Logically speaking, Li Cuimei, who was so attentive to Lin Fang, shouldn’t have made such a mistake as nearly overheating her own daughter. In reality, Lin Fang didn’t know that her mother, due to her illness, couldn’t sleep night after night, terrified that even the slightest carelessness might cause her daughter to stop breathing altogether.
Unable to sleep at night and still having to work in the fields during the day, Li Cuimei’s stingy grandfather valued livestock more than people. Unless absolutely necessary, he refused to use the family ox for any task that could be done by human labor. Day after day of this grueling routine left Li Cuimei mentally exhausted. If Lin Wu hadn’t shouted loudly, she might have collapsed from sheer exhaustion.
Dong Shi, with her bound feet, only handled household chores and never worked in the fields. Lin Liulang was a carpenter, and by rural standards, his craftsmanship was top-notch. He worked for a carpentry shop in town. Lin Wen and Lin Shilang were still in school, while Lin Cuiping and Lin Cui’e, being girls, were spared fieldwork for fear of tanning and ruining their marriage prospects. Lin Bosi couldn’t bear to let them toil in the fields. Lin Wu was still a little sprout, unable to handle heavy labor, and the boy was always mindful of his elder brother’s task—keeping an eye on his little sister. So, aside from Lin Fang’s father, Lin Dalang, who worked as a shopkeeper elsewhere, the only ones left to work the fields were Lin Bosi and his daughter-in-law, Li Cuimei.
Lin Bosi had once been a scholar and was very particular about propriety. Worried that villagers might gossip about him and his daughter-in-law working together all day, he made sure to work in separate plots from her. Now, during the critical weeding season, even if other villagers were nearby, they wouldn’t casually wander over. Fortunately, there was little Lin Wu—otherwise, if something happened to Li Cuimei in the fields, no one would have known.
“Mom, drink some water.”
Seeing his mother place the sleeping baby back in the basket, the sensible Lin Wu quickly scooped half a bowl of water from the nearby jug and shakily handed it to his mother, who had sat down on a pile of grass.
“Hehe, good boy. Having three well-behaved children like you makes all the hardship worth it.”
Had Lin Fang been awake, she would’ve surely retorted—how could her mother possibly see her as “well-behaved” when she was just a toothless infant? But then again, in the eyes of parents, children are always angels. This sentiment holds true across time and place.
“Mom, your face is so pale. Are you sick? Should we go home?” Lin Wu took back the empty bowl and scooped another half-bowl for his mother. Seeing her eyes tightly shut and her face deathly pale, the little boy grew anxious.
“It’s nothing, Wu’er. Mom’s just tired. A little rest will do.” Li Cuimei opened her eyes to glance at her son before weakly closing them again, sweat pouring from her forehead.
Lin Wu was sharp. Sensing something was wrong, he raised the bowl to his mother’s lips. “Mom, drink this water before resting. Didn’t you say that sweating too much without drinking water can make you sick?”
Li Cuimei truly didn’t want to move, but touched by her son’s thoughtfulness, she obediently opened her mouth and let him feed her the water.
“Mom, stay right here and don’t wander off. I’m going to get Aunt Hong. I’ll be back in no time. Be good, okay?”
Hearing her son’s grown-up tone, Li Cuimei found it amusing and nodded with her eyes closed. The “Aunt Hong” Lin Wu mentioned was Lin Cuihong, the wife of Lin Dalang’s cousin, Lin Erlang. Her family’s plot wasn’t far from where Li Cuimei was—just separated by a small earthen ridge. A shout from the ridge would surely reach her.
“Oh heavens! Third Sister, what’s wrong? Your face is so pale! This won’t do—we must get you to a doctor. Juan’er, hurry and fetch your father! I can’t carry your aunt alone.”
“Right away, Mom!” Lin Juan, who had tagged along, dashed toward the ridge.
Lin Erlang, a burly blacksmith, ignored Li Cuimei’s protests and wordlessly hoisted her onto his back. Li Cuihong picked up Lin Fang, while their daughters, Lin Juan and Lin Xia, carried the basket and held Lin Wu’s hand respectively. The group hurried to the village doctor, Physician Wang’s home.
Li Cuihong hadn’t always gone by that name. She was originally Li Cuimei’s maidservant, brought along as part of her dowry. Another maid had accompanied them, both having grown up serving Li Cuimei. After Li Cuimei married Lin Dalang, Lin Bosi declared that the family had no need for maids—just two extra mouths to feed. He suggested selling them off for some extra silver.
Li Cuimei, of course, refused. The bond they shared since childhood wasn’t something she could sever so easily. Coincidentally, Lin Erlang took a liking to the present Li Cuihong. After discussing with his parents, he personally came to propose, offering to marry her as his lawful wife. Meanwhile, Zhou Xiaosuo, the son of Lin Bosi’s sister, fancied the other maid. Seeing Lin Erlang take the initiative, he too came forward with a proposal, also willing to wed her as his official wife.
Convinced of their sincerity, Li Cuimei consulted her parents and formally renamed the two maidservants Li Cuihong and Li Cuilian, recognizing them as her younger sisters and entering them into the Li family registry. They were then married off with great fanfare to Lin Erlang and Zhou Xiaosuo. Having served Li Cuimei for years and shared a sisterly bond, Li Cuimei naturally provided them with generous dowries.
Thus, not only did Lin Bosi fail to profit from selling the maids, but his daughter-in-law even spent family silver on their dowries. No matter how he calculated, he felt swindled, leaving him fuming. It never occurred to him that one had married his own nephew and the other his own niece—by all accounts, a fortunate arrangement. Yet all he could dwell on was the lost silver, branding his eldest daughter-in-law a wastrel. From then on, Lin Bosi viewed her with disdain, extending his displeasure to her children as well.
No matter how much he disapproved, Lin Bosi was powerless. Lin Liulang was already past twenty and still unmarried, while Lin Shilang was too young. At over fifty, he had only these two grandsons and one granddaughter to his name. Moreover, Li Cuimei’s family was rooted in the same village, with numerous brothers and cousins—not to mention an elder brother holding high office in the capital. Unable to confront them, he resorted to tormenting his eldest daughter-in-law under the guise of propriety. Knowing full well his granddaughter’s condition, he deliberately assigned separate work areas, all to make life harder for her.
Lin Bosi and his brother had sired eleven children between them. Among them, Lin Erlang and Eighth Daughter Lin Cuili were born to the younger brother, Lin Zhongsi, while the other nine were Lin Bosi’s—four sons and five daughters. Three sons and two daughters survived: Lin Dalang, Lin Liulang, Seventh Daughter Lin Cuiping, Lin Shilang, and Eleventh Daughter Lin Cui’e. Lin Cuili, two years younger than Lin Cuiping, was already married with a one-year-old son. Lin Bosi’s youngest sister, Lin Shuzhen, had only one son—Zhou Xiaosuo.
Li Cuimei was the third child in her family, addressed as “Third Young Miss” by the servants. After Li Cuihong and Li Cuilian were entered into the Li family registry, they referred to Li Cuimei as “Third Sister.” Even after marriage, Li Cuihong kept the habit. Her in-laws and husband, being flexible, tried correcting her a few times but eventually let it be. Thus, the couple addressed Li Cuimei differently—Lin Erlang called her “Eldest Sister-in-Law,” while Li Cuihong stuck with “Third Sister.”
Physician Wang diagnosed Li Cuimei with pent-up frustration and overexertion, leading to mental and physical exhaustion. The condition could be mild or severe—if the patient failed to unburden her heart and continued in this state, it might even prove fatal.
Li Cuihong, ever blunt, immediately scolded, “Good grief, Third Sister! Did you hear the doctor? You can’t keep pushing yourself like this! The children are still so young, and Fang’er hasn’t even opened her eyes after a whole month. You mustn’t let anything happen to you. If you were to—heaven forbid—leave us, what would become of them?”
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage