When Zhu Qingshan returned at the end of September, he appeared at the courtyard gate in such a ragged state that even Doudou mistook him for some wandering beggar and clamped down on his pant leg without letting go.
Li Xiyue immediately boiled a huge pot of hot water for him to bathe in. The moment she saw the crisscrossing wounds covering his body, her heart ached unbearably.
“Xiyue, don’t cry. Didn’t I come back just fine?” Zhu Qingshan panicked.
“Right. No missing arms or broken legs. You’re perfectly ‘fine.’”
Hearing the anger hidden in her words, Zhu Qingshan instantly fell silent.
“What about the medicine I gave you? Those were effective remedies. How did you still end up like this?” Li Xiyue asked in confusion.
A shadow of grief crossed Zhu Qingshan’s face.
“On the way back from the north, we ran into mountain bandits. They outnumbered us, and we were transporting goods. We couldn’t outrun them, so we could only fight for our lives.”
“Old Ding and Little Six were hurt the worst. I used the medicine on them… but Old Ding still died in the end. Little Six lost an arm too. He’ll never be able to escort caravans again.”
On the day Zhu Qingshan got married, the two of them had still been joking with him. Yet only two months later, one was dead.
From the very first day he entered the escort agency, he had known this profession meant carrying one’s head tucked into one’s belt.
One day you could still be drinking and laughing heartily, living freely and boldly. The next day, you might already be lying dead in some distant land.
Li Xiyue knew that no words of comfort would help right now. She silently took out some Yunnan Baiyao from her space and carefully applied it to his wounds.
“Rest properly first.”
After gently closing the door behind her, she found Zhu Qinghe pacing anxiously outside with Doudou trotting after her.
The moment she came out, Zhu Qinghe hurriedly asked, “Sister Li, how’s my brother?”
“He’s fine. Don’t worry. He’ll recover after a few days of rest and medicine.”
Only then did Zhu Qinghe finally relax.
Since Zhu Qingshan’s injuries hadn’t healed yet, he couldn’t eat greasy food. Li Xiyue cooked a pot of plain rice porridge and served it with a small dish of pickled cucumbers so the meal wouldn’t be completely tasteless.
“Qingshan-ge, time to eat. What are you staring at?”
Zhu Qingshan was quietly gazing at the dramatically transformed courtyard, momentarily stunned before a faint smile appeared on his face.
Mm. It finally felt like a real home now.
After dinner, Zhu Qinghe accompanied Zhu Qingshan to visit Zhu Chenggang’s family. Since he had just returned, it was only proper to stop by and greet them.
Yet when Zhu Qinghe came back, she looked furious.
“Who upset our Qinghe? Your lips are puckered enough to hang an oil bottle from them,” Li Xiyue teased.
“Sister Li, you don’t know how awful that Tian Hua’er is! Qingmu-ge saw her pulling and tugging with another man in the street, so he proposed breaking off the engagement, but that woman refused!”
“Then a few days ago, Qingmu-ge made a mistake at work and offended the head chef at the restaurant, so he got fired. Her family immediately came over to cancel the engagement! I’ve never seen such shameless people!”
Li Xiyue glanced at Zhu Qingshan. Seeing him nod, she knew the story was true.
“They were never suitable for each other to begin with. Auntie was just too anxious. Qingmu is still young. Marrying the wrong wife can doom three generations. If you ask me, it’s better that the engagement was broken off. That Tian Hua’er was obviously trouble…”
“Sister-in-law, my brother said the same thing.”
“Then there you go. Our Qingmu is such a good young man. Is he really going to have trouble finding a decent girl?”
After calming Zhu Qinghe down, Li Xiyue decided to visit Auntie Chen. With her fiery temper, she was probably even angrier than anyone else.
She brought over a bowl of candied chestnuts. People in a bad mood should eat something sweet.
When Chen Shi saw her, she could barely muster any energy and forced herself to get up to pour water.
Li Xiyue quickly stopped her.
“Auntie, don’t bother. I just came to check on you. I’ll leave after sitting for a bit.”
Chen Shi sighed heavily.
“I always thought I was a clever person, but in the end, I keep doing foolish things. What will happen to my Qingmu now? The engagement’s broken off, and he lost his job too. If Zhang’s Restaurant spreads the word, what restaurant or tavern in all of Qingtian County would dare hire him?”
“Where’s Qingmu?” Li Xiyue asked.
“He’s upset and sleeping in his room.”
Chen Shi pointed toward the door.
“Don’t worry too much yet. I actually have an idea, though it’s not fully thought out yet. Once Qingmu calms down, have him come talk to me.”
Chen Shi didn’t dare place too much hope in it, but she still nodded.
After saying goodbye, Li Xiyue headed home. Along the edge of the rice fields, she spotted a patch of fresh houttuynia leaves and happily picked a large handful to make into a cold dish later.
Dinner gained an extra dish: cold tossed houttuynia.
Zhu Qinghe picked up a leaf and stared at it suspiciously.
“Sister-in-law… this grass can actually be eaten? We only use it to make medicinal tea.”
“Of course it can! Both the roots and leaves are delicious. Try some.”
The siblings each cautiously took a bite. Their expressions immediately became indescribable.
Zhu Qingshan forced himself to swallow it.
Zhu Qinghe lasted a little longer before finally gagging.
“Ugh…”
Li Xiyue: “…”
“Forget it. I won’t force you two. Eat the other dishes.”
The siblings both visibly relaxed.
So there actually existed dishes their wife/sister-in-law made that they didn’t like.
Li Xiyue simply couldn’t understand it. Houttuynia was so delicious. How could anyone dislike it?
As soon as Zhu Qingshan’s injuries mostly healed, he immediately dragged Li Xiyue into all sorts of marital mischief, resulting in both of them naturally oversleeping the next morning.
Zhu Qinghe didn’t want to disturb them, but Shen Zhengming had arrived.
By the time the couple finally got up, both were visibly grumpy from being awakened. The moment Zhu Qinghe saw her brother’s dark expression, she immediately scooped up Doudou and fled.
Shen Zhengming plopped a massive pig’s head down in front of Li Xiyue, startling her. Then she suddenly seemed to think of something, grabbed the pig’s head excitedly, and headed straight for the kitchen.
“Qinghe, go invite Uncle’s family over for dinner tonight.”
“Okay, sister-in-law!”
Doudou scampered after Zhu Qinghe in a blur.
“Sister-in-law, if you cook tonight, I won’t get to eat any!” Shen Zhengming complained pitifully.
“Then I’ll start earlier. Go talk with Qingshan first, then come help clean the pig head afterward.”
Li Xiyue deliberately left the space for the two men. She could tell Shen Zhengming had something important to discuss.
“Qingshan-ge… there’s finally a little news about Qingsen.”
Shen Zhengming spoke cautiously, afraid of giving him false hope.
Zhu Qingshan instantly grabbed him.
“Tell me! Where is he? Where’s Qingsen now?”
The grip hurt badly, but Shen Zhengming endured it.
“Qingshan-ge, calm down first.”
Realizing he had squeezed too hard, Zhu Qingshan quickly loosened his hold.
“Sorry. I lost control.”
“Recently, the authorities caught a human trafficker named Old Seven who’s been committing crimes all over the place. Ten years ago, he operated around Qingtian County too. I interrogated him for a long time before he finally admitted he was the one who took Qingsen away.”
“He remembered clearly because Qingsen bit off a piece of his ear.”
“What happened after that? What did he do to Qingsen afterward?” Zhu Qingshan asked anxiously.
Just imagining what might happen to a child daring enough to bite a vicious trafficker terrified him.
“At first, Old Seven refused to talk. We only got the truth after using torture.”
Shen Zhengming hurriedly continued when he saw Zhu Qingshan nearly lose control again.
“He confessed that he sold Qingsen to a male brothel in Jinling. But later, Qingsen cleverly found a chance to escape. The brothel owner even went looking for Old Seven to demand compensation. After that, there was no more news.”
Zhu Qingshan collapsed to the ground, clutching his hair in agony.
“Qingsen… Qingsen! Where am I supposed to find you?”
Inside the kitchen, Li Xiyue listened to Zhu Qingshan’s grief-stricken voice with aching sympathy.
He had lost his parents young, raised his sister with his own hands, and spent years wandering far and wide searching for his missing brother. Yet he was only twenty years old. In modern times, boys his age were still spending their days gaming and partying.
“Qingshan-ge,” Shen Zhengming comforted gently, “if Qingsen could escape a place like that when he was only six, don’t you think he’s probably doing alright? He’s smart. Maybe one day he’ll come back on his own.”
Zhu Qingshan nodded numbly.
Meanwhile, Shen Zhengming stared at the pig head he had just painstakingly cleaned with utter despair.
He swore to himself that next time he would never again bring ingredients that only created extra work for him.
Li Xiyue wisely chose not to comfort Zhu Qingshan further. He needed time alone.
She went to the vegetable garden and picked several bright red tomatoes.
At noon, a simple tomato and egg noodle soup would do nicely.
Shen Zhengming absolutely loved the sweet-and-sour tomatoes, so Li Xiyue told Zhu Qinghe to pack him a whole basket to take home.
Neither tomatoes nor onions existed in this era yet. She planned to save some seeds later and give them to Auntie Chen and Fourth Aunt Li. At the very least, they could earn some extra money from them.