But neither of them had ever done anything like this before. They didn’t even know how to light a fire. After fumbling for ages, they finally managed to get the fire going. However, when it came time to brew the medicine, they faced yet another challenge. Unable to control the fire, the flames were too strong, and they overcooked the medicine, ruining the first dose entirely.
Thankfully, the doctor had prescribed enough medicine for three days, so they still had more. Otherwise, they would’ve had to go back to the clinic to get another prescription.
After much effort, the brothers finally managed to brew a single bowl of medicine.
The process, however, was a mess. By the time they were done, the two of them were covered in soot, looking utterly disheveled.
Yu Jingde said, “I didn’t expect brewing medicine to be such a big deal. It always looked so simple when Mother did it.”
Yu Jingli nodded in agreement.
Since the medicine had just been poured and was still steaming hot, they couldn’t feed it to Yu Laoda right away.
The brothers sat by the bedside, keeping watch over him.
“Big Brother, why do you think Father suddenly got heatstroke?” Yu Jingli asked in confusion.
Yu Jingde shook his head. He didn’t know either. “The weather’s hot. Maybe Father overheated while traveling.”
When the medicine had cooled down, the brothers fed it to the unconscious Yu Laoda.
It was their first time taking care of someone in this way, and they were completely inexperienced. Luckily, they had seen their mother feed them medicine when they were sick. They propped up Yu Laoda, pried open his mouth, and shoved the bowl toward him.
Their rough handling caused more of the liquid to spill on Yu Laoda than to actually go down his throat. The brothers themselves were splattered with medicine as well, and soon, all three reeked of the pungent herbal concoction.
The brothers were a flustered mess, completely at a loss. If it weren’t for the fact that the person lying in bed was their father, they might have thrown up their hands and given up.
Finally, they managed to finish feeding him the medicine and sighed in relief.
At that moment, their stomachs started growling loudly. The brothers were starving.
It was nearly midnight, and they hadn’t eaten since lunch. With their youthful metabolism, their hunger was unbearable.
However, the house was cold and lifeless, with no food prepared. Even if there was rice, they didn’t know how to cook it. Judging by their earlier attempt at brewing medicine, they might end up burning the entire pot.
In the end, they had no choice but to endure their hunger and continue keeping watch over Yu Laoda, waiting for him to wake up.
As the doctor had said, Yu Laoda regained consciousness around midnight.
The brothers were overjoyed and rushed to his bedside, asking with concern, “Father, how did you get heatstroke? How are you feeling? Do you feel unwell anywhere?”
They were puzzled. Though the weather was hot, he usually took a boat to the county town, making it unlikely for him to get heatstroke.
Yu Laoda didn’t respond. His eyes were vacant, and he looked as though he had suffered a great blow, as if his very soul had been shattered.
The brothers asked him several times, but he remained unresponsive.
They exchanged a worried glance, concerned that their father’s heatstroke was more severe than they had thought. They wondered if they should take him back to the clinic in the morning to have the doctor examine him again.
Finally, Yu Laoda lost patience and interrupted them, shouting angrily, “Get out! Don’t bother me—just get out!”
Though he was still recovering, his furious outburst made Yu Jingde and Yu Jingli too scared to say anything further.
His sudden anger startled the brothers. They found him terrifying and couldn’t understand why he had suddenly become so enraged.
After all, ever since they had started studying at the Chen family, he rarely lost his temper with them.
Yu Jingde said, “Father, you should rest. Second Brother and I will keep watch outside. Call us if you need anything.”
The brothers left the room, deciding to take turns keeping watch until morning. If their father’s condition didn’t improve, they would send him back to the clinic.
As for his earlier outburst, they assumed it was due to discomfort from his illness and didn’t dwell on it.
—
The next day, Yu Li arrived at the butcher shop and was greeted with unprecedented enthusiasm.
“Big Sister Yu, you’re finally here!” Zhang Yaoping said excitedly.
Uncle Luo handed her a bowl of salted vegetable and shredded pork noodles with a warm smile. “Li Niang, eat more. We’ll need your help slaughtering pigs later.”
Yu Li held the bowl and ate her noodles while looking at them, feeling that something seemed off.
Zhang Yaoping slurped his noodles and sighed. “Big Sister Yu, you don’t know—yesterday when you weren’t here, the pigs struggled so much while we were slaughtering them that we almost couldn’t hold them down. And they cried so miserably! When the neighbors came to buy meat, they even asked me if we were mistreating the pigs before slaughtering them, and why couldn’t we just give them a quick and clean death…”
By the end of his story, he was nearly in tears, feeling deeply wronged for the first time in his life.
Slaughtering pigs had always been like this—wasn’t it normal for pigs to scream miserably? Why else would people always say that the sound of pigs being slaughtered was so awful?
But ever since Yu Li had joined them, they had experienced an entirely different way of working. Even the neighbors noticed that the pig cries at Zhang’s butcher shop had significantly diminished, allowing them to sleep peacefully in the early mornings without being awakened by the distressing sounds of pigs.
As the saying goes, it’s easy to go from frugal to lavish, but hard to go back to frugal. Having enjoyed such a peaceful and efficient process for so many days, suddenly returning to the previous chaos left them flustered and overwhelmed.
Because Yu Li wasn’t there, they could only slaughter two fewer pigs than usual. Otherwise, there simply wouldn’t have been enough time to slaughter and deliver the meat.
Even the typically composed Uncle Luo couldn’t help but remark that things were better when Li Niang was around.
With Li Niang, not only were the pigs more obedient, but she also took care of most of the delivery work. They didn’t have to run around making deliveries themselves. Though there was a delivery fee, it was physically exhausting work—not only running everywhere but also carrying heavy loads of pork, which wasn’t an easy task.
Zhang Fu had once considered buying a mule cart specifically for deliveries, but even with a cart, it could only be used by one person at a time. Given the need to deliver on schedule, they wouldn’t be able to reach many households. It wasn’t practical to buy several mules just for meat delivery—it simply wasn’t cost-effective.
Ever since Yu Li started helping with deliveries, they had found things much easier, and they didn’t mind not having a mule cart.
After hearing this, Yu Li said, “I’ll deliver more today so you can rest.”
Uncle Luo immediately chuckled. “That’s not necessary. If you’re tired, you can take a break too.”
At that moment, Zhang Fu came over with his own bowl of noodles. The group sat together under the eaves to eat. A table had been set up there, allowing both men and women to sit and eat together.
People in the marketplace, busy earning their livelihoods, didn’t follow many strict rules or customs. As long as one’s intentions were pure, no one minded much.
The people at Zhang’s butcher shop were all straightforward and honest. If they weren’t, Zhang Fu wouldn’t have hired them in the first place.
Zhang Fu asked, “Li Niang, did everything go smoothly with the division of your family yesterday?”
Hearing this, the others turned their attention to her with concern.
Although Yu Li hadn’t been working at the butcher shop for long, they had already accepted her wholeheartedly. They felt that this young woman was not only capable but also pure-hearted. To someone like Uncle Luo, who was older, Yu Li seemed like a daughter.
Yu Li swallowed her mouthful of noodles and replied briefly, “It went pretty well.”
“Why did your family suddenly decide to divide?” Zhang Yaoping asked curiously. “Aren’t your grandparents still in good health?”
During their work together, they would occasionally talk about their families. Since there was also Tu Laoda from Qingshi Village working there, they knew a bit about the Yu family.
Overall, they didn’t have a good impression of the Yu family.
When they first met Yu Li, she was so emaciated it was obvious she had been starved. For the Yu family to be so heartless toward a young woman said a lot about the kind of people they were.
Even if the family wanted to support a scholar, they couldn’t starve their granddaughter like that. Starving someone to such an extent could lead to serious problems.
Before funding a child’s education, the family should at least ensure that everyone had enough to eat.
If they couldn’t even feed themselves properly, how could they possibly expect to support someone through the exams to become a Xiucai?
Yu Li simply explained, “My eldest uncle returned home, and something happened, so Grandpa decided to divide the family.”
Hearing this, everyone assumed that her eldest uncle must have done something that caused the family elders to suddenly decide on a separation.
No one delved into the specifics, but they all chimed in: “Dividing the family is a good thing. Afterward, your parents and sisters can be the heads of their household, eat what they want, and not have to watch others’ moods.”
“That’s true.”
—
After slaughtering the pigs, it was almost time for deliveries. Yu Li prepared to head out and turned to Zhang Yaoping, asking him to set aside three pounds of meat for her.
“It’s rare to have a family division. I want to bring some meat back for my sisters so they can enjoy a meal and celebrate.”
It wouldn’t be a proper celebration of a family division without some meat.
Zhang Yaoping patted his chest and said, “Big Sister Yu, you’re absolutely right. I’ll make sure it’s saved for you!”
When Yu Li returned after making her deliveries, Zhang Yaoping took the reserved meat out of the bucket and wrapped it in banana leaves for her.
Just as Yu Li was about to pay, she noticed how large the portion was and exclaimed, “This much?”
“It’s not too much!” Zhang Yaoping grinned. “Seventh Uncle specifically cut this portion, saying your sisters should have a taste of our pork.”
Yu Li insisted on paying, but Zhang Yaoping adamantly refused.
“This is a gift from Seventh Uncle for your sisters to celebrate the family division. He said it’s to wish them a bright and prosperous future—just a little good luck.”
Hearing this, Yu Li stopped insisting.
People in this world seemed to place a lot of importance on auspiciousness—whether it was holding a wedding, moving house, or even choosing a day to go out, everything revolved around finding the right moment or symbol of good fortune.
Yu Li didn’t fully understand these customs, but since she was here, she figured she should follow them and embrace a bit of this luck herself.
When Zhang Fu returned, she went over specifically to thank him.
Zhang Fu waved her thanks away. “It’s nothing. After all, Li Niang, you’re the most capable one in the shop. The work you do is worth more than all of us combined.”
Hearing this, Uncle Luo, Zhang Yaoping, and the others all laughed heartily, showing no signs of jealousy.
It was true—Yu Li’s abilities had earned their respect and admiration.