Fourth Wife You said, ‘Like deaf, mute, or mentally disabled.’
Wu Shu said, ‘Don’t you see me standing here in front of you? I’m a wholer.’
Fourth Wife You said, ‘Let me see you take a few steps.’
Wu Shu stepped out from under the pagoda tree and walked back and forth in front of her. She saw that he had a nimble gait, his arms and legs looked strong, and he appeared happy. She thought, Third Daughter has had good fortune, we’ve found a wholer. She then told him to stop, and he stood in front of her, his body as straight as a rod, and asked, ‘What else would you like to see?’
Fourth Wife You said, ‘How many houses does your family own?’
Wu Shu said, ‘A three-room thatched house, which leaks when it rains.’
Fourth Wife You said, ‘That’s not a problem. Do you own any fruit trees?’
Wu Shu said, ‘After my wife died, I sold all of my trees to buy food.’ He gestured toward a pagoda tree with a trunk as wide as a bowl, and said, ‘The day before yesterday, I gave this one to a neighbour in exchange for a basket of wheat, and in a few days he will come to chop it down.’
Fourth Wife You said, ‘You don’t raise chickens or pigs?’ Wu Shu replied, ‘If I don’t even have enough food for myself?’
Fourth Wife You said, ‘Did you sew the patches on your clothing yourself?’
Wu Shu replied, ‘If I didn’t do it, who would?’
Fourth Wife You said, ‘Do you also cook your own food?’
Wu Shu replied, ‘If I didn’t cook it, who would?’
Fourth Wife You said, ‘How about if I find you someone to mend your clothing and cook for you?’
Wu Shu replied, ‘Do you mean your family’s Third Daughter?’
Fourth Wife You stared in surprise, and said, ‘You already know everything?’
Wu Shu replied, ‘I really did see a ghost.’
Stone You said, ‘Was it your wife who told you everything?’
Wu Shu asked, ‘So, what’s the story with her illness?’
Fourth Wife You said, ‘It doesn’t act up more than once every ten days or two weeks, and sometimes she’ll go for a whole half year without a single episode.’
Wu Shu hesitantly looked upward, as though considering something.
Fourth Wife You said, ‘Maybe after you and she get married, her illness will be cured. That is what happened with our eldest two daughters. Previously, their illness was as bad as a stormy day, but as soon as they got married the rainclouds cleared.’
Wu Shu said, ‘And if it isn’t cured?’
Fourth Wife You said, ‘It will be. Just marry her, and you’ll see.’
Wu Shu was silent for a long time. Then he straightened his neck and glanced at Fourth Wife You, saying, ‘If you want me to marry your family’s third daughter, that’s fine, but your family should add something extra to the dowry.’
Fourth Wife You asked, ‘What do you want?’
Wu Shu said, ‘A dowry chest, including three sets of bedding with new covers and new cotton stuffing.’
Fourth Wife You said, ‘Done.’
Wu Shu said, ‘I’d also like five pairs of cloth shoes. I don’t have any shoes to wear, and don’t have any clothing either.’
Fourth Wife You said, ‘I’ll give you eight pairs of cloth shoes, two pairs of rubber shoes, and I’ll also buy you two wool jackets.’
Wu Shu said, ‘Can you also re-thatch the roof on our house?’
Fourth Wife You replied, ‘That wouldn’t cost very much.’
Wu Shu said, ‘Also buy me an ox.’ Looking out at the barren field next to his house, he added, ‘Hoeing this field by hand every year is exhausting.’
Fourth Wife You hesitated, and asked, ‘How much does an ox cost?’
Wu Shu said, ‘I wouldn’t need it immediately, so if I receive it within six months of the marriage, that would be fine.’
Fourth Wife You said, ‘OK, in that case let’s add an ox.’
Stone You rushed in and shouted, ‘Are you crazy? Even if we were to sell everything we own, we still wouldn’t have enough to buy an ox.’
Fourth Wife You said, ‘I’m just trying to find a wholer.’
Her husband said, ‘This wholer is a thief who is robbing you blind.’
Fourth Wife You repeated, ‘I’m just trying to find Third Daughter a wholer.’
Wu Shu asked, ‘Who are you talking to?’
Fourth Wife You said, ‘How about if you get married after planting the wheat?’
Wu Shu said, ‘My fields have been barren for a year, and I don’t have a single seed to plant. You need to give me half of your family’s corn and wheat crop, and also come and help me hoe my fields and plant my grain.’
Stone You said, ‘You’re trying to take advantage of my family, aren’t you?’
Wu Shu said, ‘I still don’t have any wheat to sow.’
Fourth Wife You said, ‘When we come to help hoe the fields, we’ll also bring fertilizer and wheat seeds.’
Stone You said, ‘I’d rather Third Daughter was dead than have her marry this sort of greedy man. Are you trying to push our daughter into the fire?’
Fourth Wife You said, ‘As long as she can get married, she’ll be fine. Many people are a total mess, but after they get married they become diligent and frugal.’
Wu Shu looked around, then turned to Fourth Wife You and said, ‘I keep hearing someone twittering next to me. Look at that grass there – it used to be straight and tall but now someone has stomped it flat.’
Fourth Wife You glanced down at the patch of grass, and said, ‘If you marry Third Daughter, will you treat her well?’
Wu Shu straightened his neck, and said, ‘How could I not treat my own wife well?’
Fourth Wife You proceeded to arrange her daughter’s marriage as though she were completing a business transaction in which both parties were left satisfied. Then the bright red sun set behind the mountains, bathing the village’s houses, trees, and streets in a purple glow, like a strange summer cloud.
Chapter Four
Autumn was over.
Many families had already sown their winter wheat.
It was during this period that Fourth Wife You planned to marry Third Daughter to the man from Wu Village, forty-five li away. She carried new thatching from her own village to her future son-in-law’s house to help fix his leaky roof. She even stayed there and hoed several mu of barren soil. She collected all of the weed and flower stems, together with the rocks and tiles that were mixed in with the soil, and piled them all up along the edge of the field. Everything her son-in-law had requested was prepared to order, and the only thing left was for him to come over and haul away half of their autumn harvest. The first time he came, Wu Shu took the grain that had been given to him as part of the dowry, and the second time would be to collect more grain. The first time had been for the grain that was Third Daughter’s dowry, and the second time had been for the grain she would eat after moving into her new home.
When Wu Shu first arrived, it was the third day of the lunar year, and they all woke at the crack of dawn. As soon as the sun came up, Wu Shu hauled a cart up to the You family’s front door. It was Third Daughter who went to open the door, and when she saw Wu Shu her eyes lit up with delight. Several days earlier, when she first realised that Wu Shu was a wholer, she hid in her room and refused to come out. Alone in her room, however, she laughed to herself. When Wu Shu left her home that time, she escorted him to the mountain peak and then returned, and that entire night she sat next to her bed chortling happily, refusing to lie down and go to sleep.
This time when she saw Wu Shu, Third Daughter was very friendly, and her blush of embarrassment had disappeared like storm clouds on a clear day. She turned toward the main room and called out, ‘Ma, he’s here,’ then proceeded into the kitchen, where she fried him an egg and brought it out.