Zang Yan shrugged off the support of Zang Liujiang and Li Ao, glanced in the direction of Yu Huishui, and limped over to him. He looked fierce, and when he looked down at people, it made Yu Huishui feel a bit oppressed for no reason.
“Hello, Third Brother,” Yu Huishui greeted politely, bowing his head, but his eyes were darting around. He felt like a rabbit being stared at by a bear, feeling guilty for no reason. Why was he staring so intently? He hadn’t even done anything yet, and someone had already figured out he was a man?
“Third Brother.”
Zang Liujiang stepped in front of Yu Huishui, his expression somewhat serious. “You’re scaring him.”
“Hmph.” Zang Yan didn’t know why he was so angry. He looked Yu Huishui up and down again. “Good-looking, well-mannered, and a new face I’ve never seen before.”
Zang Yan’s voice was as heavy as muffled thunder, and when he confronted Zang Liujiang, his face was as dark as the bottom of a pot, looking intimidating. He didn’t shy away from Yu Huishui standing right next to him and said to Zang Liujiang, “Do you know where he’s from? Getting married so carelessly? Aren’t you afraid he’s from that old guy in the county…”
“Zang Yan!” A loud shout came from behind, and everyone turned to look. Zang Huan had somehow gotten off the heated bed and was standing behind Yu Huishui, glaring at Zang Yan. “If you have energy, don’t use it on your own family. Get inside!”
Zang Yan’s sudden appearance left Yu Huishui without a chance to learn about this Third Brother from Zang Liujiang. He didn’t expect him to be such a temperamental person.
The atmosphere in the room turned icy. Zang Liujiang was clearly displeased with Zang Yan’s attitude, standing protectively by Yu Huishui’s side, his face devoid of a smile.
It was the first time Yu Huishui had seen Zang Liujiang like this. He reached out to squeeze his palm, and when Zang Liujiang looked up at him, he blinked reassuringly.
“Don’t overthink it, sister-in-law.”
It was Zang Huan who spoke first, rubbing his temples with a headache and giving Zang Yan a sidelong glance. “Your Third Brother isn’t a bad person. It’s just that something bad happened in the past, and it was for Liujiang’s sake.”
Something bad?
Yu Huishui glanced at Zang Liujiang sitting beside him and saw his expression freeze, turning his head slightly as if unwilling to bring up those matters.
“You still know how to get angry?” Zang Yan, still fuming, saw Zang Liujiang giving him the cold shoulder and scolded in a rough voice, “After suffering such a big loss back then, you still haven’t learned your lesson.”
After scolding, he turned to Yu Huishui, his gaze heavy and scrutinizing as he spoke, “We have six brothers in our family. Except for the eldest brother, we all originally lived on the mountain.”
“Back then, Liujiang was only fifteen, and it was our fault as older brothers for letting him take on that position at such a young age.”
“At that time… there were many people in the stronghold, some who came with our father to the mountain, and others who were taken in later during the famine. But we knew their backgrounds and asked about their origins.”
“But that bastard.”
Zang Yan’s face darkened, and his voice was filled with gritted teeth. “He was a new face that no one in the nearby villages had seen. When asked about his ancestral home, he made up a story, and when we asked others from that village, they had never seen him.”
“I suggested to Liujiang to be wary of him. Someone who came to the mountain out of nowhere and wasn’t honest in their actions probably had something sinister in mind!”
“But he didn’t listen.” Zang Yan shot a resentful glance at Zang Liujiang. “He treated my words like they were nothing, didn’t listen at all!”
“Enough.” Zang Huan interjected with a heavy sigh, his face also showing anger. “He was so young back then, control your temper!”
Yu Huishui listened, not daring to make any rash comments, just holding Zang Liujiang’s hand a little tighter.
Zang Yan had vented his anger, and Zang Huan took over the conversation. “Let’s talk while we eat. By the time we finish talking about these old matters, it’ll be dark.”
The group settled down to eat, Zang Liujiang still looking sullen, silently serving Yu Huishui food, as if he had suffered a great grievance.
Li Ao watched curiously, leaning over to whisper in Zang Huan’s ear, “What’s Zang Liujiang pretending for? Usually, he would have caused a scene by now when these things are mentioned.”
Zang Huan glanced at Yu Huishui, who was eating more to appease Zang Liujiang, and whispered back, “He’s married now, it’s different.”
They opened two jars of wine, and Zang Liujiang and Zang Yan drank in silence, as if competing with each other.
Seeing the atmosphere ease, Zang Huan continued, “That person was called Zhu Quanyou, probably around my age.”
“He was smart and opinionated. Liujiang thought he was a scholar from some family, so he didn’t ask much.”
Li Ao handed over a chicken leg, placing it in Zang Huan’s bowl, while the other had already gone into Yu Huishui’s stomach.
“Unexpectedly,” Zang Huan sneered, putting the chicken leg back into Li Ao’s bowl. “That brat secretly incited restless people, saying things like ‘other bandits live happily, why do we have to work hard here?'”
“With so many people, it was easy for trouble to arise. Over time, a group of people really followed him with bad intentions.”
“They rebelled?” Yu Huishui asked in surprise, gnawing on a chicken leg.
“They used Liujiang’s young age as an excuse, forcing him to give up the position of the leader.”
“To them?” Yu Huishui was wide-eyed, unable to hold back a curse. “What kind of bullshit logic is that?”
Li Ao couldn’t help but glance at this delicate little aunt, who looked so refined yet could curse.
“They found a good excuse, saying grandly that a child wasn’t suitable to lead, and the position should be returned to us older ones.”
“If we tried to take the position, they had all sorts of reasons to suppress us, causing chaos every day.”
Yu Huishui was given a thin pancake with rolled meat by Zang Liujiang, mumbling as he swallowed it down. “A belly full of bad intentions, just wanting to seize the position!”
Zang Liujiang quickly poured him some tea to help him swallow.
“I’m talking about serious matters.” Zang Huan raised an eyebrow.
Such a tragic past should be taken seriously, but these two were eating and drinking like they were listening to a story.
Yu Huishui put down the chicken leg, causing Zang Liujiang to sigh repeatedly.
“Anyway, in the end, it was our father who came back to stabilize the situation. Zhu Quanyou led those brainless ones down the mountain. Guess who they went to?”
“Who?” Yu Huishui asked curiously, stretching his neck.
“The county magistrate, Zhu Youde.” Zang Yan, half-drunk, cursed. “The two of them colluded, wanting to swallow our mountain, secretly doing a lot of dirty work.”
Yu Huishui thought of the strange attitudes of the villagers, probably spread by Zhu Youde to slander Zang Liujiang.
Not doing evil or hoarding wealth, yet being smeared with a pot of filth, no wonder Zang Liujiang looked so aggrieved.
Yu Huishui thought, watching Zang Liujiang hand him another piece of pastry, unable to refuse, he opened his mouth and ate it.
“Ah, you two are so loving.”
Zang Yan, tipsy, looked burly but couldn’t hold his liquor well, swaying after just half a jar.
“Sister-in-law, don’t blame your brother for being so fierce earlier. Give your brother a bottom line, where are you really from?”
Given the situation, Yu Huishui couldn’t refuse. Except for the fact that he was a man, he told everything else truthfully.
When he mentioned being an orphan, the whole table’s expressions changed.
When he talked about being a book boy, Zang Yan was already restless.
Finally, when he spoke of Zang Liujiang’s ‘hero saving the beauty’ and his ‘promise of marriage,’ Zang Yan actually wiped his eyes, tears falling.
“An orphan…”
“We’re all orphans,” Li Ao chimed in. “Everyone at this table is.”
With a slap, Li Ao received two slaps on either side, grimacing and almost crawling under the table.
“Liujiang, you must treat him well.” Drunk, Zang Yan became warm and emotional, wiping his tears and raising a cup to Yu Huishui. “It was my fault earlier, I’ll punish myself!”
After a few drinks, Zang Yan still felt guilty, standing up shakily and pulling out a stack of silver notes from his pocket.
“Here.” Zang Yan, dizzy and unable to count, simply handed over the whole stack. “Take it! Buy whatever you like and let Liujiang take you!”
“This, this won’t do.” The sudden change left Yu Huishui flattered, quickly declining. “Liujiang treats me very well, it’s already enough!”
“Don’t be polite, take it.”
Zang Huan didn’t waste words, snatching the silver notes from Zang Yan’s hand and stuffing them into Zang Liujiang’s hand. “Liujiang, keep it for him.”
“Understood!” Zang Liujiang grinned, taking the notes and tucking them into Yu Huishui’s pocket.
They chatted about this and that, and Zang Yan was thoroughly drunk, slurring his words and wanting to become sworn brothers with Yu Huishui, saying it was the only way to ease his guilt.
Zang Liujiang and Li Ao dragged Zang Yan to the side room, and by the time they returned and cleaned up, it was completely dark.
“Don’t leave, stay the night at my place.” Zang Huan nodded towards another side room. “That room has a stove, you won’t freeze.”
Traveling at night was indeed dangerous, so Zang Liujiang agreed, taking Yu Huishui to the next room to make the bed. As they were about to leave, Zang Huan called Zang Liujiang back for a whisper:
“I know you’re newlyweds, but don’t make a fuss tonight. Li Ao’s room is close, and it’s not good for a child to hear.”
Zang Liujiang raised an eyebrow, not responding, and led Yu Huishui away.
Still a child, at this age, Zang Liujiang was already the leader. The kid should get some new wedding shocks.
That night, Li Ao heard rustling sounds from the next room.
“What are you up to again? This is your brother’s house… Ah…”
“Just making noise for them to hear, that’s how it should be.” The last few words, Zang Liujiang mischievously bit lightly.
Then, the old wooden bed next door creaked, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, with occasional muffled words from two people, low and unclear.
Oh heavens, can’t they hold back?
Li Ao’s face twisted, turning over and covering his head with the blanket, but even so, he could hear the bed creaking.
Zang Liujiang was grinning, having a great time. He and Li Ao had been friends since childhood, and now he could embarrass this little rascal.
Suddenly, there was a crisp sound from the bed leg, and Yu Huishui, lying on the bed, suddenly fell back, rolling off the bed with the blanket, making a loud noise.
The whole room fell eerily silent, followed by Li Ao’s laughter.
Outside, a figure stood up from the woodpile, covered in snow, his steps unsteady, clearly having squatted for a long time.
He glanced back at the darkened Zang Huan’s house and ran towards the west.
The big black horse tied in the stable took it all in, restlessly tossing its head and snorting.