Chapter 27: The Wooden Rabbit
“No… I was just asking.” Feng Yuzhen said sheepishly, her head about to lower again to look at the half-finished embroidery.
The wick of the oil lamp was blown by a gentle breeze, and the dim yellow light flickered on her face, one moment on her eyelashes, the next on her profile, which was as if it had been dusted with a layer of pearl powder.
Cui Jingkong studied her for a moment. There was indeed no sign of fear on her face. He suddenly lowered his eyes. “Is Sister-in-law going to blame me? But he said he touched you with his right hand. Feng Zhao hurt you before, so I injured his left leg. It was just a coincidence that he ran into a wolf.”
He was clearly a venomous snake with fangs dripping with poison, always coiled and ready to strike. But in front of her, he had curled himself up, pretending to be as gentle as a cat.
That’s right. Her brother-in-law had no grudge against these people. If it weren’t for her, how would his hands have been stained with blood? Recalling his tired expression when he had returned that night, and the rare vulnerability he had shown when he leaned on her shoulder, Feng Yuzhen couldn’t help but soften.
She realized that her words just now had a hint of ungratefulness. She clasped her hands nervously and, after a long time, said in a low voice, “Kong’ge’er, I’m not blaming you. I know it’s because of me that you…”
She couldn’t say the rest. It would change the meaning. She swallowed the words back down, intending to end the conversation quickly. She picked up the flower scissors on the side and cut off the annoying extra thread. But the young man opposite her did not stop as she had wished.
“Sister-in-law can just use me as a useful tool, like these scissors.”
Then a hand reached out and gently covered hers. Feng Yuzhen’s eyelids twitched, and she cut the thread crookedly.
His voice was deep. “You hold me, and it’s all up to you to decide. If the blade is facing out, I will never hurt you.”
The skin that was in contact with him was slightly hot. Feng Yuzhen’s gaze swept over his pale knuckles. He was pressing down on her, not allowing his widowed sister-in-law to avoid him as she had before.
Her throat was dry. After a long time, an almost inaudible “mm” escaped from between her teeth.
Feng Yuzhen was sitting in the yard in a light yellow summer dress. A flock of fluffy little chicks were rubbing against and pecking at her feet. She chopped up some boiled chives and threw them on the ground to feed them, and the tender yellow balls of fluff swarmed over.
She usually didn’t like to go out and was very popular with small animals. She also treated them with kindness, so the nearby cats and dogs became more numerous and lively, and the young birds in the trees gradually grew into large magpies with black tail feathers.
Later, in a moment of carelessness, a round-bellied orange cat had snatched a chick while she wasn’t looking. Only then did she become more careful, and she would drive the chicks back into their coop every day after feeding them.
The brick house was old, after all, decades old. No matter how capable Cui Jingkong was, he couldn’t renovate the whole house. After a few heavy rains, water would seep in through the cracks in the tiles, and the house would be damp and stuffy. As soon as the weather cleared, Feng Yuzhen would have to hurry and take the quilts out to air.
In addition, after the incident with the Feng family, some malicious rumors had reached their ears. A few days ago, Cui Jingkong had asked her if she wanted to move to town.
Feng Yuzhen was a person who took things as they came. Unless she was pushed to the edge of a cliff, she would rather not move. She had never thought of leaving this place.
On the one hand, Qianshan Village was where she had been born and raised. She was afraid of a new environment and neighbors whose intentions she didn’t know. Secondly, if they were to move to town, they would have to buy a new house. Where would the money come from?
She couldn’t just let Cui Jingkong pay for everything. She couldn’t get over that hurdle in her heart, so she had not agreed.
When Qian Cuifeng and her group arrived at the door, they saw Feng Yuzhen absent-mindedly feeding the chickens. She called out, and Feng Yuzhen, who was sitting on a small stool, clapped her hands and stood up. Only then did she see that there were two men behind her. Qian Yongshun, of course, and the other was actually Zhao Yangyi!
Feng Yuzhen immediately understood the purpose of Qian Cuifeng’s visit. Her scalp tingled, and she wished she could just pretend she hadn’t seen them and hide in the house, closing the door.
The two men stopped at the fence and didn’t move. Only Auntie Qian came closer.
The two of them went into the house and sat down. Auntie Qian first took her hand, patted it a couple of times, and said with a smile, “Zhen’niang, I mentioned it to you two months ago. The one next to my third son, look, he’s tall and a good worker.”
She turned to the side and lifted her chin towards the distance. Feng Yuzhen’s eyes accidentally met Zhao Yangyi’s. His pale gray left eye was like a hawk’s, staring intently at her face. Feng Yuzhen quickly averted her gaze, feeling as if she were on pins and needles.
She said earnestly, “Auntie, I really have no intention of remarrying… Please don’t make things difficult for me.”
But Auntie Qian looked even more troubled than her. “Zhen’niang, I won’t hide it from you. He’s interested in you. He’s been coming around a lot lately and is very sincere. Besides, he’s my third son’s master’s own nephew. I can’t just refuse him.
“Zhen’niang, Ze’ge’er has been gone for almost half a year. I know you’re sad, but people have to look forward. I’m not forcing you to be with him. Just meet him first. It won’t hurt.”
Originally, Zhao Yangyi should have been taken to see Feng Yuzhen’s parents to discuss the marriage. But the news that Feng Yuzhen had just severed ties with the Feng family had spread throughout the village. Although it was not appropriate, Auntie Qian had no choice but to come to her directly.
Since she had said so much, Feng Yuzhen couldn’t refuse any longer. The Qian family had apologized to Cui Jingkong, and she had also benefited from it. The table and chairs they had added to the brick house were right under her. She couldn’t bring herself to turn them away and could only nod helplessly.
So Auntie Qian told her about Zhao Yangyi’s background in detail, counting on her fingers. Qian Yongshun had already told her all this on the ox-cart.
She also mentioned that he was a skilled carpenter. His family was not wealthy, but if she married him, she would not suffer. They lived in town, and if things worked out, they could move there directly.
Feng Yuzhen listened for a long time. She rationally realized that besides his frightening appearance, he was good in all other aspects, at least much better than Cui Ze’s conditions back then.
But strangely, her heart was calm. The thought of being seen by her brother-in-law last time, and that jade-like face appearing in her mind, made her even more eager to get rid of this matter.
Auntie Qian waved her hand and beckoned him over. Zhao Yangyi was a little nervous. It had been more than a month since their last meeting, and he was always worried that he was falling behind others. He had asked Qian Yongshun’s mother for help, thinking it would be better to meet formally.
When he entered the door, it seemed as if the door had become a narrow slit. When Zhao Yangyi was nervous, his face would tense up, and his dark face looked as if he were scolding the soldiers under him. His aura was too strong, and Feng Yuzhen was even scared enough to take half a step back.
Although she had been married once, she had only met Cui Ze twice before they were married. It was not easy to even see his face clearly. It was a true blind marriage, let alone the two of them chatting alone.
Zhao Yangyi was the first to break the silence. “What are you having for lunch?”
Since he had spoken, she answered honestly, “Chives with porridge.”
Feng Yuzhen said dryly, “Is Brother Zhao not working in town today?”
Zhao Yangyi paused. A tall, strong man like him looked a little cramped in the chair, and it was a bit comical. “I’m here to see you today, so I took a day off.”
There was nothing more to say. Feng Yuzhen sighed and was about to tell him straight that he didn’t have to waste his time on her.
But Zhao Yangyi, as if he knew what she was about to say, suddenly spoke up. “Sister, don’t be in a hurry to give me an answer. It’s enough that you remember me today. We can get to know each other later.”
He said it all in one breath. Before Feng Yuzhen could react, he stood up, placed a palm-sized wooden rabbit on the table, and quickly turned and left.
Auntie Qian told her to think about it again. Feng Yuzhen saw the group off and returned to the house. She picked up the small wooden rabbit from the table. It had round eyes and a curved, two-lobed mouth painted on it.
Its two long, upright ears could be pressed down, and when released, the rabbit would hop forward, very lifelike.
She played with it with great interest for a while, thinking that this must have been Zhao Yangyi’s effort. Then she felt that she had let him down for nothing and lost interest. She just left it there and went to the yard to drive the chicks back into their coop first.
When Cui Jingkong returned that night, the small wooden rabbit was still on the table. He picked it up and played with it for a while, then asked nonchalantly, “Sister-in-law, what is this?”
Only then did Feng Yuzhen remember that she had forgotten to put the rabbit away in time. Her eyes flickered, and she just wanted to cover it up. “A little trinket from Qian Yongshun.”
Cui Jingkong sneered, pressed one of its ears, and the rabbit immediately hopped forward happily. “Why did he give you this?”
He had no intention of making things difficult for Feng Yuzhen. He just glanced at his widowed sister-in-law’s unnatural expression and didn’t press the matter. Only then did Feng Yuzhen take it in her palm and immediately put it away in the side room.
***
Two days later, Zhou Fu came to the west of the village early to call for her, saying that her family had prepared a meal and was just waiting for her to come at noon.
Feng Yuzhen couldn’t refuse her kindness. In addition, she was introverted and rarely visited others’ homes, so she was curious. She brought a basket of green mallows from her small vegetable garden.
It was noon when she arrived. The Zhou family all seemed to be very simple and warm people. Perhaps because she was there, Father Zhou just ate with his head down, but Mother Zhou was very attentive to her.
It was probably because she knew that she and Cui Jingkong were sister-in-law and brother-in-law, and she was trying to curry favor and get some information from her, such as Cui Jingkong’s temperament, appearance, how his studies were going, his family background, and so on.
Feng Yuzhen picked some unimportant things to talk about and felt a little uncomfortable, as if she had gotten this meal by selling out her brother-in-law. The sweet taste of the rice in her bowl became bland, and—she wasn’t without guilt.
Wasn’t she holding Zhou Fu back?
Her feelings were complicated and difficult to grasp. On the one hand, she felt that perhaps she was being sentimental: maybe her brother-in-law’s interest in her was just a whim. Now that someone wanted to arrange a marriage for him, as his elder sister-in-law, she should take care of it.
However, the feelings Cui Jingkong had revealed were not a dream. She couldn’t deceive herself. But this matter involved the taboo between a brother-in-law and sister-in-law. She could never blurt it out.
It was not appropriate to talk about it at the dinner table. Troubled by both, on the way back, as Zhou Fu was seeing her off, Feng Yuzhen finally chose her words carefully. “A’Fu, my brother-in-law might… might have someone in his heart.”
She was so embarrassed to say this that a shy blush covered her fair face. She just felt that she was very hypocritical and shameless.
Fortunately, Zhou Fu was busy stepping on the puddles on the ground. She was completely unconcerned. “Sister Yuzhen, don’t listen to my mother. I have no interest in that scholar at all. It’s just that my mother insists that I go and see him, and she’s nagged me until my ears are calloused. I’ll just go and see him once, just to go through the motions. Neither of us should take it to heart.”
Feng Yuzhen had no choice but to tell her that Cui Jingkong would be on leave at the end of the month and would be at home during the day for those two days, and that she should come then.
She should have told Cui Jingkong right away, but this matter was like a hot potato. Looking at Cui Jingkong’s face, she felt as if there was a lump in her throat that she couldn’t spit out.
On the last day of the month, if she didn’t say anything, Zhou Fu might come. In the morning, Feng Yuzhen confessed to Cui Jingkong, her eyes fixed on the corner of the table. “Kong’ge’er, I recently met a girl about your age. She’s coming later. You two should meet.”
As soon as her voice fell, she suddenly felt a chill. She looked up and saw that Cui Jingkong had put down the book in his hand. He was so angry that he laughed, but the curve of his lips was very sarcastic. “What does Sister-in-law mean? You might as well be more direct.”