FMT 9

Chapter 09  Dead Husband

Old Madam Chen stayed muddle-headed, muttering nonsense that no one could make out.

She would not open her mouth to take medicine, so Aunt Wu pried her teeth apart with a spoon and had Liandan pour it down.

After she drank the medicine, the Wu family went back home.

In the house, only Liandan holding the baby and Old Madam Chen on the bed remained.

She rambled a little longer, rolled about on the bed a few times, then fell still.

Liandan almost thought she was dead. He secretly leaned close to check her breath, finding it even and long. She had only fallen asleep.

Relieved, Liandan carried Xiaodan back to his own room.

The baby had cried himself tired and was asleep. Liandan guessed that when he woke, it would be time to feed again.

He laid Xiaodan on the bed, covered him with a small quilt, and tiptoed out to fetch a bowl from the cupboard.

In the yard, a goat was tied to the wall. Old Madam Chen had bought it from the village shepherd, kept especially for feeding Xiaodan.

As soon as Liandan stepped outside, Laicai heard him and stuck its head out, baring sharp teeth and growling fiercely. Forcing down his fear, Liandan drew a bowl of milk.

To get back inside, he had to pass the dog’s kennel. Every step past Laicai, his body tensed, forcing himself to stay calm. Luckily, the dog only glared at him and did not leap out to bite.

Back inside, Liandan added wood to the stove, set the milk on to steam, and sat on a low stool by the hearth.

He hugged his knees in silence, a small hunched figure like an undergrown child.

After sitting for a while, tears streamed down his cheeks. He cried quietly.

Old Madam Chen had treated him badly, but without her he would not have survived.

He had seen Chen family relatives come to the house before, making scenes. Each one was harder to deal with than the next. Even his fierce mother-in-law struggled to handle them and had to fight desperately to protect the household.

Now she was like this. If, as that young traveling doctor had said, she really would not recover, then once the Chen relatives learned of it, they would soon come demanding to split the family property.

Life was already hard. With Xiaodan added to the household, Liandan panicked, he didn’t know what to do.

Perhaps as early as tomorrow, they would come.

If the house and land were taken, he and the baby might not last many days before starving.

Thinking of that young doctor again, Liandan shuddered. The way the man had looked at him and Xiaodan was terrifying. Remembering it now unsettled him even more than Laicai at the door.

That night, Liandan barely slept.

Xiaodan seemed to sense his father’s unease. Usually quiet, the baby cried several times.

In the middle of the night, Old Madam Chen awoke and pounded on the wall, calling Liandan to help her turn over.

When he went in, the sight froze him. His mother-in-law was crawling on the floor, dragging her broken leg, tearing at table and chair legs with bared teeth like a beast.

Liandan’s face went pale. He slammed the door shut, locked it, and ran back, ignoring her pounding and shouting. He only clutched Xiaodan tight under the quilt, crying silently.

At dawn, the other room went quiet.

Liandan unlocked the door a crack. Inside was a mess of wood splinters and tufts of cotton pulled from bedding. On the bed, Old Madam Chen slept deeply, her chest rising with strong breath.

He tiptoed in, tidied a little, then left quickly.

In the morning, after Xiaodan had drunk his milk, Liandan heated a coarse corn bun and ate it with hot water. That was breakfast.

From afar, he tossed two buns to Laicai, then hurried back indoors.

Not long after breakfast, loud voices sounded outside the gate, followed by heavy knocking.

Liandan went to open the door. Seeing who stood there, his face changed.

Outside were six or seven people, men and women, old and young.

At the front stood an old man in his fifties or sixties, his face lined with wrinkles, his clothes patched over patches.

Liandan knew him. He was the elder brother of his long-dead father-in-law, the eldest of that generation of the Chen family.

Seeing Liandan open the door, Old Chen sighed, his face full of worry. “We’ve heard about your mother-in-law,” he said. “Today we came especially to take a look.”

Liandan stood at the doorway without moving. Old Madam Chen had told him never to let Chen family members inside.

But things were different now. The one they feared had fallen. Liandan blocking the doorway was like a butterfly with torn wings, trembling in the wind, fragile and defenseless.

He stammered, “Mother… Mother hasn’t woken yet. Maybe you should come another day.”

Old Chen’s face tightened. “What nonsense. She’s sick. If we relatives don’t come now, then when?”

He reached out and easily shoved Liandan aside, leading the group inside.

Laicai was gnawing on its bun and ignored them. Liandan had no way to stop it, so he could only follow them into the house.

The outer room filled with people. An old woman touched the cupboard and said to Liandan, “Only two of you with a child in the house, you don’t need such a big cupboard. I’ll have your uncle bring ours over and we’ll swap. Just right.”

A man in his thirties rushed out and grabbed the milk goat by its ear. He had been eyeing it since he came in. Laughing, he said, “This goat isn’t being raised properly. It needs fresh grass day and night to grow fat and give milk. I’ll take it home and feed it. The baby can drink milk from my house.”

That one remark made the others’ eyes turn red. They threw open every door, not caring about the bedridden old woman or the sleeping baby in the other room. Each went to take what they fancied, about to carry it all off.

Liandan ran to pull the goat back. By then the pot lid was already lifted. A half-grown boy spotted the hot milk inside, his eyes lit up, and he gulped it down straight from the bowl, burning or not.

Tears filled Liandan’s eyes. Crying, he shouted, “That’s Xiaodan’s milk! He’ll wake soon and need it.” Milk didn’t come endlessly. This was freshly milked that morning. With it gone, Xiaodan would go hungry.

Old Chen stomped his foot, his beard bristling. “She isn’t dead yet! Don’t go too far. All of you, stop!”

His words still carried weight. Everyone halted and looked toward him.

Old Chen sighed at Liandan. “By right, since your mother-in-law is like this and there’s a child to raise, we should show understanding. But this house, and the thirty mu at the east of the village, all belong to our Chen family. Since my brother died, your mother-in-law has been holding onto it alone. This account should have been settled long ago.”

Liandan said in panic, “Even if my father-in-law is gone, even if my husband is gone, Xiaodan is still here. He is a Chen. This house and land are his.”

Old Chen narrowed his eyes. “Our family isn’t greedy. No one wants to cheat a widow and orphan. But Xiaodan is still small. Your mother-in-law won’t last. You’re young, you can’t hold things down, and you might remarry. We can’t let this property fall to outsiders.”

With a kindly look, he added, “Don’t think we want your things. It’s for you and Xiaodan’s sake. Live in the house as before, just let me keep the deed. We’ll farm the land for you. At harvest, we’ll give you your share. Our Chen family is honest folk. When Xiaodan grows up, what’s his will still be his. You can rest easy.”

Liandan was timid, but not stupid. The greedy gleam in their eyes was clear.

Being stared at so plainly made Old Chen uncomfortable. He waved his hand, like brushing off the last of his conscience. “Put down what you took. Sit. We’ll talk this through.”

They pulled out stools and chairs, formed a circle, and started bickering. Soon they were shouting, even grabbing hair and scuffling on the ground. Old Chen himself had a tuft of beard torn out.

On the bed, Old Madam Chen lay motionless. On the floor, the family showed their ugliest side.

Holding the wailing, hungry Xiaodan, Liandan cried out, “Please, leave a way for me and the child to live.”

His voice was drowned in the quarrel. No one noticed. Even if they had, greed had blinded them to compassion. Liandan slid weakly to the floor.

Just then, from the yard gate came an old voice: “What’s all this racket? I heard it from far off!”

At that call, the wolfdog barked. But in moments, its fierce barks turned to frightened whimpers, then silence.

Liandan scrambled up. As he turned, he saw the village chief push open the outer door and step inside.

Behind him was another figure, blocked by the old man’s stout body.

The village chief ’s face darkened at the sight. “If you have business, talk it out. What kind of conduct is this?”

The fighting stopped at once. Faces flushed, they stepped back.

The village chief  needed no explanation. The Chen family’s property disputes were known across the village. He himself had been called to judge more than once.

He scolded, “With Old Madam Chen ill and a baby only months old in the house, aren’t you ashamed to act like this?”

Old Chen pursed his lips and argued, “This home has no man left. We only fear the family property falling to outsiders. Village chief, you must decide for us.”

The headman snorted and turned sideways, revealing the man behind him. “Who said this home has no man? Look who’s here!”

All eyes turned toward the figure.

The sun shone brightly outside. When the door opened, the light poured in, dazzling them.

Liandan, holding the baby, looked too. Being closer to the doorway, he saw clearer. His first impression: young and tall.

He wore a robe of deep green, shoulders broad, waist narrow, posture upright. His long hair was tied neatly, not a strand loose.

A breeze stirred the robe’s hem, he gave off an unearthly aura.

But his face—Liandan stared at him for a long while. It had some youthful refinement, but was mostly ordinary. Familiar too, though he could not recall where he had seen it.

The eyes unsettled him most, making his heart tremble. And as he looked, he realized that man was looking straight back.

Those dreadful eyes fixed unblinking on his face. Liandan, always timid, flinched and stepped back.

Behind him, Old Chen’s voice cracked with terror. “You… you… Impossible! He’s dead. I saw it myself!”

The village chief  patted the man’s shoulder. “There’s no need for quarrels now. The man of this house has returned.”

Liandan blinked, confused.

The village chief  smiled. “This is Old Madam Chen’s son, Chen Hanwen. He has returned from death to life!”