Pigs like things clean too. There was hardly any smell in the pen.
At this rate, each fattened pig would sell for more than one tael of silver.
Miao Qing told Lu Yang in advance, “You’ll be closing the shop for the New Year anyway. You can come back to the village to celebrate. Our family will be slaughtering the New Year pig—come have a slaughter-feast with us.”
Lu Yang had never had a slaughter-feast before. Everything had gone smoothly this year, and he shouldn’t be too busy at year’s end, so he agreed.
Back at home.
When Lu Liu saw his two dads, he noticed they looked much better than before. He felt happy, yet also a little sore at heart. Circling around them, he realized they were both sturdier than they used to be.
Standing there, the bitterness was gone from their faces. Their backs were straighter, their steps firm, their stance steady.
When life runs smoothly, everything improves.
With the whole family sitting inside, the room felt cramped.
Li Feng still wasn’t used to it, so he went out back with Lu Erbao to look at the pigs.
Shun-ge’er had never raised pigs before and followed along to see.
Front yard or back yard—it wasn’t far.
The three of them went out, leaving only Lu Liu and Wang Fengnian in the main room.
Lu Liu clung to him, calling “Dad” again and again. Wang Fengnian held his hand, looked at his still-flat belly, then at his fuller, rounder face.
“This is wonderful. I told you that if you nourished your body well, you’d get pregnant sooner.”
Those words made Lu Liu drift back to before his marriage.
Back then, the betrothal gifts had just been accepted, the marriage settled. Every day, his dad made sure he ate well to build up his body.
Eggs every day, sweetened water to drink, meat and eggs without stint. He was even told to buy red dates and longan to bring home, to nourish himself well before the wedding, so that after marrying, he could conceive quickly.
At that time, he hadn’t wanted to marry into Shangxi Village. He hadn’t wanted to marry Xie Yan. Dissatisfied at heart, he’d resisted several times, to no avail.
If you asked whether he’d felt resentment—of course he had. But he also understood that with his family’s circumstances, the Xie family really was the best among all those who’d come to propose.
Lu Liu remembered how he’d been bullied outside before, come home crying, even made a fuss with his two dads, begging them to help him get justice.
Later, he’d seen his father quarrel with others over manure and farmland, realized his father did have a temper too, and because of that, felt even more aggrieved about being bullied in childhood.
Back then, his dad had told him that yielding was also a way to live.
He hadn’t understood. For many years after, he still hadn’t understood.
Now, married and seasoned by life, he’d learned many things, met many kinds of people, dealt with all sorts. Through conversation, he’d come to know the conflicts in other families and the thoughts of different people. Slowly, he understood.
Their family was poor, small, and without a son. Relatives didn’t dare get too close, afraid that if something happened, they’d be asked for help and wouldn’t be able to refuse.
When human ties grow thin, a family like theirs is destined to be a dead end in the village. The fields couldn’t yield much grain, they couldn’t save even a few copper coins. All they could do was endure and give way.
Letting out anger feels good in the moment, but it’s useless when you’re trying to live in a village.
Even if you fought fiercely, so what? Others could band together. If someone got injured and later fell ill and died, it’d still be chalked up to their own bad luck.
Worse yet, if you ran into a few petty villains who pulled up your wheat seedlings at night, you’d lose the harvest. That year, the whole family would starve.
Throwing your life away wouldn’t win you that breath of satisfaction. It would only make the days ahead harder and harder.
His father couldn’t abandon him or his dad. His dad couldn’t abandon him either. He’d been too young then—if he’d lost both parents, he’d have had no way to survive.
Lu Liu touched his belly. It was all better now. Zhuangzhuang wouldn’t grow up carrying unanswered doubts, swallowing grievances, timid and confused.
He said to his dad, “My brother and I have talked it over. We’ll put up the silver and fix the house. The rainy season’s coming, and then you won’t have to set out basins and buckets all over the place to catch leaks.”
Wang Fengnian was startled. “Yang-ge’er said that?”
Lu Liu nodded with a smile. “Mm-hm. My brother said it. He thinks things through. Unlike me—I muddle through life, only able to take care of what’s right in front of me. Anything a bit further off, I can’t think of. These past few months, he’s been the one taking care of the family.”
Wang Fengnian said, “Da Feng’s good too. He often comes by to help with chores. When he brought the Dragon Boat Festival gifts recently, he even said he’d come help during the harvest rush. There’s no need for that. It’s just a bit of land—no need to run all this way.”
After saying that, he lowered his eyes and fell silent for a moment before asking, “Liu-ge’er, how much silver are you each putting in?”
For now, one tael each.
It was just repairing the house, and only the roof at that. It wouldn’t cost much.
They’d hire people right in the village. Ask the two older cousins from the uncle’s family to help. The wages wouldn’t be high.
Once repairs started, they’d have people look over the whole place and fix any walls that were about to collapse while they were at it.
If the silver wasn’t enough, they’d add more.
Lu Yang had gone to his uncle’s place to talk business and had left all the silver with his younger brother.
So Lu Liu took it out now. Besides the two taels for house repairs, there were also the two taels his two dads had used earlier to buy piglets—four taels in all.
Lu Liu explained everything. Wang Fengnian stared at the four small ingots for a long time without speaking.
Sensing something was off, Lu Liu asked, “Dad, what’s wrong?”
Wang Fengnian forced a smile. “If you count it like this, your brother never took back the money for the piglets.”
Lu Liu looked at the silver and said, “That’s fine. My brother’s selling meat buns now. The shop needs a lot of pork anyway. Once you’ve fattened the piglets, just send him some pork.”
Wang Fengnian took the silver and said he was going to start cooking.
Everyone ate lunch at home. Lu Liu went to the kitchen to help.
His brother had taught him how to make eggplant, and he hadn’t tried it yet. This was the perfect chance.
Lunch was just a few home-style dishes. When the food was set out, Lu Yang came back as well.
Lu Yang was outgoing and relaxed at home. He even went out back to take a look at the piglets.
Their yard was a bit smaller, and the piglets were kept together in one pen.
They were all plump and round too—not any thinner than his uncle’s pigs.
The feeding trough was carved from stone. One look and you could tell it was solid.
Lu Yang gave Li Feng a thumbs-up.
When it came to being filial to the two dads, Li Feng was much better than Xie Yan.
Still, Lu Yang had no intention of making Xie Yan compete with Li Feng over filial piety. As long as it was decent, that was enough.
They washed their hands and went inside to eat. One table couldn’t fit everyone, so Lu Yang and Lu Liu picked up dishes and sat on small stools to eat. Shun-ge’er did the same and came over to sit with them.
At the table, only Li Feng stayed with the two fathers-in-law, chatting about everyday things.
Lu Liu urged his brother to eat the eggplant. “I made this eggplant. Try it—see if it’s good.”
He’d become a bit of a sieve lately, not as precise with seasoning as before. Eggplant was also a dish he wasn’t good at. He was nervous.
Lu Yang, of course, said it was good—everything was good.
Lu Liu looked to Shun-ge’er next. Shun-ge’er also said it was good.
Lu Liu’s confidence shot up.
From now on, he wouldn’t be afraid of frying eggplant anymore!
Lu Yang told them, “I took a few dried persimmons from Uncle’s place. You two only get one each.”
Shun-ge’er had grown up in the stronghold and never lacked persimmons or dried persimmons. One was enough for him.
Lu Liu was still craving more and said he’d give his to sister-in-law.
Lu Liu ended up with two dried persimmons and was overjoyed.
Shun-ge’er said, “When the persimmons ripen this year, let’s go pick some and dry more to eat slowly.”
Lu Yang said, “Dry more. You can sell them.”
Shun-ge’er started to admire him a little.
Seriously—everything could be turned into money.
After the meal, Lu Yang stayed a bit longer. He even suggested that his brother and the others leave first. But Li Feng said he had something to do and wanted to help chop firewood, so they didn’t hurry to go.
Wang Fengnian called Lu Yang into the room, saying he had something to discuss.
Lu Yang followed him inside. Wang Fengnian hesitated several times, but after a long while still didn’t say what it was.
Seeing how troubled he looked, Lu Yang’s mind turned. He guessed, “What is it—did Old Man Chen come by?”
As soon as he asked, Wang Fengnian let out a heavy breath of relief.
After the county exam, Lu Sanfeng had come back several times. Especially during Qingming, Old Man Chen had even come to Lujiatun to pay respects to the parents of the three siblings.
Recently, during the Dragon Boat Festival, he’d come again. Before, it had all been polite talk and small chat. Wang Fengnian and Lu Erbao hadn’t seen them in many years. This kind of courtesy only made them uneasy, not knowing what Old Man Chen wanted to do.
