Chapter Ninety-Five: Upsetting the Vinegar Jar

That night, after everyone exchanged their farewells, they each returned to the grass huts to rest.

When Little Ding returned to the shack, he saw Second Girl lying in bed, quietly crying.

“Second Girl, what’s wrong? Can’t bear to part with them? All meetings end in partings, and there is no banquet in the world that never ends. You don’t need to be this upset.” Little Ding assumed that after these past few days together, Second Girl had grown attached to the women, and that hearing they were leaving tonight had made her cry.

“Darling, do you not want me anymore?” Second Girl sobbed.

Little Ding was astonished. He thought to himself, why would Second Girl say such a thing? He hurriedly asked, “What is it, Second Girl? When did your husband ever say he didn’t want you?”

“Darling, tell me the truth. You and those women—were you involved with them?” Second Girl said, sniffling.

At that, Little Ding finally understood the root of the problem. So this was jealousy.

He quickly explained, “Second Girl, don’t talk nonsense. How could I have anything going on with them? We’re just ordinary friends.”

“Darling, you’re lying to me. If you were only ordinary friends, why would you give them such expensive gifts?” Second Girl said, unwilling to believe him.

“I didn’t have gold to give them for travel expenses. They had a long journey ahead, and they’re all girls. Without silver on them, how could they possibly travel?” Little Ding said patiently.

“Darling, stop lying to me. I heard them say they wouldn’t sell the beads, that they would keep them by their sides and think of you every day.” As she spoke, Second Girl burst into heartbroken tears again.

Little Ding thought to himself that women really were troublesome. They clearly knew that Second Girl was already married to him, yet they still said those things in front of so many people. How could she not be suspicious?

“Ah—Second Girl, don’t cry yet. Listen to me. I did intend to give them the beads as travel money, but they liked them and couldn’t bear to sell them. There was nothing I could do about that...” Little Ding said with a frown.

“Darling, don’t lie to me. Tell me the truth—these past few days in the mountains, while you were with them, did you already... do that with them?” Second Girl asked seriously, her tearful eyes fixed on Little Ding.

“Do that? Do what?” Little Ding said, pretending not to understand.

“You know, that thing! The kind of thing a man and a woman do together! You were together for so many days, I don’t believe there was nothing between you...” Second Girl said, her face slightly flushed.

Little Ding was speechless inwardly. He thought that although Second Girl was young, when she got jealous, she was in no way inferior to any other woman.

Good heavens above! Once a woman overturns the vinegar jar, it really can be deadly. How was he supposed to explain this? There were no witnesses in the mountains. If he explained and she still refused to believe him, would he not be wrongly condemned to death?

But whether she believed him or not, he still had to explain properly; otherwise it would be the same as admitting Second Girl’s accusation.

So he earnestly said, “Second Girl, don’t let your imagination run wild. After we entered the mountains, danger was everywhere. We nearly lost our lives several times. How could I have had the mind for the sort of thing you’re talking about? Second Girl, you must believe me. I would never do anything to wrong you, nor would I do anything to wrong anyone else. I am a man, not a beast. I would never behave like a beast and casually do such things with just anyone...”

Hearing him say this, Second Girl gradually calmed down. She threw herself into Little Ding’s arms and wept bitterly, “Darling, you must promise me. You must never abandon Second Girl. These past few days, watching you with those women has been unbearable for me. I know they all like you very much, and they’re prettier than I am and more capable than I am. But I don’t want to lose you! Darling, do you know? Ever since you went into the mountains, I’ve worried every single day...”

Second Girl spoke through tears, utterly heartbroken.

Little Ding felt deeply distressed as well. He was profoundly moved by her attachment to him. He quickly comforted her, “Second Girl, don’t worry. I won’t leave you behind. And I won’t take a liking to those women either.”

Second Girl lifted her tear-streaked face and asked uncertainly, “Darling, is that really true?”

“Of course it’s true. If you don’t believe me, I can swear it...” Little Ding said.

Second Girl hurriedly covered his mouth. “No need to swear. I believe my husband would never lie to me.”

With her hand over his mouth, Little Ding could only make a couple of muffled sounds in response.

“Darling, since you don’t dislike Second Girl, let’s consummate our marriage tonight...” Second Girl said, wiping her tears, and suddenly remembered this matter again.

“Uh...” Little Ding was speechless. He could not bear to refuse, yet he also could not agree. After a moment of silence, he said, “Second Girl, didn’t we make a promise? We’ll think about consummating the marriage after your cultivation reaches the fourth level...”

“But when will that lousy technique of yours ever get to the fourth level? I’m afraid before I get to consummate the marriage with you, you’ll already have done it with some other woman...” Second Girl said softly, still sniffling.

“Nonsense. How could I go and consummate anything with another woman? Don’t worry. I’m not the kind of man who likes new things and tires of the old...” Little Ding said.

Second Girl was silent for a while, then sighed. She knew this fool would not consummate the marriage with her.

She had once lamented her own bitter fate. Her biological mother had died young, leaving behind her elder sister, Big Girl, and herself. Their father took a stepmother, and that stepmother later gave birth to a son. From then on, both their father and stepmother began to despise her and her sister.

Second Girl’s family was also very poor. After the son was born, all the hard labor and dirty work in the house was thrown to the two sisters, Big Girl and Second Girl. Even so, their father and stepmother still cursed them every day as worthless girls.

Later, under the stepmother’s instigation, their father decided to marry both sisters off as soon as possible. In any case, they would marry into someone else’s family sooner or later. Keeping them for one more year at home meant losing one more year’s worth of money.

Big Girl had it somewhat better. She was two years older than Second Girl and already grown. Their father married her off to a poor young man in Falling Smoke Village and received five taels of silver as the betrothal gift. It was said that the family treated Big Girl fairly well. Although those five taels had been gathered together bit by bit, the poor young man was already delighted just to have a wife.

As for Second Girl, things were more difficult. First, she was still underage, with a childlike face; second, she was thin and dark, like a dry reed stalk, and no family wanted her. What family would marry a child as a wife? Not only would she be unable to do hard labor, but they would have to raise her for years before she could even marry properly. Everyone was poor and struggling; no one had the conditions to take in a young bride and keep her fed for nothing.

Second Girl’s father had asked a matchmaker to arrange several matches, but none had succeeded. He had originally hoped to marry her off and get a few taels of silver in return, but in the end no family was willing to take her. As a result, both her father and stepmother disliked her even more.

Later, Second Girl’s father heard that Tian Dabao’s eldest son, Tian Fool, in Falling Sunset Village, was already in his twenties and still unmarried, so he asked someone to inquire. Tian Dabao was naturally overjoyed to hear someone had come to arrange a match for his foolish son. By then Little Girl had already been married off, and the few hundred coins he had received from Zhao Laixi had been carefully saved, so he agreed readily and made it clear that the betrothal gift would be only a few hundred coins.

And so, in this way, Second Girl was married off to the Tian family by her father.

At first, when Second Girl heard that her husband was a fool, she nearly wanted to die. But after the wedding, she saw that although Tian Fool was a little dim-witted, he was not a bad person. Later still, ever since this fool had returned from Wolf Mountain in Falling Sunset Mountain last time, he seemed like a different man entirely: the bouts of foolishness came less and less often, his abilities grew greater and greater, and he became better and better to her. This made Second Girl immensely happy.

Later, she heard Old Lady Wang in the village say that if a daughter-in-law did not bear children, she would sooner or later be divorced by her husband’s family. So she did everything she could to make Little Ding consummate the marriage with her, hoping to bear him children. Yet the fool simply refused to take the hint, which made Second Girl even more anxious, fearing that one day Little Ding would divorce her and never want her again.