Chapter 26: Man Above Men

  Second watch

  Lian Yu'er's upper body was held by He, Zhou, Gu, Lian Xiuer, Lian Hua'er and Lian Duo'er pressed down on both of Lian Yu'er's legs, Li Si Niang put one of Lian Yu'er's feet on her knee, prying open Lian Yu'er's toes, then sprinkled a large amount of alum in the gap between Lian Yu'er's toes.

  What Lian Wan saw in her eyes was Li Si's grandmother's thin but powerful hands with bulging veins, and what she heard in her ears was Lian Yu's mournful cry, interspersed with the crisp sound of Lian Yu's toe bones.

  It's definitely a fracture and dislocation of the toe bone. This is too cruel. Lian Man thought so, but what happened next made her even more frightened.

  Li Si's grandmother took out two bamboo boards from her bosom and placed them on either side of Lian Yu'er's feet. Then she picked up a strip of cloth wrapped around the foot, which was covered with broken porcelain pieces, and began to wrap it around Lian Yu'er's foot in circles. She wrapped it quite tightly, and Lian Yu'er clearly saw that the blood gradually stained the layers of cloth red.

  Lian Man Er's upper and lower teeth started fighting, while feeling... foot pain.

  At this time, Lian Ya's wailing had already become indistinguishable from that of a beast.

  "Mother, I'm dying of pain, I don't want to be bound by my feet anymore. Mother, just kill me!" Lian Yu'er wailed and cried as she rushed to plead with He Shi.

  He's family held Lian Yu tightly in her arms, and she was also drenched in sweat.

  "Fourth Granny, can't you...?" He Shi finally couldn't bear to see her daughter like this and pleaded with Li Fourth Granny.

  Li Si's mother didn't even lift her head.

  "If you want to wrap up nicely, it has to be like this. If you want to regret, now is still in time."

  "No, I won't regret it." He said hastily.

  Li Si's grandmother wrapped the two feet of Lian Yu'er like a zongzi, and then took out the needle and thread to sew the cloth strips tightly. During this time, she raised her head and met Lian Yu'er's gaze.

  Lian Man'er hastily withdrew her head.

  "I told you not to look, are you scared now?" Lian Zhi'er pulled over Lian Man'er and said with concern.

  "It's wrapped up like this, it's a bit small, but I should still be able to wear those little shoes." Lian Man'er was a bit puzzled.

  "This is the first time, there will be a second time, a third time, at least half a year's work." Lian Zhier explained to Lian Maner.

  Inside the house, Li Si's grandmother had already sewn up both of Lian Yu'er's feet and put on a slightly larger pair of shoes for her.

  "Let's go for a walk." said Mrs. Li Si, releasing Lian Yu's foot.

  "Must we go now?" asked Mrs. He.

  "Mother, my feet are cut by a thousand knives, I can't walk." Lian Yu'er cried in He Shi's arms.

  "It's through suffering hardship that one becomes a great person." Li Si's grandmother said slowly as she gathered up the bamboo steamer.

  "You, Lao Gu, and your sisters Hua Er and Duo Er also went through this time, just gritted their teeth and got through it." Zhou Shi said, having wrapped the feet of Lian Xiu Er, Lian Hua Er, and Lian Duo Er early on, without using bamboo boards or porcelain shards.

  Lian'ou'er lay paralyzed in He Shi's arms and refused to get off the kang.

  Lian Man'er was listening outside, she had seen the broken porcelain pieces in the foot wrapping cloth with her own eyes, and to tread on that road was simply comparable to one of the ten great tortures, just thinking about it was terrifying enough. Although she was afraid in her heart, driven by curiosity, she quietly lifted a corner of the door curtain again.

  He took Lian Yu'er down from the kang and put her on the ground. Lian Yu'er leaned all her weight against He's chest, crying and begging him.

  "If we show mercy now, then our previous suffering would have been in vain." said Gu Shi.

  He thought for a moment and then pushed Lian Yu'er away.

  Lian Yu'er's entire foot was covered with broken porcelain pieces, how could she stand still, and with a thud, she fell down. He Shi walked up to her, helped Lian Yu'er up again, and let her continue walking.

  Dance on the tip of a knife.

  Why must I endure such cruel torture? Is it because this is what beauty looks like, what dignity looks like, and only then can I be chosen to marry into a good family and live a good life.

  Good days she had thought of, but she absolutely did not want to suffer such torture. Marrying into a wealthy family to live good days, if she herself was from a wealthy family, then she wouldn't need to marry someone to already be living good days. Not for anything else, just to preserve her bound feet, she also wanted to strive, become a rich and sufficient small landowner.

  Lian Man'er clenched her fists, she was really stimulated by this bloody scene.

  "Mother, kill me, kill me... Let me keep my legs, I can also help mother with work, like sister Zhi." Lian Yu'er was also in pain at this time, grabbing He Shi's collar and crying out.

  He slapped Lian Yu'er's head with a loud slap.

  Lian'ou'er was stunned and temporarily stopped crying.

  He grabbed Lian Yu's shoulder.

  "Look at your sister Hua, she's going to marry into the Sun family and live in the county town. From now on, she'll be eating and drinking well for the rest of her life, with a whole bunch of servants at her beck and call. Your aunt and sister Duo will also have a life like that of the gods. But look at your sisters Zhi and Man, they're both big-footed, in our family they can only squat by the stove to cook and work in the fields. Even after they get married, they'll still be treated like cattle..." He Shi was coaxing Lian Yu'er.

  Lian Man Er was amused by anger.

  "Second aunt, my sister and I consider you as one of our family members. We help you with your work, but instead of thanking us, you speak hurtful words to us. You're also an elder!"

  "This is none of your business, go back." Zhou Shi said to Lian Piao'er. He Shiyi was a meddlesome person, and Lian Piao'er was not as gentle as before, the two were about to quarrel in front of Li Si's wife, losing face for the Lian family.

  "Alright, then I'll go back with my sister first. If you need us for anything, just give us a call." Lian Man'er's eyes rolled around and she immediately understood Zhou Shi's intention, so she smiled especially gently. Not for any other reason, but to leave a good impression in front of outsiders, this basic common sense she was aware of.

  Lian Man Er and Lian Zhi Er left the upper house.

  Upstairs, Lian'erye was crying, "I, I want to live a life like Hua'er's sister."

  Lian Wan'er and Lian Zhi'er returned to the west wing, and as soon as they sat down on the kang, they heard a miserable cry from upstairs that sounded like Lian Yu'er killing a pig.

  "It's like this, yes, walk slowly." The encouraging voices of Li Si's grandmother, He Shi and Zhou Shi.

  Lian Man Er and Lian Zhi Er exchanged a glance.

  "Sister, we must fight for our dignity," said Lian Wan'er. "Even if we are considered inferior, we must live a better life than them."

  "Man Er, I'm listening," said Lian Zhi Er.

  "We're also here." Gorō and Koshichi said as they ran in from outside.

  The children burst out laughing together.

  …………

  From that day on, during the daytime, Lian Man'er had to watch Lian Nian'er cry and lean against the wall, moving step by step. At night, she was still woken up from time to time by Lian Nian'er's crying. Lian Man'er regretted being too curious that day, which gave her psychological trauma. Because of Lian Nian'er's crying, she had two consecutive days of nightmares. It wasn't until Zhang Shi repeatedly assured her that she would never bind her feet that Lian Man'er felt a little better.

  However, to avoid seeing Lian Yu'er's "prison walk", Lian Man'er leaves early every day, using the excuse of digging wild vegetables, and goes to the fields with Wu Lang and Xiao Qi.

  Because of the heavy rain two days ago, a small river behind Nanshan overflowed, and many children from the same village came to catch fish and shrimp in the water. Wu Lang and Xiao Qi also made several fish baskets with mugwort grass and went into the water to catch fish. Lian Er followed them, but Wu Lang didn't let her get in the water.

  "The water is cold," said Wu Lang, "Mother has forbidden you from going in."

  "Then I'll go to the back mountain and take a look. The sour jujube tree we saw last time, the dates should all be red now. You two stay here, I'll go pick some." Lian Cui'er said to Wu Lang and Xiao Qi.

  "Sister, I'll go with you," said Xiao Qi immediately.

  "It's not far from here." Lian Man'er pinched Xiao Qi's face, "You and Ge don't go anywhere else, I'll finish picking the dates and come back to find you, we'll head home together."

  Lian Man Er's injury has healed a lot, and these days growing with them in the fields is nothing to worry about.

  "Alright, Man Er don't go too far either, just pick some dates and come back." Wu Lang said.

  "Uh-huh." Lian Man'er nodded and picked up her basket, heading towards the mountain.

  Because of the rain, many mushrooms have grown on the ground. However, perhaps due to the soil conditions, there are not many mushrooms in the mountains around Sanliyingzi, and most of them are dog urine moss, which is inedible, and some grass mushrooms, which are also not good to eat. Lian Wan'er's eyes scanned the ground, she was looking for a special kind of mushroom.

  Matsutake, also known as pine mushroom, generally grows in wet sandy soil, spherical in shape, is a type of fungus. In the past, grandma had taken her to pick matsutake. Matsutake is white when it's not mature, and turns yellow and dry when it's mature, with sponge-like tissue and fine powder inside. This thing has very good medicinal value, especially an excellent hemostatic agent.

  Lian Man'er walked slowly, occasionally squatting down to carefully remove the hoof wraps one by one, wiping away the sand and debris on top. Those that were already mature and dry were put into a porcelain bottle she carried with her, while the fresh ones were placed in a basket, to be taken back and dried before being stored away.

  Rural homes, when doing rough work, it's inevitable to cut hands and feet, this thing should be stocked regularly.

  Lian Man'er didn't head towards the sour jujube tree as she said, but instead turned left, picking some horse hoof packages along the way and heading into the mountain bay. She wanted to go take a look at those wild grapes first.

  The last time she came to pick bitter melon, she found that many ditches in the back mountain were full of shrubs, which were actually wild grapes. It's estimated that it will take a few more days to mature, but Lian Wan wants to come and take a look.

  Wild grapes are even if they are ripe, the fruit is still astringent and cannot be eaten raw. Therefore, people here consider it a useless shrub and don't bother with it. However, Lian Man had an idea: wild grapes can make wine. Last time in town, she saw several wine shops selling mostly baijiu, huangjiu, and Shaoxing yellow wine, only one store had grape wine, the owner called it "琥珀酒" (hǔ pò jiǔ), which was more expensive than other wines. The owner said that 琥珀酒 is from the Western Regions, very rare and popular among officials and nobles.

  If all these wild grapes were made into wine, the harvest would not be just a few taels of silver. Lian Man thought to himself, and his foot suddenly tripped, and he stumbled. He hurriedly lowered his center of gravity, and with one hand waving, he grabbed a branch, and stabilized his body.

  "Oh..." The branch hummed softly.

  The practice of foot binding now seems very cruel and ugly, but at the time it was considered "beautiful torture". A weak and pale person said: What about the various weight loss methods that are popular today? Will they also seem the same to people in the future?

  So, I think I'll just continue being a chubby paper after all. Health is the most important thing! Y(^_^)Y Let's do it together, everyone!