Assassin Farmer

Chapter 16-20

Chapter 16: Hua House

The Hua Family had lived in Fan Hua Town for a long time. The first wives of the past two generations were renowned for their proficiency. Whatever the current madam and the current first wife would find to be profitable, was definitely going to be such. This included the current family's house and their two acres of fertile land.

The original house of the Hua Family was located in the north-western part of Fan Hua Town. It was a small abode that consisted of a small yard, two main rooms, and one side room. During that time, Hua Xiangyin was head of the House. He had two sons and two daughters. His wife had died when giving birth to the youngest son, Hua Kang. Hua Xiangyin had to act as the mother and father figure for the children since then. Relying on his woodworking skills, he raised his radishes (kids) all by himself. He had saved up a lot of money for the bride prices of his sons' future wives.

The daughters were only two years apart in age. The two had married early when they were fifteen and thirteen years old. They had wed at the same time to a pair of twins from Luoshui Town. Even now, they were living in bliss.

And so it had happened that Hua Xiangyin had found his eldest son a match. The girl, Liu-shi* was from Luoshui Town. Her father was in the same woodworking trade. Not too long after Lui-shi* was wed into the Hua House, she decided that the residence was too small for her taste. Taking advantage of the fact that she was about to give birth, she had gone to the family head and asked to be allowed to move out.

(XX-shi, 氏; XX=maiden name)

At first, Hua Xiangyin wasn't happy. The second son had yet to marry, and here she was trying to split the family! If that were to happen, he would be ridiculed as an old man that couldn't accommodate other people's wives! However, Liu-shi had not listened and kept insisting on moving out. Hua Xiangyin was a very honest man who didn't like to argue with women. In the end, he could only slap his thigh and say that he would give the couple some money to allow them to buy land and settle down on their own.  

Liu-shi was very shrewd. She had taken the small amount of money given and bought a plot of land and a house with the best view in town for their new homestead. She had also, after a lot of persuasion, traded the old Hua Family's parched acres of land for two acres of paddy fields on the south side.

The current head of town estate, Sun Youmao, from then on had kept a keen eye on the young Madam Hua. Whenever she came to inquire about anything, he would act dumb and deaf regardless of what she said or asked. Then, after she would leave, he would carefully analyze everything until her intentions became clear, so once she returned, he would be prepared. He was determined to absolutely not fall for her traps again, like that time years ago when she had nagged and fussed him until he fell into her trap.

To this point, Sun Youmao fully embodied the proverb: "bitten by a snake, ten years afraid of a rope."

After Liu-shi had moved out with Hua An, the eldest son, their life had been very prosperous in the following years. Liu-shi's fertility matched her luck and she would give birth to a child every two years, ending up with three of them. That streak had been broken when Hua An's younger brother, Hua Kang, had caught the eye of a wealthy lady and was adopted into her family while he was an apprentice in Fan Lou City. Hua Xiangyin had become so infuriated that he had fallen ill. In less than half a year, he had passed away. To show respect and filial piety, the children (including in-laws) had to undergo a period of mourning. (This meant no wearing red; nothing celebrative for a certain amount of time; i.e. childbirth) Therefore, Liu-shi too no longer gave birth to any more children.

Liu-shi had sold off the old Hua family's house, passing it off as a filial act since her brother-in-law's surname was no longer Hua and was instead Lu Kang. Naturally, that money was not given to him, and it was kept for her three sons to help in finding their future wives.