Quincy's Quiet Contemplation Chapter 42

A year later, July 28th was Yuzhu's birthday. When Yuzhu was still Wang Caidong's wife, they would have a banquet every July 28th. Bai Tu would go to the market to buy meat and vegetables, and inevitably bring a few pig intestines and sheep intestines. So he knew it was Yuzhu's birthday and wanted to give her a good meal. He bought three pounds of flour and half a pound of pork and came back to Yuzhu: Do you know what day it is today? Yuzhu said: What day? He said: It's your birthday. Yuzhu said: It's your birthday. Bai Tu didn't say anything to her, and chopped the stuffing to make dumplings. After the dumplings were made, thinking how nice it would be to have fried chili, he let Yuzhu sit in the shed, gave her a carrot to chew, and took the bowl to the street. Bai Tu bought oil first. Two taels of oil had already been poured into the bowl. He asked how much it was? The oil seller said one yuan, Bai Tu said he only had three cents on him, so he didn't buy it and poured the oil into the other person's oil basket. He went to buy spicy noodles again, and the noodles were also put in an oil bowl. For two cents, he quarreled with the spicy noodle seller and gave the noodles to the seller instead of buying them. There was a layer of oil and spicy noodles in the bowl. Bai Tu took the bowl and walked back. The spicy noodle seller scolded him: "Everyone says you are a stupid beggar, you are so cunning, you have both oil and spicy noodles without paying a penny!" Bai Tu did not say anything back, but smiled and walked away, but the man caught up with him, snatched the bowl, and smashed it to the ground.

Bai Tu came back empty-handed. There was still half a radish in the hut, but the jade bracelet was missing.

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Bai Tu searched all over the county for jade bracelets, but could not find them. At that time, the toilets in the back alleys of the county were still water latrines, and outside the latrine was a urinal. Some were covered with straws, and some were naked. Bai Tu was worried that Yu Huan had not come back and went out to look for him. Maybe he slipped and fell into the urinal, so he took a stick and stirred up all the urinals, but still didn't see the jade bracelet. He was shouting along the street: Jade bracelet! Jade bracelet! He screamed hoarsely. In the middle of the night, I returned to the thatched shed, hugged the piece of brick on which the jade bracelet had been placed, cried, and scolded the dog for beating the dog.

Eight months later, Bai Tu brought Hei Gou back to Laocheng Village. Laocheng Village had changed into a completely different place. The east city gate had collapsed, and the old cypress trees on the south bank had been cut down. Shuanlao's wife married Ma Sheng and got pregnant again. Her belly was as big as a pot. She ran into him at the entrance of the village and asked, "Are you a ghost?" Bai Tu said, "I am Bai Tu." The woman said, "Didn't you say you were eaten by wolves when you went out? Why are you back?" Bai Tu said, "I'm back. Where's Shuanlao? I have to tell Shuanlao that I'm back." The woman spat on Bai Tu's face and turned away.