If you scold him, he’ll talk back.
If you withhold food, he’ll shut up.
Li Feng asked him, “Where’s Xie Yan? Why hasn’t he come home yet?”
At the mention of Xie Yan, Lu Yang’s expression shifted, a smile surfacing. “He’s back. He went to visit a classmate to learn a few nourishing soups and stews to make for me when he returns. He just left this morning. School resumes tomorrow.”
Li Feng: “…”
He momentarily forgot that he had cooked for Lu Liu several times himself.
Lu Erbao and Wang Fengnian listened, both murmuring about how thoughtful Xie Yan was.
The table was small, and Zhao Peilan was shy, so she didn’t join them here.
Wang Fengnian picked up some food, got up from the table, and went into the room to find Zhao Peilan to eat together.
Lu Yang told him to wait, grabbed an empty bowl, scooped out some food, and urged them to eat more and enjoy their meal.
Li Feng asked him again, “I’ve got nothing else today. Later, have someone take inventory while I take my uncle to catch chicks. Should I grab the piglets too?”
With three of them going out, the truck would be empty anyway.
Lu Yang considered it briefly. Since they’d be selling flour later, catching piglets would be better left to Li Feng. The county town was crowded and the roads difficult; it made sense to have Li Feng handle it.
“Alright, then could you make a trip to the East District for us?”
Since they were all relatives, he’d already covered East District. He might as well ask Li Feng to bring over four jars of sauce too.
They were small jars of sauce: two for the Lu brothers, one for Old Master Lu, and one for Butcher Liu.
After picking up the piglets, he still needed to buy some meat from Butcher Liu.
Once the weather warmed up, it wouldn’t be convenient for Lu Yang to buy meat from Butcher Liu anymore.
The distance was too far; by the time he made the trip, the meat would have gone bad.
That would increase the cost of making buns, so he’d have to make fewer buns and focus more on steamed buns and flower rolls.
He didn’t mince words with his servants, telling Li Feng, “Get another pig stomach too.”
He knew full well who held the reins in the Li household.
Chen Guizhi had kindly let Lu Liu bring her a plump rabbit, so he returned the favor with a pig stomach—a fitting exchange of courtesies.
He understood the etiquette: in future dealings between the two families, today you give a little more, tomorrow I give a little more. There was no need to keep strict accounts; they could be close, considerate relatives.
Li Feng didn’t even want to listen anymore.
There were just too many things.
He had asked about it himself, so he could just frown and let it go.
……………………………….
Leaving the village was no easy feat—the road was long and bumpy. He had business to attend to in the county and needed to return early, leaving little time for idle chatter.
Especially after lunch, time flowed like water. Before they knew it, the sun was already slanting low.
After eating, Li Feng headed first to the eastern district.
Wang Meng and Da Qiang stayed behind a bit longer to unload the goods and settle accounts.
The mountain produce was handled the same as last time: weighed first, then paid for after sold.
The wild game was paid for on the spot. The pheasants had been slaughtered at home, with feathers and entrails already removed. Since they weren’t weighed with feathers and blood intact, they fetched one cash more per catty. Five pheasants weighed twenty-one catties, totaling two hundred ninety-four cash.
The sheep had also been slaughtered at home to avoid bloodshed in the shop. Since slaughtering was done to preserve the hide, and sheep meat wasn’t sold as frequently as chicken, the meat price remained unchanged. Wang Meng kept one leg at home, and the sheep’s head had another use, so only twenty-seven pounds of meat were brought in. Total: four hundred eighty-six coins.
Lu Yang agreed to take half a percent, which came to thirty-nine coins.
This trip earned him seven hundred forty-one coins.
Lu Yang recalled that Wang Meng had hunted game before—pheasants, rabbits—proving himself a diligent hunter.
“You made a decent profit this time. Bring me any wild game you catch in the future.”
Wang Meng chuckled and agreed, “Sure thing. I’ll bring you bamboo shoots when I dig them too.”
Daqiang then asked Lu Yang about his stir-fried sauce business: “How’s the sauce selling?”
Lu Yang knew he was hesitating about joining forces. After a moment’s thought, he told him honestly: “We have idle hands at home. This is a good side job, bringing in a few hundred coins a month to supplement our income. Living in the mountain village, your daily expenses aren’t high. A few hundred coins can sustain you. Over a year, you can save up other earnings too. But if there’s no spare person at home, it’s just hard work. You earn a little pocket money but wear out your strong labor—it’s not worth it.”
Wang Meng nodded as he listened: “Right, I see it’s small money too. I just wanted to find something for my husband to do.”
Daqiang understood perfectly well. If Yao’an wanted to do it, he could handle it; if he found it too tiring, he wouldn’t.
He was idle at home anyway, so he’d lend a hand. When there was work to be done, he’d do it.
Whether to invest silver into the partnership later depended on how long the business lasted. If it was sustainable, they’d invest first and wait for a return.
It was just like when they went hunting in the mountains. Before heading in, who didn’t spend some silver at the blacksmith’s? Once that was spent, it would all be income later.
They had nothing else to do, so instead of loafing around the shop, they decided to go out and look around.
The village also raised chickens, and chickens laid eggs. This was something every household needed to eat. Since they were here, they also wanted to catch some chicks.
Lu Erbao suggested they go together, leaving Wang Fengnian at the shop to properly persuade Lu Yang.
Lu Yang felt somewhat helpless. He saw them off until they were far away, then returned to the front to let Lu Lin and his wife go eat. He called his father into the shop to sit.
It was Wang Fengnian’s first visit to the shop. He saw clearly that the back courtyard served both as a workspace and living quarters. The street-facing shop was noisy during the day.
The front and back courtyards were separated only by a door, and the walls were thin. The sleeping quarters adjoined the shop at the front.
Given this setup, the streets were already bustling with noise at dawn. He had just inquired: after closing, neighbors still came to buy vegetables nearby, and this usually didn’t end until after curfew.
Day after day, the streets echoed with
Given these conditions, street sounds began as soon as dawn broke. He’d inquired earlier: even after closing, neighbors still came to buy vegetables, usually not finishing until after curfew.
Day after day, before opening his eyes, he’d hear the clamor. Closing time required waiting on customers—how could one recuperate here?
Wang Fengnian suggested bringing Lu Yang back to the village to stay for a while. Though touched, Lu Yang refused outright.
“The village isn’t any quieter than the county seat,” he countered. “Just look—roosters crow at dawn. Come February, every household starts plowing their fields. Everyone heads out early. Who sleeps in until the sun is high in the sky?”
Wang Fengnian glanced back and said, ” You’ve hired help—why are you still standing guard out front?”
Lu Yang was tired of explaining. He simply couldn’t sit still.
Ever since he could remember, he’d been busy, with tasks piling up one after another.
He was much better now, no longer waking in the dead of night. But during daylight hours, asking him to do nothing but lie idle? He couldn’t bear it.
Wang Fengnian had taken some silver with him, leaving only a little over nine hundred cash coins at home. Lately, the household hadn’t lacked for food or drink, so the silver had barely been touched.
He wanted to take Lu Yang back to the clinic to consult the physician again.
Lu Yang told him, “Xie Yan left early this morning and is also going to see the physician on his way. We’ll just wait for him to return.”
Knowing Xie Yan as he did, Lu Yang was certain the doctor would say nothing was wrong. That was why Xie Yan had gone to Wuping’s house to study recipes and learn medicinal soups and broths. Otherwise, he would have rushed home long ago.
Seeing Lu Yang had a plan, Wang Fengnian had words waiting to be spoken. He opened his mouth several times, but only the creaking of the cart wheels came out.
His eyes welled with tears as he looked at Lu Yang. The two children were so different—Lu Liu wasn’t this stubborn. Even when nagged relentlessly, he’d obediently listen.
They say the strong suffer most. Seeing how smoothly the shop ran and knowing his son’s struggles, he conceded. “Then I’ll come to the county seat and help out with tasks here and there. You should rest more and focus on getting better first.”
Lu Yang sat leaning against the chair back, his eyes fixed on Wang Fengnian. He didn’t notice the passersby at all. Only when customers came into the shop did he rise to greet them, before returning to his seat afterward.
He didn’t know what had come over him. It seemed illness made him fragile. Only when people hovered around him, nagging and urging, did he feel cared for. That sense of being cherished made him feel much better.
Feeling better inside, his body didn’t feel quite so heavy.
At that moment, he suddenly understood a little of what it meant to be consumed by worry.
Lu Yang said, ” I know. I’ve let go of everything. Now I just sit here day after day, doing nothing. Don’t worry. This body won’t heal in a day or two. Ayan needs to go to the provincial capital in April or May. I’ll keep taking my medicine. If I don’t see improvement, I’ll go with him.”
It was only two or three months.
The provincial capital was larger than the county town, with more skilled doctors.
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