The Blacksmith Married a Fox Lady

When Qinghe was ten, she came with her mother and younger sister to Wu Family Village, settling in a dilapidated house at the foot of a remote mountain.

Her father had just died, and both her mother and sister were sickly. Afraid they would be bullied, Qinghe took on the burden of caring for the family. She disguised herself as a boy and told everyone she was a son of the family. At night, she stayed awake with a hatchet by the door. Anyone who dared come to their home would get the hatchet, and she would show them no mercy.

Some people really did experience Qinghe's relentless pursuit. After that, no one dared come to their home again, or underestimate the quiet young boy who, when enraged, glared with bloodshot eyes and fought to the death.

After running a blacksmith shop in Wu Family Village for many years, Qinghe reached the age to marry. Her peers were gradually starting families, but she kept putting it off until she became the last unmarried older youth in the village.

The matchmakers wore a path to her door, but she rejected every one of them. Eventually, her mother told her that this couldn't go on and suggested that she simply tell them she was a woman.

The Wu surname was the most common in Wu Family Village, while only a handful of people were surnamed Qing. The villagers were already clannish. Her family had worked hard to build a new house and establish themselves here. They couldn't hand over a weakness for people to exploit and bully them with.

Qinghe decided to keep up the charade, but she couldn't put off marriage forever. She had heard that fox wives could not bear children, so she planned to use that as an excuse to avoid sharing a bed with one, while living together with the fox wife as a family. To outsiders, they would be a married couple without children, and no one would suspect who she really was.

The matchmaker went up Fox Mountain and found a fox woman who had only just taken human form. She was learning human speech, but had no idea how to behave like a human. The matchmaker asked Qinghe if she was willing to spend time teaching her.

Qinghe found the fox woman, explained that they would not share a bed, and asked if she was still willing to marry her.

The fox woman was willing to marry. Qinghe was willing to teach her.

When people married, they usually hoped for a wife who could manage the household, do needlework, and cook well. Qinghe, however, married a fox wife who couldn't do any of those things, and who seemed like a burden to the family. Many in Wu Family Village laughed at them, never imagining that within three years of the fox wife's arrival, she and Qinghe would save up a fortune, buy a house in the city, and become city folk.

Then they would cut all ties with those crude country folk.

Reading Guide:

1. A society where humans and foxes coexist, with fox women, fox men, and ordinary foxes.

2. The fox wife has fox ears and a tail; otherwise, she looks human.

3. Some people seem fearless and able to endure anything, but are actually crybabies who often sneak up Fox Mountain to wipe away their tears.

Theme: Perseverance makes anything possible.