Sun Shiping snorted. Shen Linchuan had never gotten along with him at the academy, and now his butcher of a father had caused him to lose so much face! Zhou Youcheng jogged over to pick up the silver from the ground. “Tsk, I never expected that Shen Linchuan would have so much silver on him.”

He’d been planning to give him a hard time, but he never expected the silver to come so easily. Zhou Youcheng presented the silver with a fawning smile. “Young Master Sun.”

“Thanks to your brilliant idea, I’ll reward you with twenty taels. Keep the rest for your revelries.”

Zhou Youcheng smiled as he took out twenty taels of silver. Twenty taels—that was more than enough for him to establish himself in the county seat. He had no intention of going back. He, Zhou Youcheng, was going to continue his studies and one day return to Dayangshu Village in style!

Tsk, what a pity. He’d only let that Shen Linchuan drink a whole cask of wine. If only he’d drunk himself to death this time—that would’ve been Sun Shiping’s problem, and it wouldn’t have had anything to do with him, Zhou Youcheng.

Shen Linchuan forced himself to keep his composure and didn’t lose face until he stepped out of the courtyard gate, where he finally vomited. The young servant was thoroughly frightened. “Master Shen, let me escort you out.” 

Shen Linchuan was vomiting violently, and there were faint traces of blood in his vomit. The servant hurriedly escorted him outside.

Zhou Da and Luo Qingshan were waiting impatiently outside. Fearing the worst, Zhou Da paced back and forth, about to burst in. “Get out of the way!”

The servants couldn’t hold him back. As soon as Zhou Da stepped through the door, he saw two servants, each carrying one of them on their backs, heading this way. “Linchuan, it’s his older brother!”

Luo Qingshan rushed over as well and caught Shen Linchuan, who reeked of alcohol. “What’s going on?”

The servants let go and hurriedly stepped aside. Luo Qingshan hoisted Shen Linchuan onto his back, and Zhou Da, standing nearby, hoisted Shen Dage onto his own. Neither of them looked well. Zhou Da sighed, “This is outrageous!”

The two men hurried off, carrying their charges on their backs. Instead of heading home, they went straight to the Zhang family’s clinic.

Zhang Xiaoyi had just been betrothed that day and was overjoyed. His father was seeing patients up front, while Zhang Xiaoyi helped prepare the prescriptions, occasionally letting out a chuckle.

Zhou Da rushed in, carrying a patient on his back. “Doctor Zhang, please take a look at him right away.”

Doctor Zhang quickly stood up. One man was covered in blood, while the other reeked of alcohol and was unconscious. “Quick, lay him on the bed. Yi-ger, come help me.”

“Got it!”

Zhang Xiaoyi ran over as well. “Qingshan, what happened? You were fine just a moment ago!”

They’d just had lunch at his house at noon—how could this have happened so quickly? In the blink of an eye, two people were injured. Luo Qingshan merely shook his head without saying much.

Doctor Zhang applied wound powder to Shen Dage’s wound, then induced vomiting in Shen Linchuan. After a few acupuncture needles, he finally vomited up a fair amount of alcohol. Doctor Zhang quickly wrote a prescription and sent Zhang Xiaoyi to the backyard to boil the medicine, while Luo Qingshan pitched in to help.

“What’s going on here?”                                                 

“The Sun family falsely accused Elder Brother Shen Dage of theft and demanded that Shen Linchuan pay silver to secure his release. Brother Linchuan must have been put through quite an ordeal before they finally let him go.” 

“What grudge do the Sun family have against the Zhou and Shen families that they’d go to such extremes?”

Luo Qingshan had already figured out a thing or two. He feared that if Zhou Da found out, it would upset him, so he didn’t mention it to Zhang Xiaoyi. Since the incident had already happened, why drag another person into it?

Shen Linchuan remained unconscious even after downing a bowl of medicinal soup. Drinking an entire jar of wine in one go had truly taken a toll on his body; even if he were drunk, it would take half a day to sober up. Shen Dage, however, woke up before him and was startled to see Shen Linchuan lying across from him. “Linchuan!”

Uncle Zhou hurried to reassure him: “Linchuan’s just drunk. Doctor Zhang said he just needs a few days to rest. Are you feeling any discomfort? Let Doctor Zhang take a look at you.”

Shen Dage shook his head. “Just a few superficial injuries. What’s wrong with Linchuan?” 

Zhou Da explained that he’d likely been harassed by the Sun family while going to pick someone up.

Shen Dage knew nothing of the feud between the Zhou and Sun families—not even Zhou Da was aware of it. As for the scholar who had competed with him in archery that day, he hadn’t even remembered the man’s name.

Shen Dage assumed Shen Linchuan had been dragged into this because of him. He sighed deeply. “The Sun family is clearly slandering me. I was working at the time. Out of the blue, they claimed a jade pendant had gone missing from their home. They searched several of the workers, and for some reason, the blame landed on me.”

After Shen Dage arrived at the county seat, he went to the docks to take on odd jobs. That area was a gathering place for many artisans—carpenters, lacquerers, and bricklayers. Whenever a household needed furniture made or doors, windows, or roofs repaired, they would come there to find someone.

At first, Shen Dage could only pick up small, sporadic jobs here and there, but later, as the households in the alley learned he was a carpenter, he gradually began to land larger projects for making furniture.

One day, a man who looked like a steward came by, saying he needed several carpenters to go to his home to repair doors, windows, and such. Shen Dage went along. The work was going smoothly, but who would have thought that trouble would suddenly land on his head?

Shen Dage felt wronged—after all, the jade pendant had indeed been found on him. He couldn’t explain himself, and without any investigation into the facts, he was brutally beaten by that family’s servant.

Zhou Da didn’t believe Brother Shen was the type to have his hands dirty; it must have been the Sun family deliberately framing him. With two people injured in the household all at once, it was impossible to keep it a secret. Seeing that it was getting late and his family back home must be worried, Zhou Da asked Luo Qingshan to go to the Shen household to let them know what had happened.

Shen Dasao was frantic with worry at home. The two younger children, Shen Hu-zi and Shen Xiaoyu, had no idea what was going on and didn’t dare to play and fool around like they usually did. Shen Dasao put on a brave face and smiled. “Hu-zi, why aren’t you out playing in the alley with your little brother? Mom will give you some copper coins—go buy some candy to eat later.”

Zhou Ning ruffled Shen Xiaoyu’s hair. “Xiaoyu seems to have grown a little taller.” 

“Uncle Zhou, what’s wrong with my mom? Was she crying?”

Shen Dasao forced a smile. “Mommy wasn’t crying at all. The wind just blew into her eyes when we got home a little while ago. She’s fine now—nothing to worry about.” The atmosphere in the courtyard felt a little different from usual. Although the children didn’t know what had happened, they keenly sensed that something was off.

Luo Qingshan came over and knocked on the door. Shen Dasao hurried out. “How is everything?”

Luo Qingshan shook his head. “Shen Dage suffered some bruises and scrapes, and Brother Linchuan was forced to drink so much that he hasn’t woken up yet. But don’t worry, Sister-in-law—Doctor Zhang examined them, and their lives are not in danger. They’ll just need to rest for a while.”

Shen Dasao’s eyes nearly filled with tears again. “Hu-zi, Mom and your Uncle Ning are going to the shop for a bit. Hu-zi, you stay home and watch over your little brother. Mom will be back in a little while.”

“Okay, Mom, I got it.”

Shen Dasao called out to Zhou Ning, “Ning-ger, let’s pop over to the shop.”

Zhou Ning was in the room playing with Xiaoyu. Since Shen Linchuan was fine, and the two children weren’t quite old enough to be left alone, someone had to stay home. “Sister-in-law, I’ll stay home for a bit and make dinner for Hu-zi and Xiaoyu.”

“It’s fine. They’re both old enough—they won’t go hungry. Come on, Ning-ger, let’s go.”

Only then did Zhou Ning come out. Since Luo Qingshan had returned, his older brother must have been brought out as well; if he hadn’t been brought back, his injuries must be quite severe. “Mr. Luo, how is my older brother?”

“Let’s go take a look first. Don’t worry—my father has already checked on him.”

The two hurried along behind him. Unexpectedly, they weren’t taken to the Zhou family’s house but straight to the clinic. As soon as Zhou Ning walked in, he asked, “Where’s my older brother?” 

“Ning-ger, don’t worry—they’re all inside.”

Inside the Zhang Family Clinic, a screen partitioned off an open area with several beds for patients to rest on, while the back courtyard served as living quarters. Since Zhang Xiaoyi was a young ger, outsiders were not allowed into the back courtyard.

Shen Dasao and Zhou Ning hurried over to take a look. When they turned the screen, they saw even Shen Linchuan lying pale-faced on a bed. Zhou Ning froze in shock. “Father, what’s wrong with Shen Linchuan?”

Zhang Xiaoyi hurriedly said, “Ning-ger, it’s nothing, nothing. The Sun family plied him with so much wine he passed out. My father has already checked him over; he’ll be fine after sleeping it off for a while.”

Only then did Zhou Ning move a finger, as if he’d just come back to life. He walked to the bedside and touched Shen Linchuan’s face. Thank goodness, thank goodness—Shen Linchuan was still there.

Shen Dasao looked from one to the other, unable to hold back her tears as they fell once more. Shen Dage had already woken up by then; he sat up and comforted her, “It’s all right now. Everything’s fine. Don’t cry—it’s not good for a family not to be together.”

Shen Dasao wiped away her tears. “How can it be okay? You’re covered in injuries, and Linchuan’s still unconscious. My heart aches.”

Who in that room wasn’t heartbroken? Zhou Da let out a heavy sigh and roughly rubbed his brow. “I’m going to go and kill that little bastard!” He’d been in town all these years—when had he ever suffered such a humiliating defeat?

Doctor Zhang quickly held him back. “Zhou Da, what are you doing? If you kill him, you’ll have to pay with your own life—and in the end, it’ll only break your own family’s hearts.”

“Father, Shen Linchuan will wake up.”          

“Ah, he’ll wake up, he’ll wake up. Ning-ger, don’t be so upset.”

Zhou Da’s heart was breaking. His ger might seem fine on the surface, but his movements were noticeably sluggish now. And with his son-in-law lying unconscious in bed, his condition looked even worse than that of the Shen family’s eldest son lying beside him.

As night was falling and she had two children waiting at home, Shen Dasao had no choice but to return home.

The whole family stayed at the clinic. Shen Dage had eaten some food and was feeling a bit better, but Shen Linchuan still hadn’t woken up. Zhou Ning fetched some water to wipe Shen Linchuan’s face and hands, then brought a bowl of medicine to feed to him.

Zhang Xiaoyi persuaded Zhou Ning to eat a little before he went to eat himself. It broke Zhang Xiaoyi’s heart—he’d never seen Zhou Ning like this before. After all, Zhou Ning had always had a hearty appetite since childhood; he used to eat two bowls of rice, but now he’d only managed a little porridge before stopping.

Zhang Xiaoyi was so furious that he kept cursing at Luo Qingshan: “What kind of family is the Sun family anyway? They bully people just because they have a little power. Ugh!”

None of them left. Zhou Ning stayed by Shen Linchuan’s bedside, watching him. Although he’d been forced to drink, Shen Linchuan was naturally pale, and now his face was even paler. Zhou Ning stared at Shen Linchuan without daring to blink, as if Shen Linchuan might vanish at any moment.

Even though Shen Linchuan was clearly right there, Zhou Ning couldn’t quite put his finger on it—he just felt a hollow emptiness in his heart.

Zhou Ning stayed by his side until late into the night, when Shen Linchuan finally woke up. The moment he opened his eyes, Zhou Ning jumped to his feet. “Shen Linchuan, where does it hurt?”

Shen Linchuan blinked. After a drunken stupor, memories from two worlds intertwined in his mind: he had gotten married and had a lovely Fulang. Thankfully, it wasn’t a dream.

Shen Linchuan tugged at the corner of his mouth, his voice slightly hoarse. “My head hurts terribly.”

Hearing the commotion, the others came over one after another. Doctor Zhang took his pulse again. “You’ll need to rest for a few days—your stomach’s been affected.”

Seeing that Shen Linchuan had woken up, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief. Shen Linchuan looked around and saw that everyone was still there. “Father, it’s already dark. You should go home and get some rest. I’m fine now.”

“Hey, hey, don’t talk anymore. Just rest, rest.”

Zhou Ning hurried to fetch some congee and fed Shen Linchuan a few spoonfuls. “Go to sleep now; it’ll be dawn soon.”

Shen Linchuan had a terrible headache. Although the liquor in this era was made from grain, it was still too much for his aching head to handle. His stomach was also a bit sore from the upset, and before long, he drifted back to sleep.

“Father, it’s getting late. You should hurry home and get some sleep. And Mr. Luo, thank you so much.” Zhou Ning urged them to go home first. Seeing that he had woken up, Zhou Da and Luo Qingshan finally took their leave.

Shen Linchuan slept until the sun was high in the sky; finally, he didn’t feel quite so miserable. Zhou Da came by early in the morning to check on him, and Shen Dasao also arrived after dropping the two children off at school.

The weather was nice today, and the sun shone into the room. Shen Linchuan’s headache had eased somewhat—he simply couldn’t handle an entire jar of wine. Zhou Ning tended to Shen Linchuan with care, and Shen Linchuan took his hand. “I scared you.”

Zhou Ning shook his head. “It’s okay.”

Shen Dage, lying on the bed next to them, sighed. “It’s all my fault for dragging you into this.”

Shen Linchuan was feeling pretty good today. Back in his previous life, when he was working himself to the bone, he once drank so much while trying to land a project that he ended up with a stomach hemorrhage. He never expected that, now that he was here, he’d be going through it all over again.

But unlike before, this time he had caring family members by his side.

Shen Dage was still sighing beside him, saying it was all his fault for dragging Shen Linchuan into this. Shen Linchuan shook his head and explained the feud between the two families in full detail. If anything, it was he who had dragged his older brother into this.

Shen Dage hadn’t expected such deep-seated animosity to be involved; enraged, he slammed his fist on the bed. “The Sun family is utterly shameless! To resort to such underhanded tactics!”

Shen Linchuan tapped his fingers lightly on the bed. The feud between the two families ran deep; the Sun family couldn’t be dealt with just yet. Sun Shiping had become much more well-behaved after being publicly reprimanded by Tong Siyue last time, but old habits die hard.

Shen Linchuan recuperated at home for a few days, with Zhou Ning tending to him constantly. Doctor Zhang had said that this time the injury had affected his stomach and required proper recuperation, which made Zhou Ning even more concerned—she wanted nothing more than to cradle him in the palm of her hand.

Shen Linchuan lay in a rocking chair soaking up the sun. Zhou Ning would come by every so often to pour him a cup of hot tea, then bring a blanket to cover him. Shen Linchuan had been basking in the sun all along and was now sweating slightly from the heat.

“It’s fine—I just drank too much all at once. Doctor Zhang said I’m all right now.” 

“You’ve always been frail.”

Shen Linchuan chuckled wryly; in his Fulang’s eyes, he was nothing more than a delicate scholar too frail to take care of himself.

They heard that Shen Linchuan was sick. Both Ye Jinglan and Xu Zhifan came to visit him. At first, they thought he’d really just caught a cold, but when they got there, they found out he’d actually been bullied by that Sun guy!

Xu Zhifan was so furious he was stamping his feet. “I was wondering why that bastard Sun Shiping had been acting so smug these past few days—so that’s why! What a despicable, shameless scoundrel!”

Shen Linchuan flipped through his book while reassuring Xu Zhifan to calm down; he, too, had learned a lesson the hard way. “The other day when I went to the restaurant, I saw Zhou Youcheng and Sun Shiping hanging out together again!”      

“Zhou Youcheng?”

Shen Linchuan looked up. He’d assumed Zhou Youcheng had returned to his hometown after being expelled from Bailu Academy, but he hadn’t expected him to still be in Kaiping County. He didn’t know if Zhou Youcheng was involved in this or not.

It was already October. Xu Zhifan hopped on one foot in frustration, waving his fan furiously. “I had my servant make inquiries. Zhou Youcheng found a private school on his own and is still studying at the county seat.”