Chapter 8: Going Along with Her Wishes

“I’m marrying him anyway!” With those words, Su Xue shattered every trace of celebration in the main room.

Su Dashan’s expression grew grim. He was usually a quiet man who left most family decisions to Madam Wang, but now he set his pipe heavily on the table. “Don’t even think about it.”

Su Xue froze, tears still on her cheeks. Her father stared at her and spoke deliberately. “We didn’t raise you to send you into hardship. If we agreed to this match, we’d be doing you harm.”

Her chest tightened, and she began to cry harder. “Father, refusing the match is what will harm me!”

She wiped her face. Her voice trembled, but her resolve was firm. “If you really want what’s best for me, agree to it. I’m not afraid of hardship. Xiuzhi will pass his examinations one day. I’ll be an official’s wife, and you’ll share in the honor.”

Madam Wang was so angry she could barely stand. “An official’s wife! Is that all you can think about? Do you know how the Xus live now? Everyone in the village knows Madam Qian’s tongue. If you marry into that family, you might not even have enough to eat!”

“That’s only temporary,” Su Xue said, biting her lip.

“Temporary?” Madam Wang laughed bitterly. “Do you think hardship is just a word? If there’s no rice for the pot, will calling it temporary put food in it? If you have no thick quilt in winter, will calling it temporary keep you warm?”

Su Xue refused to yield. “Mother, you just look down on scholars!”

“Who am I looking down on?” Madam Wang slapped the table. “I don’t want you jumping into a pit of fire!”

“The Xu family isn’t a pit of fire!”

“Then tell me, what do they have?”

Su Xue faltered for a moment, then straightened. “They have Xiuzhi. He’s talented. Even the county magistrate says he has a great future.”

Madam Wang pointed at her, her hand shaking. “One remark was enough to fool you? If he’s so capable, why can’t he keep his own family fed? A man who can barely support his mother—how will he support you?”

Su Xue stamped her foot. “What’s wrong with a scholar having a hard time now? Don’t they all suffer before they succeed? You’re shortsighted, Mother. You see the Huos’ money but can’t see Xiuzhi’s future!”

Everyone’s expression changed. Madam Li lowered her head, afraid to interrupt. Su Qing frowned, hurt by his younger sister’s words.

Su Wan sat quietly to one side. The more Su Xue argued, the better. The harder she fought, the more their parents would understand that a simple refusal would not stop her.

Madam Wang’s eyes reddened. “I’m shortsighted? I worry about you, and this is how you speak to me?”

Su Xue lifted her chin defiantly. “It’s the truth. You’re happy to let Sister marry into the Huo family, but you stop me from marrying into the Xu family. You favor her!”

Madam Wang shot to her feet. “Favor her? Have we ever denied you food or clothing? Your sister has done the housework since she was ten. What about you? You hide in your room to avoid work and wander outside. Don’t you know which of you we’ve favored?”

Su Xue flushed scarlet. This was the one thing she could not bear to hear. “Sister again! All you ever talk about now is her. Can’t you think about me?”

Madam Wang rushed forward and raised her hand to strike her.

“Enough!” Su Dashan said coldly.

The room finally fell quiet. Madam Wang’s chest heaved; her hand hung in the air before she lowered it in anger. Su Xue ran crying to the west room and slammed the door so hard it shook.

A heavy silence settled over the main room. The Huo family’s visit with the betrothal gifts should have made the day a happy one, but Su Xue’s outburst had spoiled the celebration.

Madam Wang sank back onto her stool, tears falling. “How did I never notice how stubborn she is? I really have spoiled that girl.”

Su Dashan said nothing, his face set.

Su Wan carried her betrothal gifts into the west room. After a glance at the weeping Su Xue, she placed the silver and hairpin at the bottom of her chest and covered them with clothes. She would buy a lock in the county town; otherwise she could not feel secure.

She did not hurry to speak to her parents. There were things they would not hear now. She needed to wait until they had calmed down.

The evening meal was better than usual. Madam Wang had cut a small piece from the meat the Huos brought and stir-fried it with bamboo shoots, and she had steamed a bowl of egg custard. It should have been a celebratory meal, but no one had much appetite except Su Wan.

Madam Wang ate only a couple of bites before setting down her chopsticks. Su Dashan managed half a bowl of porridge with his head bowed. Madam Li wanted to comfort them but did not know how. Su Xue did not come out to eat.

Madam Wang glanced toward the west room. Angry as she was, she still felt sorry for her daughter. “Missing one meal will do her good. It might teach her a lesson.”

Even as she said it, she glanced at Su Wan, hoping she would take food to her sister. Su Wan pretended not to notice. She finished her meal slowly and put down her chopsticks.

Madam Wang sighed. “Wan, when you go back to the room, talk some sense into your sister.”

Su Wan looked up at her weary mother.

“She won’t listen to your father or me now. You share a room; speak to her properly. Life in the Xu household is dreadful. She’s never known hardship and doesn’t understand how difficult it is to make a living.”

Su Dashan looked at Su Wan as well. He said nothing, but his eyes carried the same request.

Su Wan was silent for a moment. She had no intention of persuading Su Xue to turn back. Her sister was determined to take the path the original Su Wan had followed in her previous life. Why should she stop her? But she could not say that aloud.

“Mother, Xue has set her heart on marrying Xu Xiuzhi. You’ve tried for so long without success; she’ll be even less likely to listen to me.”

Madam Wang frowned. “We can’t just let her do as she pleases.”

“I know.” Su Wan’s voice was quiet and steady. “But if we stop her by force, she might come to hate us for it.”

Madam Wang paused. Su Dashan’s hand stopped around his bowl.

“She kept calling him Xiuzhi, so familiarly, and she said the Xus would send a matchmaker in a couple of days. Father, Mother, have you considered whether she and Xu Xiuzhi have been seeing each other in secret for some time?”

The room fell silent. Madam Li’s face changed too. An unmarried girl meeting a man privately could already attract gossip. If any further rumors spread, her reputation would be ruined.

Madam Wang moved her lips. “Surely not… Xue is headstrong, but something like that…”

She lost confidence before she finished. For days, Su Xue had gone out every morning. When asked where, she had either evaded the question or lost her temper. Madam Wang had assumed she was merely out amusing herself. Thinking back, she felt increasingly uneasy.

Seeing that her mother had taken the point, Su Wan continued, “What if we refuse the Xus and ugly rumors begin to spread afterward?”

Madam Wang went pale. Su Dashan’s brows drew together. He cared deeply about the family’s reputation, and her words struck home.

Su Qing could not help asking, “You don’t think she and Xu Xiuzhi really have been involved privately?”

Madam Li spoke softly. “She’s been going out in the mornings and returning at noon these past few days. When we ask, she won’t say where.”

Madam Wang’s thoughts became more tangled. “What are we going to do? That foolish girl! How could she be so blind?”

“Don’t panic yet,” Su Dashan said gravely. “The Xus haven’t come. So far, all we have is her word.”

Su Wan shook her head. “Father, we can’t think only of that.”

He looked at her.

“Whatever the Xu family’s circumstances, Xiuzhi does have a gift for scholarship. Otherwise the county magistrate wouldn’t have praised him. If he does pass the examinations someday, might he bear a grudge because we refused to let them marry?”

Madam Wang’s heart jumped. She disliked the Xu family, but scholars frightened her. Everyone in the village knew that a scholar who passed the examinations could transform his family’s fortunes.

Su Dashan’s face grew darker.

Su Wan went on. “Scholars know how to scheme. Even if he’s only a scholar now, ordinary farming people like us can’t afford to provoke him. What if he resents our refusal and makes trouble for us behind the scenes?”

A chill ran down Madam Li’s back. Su Qing fell silent too. He did not understand all the ways scholars maneuvered, but he knew villagers feared making enemies of them. They could read, write petitions, and knew the magistrate. If they wanted to make life difficult for a farming family, they had plenty of ways.

Madam Wang’s eyes filled again. “Then are you saying we really should marry Xue into that family?”

Su Wan lowered her eyes, hiding their coldness. Marry him? Of course. Hadn’t Su Xue always wanted a taste of the hardships in the Xu household? Let her have her fill.

But when Su Wan raised her head, her face showed only concern and hesitation. “That isn’t what I mean, Mother. I only think we shouldn’t stop her by force. First we should see what the Xus actually have to say.”

Su Dashan was silent for a long time. “What do you suggest?”

“If they really send a matchmaker, don’t reject them outright. Ask about the betrothal gifts, the wedding date, and what Xu Xiuzhi himself wants.”

“What gifts could the Xus possibly offer?” Madam Wang asked at once.

“That’s why we should ask.” Su Wan met her eyes. “If the Xus show too little sincerity, Xue will be embarrassed herself. Then it won’t be us stopping her; it will be the Xus failing to make a respectable offer. However she protests, she won’t be able to blame us.”

Madam Wang paused. There was sense in that.

After a moment’s thought, Su Dashan nodded. “We can’t let her believe the whole family is trying to harm her.”

“And if the Xus are sincere and word gets out, it will be harder to stop the match afterward,” Su Wan added. “Xue is stubborn. If she does something foolish, you’ll regret it even more.”

Madam Wang’s face tightened. Remembering Su Xue’s determination that afternoon, she was truly afraid. The girl had been spoiled; once she fixed her mind on something, she would not turn back. If she ran away to the Xu household, the Sus would lose all face.

No one spoke. Su Wan knew her parents were wavering.

Madam Wang pressed a hand to her chest. After a long while, she said hoarsely, “What have I done to deserve this?”

“We’ll wait and see if the Xus come,” Su Dashan said quietly.

Still unwilling to accept it, Madam Wang looked at Su Wan. “But if Xue really marries him, what will we do when she suffers?”

Su Wan rose and began gathering the bowls and chopsticks. Her voice was soft, but everyone heard her.

“Mother, she chose her own path.”

Madam Wang stared at her.