Chapter 36: Passing Each Other
“Zha~ zha~ zha~”
“Zha~ zha~”
Outside the carved wooden window, the trees were lush.
The Old Madam couldn’t stand the noise of the cicadas; she felt it interfered with her prayers.
The servants had a daily task: catching cicadas.
Early this morning, however, a magpie with a black head, neck, and back, a white belly, and a long tail stood on a branch, chirping away.
The Old Madam frowned slightly.
The weather was a bit hot. In these countryside houses, they could only place a few ice basins, and not too many, for fear of catching a chill.
If they were in the capital, they would have water pavilions to escape the heat, and she wouldn’t feel so sticky all over.
The Old Madam was getting on in years; she was sensitive to both heat and cold.
“Grandmother, the magpie’s chirping is an omen of good news. Why don’t I accompany you to Qingyuan Temple outside the city for a vegetarian meal? You can stay there for a night before returning. I want to offer the Buddhist scriptures I copied for you before the Longevity Buddha, to pray for your longevity and for the health and safety of our family.”
The Old Madam looked at her granddaughter, who stood tall and graceful in a semi-new silk skirt. Her slender fingers rested on the dark orchid cover of the scriptures, reminding the Old Madam of her own youth.
“I appreciate your filial piety. A-Yao, make the arrangements.”
Since they were staying overnight, there were many things to prepare.
Food, daily necessities, bedding, and incense.
With all sorts of things, it was nearly noon before the grandmother and granddaughter set off in their sedan chairs.
…
“Gua~ gua~”
“Hai~ hai~”
A mountain owl gave Jiang Yu a fright.
She looked back at her sister and saw her head resting on her back, behaving well. She reached out and patted her sister’s bottom.
A-Cui was also startled.
She feigned composure and said, “Your sister is quite well-behaved, neither crying nor fussing.”
Little Mianmian was stunned. My goodness, what kind of bird is that? It’s so huge, it wouldn’t even fit in a pot.
She opened her mouth wide, and drool trickled out.
“Hey, Little Peddler, why are you walking so fast? Wait for us!” A-Cui called out.
Jiang Mianmian looked up. It did seem so; despite being short and carrying a heavy load, he walked as if he had wings, pulling quite a distance ahead of them.
Jiang Yu followed A-Cui at a brisk pace, hoisting her sister’s bottom as she complained, “What a loss, what a loss! A-Cui, I want to eat more meat buns. These are my new embroidered shoes, and after walking so far with you, they’re going to be worn out.”
With her bottom supported, Jiang Mianmian felt her legs had been spread apart for too long. She needed a break; otherwise, she might end up bow-legged, which wouldn’t look good when she grew up.
“Yi ya ya, yi ya ya,” she shouted, waving her arms.
Up ahead, the Little Peddler set down his load and sat to rest.
The Peddler opened a water skin and asked A-Cui and Jiang Yu, “Ladies, would you like some water? I’ve added sugar to sweeten your mouth.”
A-Cui and Jiang Yu both shook their heads, saying they didn’t need any.
The Little Peddler found two bamboo tubes, poured some for them, and drank some himself.
Only after seeing the Little Peddler drink did A-Cui and Jiang Yu pick up the tubes and drink.
Jiang Yu smacked her lips. “It’s a bit sweet, but it has a strange aftertaste. Is it spoiled?”
Then she earnestly finished all the water in the tube.
A-Cui wanted to get moving, so she drank the water as well.
They weren’t on guard because others had followed the Little Peddler to get goods before. Besides, if anything happened, the Little Peddler was so small that he surely couldn’t beat them.
Then Jiang Mianmian watched as her sister and A-Cui wobbled and collapsed…
Her eyes widened.
Her mouth snapped shut.
Have they encountered human traffickers? What kind of worldly suffering is this?
Then, a strong woman carrying a load ran out of the dense forest.
“Didn’t you say you’d trick one? Darling, you’ve brought back three now!”
The woman nudged the two on the ground and then picked them up one by one, stuffing them into the baskets.
“This little one looks very pretty and doesn’t cry or fuss. Let’s take her back to raise as our own child,” the Little Peddler said.
The woman pried open the infant’s legs for a look and spat, “A money-loser, I don’t want her.”
Jiang Mianmian:…This is too, too, too insulting.
“Even though she doesn’t have a handle, we can raise her to be a wife for Kuanger. She can work for you, and then you, Juaner, can enjoy your life.” The Little Peddler carefully placed the infant into his basket.
“Should we give her some water?” the woman asked.
The Little Peddler shook his head firmly. “No, she’s too small; it’ll make her an idiot, and then she’ll be useless. This child looks different, like she was born to a wealthy family. Even if Kuanger doesn’t like her, we won’t lose out by selling her when she’s older. Maybe the money from selling her can cure our Kuanger, and then we won’t have to live on the road anymore. Let’s go.”
The Little Peddler and the woman carried their loads forward for a while before turning onto another path, heading out of the city.
“Once we sell these two girls, we won’t be able to sell goods around here anymore,” the Little Peddler sighed.
The woman sneered, “Is the money from selling goods enough for you to eat and drink, or for Kuanger’s medicine? This was a poor place to begin with; after looking for so long, there isn’t even any good merchandise.”
Jiang Mianmian was in the Little Peddler’s basket, with a bamboo lid over her head and a ragged cotton cloth beneath her. The smell was a bit pungent, but light filtered through the lid.
The basket swayed like a cradle; truth be told, it was more comfortable than being carried on her sister’s back.
But she was so panicked.
Listening to the two outside, their accents were heavy and their speech was fast; she could only roughly understand.
They seemed like professional traffickers of women and children.
She thought, what to do, what to do…
It was far too difficult for an infant not even a year old to save herself.
Just then, she saw Little Hei. Little Hei had actually followed them and was lying quietly on the bamboo lid.
Just as when she lay in the wooden basin at home, she felt inexplicably a bit more at ease.
She reached out and poked the antennae on Little Hei’s head. Jiang Mianmian was panicked, but she tried to convey her request as concisely as possible.
If they encountered anyone, go bite the Little Peddler—the short one—and stay safe.
Then, worried Little Hei wouldn’t understand, she gave it a drop of spiritual spring water.
It’s time to show your true purpose.
Jiang Mianmian saw Little Hei finish the spiritual spring water and crawl away swiftly, even looking back at her once.
She lay there quietly.
She felt like a kidnapped queen ant…
Huge and useless.
The Little Peddler and his wife walked quickly with their loads.
Head-on, they saw a luxurious sedan chair, complete with porters, maidservants, and two guards.
The Little Peddler and his wife didn’t seem very nervous; they hadn’t done this for the first time, and they would just move on afterward.
As long as they didn’t kidnap the children of the wealthy, nothing would happen; poor families had no way to search for their lost children anyway.
The two walked smoothly with their loads. When they came face-to-face with the sedan chair, they wore humble smiles and stood by the roadside to let it pass.
Suddenly, the Little Peddler cried out twice, “Ouch! Ouch!”
It felt as if some insect had bitten him; the pain was so intense that he couldn’t help but shout aloud.
The sedan chair came to a halt.
The curtain was lifted, revealing a fair and delicate face.
A white jade hairpin was tucked into her hair, pearls hung from her earlobes, and she had dark hair and large eyes.
“Grandmother, it seems to be two peddlers,” the young girl said to the Old Madam.
