Yan Xiaoyue and her younger brother usually returned home no later than the fourth hour of the day. Today, however, He Qiuhua and Yan Xingmao had already reheated their dinner twice, yet the children still hadn’t returned, leaving both of them somewhat worried.

Yan Shaocheng returned from an errand and passed by their house. Seeing Yan Xingmao and his wife looking anxiously out the door, he stopped to ask what was wrong.

Upon hearing that Yan Xiaoyu and Yan Xiaoyue hadn’t returned yet, Yan Shaocheng went back to inform his younger brother and then set off for the market to look for them.

As soon as Yan Shaoxuan heard the news, he didn’t hesitate—he put down his brush and jumped onto the ox cart.

On the way there, he pressed his lips together, his face tense. Seeing this, Yan Shaocheng tried to reassure him: “Wenyan has been to the market before and even specifically instructed the officials in charge. Brother Yu and the others shouldn’t get into trouble; perhaps they’re just running a bit late.”

Though he said this, his own expression betrayed some tension.

Yan Shaoxuan was preoccupied and didn’t notice his brother’s expression; he merely urged softly, “Brother, hurry up.”

The two brothers were as restless as ants on a hot pan, much to the poor ox’s distress—it was driven so hard it was nearly running at a horse’s pace.

When they reached the designated area outside the market for parking vehicles, Yan Shaoxuan jumped down before the oxcart had even come to a complete stop.

Yan Shaocheng hurriedly exchanged a few words with the village elder, then followed his younger brother’s footsteps into the market.

The brothers found Yan Xiaoyu’s stall one after the other, and the moment they saw the scene there, they both grew anxious.

Something had happened at the stall; quite a few people were gathered around it. But that wasn’t the point—the point was—

—Yan Xiaoyu was talking to a burly young man. They stood very close together, their manner quite familiar. Yan Xiaoyu was smiling with crinkled eyes, while the man’s face was full of tenderness, seeming almost a bit shy. The sight made Yan Shaoxuan’s eyes blaze with fury.

—Yan Xiaoyue’s eyes were red and swollen, clearly having cried, and she seemed to be still sobbing…

Yan Shaocheng’s heart tightened; for once, he lost his composure. His eyes were fixed only on the pitiful young woman wiping away her tears in the distance, and as he walked over, he nearly bumped into someone.

When he looked up again, he realized Nian-ger was standing nearby.

Nian-ger looked completely at a loss, seemingly trying to comfort Yan Xiaoyue as his mouth moved up and down. It wasn’t until Yan Shaocheng drew closer that he could make out what he was saying.

“It’s over. That guy was knocked out, wasn’t he? My third brother has already sent him to the county magistrate’s office. From now on, no one will dare to mess with Yu-ger again… ”

How could Sister Yue hit someone? Did someone bully her and her brother?

Yan Shaocheng rushed over in a panic: “What happened? Sister Yue, who bullied you? Are you hurt?”

As soon as Yan Xiaoyue saw Yan Shaocheng, the tears she had barely managed to hold back burst forth again. She looked up at him, her dark, bright eyes brimming with tears: “Big Brother Yan, waaah…”

Yan Shaocheng raised his hand to wipe away her tears, but mindful of proper decorum between men and women, he stopped midway and lowered it again. Yet the pain in his eyes was unmistakable.

Nian-ger looked at Yan Xiaoyue, then at Yan Shaocheng. After a moment, he flashed a sly smile.

It hadn’t been in vain that he’d gotten up early on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month to burn incense at Qingyun Temple—the Bodhisattva had truly blessed him!

You search high and low in vain, yet when it comes, it’s effortless—his business was finally set to open!

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

Two hours earlier, two men had come to the stall to cause a scene.

Yan Xiaoyu knew exactly what was going on and wasn’t the least bit afraid; the neighboring stall owners and customers all rushed to his defense. Unable to outargue him, the troublemakers actually tried to resort to violence.

But before his fist could land, Yan Xiaoyu grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground.

His accomplice tried to sneak an attack, only to be knocked over by Yan Xiaoyue, who had been cowering in a corner, looking terrified. Fearing he might get back up, Yan Xiaoyue even stomped on him a few times while sobbing and trembling.

They had another accomplice hiding among the diners, who tried to slip drugs into the food at Yan Xiaoyu’s stall amid the chaos, but was caught red-handed by Zhu Sheng, who had come to buy some snacks to go with his wine.

At this point, the truth of the matter had largely come to light: these people had all colluded to frame Yan Xiaoyu.

As long as they managed to slip the poison into Yan Xiaoyu’s food, even if he had connections with Ji Wenyuan and the county magistrate “protected” him, once the customers who bought the food today fell ill, his business would be ruined.

These men had no personal grudge against Yan Xiaoyu; they were clearly acting on someone’s orders, but the identity of the mastermind behind them remained unknown.

Yan Xiaoyu suspected it might be Qian Hong or Tan San, the pickle vendor, but he had no evidence to back it up.

Later, the market supervisor arrived with his men, arrested the three troublemakers, and announced they would be taken to the county magistrate’s office for interrogation.

As the victim, Yan Xiaoyu should have gone along, but it was already past noon. The round trip to the county office would take about two and a half hours, and with the time spent being questioned by the officials, it would likely be dark by the time he returned.

Since he was a ger, and he had a sister, traveling at night was somewhat unsafe, so Yu Sanlang went in their place.

The Yu brothers shared a stall with the siblings, so it made sense for one of them to step in. However, once Yu Sanlang left, the remaining Nian-ger would have to be escorted home by Yan Xiaoyu.

Nian-ger hadn’t sold everything at his stall yet, so Yan Xiaoyu and his sister had to wait for him.

…

When Yan Shaoxuan arrived, Yan Xiaoyu was thanking Zhu Sheng.

Yan Xiaoyu and Zhu Sheng’s father had become friends through a shared experience—after buying a serving of spicy dried tofu from Yan Xiaoyu on opening day, Butcher Zhu had become hooked on the dish.

Finding his wife’s cooking lacking in flavor, Butcher Zhu would send his son over every day to buy two portions of spicy dried tofu for him. In the mornings, too lazy to cook, the father and son would eat the chicken soup tofu pudding from Yan Xiaoyu’s stall.

Over time, Zhu Sheng became a regular at Yan Xiaoyu’s stall.

Since Yan Xiaoyu loved meat, and the Yan brothers were also eating at his place during that time, he remembered that Yan Shaoxuan loved braised pork trotters. So, every day or two, Yan Xiaoyu would make a trip over to Zhu Sheng’s place.

The Zhu family—father and son—were generous and open-hearted, often giving Yan Xiaoyu some pig’s blood, offal, and pork bones that weren’t the best-looking. Yan Xiaoyu was very grateful; he’d add extra portions to the food he sold to Zhu Sheng, and occasionally even give them some homemade snacks. He’d also set aside a portion specifically for the Zhu family, so that even if Zhu Sheng arrived late, he could still buy some.

And so, the two grew increasingly close and eventually became friends.

Today, Zhu Sheng had been a great help, and Yan Xiaoyu was deeply grateful. After thanking him, he invited him to dinner at the restaurant tomorrow.

Yan Shaoxuan, however, was seething with jealousy; the bitterness in his heart was nearly overflowing. Even though he’d learned the whole story from Yan Xiaoyu and had even thanked Zhu Sheng alongside him, he still couldn’t stand the sight of Zhu Sheng.

There was no other reason—he knew that look Zhu Sheng gave Yan Xiaoyu all too well; he’d been through that phase himself.

After Zhu Sheng left, Yan Shaoxuan glanced at Yan Xiaoyu. “Having dinner alone with him isn’t quite appropriate. Shall I come along with you tomorrow?”

“No need,” Yan Xiaoyu waved his hand. “It won’t just be him tomorrow. I’m also inviting Nian-ger-ger, Yu Sanlang, and Miss Yin—there’ll be plenty of people, so there’s nothing inappropriate about it.”

He smiled at Yan Shaoxuan: “Your main task now is preparing for the provincial exams. I’m counting on you to pass and become a scholar, so you can come back and look out for me!”

Yan Shaoxuan didn’t know exactly what “look out for me” meant, but he could guess pretty accurately—it likely meant to protect and watch over him.

As Yan Xiaoyu finished speaking, the icy expression on his face melted away, and the corners of his mouth curled up involuntarily.

“Alright.” His heart was filled with tenderness, and his voice was unbelievably gentle. “I’ll protect you.”

On the way back, Yan Xiaoyue munched on a box of candied fruit with relish; if it weren’t for her still-reddened eyes, one would hardly have guessed she’d been sobbing just moments ago.

Yan Xiaoyu gave her a serious debriefing on her performance that day.

“Big Sis did an excellent job today! First, you pretended to be scared to lower the enemy’s guard, then landed a decisive blow to knock him to the ground, and followed up to ensure he had no chance of a comeback. The only thing was, when you stepped on him, you missed the spot—you stepped on his chest. If you’d grabbed his foot with your hand and yanked hard, he would’ve fallen over. Next time, remember to step on that vital spot just below his abdomen. Apply more force—one solid kick, and he won’t be able to fight back. When he sits up in pain, use the momentum to knee him in the nose; that’s a vulnerable spot too…”

After muttering through the instructions until her mouth felt dry, Yan Xiaoyu pulled out her gourd and took a sip of water: “In short, when you encounter people like this, you have to act on the spot and know your limits. If there are too many of them and you can’t win, run; if there are only a few, or if you can’t escape, then strike their weak spots. You’re strong—most ordinary men aren’t a match for you. There’s nothing to be afraid of. Just stay calm, got it?”

Yan Xiaoyue nodded, looking earnest: “Okay, I’ll remember.”

The Yan brothers had come with their own agendas and were silently pondering their next moves, but Yan Xiaoyu’s words left them at a loss for words.

And then there was that Nian-ger, who kept letting out strange, cackling laughs, leaving them utterly baffled.

Back at the foot of the mountain, He Qiuhua and Yan Xingmao ran up, one after the other.

“T-today… you were delayed. W-why did you come back so late?” After asking this, He Qiuhua didn’t wait for Yan Xiaoyue and her brother to reply; she hurriedly thanked the Yan brothers.

“Really, thank you so much, brothers. You were walking too fast just now. Xiaoyu’s father came to ask you to go with him, but he didn’t catch up.”

Upon hearing this, Yan Shaocheng and Yan Shaoxuan both felt a pang of guilt.

They had completely forgotten about Yan Xingmao. As soon as they stepped out the door, they’d been cracking their whips to urge the oxen on, wishing they could make the old oxen fly. It was only natural that Yan Xingmao hadn’t caught up.

Yan Shaocheng quickly clasped his hands in apology: “It’s my fault. I completely forgot that Uncle Yan was supposed to come along too.”

Yan Xiaoyu looked at the Yan brothers, and his heart stirred slightly.

In truth, with Yu Sanlang and Nian-ger around, plus the protection of the market officials, the chances of the siblings making it out were quite high. Yet the Yan brothers had unhesitatingly put down their work to rush to town in search of them—so anxious were they that they had even forgotten about Yan Xingmao.

Compared to the Yan brothers, he—who had been scheming against Yan Shaoxuan all along, trying to find a powerful ally for himself and his family—was indeed lacking in sincerity. He felt somewhat ashamed of his own insincerity in the face of their genuine kindness.

In order to latch onto Yan Shaoxuan—this “big tree”—he had even considered bringing Yan Shaocheng on board to open a restaurant together. Looking back now, it was truly a case of judging a gentleman by his own standards.

Given Yan Shaoxuan and Yan Shaocheng’s character, even if they didn’t share a common interest, they would likely look out for him anyway.

Yan Xiaoyu’s heart was in turmoil, but he eventually waved his hand. “Big Brother Yan, Second Brother Yan, why don’t you have dinner at my place tonight? I’ll cook later and make a few extra dishes!”

He then turned to He Qiuhua and Yan Xingmao. “Father, Mother, let’s go inside to talk about the market. You two go steam some rice.”