Chapter 69 - 58: Swallows Bring Spring Mud
Twenty li south of Jinmen Prefecture, there is a place called Wanshou Village.
In the village, there lived a young couple. The husband, Wang Qiao, was strong and skilled in fishing, hunting, and farming. The wife, Li Shi, was virtuous and managed the household, working the loom and doing needlework.
The two were a match made in heaven; he for the jade wall, I for the bright pearl; you for the soil, I for the mantis.
On a cold moonlit night, Wang Qiao followed the fishing party for hunting, and upon returning, he caught a fine pomfret.
This was not an ordinary pomfret, but a silver pomfret, with tender flesh and extremely delicious taste.
Some rural gentry and wealthy households were willing to pay a high price for a taste of its delicacy.
Wang Qiao didn’t care about that. He thought of his pregnant wife at home, who often lost her appetite. Hearing that pomfret was delicious and could stimulate one’s appetite, he specifically joined the fishing hunt to bring back this rare delicacy, and thus he couldn’t part with it.
Apart from the husband’s meticulous care, the wife, Li Shi, was also extremely virtuous. One day, Wang Qiao went up the mountain to chop wood, while Li Shi stayed home, threading needles and stitching winter clothes for her husband and children. In the middle of sewing, she pricked her finger, causing unbearable pain.
She felt uneasy, sensing that something might have happened to her husband, who hadn’t returned after being out for a long time. She put down her work, entrusted the children to her sister-in-law, and went out to ask neighbors for help, eventually persuading them to search.
The villagers couldn’t resist her crying plea, though they grumbled, but when it came to searching, they still put in genuine effort.