Chapter 37

Li Feng said, “It’s not like you’ve never seen it before.”

Lu Liu, being honest, replied, “It was too dark, I couldn’t see clearly.”

Li Feng: “…”

So it really was his fault.

He asked, “Well, did you figure it out?”

Lu Liu was caught off guard and couldn’t speak smoothly.

Li Feng was messing around with him. He didn’t bother to put his clothes on properly, pulling at the collar to let Lu Liu touch.

With no one else around, Lu Liu mustered up the courage to stretch out his hand, touched it hurriedly, and then ran off.

Li Feng, tall with long legs, easily kept up with Lu Liu’s pace. He followed him into the house, and since Lu Liu didn’t want to give him a chance to speak any more rude remarks, he went to sit beside Chen Gui Zhi instead.

Lu Liu picked up his bowl of rice, and the first piece of food he took was given to his mother-in-law.

Chen Gui Zhi: “…”

“You just take care of Li Feng.”

Lu Liu was really obedient, so the second piece of food he took was for Li Feng.

As the meal went on, the table became lively, filled with teasing and jokes.

One of the husbands asked Lu Liu, “When are you having children?”

Lu Liu, not thinking much of it, replied, “Tonight.”

The whole table burst into laughter.

Lu Liu thought about it for a moment, realized what he had just said, and became too embarrassed to speak anymore.

His innocent remarks had really caused a stir. After the meal, Li Feng found a moment to corner him and kiss him.

“You didn’t figure it out just now, but we’ll see tonight.”

Lu Liu nodded vaguely, agreeing to everything.

The afternoon was spent doing miscellaneous chores, and Chen Gui Zhi led Lu Liu to press the rice cakes.

Using molds, they pressed the rice cakes into round shapes.

With so many people around, Wang Dongmei, Er Tian’s wife, sat with Lu Liu, but she chatted with Chen Gui Zhi across the table, making sly remarks about Lu Liu.

She said, “I went back to my parents’ house yesterday, over at Xi Village. Do you know the Xie family there? They have a really strong husband who made all the men obey him! They even went to the county yesterday!”

Lu Liu perked up his ears.

Was the husband from the Xie family his older brother?

Wang Dongmei, seeing how seriously Lu Liu was listening, nudged his arm with a smile. “It’s quite a coincidence. That tough husband shares your surname, he’s also named Lu. All the Lus are fierce, with fiery tempers.”

Lu Liu, only wanting to hear news about his older brother, thought that if his brother was at the Xie family, he would indeed need to be tough. Otherwise, how would he deal with all those wolf-like people? If he were soft, they’d swallow him whole!

Chen Gui Zhi observed coldly, seeing that while Wang Dongmei became more and more angry, Lu Liu became happier the more he listened. She wondered if he had caught the underlying insult, but at least he was smiling.

Wang Dongmei was so enraged by her own words.

“Mother, look at him—he’s like a smiling tiger!”

Lu Liu: Am I a tiger?

He cheerfully responded, “Thank you.”

Wang Dongmei: “…”

Did she think she was complimenting him?

She slammed the table, stood up, and changed to another mold. When others asked her what was wrong, she just said that the Lu family’s younger brother was really impressive.

Lu Liu watched her get so upset, and thought of Lu Sanfeng. He decided to ask someone for advice.

He realized that he couldn’t keep acting this way, or one day he might offend someone without realizing it.

The table was left with just him and Chen Gui Zhi. After a moment of thought, Lu Liu figured that asking for advice could help build better relationships, so he spoke up, “Mother, I think I made her angry, what should I do?”

Chen Gui Zhi replied, “What are you afraid of? Er Tian is younger than Li Feng, and she’s younger than you. It’s only you who can scold her, not the other way around.”

Wang Dongmei had just emptied the house to support her parents’ family, so Chen Gui Zhi’s words were rather sharp.

But Lu Liu took it seriously, gazing at her with admiration, his eyes shining like stars. “Mother, you’re so good! With you backing me up, I’m not scared anymore.”

Chen Gui Zhi: ?

“Who’s backing you up?”

The mother and son of the Li family were both strong-willed, they preferred softness over harshness.

Chen Gui Zhi wanted to scold Lu Liu, but when she opened her mouth, all that came out was, “Do your work well.”

Lu Liu chuckled, “Mm-hmm!”

Chen Gui Zhi: “…”

Forget it. I’ll just let Li Feng take him back home later.

Li Feng was busy today. After they finished dinner, the group made another two batches of rice cakes.

Lu Liu worked alongside his mother-in-law, leaving the bowls and chopsticks untouched. He first used the mold to press the rice cakes, then left them in the hall to cool.

Tomorrow morning, Li Feng and several men, including San Miao, would go to the county to sell the rice cakes.

Chen Gui Zhi asked Li Feng to take Lu Liu along, “He grew up in the county and his family does business. He’s better at selling things than you guys.”

But Lu Liu, who grew up in the village: “…”

He panicked.

Li Feng glanced at Lu Liu and said he wouldn’t take him.

“Hundreds of pounds of rice cakes, we need several people to go. The cart won’t fit everyone.”

They had always been able to sell them before; their loud voices could sell anything.

Chen Gui Zhi calculated the amount of goods, nodded, and agreed.

She then took Lu Liu to grab the rabbits and taught him how to handle them.

In the village, raising rabbits was simple—feed them, give them water, clean their cages, and that was about it.

If they lived, keep them; if not, sell them.

As they moved into the twelfth month, preparations for the New Year began. Chen Gui Zhi told Lu Liu, “It’ll be fine if you can raise them for a month. We’ll eat rabbit for New Year’s Eve.”

Lu Liu remembered and replied, “Okay, I’ll take good care of them.”

The rabbits’ fur was softer than chicken feathers. It was fluffy and felt different from the soft texture of Er Huang’s fur. Lu Liu liked it a lot.

He put the two rabbits in a cage, packed the rice cakes for Li Feng in a basket, and was ready to head home.

Li Feng was in the yard discussing the meeting time with others. After they left, he told Lu Liu to wait and then chased after the younger brother, Li Tian, who had already hidden in a room, pulling him out and giving him a beating.

Li Feng was three years older than Li Tian. The difference in their ages, combined with Li Feng’s superior strength, made Li Tian look like a helpless chick in his hands, getting picked up and beaten without resistance.

Li Tian had been beaten like this since he was young. He saw Li Feng’s fist coming and didn’t even think of resisting. He just protected his head and face, continuously shouting for his mother and wife, begging his older brother to go easy. In no time, he was crying in pain.

Lu Liu shivered when he heard it.

What was going on? Why were they fighting?

He was worried that Li Feng might be at a disadvantage and was about to go over to check. However, his sister-in-law, Wang Dongmei, was quicker than him. She got to the door first, but it was blocked inside, and she couldn’t get in. She was knocking and shouting anxiously.

She cried out, “Big Brother, I know why you’re angry, but we have no other choice! My father is sick, and we don’t have any money. We told Mother, but she won’t agree to help. We had to take it without asking. If you want to hit someone, hit me!”

Lu Liu was about to walk closer but was stopped by Shun Ge’er.

Shun Ge’er had been avoiding Lu Liu all day but was now willing to speak.

“You don’t have to worry. Er Ge (Second Brother) wouldn’t dare to fight back, even if he did, he wouldn’t win against Big Brother.”

Lu Liu paused, thinking about the size difference between the Li brothers, and stopped in his tracks, deciding not to go further.

Wang Dongmei was still shouting, crying and begging for Li Feng to open the door, demanding that he face her instead.

Lu Liu was stunned by the scene, too intimidated to say a word.

Inside, Li Tian, no longer acting like a younger brother, was clinging to Li Feng’s leg, sobbing, his tears and snot mixed together, looking nothing like a grown man.

Li Feng found this behavior disgusting.

“You’ve got a wife now and don’t care about Mother anymore? Fine, you can go marry into the Wang family, I won’t stop you.”

Li Tian dared to retort, “Big Brother, don’t say that about me. Yes, I took something from my father-in-law’s family, but it’s nothing compared to what you did. You spent twenty taels on your wedding, while I only gave Winter Mei’s family some meat and eggs. What’s the big deal?”

Li Feng laughed in anger. “You think you can compare with me? Did I ever ask you for a single cent when I got married? Did I ever cut back on Mother’s food? Did I ever eye her money?”

At this point, Li Feng understood. Second Brother was clearly dissatisfied.

Li Feng said to him, “If you have a problem with it, let’s settle things clearly. You give me the money for the land and the house, and I’ll take Mother and San Shun away. We’ll each go our separate ways from here on.”