That whole conversation had rubbed Li Feng the wrong way. This scholar really needed to learn how to talk properly. Why didn’t Lu Yang teach him anything?
Li Feng was observant. Both Xie Yan and Lu Yang were wearing old clothes, and the shop looked shabby, like no one had cleaned up in a while. Clearly, they didn’t have much money to spare.
And this scholar—what were a few taels of silver even worth?
Li Feng said, “Yeah, but you spend a lot.”
Xie Yan froze.
Li Feng pressed on, twisting the knife: “Running around in this freezing weather, back and forth…”
The place didn’t even look like anyone actually lived in it.
Xie Yan felt attacked. He tried to defend himself. “We’re moving to the county town soon.”
They were running a shop—it was only a matter of time before they relocated. Everyone thought living in town was better than being up in the mountains.
But that thought left a bitter taste in Li Feng’s mouth. Just when he’d started feeling a bit superior, the mood soured again.
So he threw out a jab, easy and sharp: “Still dreaming before the hard part’s even over.”
Xie Yan: Defeated.
He glanced at his husband, silently begging for help—but Lu Yang was too busy bragging to his little brother to even notice Xie Yan’s desperate stare.
Xie Yan: “…”
Guess he was on his own.
So he fought back. “You two are real sweet, huh? Your husband hasn’t looked at you once.”
Li Feng turned around and saw his sweet, obedient little husband, happily reusing the exact same compliments he used to give him, now being showered on Lu Yang—word for word.
Li Feng: “…”
Don’t blame me for this.
He shot back: “Your husband looked at you yet?”
Xie Yan fell silent.
Li Feng had nothing more to say either.
The only sounds left in the room were the laughter and chatter of the twin brothers.
The two men sat there, watching the twins from across the room. Even after spending so much time together, this was the first time they really took a moment to study their faces.
They looked… way too alike.
Put them side by side, and it was almost impossible to tell them apart.
And yet, despite having identical faces, what drew them in were completely different souls.
They could tell who their husband was—not by the face, but by who they were.
Li Feng got up, glanced at the sun outside, and thought about how Lu Liu hadn’t seen his brother in so long. He decided to be considerate and give them more time to catch up. He called Xie Yan and the two headed to the kitchen to make lunch.
In Li Village, men didn’t cook. But clearly, this bookworm was even worse than useless in a kitchen. Compared to him, Li Feng—who had lived alone for a while—was practically a gourmet chef.
Li Feng found a new sense of superiority: “A man who can’t cook isn’t a real man.”
Xie Yan sat on a low stool by the stove, feeding firewood silently.
Just wait, he thought. Next time we meet, I’ll be Kitchen God Xie Yan.
He had a sharp mind—his husband always said so. He picked things up quickly.
Unlike Li Feng—just a big guy with big hands, chopping vegetables like he was feeding pigs. Who even eats chunks that size?
The kitchen was tense and chilly. The two men communicated entirely in grunts and cold side-eyes, forging a deep and lasting animosity.
For lunch, they made stewed pickled cabbage. Li Feng, trying to save money, grabbed a handful of pickled greens to make a soup, then added a whole head of napa cabbage to stretch it out.
He sliced both the stalks and the leaves into thin strips. The result looked like a bowl of sour veggie noodles—just without the noodles.
Right before serving, Xie Yan got up to check and saw there wasn’t a single piece of meat in the pot. He asked Li Feng to add some.
Li Feng refused to touch his meat supply. Running a shop might look respectable, but life was still tight. Just that morning, they’d taken ten meat buns—it looked like a lot, but that was fifty copper coins right there. Even just the cost was twenty or thirty. No way he was cutting into the meat stash.
Xie Yan asked a few more times. No luck. Finally, he gave up and went to cut the meat himself.
The results were… chaotic.
The pieces were all over the place—some were weird shapes, some were so thick they didn’t even cook through. They had to put the pot back on the stove just to finish cooking it.
Lu Yang’s review of the dish?
“Two useless men.”
Xie Yan—who had single-handedly tanked the kitchen’s reputation—actually looked pleased by the insult.
Li Feng, who had worked hard only to be insulted anyway, was convinced this life wasn’t worth living.
Lu Liu glanced at the stew. Knowing Li Feng was a hunter—someone who definitely knew how to handle meat—he was sure it wasn’t him who had done this terrible job.
So he complimented him precisely: “Da Feng, the way you sliced the greens into noodle-like strips is amazing!”
Lu Yang jumped in, playing along: “Wow, who cut that meat? One bite and I’m full already!”
No one was particularly hungry. They sat around munching on steamed flatbreads dipped in cabbage soup, and kept chatting.
Lu Liu was leaving soon, but there was still something he wanted to ask his older brother.
He wanted to know how to go out and make friends. He was scared his husband, Chen, would scold him. And with the New Year coming up, he’d have to deal with that second field wife again—what if she caused trouble?
He wanted to handle it himself. If Da Feng stepped in, it’d probably end with that woman getting beat up—not exactly great for family harmony. If his mother stepped in, she’d just say he was useless and like him even less.
But he couldn’t say all that in front of Li Feng. So instead, he brought up the New Year’s gift run to the Chen family.
In farming villages, holiday gift-giving was kept simple—just a few relatives, a few quick greetings, drop by to show some goodwill, have a cup of tea, nibble on some peanuts and seeds. If you were close, maybe stay for a meal. That’s about it.
Li Feng’s uncle lived in Chenjiawan, and Chen Laoye’s family lived there too. So, that visit was unavoidable.
Lu Liu didn’t know how to deal with it. Every time he opened his mouth, Lu Sanfeng would get so mad she’d start cursing. He couldn’t keep relying on stealing Chen Laoye’s coat to calm things down. He needed a better plan—and he was hoping his big brother had one.
Lu Yang said, “When are you guys going? I’ll switch places with you.”
Once things were laid out openly, it all seemed simple. The twins could swap whenever needed. If something tricky came up—like dealing with the Chen family—they could just switch, no big deal.
Lu Liu blinked, surprised. “Wait, we can do that?”
Li Feng looked completely against the idea.
Xie Yan was instantly on guard.
Lu Yang casually picked out an ugly piece of meat and put it in Xie Yan’s bowl, then turned to Li Feng and said, “What’s with that face? You think I want to hang out with you?”
Xie Yan saw an opening and pounced: “What’s your problem? My Yang-ge is offering to go to the Chen family with you. Why aren’t you okay with that? You dare say no?”
That was almost word-for-word what Li Feng had said to him back when they visited Li Village—he just tweaked it a bit and threw it back at him.
Lu Liu watched the whole thing unfold—looked at his brother, then at Li Feng—and decided to take a jab at someone he didn’t mind offending.
He said to Xie Yan, “My brother’s talking to my man. Why are you butting in?”
Li Feng couldn’t help smiling at how protective Lu Liu was being.
He picked out a tender piece of cooked meat and put it in Lu Liu’s bowl.
His little Liu loved meat.
Wanting to keep him happy, Lu Liu quickly scooped up another half-bowl of cabbage strips—these were Li Feng’s hand-cut cabbage strips, after all!
Li Feng gave him a glance before finally saying to Lu Yang, “Fine, you can swap. But Liu can’t go to Shangxi Village.”
Shangxi was like a wolf’s den. Lu Yang could still hold his own, yell, even fight. But Lu Liu? He wouldn’t stand a chance.
Lu Yang said, “Don’t you still need to deliver those New Year’s cakes to the rice shop? Next time you come into town, drop them off first, then stop by the shop. Let Liu stay there a while, then in the afternoon, when we close up, he and Ah Yan can head back to the village. I’ll go to the Chen house with you, and after it’s done, I’ll wait for them on the main road.”
That worked. Li Feng mentally calculated the rice cake prep schedule and set the date for the 19th.
Xie Yan, still in the dark about the Chen family, finally asked, “Should I go too? I mean… if they’re your foster parents…”
Lu Yang shook his head. “No need. I’ll explain everything when we get home.”
The drama with the Xie family wasn’t going to be resolved until after the New Year, so there was no point in dragging the Chen side into it now.
And with Li Feng going, Chen Laoye wouldn’t dare try anything. Lu Yang just had to say a few nice words and maybe get some info about the workshop’s progress. Come the New Year, they’d swap again—just go over, give some greetings, and that’d be it.
Lu Yang told Lu Liu, “During the New Year, let’s meet on the main road. You and Ah Yan can go to Lu Family Village to see Father and Daddy. I’ll take Li Feng to visit Chenjiawan.”
Lu Liu was still a little nervous about the Chen family and felt a twinge of guilt about handing it all to his brother. He struggled a bit—but then Li Feng said, “We’re one family. Whether it’s you or me, it’s all the same.”
He relaxed and said to Li Feng, “Then you’re not allowed to argue with my brother.”
Then he turned to Lu Yang. “Okay, we’ll do it like that for New Year.”
Xie Yan finished eating quickly—he didn’t want to hold up Lu Yang’s conversation with the others. So he got up and went to the front to take over for Lu Lin, letting Lu Lin come into the kitchen for lunch.
They had saved food in the pot. Once Lu Lin finished eating, they’d let Sha Zhu have his turn.
