Ye Zheng woke from sleep to a buzzing in his head and a terribly raw throat. He tried and tried to hold back, but finally couldn't help coughing several times.
Someone must have heard the commotion inside. A moment later, the door creaked open, and against the light, a slender, tall figure came in carrying a bowl of steaming medicine.
“You're awake. Does your throat hurt? Drink your medicine first.”
Ye Zheng wanted to sit up, but his entire body ached and he had no strength. The newcomer, however, was strong. He slipped his hands beneath Ye Zheng's armpits, lifted him a little higher against the pillow, and tucked the quilt around him.
Ye Zheng's throat hurt, and the medicine was bitter and astringent. It took him ages to swallow a single spoonful.
But the young man was extraordinarily patient. With gentle encouragement and coaxing, he fed him the whole bowl.
Then, before Ye Zheng could even ask for water, a cup of warm water was already held to his lips.
After two large gulps, the burning in Ye Zheng's throat seemed to ease a little.
“If you're still feeling unwell, sleep a little longer.”
The young man shut the door and went out. Not long afterward, voices and the scraping of work tools could be heard outside.
The room grew quiet. Snuggled in a quilt washed white with age but still wonderfully fluffy, Ye Zheng finally had time to sort through his chaotic thoughts.
Xishan Village was an ancient village nestled between mountains and water. This world differed from the one Ye Zheng had come from: there were three sexes in all—men, gers, and women.
Men were ordinary males, and women were just like the women Ye Zheng knew. The only difference was the existence of gers.
Gers were males with masculine appearances who could conceive children. They were generally slighter and weaker than ordinary men, and they bore fertility marks on their bodies.
A fertility mark might take the shape of a flower, or it might be a mole. The brighter and pinker the mark, the stronger the ger's ability to bear children. Such a person was considered highly fertile and much sought after. A faded mark, on the other hand, indicated difficulty conceiving and attracted little interest.
The young man who had just fed Ye Zheng his medicine, Yun Qing, was a ger.
Beneath Yun Qing's right eye was a red mole the size of a grain of rice. But its color was dull, and without looking carefully, one might mistake it for an ordinary beauty mark. That signified Yun Qing's relatively low fertility: he was not one of those gers prized for being able to bear children easily.
What was more, Yun Qing had followed his father into the mountains to hunt and into the rivers to catch fish since childhood. He had learned all the skills of a hunter, which also meant that he shot up in height during adolescence.
In this ancient era, when malnutrition was widespread and people generally weren't tall, Yun Qing had handsome brows, elegant eyes, and a strikingly upright, willowy figure. He was taller than many of the village's ordinary men. With his faint fertility mark and obvious difficulty conceiving, he was already sixteen and no one had come to propose marriage. Most gers in the village had prospective matches looking them over around thirteen and were married by sixteen.
His parents worried themselves sick, yet Yun Qing was untroubled. He was strong and had useful skills; even if he never married a man, he wouldn't starve.
When Yun Qing reached eighteen without a single proposal, his parents more or less abandoned hope of marrying him off. They began considering bringing a husband into the family. They hired a matchmaker to make inquiries everywhere and said that as long as the man was of good character, his family circumstances didn't matter.
In these times, villagers looked down on men who married into their spouse's families. They believed that only the most incompetent and spineless men would become live-in sons-in-law. Any man with an ounce of pride or self-respect would refuse.
Still, there were lazy idlers who thought that since they could barely feed themselves anyway, getting a spouse for free wouldn't be bad. They could have someone wash clothes and do the hard labor during the day, then warm their bed at night. And with any luck, the parents-in-law would die early, leaving the Yun family's property to them. Then they could kick Yun Qing aside and marry some pretty young woman instead. What bliss!
The shameless creatures who brazenly showed up to offer themselves on those terms made not only Yun Qing but also his parents frown. After the family drove off several unsavory candidates, the matchmaker grew furious, rolled her eyes, and refused to visit again.
She even made pointed remarks to infuriate the Yun family: “Your Yun Qing, at his age and with his prospects, still wants to be choosy? I'd like to see what sort of husband he can find in the end!”
Father Yun was so angry he almost fought the matchmaker. Yun Qing stopped him and said with perfect courtesy, “Whatever kind of match I find will be my own fate. There's no need to trouble yourself about it, Auntie.”
Seeing Father Yun start to use his fists, the matchmaker had intended to throw herself around making a huge scene, so the entire village would come to watch the Yun family's humiliation.
But when Yun Qing stood before her with such an open, graceful manner and spoke so gently, her face grew awkward. For some reason, she couldn't bring herself to make a spectacle of herself.
After leaving the Yun family's gate, the matchmaker felt a trace of regret. With that character and appearance, why hadn't he been born a man? If he were, gers and girls from all the surrounding villages would probably be clamoring to marry him. But he was a ger, and one who neither dressed up nor looked particularly feminine. What family would want their son to marry him?
By the time Yun Qing turned twenty, he was thoroughly considered a hopeless case in the village. The gers his age already had little children trailing after them, while he was still single.
His parents understood that their Qing probably had no hope of marriage in this lifetime. Without saying much, they simply worked as hard as they could every day.
They hunted in the mountains, transplanted rice seedlings in the fields, and wove baskets in their spare time. They saved their handicrafts to sell in town, determined to leave as much property as possible while they were alive, so their only child wouldn't have a miserable old age.
It would be a lie to say Yun Qing didn't want someone to share life's warmth and hardships with. But he knew he wasn't as soft or delicate as other gers, and he wasn't accustomed to relying on anyone. Besides, he didn't care for the aging bachelors in the village. He would rather live alone than marry one of them, so he put the matter entirely out of his mind.
Who could have guessed that the day before yesterday, merely by going up the mountain to check his snares, he would end up bringing home a little live-in husband?
This was what had happened:
Yun Qing was carrying a rabbit down the mountain when he passed the Ye family's dry field. There he saw Ye Zheng collapsed at the field's edge, his condition unknown, while Madam Wang of the Ye family sat in the shade fanning herself.
Unable to bear the sight, Yun Qing asked a couple of questions, only to be snapped at by Madam Wang: “An unmarried ger ought to mind his own business instead of poking his nose into everything! Are you that desperate for a man? Or have you taken a fancy to our handsome Zheng?”
Anyone else might have quarreled with her, but Yun Qing wasn't someone who cared about such remarks. He explained, “Sister-in-law Ye, you've misunderstood me. I only noticed that Ye Zheng's face is pale and his lips are cracked. Those are signs of heatstroke. It's too dangerous to leave him out in this scorching sun.”
Madam Wang couldn't have cared less. As far as she was concerned, it would be better if this younger brother-in-law, who couldn't lift a load or do hard work, died. That would be one less mouth to feed.
Of course, she couldn't say so aloud. If the younger brother-in-law died of heatstroke at home, that would be his own fault and have nothing to do with her. But here, at a field where people came and went, someone had already identified heatstroke. If she still ignored him and he died, she would look like a truly vicious sister-in-law, and her reputation would suffer. She might be harsh, but harshness and outright cruelty were different things.
Still, she begrudged this freeloader even a drink of the family's water. Seeing the anxiety on Yun Qing's face, Madam Wang's eyes darted, and a scheme occurred to her.
She suddenly raised her voice. “Oh, dear! I left home so early this morning that I didn't bring any water. Qing, since you like meddling in other people's affairs, why don't you give Zheng a drink?”
Yun Qing could plainly see a water jar on the ridge behind her. But saving a life was urgent, and he had no desire to waste time arguing with the woman. He set down the dead rabbit, took a bamboo flask from the basket on his back, supported the limp neck of the young man on the ground with one hand, and tried to give him water.
But perhaps because the heatstroke had gone on too long, Ye Zheng's body was somewhat rigid. His teeth were clenched so tightly that it took Yun Qing tremendous effort to get even a little water into his mouth.
Yun Qing grew anxious. The neck resting against his arm felt burning hot, yet there wasn't a single drop of sweat. That was a sign of severe heatstroke. If this continued, the young man might die.
With a life hanging in the balance, Yun Qing no longer cared about the conventions separating gers and men. He quickly bent down to listen to Ye Zheng's breathing, only to hear it growing weaker. He hurriedly urged Madam Wang, “Sister-in-law Ye, Ye Zheng is in terrible danger. You're his elder sister-in-law, and people say an elder brother's wife is like a mother. I have water and a cloth here. Could you please wet the cloth and wipe down Ye Zheng's body to cool him?”
Ye Zheng was only a few years younger than Madam Wang's third son, Ye Wangzu. By the time Ye Zheng was born, her eldest son was already betrothed. She was certainly old enough to be his mother. And when someone's life was at stake, the villagers would understand, so Yun Qing's suggestion was hardly unreasonable.
But Madam Wang had her own designs. She rolled her eyes and refused on the spot. “Since ancient times, when has an elder sister-in-law ever wiped down her younger brother-in-law's body, especially in a place where people keep passing by? Qing, what's your intention in suggesting such a thing? If someone has to wipe him, you do it. I'm not going to disgrace myself!”
Seeing Yun Qing hesitate, she deliberately goaded him. “What's wrong, Qing? Didn't you feel so sorry for Zheng? Or was it all fake compassion, and you don't really care if someone dies? Ah, I know it's improper for an unrelated ger to undress a man. Would you like your sister-in-law here to think up a solution for you?”
Yun Qing frowned at Madam Wang. The body in his arms was growing hotter and hotter.
Madam Wang smiled faintly at him and finally revealed the little scheme she'd been nursing. “I heard your family wants to recruit a live-in son-in-law for you. How about this? Zheng is unmarried, and so are you. He's even passed the child-scholar examination, so he does have some scholarly standing. Letting him marry into your family wouldn't disgrace your household. If you agree, I'll witness the arrangement and formally betroth you. Naturally, a ger who's engaged has every right to wipe down his own man's body, and no one would dare say anything. What do you think, Qing? Isn't that a good solution?”
Yun Qing had only wanted to save a life. He'd never imagined that saving someone would require sacrificing his own future. Looking at Ye Zheng's fever-reddened face, he suddenly felt at a loss. “This…”
Madam Wang glared and snorted. “What? You refuse? Ha! If you won't agree, I certainly can't let my Zheng ruin your chastity. Put him down and hurry home, then. Whether he lives or dies is up to Heaven. There's nothing I can do!”
