Chapter 3: Staying Behind

Lin Qiuran said, "Mother, you can keep this money; I can't accept it."

The Xiao family was already generous to offer her a dowry. Without their son, Sun was heartbroken; the two of them needed to save some money for their old age and plan for the future.

Sun said, "If I give it to you, then take it. Qiuran, let me speak frankly from my heart. In all these years of farming and hunting, we've never seen anything like this. Now that Xiao Xun is gone, you found it. Surely, it's his spirit watching over you from heaven, wanting your life to be a little easier. Think about it—no one else took that path, so how did it come to you?"

She had married well the first time but ended up a second marriage. If Xiao Xun had passed after several years, it might have been understandable, but only two months had passed. This was why Sun always felt guilty toward Lin Qiuran.

Lin Qiuran said, "Mother, this is also Xiao Xun’s intention for you all."

Sun cursed, "If he truly cared, he should have lived well. Leaving like this is easy, but those left behind are the ones who grieve."

Seeing Sun about to cry again, Lin Qiuran quickly said, "How about this, I’ll take five taels, and you and father keep half. I can’t take all the silver."

Sun nodded, took a deep breath, and gave Lin Qiuran five taels of small silver coins. "Keep it safe. I’ll take this to your father’s meal."

Lin Qiuran sighed inwardly, handed Sun a bamboo basket filled with food, then sat down to eat. There was no meat today, but the spicy chili combined with the soft eggplant made for a delicious bite.

The flatbread was a bit dry, but wrapping the vegetables inside made it tasty. This was a simplified version of the spicy century egg eggplant dish Lin Qiuran used to eat. The Xiao family had no century eggs, but there were plenty of eggplants and chilies.

In the afternoon, Lin Qiuran took a short nap and then went to weed the vegetable garden. Sun and Xiao Dashi had been doing the same. Summer rains made the grass grow fast; if left unchecked, weeds would compete with the crops for nutrients, eventually growing taller and preventing the crops from bearing grain.

The sun was strong, so Lin Qiuran wore a straw hat, took a small hoe and a stool to the garden.

She sat down, carefully weeding one patch before moving to another.

Tomorrow, her family would probably come. She planned to go home first, then have the child aborted. As for remarriage, she would delay it. Lin Qiuran did not want to marry again. As long as she could earn money, no one would force her to remarry. Perhaps the original Lin Qiuran wanted to keep the child, but Lin Qiuran, who had come from the modern world, could not convince herself to become a mother for someone else, especially with her husband dead, and with Sun and Xiao Dashi growing older, the burden would fall solely on her shoulders.

Lost in thought, her hoe struck something hard. Lin Qiuran froze for a moment, then dug a couple more times. It was a small square box.

It looked old, with some rust on it. The box had a lock, also rusted. Lin Qiuran struck the lock twice with the hoe, and it fell off, revealing the contents.

Inside was wrapped cloth, fine but slightly decayed.

She weighed it, feeling some weight, but fearing it might be something bad, she only dared to carefully unwrap it. A golden bracelet and a pair of gold earrings fell out.

Lin Qiuran was stunned. She had dug up gold in the Xiao family’s backyard vegetable garden?

It must have been hidden there by Sun at some point.

She packed the items away and stopped weeding, hurrying back home with the treasure. If Sun searched for it later and couldn’t find it, she would be anxious.

Meanwhile, Sun and Xiao Dashi had nearly finished weeding three acres—a modest size. Weeding wasn’t difficult, just bending all day, which caused back pain.

Xiao Dashi was angry that Sun had given silver to Lin Qiuran, but she didn’t care. You can’t say you treat someone like a daughter but be suspicious at every turn. Now that their son was gone, Lin Qiuran was their only hope, and she was better than the Xiao family’s other relatives.

If they had taken the silver, they probably wouldn’t hear a single sound.

In the evening, Sun went to check under the tree where she had found the lingzhi mushroom the day before, but there was none today. Such treasures could only be found once, not every time.

Sun and Xiao Dashi returned home carrying farming tools. Seeing them arrive, Lin Qiuran breathed a sigh of relief. "Mother, I weeded in the vegetable garden today."

Sun said, "You don’t need to do that work. When your father goes in the morning, you can rest."

Lin Qiuran nodded and added, "Then I found something buried in the ground. It must be something you hid before."

Everyone knew not to flaunt wealth; precious things were always hidden to prevent thieves from stealing everything.

Sun’s expression grew unclear. "I haven’t buried anything in the garden."

Lin Qiuran hurriedly took out the box. "I looked inside but didn’t touch anything. There’s a bracelet and a pair of earrings."

Sun was stunned. "Qiuran, I really didn’t bury that."

Sun inspected the box carefully. It was wooden with carvings. She examined the jewelry inside—the bracelet and earrings were clean and beautiful. The Xiao family wouldn’t have such fine things.

She shook her head. "I didn’t bury this, and if we had it, I would have told you."

Lin Qiuran looked at the box in puzzlement. So she truly had dug it up from the vegetable garden? Sun had just found a lingzhi mushroom yesterday, and today Lin Qiuran uncovered gold jewelry from the same garden. Lin Qiuran thought it might be fake, but the bracelet gleamed gold, and this era had no technology for fake gold coloring.

Sun gently bent one of the golden leaves on the earrings. "It bends, so it’s gold. I don’t know who used it. Maybe someone fleeing hardship buried it here long ago. Later, when the garden was tilled, it surfaced. Since you found it, keep it. If you’re worried it’s unlucky, pawn it. It’s quite valuable."

Lin Qiuran nodded and put the items away. With silver in hand, she could open a small shop or rent a stall and take care of her health.

She smiled at Sun. "Thank you, Mother."

Sun replied, "No need to thank me. You found it, so it’s a blessing."

Lin Qiuran planned to exchange the silver and leave some for the two of them.

Without her own affairs, farm life followed the rhythm of the sun. She returned to her room and gathered all the silver, the gold bracelet and earrings, plus what she had saved before and what Sun gave her—a total of over eight taels of silver.

In this era, that was quite a sum in the countryside. The bracelet alone might be worth a dozen taels.

Lying on her bed, Lin Qiuran felt fortunate to have her own room, as most families crowded together.

She touched her belly but felt nothing. She wasn’t the original Lin Qiuran and had no feelings for Xiao Xun or the child. These days, she ate and worked as usual, without morning sickness or discomfort. The child was obedient.

If she felt any attachment, it was faint. Recent events had forced her to think deeply. Leaving the Xiao family to return home was one option, but she couldn’t stay there indefinitely in this era.

If she remarried, finding a good man to rely on would be nice, but if the match was bad, it would be disastrous.

In this society, remarried women probably had to bear children, so staying with the Xiao family might be better.

Now that she had money, perhaps she could keep the child and raise it well, with Sun and Xiao Dashi helping. Sun seemed kind, and with Xiao Xun’s looks, the child might inherit good genes.

Besides, medical care was rudimentary, and abortion harmed the body, so Lin Qiuran hesitated whether to keep the child.

With this unexpected fortune, she could afford to raise one child in this era. Sun believed finding the lingzhi mushroom was thanks to Xiao Xun, but Lin Qiuran felt it was because of this child.

At first, she feared giving birth would burden Sun and Xiao Dashi, but after several days together, Sun’s kindness and understanding reassured her. There was no reduction in food or care despite her decision to abort.

Xiao Dashi was quiet but hardworking.

As a married woman, her family might covet her belongings.

That night, Lin Qiuran still had eggs with her meal. She thought about these matters before sleep but fell asleep quickly without insomnia.

Early the next morning, Lin Qiuran woke to find Sun and Xiao Dashi gone. She went to the garden and saw Sun weeding deeply, hoping to find more buried items, but found none.

Sun gave up, saying they could still find money another time.

Lin Qiuran asked, "Where’s father?"

Sun said, "He’s fishing in the river."

With no chickens left at home, and needing to nourish herself during postpartum confinement, fish soup was perfect. Last time Liu’s family came; Sun expected them again today and planned to discuss things properly.

Sun said, "I saved some eggs for you, hurry and eat."

They were running low on eggs and needed to trade for more.

Lin Qiuran nodded and left the garden just as Xiao Dashi returned carrying two bamboo baskets, each holding carp longer than his forearms.

Two baskets of carp caught in one morning?

Xiao Dashi said, "Go call your mother. Put them in water to keep alive; they’ll last a while."

Lin Qiuran hurried to the garden, lowering her voice, "Mother, father’s back. Go see him."

Sun brushed dust from her clothes, surprised, "So soon?"

At home, seeing the two baskets of fish, Sun was stunned. She quickly shut the door and gathered all available wooden tubs and basins to keep the fish alive. She counted twenty-one carp; how long would they last?

Sun said, "You’re impressive, catching so many live fish."

They had fished before but never caught this many.

Xiao Dashi said, "Today was lucky. The river is full of fish. I caught several at a time, and no one else was here. I released the small ones, kept the big ones, and caught this many. I was afraid someone would see and rush back."

Although the Xiao family had tragedy, envy had no timing.

Sun smiled at Lin Qiuran, "This will last for a long time. I’ll cook you some fish soup later."

Lin Qiuran nodded, touched inside.

Xiao Dashi moved the fish to a shady spot. Lin Qiuran wanted to help, but Sun told her to rest.

She didn’t rest long, as her family arrived. Liu came with her daughter-in-law, Yu, but her son was absent.

Yu’s eyes darted toward the basin of fish outside Xiao’s house and the kitchen where Sun was making fish soup.

After greeting Sun, Liu went inside to see her daughter and closed the door, urgently asking, "Why is your mother still cooking fish? Didn’t you say you didn’t want the child?"

Lin Qiuran hesitated but nodded. Liu sighed in relief, "Then you’ll go back with your mother later."

Yu said, "Why rush? Sister-in-law, where did the fish come from? Those old two have some conscience. If you remarry into the Xiao family, you should get a bride price. You’re a young widow who just lost her husband and are pregnant. You deserve some compensation. Don’t worry; I found a good match for you. The man’s a widower with two sons and willing to offer five taels of silver as bride price."

Yu smiled, "Although your first marriage wasn’t great, this next one will bring better days."

Lin Qiuran frowned. "A widower?"

Yu said, "What’s wrong with a widower? You’re a widow too. The bride price is high. You should be grateful for such a good match."

Lin Qiuran said, "Mother, sister-in-law, even if I go back home, I don’t want to remarry so soon..."

Yu raised her voice, "Then what? Eat rice for nothing at home?"

Lin Qiuran glanced at Liu, who lowered her head. Since her daughter was taken back by her mother, the daughter-in-law was unhappy, but Liu couldn’t decide anything.

"Girl, I advise you, don’t be picky. Once you miss this chance, you won’t get another. You’ll regret it later."

Lin Qiuran had sorted through her original dowry: a cabinet, two outfits, two quilts—nothing else. The original girl was soft-hearted, and her sister-in-law ran the family. She had no say. But still, she was a young widow who just lost her husband and child, and they wanted to sell her for bride price.

Better than the Xiao family.

Before Lin Qiuran could respond, Sun pushed the door open. "What nonsense is this? A widower with two sons—what kind of good family is that? You call yourselves her real mother and sister-in-law, but you’re so quick to give her away. Get out! I’m putting it plainly: if Qiuran marries into our Xiao family, she’s our Xiao family. Even if she remarries, it must be from the Xiao family!"

Lin Qiuran was stunned, speechless.

Yu lifted her chin, smugly saying, "Aunt, this isn’t your decision. Qiuran is my Lin family’s daughter. What does the Xiao family have to do with it? Don’t meddle in things that don’t concern you."

Lin Qiuran said, "Mother, sister-in-law, you can go back. I’m not a fool. There’s no reason to abort my own child to raise someone else’s. I was going to inform you when I returned home, so you wouldn’t have to come here. I plan to keep this child. You can go back now."