After leaving the Yu family, Yu Li didn’t return to the Fu family home but instead went straight into the mountains.
By evening, she emerged from the mountains with a basket nearly full of various ripe fruits. In her hands, she carried a few fish tied with grass ropes. Passing by a bamboo grove, she also casually broke off a few bamboo shoots, truly a fruitful harvest.
Zhou Shi was in the kitchen preparing dinner, while the two children played in the main hall.
Seeing her return, they happily ran toward her.
“Little Aunt, you’re back~~”
Yu Li put down her basket, washed her hands, and took out the wild fruits from the basket to give to them as a treat.
“Thank you, Little Aunt!”
The two children obediently said their thanks, placing the fruits aside and going to pour her tea.
Zhou Shi heard the noise and came out of the kitchen. Noticing that she had also brought back some fish, Zhou Shi, seeing that the fish were already dead and couldn’t be kept for later, said, “I’ll make pickled fish for dinner tonight. There are fresh bamboo shoots too, so I’ll add them to the dish.”
In the hot weather, pickled fish was appetizing and cut through the greasiness. These bamboo shoots were sweet shoots, and when cooked with pickled vegetables and fish, they made a delicious combination.
The rice on the stove was still cooking, so Zhou Shi hurriedly asked about the Yu family’s division of assets. After Yu Li responded with a simple “very fair,” Zhou Shi quickly returned to the kitchen to continue her work.
Yu Li then selected some intact, fully ripened fruits, washed them, placed them on a plate, and carried them into the room for Fu Wenxiao.
Fu Wenxiao liked sweets and disliked sourness. When eating fruits, he particularly enjoyed purely sweet ones; even a hint of sourness would make him frown.
Yu Li, on the other hand, liked both sweet and sour. Based on her experience, she only picked the purely sweet ones for him.
When she entered the room, Yu Li glanced inside and saw Fu Wenxiao sitting at the desk by the window.
Somewhat puzzled, she walked closer and saw him holding a wolf-hair brush, his strokes swift and bold, writing something.
Fu Wenxiao noticed her entering but didn’t stop. He continued until he finished the last character before finally setting the brush down.
He raised his head to look at her and suddenly smiled. His refined and elegant demeanor exuded an indescribable warmth and gentleness, like a noble gentleman in the fields.
In a warm voice, he said, “Li Niang, you’re back.”
Yu Li nodded and placed the plate of fruit on the table, her gaze falling on the paper.
The handwriting was beautiful.
Though she couldn’t articulate exactly what made it beautiful, anyone with eyes could see that the characters, with their strong strokes and unique style, radiated a certain charm that was hard to look away from.
In short, they were stunning.
“Your handwriting is so beautiful,” Yu Li praised. “It’s as beautiful as Mother’s embroidery.”
Whether it was his handwriting or Zhou Shi’s embroidery, they were both things she couldn’t do. If someone asked her to write with a brush, she figured she’d end up with a mess of unrecognizable scribbles.
Fu Wenxiao: “……”
To have his handwriting compared to embroidery—it sounded a bit odd. But seeing the sincerity on her face, Fu Wenxiao couldn’t help but chuckle.
After setting the dried paper aside, he asked, “Was everything smooth today?”
“It went pretty smoothly,” Yu Li said. “A lot of wild fruits in the mountains are ripe, and since no one’s picking them, I just picked them all clean.”
Unfortunately, she still didn’t come across any game. It seemed earning some extra money from hunting was out of the question.
Luckily, she had already found work slaughtering pigs, which somewhat made up for the inability to earn from hunting.
Fu Wenxiao couldn’t help but smile. Naturally, this wasn’t what he had been asking about.
But listening to her talk about the mountains carried a unique flavor. It seemed that the vast, deep mountains that kept the villagers at bay were, in her eyes, an inexhaustible treasure trove and her own territory. She moved about freely there without the slightest difficulty.
“How about the Yu family’s division?” Fu Wenxiao asked again.
Yu Li pushed the plate of fruit closer to him, sat to the side, grabbed a handful of fruit, and slowly began eating. “It was fair.”
She recounted the results of the Yu family’s division to him.
Fu Wenxiao nodded slightly. It was indeed fair—so fair that it didn’t seem like the Yu family’s usual way of doing things.
His gaze landed on the young woman munching on the fruit. Her cheeks were puffed out, giving her an indescribable air of straightforwardness and naturalness, and he suddenly smiled.
Old Master Yu must have been scared of her to be this fair.
That was for the best. He didn’t think she was in the wrong. In this world, being too kind without principles would only lead to being bullied.
Kindness should be reserved for those who are truly good and honest.
After finishing the conversation about the Yu family, Yu Li quickly left it behind and asked him, “Why are you suddenly practicing calligraphy? Are you planning to take the imperial exams?” She had assumed his writing was practice for the exams.
Thinking of how the Yu family supported two scholars, she figured he might also be aiming for the imperial exams.
She couldn’t help but feel a little sympathetic. With his body, even stepping out of the house was a struggle, let alone traveling far. He’d probably die halfway on the journey.
Fu Wenxiao’s expression was calm. “No. Lately, I’ve been feeling a bit better, so I wanted to copy some books and send them to the study hall.”
Realizing she had misunderstood, Yu Li gave a simple “oh” in response.
Then he added, “In a few days, I’ll be done copying them. When the time comes, I’ll trouble you to take them to the study hall in the county. The shopkeeper will understand when he sees them.”
“Sure!” Yu Li agreed without hesitation. She had no idea how much money could be earned from copying books, nor did the original owner’s memories contain such information.
The Yu family had three scholars, and they had never mentioned earning money by copying books. Otherwise, Old Madam Yu would have announced it to the world, lamenting how pitiful it was that they had to copy books to earn money in addition to their studies, and praising their dedication to the family.
It seemed copying books didn’t bring in much money.
—
When Yu Laoda left the village, he deliberately avoided being seen.
He was afraid of running into people and being asked about the sudden division of the Yu family, which would stir up his shame and humiliation.
Because of this, he didn’t even take the boat from the river dock but chose to walk to the county town instead.
It was the hottest part of the day, and the roads were nearly deserted.
Few people would choose this time to head to the county town. It wasn’t autumn yet, and the intense heat could easily kill someone.
Yu Laoda was well aware of the scorching weather and how unbearable it was to travel at noon. Normally, he would take a boat to the county, unconcerned about the timing. Sitting comfortably on the boat, he could reach the county in half an hour.
But now, avoiding people and feeling too ashamed to show his face, he hadn’t thought it through.
He didn’t consider how difficult it would be to walk to the county at noon, but he was satisfied that he hadn’t encountered anyone on the way.
Before he had even made it halfway, Yu Laoda was already feeling dizzy and lightheaded from the sun.
It had been a long time since he had walked to the county town. Ever since he started his studies, Old Master Yu and his wife, feeling sorry for him, always arranged for him to ride a mule cart or take a boat whenever he needed to go. Rarely did they make him endure the hardship of walking.
As a result, Yu Laoda had completely forgotten what it was like to walk to the county town under the blazing midday sun. He left with empty hands, without even preparing a hat for shade.
By the time he reached the halfway point, he could no longer go on. Years of living a cushy life as a clerk in the county town had eroded the stamina he had in his youth.
Fortunately, a passing ox cart stopped when it saw him. Upon learning that he was heading to the county town, the kind driver offered him a ride for part of the way.
Even so, by the time Yu Laoda reached the county town, he was already light-headed and barely able to stand. With great effort, he made it to his rented house, but as soon as he stepped inside, he collapsed onto the ground.
—
By dusk, as the sky was tinged with twilight, Yu Jingde and Yu Jingli returned from the Chen family’s house.
Though the Chen family was their maternal grandparents’ household, they only waived the tuition fees for the two brothers and didn’t provide lodging or meals. The brothers had to arrange their own accommodations and food.
It wasn’t that the Chen family was stingy, but their house was small and couldn’t accommodate the brothers. Moreover, the two growing boys had hearty appetites and consumed a considerable amount of food.
The brothers knew that their parents, along with their younger siblings, had gone back to the village the day before to visit their grandparents. Before leaving, their parents had given them silver to eat out for the next couple of days.
Since they had been studying with their father from a young age, the family had high hopes for them. They weren’t expected to do any household chores, and things like washing clothes or cooking were naturally beyond them.
As the saying goes, a gentleman stays away from the kitchen. This seemed perfectly reasonable to them.
The brothers figured that their father would return that day and, as usual, bring some homemade food from the family’s village home. Thinking they wouldn’t need to eat out, they went straight home after class.
What they didn’t expect was to nearly trip over something as soon as they walked in the door.
Looking down, they were shocked to see their father lying unconscious on the ground, his face pale and ghastly.
Yu Jingde and Yu Jingli were both terrified. They quickly hoisted Yu Laoda onto their backs and rushed him to a nearby medical clinic.
The doctor examined him and diagnosed him with heatstroke.
The region’s summers were long and stiflingly hot. Every summer, numerous people suffered from heatstroke. The doctor was experienced with such cases and had effective remedies on hand.
He first gave Yu Laoda a pill prepared by the clinic. Sure enough, Yu Laoda’s complexion improved significantly after taking it. Then, the doctor prescribed some medicine and instructed the brothers to take him home.
By then, it was getting dark, and the clinic didn’t allow patients to stay overnight.
Yu Jingli, dissatisfied, protested, “But my father hasn’t woken up yet.”
He was worried that something might happen to his father and thought it would be safer to leave him at the clinic, where the doctor could monitor him.
The doctor, with his wealth of experience, replied, “It’s just heatstroke. Go home and brew a dose of the medicine—three bowls of water boiled down to one. Feed it to him, and he should wake up around midnight.”
The brothers had no choice but to pay the fee, take the medicine, and carry Yu Laoda home.
Once back at the house, they settled their father in and began looking for a pot to brew the medicine.