Chapter 10: The World is Hard to Live In

Before Liu Shan's wife could even step out the door, the children rolling and throwing tantrums on the ground impatiently tore open the candy wrappers and stuffed the sweets into their mouths. They showed absolutely no manners, which made Zhang Debao feel a surge of anger. After a few curses from him, his daughter-in-law's expression turned quite uncomfortable.

Gou'er's mother, who lived next door to Zhang Debao, had once worked alongside Liu Shan's wife as coarse laborers. Because Gou'er's family were not "born-in" servants, they were either overtly or covertly marginalized by the born-in servants. To find warmth, they had to stick together, frequently visiting one another and sharing meals; their relationship was quite good. As soon as the Liu couple returned, she had rushed over.

Her family had many children—a full six or seven—making her household burden heavy. Her husband was useless, and having been pushed out of work by the born-in servants, she had no way out. Thus, she had informed Liu Shan's wife of her situation and had her husband coordinate with the steward to sign a deed of sale, effectively becoming Liu Baiyu's servant. Gou'er's mother and Liu Shan's wife were on good terms, and since Liu Shan's wife had been instructed by Liu Baiyu to give people a little "sweetness" first, she had treated Gou'er's mother to some old rice and even gave her some of her discarded old clothes. This instantly made Gou'er's mother feel as though her own life had become high-end, fashionable, and classy; she ostentatiously took the old clothes to the stream to show off to the other women washing clothes.

"...Oh! Liu Shan's family has become quite sophisticated now. The food they eat—everything is covered with gauze covers! Flies can't get in, just like the steward and the others..." Gou'er's mother squatted by the stream, pretending to wash clothes while actually recounting her observations, her expression animated and glowing. "And they eat rice, and it's so fragrant! Tell me, isn't it a sin to eat rice when it's not the busy farming season? Truly, those who enjoy such blessings are committing sins!"

While she never stopped saying "sin," there wasn't a trace of a "sinful" expression on her face; instead, she looked like she was boasting with great self-satisfaction, as if Liu Shan's family had struck it rich, and even a servant like herself, who was close to them, had become "respectable" by association.

A few prominent wives of the born-in servants nearby felt they couldn't let this outsider act so arrogant, and they laughed. "Gou'er's mother, you've eaten a few bowls of cold soaked rice and dried radish from Liu Shan's wife's house, and now you even want to help them blow on their laundry. Do you think my husband has never eaten such things?"

Of course, these women spoke without much conviction. After all, their own husbands only received such treatment after performing grueling labor, unlike Gou'er's mother, who had managed to scrape by without doing anything at all...

"Eating soaked rice? That's all your fate is, to eat soaked rice!" Having been used to being squeezed by the born-in servants, Gou'er's mother finally had a chance to turn the tables. She immediately rolled her eyes upward, wearing an expression of "I won't stoop to your level." "Besides, your husband is your husband, but what about yourself? I'm afraid you won't even get to eat soaked rice. What Liu Shan's wife gave us was real, solid rice."

"It's so firm, you could stick a chopstick in it and it wouldn't fall over!"

This was the level of food provided to managers like the steward; there was nothing more to say. It was a total crushing blow. A wave of envious clicking and tutting immediately erupted from the girls and older women by the stream. In recent years, it had been one disaster or another, either floods or droughts. This year, the usually peaceful Funiu Mountain had been beset by a band of outlaws calling themselves the "Heavenly Dragons," who claimed to act on behalf of heaven to kill the rich and aid the poor—in reality, they just killed the prosperous farmers to aid themselves. Consequently, ordinary families were finding life even harder. In this period of food scarcity, most households were nearly stripped of their last reserves. For most of the Zhang estate's servants, managing to survive on a bowl of thin porridge made of mixed grains and rice bran was the norm.

However, this was still a result of Master Zhang's kindness. The so-called free people in the village were in even worse shape. Some families had been forced to borrow money from moneylenders in other villages since the beginning of the month. The county was slightly better than others and had distributed some relief rice. But this rice was old, salvaged grain, and its quality was naturally poor. In the good years of the past decade, that was the kind of grain even pigs wouldn't touch. But now, they had to eat it. It was only bearable because this salvaged old rice could at least be boiled into porridge to stave off hunger. However, it was said that in several families with poor health, the rice had caused vomiting and diarrhea, and without money for medical treatment, they had lost their lives. Thus, Gou'er's envy was not merely superficial.

Gou'er's mother naturally understood this, and she seemed intoxicated by the atmosphere—her status was quite low, and it was rare for her to become the protagonist of the "streamside symposium." She continued to boast about her experiences eating at Liu Shan's house.

The meal at Liu Shan's house was actually prepared according to Liu Baiyu's concept of a "working meal." Of course, Liu Shan always kept in mind not to waste the master's money, so the result was far from the sophisticated concept of Liu Baiyu's working meals; it was even slightly worse than a standard 14-box meal. Not to mention that the brand-new rice Liu Baiyu provided had been exchanged by the Liu couple for old rice within the Zhang estate. Furthermore, one of the dishes had meat paired with seven other dishes, though because vegetables were very cheap, the vegetables were added according to standard portions.

According to the "14 standard," such a ratio would only cause workers to beat up a black-hearted boss, but in this era, it was a "luxurious configuration" that the servants of the Zhang estate could never even dream of; many people might not even see this much meat during the New Year.

"Oh my, Liu Shan and his wife have really struck it rich! You tell me, how can they afford meat? They insisted on letting me eat, saying they were giving me face. That meat was so fatty, full of grease! Oh, sin, sin, those who enjoy such blessings are committing sins!"

To prove she wasn't lying, Gou'er's mother even specifically let several old maids sniff the grease she had intentionally left uncleaned on her mouth—in truth, the young girls, the young wives, and the older women had already smelled it. One by one, they secretly smacked their lips to keep from drooling!

Just then, Zhang Debao happened to pass by the stream. Seeing Gou'er's mother boasting about the Liu couple again, a fire of anger rose in his heart. A bottom-tier servant had risen above a born-in servant like himself; the world was upside down! He had originally found the couple quite disagreeable. Especially after they were taken in by Liu Baiyu, he had vaguely felt they were chosen due to a lack of discernment, and thus they would be held high only to fall hard. But ever since they had returned in such glory, he had been filled with discomfort, always feeling that the Liu couple "shouldn't be like this, at least not this prosperous..."

As for what the standard for "shouldn't be like this" was, Zhang Debao didn't know himself. In short, every time he heard someone say the couple had a good life, he felt angry. Hearing Gou'er's mother boasting about eating meat now, he couldn't help but snap: "What use is it for us servants to eat such fancy things? You can barely make ends meet, yet you eat meat? It's a waste of things! There will be retribution! I see that if the Liu family continues like this, they will sooner or later be swept out the door by Master Liu!"

Zhang Debao's venomous words startled the women by the stream. When women chatted by the stream, men usually kept out of it and certainly wouldn't interrupt. His sudden "cannon blast" left the women stunned. Moreover, among servants, it was one thing for acquaintances to gossip privately, but speaking ill in public broke the rules! And to speak of being "swept out the door" was practically a curse!

Having fired this shot, Zhang Debao also felt it was somewhat inappropriate—why stoop to the level of women? Furthermore, as a born-in servant, bickering with Liu Shan's family would only cheapen his own "status." Feeling that it was Gou'er's mother who had provoked him, he turned around and walked away in a huff.

"Having a fate where you have no meat to eat, you can't stand seeing others have the fate to eat meat!" Suddenly, someone among the group of women behind him cursed softly. Judging by the voice, it was likely Gou'er's mother. Zhang Debao's face instantly swelled with rage. But he had no way to vent it—he was already in his fifties, and getting involved in women's gossip was improper to begin with. If his arguing with women got out and reached the ears of the strictly disciplined Master Zhang, a beating would be the least of his worries; he might even lose his job entirely, and he had many children to support.

Helpless, Zhang Debao suppressed a belly full of anger. When he returned home, he encountered another heart-wrenching matter. As Zhang Debao thought, his son Zhuzi's wife patted her hands on her skirt and said

"Father! We don't have enough rice at home, and even last year's barley flour is almost gone..."

"Has Master Zhang distributed the rice yet?"

"They only gave thirty catties in total. And Father and Zhuzi still have to work for several months; they need to eat more to hold up. With the little that's left, how much can a family of women and children eat?"

Zhang Debao could not think of a solution. The rice on the street was priced at one dou and three mace, and the price rose three times a day, often with short weights; it was something his family absolutely could not afford. The little money they had at home had to be saved for emergencies. In previous years at this time, Master Zhang would lend a little, Zhuzi's wife would borrow a little from her maternal family, and they would buy on credit from a familiar shop on the street; they could at least scrape through the month. As long as they made it through this period of scarcity, they would have made it through.

But last year's drought had left every household penniless. Master Zhang had already said that no more loans could be made. Although Zhuzi's wife's family was slightly better off than Zhang Debao's, they were now struggling to save themselves, and there was no one to turn to for a loan. The familiar shops on the street were also unwilling to extend credit now—after a disaster, they had dealt with too many bad debts; being able to stay open at all was a miracle, so how could they dare to lend more?