A Whisper Through the Wood

Roots and Branches were a pair of star-crossed lovers.

Roots andBranches's marriage was a typical arranged marriage. Before marriage, Roots was a well-known carpenter in the surrounding area. He was skilled and handsome, but he had one major flaw: he was stubborn and had a bad temper. When doing carpentry work, if anyone provoked his stubbornness, no matter how much you pleaded, he would simply walk away. Those who knew him would describe him as a "stubborn mule." Because of his stubbornness, he was already in his late twenties and still hadn't found a wife. His parents were anxious and inquired everywhere, looking for matchmakers. At that time,Branches was a famous beauty in the surrounding villages, but she had a fiery temper, like a cannon blazing, easily angered, and not only verbally abusive but also capable of physical violence. Seeing her peers getting married and having children one after another, but no matchmaker came toBranches's family, who would want to marry this notorious femme fatale? One of Roots's distant aunts happened to beBranches's aunt. Seeing the two families' anxiety about their children's marriages, an idea popped into her head: why not bring these two together? She couldn't help but applaud herself.Branches's parents were naturally delighted. Roots was tall and strong, handsome and capable, and possessed a skill; marrying him would surely bring them a good life. However, Roots's mother disagreed, dislikingBranches's fiery temper, believing her son couldn't handle her and would suffer. After much persuasion fromBranches's aunt, Roots's mother finally agreed. Roots's father chimed in, "Fiery temper? That depends on who she's with. Our Roots may be a quiet, stubborn mule, but he's got a way with a woman." "Let's see what you can do. What will you do when Roots can't handle her?" Roots's mother retorted. Roots's father glared at her, and she immediately fell silent. And so the matter was settled. On the eighth day of the tenth lunar month that year, Roots marriedBranches. On the day of the wedding, it snowed heavily. "A wicked girl's marriage is either a bad omen or a snowstorm. Be careful, you might marry a fierce wife and be forever haunted!" many people joked with Roots, using the local saying. Roots chuckled but didn't reply. Roots's father, displeased, glared and said, "Fierce? She's only been beaten lightly! Roots, use the handle of your work axe, three blows and she'll be fine! Your mother was a feisty woman back then, but I beat her into submission. Now, if I tell her to go east, she won't dare go west!" Roots's mother glared at the old man from the side. Roots, who had never seriously listened to his father before, listened this time and gaveBranches a good beating on the wedding night. That day, after entertaining the guests and seeing off the bride's family, a group of young people from the village went to make a ruckus in the bridal chamber. At first,Branches was shy and let the young men tease her. Later, for some reason,Branches got angry, slapped a young man twice, and went straight to her aunt's house in the same village. She refused to go back that evening, and no one could persuade her otherwise.

After seeing all the guests off that night, Roots went toBranches's aunt's house to tell her to go home.Branches still didn't say a word, sitting there warming herself by the fire, not even lifting her buttocks. Roots went home dejectedly, but returned a while later, this time with a drink in his hand—he had actually taken the handle of his carpenter's axe and was carrying it around. "Are you going home or not?" Roots askedBranches, glaring at her. "No, I'm not going home!" "Say that again!" Roots brandished the wooden stick in his hand. "What? You want to hit me?"Branches stood up abruptly. "You think I wouldn't dare?" Roots shouted, grabbingBranches and slapping her on the buttocks.Branches rushed forward and scratched Roots's face. Three bloody marks immediately appeared on Roots's face. Roots was furious. He grabbedBranches's hair and threw her to the ground, stomping on her bottom and giving her a good beating.Branches's cries mingled with curses. The small courtyard was a chaotic mess of shouts, neighing, chickens running, and dogs barking. From then on, Roots andBranches began a life of constant bickering. They became a strange pair in the eyes of the villagers—when they were happy, they were inseparable; when they fought, they were like mortal enemies. Amidst this constant bickering, their three children grew up, and Roots andBranches reached their sixties. But the intermittent quarrels remained a regular "program" in their small courtyard. Their children, used to it, stopped trying to stop them. That autumn, after the harvest,Branches suddenly felt unwell, suffering from severe stomach pain and unable to eat anything. After a hospital checkup, Roots held the diagnosis report and fainted on the spot—Zhi had cancer! Roots called a family meeting with his children, demanding that they give money for their mother's treatment. The children weren't wealthy either, but they still managed to scrape together over ten thousand yuan and gave it to their father. With the money his children had raised, Roots tookBranches on a journey seeking medical treatment, treating her with unparalleled kindness: he always served her food in a small bowl, Rootstly blowing on it to keep it lukewarm before giving it to her. Later, whenBranches was bedridden, Roots brought her tea and water, fed her, cleaned her up, and bathed her daily with warm water.Branches's illness made her temperamental and prone to outbursts, but Roots never raised his voice, letting her shout, curse, and hit him.

After more than a year, she underwent surgery and chemotherapy, and took countless doses of both traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, butBranches still passed away. Roots found the finest wood to build a coffin for her, and as he worked, tears streamed down his face. He was so grief-stricken that he repeatedly buried his face in his hands and collapsed to his knees, unable to continue his work. After the branch was buried, Root seemed like a different person. He ate when his children called him to eat and slept when they called him to sleep, only saying, "Your mother is all alone down there, she wants me to go and keep her company," and nothing else. What followed made his children even more uneasy. Root jumped into a well twice and drank pesticide once, but he didn't die and was rescued, though he was even more emaciated, just skin and bones. Not long after, Root also followed Branch amidst his children's cries. "These two ill-fated lovers, they can't bear to see each other, they can't bear to be apart. Go and cause trouble at the King of Hell!" Branch's eighty-year-old aunt, with her toothless mouth, repeatedly uttered this phrase.