“That kid doesn’t look like he’s from the county. Night market grills—he looks unfamiliar.”
“Maybe a farmer here for some extra cash,” a bare-chested man said roughly. “Selling this cheap—is he trying to cut into our business?”
“Maybe he’s just a rural kid who doesn’t know market rates.”
“You two buying? He’s from our village. I’ll take you over; maybe you can get a better deal.”
The man glanced at the young man who had stepped forward to speak and frowned. “From your village?”
Zhao Qi nodded repeatedly. “Our village recognizes two-character-literate weaklings.”
He emphasized “weak,” adding, “Not good at studying, but maybe can hustle some food. We said earlier that today’s business would do well—we didn’t believe it. But now? The prices are lower than the county vendors’. Business is surely his.”
“Never expected the kid to keep quiet… he’s clever.”
The two men exchanged a look. “He’s a scholar?”
“Ha, barely literate, no achievements—what kind of scholar is that?”
They understood and didn’t answer Zhao Qi further. Clenching their fists, they shot a glare at Du Heng and turned to leave.
“Hey, you two not buying?” Zhao Qi called after them, pretending not to understand.
After a busy morning, by noon, Du Heng had nearly sold all his ingredients. Once the last fish was gone, he extinguished the fire.
Those still waiting grumbled briefly before dispersing.
“You two finished so early!”
Du Heng smiled. “Prepared goods aren’t as complete as yours.”
“Your business went too well!”
The vendor grinned. It hadn’t been in vain to share the spot with the couple—many customers came over.
“Tired from the morning? Have some tea before leaving.”
Qin Xiaoman’s mouth was parched from shouting all morning. The water in his gourd was gone, but he accepted the stall owner’s kindness and joined Du Heng for a bowl of tea. When he tried to pay, the owner refused.
Du Heng, noticing the vendor’s son still staring hungrily at their skewers, fanned the remaining embers and split a smaller fish head to place on the grill, ensuring it absorbed the seasoning well.
Qin Xiaoman sat on a stool and drank another bowl of cooling herbal tea. In truth, he was a little tempted by rice wine, but thinking of how he had gotten drunk last time and promised Du Heng that he would not drink recklessly anymore, he forced himself to hold back.
He patted the child on the back. “Go take a look. It’s roasted for you.”
The child’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
Qin Xiaoman nodded, and the child immediately took off running, stopping beside Du Heng.
The stall owner said the child was only eight years old, but he was not very tall—just a bit past Du Heng’s waist, which was also because Du Heng had a long, slender build.
Watching Du Heng gently and patiently ask the child whether he could eat spicy food and what flavors he liked, Qin Xiaoman unexpectedly felt a sense of fatherly kindness and filial affection.
He took another sip of tea, almost as if he could taste a hint of alcohol in it. If they had children in the future, they would surely cling to their legs all the time as well. Thinking of that, he could not help but feel a quiet sense of anticipation.
“Dad, Dad! Look, this is what Big Brother Du said he’d give me to eat!”
The child held up a plate with a grilled fish head on it and hopped over to his parents.
“You little glutton, you only know how to crave food. Did you thank him properly?” the father scolded lightly.
Du Heng had already thoroughly doused the charcoal fire. In such scorching weather, even a single spark could cause trouble.
“This child is very well-behaved. He’s been thanking me nonstop,” Du Heng said.
The stall owner chuckled and fondly patted the child’s head. “Go on, take it and eat.”
Du Heng and Qin Xiaoman packed up their things and moved them back onto the handcart. Just as they were about to leave, the stall owner came over carrying a gourd. “It’s a bit of wine we brewed ourselves. Take it back and have a taste.”
“Oh, that’s too embarrassing!” Qin Xiaoman quickly waved his hands in an exaggerated refusal. The fish head had been intended for the child anyway.
“Take it. It’s just a little thin wine, not worth much,” the stall owner said with a smile as he stuffed it into their hands. “Doing business together is fate. Take it back—Xiao Du can drink a bit when he’s free.”
Qin Xiaoman pursed his lips and raised his brows, shooting Du Heng a look.
“Then thank you,” Du Heng said.
Du Heng wanted to say that he did not drink alcohol, but he still let Qin Xiaoman take it. He had long seen through the little schemes in someone’s heart.
Sure enough, Qin Xiaoman’s lips curved up happily.
Just as the two were about to get onto the ox cart to head home, Qin Xiaoman set the gourd down on the cart. Before he could climb up, several men suddenly surrounded them.
“Who are you looking for?” Du Heng asked.
He looked at the bare-chested men, arms crossed, watching them warily. One glance told him they meant trouble.
The people drinking tea at the neighboring stalls hurriedly scattered at the sight. The family running the tea and wine stall—the woman pulling the child—hid off to the side. The stall owner hurried over, but before he could speak, one man grabbed a stool and flung it to the ground by his feet.
“If it doesn’t concern you, don’t come sticking your nose in it,” the man barked.
The stall owner jumped in fright, his chest heaving as he dared not move again. The child cried and called for him to come over. Seeing his father frozen in place, the child ran over and tugged him aside.
“You brat, you actually dared to deliberately undercut our prices and cut off our livelihood. Do you think I’m a vegetarian or something?” a dark-skinned man snarled, pointing a club as thick as a wrist at Du Heng. “You’ve only just made a bit of money and already want to relax and leave?”
Du Heng looked at the group of rough men. They were much like the owners of roadside barbecue stalls in modern times—no matter the era, there was always a bit of that streetwise, intimidating air.
“We never undercut prices. I don’t know why you think that,” Du Heng said calmly.
“You say you didn’t, so that means you didn’t?” the man spat. “We sell for six cash, you sell for three!”
“Fish is cheap to begin with. You can’t compare it to meat. That’s why the price is lower,” Du Heng replied.
The man fell silent for a moment. It was true—they did not sell fish.
“Then your pork skewers are only five cash!”
Du Heng pressed his lips together. Originally, he had planned to go around and ask about everyone’s prices, but once they got busy, there was no time. It also felt awkward to sell the same thing at two different prices.
Besides, at the county night market, five cash was the usual price. Some even sold for four. It was only because of the temple fair that these people were charging more today.
“We priced things based on what’s sold in the county. You say we’re undercutting just because you say so?” Qin Xiaoman snapped.
Seeing several men even taller than himself, Qin Xiaoman showed not the slightest fear. He grabbed a thick stick from the side and barged in, standing in front of Du Heng like a protective hen, shielding him behind his back. His fierce expression was no weaker than those who had come looking for trouble.
“You ger, get lost. Keep being this arrogant and I’ll beat you too,” one of the men threatened.
Qin Xiaoman shouted angrily, “If you dare lay a hand on us, our village isn’t far from here. I’ll call people over, and you won’t be able to run. Let me tell you, my second uncle is a butcher—he’s the least afraid of thugs!”
Hearing this, the leading man’s brow tightened, but he soon sneered. “Nine out of ten people say they’ve got a butcher relative. You think we’ve never seen the world and can be scared that easily?”
“My second uncle’s name is Qin Xiong. He does business in the county meat market. You think I’m bluffing?”
One of the men beside the burly fellow leaned over and whispered something to him. The man’s brows knit so tightly they could have crushed a fly.
He shot Qin Xiaoman a vicious glare. Du Heng quickly reached out to shield Qin Xiaoman, but then saw the man slowly lower the weapon in his hand.
“Since you’re out and about today, I’ll let you off this once. But if you dare talk big again and try to cut off our business, I won’t be polite next time, no matter who your relatives are!”
Seeing that they seemed ready to let it go, Du Heng spoke up.
“We’re all just doing small-scale business to make a living. We’re careful in how we conduct ourselves. If we really wanted to steal your business, we wouldn’t have set up our stall up here. We could’ve gone further down or right next to your stalls to compete directly. There may be some misunderstanding here.”
The man looked at Du Heng. Though he appeared scholarly and weak, he carried himself with upright integrity, not someone who spoke recklessly. The man let out a breath. “Forget it. You can go.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than someone shouted, “There they are!” Footsteps thudded rapidly as several people came running over with clubs in hand.
Du Heng took one look and found them strangely familiar—they were all villagers from their own village.
“What are you doing? You think Tianwan Village has no one and can be bullied?”
Seeing that there were quite a few people coming, the group of men hesitated. Though they were of mixed ages—old men and farm wives of varying heights—farmfolk were rough fighters, and most importantly, once they got tangled up, they were hard to shake off.
The men quickly made way and fled.
“Uncle, Auntie, how did you all get here?”
Only after the troublemakers left did Qin Xiaoman drop the weapon in his hand and run over to greet everyone.
“The stall owner said there was trouble down here. We thought it might be you two doing business here, and worried outsiders might bully people from our village, so we called everyone and came to take a look.”
“Good thing we came. Are you two alright?”
“We’re fine, we’re fine. As soon as everyone arrived, they got scared and ran off.”
Warmth rose in Du Heng’s chest as he looked at the concerned villagers. On ordinary days, people might gossip about one another out in the fields, but when something really happened outside, everyone still showed up together.
The couple went over to thank the family from the tea and wine stall as well, thanking them for kindly going to fetch help.
On the way back, their handcart was filled with people.
Qin Xiaoman and Du Heng invited all the villagers who had come to help to ride back to the village together, sparing them the long walk under the sun.
“That kid sure got lucky.”
Not long after the cart left, a figure slipped out from the woods, gritting his teeth at the official road.
Zhao Qi, who had fanned the flames, had expected Du Heng to get beaten badly. He had no idea how the villagers showed up, letting them all leave together in harmony.
All that effort wasted, and the anger in his heart only grew.
What a pity he hadn’t managed to cripple Du Heng’s arms or legs—at the very least, he should have ruined that annoyingly attractive face to vent his rage.
He set his face coldly, about to head back, when he suddenly heard a shout not far away: “That kid is over there!”
Zhao Qi looked up and saw the same men who had caused trouble earlier. Cold sweat broke out down his spine. Feeling guilty, he turned and ran.
The men were already seething. Seeing Zhao Qi flee only convinced them something was fishy, and they swarmed after him.
“You bastard, you egged us on to cause trouble—did you already know that kid was Qin Xiong’s relative?”
“Beat him to death! I hate nothing more than spineless schemers like this!”
Zhao Qi was so scared he nearly wet himself. He squatted on the ground, clutching his head. “I don’t know anything! I don’t know anything!”
“Ah! Don’t hit me!”
“Big brothers, please spare my life!”