Chapter 13: Jin Geer Meets Liu Geer

Chapter 13: He Jin Meets Wen Liu

The crucian carp Wen Xi had caught turned belly-up and died after four days in the basin. As Chen Lanfang was figuring out how to cook it, he gathered his courage and said, "Mother, I'd like some crucian carp and tofu soup."

Tofu wasn't like other foods—to get it, one had to buy from the tofu maker in the village, and a single block cost as much as six wen coins. Wen Xi felt a bit nervous as he said this.

"You want crucian carp and tofu soup? Sure." Chen Lanfang didn't think it was a big deal at all. She hollered outside, "Xiao Jin, go buy a few blocks of tofu from the tofu maker's place. We'll stew some crucian carp soup."

He Jin replied, "You got it, I'm on my way."

Chen Lanfang went back inside to fetch some copper coins and handed them to him: "We've got a big family, so grab a few extra blocks. If there's any left over, we can eat it cold or stir-fry it. And see if you can get Aunt Zhang to knock a little off the price..."

Seeing He Jin standing there grinning at her, Chen Lanfang lightly tapped her own forehead: "These past few days, Xi Geer's been hanging around me, and I can't help but yap at everyone I see. You little rascal, you don't need me telling you what to do. Go on."

He Jin deliberately hollered, "How come Xi Geer gets reminders and I don't? Mother, you're really playing favorites."

Chen Lanfang shook her head and let out a sigh: "Xiao Xi, look at your Brother Jin here—talking so slick, not afraid of tripping over his own tongue."

Wen Xi could tell they were just ribbing each other and smiled softly: "Mother isn't playing favorites. Brother Jin is good too."

He Jin teased him: "So only me and Mother are good, and Sister-in-law's not?"

Wen Xi hurriedly added, "Sister-in-law is good too. Everyone in the family is good."

His goofy earnestness was, at times, strangely cute. He Jin was tickled and headed off happily to Aunt Zhang's to buy tofu.

Aunt Zhang was the only tofu maker in the village. Every day, her husband carried the goods on a shoulder pole, hawking tofu in nearby villages or at the town market. It was tough work, but they made a decent chunk of change each day.

When He Jin arrived, several villagers were also there buying tofu, and among them was an old acquaintance of their family—Wen Liu.

Running into this person first thing in the morning, He Jin thought to himself, what a pain, but his face didn't show a hint of disgust.

Aunt Zhang got along pretty well with Chen Lanfang and greeted him enthusiastically: "Xiao Jin, you're here to buy tofu too today?"

He Jin kept his expression calm and said with a smile, "My third brother's husband woke up this morning craving crucian carp and tofu soup, so my mother-in-law sent me off to buy some."

Everyone could tell whether he was complaining or bragging. Seeing him all smiles, a few elderly women buying tofu remarked, "Your family really takes care of this new husband, no question about it."

"Yes, not only did you go to the Zhao family to stick up for him the other day, but today you're forking out money to buy him tofu. This little husband sure is lucky."

"That's not all—I saw Lanfang taking her son and the new husband to town the other day, saying she wanted to buy some cloth to make him clothes. She covers everything, you'd think she was his own mother."

He Jin had Aunt Zhang pack him a few blocks of tofu and, listening to their chatter, smiled and said, "It's heaven's blessing that our family got such a lucky husband. Since he married in, not only did my third brother's illness get better, but my father-in-law's been getting more work too. With a little lucky star like that, how could my mother-in-law not treat him right?"

"Looking at it that way, this kid really is lucky. No wonder your in-laws like him."

"Xiao Xi is hardworking and polite, always 'sister-in-law' this and 'brother' that. Not just my in-laws—even my sister-in-law and I like him." In front of so many people, He Jin naturally wanted to sing Wen Xi's praises loud and clear, so everyone would know their family had no hard feelings about the substitute marriage and genuinely liked Wen Xi.

Someone glanced at Wen Liu and said with a hand over her mouth, grinning, "It's not enough that you all like him—he's your third brother's husband. He has to like him too."

He Jin had been trying to steer the conversation toward Yan Fengan, and this person gave him the opening he needed: "With someone that well-behaved, how could my third brother not like him? Since Xiao Xi married in, he's worked without complaint and taken good care of him every day. With that kind of loyalty and devotion, how could my third brother not be grateful? You should see how he dotes on his new husband at home. Ah, newlyweds are just different—sweet as honey, enough to make a person jealous."

Since the villagers were regulars, Aunt Zhang knocked a wen off each block without being asked. He Jin paid promptly and added, "Don't go spreading these words around, though. The young couple is shy, and if they knew I was teasing them in public, they'd be mortified. I'm off now—catch you all next time."

Everyone there was a blabbermouth, so of course they'd spread it. But that was exactly what He Jin wanted—let the whole village know their family was harmonious now.

From start to finish, He Jin treated Wen Liu as if he were invisible, never giving him a single glance.

Wen Liu wasn't stupid. He knew He Jin was deliberately snubbing him, and those words were meant for his ears.

Having been fawned over by men wherever he went, he was indeed feeling uncomfortable now, but he knew people around him were sneaking glances, waiting to see him squirm. At a moment like this, he wouldn't show any weakness.

He maintained that composure all the way home, and only when he got inside did the anger finally erupt.

Seeing him slam the tofu onto the cutting board in a huff, Li Qiaozhen scolded, "Are you trying to die? Tofu is this soft—how can you throw it like that?"

Sure enough, when she lifted the cloth, the tender tofu had already broken into several pieces.

Li Qiaozhen frowned: "So much fire in you—who provoked you?"

Wen Liu wiped his tears and said indignantly, "Who else but Wen Xi."

"What, did he go buy tofu too?"

"If only it were him."

With Wen Xi's timid, quail-like nature, he'd never dare to be sarcastic to him in front of so many people. Even Yan Fengan's sister-in-law spoke more politely. Only that He Jin had a sharp, hateful tongue.

Back when he was involved with Yan Fengan, He Jin had never looked kindly on him. When they met on the road, he'd never given him a pleasant face. Wen Liu had even planned that once he married into the Yan family, he'd whisper in Yan Fengan's ear to sow discord between him and the second brother—whether it was splitting the family or urging Yan Erlang to divorce He Jin, he didn't want to live under the same roof with such a person.

But how could he have known Yan Fengan would be so useless—falling and injuring himself like that just trying to shoot a wild goose on the mountain.

If he'd stayed a fool forever, fine, but the moment Wen Xi married in, his mind recovered. Wasn't that just deliberately working against him?

Wen Liu grumbled inwardly, venting bitterly: "If I'd known Yan Fengan would recover so quickly, I should have married him myself."

"We're not immortals—how could we predict when he'd get better? If I'd known, I wouldn't have sent Wen Xi over either. Such a good family, and it's been wasted on that little wretch." Li Qiaozhen was also displeased. It wasn't so much about Yan Fengan's recovery—she just couldn't stand seeing Wen Xi living well.

Those words made Wen Liu even more regretful. He'd worked so hard to get close to Yan Fengan, charmed the man into liking him, and in the end, it all became Wen Xi's gain.

Wen Xi wasn't as pretty as him, and his temperament was weak. Yan Fengan had always despised him—how could he have come to like him so quickly in such a short time?

The more Wen Liu thought about it, the more something felt off. He figured He Jin's words must have been exaggerated. Even if they were true, it was probably Yan Fengan deliberately trying to spite him.

No matter how learned the man was, he was still just a mortal. After being jilted by him, how could his heart be completely unruffled?

What you can't have always lingers in your mind. Yan Fengan had gotten nothing from him, and Wen Liu refused to believe he'd let go so easily.

With that thought, another idea began to form in Wen Liu's mind.

—

The family had no good impression of Wen Liu, so to keep everyone's spirits up, He Jin didn't mention their encounter.

During the day, Carpenter Yan took his two sons to work in the neighboring village and wouldn't be back until evening.

In the Yan household, good food was meant to be shared by the whole family. After buying the tofu, Chen Lanfang salted it and set it aside to cook at dinner.

In the bedroom, Yan Fengan was about to grind ink and write something when Wen Xi looked at the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone on the table, a hint of longing in his eyes that he himself hadn't noticed.

In their dynasty, though women and male husbands couldn't take the imperial exams, there were no restrictions on reading. As long as a family had money, anyone could attend school.

All the other adults in the family went without saying—even Tiezhu attended the village's private school. Only Wen Xi and little Tao'er, who was three, couldn't read a single character.

Yan Fengan keenly sensed his emotion. He reached out and beckoned him over, grinding the ink as he asked, "Do you know how to write your own name?"

Wen Xi glanced at him, and just as Yan Fengan was about to think the question was unnecessary, Wen Xi slowly nodded: "Yes."

This caught Yan Fengan off guard. He pulled out a sheet of rice paper and gave it a quick press with a paperweight. "Here, let me see you write it."

Wen Xi shook his head. "My handwriting's not great. I'd hate to waste your paper."

"You don't get good at calligraphy overnight. If you've never had the chance to practice, how could you be any good? This paper's just for rough drafts anyway, so no worries about wasting it."

Yan Fengan dipped the brush in ink and gave a little chin tilt, gesturing for Wen Xi to take it.

Wen Xi didn't catch any hint of mockery in his face. After hesitating a moment, he stood beside Yan Fengan and wrote his name stroke by stroke on the rice paper.

Wen Xi was nervous inside, but his hand holding the brush was surprisingly steady. The ink wasn't applied evenly, but the structure was solid—not all crooked and messy like most beginners'.

Yan Fengan praised him, "Hey, this is pretty good! Your name's got a ton of strokes, so writing it this well is no easy feat. And you didn't mess up a single stroke order—that's seriously impressive. Who taught you that?"

Wen Xi just shook his head, saying he'd practiced with charcoal before, and left it at that.

Yan Fengan didn't push on topics Wen Xi clearly didn't want to talk about, only joking, "How about this: you grind my ink from now on, and I'll teach you to read and write."

Yan Fengan remembered everything the guy who'd once taken over his body had done to Wen Xi. Wen Xi kept his feelings well hidden around him, but Yan Fengan knew it still ate at him.

Wen Xi was a trusting soul—whatever Yan Fengan said, he took it at face value. "But I don't know how to grind ink."

"Grinding ink's easy. Just add a little water to the inkstone and rub the ink stick on it."

Wen Xi's face flickered with hesitation, and Yan Fengan continued, "This is a good thing. Once you can read, nobody can use that against you anymore, and you won't feel awkward talking to people."

He couldn't figure out what Wen Xi was so hung up about.

Wen Xi understood the benefits of literacy well enough. He pointed outside. "But these next few days, I wanted to follow Sister-in-law and the others to learn how to make clothes."

"And your shoes—I haven't finished those either."

With everything piling up, even if he wanted to learn, he just didn't have the energy to spare.

Yan Fengan smiled brightly. "Ah, I thought it was something serious. Tell you what—follow Sister-in-law and the others for now, and we'll pick this up once the clothes are done. Father and Mother have requested a long leave for me; I won't be back at the academy until next spring. There's plenty of time—I'll teach you slowly when you're free."

"Alright." Wen Xi felt a weight lift and smiled without realizing it.

As evening fell and birds returned to their nests, Yan Shichang came home with his two sons.

The men worked hard outside to earn a living, so Chen Lanfang put extra effort into dinner. Besides crucian carp and tofu soup, she made two meat dishes and one vegetable, each in generous portions.

Dinner time was what Wen Xi looked forward to most each day. The whole family sat together in a neat circle—the eldest and second brothers, both chatterboxes, recounted amusing stories from their day even while eating; Sister-in-law Jin Geer picked vegetables for the children while agreeing with her husband; the two elders smiled gently, occasionally chiming in. Wen Xi dared to help himself to an extra piece of tofu, and no one minded that he ate too much. Though Yan Fengan was a scholar, he wasn't rigidly bound by the "no talking at meals" rule at the table, though most of the time, like Wen Xi, he listened quietly without saying much.

The tofu had absorbed the fish broth, turning tender and savory—tasting exactly as Wen Xi remembered. He'd craved this for years, and finally having the crucian carp and tofu soup he'd longed for, his eyes grew warm. He wished he could reach back through the years to comfort the younger version of himself who had been scolded and driven out of the house for wanting a sip of fish soup.

Just as he was feeling a bit melancholy, more meat and vegetables appeared in his bowl. He didn't need to look to know who had picked them for him.

Wen Xi glanced up lightly. Yan Fengan had just taken several helpings of wood ear mushroom stir-fried with pork, apparently enjoying it, so he'd given some to Wen Xi as well.

After dinner came the usual cleanup, and when it grew dark, everyone retired to their rooms. As Wen Xi's eyes grew heavy with drowsiness, Yan Fengan suddenly said, "Ah, I remember now—I'm the one who taught you to write your name."

Author's note:

Hoping to gather some favorites—I'll be updating according to the schedule these next few days, dear readers.