Flowers Along the Path (Street Life)

After a serious illness, Chen Ping became the fourth daughter of the Huang family. Her family had flowers and farmland, though sadly they lived west of Luoyang, a thousand miles from the land of Shu celebrated in the great poet's verses. There wasn't a great poet to be found nearby, either, only a spiteful neighbor who was always picking flowers and fighting her for sweets. The fourth daughter could only sigh and settle down in her flower-lined lane. "Huang Fourth! You bullied my Chouer again, didn't you? Oh, you wicked girl, you shrew! Let's see who'll dare marry you in the future!" Neighbor Auntie An yelled, hopping mad. Beside her stood a little boy who turned away, tugging at his mother's skirt as he tried to head home. The fourth daughter stood grinning behind the door, showing only half her head. Though timid, she spoke boldly. "Auntie An, no need for anyone else. I've taken a liking to Jiang Cheng, and I'm going to be your good daughter-in-law. Beef and mutton on the first and fifteenth, new clothes every second and fourth day, ordering my husband around and bossing my in-laws, and living at my mother's house all year round. Jiang Cheng, how does that sound?" "Sounds good, good... Ow, Mother, let go! That hurts!" Jiang Cheng blushed and was just about to nod when his mother grabbed his ear and dragged him home. "Good my foot! You spineless little wretch, just like your useless father. Of all the people you could like, you pick a little bandit chief." Jiang Cheng covered his ear and muttered, "Mother, just the other day you said Fourth was pretty and that you wanted her as your daughter." "Bull! Your mother's bull! Your father's auntie's dog's bull!" Auntie An spat and cursed. Her own son fled with his head covered and hid in the fourth daughter's home. They shut the door tight. Jiang Cheng grinned at the fourth daughter and thumped his chest. "My mother doesn't want you as her daughter, but I'll be your son." The fourth daughter blinked. Raising a little husband seemed like it could work. She waved her fist, eager to try. "Then if you don't behave, I'll beat you up." Jiang Cheng compared her fist to his mother's and agreed without a worry. "All right, you can beat me as much as you like." The little lad happily linked fingers with her, promising her the rest of his life. Huang Fourth spent her life in Flower Lane. Even ordinary days had their charms: the daily bustle of cooking and chores, and a young couple making a lively racket. P.S. This is a true slice-of-life farming story. No emperors, princes or princesses, no generals, chancellors or marquises. The fourth daughter had it rough. The highest-ranking official she ever saw in her life was the county magistrate, and even then her brother had held her up in the crowd so they could watch the spectacle from dozens of meters away. [An adorable, lively heroine whose life goes smoothly and who never has to suffer unfair treatment] The whole story is lighthearted, with no angst, and follows the rhythms of everyday life. Come on in! ] Theme: True affection can be found in ordinary life