothers; his uncles ought to care for him. If you hadn’t been given to me to raise, and were his direct aunt, it would make sense. But you left home at one, and your parents never asked after you. Yi’s mother only visited you once, when you married. That family is less than kin—how can they leave the child with you? Isn’t it unfair?”

Zhu Qing looked helpless. “He does have uncles, but none will take him in. When Yi’s grandfather was alive, mother and son could just manage. Last year, my father died, and they couldn’t even stay with their own family. My sister became a servant in someone else’s home and fell ill. Both uncles turned a blind eye. They had no choice but to come to me. I really am the only one left. At least he’s a life—if nothing else, I can feed him like a cat or a dog.”

“You’re kind, but now it’s your sister’s child; next, maybe your brother’s will come. What then?” Old Lady Sun said, then added, “If his father served His Majesty, even if he died, there should be a pension. Not like Ming’s three elder brothers, who were conscripted by the rebels and died outside the imperial army; no pension at all—three lives lost for nothing.”

“That’s true. When things got tough, my sister went to the authorities for the pension, but they said they couldn’t find any record—maybe his name wasn’t there, or he didn’t die serving. Who knows?” Zhu Qing explained.

After chatting a while, as the sun climbed higher, Zhu Qing stood up. “I should go home.”

Old Lady Sun took her arm. “Stay for lunch. You brought so much—how could we let you leave hungry? I’ll make extra bao’er rice.”

At this, Zhu Qing sat back down, laughing. “I love your bao’er rice. I’ve been craving it. If you insist, I’ll stay.”

So the women in the house each took up a task—chopping pork fat, peeling garlic, steaming rice. Halfway through, Zhu Ming and his father and the old man returned. Seeing the ox cart at the gate, they knew Zhu Qing had come. Zhu Ming, sharp-nosed, asked, “Are we having bao’er rice for lunch?”

All the children were home. Zhu Lian went to help stoke the stove, while Yi stood awkwardly, and Zhu Ying, standing beside him, was equally uncertain. After playing outside, they’d not heard Yi say a word.

Ying edged closer to her cousin and, thinking Yi wouldn’t hear, whispered, “Is he mute?”

Yi heard, looked at her, said nothing, and continued the charade. He thought himself a few years older than Ying—no need to bicker with a child.

At that moment, Zhu Tang suddenly said, “Someone’s missing.”

Shen Yun called from the kitchen, “Who?”

“Xuan’s not here,” he glanced around.

Since Zhu Tang had been working in the fields and didn't know what had happened at home, he assumed she’d just gone out to play. He told Zhu Lian, “Do you know where Xuan is? Go call her home—there are guests and lunch is ready. Has she forgotten to come back?”

Zhu Lian replied, “She isn’t out playing. She argued with Grandmother after breakfast, got upset, and ran out. I looked for her but couldn’t find her.”

Old Lady Sun sneered from the kitchen, “Such a temper! Almost lunchtime and she still isn’t home!”

The old man tugged her sleeve. “Let’s not argue with the child now—let’s look for her first.”

As the eldest brother, Zhu Tang was reliable. There was a hint of worry on his face. “Lian, let’s go out and look again. She’s old enough not to get lost, but she does like to play by the water.”

At this, Zhu Lian’s face turned pale. She hadn’t searched deep in the reeds before; the thought that Zhu Xuan might have fallen in the water worried her. So the two siblings hurried out to look.

Shen Yun, at first unconcerned, now wore a worried look. She urged her husband, “Ming, go out with the children and call Xuan home.”

Zhu Ming nodded, reassuring his wife, “No need to worry—she’s a big girl and knows what she’s doing.”

Even so, Sun was uneasy, though she said, “If she knew what she was doing, she wouldn’t argue with her grandmother! And she wants to go to school, acting like this? How could she possibly manage?” She bustled her son out the door. “Go find her. I want to ask her myself why she’s so defiant.”

The three set off. Before long, Zhu Lian and Zhu Tang returned, Zhu Lian sweating and anxious. “We couldn’t find her. I’m afraid Xuan is truly missing.”

“Oh heavens! The whole of Reed Village is so small—we scoured it in no time. Where has that wretched girl gone?” Old Lady Sun dropped everything, wailing in distress.

The old man sat silently on his chair, his eyes anxiously fixed on the door.

Shen Yun swayed and sat down, gripping her chair. Zhu Qing held Old Lady Sun, trying to comfort her. “Don’t worry, Mother. Reed Village is so small—she couldn’t just vanish.”

Old Lady Sun’s eyes widened in fear. “What if she was snatched? She’s clever but still a child, and she’s just the sort these child-snatchers like—fair and delicate.” The more she thought, the more frightened she became.

Zhu Qing regretted her earlier mention of child-snatchers and quickly countered, “How could that be? In a tiny place like Reed Village, any stranger would be spotted at once—no snatcher would dare come here!”

After a while, Zhu Ming returned alone. He said, “I asked around. Someone saw Xuan heading toward town on her own earlier.”

Shen Yun let out a sigh, and Old Lady Sun’s heart eased a little. Zhu Qing immediately stood, pulling Wang An along. “Let’s hitch the cart and go look for her along the town road.”

Just as everyone was in a panic, Yi ran in. No one had noticed him slip out. He lifted his face to Zhu Qing. “Auntie, the little donkey.”

“What little donkey?” Zhu Qing was puzzled. Yi tugged her sleeve and pointed to the end of the road outside. “Is that her, Auntie?”

The group looked in the direction he pointed and, sure enough, saw a little donkey trotting toward the Zhu house, carrying two people. As the donkey drew near, they saw one was a woman sitting sideways, with a little girl in front—that little girl was Zhu Xuan.

Zhu Xuan sat gleefully, stroking the donkey’s head, her laughter carried by the breeze. “Teacher, that’s my house up ahead!”

Old Lady Sun, seeing her safe, stamped her foot in exasperation. “We’re frantic with worry, and she’s happily riding someone else’s donkey! Born to turn the household upside down!”