At noon, Zhou Daniang fried some eggs and two vegetable dishes, and they had the buns bought from the bun shop.

Gouwa grabbed a bun and stuffed it straight into his mouth — it was meat! There were many brothers and sisters in his family, and being able to eat meat twice a year was already considered a good fortune. His little aunt’s place was indeed good — so many buns!

Fang Shuizi’s eldest sister was not polite either, picking up the eggs from the table and stuffing them into her mouth. Her younger brother’s household was really doing well.

Xiao Wuzi became unhappy. “Dad, they’re taking my eggs!”

Zhou Da glared at him. “What do you mean by your eggs? Everyone can eat.”

After eating, Fang Shuizi’s eldest sister spoke up. “Shuizi, you know our family is having a hard time. Aren’t you short of people, so let Gouwa stay to help sweep up and tidy around. Just give him food every month, that’s enough.”

“Dajie, look at how many people come to the shop in a day. The town isn’t like the countryside — every grain of rice costs silver to buy!” Fang Shuizi did not want his poor country relatives coming over. Besides, there was no room for them to live in their courtyard.

Being refused so directly by Fang Shuizi in front of so many people made Fang Shuizi’s eldest sister a little embarrassed. Zhou Da smoothed things over. “Alright, it just so happens we don’t have a shop boy right now, so let Gouwa stay and work. Once he learns, he can go work as a shop boy anywhere.”

Fang Shuizi’s eldest sister thanked him over and over. After lunch, she left Gouwa there alone and went back by herself, repeatedly telling Gouwa to work hard here before she left.

Fang Shuizi was very displeased that Zhou Da had left Gouwa behind without discussing it with him. Another person meant more food to feed, and they would have to pay wages as well. Zhou Da could fully manage the shop’s business by himself, so why bring in another person?

Just thinking about it annoyed Fang Shuizi. That woman from the sesame oil shop always liked to joke with him about being from the countryside, implying he was a country bumpkin. And now, it was even worse — his patched-up, shabby-dressed nephew had been brought here.

Zhou Da followed Fang Shuizi into the room. “Fang-ger, having an extra shop boy is good, besides, he’s your own kin.”

“Why didn’t you talk to me about it first? And where is he supposed to live? Our house already has four people.”

“He can just stay in the woodshed for now. It’s not cold at night.”

Fang Shuizi glared at him. “And what about winter?”

“We’ll talk about winter when winter comes. It’s still far off.”

Fang Shuizi snorted coldly. Since the person had already been left behind, what could he say? And so, Gouwa stayed in the shop, helping Zhou Da manage it.

After Gouwa came, Zhou Da and Zhou Daniang felt much more relaxed. Though Gouwa was a bit slow, after being taught a few times, he could manage. Once he was done with the shop’s tasks, he would help in the kitchen, stoking the fire and carrying water. And he was only paid five copper coins a day, which Zhou Da thought was a very good deal.

Originally, Zhou Da had intended to pay ten copper coins, but Fang Shuizi felt that was too much and only allowed five. Zhou Da had heard that the shop boys at the bun shop across the street were paid thirty copper coins, and the usual wages for shop boys in town were around twenty. A shop boy who would work for five copper coins was indeed hard to find.

Gouwa had gone to the bun shop to buy buns a few times, and since Shi Xiaoliu was the one selling buns at the front, he recognized him. A new helper had come to work at the cloth shop, but how stingy was that cloth shop owner — he was selling cloth after all, yet the helper’s clothes were all tattered and ragged, wasn’t he afraid it would affect business?

Shi Xiaoliu quickly put buns into his basket, and Gouwa carried it and left. Shi Xiaoliu spoke to Zhao Yueniang beside him, “He’s the new helper from the cloth shop.”

“He looks like he doesn’t like talking.” Zhao Yueniang hadn’t finished speaking, but she also felt that the helper at the cloth shop had a bit of a fierce look on his face, like the naughty brats in the village who liked to tug on people’s braids.

Gouwa bought the buns and carried them back. Everyone in the family got one each. He placed them on the table for the meal. Breakfast consisted of rice porridge, pickled vegetables, and buns. Just as he was about to reach for one, his hand was knocked by Fang Shuizi. “What are you eating buns for? Just drink your porridge.”

Gouwa drew back his hand and held his bowl to drink porridge. Fang Shuizi ate two buns by himself. Zhou Da said a couple of words, “We’re all family here, let him eat if he wants.”

“Have you ever seen a helper sit at the same table as the boss, eating the same food? Is this hiring a helper or hiring an ancestor to serve?”

Zhou Da didn’t say anything more — whatever Fang Shuizi said was what went.

After Fang Shuizi finished eating and had nothing to do, he carried a basket and went out. He saw Wei Qingshan selling meat in the shop, so he twisted his waist and carried his basket over. Now that Qiu Laoliu had been behaving himself for a while, Fang Shuizi’s thoughts were stirring again. He didn’t believe there was any man who didn’t fool around.

He asked Wei Qingshan to cut him a piece of meat, and when receiving it, his fingers unintentionally slid across Wei Qingshan’s hand. Wei Qingshan’s face turned cold. “If you dare to mess around again, be careful that the shameful things you’ve done get exposed.”

With a loud pa, Wei Qingshan slammed the knife onto the chopping block. Fang Shuizi was so startled that he shivered. Lin Yu happened to be coming over to deliver tea to Wei Qingshan and just saw Wei Qingshan’s cold face toward him. “What’s going on?”

When Wei Qingshan saw Lin Yu had come, the expression on his face finally softened. “It’s nothing.”

Fang Shuizi quickly grabbed the meat and left. Acting so proper! Hmph! He was so angry that he went to find Qiu Laoliu to mess around again. Qiu Laoliu was no longer clinging to him now, but Fang Shuizi himself went looking for him.

Wei Qingshan went to the courtyard to wash his hands. Lin Yu didn’t ask further, thinking it must have been Fang Shuizi offending Wei Qingshan. How could he not know his own husband? Though he had a cold face, he usually didn’t easily lose his temper with others.

But Lin Yu still felt uncomfortable in his heart — how many people would be happy that their own husband was being thought about by outsiders? Lin Yu went to the backyard together with Wei Qingshan, his face uncharacteristically cold. “You’re not allowed to talk to Fang Shuizi anymore. He, he…”

Lin Yu couldn’t bring himself to speak words that would slander others. It was Wei Qingshan’s first time seeing his little husband jealous, and he couldn’t help but let out a laugh. Lin Yu became somewhat annoyed. “What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing, just that I think my little husband looks especially cute when he’s jealous.”

Lin Yu ignored him. “Anyway, you’re not allowed to pay him any attention.”

“Got it.” Wei Qingshan smiled and nodded.

After Fang Shuizi secretly fooled around with Qiu Laoliu and came back, Qiu Laoliu naturally didn’t refuse since the opportunity was delivered to his door. But he again asked Fang Shuizi for money. Fang Shuizi was no longer as polite as he had been back when Qiu Laoliu was still in the Yamen. Now he looked down on Qiu Laoliu, treating it as if he were just spending money to keep a man outside.

But Fang Shuizi had no money left, so he secretly snuck to the counter at night to take from the silver cabinet. He had just taken two silver taels when he turned his head and saw Gouwa standing behind him. He was startled, but didn’t dare raise his voice. “What are you doing here? Go back to your room and sleep.”

Gouwa silently turned and walked away. Fang Shuizi quickly called out to him again, “What you saw today, keep your mouth shut. If you dare to talk nonsense, I’ll tear your mouth open.”

Gouwa glanced at him and walked away.

Ever since Gouwa had caught him stealing silver, Fang Shuizi became increasingly harsh toward him, beating and scolding him for the slightest thing. Sometimes, when Lin Yu was in front of the shop, he could still hear it — all over trivial things, like the floor not being swept clean, or breaking a bowl.

Fang Shuizi was afraid that Gouwa would tell others about what he had seen, so he mistreated him, wanting to drive him away. But even after being beaten, Gouwa remained silent and kept working here. Fang Shuizi simply stopped giving him enough food, making him go hungry every meal. He didn’t believe Gouwa could stay for long like that.

Fang Shuizi carried a basket and went out to buy vegetables again. The woman from the sesame oil shop, Zhang Laotai, was sitting at the entrance keeping an eye on her shop. When she saw Fang Shuizi going out to buy vegetables, she commented, “Fang-ger is going to buy vegetables? Ever since that helper came to your house, it’s been nothing but chickens flying and dogs jumping every day. Country bumpkin with clumsy hands and feet, why bother lowering yourself to his level?”

When Fang Shuizi heard that Zhang Laotai was once again making digs at him, wasn’t she just implying that he was a country bumpkin and looking down on him?

Before Fang Shuizi could reply, Zhang Laotai continued, “I heard he came from your mother’s family’s side?”

Fang Shuizi wasn’t someone to be bullied easily and shot back, “Your eldest daughter-in-law is about to give birth, right? Is it going to be a girl or a boy this time? Have you had the doctor take a look yet?”

Zhang Laotai’s face twisted for an instant when she heard this, and Fang Shuizi left feeling pleased with himself. Zhang Laotai’s eldest daughter-in-law had given birth to a girl the first time, which was not well-received. If this second one were another girl or a boy, wouldn’t Zhang Laotai be livid?

Zhang Laotai spat in the direction of Fang Shuizi’s back. “Little slut, who knows which lover you’ve gone to find again! Shameless little tramp!”

When Lin Yu came over carrying an oil jar to buy sesame oil, he happened to hear Zhang Laotai cursing. As soon as she saw him, she immediately put on a smiling face. “Lin Fulang, here to buy sesame oil?”

“Mm.”

The sesame oil for Lin Yu’s family was always bought from this sesame oil shop. His family ran a bun shop, and they couldn’t do without sesame oil for mixing fillings, so they bought it quite frequently. A whole jar of sesame oil costs quite a bit of silver — ordinary households couldn’t bear to use sesame oil, some wouldn’t even buy it once a year.

Zhang Laotai filled the sesame oil for Lin Yu. “Lin Fulang, walk carefully.”

Lin Yu thanked her and left, carrying the sesame oil jar. Zhang Laotai craned her neck and saw that his bun shop still had quite a few customers buying. She felt extremely envious — if her shop had this many people coming every day, she would have long since become a wealthy woman, living in a big courtyard, with servant women and maidservants attending to her — just thinking about it made her happy.

Lin Yu’s bun shop earned far more money than her oil shop, and seeing it made her eyes burn with jealousy. Zhang Laotai went back to the backyard to drink water. In the courtyard, a three-year-old little girl was playing, and the eldest son, the eldest daughter-in-law, and the second son were pressing oil.

She stared at her eldest daughter-in-law’s belly and said, “With a belly this big, it must be a boy.”

Peh! That crow’s mouth, Fang Shuizi — so what if he had a boy, it wasn’t like she couldn’t have one too. This grandbaby of hers had to be a boy.

After a few rains, the weather gradually cooled down. Lin Yu had made quite a few small items of clothing, all embroidered with flowers. Madam Wu also sent over two pairs of tiger-head shoes. Lin Yu really liked them and thanked her repeatedly. Madam Wu’s skill in making shoes was better than Lin Yu’s — Lin Yu wasn’t very good at making such delicate shoes.

While helping Lin Yu tidy up the little clothes, Madam Wu chatted with him, “The oil shop’s daughter-in-law gave birth again — it’s another girl. Zhang Laotai has been wearing an especially long face these days. She didn’t even give her a single egg to eat during her postpartum confinement.”

Sometimes Lin Yu could also hear the crying of the child from over there. His shop and the sesame oil shop were separated by just one courtyard — an empty yard that hadn’t been rented out. Sometimes he could hear the voices from over there.

What was wrong with having a girl? Lin Yu felt that they were all the same.

When Fang Shuizi heard that Zhang Laotai’s family had another girl, he laughed very proudly. Serves her right! Who told her to look down on country folk — peh!

Fang Shuizi was never one to stay idle. When he passed by the front of the sesame oil shop, he asked, “She gave birth? Congratulations, congratulations.”

Zhang Laotai was already holding back anger, and Fang Shuizi had deliberately come to mock her. The two of them had long since looked down on each other. Zhang Laotai rushed forward and grabbed Fang Shuizi’s hair. “Little whore, you’re feeling proud, aren’t you? You think nobody knows about the filthy things you’ve done?”

Fang Shuizi hadn’t expected Zhang Laotai to know about his affairs, and he grabbed back. “You old hag, serves you right that your family had another girl!”

The two of them started brawling right there in the street. Someone shouted, “Zhou Da, your husband is fighting with Zhang Laotai!”

When Zhou Da heard the shout, he quickly came out to stop the fight. Fang Shuizi had worked in the fields since he was little, so fighting with an old woman didn’t put him at a disadvantage at all — he tore out several strands of Zhang Laotai’s hair.

Zhang Laotai was so angry that she cursed, “You little hussy from the countryside, peh!”

Zhou Da tried to mediate. “Calm down, calm down.”

Zhang Laotai gave Zhou Da a laugh. “Zhou Da, Zhou Da…”

She knew about Fang Shuizi’s dirty business, but she wasn’t going to tell Zhou Da. She was just waiting to watch the show.

It was just the busy morning hours for the bun shop. Shi Xiaoliu heard the commotion and craned his neck to look outside. Even the customers buying buns all stretched their heads out to watch.

Fang Shuizi glared at them. “Look, look, what are you looking at! If you keep looking, I’ll gouge your eyes out!”

Shi Xiaoliu shrank his neck back. “So fierce.”

Zhao Yueniang tugged on Shi Xiaoliu. “Get back to work, people are waiting.”

Shi Xiaoliu worked quickly and chatted with Zhao Yueniang as he worked. “Neither of those two is easy to deal with.”

“So what, the two families aren’t even neighbors — it’s not like they live next to each other.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. Zhang Laotai is a snob and always mocks Fang Shuizi for being from a poor mountain valley. This time, Zhang Laotai’s eldest daughter-in-law gave birth to another girl, so I bet Fang Shuizi went and poked her sore spot.”

Zhao Yueniang didn’t take this matter to heart. What did other people’s affairs have to do with them? The town was no different from the village — it was all trivial gossip every day.

When Fang Shuizi came back, his anger still hadn’t dissipated. When he saw Gouwa carrying bolts of cloth to put on the counter, he became even angrier. “How many times have I told you to put down the cloth carefully! Don’t you know how filthy those tattered clothes on your body are?”

Gouwa didn’t dare make a sound after being scolded. Although his clothes were torn, they were still clean. His little uncle was just using him as a punching bag.

Gouwa felt resentful in his heart. When Fang Shuizi turned his head, he glared at him fiercely — just in time for Fang Shuizi to catch him doing it. Fang Shuizi grabbed the feather duster from the table and whipped it at him. “How dare you glare at me! How dare you glare at me!”

Gouwa was beaten until he covered his head and let out muffled groans. Fang Shuizi kept hitting him. Gouwa finally reached out and pushed Fang Shuizi, shoving him hard enough that Fang Shuizi stumbled and hit the corner of the table. Fang Shuizi clutched his waist and cried out, “Good, you dare hit me now! Do you even know whose food you’re eating every day?”

Zhou Da couldn’t watch any longer and intervened. “Enough, why are you beating a child?”

Fang Shuizi was furious. Gouwa had seen him steal silver before, and he had wanted to drive him away already. Now the boy even dared push him — truly an ungrateful white-eyed wolf!

“Zhou Da, drive him away, drive him away, our family doesn’t want this white-eyed wolf!”

Fang Shuizi shoved and dragged Gouwa all the way to the shop’s entrance and refused to let him back inside, no matter what.

Gouwa just squatted at the shop’s entrance and didn’t leave. When his mother had sent him here, she had carried a whole basketful of vegetables with her — they were grown in their own vegetable garden, carefully tended by the whole family for half a year. Even their own family couldn’t bear to eat them. His mother had sent them all just so she could bring him here.

Last year, when his little uncle had gone back to the village, his mother had specially given him rice from their own house. At that time, their family had been eating wild vegetables every day and couldn’t bear to eat rice. His mother had sent the rice over just so that the little uncle who had come back from town could eat better.

Just how long had he been working here? He had not even earned enough to pay back that basket of vegetables, he couldn’t go back home yet. Despite the heat, Gouwa sat at the entrance.