Of all the people they could provoke, they just had to provoke Boss Li. Serves them right.
The “bandit” herself was unmoved, even having the leisure to ask, “Are there a lot of bandits around here?”
“Plenty,” Skinny Wu said, pointing to a green mountain outside the county. “Look at all the mountains and rivers around here. Naturally, there’s no shortage of bandits. Shanping County isn’t so bad since it’s close to the military. Bandits usually don’t dare linger here. I’ve heard that bandits are much worse in Dalu County and Yuqing County. Especially in Dalu County, where it’s close to the sea. Sometimes pirates from the sea even come ashore…”
Yu Li nibbled her sesame cake as she listened thoughtfully.
Skinny Wu, noticing her expression, felt a sudden chill. Was she planning to go fight bandits?
But he quickly comforted himself. Even if she wanted to fight bandits, it had nothing to do with him. After all, he was just an inconsequential idle man in the county. The most he’d ever done was bully some commoners. Expecting him to fight bandits? Not a chance.
After finishing the sesame cake, Yu Li left.
Skinny Wu watched her retreating figure, then packed up his things and went to find Gao Sheng and the others.
Before long, a group of idle men gathered once again under the banyan tree in Luoyu Alley. Skinny Wu shared the news he had picked up that day.
Since Skinny Wu often lingered at the bustling marketplace waiting for work, he had access to plenty of information. Whenever he got hold of anything noteworthy, he would come back to share it with them.
What the group enjoyed hearing most was anything related to Yu Li—especially about who had fallen into her hands recently.
Hearing that three yamen officers had already crossed her path, they were absolutely delighted.
This kind of story was their favorite, and they encouraged him to keep talking.
The most timid of the group, Li Wulang, suddenly said, “Compared to them, I suddenly feel like we weren’t all that miserable after all.”
Wang Sanlang agreed. “Yeah, at least we weren’t beaten by Boss Li twice.”
“That’s because we gave up soon enough.”
This last comment garnered unanimous agreement, and they all felt a wave of relief that they had chosen to mend their ways early on. If they had kept fighting her…
Ugh, didn’t they see what happened to those three yamen officers?
—
Yu Li was unaware of the gathering of “reformed” idle men gloating about the plight of others. She had gone to the pier to find Yu Jin and accompany her on a shopping trip.
“Big Sis, what are you planning to buy?” Yu Jin asked curiously.
They had already bought most of what they needed for the festival yesterday, and Yu Jin hadn’t planned to purchase anything else today.
“Ingredients for making mooncakes,” Yu Li replied.
“Huh?” Yu Jin was startled. “Making mooncakes? You’re going to make them yourself? Why bother? Didn’t we buy a lot of mooncakes yesterday?”
Yu Li calmly explained, “I’ve already eaten most of the ones we bought yesterday. We need more today.”
So, not only did she plan to buy ingredients for Zhou Shi to make more mooncakes, but she also intended to buy even more ready-made mooncakes.
She couldn’t help it—this was her first time eating mooncakes, and she found all the flavors delicious. She hadn’t had enough and wanted more.
Yu Jin was at a loss for words.
She vividly remembered how many mooncakes her sister had bought yesterday. How had she already eaten them all?
Once again, Yu Jin gained a new understanding of her sister’s appetite. She asked, “Big Sis, eating so many mooncakes at once—aren’t you getting sick of them?”
That was more than half a basket of mooncakes. No matter how tasty they were, eating so many in one day sounded overwhelming—just thinking about it felt cloying.
“No, I’m not sick of them,” Yu Li replied matter-of-factly. “You eat rice every day—do you ever get sick of it?”
Yu Jin: “… That’s… that’s different! You can’t compare the two.”
Surely eating meals and eating mooncakes weren’t the same thing?
Yu Li didn’t see the difference. To her, it was all food that ended up in her stomach. If it went into her stomach, it became hers, and since she ate every day, it was all the same.
Yu Jin was left dizzy and unable to argue against her sister’s perfectly logical but utterly baffling reasoning.
By the time they finished shopping, Yu Li’s basket was full once again. She even used half of Yu Jin’s basket to hold more of her purchases.
Back at the butcher shop, Yu Li changed into a fresh set of clothes, preparing to head home.
Zhang Fu handed her the wages for the day. Since it was a festival, she had slaughtered two more pigs than usual and delivered more goods, so her earnings today were especially generous.
Not only that, Zhang Fu also gave each of the sisters a piece of pork to take home for their festival meal.
“Li Niang, you’ve worked hard. Consider this your reward,” Zhang Fu said with a smile. Hiring Yu Li was like hiring four or five people for the same work—an incredibly good deal.
As a result, any leftover meat from the shop would often be given to Yu Li as a bonus.
Yu Li accepted it without hesitation.
Yu Jin, however, hurriedly refused. “Brother Zhang, it’s fine. I didn’t do anything.”
“Take it,” Zhang Fu insisted, pointing to Liu Shi, who was sweeping the courtyard nearby. “Auntie comes over every day to help clean the yard, and I haven’t paid her wages either. I can only give you all some meat to take home. Besides, today is the Mid-Autumn Festival. Take it and add a dish to your table—don’t refuse.”
Hearing this, Yu Jin had no choice but to accept.
It was a holiday, and continuing to decline would indeed seem inappropriate. Better to take it.
Liu Shi also appeared a little uneasy. She wasn’t good with words, but in her heart, she decided to work harder in the future to repay Butcher Zhang. After all, the work wasn’t much, and she could do more to help.
—
When Yu Li arrived home, Zhou Shi was already waiting there. Seeing the two baskets she was carrying, one on her back and another in her hands, Zhou Shi remained unperturbed.
She helped Yu Li organize the goods and found that she had bought quite a variety of items, including alcohol.
“I heard you can drink a little during festivals to liven things up, so I bought some,” Yu Li said, then turned to ask, “Mother, do you drink?”
Zhou Shi waved her hand. “I don’t drink.”
“What about Xiao Ge’er?”
“Xiao Ge’er’s health doesn’t allow for drinking.”
Hearing this, Yu Li said nonchalantly, “No problem, I’ll drink it myself.” She had never tasted alcohol before and figured this was a good opportunity to try it.
Zhou Shi: “…”
She suddenly had a bad feeling about this.
—
After lunch, Yu Li took a nap to catch up on sleep.
By the time she woke up in the afternoon, the rich aroma of food filled the air.
Still half-asleep, she caught a whiff of the enticing smell and was instantly wide awake. Throwing off her blanket, she hurriedly got out of bed.
Fu Wenxiao was already awake, sitting nearby and sipping water. Seeing her get up, he poured her a cup as well.
“It’s dry in autumn. You should drink more water,” he said.
Yu Li downed it in one gulp, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him. “I wonder what Mother is making—it smells amazing!”
Seeing her unable to sit still, Fu Wenxiao chuckled. “She’s probably baking mooncakes and braising meat…”
Before he could finish speaking, she had already rushed out the door.
Her hair was unkempt, and all he saw was the swish of her loose strands trailing behind her as she disappeared, leaving only one sentence in the air: “I’ll go check. I’ll bring some back for you to try later!”
Fu Wenxiao: “….” She’s like a little kid.
Yu Li entered the kitchen and found Fu Yanhui and his younger sister following Zhou Shi like little shadows, their eyes glued to the stove.
“Mother, are the mooncakes ready?” Yu Li asked as soon as she walked in.
Zhou Shi smiled and replied, “Some are ready. Go ahead and try them.”
On the counter in the kitchen, Yu Li saw freshly baked mooncakes resting in a bamboo basket. Each one was golden, perfectly baked, steaming hot, and irresistibly fragrant.
The aroma that wafted out during the baking process was particularly captivating, making it hard for anyone to resist.
Yu Li stood there, picked up a still-warm mooncake, and began to eat.
It was stuffed with ham, and it was absolutely delicious.
She wasn’t picky about mooncake flavors—savory or sweet, she loved them all. Having never tasted mooncakes before, she was eager to try everything.
Remembering Fu Wenxiao in the house, she ate a few, then carried a plate of freshly baked mooncakes back to share with him.
Fu Wenxiao took a small bite with a smile and said, “It’s indeed delicious.”
His appetite wasn’t strong, so he only sampled a piece. The rest of the mooncakes ended up in Yu Li’s stomach.
—
That evening, the family gathered for their Mid-Autumn Festival reunion dinner.
Since they planned to admire the moon later, dinner was served earlier than usual.
Fu Wenxiao felt better than he had in a long time, thanks to Yu Li’s efforts, and joined them for the meal. Zhou Shi was overjoyed, piling food onto everyone’s plates.
There’s a kind of hunger only a mother feels for her children—feeding them as if fattening pigs for market.
Yu Li grinned, “Thank you, Mom. These are all my favorites!”
Fu Wenxiao looked at the mountain of food in his bowl. With his small appetite, he knew he couldn’t finish it. He glanced at Yu Li and said, “Li Niang, I can’t eat this much.”
He hadn’t even touched his chopsticks yet, hoping she might take some back.
Yu Li simply moved his overflowing bowl to her side, replaced it with an empty one, and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll help you eat!”
Fu Wenxiao: “.…”
Zhou Shi nearly burst out laughing at the sight.
If you asked Yu Li to help you with food, she would simply take your entire bowl, eat it all, and then give you back an empty one. Sharing food with her wasn’t an option—it meant giving up everything.
—
After dinner, as the sky darkened, the villagers began admiring the moon.
Following Zhou Shi’s instructions, Yu Li moved a table to the open space in the courtyard. She also brought over several stools and set up the table with mooncakes, sugar cakes, fresh fruits, and other snacks, filling it to the brim.
The full moon on the fifteenth day of the lunar month was perfectly round.
The moonlight poured down like water, illuminating the courtyard with a radiant glow. Every detail of the scenery was clearly visible under the silvery light.
Sitting beneath the moon, each person cast a dark shadow on the ground, making the brilliance of the moonlight even more striking.
Yu Li picked up a mooncake, took a bite, gazed at the sky, and said, “The moon is so round and bright tonight.”
There was a sense of wonder in Yu Li’s voice, as if this was the first time she had seen such a round and bright moon.
Fu Wenxiao glanced at her, wondering to himself, *Did the world she came from not have moons this round and bright?*
Zhou Shi chuckled and said, “The moon on the fifteenth is full, but it’s even fuller on the sixteenth. Tomorrow night it’ll be even brighter and rounder.”
Yu Li responded with a hum, gazing at the silver disk in the night sky a while longer. She then held up a mooncake in front of the moon, aligning it so the two overlapped, and nodded thoughtfully. “No wonder we eat mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival. The round moon does look a lot like a mooncake.”
Fu Yanhui and Fu Yansheng found it amusing and mimicked her, holding up their mooncakes toward the sky while cheering excitedly.
Yu Li’s appetite was as good as ever. Even after dinner, it didn’t stop her from continuing to eat mooncakes, sugar cakes, and fruit.
After finishing those, she began to feel thirsty. Her gaze fell on the wine jar on the table.
The wine was stored in a small, rough clay jar that cost just two wen, purchased at the winery where she had gotten the wine. Without a container, there would have been no way to bring the wine home.
Yu Li poured herself a cup and cautiously took a sip.
It was osmanthus wine, soft and smooth in taste, with a hint of sweetness. She found it quite pleasant.
She had heard that in the pre-apocalyptic era, humans enjoyed a variety of drinks, and wine was one of them.
Sipping slowly, she unknowingly finished the entire jar of wine.
At first, Fu Wenxiao hadn’t noticed she was drinking wine. It wasn’t until she suddenly stood up and began practicing boxing under the moonlight that he realized what had happened.
Zhou Shi froze for a moment. “What’s Li Niang doing?”
Why was she suddenly practicing boxing in the courtyard for no reason?
Fu Wenxiao picked up the empty wine jar on the table, took a sniff, and said, “She’s probably drunk.”
Zhou Shi immediately grew nervous. “Oh no, what should we do? Should we—”
Before she could finish her sentence, Yu Li abruptly moved to the courtyard wall. Grabbing onto the edge, she leapt up and over the wall, disappearing behind it.
The two children exclaimed, “Wow, Auntie can fly!”
Zhou Shi: “…”
Fu Wenxiao: “…”