SLH | Chapter 9

Drawing a Tiger

The next day, the weather was clear. Last night, Song Tingzhu had a good wash and managed to get a rare good night’s sleep. Today, he got dressed early and got out of bed, but compared to the rest of the Liu family, he was still quite late.

“Sister-in-law’s husband, you’re up!”

Liu Xiaomei was sitting in the courtyard doing embroidery. Seeing him come out of the west room, she happily greeted him.

Song Tingzhu supported himself against the wall and slowly walked over. When he saw what the little girl was embroidering, he couldn’t help but laugh.

Liu Xiaomei puffed up her cheeks and said sulkily, “I’m not going to embroider anymore.”

“Why not? This little cat is so adorable, it’s really cute.”

Xia Ge’er corrected in a childish voice from the side, “It’s not a cat. Little Aunt embroidered a big tiger. The pattern here is exactly the same as on Big Tiger.”

“Big Tiger is?”

The little boy smiled with squinted eyes, “It’s the dog that Grandpa Village Head keeps. It’s really majestic～”

Liu Xiaomei was on the verge of tears, “It’s neither a cat nor a dog, it’s a rabbit…”

Song Tingzhu’s expression was subtle.

He wanted to comfort the little girl, but the difference between the two animals was too great, and he couldn’t bring himself to say comforting words.

However, the three-year-old Xia Ge’er, with his big round eyes, seriously said, “Little Aunt, a rabbit’s eyes are red, not black.”

“I know, I just haven’t had the chance to embroider the eyes yet.” Liu Xiaomei touched her embroidered rabbit, looking as dejected as a frost-bitten eggplant.

After thinking for a moment, she said somewhat unwillingly, “It’s a bit ugly, but it should be able to sell. The Lantern Festival is coming soon, and I want to save up some embroidery pieces to sell at the market. Mother and Sister-in-law are better at embroidery than I am, but they’re too busy with chores at home to have time for this. Father has bad legs but still has to go up the mountain every day to chop wood. I’m twelve this year, I should help out the family more.”

Xia Ge’er raised his little hand, eagerly saying, “Little Aunt, Xia Ge’er can help too!”

Song Tingzhu pinched the little guy’s cheek, “What can you do?”

“Xia Ge’er can help Little Aunt light the fire and help Mother feed the chickens and ducks～”

“Such a good boy, then Little Uncle must reward our Xia Ge’er properly.”

Xia Ge’er’s eyes lit up, “What reward, Little Uncle?”

Liu Xiaomei also looked at her sister-in-law’s husband with curiosity.

Song Tingzhu kept them in suspense, “You’ll find out soon.”

His books were still there, and the pen, ink, paper, and inkstone should also be in the box. Those things weren’t worth much, so the Song family probably wouldn’t have taken them.

But he was still a bit worried. Once he went into the storage room and confirmed that his odds and ends were thrown together in a box, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the Liu family didn’t take these things yesterday, or else the reward for Xiaomei and Xia Ge’er would have been ruined.

Liu Xiaomei looked at the books in a few boxes, her eyes wide with surprise, “So many books, have you read them all, sister-in-law’s husband?”

Yesterday, she was too busy stopping her grandmother to notice that her sister-in-law’s dowry was all books, almost as many as the ones sold in the town’s bookstore.

Song Tingzhu had flipped through a few boxes and was already out of energy. Leaning against the door, he said, slightly out of breath, “Pretty much.”

He didn’t have much else to do on a daily basis, so he could only read to pass the time. But he was also surprised to find that he had accumulated so many books over the years. Usually, Qing He helped him keep them, and today he realized how impressive it was.

Seeing that he was tired, Liu Xiaomei offered, “Sister-in-law’s husband, what are you looking for? I’ll help you find it.”

“Help me take out the pen, ink, paper, and inkstone. They’re in the small wooden box in front of you.”

“Okay.”

There wasn’t much in the box, just a nearly used-up ink stick, two brushes with ink-stained ends from years of soaking, and an inkstone that looked a bit ugly.

Liu Xiaomei held the box, pulled out a stack of yellowing paper from the bottom of the wooden box, and turned her head, saying, “Sister-in-law’s husband, these books of yours are all damp. The weather is good today and there’s no wind. Shall I take some out to dry?”

“No rush, let’s first draw the reward I promised you and Xia Ge’er.”

Liu Xiaomei was both surprised and delighted, “I get one too?”

Song Tingzhu’s eyes were filled with a smile, “Of course.”

There was no wind outside, and the sun was warm. So Song Tingzhu asked Xiaomei to set up the table in the yard. While grinding ink, Liu Xiaomei rested her elbow on the table, propping up her chin and watching curiously. Xia Ge’er was too small to reach the table, so he brought a small stool, stood on tiptoe, and watched intently.

“Sister-in-law’s husband, what are you going to draw?”

Song Tingzhu replied gently, “Didn’t you want to embroider a rabbit? I’ll draw a rabbit first.”

After dipping the brush in ink, he asked Xia Ge’er what he liked.

Xia Ge’er tilted his head, thought for a moment, and said excitedly, “A big tiger! Xia Ge’er has never seen a tiger before～”

“Little Uncle hasn’t seen one either.”

“Then Xia Ge’er will choose something else.”

“No need to change, I’ll draw it for you later.”

“Really?” Xia Ge’er’s eyes sparkled.

Seeing his cute little face, Song Tingzhu couldn’t resist teasing him, tapping the little guy on the nose.

Liu Xiaomei laughed, “Xia Ge’er has turned into a little cat!”

Xia Ge’er wasn’t angry, squinting his eyes and laughing along.

Laughter filled the Liu family’s courtyard. Villagers passing by curiously glanced over and saw that Liu’s second son’s new husband, who was said to be critically ill, was alive and well, and even painting in the courtyard!

“Wasn’t it said that Huzi’s husband was almost gone? But he doesn’t look like he’s about to die.”

“Yeah, and he’s painting. He looks like a scholar from the academy, sitting up straight and looking spirited.”

“I think this marriage for Dasheng’s family is good. Although Zhu Ge’er isn’t favored, he’s from the prefectural city. We mud-legged folks can’t compete.”

“What’s good about it? Didn’t you hear Liu Old Madam say that his bride price was just a few boxes of old books, with little people and ghost scribbles on them? They don’t seem like proper things.”

“Hey, you guys say, if the Song family couldn’t cure his illness with all that money, there must be something fishy, right?”

“He’s looking over here, let’s go. The longer we stay, the more scared I get.”

“Let’s go, let’s go. We should visit Liu Old Madam’s place less from now on.”

A few elderly women nudged each other and walked away.

Liu Xiaomei turned her head, comforting her sister-in-law’s husband, “Sister-in-law’s husband, don’t mind them. They’re just gossips. There’s no family in the village that hasn’t been talked about. Even the village head’s family has been gossiped about.”

Song Tingzhu didn’t take it to heart and smiled, “Alright.”

“The little rabbit is done, and I’ve drawn some patterns too. These are common on sachets and handkerchiefs in Xunyang Prefecture. Even if you can only embroider seven or eight parts of it, it should sell well in town.”

These patterns were told to him by Hongmei. Although he hadn’t seen them himself, he thought they shouldn’t be much different from his childhood.

Liu Xiaomei looked at it with amazement and couldn’t help but start her embroidery, taking out her needle and thread.

“Little Aunt, aren’t you going to watch Little Uncle draw the big tiger?”

Liu Xiaomei didn’t lift her head, “No, when Little Aunt makes big money, I’ll buy you some sugar figures.”

Xia Ge’er happily tapped his little stool, “Okay～”

“Stand properly, be careful not to fall,” Song Tingzhu gently reminded.

“I know, Little Uncle～”

Xia Ge’er was so well-behaved that Song Tingzhu liked him very much. Back when he was at the Song family, his half-brother was always mischievous, never staying still for a moment, often leading a group of kids to cause trouble in the Bamboo Garden, which was very annoying.

At that time, he thought all kids were that annoying, but now he realized there were also well-behaved ones like Xia Ge’er.

The tip of the brush rolled in clean water, and he turned to ask Xia Ge’er, “Shall Little Uncle draw a cat for you too?”

“Yes, Xia Ge’er likes cats!”

Hearing the soft voice beside him, Song Tingzhu smiled again.

“Oh no! I was so focused on my embroidery that I almost forgot you haven’t had breakfast yet, sister-in-law’s husband, and you haven’t taken your medicine!”

Liu Xiaomei slapped her forehead and hurried to the kitchen.

“Little Uncle, are you hungry?” Xia Ge’er asked with a frown.

Song Tingzhu gently pinched the little guy’s soft cheeks and smiled, “If your Little Aunt hadn’t mentioned it, I would have forgotten about it too.”

He had been thinking about drawing little rabbits and tigers for the kids and hadn’t felt hungry. Now that Xiaomei mentioned it, he realized his stomach was empty, and his legs were a bit numb and weak from standing for so long.

Luckily, the promised cat was already drawn, or Xia Ge’er might have been disappointed.

After breakfast, it was already noon. Song Tingzhu had been standing outside for a long time today and had spent energy sorting through some books. In the afternoon, he felt a bit tired. Liu Xiaomei urged him to go back to his room to rest. After helping to tidy up the books, she picked up two eggs from the kitchen and quietly left with Xia Ge’er.

The scraps of cloth for embroidery were running low, so she thought of going to Aunt Zhao’s house to exchange some.

Scraps weren’t worth much, but two eggs could sell for three or four coins.

She took Xia Ge’er along because the little guy was excited about the paper tiger and worried he would run around at home and disturb her sister-in-law’s husband’s rest.

Liu Xiaomei led Xia Ge’er around the village’s banyan tree and saw Aunt Zhao, who was friends with Ruan Xiulian, about to head home.

Aunt Zhao also saw them and turned back to ask, “Lingzhi, where are you taking Xia Ge’er?”

“We were just heading to your place to exchange some scraps of cloth.”

“What a coincidence! I’ve got some at home and didn’t know what to do with them.” Aunt Zhao picked up Xia Ge’er and warmly invited them in, “Your Brother Tian bought some pastries in town yesterday. I’ll get some for you two.”

Liu Xiaomei quickly declined, “No need, Auntie, Xia Ge’er and I aren’t hungry.”

The pastries were for Brother Tian to use for matchmaking, and she wouldn’t feel right taking them. Besides, she and Xia Ge’er had already eaten at noon, thanks to her sister-in-law’s husband. The osmanthus cake was sweet and delicious, but two coins only bought a small piece, which was very expensive.

“It’s not to fill your stomachs, just a little treat.”

Once inside, Zhao Chunfang sent her little brother to fetch some.

Liu Xiaomei couldn’t refuse anymore and shared the pastries with Xia Ge’er.

“How’s your sister-in-law’s husband doing? Is he better?” Zhao Chunfang asked while sorting through the scraps of cloth.

“Much better. He could even get up and paint today.”

“Really? That’s good.” Zhao Chunfang felt relieved.

She had been worried about the new bride having any issues, but fortunately, it wasn’t as bad as people said, and now he was much better.

Zhao Chunfang’s brother, Tian Le, with a pastry in his mouth, asked in surprise, “Your sister-in-law’s husband can paint?”

Liu Xiaomei lifted her chin proudly, “Yes, and he paints really well. He even drew some popular patterns from the prefecture city for me to use for embroidery.”

Xia Ge’er chimed in, “Yes, Little Uncle’s big tiger drawing is so cool～”

Tian Le grew interested, “Hearing you say that makes me want to see this sister-in-law of mine. I wasn’t around when Brother Hu got married, so I haven’t seen what she looks like.”

Zhao Chunfang handed over the scraps of cloth, “You don’t have anything to do anyway. Later, take Lingzhi and Xia Ge’er home, and have a chat with your sister-in-law.”

“Alright.”

Author’s Note:

———————-