Chapter 49

They couldn’t afford to pay the full amount, but they had to make them bleed hard.

“Xie Sancai first took five acres of land, and in bits and pieces, he took thirty taels of silver.”

Sun Erxi’s family said it was a debt of two taels, but it doubled as the matter went on.

When they doubled it, Lu Yang doubled his claim too. If debts were being shouted in the air, he’d shout back. Whoever wanted his money, he’d want theirs in return.

“Sun Erxi’s family took four taels of silver in total, twice.”

Zhang Dashih’s eyes nearly popped out. “So much?”

Lu Yang nodded. “Yes, they weren’t greedy. As for your family’s money, we’ve already paid it back.”

Zhang Dashih was furious.

His husband, seeing that he kept talking only about the money, had to interrupt, “Lu Zhuang, what about the report to the officials? My Sangui doesn’t understand things. You’ve already beaten him, we’ve paid the ransom, and the vegetables have been delivered. Can you figure out how to let him go?”

Lu Yang wanted them to fight each other. “If I can get the five taels of silver back, I won’t report to the officials.”

Five taels of silver was a very clever amount.

Sun Erxi’s family didn’t even have enough for five taels, so there would be trouble with the Sun family, and then they’d have to go after Xie Sancai.

Xie Sancai and his brothers were united, making it difficult to get the money.

Zhang Dashih himself could cough up five taels of silver and treat it as ransom.

He claimed that Xie Yan’s father owed him five taels of silver, and if Xie Yan could pay it, he’d let it go, as though it were a lesson learned.

But if he could squeeze money out of others, why would he need to pay it himself?

Five taels of silver wasn’t a trivial sum—it was no small amount.

Lu Yang could see the change in Zhang Dashih’s face, and he understood it completely. After finishing his sugar-water eggs, he took his scholar husband and left.

Xie Yan’s eyes sparkled like a small sun, his admiration for his husband overflowing.

Lu Yang asked, “Did you remember everything?”

Xie Yan nodded. “Got it. I’ll go to Uncle and Third Uncle’s families myself.”

Lu Yang asked again, “When will you go?”

Xie Yan said, “When things stir up, they’ll come looking for me. I’ll handle it then.”

Lu Yang was satisfied.

This bookish fool was clever enough to understand quickly.

Xie Yan felt a warm glow in his heart, wishing time could leap forward to the day when the results would be revealed.

He walked less steadily than usual, his expression less calm, his heels barely touching the ground. If he slowed down, he would almost be stepping in place, his arms swaying as he moved. His emotions weren’t just written on his face; they were also shown in his body language.

Lu Yang found it a little amusing but also somewhat heartbreaking.

Xie Yan’s real father was gone, and the family had lost its pillar. He had read so many books of sages, but when it came to handling these people, he had no way of dealing with them, which must have caused a lot of frustration in his heart. This fool was so naïve, his grievances must be directed at himself. He had once been a scholar of great promise, but now he found even reading books annoying. He’d rather do housework than study or practice writing. It was truly pitiful.

Lu Yang took his hand. “Don’t worry. I’m here, and I won’t let anyone bully you in the future. I’ll help you get back what was taken from you. When the time comes, we’ll prepare some good wine and food, and we’ll pay respects to our father.”

Xie Yan was a man, and a man should stand tall, supporting his family.

For these years, he had heard too many scoldings. When he went outside, people would lecture him about how useless it was to study, and even if he became a scholar, so what? It cost money, and he was still a good-for-nothing.

When his father was alive, he hadn’t felt it. Now that his father was gone, the family was left with just him and his mother, and suddenly, he had become the head of the household. He had to figure everything out on his own.

He had once been tough, but that hadn’t gotten him anywhere. He had studied and understood the principles, but he couldn’t withstand all the people who came to bully him. Later, he became soft, and that was when there was no turning back.

He had thought that his life would always be like this, that no matter how he struggled, he was just a pawn in someone else’s game.

But now, he heard these comforting words.

His husband said that in the future, he wouldn’t let anyone bully him.

Xie Yan’s eyes reddened, and he said, “There’s so much I don’t understand. Please teach me, and I will stand tall.”

He also wanted to protect his husband, his mother, and their home.

He longed for them to live a peaceful life—three meals a day, casual conversations, and spending time together, counting money and balancing the books.

“Don’t let anyone bully you again.”

“Never again.”

…………………………..

Early in the morning, Lu Liu crawled out of bed.

Today, they were going to the new village to distribute money. The new village was home to the Ertian couple, and after a recent unpleasant incident, Li Feng had become disheartened and wasn’t keen on having a meal in the new village. Lu Liu decided to go check the kitchen and see what he could cook.

He sadly discovered that there wasn’t much food left in the house.

There were a few vegetables, but the flour was running low. No fish, and there was only about eight taels of meat left.

The pig’s offal had already been used up, and when he saw Erhuang wagging its tail, he couldn’t help but give it some extra food.

There wasn’t a single large bone left, and the only remaining item was a jar of sugar, brought by the two fathers.

The market day was still a ways off, so they’d have to ration their food.

Lu Liu pursed his lips, not in a very good mood.

He felt the bamboo basket, and his heart sank further.

Oh no, there were only two eggs left.

As Li Feng said, even making pancakes wouldn’t be enough.

Yesterday, they should’ve skipped the dumplings.

How could he have been so wasteful? Big dumplings weren’t something you could eat any day—only on special occasions.

Luckily, there was still some tofu.

Lu Liu thought for a moment, then decided to take half a bowl of rice and start boiling some porridge.

He chopped the tofu into cubes, and in an extravagant gesture, he cracked an egg and beat it, pouring the egg mixture over the tofu cubes. He then heated up another pan, and before it got too hot, he stared at the strips of meat, picked up the knife, and precisely sliced out a tael of lean meat for use.

When the pan heated up, he added oil—just enough to coat the bottom of the pan. He swirled the oil around, then added the tofu cubes, frying them on low heat. After the tofu turned golden on all sides, he moved it to one side, dropped the lean meat into the pan, and then added a plate of pickled vegetables that Li Feng didn’t like, frying them all together.

The pickled vegetables were made from radish leaves, and Lu Liu had grown accustomed to them; he thought they tasted pretty good.

Li Feng could eat the pickled vegetables, but as long as there were other dishes, he wouldn’t touch them. In desperate times, though, one bite of pickled vegetables could be used to shove down three large bites of rice—almost forced into his mouth.

The village conditions were like that—during winter, it was either radishes or cabbage, and every household had pickled vegetables. Lu Liu feared that Li Feng might eventually have to endure eating plain rice every day, so while they still had some resources, he decided to try more recipes, hoping that, maybe, one day Li Feng would suddenly start liking pickled vegetables.

Lu Liu smiled to himself as he watched the golden tofu cubes and meat chunks slowly turn into a dark, unappetizing mass due to the addition of pickled vegetables. His smile gradually faded.

Ah.

It really didn’t look very appetizing.

Li Feng’s dislike of pickled vegetables was not without reason.

Lu Liu: “…”

What to do? He had grown up eating pickled vegetables himself and wasn’t sure what to do now.

He stared at the pot blankly, absentmindedly stirring it, thankful that he hadn’t burned it, although the blackened pickled vegetables only got darker.

With only this one dish for breakfast, Lu Liu served it out and kept it warm over the stove.

He chopped up half a cabbage, washed it, and shredded it, then stir-fried it and added it to the porridge.

White porridge was too bland. Simply eating rice was a waste of silver. He’d been cooking since he was young and always added something to the rice.

For example, mixing white rice with brown rice, adding sweet potatoes or green vegetables. Sometimes, he’d even treat himself to eggs and minced meat.

He loved egg and minced meat porridge—the combination of egg, meat, and rice in one bite was so satisfying. Just thinking about it made him hungry.

If it were salted eggs, the taste would be even better.

Lu Liu didn’t go out much, had no friends, and the Lu family was quiet. Once he started thinking, he would get lost in his thoughts and ignore the people and sounds around him.

Li Feng had finished washing up and had been standing there for a while. He called twice, but his little husband didn’t respond, focused only on the bubbling porridge in the pot. His expression kept changing like the weather in June.

One moment, it was cloudy, then the next, sunny, with the occasional sign of rain.

Lu Liu snapped out of his thoughts, finally noticing Li Feng. He wasn’t even startled. Then he remembered something Li Feng had said: he was only responsible for eating. The household matters were not his concern.

So, Lu Liu said to Li Feng, “Dafeng, we’re running out of food.”