Chapter 2, Three Widows.
"What is it, Sanlang? Is the porridge not filling enough?" Han asked when he saw Li Jing stop using his chopsticks. He then turned to his sister-in-law, Zhang, and said, "In the main household, there are still two bolts of woven cloth at home. Let's take them tomorrow to exchange for some rice and flour. Sanlang has just recovered from a serious illness; without some food, he won't be able to regain his strength."
However, the peeling and mottled paint on the wooden plaque has caused the two large characters to lose their original vibrancy. The thatched roof of the Li family's nine rooms has also grown a considerable amount of mugwort, swaying in the wind. After decades of wind and rain, this siheyuan reveals the decline of the family's fortunes in every corner.
Han is kind-hearted and diligent, having single-handedly raised a group of children. It can be said that she is the most traditional and commendable woman of this era
"Let's eat, I cooked some greens tonight and added two eggs. Everyone, hurry up and eat, it won't taste good if it gets cold," the sister-in-law said with a forced smile.
"Sister-in-law, if there is a suitable match, you should choose a good family to marry into!" Li Jing could not imagine such a young woman having to remain a widow for the rest of her life, and could not help but speak up.
A wave of frustration surged within him; how could a grown man allow a household of women to go hungry? After all, he was also someone from a later time, and he could not expect a whole family of women to support him. It seemed that the most pressing issue at hand was to resolve the family's food situation. However, how was he to solve this problem of providing meals?
As soon as he spoke, the room fell silent, and one could hear a pin drop.
Li Jing turned his head again to look at his elder sister-in-law. The elder sister-in-law and the second sister-in-law were quite similar; both had just married for less than half a year when the elder brother passed away. The elder sister-in-law had been in mourning for four years and was now only twenty-one years old. What made him sigh even more was that both widowed sisters-in-law had no children at all. At such a young age, they had to live in mourning without any offspring to rely on. How tragic their fate was.
Sister-in-law Zhang, however, bowed her head and wept silently, and the entire family fell into a moment of silence
Li Jing opened his mouth and said: "Sister-in-law, I mean no offense, but you are in the prime of your youth, and it would be a waste to squander your life like this. You have no children, and our family is now in decline; staying here will only bring you suffering. You should find a good family to marry into, as you still have more than half a lifetime ahead of you."
Sister Si and Sister Wu had just woven their way out of the house when they heard this shocking remark. Sister Si Wanqing quickly said, "Brother, what are you talking about? Hurry up and apologize to Sister-in-law. How can you say such a thing about marrying your sister-in-law? I can't believe you, a person who has been educated, would say this."
He looked up at his mother, sister-in-law, and younger sister in front of him, and found that the two eggs his sister-in-law mentioned had all been placed in his dish. Moreover, compared to the porridge in his bowl, the porridge in the women's bowls was much thinner, almost like soup.
Where is the elder sister-in-law and the second sister-in-law
It is lamentable that the Li family has faced numerous calamities, and now the entire burden of the family rests on this child, which has indeed hindered his future prospects
Han sat there, hesitating to speak, and ultimately said nothing.
The seventh day after the passing of the second brother has just passed, and the second sister-in-law is still in mourning. Li Jing sighed inwardly; the second brother was only one year older than him, and he had been married to the second sister-in-law, Wang, for barely six months before he passed away, leaving the second sister-in-law in a difficult situation. He had seen the second sister-in-law a few times; she was only sixteen years old, still a slender girl who had not fully matured. Now, however, she has become a widow
This is the home of Li Jing, a traditional courtyard house with stone walls and a thatched roof made of seaweed. The courtyard is spacious, and the rooms are also quite large, with many traces indicating the former prosperity of the Li family. This type of seaweed house is unique to the coastal areas of Shandong. Wangli Village is located by the sea on the Shandong Peninsula, where summers are often rainy and humid, and winters are snowy and cold. In this particular geographical location and under these climatic conditions, residential buildings primarily consider warmth and shelter from the cold in winter, as well as protection from rain and sun in summer. As early as the Qin and Han dynasties, the common people, based on their accumulated unique architectural experience from long-term living, built seaweed houses by constructing thick stone walls and using dried seaweed as roofing material.
A dou of rice costs 200 wen, millet costs 160 wen, and wheat costs 180 wen. A few years ago, a dou of rice was only 20 wen, and now it has increased tenfold. How can we continue like this? Mother thinks that if the price of grain continues to rise, we will take all the rice we have at home to Wendeng in exchange for sorghum, and we can mix in some bran and wild vegetables. This year, we should be able to get by.
Everyone had fallen silent. The Li family had strict family rules, where one was not to speak while eating or sleeping. In the Li household, meals were served in a divided manner, with each person having two dishes and a bowl of rice in front of them. The two dishes consisted of boiled greens with eggs and pickled vegetables, while the rice was corn porridge. The greens were essentially what would later be known as Chinese cabbage, although the variety at this time was somewhat different from that of later periods. Li Jing took a few bites; the boiled greens had no seasoning, just a bit of oil and a pinch of salt, tasting bland and insipid. The porridge was made from crushed corn, including the husk, resulting in a mixture that was not only gritty but also as thin as soup, with hardly any grains of rice present.
However, the Li family is now unable to even afford the money to repair their house
Li Jing learned from memory that his mother, Han, was from a collateral branch of the prominent Han family in Qingzhou. In earlier years, Han's father had arranged a betrothal with Li Jing's grandfather. At that time, Li Jing's grandfather was an officer under Li Shidao, the military governor of Ziqingping in Shandong, and had a bond of gratitude with Han's father, which led to the arrangement of this marriage. However, before Li Jing's father was born, Li Shidao was attacked and eliminated by the court, and Li Jing's grandfather also died in the military. Li Jing's grandmother, along with her servants, migrated to Wendeng County, and the marriage arrangement with the Han family was considered null and void. Unexpectedly, more than a decade later, the Han family took the initiative to come forward and fulfill this marriage arrangement.
Li Jing's mother, Han, had just turned fifty. Her hair had already turned gray, yet it was styled very neatly, gathered into a topknot with a wooden hairpin inserted at an angle. She was also wearing a coarse cloth skirt, which, although it had not been patched, had already become faded from washing.
The courtyard, with stone walls and a thatched roof, consists of three main rooms, with three additional rooms on each side to the east and west. To the south, there are no additional buildings, but rather a stone gate tower and a one-zhang high stone wall. Above the stone gate tower hangs a large wooden plaque inscribed with two powerful and vigorous characters: Li Fu
"Are you feeling any better, my son? If you are unwell, please call the doctor to take a look at you soon." Han looked at her youngest son with a kind expression, feeling both comforted and sighing inwardly. This son was different from the eldest and the second; although those two were filial and hardworking, they only had physical strength and could not grasp their studies. In contrast, this youngest son was not only sensible from a young age but also intelligent in his studies, able to understand complex concepts quickly and notice subtle details. She had always believed that her son would surely succeed in the imperial examinations and become a successful scholar. If the government had not already abolished the examination for scholars, her son would have been the most outstanding among them.
Unfortunately, just fifty years have passed, and the Li family has already begun to decline. The several hundred acres of land acquired by the family in earlier years have now dwindled to only fifty acres and ten acres of mulberry fields, barely enough to sustain the family. In the best years of the Li family, they owned three hundred acres of fertile land and three plow oxen
Thirteen years ago, Li Jing's father passed away. At that time, his eldest son was only thirteen years old, while the other two sons were merely seven or eight, and there were also several daughters aged two or three. Li Jing had a few paternal uncles from the same clan who came to persuade Han to remarry, hoping to take over the Li family's estate, but Han firmly refused. She even slammed herself against the wall, intending to die to express her determination, which frightened the uncles so much that they no longer entertained such thoughts.
That is good, that is good. Han gently patted his son's palm
The Sanhe Courtyard of the Li family has a history of fifty years. It is said that over fifty thousand jin of straw were used during its construction. Not to mention Wangli Village, this Sanhe Courtyard of the Li family is also one of the best houses within a radius of several miles.
Seagrass flourishes in spring and withers in autumn. After reaching a certain height, when faced with strong winds and waves, the tides will roll it into clumps towards the shore. Coastal residents, when building houses, will go to the seaside in advance to collect seagrass. They will dredge up the seagrass, dry it in the sun, and prepare it for use when constructing their homes. Due to the high content of salt and gelatinous substances in seagrass that grows in the sea, using it to thatch thick roofs not only provides resistance to pests, mold, and fire, but also offers warmth in winter, coolness in summer, comfort in living, and durability for a hundred years, making it the most favored building material among the coastal populace in this area.
"Mother, elder sister-in-law." Li Jing greeted the two elders
The elder sister-in-law arranged meals for the whole family, while saying: "Your second sister-in-law is inside reading scriptures for your second brother, sigh."
Ah, I understand, mother-in-law
A dim soybean oil lamp was lit in the room, and the light was not very good. Li Jing vaguely saw the corners of his mother's eyes glistening with moisture, and could not help but say: "Mother, I am completely well"
"Mother, how much is grain per dou now?" Li Jing asked
The Han family is a prominent clan. It is said that the Han matriarch studied alongside the young lady of the Han family in her early years, becoming literate and knowledgeable, even capable of composing poetry. She married into the Li family before turning twenty and bore three sons and five daughters, all of whom survived and were raised to adulthood. Li Jing's father abandoned martial pursuits for scholarly endeavors from a young age and continued to focus on academic studies after marriage, with most household matters managed by the Han matriarch. Particularly after failing the imperial examination, he turned to a bureaucratic career, spending many years away from home, leaving all domestic responsibilities to the Han matriarch.
Li Jing and Wan'er entered the main hall one after the other, and the elder sister-in-law had already prepared the meal.
Upon hearing this, Li Jing felt an immense weight in his heart. He looked at the six or seven family members, each showing signs of hunger and malnutrition, yet they still insisted on giving him both of the eggs to eat, even serving him extra dry rice porridge.
The elder sister wiped her tears and raised her head, saying: "Sister-in-law knows that the little uncle means well, but although I come from a farming family, I also understand what chastity means. The person I admire the most in this life is my mother-in-law, who raised all the uncles and aunts by herself. Such words should not be spoken by the uncles anymore; sister-in-law was born a member of the Li family and will die a ghost of the Li family, and I will never remarry in this lifetime"