The few aunties stopped nding their fishing nets, their gazes snapping in unison toward Su Tang.
The sea breeze, thick with the salty, fishy air, swept past. Su Yufen’s triumphant sneer was like a needle piercing the eardrums.
Su Tang bent down and picked up a sea urchin. Its fingernail-sized spines glinted coldly in the sun. "Aunt Zhang, is the ratio of tung oil to pine resin you’re using to nd your net correct? Last ti, Uncle Wang ntioned that this mixture can make the netting brittle."
She turned to the stunned middle-aged woman with a smile, as if she hadn’t heard the piercing remarks at all.
"Y-yes, it is."
Aunt Zhang answered instinctively, her shuttle once again starting to fly back and forth.
Su Tang crouched down, her fingertips toying with the laver scattered across the rocks.
"Look at this wild nori. If you dry it, grind it into a powder, and mix it into congee, it’s absolutely delicious. I still have so dried tangerine peel at ho. I’ll bring you so tomorrow, it’s great for getting rid of the fishy sll in soup."
"Really?"
Another old woman in a conical bamboo hat shuffled closer, her calloused hand stroking the laver.
"My little grandson just loves laver soup."
Su Tang pulled a block of brown sugar from her canvas pouch. "Granny, try so of this. It’s divine with kelp cake."
The crowd of won slowly gathered around. Su Yufen’s face flushed, then turned ashen. "Stop pretending to be so nice! You’re just trying to buy people over with those fancy trinkets you brought from the city!"
Her voice suddenly shot up to a shriek. "Have you all forgotten? Last ti, she said our dried fish had a musty sll!"
"I did say that."
Su Tang stood up and dusted the sand from her pant legs.
"Last month, it was rainy and overcast for seven straight days. The drying field was too damp, and the dried fish from twenty different families all grew moldy. Of course the sll was strong. But didn’t I give everyone the anti-mildew powder I brought?"
Her gaze swept across the crowd. "Aunt Wang, has your dried fish had any problems since then?"
The woman who was called out blushed and nodded.
Su Yufen’s nails dug deep into her palm. "Y-you’re just trying to show off how great you city folk are!"
"Show off?"
"Is knowing a few things called showing off? You’ve been badmouthing , and I haven’t said a thing back. Why don’t you comnt on my magnanimity instead?"
Su Tang crossed her arms and stared coldly at Su Yufen. "Aunt, my father may be sentintal, but I’m not. I have a bad temper. You’d be wise not to provoke ."
After saying this, Su Tang stepped closer to Su Yufen. "If you really push over the edge, Aunt, I’m not afraid to drag you down with ."
The light, airy words were like a stone dropped into a stagnant pond.
The flush on Su Yufen’s face, a mixture of anger and triumph, instantly drained away.
Her eyes flew wide, staring intently at Su Tang’s fingers.
"What are you talking about?"
Su Tang lowered her voice, letting the next words fall slowly.
"My uncle probably doesn’t know that the reason you married him, Aunt, was because back in Shanghai, everyone knew you were with a foreigner, right?"
"And that for him, you had three abortions."
Su Tang’s icy, hushed words pierced deep into Su Yufen’s eardrums, each one precisely paralyzing her every nerve.
Those words exploded in her mind, leaving her scared witless.
A chill rose up, instantly freezing her to the core, leaving even her fingertips numb and cold.
All the blood drained from her face.
Su Yufen didn’t even dare to look at the glances coming from the surrounding aunties.
They only saw Su Yufen suddenly freeze as if she had seen a ghost, her face a ghastly white, but they couldn’t hear Su Tang’s final threat, which was as quiet as a mosquito’s buzz.
"You... you..."
Su Yufen’s throat felt as if it were being squeezed by an icy hand. She wanted to scream, to lunge forward and tear Su Tang’s mouth apart.
But her body was pinned to the spot, unable to move, only able to force out broken, airy sounds.
Su Tang gave her a single, placid glance, her eyes cold and indifferent.
She didn’t say another word, as if she had just brushed away a speck of insignificant dust. She turned and walked away with a light step, the sea breeze catching the corner of her clothes, her posture poised.
But Su Yufen remained rooted to the spot, utterly devastated, as if all her bones had been removed.
An imnse fear washed over her, nearly suffocating her.
’Su Tang knows. How could Su Tang possibly know?’
’She actually knows about that sordid past I buried so deep, the one I thought had long since rotted away in the sludge of Hushang Beach.’
’That was the secret I’ve been desperately trying to erase, the one Zhao Youcai must never find out!’
Especially on this conservative, isolated island. Her husband, Zhao Youcai, was in charge of supplies; he was a sobody, a man of status, and his reputation was everything to him!
She couldn’t bear to imagine what Zhao Youcai would do if he found out. ’Divorce? Beat her to death?’
A violent shudder ran through her. Ignoring the probing glances and hushed whispers around her, she was like a battered boat dazed by the waves, stumbling and scrambling her way ho.
When she pushed open the courtyard gate, she practically fell inside.
In the main room, Zhao Youcai was holding a large, chipped enal mug, sipping strong tea with his eyes narrowed.
He was calculating how to distribute the new goods that had arrived at the warehouse this afternoon in a way that would make him seem both fair and authoritative. Sunlight stread through the window, illuminating his slightly plump face, a picture of leisurely comfort.
CRASH!
Su Yufen slamd into the doorfra, then staggered toward the low table, knocking over a small stool beside it and creating a jarring noise.
"Hey! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"
Zhao Youcai jumped in fright. His hand jerked, and so of the scalding tea sloshed out, making him hiss in pain.
He looked regretfully at the tea stains splattering his clothes, his thick brows knitting together.
"What’s with all the panic? Lost your nerve? Or did you lose another round of gossiping with that gaggle of old hens?"
His tone carried the usual condescending impatience he’d developed from being in charge of the supplies.
Su Yufen collapsed to the floor, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it would leap out of her throat.
She raised her head and t Zhao Youcai’s scrutinizing eyes, which held a trace of annoyance at being disturbed.
His gaze was one that usually made her a little fearful.
Now, in her panicked state, it felt as sharp as a searchlight, seeming to pierce through her flesh and see the bloody secret in the depths of her heart.
The imnse fear robbed her of the ability to think; the words were about to tumble out of her mouth.
She bit her lower lip hard, tasting a hint of blood, and only then managed to swallow the words back down with all her might.
But her face was frighteningly pale, her eyes wide with unfocused terror, and her lips trembled, unable to form a single word.
"I’m talking to you! Cat got your tongue?"
Seeing her so devastated, looking as if she’d seen a ghost, Zhao Youcai’s impatience grew, but at the sa ti, a strange feeling began to surface.
Su Yufen usually had a sharp tongue. Even if she lost an argunt, she’d co ho and curse about it for ages. What was wrong with her today? It was as if her soul had truly been scared out of her body.
"N-nothing."
Su Yufen’s voice trembled uncontrollably. She managed to push herself up, her gaze darting away, not daring to et Zhao Youcai’s eyes.
"It’s just... just the sea wind was strong, it made a little dizzy. I... I tripped."
She fumbled to right the fallen stool, her fingers cold and stiff, her movents clumsy.
Zhao Youcai eyed her suspiciously. That pale face, those evasive eyes, and this uncharacteristic silence and clumsiness...
Sothing was wrong. Very wrong.
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