New Year's in the village had a slightly different atmosphere in some houses than in previous years. Women still gathered in the kitchens making use of the meat and eggs and precious white flour that they had traded and stored away just for this one day's celebrations and these women still gossiped. Meanwhile, the men would do a few menial chores such as feed livestock and clear the light snowfall from the paths and bring in more firewood or gather to hunt in the morning. And later these men would share cups of wine with their elders and ancestors and ruminate about political things that sounded very important but had otherwise little effect on them.
However, the gossip also included mention of their village's respected elder Leonard, who had some learning and his little grandson who had stepped off the beaten path and would leave no descendants to continue Old Leonard's family line. Forgotten was the fact that Leo himself should have taken another person's name, that was a hushed subject that no one bothered with anymore, not wanting to speak ill of the deceased. Both men and women would shake their heads while lamenting on behalf of Leonard, but the man himself was not bothered at all.
He still went to a few houses to exchange for dumplings and moon cakes (neither could Leon make). Some of the families were cold, even tried to charge him more to which he rose an eyebrow and simply walked away. Others were far more generous than usual or tried to be as Leonard really didn't want their sympathy. Besides, behind at least one person's eyes was calculation that reminded him of his daughter. Why did these fools think like that woman, thinking that he was holding some sort of legacy behind his doors? Just because he could read, did not mean he had wealth. In fact, all he had was the courtyard house, which had seen better days, and a bit of farming land that he rented to the next door neighbour for a couple of sacks of rice a year. Most families had much the same and could even earn more money as they could raise herbs on their farms and had many sons who could bring money in from elsewhere.
The village chief was not like the rest; he could be seen as to be a little more worldly than the villagers.
"I know don' know much abou' the immortal realm, bu' there's this Cultivator who makes special trip t' the village every ten years or so," he had mentioned, "an' tha' fella will sit with me, like he sa' with me father and me grandfather and me great grandfather, an' tell us stories. It's no' unusual for men to couple for there are fewer women Cultivators. A Cultivator would risk them heart demons if he had t' continuously watch his brides die, cos she cannae be an immortal like himself."
He was quite correct in his analysis. There were fewer female Cultivators for many reasons. For one, in poor families, the eldest son was the only valuable resource; didn't matter if anyone else had ability, a family would not give them money to aid them and learning, whether it be scholarly or cultivation, cost money. So no other boys got the chance unless a sect or school found they had something rare, let alone the daughters. And in more affluent families, daughters were often considered valuable in creating connections through marriage, while surplus sons having ability would be literally given to sects and sent to schools in order to use their worth for the family. So only unmarriageable daughters and daughters of cultivating families might be blessed to walk the path of a cultivator along with the rarest amongst the gifted.
There was also the fact that two Cultivators might not be able to procreate and bring a child who could follow them on their journey to immortality, though the chances were indeed higher. A woman who had carried this little bun for two hundred and eighty days within her might not easily accept that they would lose the child as soon as eighty years, while living on for centuries after the loss. So while finding a partner to Cultivate with upon this path held some importance, gender was no longer relevant.
The gossip itself was not pleasant, but not detrimental in the end. Leon's memories of this place were much like movies starring someone else, even if they did happen through his eyes. It was not that he disassociated them from himself, but that the him now would not necessarily have behaved like the him then; their personalities weren't too much different, but the environments in which they grew up in were a lot. So while Leo would have been most upset with ruining his small reputation and friendships within the village as well as the hurt he might have caused Leonard, Leon didn't care so much (with the exception of upsetting his grandfather, who was very good to him and had accepted the situation anyway).
Besides, just the night before, something occurred that muted gossip about him a little and gave those men and women something else to shake their heads and talk about; Russ' father got exceptionally drunk in town and on his way back, slipped on a patch of ice and tripped and fell into a deep ditch. He broke his leg in two places during the fall as well as fractured his arm.
A doctor had set his limbs with splints and had advised him to stay off his leg and mind his arm and charged three silver for the late night call and prescription. He also had warned that the man might not have full use of the leg in the future, though the arm would heal well enough. Russ' grandmother had wailed so loud that she woke up many neighbours and insisted that Russ go beg some alchemy pills from Leo. Unfortunately for Russ' father and the old lady, Leon was still at a low level when it came to making pills and he certainly couldn't make Bone Regrowth pills yet. Plus many of the herbs were fairly rare so more expensive than the average pill, Leon didn't even know if the money he brought with him would even cover the expenses even if he wanted to make the pill for the unpleasant drunk.
Still, just to help Russ keep face, he did give him a bottle of False Recovery Pills, which would be better as painkillers than the bitter medicine that the doctor prescribed. However, he had told him that the man could only take one a day. The more he took, otherwise, the shorter they would last to the point that they were not effective at all. He didn't say that once they wore off, the man might feel a slight increase in pain; all medicines came with the risk of side effects after all.
So New Years was a strange affair in that family, with Russ' father hollering for a drink and wailing that he was in pain... and where was his drink (dammit!) while his Grandmother wept and blamed Russ' mother for letting her child drink to excess and causing this to happen. Russ had scorned all 'filial piety' at that point and told the old woman clearly; "My da' is a grown man who eats meat an' can lif' up a couple sack of rice, while me Ma is lucky if she has a bowl of rice soup fer a meal. How is me Ma mean' t' stop 'im?"
The old woman paused for half a heartbeat before wailing again; "I shoul' ne'er le' him marry ye an' now ye son is as unfilial as ye! Ye is this family's unlucky star! I'll have our secon' divorce ye!"
"Bring i' on!" Russ sneered.
"Russ..." his mother tugged at his sleeve, pleading with him.
"No, Ma," Russ put his foot down. "Did she once think abou' ye when Da broke ye fingers 'cos he though' ye had some dowry left t' sell for a jug o' wine? Le' me take care of ye and me sisters. They won' have t' go bed cold an' hungry anymore!"
"Slanderous, unfilial boy!" Russ' Grandmother continued to stammer and wail. "Jus' because me poor son cannae bea' manners into ye, don't think this old woman cannae!" She began hitting the floor with her cane, but when it landed on Russ' body a couple of times, it snapped in two! She finally realised that this child was not a weak boy anymore and wanted to call in her sons to deal with him. Only as they rushed in, Russ' mother was finally standing tall and declared that even if the old woman wanted to have her son divorce her, it wasn't possible, as she would request a divorce first!
Stunned, she swept out of the main room to her own tiny compound before instructing her eldest daughter to request the village chief to come to the family. Russ first uncle attempted to soothe his mother, reminding her that a divorce in the family would ruin the family's reputation as her daughter-in-law had not, to this point, broken any of the women's stipulations (she had borne a son and she was usually very filial to her elders as well as obedient to her husband). And his third uncle attempted to soothe Russ' mother, who was far too upset to be pacified as she recalled all of the times that she had failed to care and protect her children from their selfish father and grandmother.
The village chief spoke to everyone, including Russ' father, who said she could leave only when she had given him ten silver (enough for a several barrels of cheap wine). She had tossed the pouch of all her savings (and Russ') for her precious daughter's dowries upon the bed he lie in, before providing her thumb print and walked out with her packed things. Russ' Grandmother hadn't ever thought it would go so far and had fainted completely away. The village chief had only shaken his head and helped the woman and her children settle into a courtyard that belonged to his second son, who'd moved to town some years ago, temporarily so at least she wouldn't have to spend the winter in the cold.
Other than that, it was up to the family's themselves to deal with and regret.
Author's note; I was trying to write something else, but the drama developed before my eyes!