As October waned into its final days, a consistent gloom settled over two consecutive days. Though rain or snow never fell, the weather turned colder still, and padded jackets proved insufficient against the chill; thus, everyone began donning somewhat thinner cotton-padded clothes.
Yang Ruxin, having stored an ample supply of firewood, had started using the stove in the main room. Consequently, the kang beds on both sides were toasty warm.
Sini was the most delighted; each night, she would roll around on the kang in her underwear, for she had never slept on such a warm kang during winter.
Her antics always provoked Xiaobao and Erya to roll around as well, and the bunch of little girls would giggle away while Xiaofeng, from the opposite room, joined in their laughter.
At such times, Xun Hui would smile and then secretly wipe away tears, for she had never seen the children so happy before.
Yang Ruxin herself felt very content. Her arrival had, after all, changed the fortunes of this family, and she was determined to continue making things even better going forward.
Meanwhile, several incidents occurred in the village during this period.
The first was that Wang Baozhu had kept the child and then the Ma Family had gone to propose marriage to the Wang Family, given that the child in Wang Baozhu’s belly was Ma Gouzi’s. Strangely enough, Wang Sheng adamantly turned them away, rejecting the marriage proposal. Though Ma Gouzi made a fuss for a few days, he eventually left, defeated and ashamed; Wang Baozhu refused to see him. Reportedly, the young man went home and fasted for a few days. Whether he eventually came to terms with the situation remains unknown.
The second incident involved Zheng Kuan’s sudden matrimonial state. Rumor had it that the woman was someone he had found unconscious at the foot of a mountain, whom he then saved and subsequently stayed with. She was said to be a widow who had been sold by her in-laws to a family in the mountains to become a servant-wife. She had fled for not complying and ended up tumbling down the mountain, which turned out to be fortunate because Zheng Kuan saved her. Without any formal ceremony, they were simply wed with a few familiar acquaintances as witnesses. Whether it was out of gratitude or some other reason, only the parties involved would know. However, Sanni reported back that the woman treated Xiaohua quite well and even made a new dress for her.
Of course, to Yang Ruxin, these occurrences were merely hearsay, matters of no concern to her.
Another piece of news was that Guan Qingshu had been accepted by the Official School in the county town and would be leaving for his studies at the end of the month, but Yang Rusong would still continue his schooling in the town.
There was one thing, however, that did surprise Yang Ruxin: Yang Anshi had taken ill. She had collapsed suddenly and, upon awakening, her mouth and eyes were oddly twisted. Li Yi was called in and diagnosed it as a stroke—a cerebral thrombosis. Fortunately, she was found and treated promptly. After three days of acupuncture, she was out of danger but left with sequelae—slowed movements and speech difficulties.
Yang Ruxin could not help but snicker; she guessed that Yang Anshi’s past passionate tirades had been too much even for the heavens to bear, prompting them to silence her.
But according to Sanni, who gathered information, the actual cause was Yang Ruban’s desire to eat chicken. He had secretly slaughtered a hen that laid eggs, enraging Yang Anshi to the point of fainting. It was not a random collapse.
Regardless, Yang Ruxin treated the whole affair as a jest and kept it at a distance; after all, it was none of her business.
Yet Yang Baixiang was somewhat uneasy and wished to return for a visit. Yang Ruxin did not stop him, especially since he had recovered well from the past few days of care.