The Heir

Тhe night passеd withоut words.

Eаrly the nехt mоrning, Zhеn Niаng wоke up tо the familiar clanging sound оf thе watеr chеstnut in thе сitу gatе tunnеl, knоwing thаt thе watеr at the Tigеr Stоve wаs about to bоil. She got uр, put on hеr сlоthеs, аnd рrеparеd tо fetсh hоt wаter.

Аs usual, shе wаshed up bу thе largе vat near thе kitchen doоr, thеn рickеd up the largе соpреr kеttlе. Тhinking fоr a mоmеnt, she wеnt neхt door tо her grаndраrents’ рlасе, intending to takе their coppеr kettle alоng to fetсh hot wаtеr togеther.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she arrived, she saw her father kneeling at the door of their room. "Father, Mother, I’m leaving."

"Go. Don’t come back unless you make something of yourself." The door remained tightly shut. After a fit of coughing from inside, Old Master Li’s hoarse voice rang out.

"Yes, I understand." Li Jingfu responded, then shouldered his bundle, strode out of the courtyard, and left.

Only after Li Jingfu had left did the door of the room open. Grandma Wu Shi supported Old Master Li as they stood at the doorway. Wu Shi grumbled, "You stubborn old man, Jingfu is already this old. Why must you drive him out? Couldn’t he just find some work here?"

"Cough, cough, cough…" Old Master Li coughed violently. Wu Shi quickly patted his back. After a while, when his breathing had steadied, he said, "It’s all because you spoiled him. Here, his reputation is already ruined. What kind of work could he possibly find? If he doesn’t accomplish something, his life will be wasted."

As Old Master Li spoke, another fit of coughing seized him.

"But you shouldn’t have said, ‘Don’t come back unless you make something of yourself.’ Life at home is comfortable every day, but outside, everything is difficult. How many people from Huizhou go out to do business each year? And how many actually succeed? Aren’t you cutting off his retreat?" Wu Shi complained.

"Long hair, short sight. What do you know? I want to cut off his retreat. After all these years of drifting, his ambition has long been worn away. If I don’t push him to the brink, how will he ever pull himself together?" Old Master Li grew agitated, speaking quickly, which triggered another bout of coughing.

"Alright, alright. The spring chill is heavy with dew. Let’s go back inside and take care of ourselves. We pawned our two coffins to return Zhen Niang’s betrothal gifts. If anything happens to you now, we’ll have nothing but a straw mat to wrap you in and toss you outside the city for the wild dogs." Wu Shi sighed.

"Enough with your talk. I’m telling you, don’t go blabbing about this." Old Master Li scowled.

"Tsk, I know, I know." Wu Shi waved her hand dismissively, then muttered under her breath, "You’ve been clever all your life, but now you’re being foolish. Do you think others won’t find out just because we don’t say anything? Jingfu’s wife isn’t stupid. She knows exactly what valuable things we have. Besides those two coffins, what else is there?"

"You…" Old Master Li grew flustered. This old woman loved to argue with him.

"Alright, alright, I won’t say anymore. Let’s go back inside." Seeing him gasping for breath again, Wu Shi quickly patted his back and helped him into the room.

Seeing this scene, Zhen Niang felt it wasn’t the right time to disturb them. She quietly retreated, picked up her copper kettle, and headed out. Thinking of the coffins the old couple had mentioned, her eyes grew moist with emotion—a bittersweet ache of gratitude. In any case, for the sake of breaking off the engagement with the Tian family, she owed them an immense debt of kindness.

As she stepped out of the courtyard gate, she followed the crowd toward the Tiger Stove. Unexpectedly, she spotted her mother, Zhao Shi, standing under the eaves nearby, her eyes fixed on the distant city gate."Mrs. Jingfu, I just saw your Jingfu leaving with a bundle on his back. Where is he going?" a passerby greeted and asked.

"Who cares where he goes? It'd be a relief if he died out there." Zhao Shi snapped back, having just regained her composure.

Zhen Niang curled her lips. Her mother was all tough talk—didn't she see her own eyes were red?

Zhao Shi went back inside.

Zhen Niang went to the tiger stove, helping Uncle Shui with chores as usual, but her mind was preoccupied. Because of the Tian family affair, subtle changes were happening at home, and people were drawing closer. Yet now, the household was full of the elderly and the young, the sick and the frail—making ends meet was tough. Zhen Niang pondered what she could do to supplement the family income.

"Zhen Niang, Zhen Niang..." At the entrance of the tiger stove, a young girl holding a bundle of straw jumped up and down, calling her name.

"Yuejuan." Zhen Niang brushed the dust off her hands and ran over, only to be pulled aside by the girl named Yuejuan. Sun Yuejuan was her original self's close friend, the daughter of the Sun family who used to live next door. Though the Suns had moved away, Sun Yuejuan often came to play with her. Since Zhen Niang had arrived in this time, Yuejuan had helped her get familiar with many things.

"I brought the straw. Teach me how to weave that insulated bucket," Sun Yuejuan said.

This insulated bucket was the straw container in Zhen Niang's home used to hold the copper kettle. In her previous life, when Li Zhen traveled to the countryside, she saw some local households weaving dense, sturdy large buckets from straw—some shaped like pots. They would place leftover rice in a steel pot and then put the pot inside the straw-woven insulated bucket, which kept the food warm and had a rustic charm.

Moreover, back then, to promote tourism, the locals had taken straw weaving to an extreme, creating artistic pieces from straw and painting designs on them, each one quite beautiful. Out of curiosity, Li Zhen had learned a few techniques from an old farmer.

Now in this era, without modern thermoses, Zhen Niang noticed that hot water fetched in the morning would cool quickly. So she wove one herself and wrapped an old layer of cotton batting around it. This way, the hot water from morning remained quite warm by evening.

A few days ago, when Sun Yuejuan came to visit, she happened to see it and thought it was wonderful. She immediately said she would get some straw and asked Zhen Niang to teach her.

"Alright, let's go to my house." Zhen Niang nodded, then returned to the tiger stove, picked up a full copper kettle of hot water, and headed home with Sun Yuejuan.

Zhen Niang had another idea: she could sell these insulated buckets. Aside from a bit of straw, they required almost no cost, yet they made daily household life much more convenient.

Of course, these wouldn't earn much money, and in this era, household mistresses were all frugal and resourceful. The item had little technical skill—anyone who saw it could learn to make it.

Still, every little bit helped. Even a mosquito's leg has meat on it.

In Zhen Niang's heart, what she most wanted to do was ink-making. After all, in her modern life, she was a descendant of the Li family and had decent ink-making skills. But now, Old Master Li's position in this trade was somewhat delicate, and in this era, it was quite difficult for a woman to enter the Ink Trade. She needed to think it through carefully.

Before long, the two arrived at the Li household.Seeing Zhen Niang enter with Sun Yuejuan, Xi Ge'er, who had been washing up by the large vat, darted over in two steps. He raised his eyes and peered slyly at the corners of their mouths.

"What are you looking at?" Zhen Niang gave him a light smack on the back of his head.

"Checking if either of you sneaked a bite," Xi Ge'er pouted.

Zhen Niang couldn't help but laugh. This was a habit of her former self—a love for food and a bit of cleverness, often managing to get hold of snacks but usually finishing them secretly outside before returning home. After catching her a few times, the boy had become sharp. Every time Zhen Niang came back from outside, he would secretly inspect her.

"You little rascal, what a habit," Zhen Niang scolded with a laugh. Then she blinked and added, "If you behave and help your second sister with something, I'll buy you scallion pancakes."

With children, you had to offer a little incentive to get them to do things.

"Really?" Xi Ge'er's eyes lit up.

Zhen Niang glanced around the courtyard, where the family was busy washing up, working, or taking a leisurely stroll. "With Grandfather, Grandmother, Mother, Eldest Brother, and Sister-in-Law as witnesses," she said.

"Alright, quick, tell me what to do?" Xi Ge'er grew excited.

"Follow me," Zhen Niang waved a hand.

The three of them moved to a corner of the courtyard, where they sat down on small stools. Sun Yuejuan spread out the straw.