Yan the Peddler, Why Are You Back Again?

The peddler Yan came again, carrying his shoulder pole. The women and children of Qili Village ran pell-mell to the village entrance.

"I want a skewer of candied hawthorns!"

"Give me a bag of malt candy!"

"An embroidery needle, one with a thick end!"

Tall and burly, Yan the Peddler kept his face stiff. He never smiled while doing business. After sending the children on their way, it was the women’s turn, and his manner grew even more cold and hard.

"A thick-ended needle costs five coins. You’ll have to give me two more."

"What? Five coins?! You sold one to Wu Chunhua for three coins the other day, and even gave her two scraps of cloth. Now you want to charge me five?!"

"Her family’s from the same village as mine, so naturally I gave her a discount."

Wu Chunhua hurried to the village entrance. Seeing the man surrounded by a crowd, she pressed her lips together at his words.

Actually, he’d also given her eldest daughter a skewer of candied hawthorns.

Wu Chunhua returned to her family home with her daughter after getting a divorce.

Word spread throughout the village that she’d nearly hacked Sun Daliang to death with a kitchen knife. The Sun family couldn’t stand her, and didn’t even want the daughter she’d borne them, so they’d driven both mother and child out.

The village chief worried she’d damage the village’s reputation and interfere with the marriages of young men and women of marriageable age. He visited every few days to urge the Wu family to find her a second husband.

"She can’t stay at her parents’ home forever. Hurry up and find Chunhua a good family to marry into!"

Just as Granny Wu was fretting over it, Yan Daliang from the village came to propose.

The father and son were laden with gifts: meat, wine, fabric, rice, flour, pastries, silver...

Who brought his son along to propose?

Wait, he wasn’t marrying a divorced woman. A young woman who’d never been married might not even get such a generous betrothal gift!

The man was taciturn, and for a long while couldn’t force out a complete sentence.

At last, he solemnly promised, "I’ll treat you and your daughter well. Chunhua, you... please marry me."

Wu Chunhua liked that his family had plenty of rooms, enough to accommodate her daughter, Daya, so she nodded and married him.

After they married, Yan Daliang put down his shoulder pole and followed in his father’s footsteps, traveling as an armed escort.

He went back and forth between the north and south, making a profit by trading goods. Whenever he returned from a trip, his purse was bulging.

He bought fields and a house, and there was money left over in the cash box year after year.

They carefully raised Daya, and when she grew up, she shot up and became more and more lovely.

Their young son buried himself in his books, first passing the junior licentiate exam, then the licentiate exam. Good news kept arriving.

Their family moved from the village to the town, then to the county seat. Their lives grew more prosperous with every passing day, making the villagers’ eyes burn with envy and leaving them thumping their chests in regret.

"Yan Daliang was so capable. Why did he waste all those years working as a peddler?"

"Why do you think? Just look at which village he used to visit most often."

Wu Chunhua hadn’t even divorced yet, and Yan Daliang already had his eye on her!

Who says a second marriage can’t be good? Look how well they’re doing. A second marriage can be wonderful!

Reading Guide: A slow-paced story about everyday family life.

1. This is a fictional setting.

2. This is a fictional setting.

3. This is a fictional setting.

4. Please don’t offer writing advice. If you don’t like it, feel free to leave.

5. This story is entirely fictional. Any scenes involving the hunting of wild animals are made up. Protecting wild animals is everyone’s responsibility. We are law-abiding citizens.

Theme: A family working together