Zhou Da felt a chill run down his spine. Before, he’d simply thought of them as family—a few more or fewer didn’t matter. He pointed a trembling finger and asked, “Second Brother, is that really how your family feels?”

“Big Brother, don’t listen to that old woman’s nonsense! Ning-ger is my own nephew— would I let him go hungry?”

Zhou Er sidestepped the issue and didn’t mention the plan to marry Ning-ger off. Why was this whole mess turning against his family? Where exactly had things gone wrong? With everyone around him chattering this and that, he couldn’t make head or tail of it.

Old Lady Shi let out a cry of “Hey! It’s not me talking nonsense, you know! I remember that day—Ning-ger’s face was covered in dirt from eating. Poor thing—he’d just lost his father, and now his Second Aunt is bullying him too.”

As soon as Zhou Da heard someone mention his Fulang, his heart ached even more. His Fulang hadn’t lived a single good day with him; he’d left a ger behind for him, and he hadn’t even taken good care of him. A grown man, he nearly broke down in tears right there.

“Get out! Get out of my house!”

Zhou Da grabbed a broom to chase her out, sweeping Hu Caiyun—who was sitting on the floor—out as if she were dirt. Hu Caiyun tried to make a scene, but Zhou Da shoved her out with the broom, leaving her hair all tangled and disheveled.

Seeing that his older brother was determined not to hand over the silver, Zhou Er stormed off, flinging his sleeves in anger.

“Big Brother, you’re heartless today, but don’t blame me for being unrighteous later. Don’t forget my son is a Tongsheng—that’s still better than being a peasant!”

Shen Linchuan sneered. “Get lost. He’s nothing but a Tongsheng. If you didn’t know better, you’d think your family had produced a top-ranking scholar!” Zhou Youcheng also shot Shen Linchuan a venomous glare. “You Shen scum, just you wait.”

Shen Linchuan ignored him, turned, and walked into the courtyard. He bowed to the crowd of onlookers. “Thank you all for speaking up so righteously. My father and Ning-ger have suffered no end of oppression from Zhou Er’s family over the years. Thank you, uncles, aunts, and elders.”

The crowd waved their hands in unison. “Don’t be so polite, Linchuan. We were just telling the truth.”

Old Shi, having watched the commotion to her heart’s content, remarked, “That Zhou Er’s family has been getting a bit too cocky these past years, relying on the fact that they have a scholar in the house. If it weren’t for your father supporting them, they wouldn’t have the silver to pay for his education.”

“That’s right. I heard tuition fees in town are exorbitant. I wonder if they’re pocketing the extra money for their own use.” 

“Brother, don’t take this the wrong way, but I’ve seen Hu Caiyun frequently sending meat over to her parents’ house.”

As the crowd chattered away, Zhou Da could barely make out what they were saying. He forced himself to maintain his composure, but the more he thought of his Fulang, the more heartbroken he felt. Shen Linchuan noticed his father’s distress and bowed to the crowd once more. “Thank you all. My Fulang and I will come by to thank you in person.” 

“Oh, don’t be so formal. We’re all from the same village.”

“That’s right. Zhou Da is a man of honor—there’s hardly a family in the village whose troubles he hasn’t helped with.”

As Shen Linchuan spoke, he politely ushered the onlookers gathered in the courtyard out. Once everyone had left, he quickly shut the door. Zhou Da couldn’t hold back any longer; he crouched down, covered his face with his hands, and tears began to fall uncontrollably.

Zhou Ning had never seen his father suffer like this in all his years. He wanted to step forward to offer some comfort, but Shen Linchuan pulled him back, shaking his head at him.

Zhou Ning, moved by his father’s tears, began to cry as well. Shen Linchuan’s heart ached terribly. Zhou Er’s family was nothing but a cancerous tumor; the sooner it was cut out, the sooner they’d be spared the trouble. Not only had Zhou Ning never seen his father cry, but in the nearly half a year Shen Linchuan had been with Zhou Ning, he hadn’t seen his Fulang cry either!

Though his Fulang’s face remained expressionless as he wept, tears fell like pearls, one after another. Shen Linchuan’s heart twisted in pain at the sight, and he hurriedly pulled him into his arms to comfort him. “Don’t cry, don’t cry. It’s all right now.”

Shen Linchuan patted Zhou Ning’s back, soothing him as if he were a child. “It’s all my fault, my dear Ning-ger. I’ve caused you so much grief.” 

“Shen Linchuan, I miss my little father.”

“Stop crying. If your little father found out, he’d be heartbroken.” 

“My dad said I look just like my little father.”

Shen Linchuan felt his shoulder growing damp. When Fulang cried, it was enough to break his heart—how could even his tears be so gentle and so understanding?

How he wished he could tell the young Ning-ger that he didn’t have to be so sensible—that it was perfectly fine to act wild and mischievous just like other children.

Shen Linchuan held Zhou Ning close, comforting him for a long while. He didn’t know what to say, so he could only hold his Fulang tightly, wishing he could merge him right into his own body.

The thought of little Zhou Ning, not much older than a toddler, starving to the point of eating grass roots, broke Shen Linchuan’s heart. Zhou Da crouched on the ground for a moment before going to fetch water to wash his face.

Shen Linchuan patted his Fulang’s back. “It’s okay, Dad’s fine now. Don’t cry anymore. Tomorrow we’ll go to town to have fun. We’ll go eat the most expensive lychee ice cream, okay? And we’ll buy all the almond cakes, chestnut flour cakes, and candied dates you like—we’ll buy them all!”

Zhou Ning sniffed, “Dad can’t go to town tomorrow—he has to collect the pigs.”

“It’s okay. If Father can’t go, the two of us will go. Why can’t the two of us go to town to have fun?”

“Let’s go the day after tomorrow instead. We’ll take a mule cart.”

Zhou Ning had just finished crying, and his voice still carried a hint of a stuffy nose, making him sound even more childlike. Shen Linchuan’s heart ached so much he could hardly bear it—how could he possibly refuse? “Sure, sure, sure. We’ll go to town the day after tomorrow to buy some treats.”

Over at the Zhou Da family’s place, everyone was in a tearful mess. By the time Zhou Er’s family arrived home, they were still grumbling under their breath. Of the four family members, two were covered in dirt: Hu Caiyun had rolled around in the mud, and Zhou Youcheng had gotten it from bowing his head repeatedly.

Hu Caiyun kept complaining, “So this is the plan you came up with? What a waste—making our Youcheng kowtow all those times. Ugh!”

Zhou Er felt utterly wronged. He grabbed his son’s arm. “Youcheng, you absolutely must pass the Xiucai exam next year and let your father vent this frustration!”

“Father, I know. I’ll definitely pass the Xiucai exam. As for Shen Linchuan, Zhang Xiaoyi, Uncle Zhou, Old Lady Wang, and Old Lady Shi—I’ll trample them all underfoot!”

“Good! Now that’s my son, Zhou Er’s son!”

“But what about the tuition fees right now?”

“It’s just a few taels of silver—we’ve got it! Without Zhou Da, the butcher, do you think I couldn’t afford to support you?”

Zhou Er fished out his secret stash of silver from the room. Inside were scattered silver ingots and loose coins—it looked like quite a lot. Zhou Youcheng had always thought their family was so poor they couldn’t even afford meat, but he never imagined his father had this much silver!

“Father, where did you get this?”

“Never mind that. I certainly won’t let my son’s education suffer.”

Zhou Er took five taels of silver from the pile to cover Zhou Youcheng’s tuition, set aside another two taels as a gift for the teacher, and gave the remaining two taels to Zhou Youcheng for living expenses.

It cost nearly ten taels of silver all at once; it would be a lie to say it didn’t hurt.

Zhou Fang craned her neck to look at the silver wrapped in cloth—there must be thirty or forty taels there!

“Father, this silver isn’t what Old Shi said—that you squeezed out of Uncle, is it?”

Zhou Er glared at his daughter. “Nonsense! This is all the money I’ve earned from farming over the years!”

Zhou Fang twirled the small braid on her head and pouted. She knew better than anyone—with just their family’s four mu of land, the taxes alone were enough to leave them hungry. Her father didn’t have any marketable skills; how could they possibly have saved up this much silver just from the land? Her father was lying!

Seeing that the family’s silver had been given solely to Zhou Youcheng, Zhou Fang protested, “Father, why is all the family’s silver going to my brother? I want some too!” 

“This silver is for your brother’s education. What would you do with it? Stop causing trouble and go away!”

“Why am I useless? I want to buy the latest silk flowers—Hongjie has them, so I want them too. And the clothes I’m wearing—I’ve had them for so long, and you haven’t made me a new set this year. Why is everything spent on Zhou Youcheng? I want some too!”

Zhou Fang suddenly realized there was silver in the house after all, and she insisted on spending some of it on herself. Why was he being so biased? Zhou Er was so furious that he raised his hand. “Try making a scene one more time!”

Zhou Fang stuck out her cheek. “Go ahead, go ahead, hit me! Try hitting me just once! I’ll go shout it all over the village right now—that you took extra silver from Uncle! I’ll make sure the whole village knows!”

Zhou Er felt like he was about to spit blood. He’d been driven to the brink of madness by his eldest brother outside, and now he had to deal with this rebellious daughter at home. His vision swam with dizziness. “Rebellious daughter! Rebellious daughter!”

“I don’t care if you think I’m a disobedient daughter or a disobedient son—you give it to Zhou Youcheng, and you have to give it to me too!”

Zhou Er was driven to the brink. He fetched a jiao of loose silver from inside. “Go on, go on, get out of my sight! Just seeing you and your mother gives me a headache!” Zhou Fang was delighted to receive the jiao of loose silver. In her mind, she was already planning what flowers to buy.

The news of the falling-out between Zhou Da’s and Zhou Er’s families was the talk of the town in Dayangshu Village. As the evening air cooled, the women and men gathered after dinner, fanning themselves with palm leaves and chatting idly.

“I tell you, the eldest son’s family should have fallen out with the second son’s family long ago. Even though they’re blood brothers, everyone in the village knows it—the second son has always been taking advantage of the eldest.”

“I heard that Zhou Youcheng spends twenty or thirty taels of silver a year!”

“Good heavens! Twenty or thirty taels! My family couldn’t earn that much in three years—and Zhou Da can’t earn that much either!”

“Even if he could earn that much, he couldn’t keep spending like that. Look, Zhou Da’s been in business for over ten years, and he doesn’t even own a single animal. He’s working himself to the bone. He’s young now, but will he still be able to keep it up in another couple of years?”

“You’re right. Why doesn’t my family have such a good brother-in-law? If my son were to become Zhou Da’s brother-in-law, I’d definitely support his family!”

“Hu Caiyun is just clueless. Let me tell you, if it weren’t for Zhou Da finally coming to his senses and finding a son-in-law for Ningger, all the silver Zhou Da earns would eventually be swindled away by the second son’s family.”

“I agree. Zhou Da has such good judgment. Look at the wonderful son-in-law he found for Ning-ger. The guy even knows to look out for his own father—he dropped out of school and bought Zhou Da a mule.”

“That’s right, that’s right. I heard he even helps out in the kitchen. I mean, what man goes into the kitchen these days? He and Ning-ger cook all their meals together, and no one says a word about it. I’m actually a bit envious.”

A breeze blew by, carrying the village’s gossip and trivialities far away, yet in their conversations, each family’s struggles were laid bare. The very next day, Zhou Da set off on his mule to buy pigs. He’d only been at it for a couple of days before taking a break—the pork wouldn’t keep if it got too hot. On his way back, the women cooling off at the village entrance called out to him, “Uncle Zhou, off to buy pigs again?”

“Ah, just taking a look around the other villages.”

“Zhou Da, my brother back home has a pig ready for market. If you have a moment, could you come take a look and see what you’d offer for it?”

As soon as Zhou Da heard they wanted to sell a pig, he gave the reins a gentle tug to stop the mule. “That’s a bit of a coincidence. I’m actually buying a pig today—I’m going to wrap things up for the year. It’s too hot to store pork.”

“Oh, that’s no problem. Zhou Da, you can come take a look when the weather cools down.”

“Alright then.”

Zhou Da then urged his mule on, clopping along toward home. He was quite well-liked in the village. Although he’d had a run-in with Zhou Er’s family the day before, the villagers felt he hadn’t done anything wrong. They greeted him as usual when they passed by—in fact, they were even a bit more friendly than before.

With the recent heat, even Shen Linchuan and Zhou Ning’s braised pork business had picked up considerably. Otherwise, their father’s meat wouldn’t have kept well. This made their regular customers quite happy—with more meat available, they could finally get their hands on some!

The family of three went to town to do business as usual. Mr. Lu, the shopkeeper, had his son waiting there with a bowl in hand long before they arrived. He stood behind the counter, feet up, whistling, and leisurely dusting the shelves with a feather duster.

He’d even told his son to ask for an extra scoop of meat broth when they bought it, so they could steam a big pot of white rice at noon and pour it over—life was as blissful as a god’s.

Word has it that the new “Baota Pork” from the Wangye Pavilion is all the rage in Qinghe Town now. That place has even started copying Boss Shen’s tactics—limited portions. Five taels of silver per serving isn’t exactly out of my price range, but he couldn’t bring himself to eat it once a month, let alone once every six months. It just hurts his wallet—it’s so expensive!

Ordinary folks have to make a reservation in advance—what’s with all this waiting in line? Even wealthy merchants and officials from the surrounding towns come here just to try it. The road outside Wangye Pavilion is jam-packed with carriages and horses; business is booming.

Manager Lu tutted. He couldn’t bring himself to eat the Baota pork, but surely he could afford the sliced pork? Besides, the sliced pork was more suitable for a commoner like him—ten wen a slice. That was a bargain.

Just as he was thinking this, his son came back carrying a bowl, holding a slice of braised dried tofu in his hand, and munching on it so enthusiastically that the sauce had smeared all over his face. Shopkeeper Lu chuckled. “Don’t sneak any of the meat from the bowl—there are only two slices. At noon, have your mother prepare some spicy mustard melon for you.”

“Dad, Manager Zhou said he’s not coming back after selling today’s batch.” 

“He’s not selling anymore?”

“Yeah, he said it’s too hot, and the meat won’t keep.”

Upon hearing this, Shopkeeper Lu was alarmed—if they stopped selling, how would he get his meat? Frantic, he stepped to the doorway and glanced out. Both of the Zhou family’s stalls were now surrounded by crowds of people.

Mr. Lu called out, “Uncle Zhou, my boy says you won’t be coming after today?” 

“Ah! I’m not selling meat anymore, but I’m not stopping the pork belly!” Zhou Da called back from a distance.

Shopkeeper Lu chuckled and playfully smacked his son on the back of the head. “All you think about is eating—you can’t even pass a message properly.”

The people waiting in line nearby also laughed. “If you stop selling that pork belly, Manager Lu is going to be heartbroken. He loves it so much—every time I come here, I see his son standing here with a bowl, waiting for it.”

It was still early to pack up, so Shen Linchuan and Zhou Ning went to browse the market together. The day before yesterday, he had promised to take his Fulang to try some iced, sweetened mountain cake. There were only a few shops in town that sold ice, and most of the street vendors selling drinks could only use cool well water to make them, but they were still refreshing and helped beat the heat.

Once summer arrived, the market’s produce became much more abundant. The loofahs that had cost thirty wen each back in April and May were now much cheaper, and the streets were lined with green peppers, eggplants, luffa, and all sorts of leafy greens.

Not to mention cherries and nectarines—Qinghe Town is situated along a canal that connects north and south, so sometimes fresh produce is brought in from afar, such as honeydew melons, longans, lychees, and winter melons from Lingnan.

Shen Linchuan bought some of the fresh fruits and vegetables he saw, and Zhou Ning’s basket was filled with all sorts of produce; piled high, it looked quite a sight.

“Let’s get another winter melon. We haven’t had any yet this year. Let’s buy two—we’ll send one to my older brother and his wife, too.”

“They’re a bit pricey.”

Zhou Ning was a bit reluctant to spend the money, but these winter melons were indeed a bit pricey. They said they were shipped all the way from Luoyang, and each one cost nearly two taels of silver.

“Then just one. We’ll split it between our family and my older brother’s.” 

“Alright.”

He never expected that watermelons would become such a rarity in the Dafeng Dynasty. What kind of summer is it if you don’t eat a slice of watermelon in the middle of summer? Not to mention the high price of watermelons—even the cherries and grapes he’d bought weren’t cheap either.

Few households with land grow fruit; they can’t even feed themselves on the grain they grow. Who would bother planting these things, especially when they don’t know how to care for them? It would be a losing proposition.

Luckily, he’d brought plenty of silver with him today; otherwise, he really wouldn’t have had enough to spend.

Shen Linchuan has never been stingy when it comes to food and clothing. He lived quite comfortably after starting his career, but it’s a shame about his spacious apartment—he’d barely lived there a few days before moving here. Still, compared to the hustle and bustle of the big city, he much prefers the peace and tranquility of country life.

“Brother Zhou, look at these lychees. I hear they’re imperial tribute—something we common folk can’t afford.”

A few scholars in Confucian robes walked toward him. Shen Linchuan looked up and recognized Zhou Youcheng. After all, the fruit and beverage stall was quite a distance from the stalls selling pork, game, fish, and shrimp—no wonder he’d run into Zhou Youcheng here.

Shen Linchuan smiled and greeted him, “Brother Youcheng.”

Zhou Youcheng shot Shen Linchuan a venomous glance. It was a small world indeed. The fact that Zhou Da hadn’t given him any money was entirely due to Shen Linchuan egging him on behind the scenes—he’d seen it all that day! The windows in that room were even sealed with Xiaying cloth!

That was Xiaying cloth! And they’d actually used it to cover the windows—yet his uncle claimed the family had no money!

Now, seeing Zhou Ning’s basket filled with all sorts of fruits and vegetables, and a winter melon in his arms, his resentment only grew. What right did they have to eat such delicacies!

“Brother Zhou, do you know them?”

“I don’t know him. Who knows whose family he’s from, coming over here to make false claims.”

Shen Linchuan chuckled. Zhou Er’s family truly was the type to be grateful for a handful of rice but resentful for a bushel—he’d spent so much money on them before, yet now they’d turned their backs on him.

Shen Linchuan shook his head. “Brother Zhou, even if we don’t get along, my father has never wronged you. He is your elder, after all.”

The moment Shen Linchuan mentioned Zhou Da, Zhou Youcheng’s expression darkened, terrified that anyone might discover his connection to the butcher on the street.

“Let’s go.”

Zhou Youcheng turned and walked off in the opposite direction. A classmate asked him, “Who was that guy? But I recognize the ger standing next to him—isn’t that the ger of Zhou the butcher down the street?”

Zhou Ning was easy to spot; he’d been tagging along with his father selling pork on the street for years. They’ve never seen a young ger doing that kind of work—he doesn’t look like a ger, more like a grown man.

“I don’t know. I don’t recognize him.”

“You both have the surname Zhou—what a coincidence.”

Hearing this, Zhou Youcheng’s heart skipped a beat, fearing they might link him to Butcher Zhou down the street. Shen Linchuan couldn’t be bothered to respond to Zhou Youcheng and said to his Fulang, “Come on, let’s go get some iced sweetened mountain cake.”

“Let’s skip it. We already bought some winter melon today.”

“Alright, then let’s go home and eat the watermelon. We’ll come back for the ice-crunchy mountain dessert next time.”

Shen Linchuan didn’t want his Fulang to eat so many cold things at once. Watermelon is already a cold-natured food, and if he were to eat a big bowl of ice-crusted mountain on top of that, he was genuinely worried his Fulang might get an upset stomach.

However, his fulang’s penny-pinching ways were exceptionally endearing. Shen Linchuan felt that the money he’d earned wasn’t enough; he needed to earn more so his fulang could spend freely without a second thought.

The two of them carried quite a load back home. By then, the sun had risen, and the heat had left a thin sheen of sweat on their foreheads. When Zhou Da saw his ger clutching a winter melon, he let out a gasp: “You bought a winter melon.”

Winter melons were something only wealthy families ate; he’d never actually bought one before.

By now, the crowd at the meat stall had thinned out. The three of them sat in the shade to rest. Zhou Ning came out with a bowl of cherries. “Dad, have some cherries.” 

“Okay, okay.”

Zhou Da grabbed a handful. Zhou Ning then offered some to Old Wang from next door and his son and daughter-in-law.

Everyone smiled and took a few. Old Wang, sitting nearby, chatted with Zhou Da, “Starting tomorrow, I won’t be seeing you around anymore, Zhou Da.”

“Oh, you’ll still see me around. I’ll take over the young couple’s business so they can rest at home for a while.” 

“That’s fine then. We’ll still be able to sit together and chat.”

Ever since the Zhou family started this deli business, Old Man Wang’s flatbread business had been booming, and his life had become much more comfortable. Now that his son and daughter-in-law had taken over his stall, he could finally take a break.

Old Man Wang didn’t know that Shen Linchuan and Zhou Ning had gone home so early to study; he only knew that Shen Linchuan used to be a scholar, literate, and was now helping his father run a small business.

Zhou Da wouldn’t go around telling people that his son-in-law was a scholar who was planning to take the exam for the title of Xiucai next year. He feared that boasting about it would make him seem boastful, and he was also worried that if Shen Linchuan failed the exam, it would be a loss of face. It was better to just come quietly.

“Father, I just ran into Zhou Youcheng while buying fruit from Shen Linchuan.”

At the mention of Zhou Youcheng’s name, the smile faded from Zhou Da’s face. When he was a child, Zhou Youcheng used to come over often, calling him “Uncle” with respect—he was quite a special kid. But now that he’s grown up, he looks down on his uncle, a pig butcher.

Old Man Wang knew Zhou Youcheng well; he and Zhou Da had been neighbors and business partners for many years, and he knew Zhou Da was supporting his nephew’s education in town.

Old Man Wang said with a chuckle, “But that nephew of yours who’s studying—Zhou Da, you really are a lucky man. The young couple at home earns a decent living, and you’ve got a nephew who’s an educated man.”

Zhou Da shook his head helplessly. “Oh, come on, come on. He’s looking down on me, a pig butcher.”

Old Man Wang gave an awkward chuckle. “But you’ve still got Ning-ger and Linchuan—two children of your own. You’ve got nothing to worry about when it comes to someone to take care of you in your old age.”

Old Man Wang felt a pang of regret. Zhou Da had supported him for so long, yet now he wouldn’t acknowledge him as his uncle. All that silver had gone down the drain. Tsk, even if they were blood relatives, they weren’t as close as his own son.