Chapter 14: The Butcher Plays Matchmaker, Disaster Strikes White Temple Village
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Having received a definite answer from Mother Fan, Butcher Hu felt completely reassured.
He immediately spread the word that his illustrious son-in-law was taking a concubine.
One day, carrying a box of pastries, Butcher Hu walked all the way to an alley near the marketplace and turned into the home of an ordinary family.
The courtyard gate was tightly shut, and the barking of a dog came from within.
Butcher Hu knocked on the gate and bellowed at the top of his voice.
Before long, approaching footsteps could be heard, and the master of the house came out to usher him inside.
The host was surnamed Zhao and named Youjin. He had done business with Butcher Hu on many occasions.
Old Zhao invited Butcher Hu to sit down. Though puzzled, he put on a cordial expression and began making polite conversation.
“The day before yesterday, your esteemed son-in-law passed the provincial examination and became a scholar of the second degree. I have not yet had the chance to offer my congratulations.”
“I never imagined that you, old brother, would be the one to visit me first today.”
“Where have you been busy these past few days, Brother Hu? Why have you not come to the marketplace to do business?”
Butcher Hu sat squarely in the seat of honor, imitating Fan Jin’s leisurely manner of sipping tea.
Feigning distress, he said, “Isn’t that just the way of it?”
“Ever since my son-in-law, the newly appointed scholar, invited me to live at his residence, I have been clothed in silk and fed on delicacies. Where would I find the strength to wield a butcher’s knife?”
“Fortunately, my esteemed son-in-law is considerate. He lets me draw ten or twenty ounces of silver from his household accounts every month, and from time to time privately supplements me with gold and jade. That leaves me with enough spare money to listen to music, watch operas, and reward the servants…”
This speech nearly turned his old acquaintance, Old Zhao, green with envy. The old man’s face twisted into a knot.
Yet even after showing off so thoroughly, Butcher Hu still felt unsatisfied. He believed he had not fully conveyed just how dignified his life had become.
Feigning further vexation, he said, “Though my illustrious son-in-law’s residence is grand, I myself cannot bear to stay there for long.”
Old Zhao was an honest man and asked instinctively, “Why not?”
“There are simply too many people to receive and see off.”
Butcher Hu continued boasting without pause.
“Ever since my esteemed son-in-law became a scholar, which gentleman of means in the city has not paid a visit to his home? Even my longtime patrons, Master Zhang and Master Zhou, often come to consult him about their studies.”
“And you?” Old Zhao asked, so envious that he could not resist needling him.
Butcher Hu pointed to himself and replied with an air of complete indifference, “Me? I am hardly free at all these days.”
“On ordinary days, I often have to sit around chatting with those scholars and examination graduates, accompanying them over wine and meals.”
“When guests arrive, I must bow and scrape to receive them. I am busy from morning till night.”
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“I have always been accustomed to idling about. I truly cannot stand doing such things!”
“That is why I finally found some free time today and came to visit my old friend.”
Old Zhao cried out in astonishment. He hurriedly poured tea and water for his guest while eagerly asking for more details.
“My goodness, Butcher Hu! You actually drink and dine with scholars and examination graduates now?”
Butcher Hu waved his hand dismissively.
“What of it? It is exhausting. Drinking with you is far more comfortable and enjoyable.”
Old Zhao was overwhelmed with excitement.
He secretly resolved that he absolutely had to cultivate a good relationship with this suddenly prosperous Butcher Hu.
He immediately ordered his youngest daughter to prepare a meal and cook some noodles.
After thinking it over, he shouted into the house for his eldest son and instructed him to go to the marketplace and buy half a catty of pig’s head meat for the drinking table. They must not appear stingy before such an honored guest.
During the meal, Butcher Hu also cast several glances at Zhao Youjin’s youngest daughter, silently nodding to himself.
She was thirteen or fourteen, yet already delicately and gracefully developed.
She wore a pale-blue long dress embroidered with tiny white plum blossoms, and a white brocade sash cinched her slender waist, so fine it seemed barely wide enough to encircle with one hand.
Her dark hair was gathered into an auspicious topknot, adorned only with a single plum-blossom wooden hairpin.
Though simply dressed, she possessed a fresh and elegant beauty.
After eating and drinking his fill, Butcher Hu became rosy and unsteady, his breath thick with alcohol.
In his arms he carried the gifts presented by the Zhao family: a ham weighing more than ten pounds, a rabbit-fur vest, and a jar of fine daughter-red wine that had been stored for thirteen years. A frantic old hen, rolling its eyes wildly, dangled from his waist.
Picking his teeth, Butcher Hu slapped Zhao Youjin on the shoulder with a hand broad as a palm fan and lurched about, repeatedly making solemn promises.
Once the Zhao family’s youngest daughter had been agreed upon, Old Hu placed the gifts he had received in the carriage accompanying him.
Then he rubbed his face vigorously, managing to recover a little of his vigor.
“I must not delay my esteemed son-in-law’s important business!”
Muttering a few more words, Butcher Hu immediately hurried off to pay separate visits to the Qian, Sun, Li, and Zhou families.
Only after confirming that each household had a beautiful young woman of graceful figure did Butcher Hu bring his silver tongue into play and begin persuading them.
He attached particular importance to the Zhou family’s daughter. The Zhous came from a family with a scholarly tradition. Though they were merely a household of licensed scholars, they could at least read and write.
The Zhou daughter was named Zhiruo. She was refined and exceptionally beautiful, tall and graceful, with an airy and spirited charm all her own. Her skin was tender, her manner tranquil, and her lovely eyes bright with movement. A smile touched her peach-blossom cheeks, her lips seemed on the verge of parting, and her breath was as fragrant as secluded orchids. She possessed a gentleness and sweetness beyond description.
“With so many peerlessly beautiful young women, I wonder whether my esteemed son-in-law’s body can withstand them all.”
After a day of rushing about, Butcher Hu sat in the carriage on the way home, absentmindedly muttering to himself.
Then he glanced at the return gifts piled in the carriage almost into a small hill, along with the large bundle of loose silver his future mother-in-law had given him for handling the arrangements.
His broad mouth stretched nearly to his back teeth.
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…
At that moment, Fan Jin had no idea that his cheap father-in-law had already arranged everything for him so thoroughly and handled matters with such efficiency.
He was currently receiving villagers sent by the second grand-uncle of the Fan family in Fan Family Village, also known as White Temple Village.
After hearing the villager’s account, Fan Jin sprang to his feet in shock.
“Has the disaster truly become this severe?”
There had been signs of drought for some time, but ever since passing the provincial examination, Fan Jin had seldom left the city. His information had consequently fallen behind.
As for drinking water, the city had water carriers. A scholar’s residence of such rank would naturally not lack water for daily use.
The villager said miserably, “If it were only a poor harvest, that would be one thing. But now even water for people and livestock has become a problem.”
“Second Grand-Uncle has no solution left. You are a scholar of the second degree, and we can only hope that you will lend us a hand, so that the villagers may survive!”
“The entire clan will be eternally grateful…”
As he spoke, the man fell to his knees and repeatedly struck his head against the floor with loud thuds.
Fan Jin helped him up with a troubled expression.
After glancing at the sky, he said, “Very well. Stay here tonight. Tomorrow, I will return to White Temple Village with you.”
If they were merely short of grain, it would not have been a great problem. At worst, he could lend the necessary silver to the clan and discuss repayment after a year of good harvest.
But a shortage of water was an entirely different matter.
Could people possibly survive without drinking water?
In the ancient histories, droughts were usually recorded in only a few stark lines.
“The bark was consumed, and then people devoured one another.”
“Grass roots and tree bark were searched out and eaten until scarcely anything remained. Refugees filled the roads, corpses covered the fields, and the dead lay piled one upon another…”
Yet behind those few brief strokes lay the unbearably terrible words: people eating people.
Fan Jin was frantic with worry.
Early the next morning, he hurriedly ordered the coachman to take him and the villager back to White Temple Village.
This meant that Butcher Hu, having finished arranging all the affairs concerning Fan Jin’s concubines, lost the chance to report everything to him in person. He felt rather disappointed.
He consoled himself by deciding to wait until Fan Jin returned from the countryside and then give him a surprise.
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