When they became aware of White Peony's pregnancy, the Wang family cared for her thoroughly; they stopped her from doing housework and reemployed Aunt Pear Flower, who continued her previous job looking after White Peony rather than Wu Xianggui. Red Apricot stopped herding the cows and came back to her sister to help her with some trivial tasks like fetching water.
White Peony was afraid of accepting such care. She was afraid that she would be found guilty if her child resembled Wang Chong. She wanted to do some housework but Aunt Pear Flower wouldn't let her. White Peony said, "I'm used to working but I'm a stranger to doing nothing. Let me help you a little so I can divert myself."
Aunt Pear Flower replied, "I was fired after you came here a short time ago. I can't lose my job again just for your diversion."
After that, White Peony gave up trying to help her.
White Peony went to see Jasmine to take a look at Plum, Jasmine's daughter who was less than six months old.
"Who do you think Plum resembles?" White Peony asked.
"Don't you think she looks like me?" Jasmine said.
"How can I give birth to a son that looks like his father?"
"It may depend on your child's favor. But in most cases, girls look like the mother while boys look like the father."
"Is there any exception where a boy looks like the mother?"
"Yes, but it's rare."
"Whose child is she?"
Jasmine felt confused first but then understood. She laughed and said, "I know what you mean. Are you afraid that Plum is Wang Tu's child?"
"I had worried about such a case, but I was finally relieved after you gave birth to her and she doesn't look like Wang Tu at all."
Jasmine said, "Well, I wouldn't be afraid even if she looked like Wang Tu. My husband knows all about my relationship with him, but he still wants the rent-waiving notes."
"It's not so simple in my case," White Peony thought. "If my child resembles Wang Chong, then all my efforts will have been in vain." She remained absent-minded for a while in Jasmine's house, then went home. Later, she was often distracted by thoughts of the far future. She imagined being driven away by Wang Tu and Wu Xianggui and married to Wang Chong. She thought of Wang Chong's happiness, her own distress and Red Apricot inevitably being sold as a child bride.
White Peony felt that she had to do something. She let Red Apricot sew Wang Tu's underpants and emphasized that the rectangular bag was used to hold his penis. Red Apricot was less skilled at sewing, so White Peony told her to do it again. After Red Apricot did the needlework well, she made her deliver the well-sewn underpants to Wang Tu in his room, watch him try them on and make certain adjustments if needed.
Wang Tu took the underpants from Red Apricot's hands with an unusual look. He asked, "You did this?"
Red Apricot nodded and said, "Yes. Try them on. I'll make some adjustments if they're unsuitable."
Wang Tu looked at the underpants, then at Red Apricot, and asked, "Do you know what on earth these are?"
Red Apricot answered, "Underpants."
Wang Tu pulled the rectangular bag with his hands and a lascivious expression passed over his face. He asked, "So do you know what was it supposed to hold?"
"My sister told me it was specially used to hold that."
Wang Tu kept a straight face against the urge to laugh, and asked, "Hold what?"
Red Apricot giggled wildly.
Wang Tu said, "Your sister is either foolish or sophisticated."
Red Apricot still giggled madly.
Wang Tu took lowered his pants until his hips showed. Red Apricot suddenly gave a short shout and covered her mouth. "What do you see?" Wang Tu asked.
Red Apricot pointed at something at his hip with her hand and was unable to say what it was through the giggling. Wang Tu said, "You never saw this before, did you?"
Red Apricot nodded heavily, and then shook her head, as she had seen Wang He's penis, although it was different from Wang Tu's. She didn't tell the truth. She was careless, but still understood what she couldn't say.
Wang Tu put on the underpants sewn by Red Apricot. "They're unsuitable," he said. "The bag is too small. See, it can't hold my penis." He let Red Apricot have a look.
She looked carefully, then said, "Take them off so I can make some adjustments."
Wang Tu removed the underpants. "Didn't your sister tell you my size?" he asked.
"She cut the material according to the right size, but I sewed it to a smaller size," she replied.
Red Apricot went back to White Peony with the underpants and said, "They're too small." Then she couldn't help laughing as she remembered Wang Tu trying them on.
White Peony didn't laugh but watched Red Apricot laugh until she stopped. Then she snatched the underpants from her sister's hands and said, "You should have been shy."
Red Apricot said, "If you need me to be shy, why did you make me do such sewing?" She was obviously blaming White Peony's bad intentions.
White Peony began to remove the stitches in the underpants. She said, "The bag was too small."
"You want me to be Lord Wang Tu's third concubine, don't you?"
White Peony took a look at her and said, "You're in charge of the chamber pot in Lord Wang Tu's room from tomorrow."
Red Apricot had her first period that night. Some warm fluid disturbed her dreams at midnight. She got up, turned the lights on and saw dazzling red on her pants. She went to White Peony after a few moments of helplessness. White Peony was sleeping beside Wang Tu with the door of their room unlocked. She pushed the door open and pulled White Peony from her sleep and out of the room. Then she said, "I have blood under my body too." White Peony was still between waking and dreaming, so she didn't hear Red Apricot very clearly. She had to repeat her words: "I have blood under my body too." Red Apricot had seen White Peony's blood in the same place, so she knew it was normal. She felt fearless and excited. When White Peony completely woke up, she even felt she needed no light but only Red Apricot's eyes to sufficiently illuminate the room.
Red Apricot told White Peony to look at her underpants. "See, I have blood," she said.
White Peony did see blood, even without the light. She was happy for Red Apricot, but she only said, "Okay, you're an adult now."
However, a few days later when Wu Xianggui proposed that it was time for Red Apricot to marry, she said, "She's not in such a hurry. She's still a little girl."
She didn't tell anyone about her idea. She had been focusing on creating possibilities for Wang Tu and Red Apricot. If she gave birth to a child resembling Wang Chong, she could still depend on Red Apricot marrying Wang Tu even if she herself were to be driven away by Wang Tu and Wu Xianggui. The good life that would be ruined for her could still be saved for Red Apricot. It would be perfect if they could both have a good life, but Red Apricot could still enjoy good days if something went wrong.
At the end of spring and the beginning of summer the following year, White Peony gave birth to a child with the help of Aunt Pear Flower. The child cried aloud. Aunt Pear Flower told White Peony through the child's crying that it was a boy. White Peony didn't care if it was boy or girl. She asked Aunt Pear Flower, "Who does it resemble?"
"Lord Wang Tu, of course!" Aunt Pear Flower said. White Peony didn't trust her and asked to see the child herself. Aunt Pear Flower said, "I'll take him to his aunt first."
White Peony said, "Stop. Let me look."
Aunt Pear Flower had no choice but put the child by her side. The child did look like Wang Tu, with a nose and mouth resembling his. White Peony felt relieved. She asked Aunt Pear Flower to report the good news while she exhaled as deeply as when she was giving birth. She had been worried for over ten months since she became pregnant. Now she relaxed both her mind and body completely, and just wanted to have a good sleep.
Wang Tu named the boy "Wang Guo". He showed great enthusiasm for naming his son. He employed Wu Xianggui's uncle to calculate the horoscope and select the name. White Peony didn't care about the name; the fact that the child resembled Want Tu was the most important thing. She felt she had finally attained her unshakable comfortable life.
She began to think about Red Apricot's future. Now she had to stop Red Apricot from getting close to Wang Tu and cut off the possibility between them that she had deliberately created. She reminded her of Deng Dajiao's second son Deng Erpin. However, Red Apricot disagreed, suggesting instead, "I can marry Wang He." As White Peony knew, Red Apricot got along with Wang He as well as Deng Erpin. Furthermore, she preferred Deng Erpin. White Peony said, "Wang He only has land of ten or more acres which is still managed by us, while Deng Erpin possesses several dozen acres. So even if you break up the family later, Deng Erpin will get several dozen acres of land."
Red Apricot said, "I wouldn't marry him even if he had five hundred acres. If you don't agree with me marrying Wang He, then I'll marry Lord Wang Tu. You wanted me to be his third concubine, didn't you?" Red Apricot choked her sister with these words.
White Peony felt troubled and asked, "Why don't you understand what I have in mind?"
"Your thoughts don't represent mine. Even if I understand what you think, it's not necessary for me to hear you."
"I'm your sister. I do everything for your good."
"Then don't let me marry Deng Erpin, if you want what's good for me."
"Deng Erpin likes you, too." Deng Erpin and Wang He often played with Red Apricot. His love for Red Apricot was obvious, and no less than Wang He's.
Red Apricot didn't deny it, but said, "I won't marry him no matter how much he likes me."
"Why?"
"Because I don't like him."
White Peony regretted her previous arrangements. She believed that Red Apricot was unwilling to marry Deng Erpin because of Wang Tu. She guessed that Red Apricot had sensed a good feeling from Wang Tu, and she knew that a girl will become deeply attached to someone who gives her a good feeling. A peasant once found that the seedling he painstakingly nurtured had grown into a poisonous herb. White Peony resolved to pull up that seedling. She stopped Red Apricot from taking charge of the chamber pot in their room, and told her she would no longer be involved in any needlework regarding Wang Tu.
However, Red Apricot still used Wang Tu as a shield. She always made fun of White Peony with her clever mind. She said, "Then I'll marry Lord Wang Tu. He has more land."
White Peony got so angry that she slapped her across the face. It was a resounding slap, and Red Apricot felt her cheeks swell up quickly. She didn't become angry because she was thinking about Wang He.
However, Wang He had been press-ganged as an able -bodied man on his way home during his holidays. Deng Erpin was coming back with him when they were both press-ganged. Deng Dajiao and Wang Tu bribed many people with large amounts of money but still failed to get them back. Those who accepted the money only gave them a message that this action was not included in any regulations, and they were unsure which troop Wang He and Deng Erpin were in.
White Peony said to Red Apricot, "You wanted to marry Wang He, didn't you? But now you can't even find him."
Red Apricot replied, "And you want me to marry Deng Erpin, right? But now he's missing too."
"He'll finally come back some day."
"So will Wang He."
Wang Tu discovered that Aunt Pear Flower was emptying the chamber pot. He was unhappy about this and even lost his morning sleep. He went out and asked White Peony, "Where's Red Apricot?"
"What do you want with her?" she asked in turn.
"Why is Aunt Pear Flower emptying the chamber pot?"
"I told her to." Instead of looking at Wang Tu, White Peony smiled at Wang Guo in her arms as she spoke. Wang Guo was sucking her breast. She felt as though his small mouth was making her transparent, as though she would be lit up by the sunshine on her back as he sucked her milk.
Wang Tu touched Wang Guo's face, then White Peony's breast.
White Peony said, "Red Apricot has grown up."
"You were her age when you emptied the chamber pot."
"Is it enough that I serve you exclusively?"
"I'm just unwilling to see a ... a wrinkled face as soon as I open my eyes."
White Peony chuckled and said, "Red Apricot is unwilling."
Wang Tu didn't believe her. He went to find Red Apricot. He trusted her more.
Red Apricot said, "I'm an adult. My sister is afraid that I will vie with her for you."
Wang Tu laughed and asked, "So, will you?"
"No."
Wang Tu stopped laughing and asked, "Why not?"
"I'm waiting for Wang He."
Wang Tu laughed again and tapped his belly. "You like Wang He?" he asked, and continued laughing. Red Apricot thought there was no reason to laugh, and even tapped his belly herself.
"Yes."
"What if he doesn't come back?"
"Why would you say such a thing?"
"I'm just assuming."
"Your assumption is meaningless."
Wang Tu kept silent for a while, looking at Red Apricot and showing that he was upset. Red Apricot watched his show of being upset until she's tired of it, then said, "You're jealous that I like Wang He. You thought I would marry you and be your third concubine."
"Would you?"
"You tell me."
"Will you marry me if I like you the way I like your sister?"
"No!"
"Why?"
"I'm waiting for Wang He."
"What if I won't let Wang He marry you? He's my nephew and I'm his uncle, so he has to listen to me."
"Even if you won't let him marry me, I'll still never marry you."
Wang Tu was going to ask her why again, but Red Apricot answered before he had a chance, "Because I'm waiting for Wang He."
They both noticed White Peony behind them at the same time, but White Peony hadn't heard them. They grew tired of the encounter and walked away in different directions.White Peony disliked such a close relationship between Red Apricot and Wang Tu. She felt heartbroken when she saw the scene just now. She previously thought she could share Wang Tu with others, such as Jasmine. Although she could still tolerate Wang Tu giving rent-waiving notes to Jasmine or the wives of others, she could not imagine what her life would be like if Red Apricot married Wang Tu. Actually, she was not worried about Red Apricot marrying Wang Tu, but of Wang Tu marrying any third concubine.
She was unwilling to live like Wu Xianggui.
Wu Xianggui had given up putting down her tobacco pipe since White Peony gave birth to Wang Guo. Even if Wu Xianggui was greatly diminished, White Peony was determined to hold tightly to anything representing authority by any means.
From that day, Wu Xianggui was only accompanied by the tobacco pipe. Every day, you could only see her sitting in the central room, blowing clouds of smoke. She never put the pipe down, as though it had been attached to her at birth. After a long time, she grew skinny, dry, hard and old, coming to resemble the pipe more and more. It seemed like she had been sitting there for hundreds of years in a trace.
White Peony went to see her.
"You want to talk about Red Apricot with me, right?" she asked.
"You said you'd found a husband for Red Apricot. Who is it?"
"You said it wasn't the right time."
"I was wrong. Red Apricot has reached the right age." "You're afraid of her. You're afraid she may become the third concubine of Lord Wang Tu, right?" She giggled in her old voice. The giggle gave White Peony a chill.
Wu Xianggui continued, "I wanted to make Red Apricot the concubine of Daxiu at that time, because he liked her."
White Peony frowned.
Wu Xianggui also frowned and asked, "You don't like Daxiu? So do you think Red Apricot is very noble? You turned out to be a phoenix, but Red Apricot is still a servant, isn't she? She should feel honored that Daxiu likes her."
Red Apricot said, "If you want me to marry Zhu Daxiu as his concubine, you can just strangle me right now."
White Peony said, "Either way, you're not allowed to even think about marrying Lord Wang Tu."
"I don't want to marry Lord Wang Tu. I've told you I'm waiting for Wang He, so why do you want me to marry Zhu Daxiu?"
Wu Xianggui overestimated her authority. She falsely believed that she could dominate a slave girl's destiny. In her eyes, what counted most was whether she would enjoy interfering in such matters, rather than Red Apricot's willingness. As Zhu Daxiu wanted to marry Red Apricot, she would enjoy lending a hand. She settled on an auspicious day with the help of Uncle Zhang, then started to prepare some dowries for Red Apricot.
As a result, Red Apricot purposefully looked for Wang Tu one rainy day. She found him playing chess in the street with Zhang Dabu, a storekeeper from Chongqing. Zhang Dabu had carried salt ten-odd times, but he gave that up and rented a store by Flower River to be a steady storekeeper. He bought tung oil from local people and sold salt and cloth from Chongqing.
They both loved playing Chinese chess, so they often got together. When Red Apricot arrived at the gate of Zhang Dabu's house, he raised his head sooner than Wang Tu and saw Red Apricot standing in the rain without any cover. He poked his friend. Wang Tu raised his eyes from the chessboard and stared in a trance. Zhang Dabu looked at Wang Tu, Wang Tu looked at Red Apricot and Red Apricot looked at Wang Tu.
Red Apricot looked skinnier after getting wet in the rain, like a fresh red apricot without leaves. Wang Tu wanted to grab her but he was afraid of getting wet, so he looked back to find something to shelter under. At that moment, she turned around and left quickly. Wang Tu fetched an oilcloth umbrella and chased after her. Just as he almost caught her, she jumped into the river from the bridge which stood eight zhang (a unit of length equal to 3 1/3 meters)from the water. She must have been determined. Wang Tu threw the umbrella away immediately, but he didn't jump into the river directly as he was afraid to die. He descended to the water from the bridgehead; it had two rock levels, so he went down in two steps. The people of Flower River Village cherished the river water, so they never allowed women to play in the river because they thought it could pollute the water. Red Apricot couldn't swim, so she was doomed to die. The world under the water satisfied her. She closed her eyes as though she would never look at the world above again. Just then, she was saved by Wang Tu. Holding Red Apricot, he rushed home at full speed and laid her in front of Wu Xianggui and Zhu Daxiu as they were discussing the wedding feast. Wu Xianggui and Zhu Daxiu were terrified. They were not scared of dead bodies, but scared to be involved in a death. Fortunately, Red Apricot suddenly spat out river water and came back to life. She didn't look at Wu Xianggui, Zhu Daxiu or even White Peony who rushed there in a flurry, but at Wang Tu. Her eyes seemed to have a greater depth after she was pulled out of the river. Looking into such deep eyes, Wang Tu had to hold his breath.
Wu Xianggui walked away.
So did Zhu Daxiu.
White Peony knelt down and embraced Red Apricot, but she still looked at Wang Tu. Clearly, she didn't care that she had barely escaped death, but only whether Wang Tu would stop Wu Xianggui arranging her wedding.
Taking out the half-sewn wedding dress, Wu Xianggui continued her needlework. Her eyes were not as good as before, so she could only see the needle clearly if she held the dress at arm's length. With her half-opened eyes watching the needle, she said to Wang Tu, "She's just a little girl who threw a tantrum. She won't dare do it again."
Wang Tu said, "It seems her actions were taken against yours."
"I know that."
"She doesn't like Zhu Daxiu."
Wu Xianggui seemed troubled. She stopped her needlework, stared straight ahead and said, "I'll manage the housework so you don't have to interfere."
"You can't deal with this matter in this way," Wang Tu said firmly.
"I'm doing my business and I'm in charge."
"You're only in charge because I let you be in charge. Otherwise, you're nothing."
Wu Xianggui suddenly looked up. She seemed not to know Wang Tu. He looked strange.
"You can only be in charge if I let you," he repeated.
That night, Wu Xianggui threw Red Apricot's half-sewn wedding dress at Aunt Pear Flower.
