Chapter 35: Bida

That evening, the group invited Li Benqing and his nephew to dinner. The Aoya had sent over a lot of food and rice wine, which was perfect for entertaining. Xiong Buyou subtly inquired about the situation in the village. It turned out that after the previous dongzhu of Zhendui Village died, his son was still young, so the four Aoyas of the village assisted him. All matters, big and small, were decided collectively by the Aoyas. The leader was named Wang—the oldest one who had come to invite them. The Wang Aoya was also the dongzhu’s uncle, from the same family. As for the young man who had been quite active outside the shed, he was the son of another Aoya named Zhen, named Zhen Huan. He was a good hunter and had a lot of prestige among the young people in the village.

Li Benqing, a little drunk from the shanlan wine, also revealed that the woman who had been identified as the “jin mu” was Zhen Huan’s lover from the guilong, named Bida. During the ritual, Zhen Huan had turned hostile on the spot and almost killed the daogong. He was suppressed by the other Aoyas.

“The Zhen Aoya is having a hard time,” Li Benqing said. “Everyone is saying that his son instigated Bida to curse the dongzhu.”

“Why?”

“The earliest dongzhu of Zhendui Village was from the Zhen family,” Li Benqing said, having drunk a lot of rice wine. “The Zhen family has been established here for ten generations—”

“So long?” Fang Jinghan was a little skeptical.

“Don’t interrupt, let Li Baya continue,” Mu Min said.

Li Benqing’s face was full of smiles when he heard Mu Min call him “Baya.” This was a term the Li people used for their close and respected elders.

“About four or five generations ago, I think?” Li Benqing wasn’t sure of the exact year. “The Wang dongzhu’s ancestors also moved their whole family to this village. Their family was originally Han. Their family tree says they came from a very northern place on the mainland, and were even some kind of Han general. At that time, our village was at war with the nearby Shuishi Village. Many of the Zhen family’s sons died. The Wang family’s sons were all skilled with swords and spears. They led everyone and wiped out Shuishi Village in one go. From then on, the Wang family became the dongzhu.”

“So the Wang family is actually Han?” Xiong Buyou said. “But why would a general move his whole family to a Li village?”

Fang Jinghan, while taking notes, said, “The so-called general is probably just them puffing themselves up, right? It’s not impossible that they were just fugitive military households from the local area.”

Li Benqing said that since then, two major factions had formed in the village: one was the Wang family, and the other was the Zhen family. Although the Zhen family was no longer the dongzhu, they were deeply rooted and had a lot of power in the village, so at least one of the four Aoyas was from their family.

Now that the Wang family’s dongzhu was young, and the Zhen family had produced a young man like Zhen Huan who had a following among the young people, the balance of power was clearly beginning to shift towards the Zhen family.

“Zhen Huan is not only prestigious among the young men, but he’s also very popular in the guilong,” Li Benqing’s nose was red from drinking so much, something he rarely did. “At night, wherever he stands in front of a guilong, the door opens. No need to talk, no need to sing. Tsk tsk. But Bida is his favorite.”

“Sounds like a village version of a palace struggle,” Mu Min said. “Could the Zhen Aoya’s son be trying to seize power? Is that why he obstructed our treatment of the dongzhu? Right—” she became excited, “maybe he’s the one behind the bamboo sliver!”

“You’ve been reading too many novels,” Cui Yunhong said dismissively. “Even if it’s true, it’s none of our business.”

“Sigh,” Mu Min sighed with regret. In the past few minutes, her mind had already completed a palace struggle novel outline that was good enough for Jinjiang.

For the next two days and nights, the young man’s high fever did not subside. He Ping took his temperature every two hours, gave him sulfa drugs every six hours, and changed his dressing. On the morning of the third day, the young man’s temperature dropped to a normal level. He was also much more clear-headed and began to feel hungry. When He Ping changed his dressing, he found that there were no new signs of pus or blood on the drainage strip—the wound could be closed.

Now everyone knew that the dongzhu’s illness was cured. While the survey team was celebrating the successful conclusion of this matter, all kinds of illnesses began to spring up in the village like mushrooms after the rain. From fevers, toothaches, and stomachaches to infected wounds, there was no end to them. He Ping was, after all, just a half-baked medic, and he was immediately at a loss in the face of such a wealth of practical experience. He didn’t have many drugs in his medicine box either.

So he had to treat all the easily treatable and diagnosable diseases one by one. He also performed seven or eight minor surgeries in a row. Now, He Ping’s knife skills were incredibly fluid, and he even dared to operate on a sty, which he had previously felt he couldn’t handle. However, he was still very careful and didn’t dare to give out antibiotics indiscriminately, for fear of messing up the local microbial environment. As for diseases with difficult-to-determine causes like stomachaches, He Ping simply made some pills with the rice flour and honey sent by the villagers and distributed them. Surprisingly, many people claimed to have been cured after taking them—the power of the placebo was still very strong.

The Shilu iron mine survey team thus became miracle doctors, and every day, goods were continuously sent from the various households in the Li village. When everyone discovered that these “miracle doctors” didn’t eat much pork or beef and seemed to prefer chicken, all the live chickens in the village were gone. Cui Yunhong looked with some distress at the various gifts piled up in the courtyard in front of Li Benqing’s house: game, live chickens, rice wine, leather, kapok cloth, kudzu cloth, and various rattan wares… a wide variety of things, it was clear that they had brought out the best local products. Cui Yunhong suddenly noticed that people were still bringing cattle and tying them up in front of the door.

“What’s this for?” Cui Yunhong asked the apprentice Wang.

“This is the payment for your medical treatment,” the apprentice Wang was also very happy to see that this group of merchants from the ship was so capable. When the water rises, the boat floats high. In the past few days, he had been privately invited to many meals by people, with plenty of wine and meat. “The Li people have no money, only mountain goods and cattle.”

“This—” Cui Yunhong thought that Wu Nanhai would be very happy with the local cattle, but how to get so many cattle back to Fort Changhua? This was a technical job.

While he was hesitating, the Aoyas sent someone to invite them to a banquet.

At the banquet, all four Aoyas were present and took turns toasting the survey team. The young dongzhu was weak after his illness and did not eat or drink much, but sat at the head of the table with his mother, curiously looking at this group of strange merchants.

After a few rounds of rice wine, the leading Wang Aoya clapped his hands, and someone brought out a plate. Cui Yunhong looked and saw that it was covered with large and small pieces of silver and copper coins, white and green. It looked like a lot, but it was actually only a dozen or so taels of silver and more than a thousand copper coins. The Li people did not pay much attention to wealth and currency. All trade was done by barter, and they did not hoard gold and silver. To be able to produce this much, they must have turned the whole village upside down.

“This is a meager gift,” Wang Aoya said. “In addition, we will give you fifty head of cattle as a token of our gratitude.”

The Li people loved to raise cattle, and they had a large number of them. They often used cattle as a means of exchange.

This number startled them. Not to mention anything else, how would they get so many cattle back to Fort Changhua? Besides, Fort Changhua itself could not raise cattle; they all had to be transported back to Lingao and handed over to the Agriculture Committee. The thought of having to feed and clean up after the cattle for the next few weeks made everyone stare at the leaders of the team, urging them to refuse immediately.

Mu Min said to Cui Yunhong, “We can’t accept this gift. So many cattle, it’s probably half of the whole village’s stock. If they give them all to us, what will they do for farming?”

Cui Yunhong’s thoughts were not so noble; he was just afraid of being a cowboy. Although their starting points were different, their views were the same. So he firmly declined, saying that they had helped the dongzhu and the Li people out of kindness and could not accept such a generous gift.

Seeing their sincere words and how they were completely different from the usual merchants who were greedy for money, the Aoyas’ respect for them grew.

“You have done our Li village such a great favor, and you are unwilling to accept our gifts,” Wang Aoya felt troubled. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

Mu Min felt that this was her chance. The girl who had been falsely accused of being a “jin mu” was still locked up in the village. As soon as the dongzhu recovered, she would be killed. So she proposed that they pardon Bida. If they were afraid that she would harm people, they were willing to take her away from the village and never let her come back.

Li Benqing, who was acting as the interpreter, looked troubled and reluctantly translated their meaning. This request made the leaders present look troubled. From their hearts, it was naturally a good thing to get rid of a dangerous “jin mu” like Bida, but to let the Han people take away a woman of their own people was unacceptable. They had also done a great favor to the village, and it seemed impolite not to agree.

After a long while, Wang Aoya finally said, “Bida is a ‘jin mu’. If she brings a ‘curse’ to you after you take her away, how can we bear the responsibility? It’s better to deal with her here.”

Mu Min insisted three times, but Wang Aoya refused. Suddenly, the Zhen Aoya spoke up, “She is a scourge. Even if we kill her here, she will still harm people as a ghost. The several Bahe have powerful magic. If you take her away, you might be able to suppress her.”

The dongzhu, who had been silent all this time, also nodded and said, “Let the several Bahe take her away. After all, the daogong in the village can’t suppress her either.”

Wang Aoya’s face showed displeasure, but he did not act on it due to the dongzhu’s wishes. And so it was decided. Wang Aoya repeatedly offered them gifts again. After some polite refusal, Cui Yunhong felt that it would be too impolite not to accept anything, and besides, the Agriculture Committee also needed cattle. So he agreed to accept ten head. Wang Aoya was overjoyed and immediately had someone prepare ten strong cattle.

Cui Yunhong also remembered the soapberry forest outside the village and proposed to take a few hundred jin back.

“Good!” The Zheng Aoya didn’t know why they were interested in those beans, but since they wanted them, he readily agreed and arranged for people to go and pick them. The two sides also carved a wooden tally as a contract. The transmigrators would come to the Li village at least once a year to treat their sick, and whenever the transmigrators came to the Li territory on business, they could rest and stay in the village with this wooden tally. Food and firewood would be provided by the Li village, and they could also provide porters and cattle to transport goods if needed.

That night, everyone enjoyed themselves as hosts and guests. The next morning, the survey team set off to return to Fort Changhua. Everyone had spent more than ten days with Li Benqing, and there was naturally a sense of reluctance to part. The apprentice Wang, however, was very happy. This time, he had brought this group of people to the Li territory, not only getting rare white sugar as payment, but also receiving many gifts from the local Li people. It was a small fortune.

The ten cattle were all tied with baskets of soapberries and many other local products. Because there were too many gifts, Cui Yunhong could only take one or two of the more useful items from each family’s gift and return the rest. This act deeply moved the entire village, and they gained a great reputation for their righteousness.

The apprentice Wang herded the cattle in front, and the survey team followed him out of the village gate. The Aoyas and many Li people lined the road to see them off, and the atmosphere was enthusiastic. Xiong Buyou said, “Now I know what it feels like to be the Eighth Route Army—”

Mu Min said with emotion, “This is the hearts of the people.”

After walking for three or four li, by a grove of trees, the Zhen Aoya and a few Li men were waiting for them. A woman was tied to a tree with a rope, her hands bound.

“This is Bida,” the Zhen Aoya ordered the rope to be untied and handed it to Mu Min. “She is yours. Take her as far away as possible, and never bring her back. It would be best to change her name as well.”

“We know. We will treat her well,” Mu Min said with a solemn expression.

A hint of gratitude appeared on the Zhen Aoya’s previously indifferent face. “Bida is a pitiful child. You are good people. Please take good care of her.”

After saying this, the Zhen Aoya turned and left with his men. Everyone felt a sense of loss. Xiong Buyou spoke up:

“Why do I feel that the Zhen Aoya doesn’t quite believe she is a ‘jin mu’?”

“There are probably some hidden circumstances. We won’t get involved in that. We’re just saving a life,” Cui Yunhong said. “Let’s go.”

Mu Min walked up to the woman. Perhaps because she had been imprisoned, the woman’s hair was messy. She wore a low-collared short shirt and a long blue tube skirt embroidered with white flowers. Her clothes were dirty and torn in several places, making her look very pathetic.

She looked at the group in terror and shrank back. Only then did everyone see that her face was not heavily tattooed like other Li women, but only had some thin, faint patterns along the edges of her forehead and cheeks. She had curved eyebrows and looked to be only sixteen or seventeen, with delicate features. After seeing so many tattooed faces, seeing such a young woman’s face was a refreshing sight.

Mu Min was surprised and asked the apprentice Wang, “Her tattoos are very light?”

“This is also considered tattooed,” the apprentice Wang said. Indeed, some women were unwilling to be tattooed and only did it symbolically—after all, everyone loves beauty.

The group set off on their return journey with this unexpected gain. Mu Min wanted to untie the ropes binding her hands, but Cui Yunhong said that they had promised to take the girl away. If they untied her and she ran back to the Li village, it would not only harm her, but it would also make them seem untrustworthy.

Bida was very obedient, walking when they walked and resting when they rested. But no matter who asked her questions, she remained silent. Mu Min thought that she was so young, and because of a baseless accusation, she was now following a group of strange foreigners to an unknown destination. The pain in her heart must be imaginable. It was better not to say or ask too much.

After walking for more than ten li, they suddenly heard a “swoosh” in the air, followed by a sharp whistle.

[Note: Bida is a kind of musical instrument of the Li people. It’s probably more suitable as a woman’s name. This instrument is actually a product of modern times. It is not known whether it existed in the Ming dynasty. It looks similar to a panpipe.]