Peach by Neighbor's House - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Douhuang was barking his head off in the yard, rattling his iron chain with a clamor. I stepped outside and cursed that stupid dog. “What are you yapping at, Li Douhuang? Are you blind?”

Just then, someone outside the gate called loudly, “Is Madam Gu at home?”

“I am,” I said, and sauntered over to open the gate.

The moment it opened, I got the fright of my life. There were three layers of people packed inside and out, beating gongs, pounding drums, and setting off firecrackers with a crackle and bang. It was livelier than the day I got married.

Hands on my hips, I asked, “What is all this for?”

A yamen runner squeezed out of the crowd and beamed at me. “Greetings, madam. Joyous news, madam! Master Gu’s name has been posted on the Golden Dragon Roll-he has passed with high honors as the Tanhua Lang. This is your good fortune, madam, and Jincheng’s good fortune as well. The Prefect sent me to congratulate you!”

With a clang, he struck the gong. The sound made my heart jump. Clutching my chest, I asked, “What’s a Tanhua Lang?”

The runner said, “Zhuangyuan, Bangyan, and Tanhua Lang-the finest scholars under heaven. People say it’s easy enough to become a jinshi, but hard to be chosen as Tanhua. A Tanhua Lang must be handsome, learned, charming, and young. Who else could that be but Master Gu?”

I could hardly contain my joy. Handsome, learned, charming, and young-that was indeed my husband. Then I asked, “And what happens after one becomes Tanhua Lang?”

He said, “A Tanhua Lang in court by morning may ascend the Hall of Radiance by dusk. From now on, Master Gu will rise straight to the clouds, become a high official, perhaps even chancellor. And you, madam, will be an official’s wife!”

My heart thudded wildly. My husband was going to become a high official, a chancellor, and I would be an official’s wife.

Mother, even Bitao has such a fate now. Your spirit in heaven can finally rest in peace.

I was all smiles, beside myself with joy, and I missed my husband all the more. Back then, all I had wanted was to have a son with him. I would raise the child, and when the child grew up, he would care for me. Never had I imagined such a day would come.

That year, when Mother was gravely ill and bedridden, she asked me, “You have no father and no brothers. When Mother dies, what will you do?”

I said, “If Mother dies, I will die too.”

With tears in her eyes, Mother rapped me on the head and scolded me for being useless. She said, “When a girl grows up, she must marry. You must marry an honest man, one who cherishes you, loves you, and doesn’t bully you.”

I asked Mother, “What is an honest man?”

Mother said, “Wang San, the pork seller, is an honest man.”

I said nothing.

Mother then said, “Cui Er, the oil seller, is an honest man.”

I still said nothing.

Mother got angry and called me a wretched little hoof, then asked what sort of man I wanted to find.

I said, “Someone who can read and write, and is fair and clean-looking.”

Mother fell silent. Tears streamed down her face. She said, “You can choose anyone, but not a scholar.”

I asked, “Why not?”

Mother said, “The righteous are often butchers and dog-slayers; the heartless are most often scholars.”

I was unconvinced. “They read the books of sages and worthies. Their bellies are full of benevolence and righteousness. How could they not be honest men?”

Mother sighed. “What good is a scholar? His shoulders cannot carry, his hands cannot lift. All he sees is romance and moonlight, never oil, salt, firewood, or rice. His heart is filled only with the books of sages-where would there be room left for you?”

I said, “That doesn’t matter. He can read his books, and I can embroider. He can tend to romance and moonlight, and I will tend to oil, salt, firewood, and rice.”

Mother said, “And if you ruin your hands with embroidery and wear out your eyes, only for him to rise in the world one day and cast you aside, what will you do then?”

I thought for a moment and said, “If he doesn’t want me, then I won’t want him either. I will just borrow him to have a son. I will raise the boy, and the boy will care for me when he grows up.”

Mother asked, “How will you give birth and raise a child with a belly swollen out in front of you?”

I said, “I will find a nunnery and give them a small offering for incense. The nuns have bodhisattva hearts. They will give me a place to stay and help me through childbirth.” Then I added, “That is how Mother gave birth to me.”

Mother cried so hard she could barely catch her breath. Her palms came down on me with smacks. “You want to follow in Mother’s footsteps! You worthless thing!”

Mother cried, and I cried too.

With only one breath left in her, Mother took a handkerchief from beneath her pillow. Wrapped inside it was a silver hairpin. She said, “Your heart is higher than the sky, but your fate is thinner than paper. Mother can’t control you anymore. I will leave you these three rooms. Go find your scholar lad.”

Mother clutched my hand and would not let go. She could not close her eyes, could not swallow her last breath. She said, “If you truly cannot go on living, go find Grand Secretary Zhang.”

Grand Secretary Zhang was a high official from the capital. When he came to Jincheng on an inspection tour, he rode in an eight-man sedan chair, followed by a line of guards on tall, fine horses. Back then, I had squeezed into the mouth of the alley to look at his chair and those horses, but Mother yanked me out. What are you looking at? Go home!

While Grand Secretary Zhang was in Jincheng, Mother kept me shut inside the house, and I was so stifled I could hardly eat. One day, someone slapped hard against our gate. Mother did not even lift her head and kept embroidering.

I went to open the gate. A fierce-looking official asked, “What is your name? Where are you from?”

I said, “This girl is called Li Bitao, born and raised in Jincheng.”

The official then asked about my mother, asking where she was from.

I said, “Mother is called Zhang Xiuniang. She is also from Jincheng.”

The official asked again, “Are there any men in your household? What do they do for a living?”

I said, “This girl’s father died early and is buried in the ground. I have no brothers above or below me, and there are no men inside or outside the house. Mother and I make our living by embroidery.”

Holding a portrait, the official studied me carefully from head to toe, then craned his neck to study Mother as well. In the end, still unwilling to give up, he asked, “Have you ever known a woman named Li Qiushuang? She has a Meizhou accent, is very beautiful, has a fierce temper, knows how to swim, can fish, and is around thirty-six or thirty-seven years old.”

I said, “I have never known such a person.”

I closed the door and told Mother that Qiushuang sounded much nicer than Xiuniang.

Mother said, “Shut your mouth, you wretched little hussy.”

The neighborhood gossips came by to visit. They said Grand Secretary Zhang was a man of feeling and loyalty. He had gone knocking from door to door, searching for a fisherwoman-his lawfully wedded wife.

Mother said, “Aiyo, better than that dead ghost of mine.”

Grand Secretary Zhang never found the fisherwoman. He got into his sedan chair and returned to the capital.

After that, Mother fell ill.

Mother gave me her silver hairpin. Lying on her pillow, she murmured, “…Pah. Heartless, faithless dead ghost… Who still knows how to fish? Who is still beautiful…?”

Then Mother closed her eyes.

And I had no mother anymore.

After Mother had a child, she could no longer fish. She abandoned the craft of fishing and learned embroidery instead. Mother embroidered flowers to life, embroidered her hair white, raised her child, and then passed the craft of embroidery on to that child.

I did not want to go looking for Grand Secretary Zhang. I stayed in the three-room house Mother left me, kept a little puppy named Douhuang, and spent my days sitting in the courtyard embroidering flowers, embroidering pouches, belts, and handkerchiefs, supporting myself and supporting Li Douhuang.

Three times each month, I had to go out: to deliver pouches to Shuyuan Street, belts to Tianxian Bridge, and handkerchiefs to Shuijingfang.

That day, I went out with my small basket in hand. When I reached the entrance to Shuyuan Street, someone stopped me for no reason at all. The man was hateful-looking, and when he smiled, his mouth was full of yellow teeth. Pretending to be refined, he asked me, “Where are you going, little lady?”

Suppressing my disgust, I answered, “It’s broad daylight and the road is open to all. What does it matter to you where I’m going?”

His narrowed eyes curved with his smile. “Oh? Quite the temper.”

I tried to go around him, but he grabbed my sleeve. He forced me back against the wall, looked me up and down, and even reached out to touch my hand.

That bastard.

I held in my anger, gritted my teeth, and fixed my eyes on his crotch. Mother had said that place was a man’s weak spot. If I ever met a bastard, I should kick it with all my might.

I was just about to lift my foot and kick with all my might when another foot beat me to it and sent him flying. The bastard lay sprawled on the ground, howling, “Who kicked your grandpa!”

A pleasant voice drawled lazily, “Your grandpa did.”

I looked up at that grandpa. He wore a blue-green robe and slowly waved a folding fan. His brows were handsome, his eyes bright, his smile indolent. From head to toe, he was good-looking everywhere.

I only dared to look once.

The bastard on the ground scrambled up and said, “Just you wait, Gu Lin!”

He said, “Wait for what? For you to come kowtow to your grandpa?”

The bastard’s face flushed crimson with anger, and he fled with a stream of muffled curses.

Only then did he smile at me, and that smile made my heart beat wildly. He asked, “Were you frightened, miss?”

I lowered my head and softened my voice. “A little.”

He said, “Don’t be afraid. Where are you headed, miss? I’ll see you there.”

I said, “I’m delivering pouches to an embroidery shop. Thank you for escorting me, benefactor. My name is Li Bitao. May I ask your honored surname and name, Young Master Gu Lin?”

He laughed aloud. He said, “This Young Master Gu Lin’s honored surname is Gu, his great name is Lin, and he also has a courtesy name, Youlin.”

I did not care about courtesy name or no courtesy name. With my mouth, I called him Master Gu; in my heart, I called him Lord Gu.

He said he would escort me to the embroidery shop. I held my basket, lowered my head, and walked slowly with tiny steps. He followed beside me with his hands clasped behind his back, walking slowly along with me.

In the third month of spring, swallows flew in pairs. On the ground, two shadows joined together-one with her head lowered, one with his hands behind his back.

It felt as if there were a rabbit tucked inside my chest, hopping so hard I could not hold it still.

On the road, an acquaintance asked, “Bitao, where did you find such a handsome young man?”

My face burned as I answered, “This is my benefactor, not my husband.” I stole a glance at his expression and saw him looking down at the road, the corners of his mouth faintly curved.

After delivering the pouches, I ought to have gone home. At the street corner, I looked east and west as if I could not find my way, so he asked me, “Where is your home, miss?”

My heart was a little happy and a little shy. I said, “I live West of Wanli Bridge. Follow the street lined with pink peach blossoms; at the end of the blossoms is Yanzi Alley. Mine is the third house in the alley.”

I looked at him with a little hope. He nodded and said what a coincidence. He said, “I also live by Wanli Bridge. Follow the river east, where the willows hang down; beneath the willows is an alley called Qingyi Alley. I live at the mouth of that alley.”

I silently repeated it once in my heart.

He asked, “Have you remembered it, miss?”

I nodded. “I have.”

Then he smiled. Only then did I realize what I had done, and inwardly scolded myself for being shameless.

He said, “Since we both live by Wanli Bridge, why don’t we walk together?”

Blushing, I nodded and walked slowly with him. Before long, we reached Qingyi Alley. I should have said farewell to him, but my feet refused to move.

I stood at the mouth of his alley, flustered and at a loss, not knowing what to do. He looked at me, then toward the far side of the bridge. He said, “With such scenery across the way, it would be nice to cross the bridge and look at the peach blossoms.”

My heart settled, and I walked slowly with him again. Why was the road so short? I could already hear Douhuang barking.

For some reason, I felt a little downcast. Pointing at my front door, I said to him, “That is my home. The one barking is my dog. Its name is Li Douhuang. There is only the two of us.”

He nodded with a faint smile, said farewell, and turned to leave. In a sudden panic, I called out to stop him.

I said, “Thank you for escorting me, young master. It would be rude not to return the courtesy. Let me escort you home.”

He paused, then his smile brightened the whole spring day and dimmed the peach blossoms. He asked, “And then shall I escort you home again?”