I bring bad luck to my husband, you bring bad luck to your wife.

For dinner, the Xiang family of four only drank some porridge and ate a few bites of pickled vegetables.

My sister-in-law drank another bowl of medicine to prevent miscarriage; she's taken countless pills over the years. The bitter taste in her mouth seems to be a constant.

"Xiangxi, take Bao'er to bed early tonight. We can go into the dock tomorrow morning. Let's go tidy up the stall first, and see if we can still set up the stall." The sister-in-law gave Xiangxi instructions while taking her medicine.

"Xiangxi and I will go. You stay home and rest tomorrow." Xiangqiang felt sorry for his wife and wanted her to rest, so he went to do the chores himself.

"You should lie down, I'll go. You lost so much blood today, I don't know when you'll be able to recover."

The sister-in-law felt sorry for Xiangqiang.

She comforted herself, thinking that if she couldn't keep the baby, it would just mean that God didn't want her to have children.

"Brother, sister-in-law, tomorrow morning, I'll go to the dock myself first to see what the situation is like. If I can manage to clean it up, I'll do it myself. If not, I'll come back and get you. Is that alright?"

Xiangxi wasn't the kind of boy who was raised in seclusion. He had been used to being out in public since he was a child and had long since started to treat himself like a boy.

After discussing it for a while, the group realized they didn't have any better ideas, so they decided to leave it at that for now.

Once everything was settled, Xiangxi took Bao'er back to the west room to sleep.

My elder brother and sister-in-law live in the east room.

After the candles were extinguished that night, the sister-in-law lay on the bed and said to Xiangqiang, "Xiangxi is eighteen this year. The Cheng family incident happened so long ago. It's time to find him a husband. Otherwise, what will happen to him in the future?"

"I've thought about it too, but the Cheng family said such hurtful things back then, so it might be hard for Xiangxi to find a husband." It wasn't that Xiangqiang wasn't worried; he was afraid of finding Xiangxi another unreliable husband.

"Isn't there a matchmaker surnamed Chen who just moved in at the end of this alley? Let me go ask her to keep an eye out for us." The sister-in-law also had her own selfish motives.

Xiangxi is already eighteen, practically an older brother. If she doesn't get married soon, it will be even harder for her to find a husband later.

More and more people are eating at home now, and Bao'er will gradually grow up.

There are only two rooms in the house. If Xiangxi doesn't get married, there won't be enough rooms for everyone in the family.

However, I did not handle the Cheng family's affairs well back then, and I must not repeat the same mistake this time.

Before Xiangxi, they had been betrothed; the other party was the son of a pig butcher in a small town under Changxing County.

The Cheng family is well-off, but their son is a bit ugly and is over twenty years old without finding a wife, so they are settling for second best and thinking that marrying a boy would be fine.

Young men are not as good at bearing children as women, but they are stronger and can do more work. Generally, poor families who cannot afford to marry women will marry young men.

At that time, the Cheng family was willing to offer a betrothal gift of ten taels of silver.

You know, money is hard to earn these days. In town, the bride price for a girl is usually ten to fifteen taels, and the bride price for a boy is usually five to ten taels.

The fact that the other party was willing to give ten taels of silver is considered a great favor to the fortune teller.

Besides, although Cheng's eldest son is ugly, his family is wealthy, so Xiangxi will definitely not suffer if she goes there.

My sister-in-law agreed.

Moreover, the two families live not far apart, so it doesn't count as marrying far away.

Xiang Qiang also felt that it was better to be closer, so that they could have better contact in the future.

Unexpectedly, not long after the betrothal gifts were presented, Cheng's eldest son injured his hand while slaughtering a pig. It was a small cut, and no one paid any attention to it.

Unexpectedly, the next day, Cheng Jia Dalang developed a high fever that wouldn't subside, and he passed away not long after.

The Cheng family insisted that it was Xiangxi, this orphan, who had killed their beloved son, and they brought people to their door to cause trouble several times.

The other party only stopped after the Xiang family returned the betrothal gifts and paid some compensation.

However, Xiang Xi's reputation for bringing misfortune to his father, mother, and husband had already spread, and to this day, no one dares to propose marriage to the Xiang family again.

------------

The next morning, before dawn, just after the rooster crowed once, Xiangxi hurriedly got dressed and rushed to the dock.

Perhaps because he arrived early, before the constables had even started working, Xiangxi quickly ran to the pancake stall.

Sure enough, all the sesame cakes were gone; someone must have stolen them all, leaving only an empty stall.

Xiangxi gathered the things together, finding all the tables, chairs, and benches she could.

This stall was rented to Xiang Qiang by Uncle Chen, and the rent is paid every three months.

"Who's there?"

Before the sun had fully risen, a voice suddenly rang out from the dark dock.

Xiangxi remembered what she had seen yesterday—the dead bodies lying on the dock—and was so frightened that she squatted down on the ground.

"You're the young man from the pancake stall." As the group approached, Xiangxi realized that it wasn't a ghost, but the constable from that day, whose surname seemed to be Yang.

Yang Tongchuan led his men to patrol the dock early in the morning.

By the way, if there are no problems, the pier will be open for business today.

Otherwise, with so much cargo on the ship that can't be unloaded, everyone will suffer significant losses every day.

Those who ran boats all went to the government office to plead their case.

The county magistrate's intention was also to hope that normal operations would resume as soon as possible.

"What are you doing here, sneaking around like that?" Yang Tongchuan had just seen a dark figure in the distance and thought it was some petty thief who had come to the dock to steal something.

"Sir, let me tidy up the stall and see if we can sell any pancakes today." Xiangxi lowered his head in fear, not daring to look directly at the constables.

Yang Tongchuan looked at the thin young man and saw that he wasn't wearing any thick clothes even in such cold weather.

The thin clothes were old, but they were washed clean, and the person didn't look pathetic.

Her little face was so low it was almost buried in her stomach.

Looking down from above, it's quite pitiful.

Yang Tongchuan and his patrol team were tired when they arrived here, so they sat down on a chair at the stall.

"Is there anything to eat?" Yang Tongchuan had been out all morning and had been exposed to the cold wind, so he decided to rest here for a while.

"No, were all the cakes stolen yesterday?" Xiangxi thought they were freeloaders.

"Is there any hot tea?" Yang Tongchuan looked up at the young man and thought to himself that this guy was quite bold. Someone had died here yesterday, and today he dared to come here alone.

"The tea leaves have also been stolen. How about I boil some hot water for you gentlemen?" Xiangxi had just checked and there really was nothing left on the stall.

"Alright, hurry up."

Yang Tongchuan urged them to rest for a while, as they still had to return to the yamen to report back.

Xiangxi dared not delay. Fortunately, there was still water and firewood, so he quickly used a small stove to boil water.

The constables over there were still discussing yesterday's fight.

Xiangxi listened intently.

"Brother Yang, you've done a great job this time. Thanks to you yesterday evening for catching those few who escaped, otherwise the brothers would have suffered these past few days." The speaker was also a constable from the yamen. As soon as he said this, the others followed suit and flattered him.

Xiangxi poured the boiled water for each of the constables, then hid on the other side of the stall, pretending to be very busy.

Even though social customs have become more open now and there are no restrictions on girls and boys going out on the streets, it's still not appropriate for a young man like him to be with so many men.

Only after they had finished drinking water, rested enough, and left did Xiangxi dare to step forward and clean up the cups.

I immediately noticed three coins on the table; these were the money for hot water left by Constable Yang earlier.

Xiangxi thought to himself: "Any official who's willing to pay for drinks must be a good one."