Proofread by Fu Tianying

Now, the house of Ma family was a busy place, with so many people coming and going. Ma Chaosheng, the man of the house, was very popular around. When there was something wrong with him, it would be natural that many people came to see him. Ma Chaosheng and his wife were really close. Since Ma Chaosheng had been unconscious, Madam Ma took care of her husband all by herself, without any time to deal with other things. The other concubines, as a matter of convention, could not go out to manage things, either. Thus, everything fell onto the shoulder of Ma Tian’en.

Ma Tian’en still made some mistakes though with the help of Wu Zhong and the housekeeper. There was just a lot going on right now. Ma Tian’en, utterly exhausted, did not have time to catch Mr. Jia by himself, so he had to ask Uncle Wu to manage it. Several elder sisters of Ma Tian’en all successively returned to Ma family to see their father. No matter who is the murderer, there is no denying that all started with Ma Tian’en. But when they saw the haggardness of their younger brother, several elder sisters could not bring themselves to blame him. However, Ma Tian’s two uncles accused Ma Tian’en as an unfilial son all the time, which was nearly close to expelling him from the Ma family.

“Tian’en, look at you; how many troubles have you caused since your childhood? It was your father who cleaned up the mess for you. Now, you got your father lie down here. Such a big Ma family cannot live without its master. So your second uncle and I have no choice but run the house temporarily.” Ma Chaoyang, the third uncle of Ma Tian’en, spoke slowly while sitting on the major chair in the hall with one cup of tea in his hand.

“I can manage the wharves and stores. Brother, you just have to deal with things inside the house.” Ma Chaorong, the second uncle of Ma Tian’en, agreed with the suggestion of Ma Chaoyang and took charge of the two most profitable sectors to himself at the same time.

“Surely not. You do not have much experience to handle so many things at wharves and stores. How could you do it? At least, I know a little. So I’d better run it.”

“What if I run the wharves and you manage the stores?”

Two men haggled over it, as if they were addressing the division of booty. If one had not known that they were timid and had no power, he would suspect they were the wire-pullers.

Seeing his two uncles standing opposite to him, Ma Tian’en felt his temper rise, “My dear uncles, my father is lying there and you just could not wait to rob his money. Won’t you have an attack of conscience?”

“Nonsense! Had it not been for your foolish act, our brother wouldn’t have been framed by the enemy. You were really the black sheep of our family. I will teach you a lesson today for my brother! Come on! Pull him down and lock him up! Do not give anything to him to eat until my brother wakes up.” Ma Chaoyang said sharply. But the family did not dare to go forward, just watching from afar.

“Look, we cannot run the house without a head. You such lazy slaves, I’m going to find someone to sell you all and then find some obedient ones.” Ma Chaoyang said in a terrible voice.

“It’s our family affair. It’s none of your business.” Ma Tian’en was in a bad mood. Now his two uncles irritated him. Were they not seniors, he would have got them out.

Jumping out of the chair, Ma Chaoyang walked to Ma Tian’en and scolded Ma sharply with his face dark and angry, “You, such an uppity boy, dare speak to me arrogantly! I will teach you a lesson today!” He raised his hands and posed to hit Ma Tian’en. No matter how naughty Ma Tian’en was, he would not dare to hit him back, just staring at his uncle.

“I will hit him by myself.” At that time, there came a woman’s voice. Ma Tian’en trembled with fear for his mother came.

“Sister-in-law, here you come. I am going to teach him a lesson. He was just so naughty.” In the past, when Madam Ma did not bear a son, she refused to accept the son of Ma Chaoyang as her foster son. Since then, Madam Ma had a shitty relationship with Ma Chaoyang. Moreover, Madam Ma was so tough that Ma Chaoyang was wary of her. Watching Madam Ma walking here with a feather duster in the hand, Ma Chaoyang felt a little creepy.

Watching his mother walking towards him with a feather duster, Ma Tian’en dare not run away at all. Mom and dad had been close. Moreover, the whole thing surely started with him so he was totally willing to be beaten.

“Mom, just beat me. Please do not beat me too hard or my father would be heartbroken.” Ma Tian’en just closed his eyes. Then there came the sound of the feather duster as well as the cry of people. Why? Where did the cry come but he did not feel any pain?

When Ma Tian’en opened his eyes, he saw his mother was running after his two uncles to hit them. She cursed them while hitting them, “You are ingrates! You are planning to divide the property while your brother is still in a coma! How could you be so shameless?”

“You a harridan! I will let my brother divorce you and send you away!” Just now, Ma Chaoyang claimed him as the householder, but now he was so humiliated for he was chased around by the feather duster.

“It didn’t hurt at all, right? Bring me the whip.” Madam Ma was even angrier when she heard this. She dropped her feather duster and ordered the servant to bring her the whip.

Ma Chaoyang and Ma Chaorong just realized that the sister-in-law standing in front of them was not a delicate beauty. Madam Ma, the daughter of Datong gang, grew up with those men who made a living wandering from place to place. Since she was married to Ma Chaosheng, she had never crossed any lines, so almost everyone forgot her hot temper. Ma Chaoyang turned around and fled away as he heard that Madam Ma was going to hit them by whip. It was known to all that one could be thrashed to death by Madam Ma. As Ma Chaorong saw his brother running away, he ran after him. Before he went out, he bowed deeply to Madam Ma, afraid of being stopped by her.

Watching his two talky uncles flee away as quickly as they could, Ma Tina’en felt a genuine admiration for his awesome mother.

“Mom!” Hardly had he thrown himself upon his mother’s neck when he shouted it out and cried. All the pain and grievance these days and the panic, self-blame after his father’s injury had become tears. His mother patted him on his back and pacified him. Madam Ma winked at servants and they all backed down.

After a while, Ma Tian’en regained his composure. He helped his mother sit on the chair and stood behind her.

“Tian’en, I know that you do not mean to hurt your father. Just an accident. You father would not blame you. Well, we can’t undo what has already been done. We should think how to manage the whole family. As long as we live, there will be chance for us to revenge.” Madam Ma looked at her son. He was getting thinner every day. Since Master Ma was injured, affairs in Ma family got all messed up. It was time to revive everything.

“Well, I will try my best. But I do not have much experience, and I am counting on you to teach me.”

“You could consult the housekeeper if there is anything you do not know. As to the affairs of the wharf, just ask Uncle Wu. As for stores, I will get you familiar with those storekeepers. And…” Just a list of something had already confused Ma Tian’en.

“I do not have to know everything. Maybe tomorrow my father would wake up.”

Madam Ma sighed, “The doctor said that even if your father wakes up, there will be great trouble in the future. Your pitiable father has to suffer such pain in his old age. What a poor man!” Madam Ma could not stop crying when she told about her miserable husband.

Seeing his mother sad, Ma Tian’en was trying to change the subject, “Mom, just tell me the most urgent thing. I will do it first. Let the storekeepers keep managing the stores at the wharf and I would meet them one by one when I am free.”

“Well, all right. Just take it slow. Now the most important thing is the Lion Dance competition on October 15th.”

The lion dance in Datong River was different from that on land. The people of the lion dance were divided into two groups to act in the stakes settled in the river. To make the competition more interesting, the local government would put a traditional Chinese hydrangea (a ball made of strips of silk) on the big tray on top of the ladder. Anyone who took the hydrangea would be the lion king, who would receive an award from the local government. Of course, some people would take the opportunity to open a bet, which was pretty lively. The lion dance in Datong River was also known as “water lion dance” for it was held on the water.

Although there were five dams (Zha) in Datong River, the lion dance competition every year was held in the second dam, the Qingfeng Dam. While water in the other dams was calm and had no tides, the current in Qingfeng Dam was turbulent and fell or rose with a crash as loud as thunders. Lions jumped and rolled in the current in the lion dance, which was spectacular and impressive.