Many families in the village worked themselves to the bone all year round and could only save two or three taels of silver. Some couldn’t save a single coin. Fifteen taels of silver were already considered a fortune in Xiling Village.

This was the first time Yan Xingmao and He Qiuhua had ever held such a large sum of silver in their hands, and they felt quite at a loss. After discussing it, the couple decided to entrust the silver to Yan Xiaoyu for safekeeping.

Yan Xiaoyu accepted without hesitation.

His mother and father were both simple souls. If the silver stayed with them, who knew when someone might sweet-talk it away? He felt safer keeping it himself.

Fifteen taels of silver sounded like a lot, but just buying the land for a house would cost four or five taels. Building a sturdy mud-brick and thatch hut, hiring labor, buying materials, and making furniture… all added up would cost another three or four taels. Factor in the expenses for Yan Xingmao’s leg treatment and recovery, the startup capital Yan Xiaoyu needed for his food business, their initial rent for the rented house, and daily living costs—this silver would soon run short.

That evening, Yan Xiaoyu pondered in his room for a while before getting up to find Tao Cuiqin.

All these days had been consumed with household matters, yet that Magistrate Wang, who injured Yan Xingmao, still hadn’t compensated them!

Tao Cuiqin and Yan Xingsheng both wore guarded expressions when Yan Xiaoyu approached. Only after he explained his purpose did their faces relax—this time, he wasn’t targeting them.

Yan Xiaoyu intended to entrust the entire task of seeking compensation from Master Wang to Yan Xingsheng. The benefit for Yan Xingsheng was that he would only take five taels of silver, with the remainder going entirely to Yan Xingsheng. How much he could secure depended entirely on Yan Xingsheng’s skill.

Today’s division of property and severing of family ties had cost the eldest branch dearly, leaving both Yan Xingsheng and Tao Cuiqin feeling the pinch. With Yan Yonghe set to take the imperial examinations in the provincial capital next year—another hefty expense—Yan Xiaoyu’s offer of a money-making opportunity at this critical juncture naturally caught their attention.

Yet both felt five taels was excessive—the deal seemed unprofitable. Yan Xingmao wasn’t dead; how could Magistrate Wang possibly pay that much?

Yan Xingsheng scoffed coldly. “You’re really asking for the moon. Magistrate Wang probably won’t even pay five taels total. What if the silver falls short? Will we have to chip in for you?”

Yan Xiaoyu had anticipated this and calmly glanced at Yan Xingsheng. “If you don’t want to help, that’s fine. I’ll go see Magistrate Wang myself. But when I do, I’ll demand to know why his other laborers earn six hundred wen a month while my father only gets two hundred. Isn’t that outright exploitation?”

“…” Yan Xingsheng’s face turned green.

After some back-and-forth, Yan Xingsheng finally handed Yan Xiaoyu two taels of silver. Beyond that, Yan Xiaoyu refused to get involved. Whatever else Yan Xingsheng managed to secure, he wouldn’t lift a finger.

Yan Xiaoyu knew that without relying on Yan Yonghe’s reputation, he might not have secured even two taels on his own. Thus, he didn’t complain about the meager sum.

Fearing that news of severing ties might reach Magistrate Wang’s ears and cause trouble, Yan Xingsheng headed to Nanling Village first thing the next morning.

Meanwhile, Yan Xiaoyu and the others prepared for their move.

Old Master Yan forbade them from taking anything valuable or bulky. All they could carry were a few old garments, three worn-out quilts, several pairs of shoes, and some worthless trinkets—barely requiring any packing. Yan Xiaoyu focused most of his energy on finding a new place to live.

When he had asked Niu Fugui to serve as a witness the day before yesterday, he had also discreetly asked Niu Fugui to inquire whether anyone in the village would be willing to rent out their empty houses.

After agreeing, Niu Fugui inquired around the village and found several households with vacant rooms available for rent.

But among these options, some heard the Yan family’s second branch was looking to rent and demanded exorbitant prices; others were village troublemakers with ulterior motives; still others lived in squalor, their homes filthy beyond belief…

In short, none were suitable.

Aunt He also offered to help, but her family could only spare one room. With four members—a ger, a girl, and a man—the Yan Xiaoyu family ideally needed three rooms, or at least two.

Beyond the village, Yan Xiaoyu considered renting a small house in town as a temporary solution. But after viewing several places with a broker, the cheaper ones didn’t meet his standards, while the ones he liked were too expensive. His family had many other expenses, and he couldn’t afford to spend too much on rent.

Moreover, the summer harvest was imminent. Their fields remained in the village, and living in town would prove inconvenient. After much deliberation, Yan Xiaoyu concluded they must rent a house in the village.

The three-day deadline was fast approaching, yet their living arrangements remained unresolved. Yan Xingmao and He Qiuhua were both troubled, but Yan Xiaoyue showed no concern: “If it doesn’t work out, we can always stay in the cave.”

Yan Xiaoyu: “…”

He had even considered letting Yan Xingmao and He Qiuhua continue staying at the clinic while he took Yan Xiaoyue to live with Aunt He. Unexpectedly, Niu Fugui’s youngest son, Nian Ge, came up with a solution.

“Isn’t the Yan family’s old house still empty? Since Brother Yan and the others aren’t using it anyway, why not ask if he’d be willing to rent it to Uncle Yan?”

There was only one family in the village with the surname Yan—the family of Yan Shaocheng, who had lent Yan Xiaoyu the oxcart last time.

The Yan family had only two brothers, yet they owned two houses. Both were located at the foot of the mountain behind Xiling Village, just a few steps apart.

The story of the Yan family was a long one. Yan Shaocheng and his younger brother Yan Shaoxuan were originally from Bianxi Prefecture. They had been adopted by Yan Dahu and his wife from the village.

Bianxi Prefecture lies on the southwestern border. At that time, Nanhe, which had been subdued for over a decade, had made a comeback. Great Chu and Nanhe clashed along the southwestern frontier, and the brothers’ father had gone to war.

Yan Dahu was Father Yan’s comrade-in-arms. The two shared similar temperaments and, bearing the same surname, were far closer than ordinary friends. Though they fought side by side, the battlefield was unforgiving. Despite Father Yan’s caution, he was gravely wounded in the final battle and ultimately succumbed to his injuries.

Before his passing, he entrusted Yan Dahu to bring his personal belongings home. Yan Dahu tearfully agreed, only to discover upon arriving at the Yan residence that while Yan Father fought valiantly on the front lines, his wife had been murdered by his own uncles and brothers coveting the family estate.

Only two orphaned children remained of the Yan family—the younger, just five, the elder barely eight. Left to fend for themselves with their father’s military pay and death benefits, the brothers would likely not survive.

Thus, Yan Dahu brought the two children back to Xiling Village.

His wife, though married to him for years, had been unable to conceive due to her frail health. After the Yan brothers arrived, she cherished them dearly, raising them as her own children. The two boys, recognizing this kindness, adopted Yan Dahu and Yan Shaocheng as their godparents and treated them with profound filial devotion.

Though not biologically related, the family of four lived in perfect harmony.

As Yan Shaocheng and Yan Shaoxuan grew older, Yan Shaocheng followed in his biological father’s footsteps, becoming a peddler. This lightened Yan Dahu’s burden considerably. Yan Shaoxuan returned to his studies and passed the preliminary imperial examination on his first attempt, earning the envy of the entire village…

Just as the Yan family’s fortunes seemed to be steadily improving, with a new house built, Yan Dahu was tragically injured while hunting in the mountains.

He was rushed to the clinic, but despite two months of treatment, he could not be saved.

His wife, Lu Xianglian, who had always been frail, could not withstand the blow of her husband’s death. She became bedridden and never recovered. Fortunately, Yan Shaocheng and Yan Shaoxuan had grown up and could support the family, preventing the Yan household from being completely crushed.

To fund Lu Xianglian’s treatment, Yan Shaoxuan withdrew from the county academy. Yet Lu Xianglian’s life was short-lived; she passed away three years later.

Yan Shaoxuan, once hailed as the village “child prodigy” and his tutor’s star pupil, missed five opportunities to take the provincial examinations while observing six years of mourning for his adoptive parents.

Many villagers praised his filial piety and loyalty to his adoptive parents to his face, but behind his back, they mocked his inflexibility, saying he’d become a bookworm from studying too much—clearly, Yan Dahu and his wife were only godparents, not part of the same household register, so he didn’t need to observe mourning for them. Yet, he had wasted these years.

Niu Fugui’s expression grew slightly complex when he mentioned Yan Shaoxuan.

“The young master Yan should agree to this matter, but his younger brother is another story. Young Master Xuan is a scholar who dislikes mingling with villagers. His temperament is beyond us mud-legged folk to fathom. Several ger and women in the village have been rebuffed by him.”

Niu Fugui delivered that last sentence with a weighty undertone.

Yan Xiaoyu understood perfectly—meaning Yan Shaoxuan was arrogant and looked down on others! It was only natural; scholars these days tended to be a bit aloof. His own cousin suffered from the same flaw.

He’d heard the Yan family’s old residence sat at the mountain’s base, with only the Yans as neighbors—quiet and secluded. The entire family of four was fastidious clean freaks, having kept the place spotless. The idea appealed to Yan Xiaoyu.

Even after Niu Fugui hinted that Yan Shaoxuan was difficult to deal with, he refused to give up. After discussing it with Yan Xingmao and the others, he immediately headed to the Yan residence.

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

Come to think of it, the day Yan Xiaoyu arrived in this world, it was Yan Shaoxuan who rescued him from the river. But in the days that followed, he was so preoccupied with “battling wits and courage” with the eldest branch of the family that he completely forgot about it.

Later, when Yan Shaocheng lent them an oxcart, Yan Xiaoyu recalled the incident. He resolved that once Yan Xingmao recovered, he would prepare gifts and host a banquet at home to properly thank the Yan brothers. After all, they had assisted him twice—once in a matter of life and death.

In a novel, such favors would warrant a marriage pledge.

Yet here he was, still owing them for past debts, now needing their help again. Yan Xiaoyu felt a pang of emotion.

Though the Great Chu was open-minded, some villagers loved gossip. To avoid suspicion, he brought Yan Xiaoyue along.

Their luck wasn’t great. When they arrived, the easygoing Yan Shaocheng wasn’t home, but the notoriously difficult Yan Shaoxuan happened to be there.

Most households in Xiling Village had open courtyards in front of their houses without gates. The Yan family, however, lived at the foot of the mountain and needed to guard against wild animals coming down. They had built an earthen wall to enclose both the courtyard and the house.

“Brother Yan? Is Brother Yan home?”

Yan Xiaoyu called out twice from outside the courtyard. No one answered inside, but footsteps approached. Soon, the wooden gate swung open from within, revealing Yan Shaoxuan’s flawlessly handsome face.

Yan Xiaoyu had previously thought Yan Shaocheng was the most handsome man in Xiling Village, but upon seeing Yan Shaoxuan, he understood the saying, “There’s always someone better out there.”

When he came to, his mind was still hazy. He hadn’t gotten a clear look at the person who saved him, only vaguely remembering the exceptionally strong grip of the large hand that held him.

That day when he arrived at the Yan residence by oxcart, he hadn’t entered the courtyard gate nor seen Yan Shaoxuan. Even in the original body’s memories, Yan Shaoxuan’s face was absent.

This was Yan Xiaoyu’s first encounter with his savior.

Yan Shaoxuan’s face was undeniably handsome. Even with the village chief’s warnings still ringing in his ears, Yan Xiaoyu found himself involuntarily drawn to him.

Kind-hearted and good-looking—how difficult could such a person be to deal with?

He knocked but remained silent. Yan Shaoxuan’s brow furrowed slightly. “What is it?”

Yan Xiaoyu looked up at him, her eyes crinkling into crescent moons. “Thank you for last time. If you hadn’t saved me, I doubt I’d be standing here now.”

Yan Shaoxuan’s expression remained utterly unreadable. “Is there something else?”

He was indeed a bit hard to deal with, but he was his savior after all. Scratching his head, Yan Xiaoyu decided not to hold it against him. “I heard your family’s old house is sitting empty. My sister and I came to ask if you’d be willing to rent it to our family?”

Yan Shaoxuan remained silent, his face cold. Yan Xiaoyu paused, then explained, “The Yan family has split. Our second branch has been separated out. We’re looking to rent a place temporarily while we build our own house later.”

Yan Shaoxuan stared at Yan Xiaoyu’s face for a moment before abruptly looking away. “I understand. You may leave now.”

On the way back, Yan Xiaoyu’s face remained stiff as he strode along with fierce determination.

What’s there to be proud of? He’s only so-so looking and even slightly inferior to Yan Xiaoyu.