With the year drawing to a close, this was Jiang Yi's busiest time of year. Why?
Because she was good at slaughtering pigs!
One day, Jiang Yi helped a neighbor slaughter a pig. Her hand rose and the knife fell; the pig had just breathed its last when a middle-aged man standing some distance away finally summoned the courage to approach and explain why he had come.
"What? You want to arrange a marriage for me?!" The ancestral butcher's knife in Jiang Yi's hand wobbled.
The middle-aged man dabbed at the sweat on his brow with a trembling handkerchief, then continued.
"What? You want me to marry someone to bring him good fortune?!!"
Jiang Yi flew into a rage. With a loud smack, she brought the butcher's knife down on the skinned pig. Its head came off, and the pig's face happened to be turned toward the middle-aged man.
Several years later.
At the pork stall in the South Street market, Jiang Fanqing briskly cut and weighed the meat, tied it up with straw rope, and handed it to a woman. She took the copper coins and tossed them into a jar.
Then, with another loud smack, she drove the gleaming butcher's knife deep into the chopping block, put a hand on her hip, and turned to ask:
"Have you learned how to sell pork yet?"
The frail Lin Yun'yun froze. Suddenly feeling unwell, she covered her mouth with a delicate handkerchief and coughed violently.
Jiang Fanqing looked at his sickly wife and shook his head helplessly.
"You have to accept your fate when it comes to the wife you married yourself!"
Thanks to the adorable Xixing for making the cover! Love you, mwah!
A reader's guide
An imaginary dynasty with an open-minded culture where men can marry men and women can marry women.
This story was originally titled The Fateful Jade Encounter, also known as There Is a Beauty, and later as Marrying a Sickly Wife. They're all pretty cheesy, but I like them.
Slow burn, lightly sweet, not cloying.
