“Do you even make sense? I think your sister, Ying, is just a troublemaker, coming here to curse our Ruo’er, and now she’s hurt? That’s her own karma!” Li Shantao shouted, pointing at Shen Fugui’s nose.
“Bah! My sister was crying her eyes out, saying, line by line, that Shen Ruo bullied her. Today I’m just standing up for her! And you dare try to stop me?!”
“No matter what, I’m your elder! Is this how you treat your seniors?!” Li Shantao looked at the child she had watched grow up, disappointment thick in her gaze.
“I’m only keeping this small because you’re an elder. As long as he gets some silver to cover her treatment, I won’t press the matter further,” Shen Fugui said, pretending to be magnanimous.
The thugs around him, however, raised their sticks, clearly ready to fight if the money wasn’t paid.
Li Shantao’s eyes reddened with anger. “Two taels of silver?! You’re trying to kill us! Shen Ziying isn’t that delicate, some ointment will heal her just fine!”
Shen Ruo stepped forward, placing Li Shantao safely behind him, and sneered: “Fine. Let’s go to town and bring Physician Liu to check Shen Ziying’s injuries. If she really is hurt all over, then I, Shen Ruo, will pay you two taels of silver.”
“Ruo’er… we don’t have…” Liu Shan tugged at Shen Ruo’s sleeve, trying to stop him.
Shen Ruo lowered his voice so only the two of them could hear: “Don’t worry, Sister-in-law.”
“Since Ruo Ge’er said it himself, Shen Fugui, stop trying to scare people. Step back. The important thing is to go to town and get someone to treat Ying’s injuries,” Aunt Zhou, who had been watching, said fairly.
“Yeah, needing two taels of silver for treatment—Ying isn’t already so badly hurt she can’t get up, is she?”
Shen Fugui: “You’ll pay for the physician too!”
“Fine.” Shen Ruo agreed immediately, a cold smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Calmly, he added, “But if the physician examines her and proves she fell on her own, and I didn’t hit her, your family must pay me four taels of silver!”
“Why?!” Shen Fugui’s thick eyebrows shot up.
“She had a mock funeral for someone who isn’t even dead. If such an unlucky thing actually comes true, shouldn’t you compensate me with some silver to ward off the disaster?”
“I just gave birth and am still weak. Standing here in the wind, negotiating with you and getting chilled like this, if I fall ill later, won’t you be paying for my treatment?”
“And you keep insisting that I bullied Shen Ziying. I hadn’t planned to pursue this with your family, but since it’s come to this, let’s go all the way and see who’s lying.” Shen Ruo lowered his head slightly, fine strands of hair brushing his eyes, making him look especially fragile under the moonlight.
The aunts around them felt sympathy for the weaker party. Shen Ziying hadn’t even been seen badly hurt yet, and all Shen Fugui did was shout. But Shen Ruo had just given birth that very day and was already being targeted, mocked with a fake funeral and confronted by these troublemakers.
Yet even so, he promised that if Shen Ziying was seriously injured, he would pay for her treatment.
How could someone like that be a bad person?
All the aunts’ hearts leaned toward Shen Ruo.
Shen Fugui’s eyes darted, and he stiffened his neck: “Fine, we’ll go! My sister can’t be bullied for nothing!”
He gave a subtle signal to his nearby brother, who quietly tried to leave, only to be grabbed by the shoulder by Shen Feng and slammed hard onto the ground.
“Going somewhere? Don’t tell me you’re feeling guilty and running off to snitch?” Shen Feng said, cutting right to the point. Immediately, the aunts around them started whispering among themselves.
“Ridiculous! Stop spouting nonsense. I told Ertiao to go to town to fetch a physician!” Shen Fugui snapped.
“Aunt Zhou, could you have your brother Lang go to town to fetch Physician Liu? I’ll cover the carriage fare,” Shen Ruo said. Lang was considered one of the more upright young men in the village; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been the one to carry the nearly-dead Shen Ruo back from the field.
Besides, Zhou Lang was a good friend of Shen Feng, so it was perfectly fitting for him to go.
“Then I’ll have to pick someone to go with him!” Shen Fugui said.
“Fine,” Shen Ruo replied calmly.
Soon, Zhou Lang arrived with a yoked ox cart. Shen Feng whispered a few words to him, and Shen Fugui pretended to instruct his own little followers.
“Let’s go.” The two parties set off together.
With the ox cart, the round trip to town would take about half an hour. At this point, the group was heading toward Shen Hong’s house.
Some villagers also went to fetch the village head. Whenever disputes arose, it was customary to have the village head and a few senior clan elders witness the matter.
By now, almost everyone in Shenjia Village had heard about today’s incident, and the group marching toward Shen Hong’s house grew larger and larger.
Liu Shan had to take care of Ergou, and there was still Xiao Yuntun at home to look after, so Li Shantao could only stay behind. The only ones who came along were the two brothers, Shen Feng and Shen Ruo.
“Be careful, Ruo,” Shen Feng said, shielding Shen Ruo from being jostled by the crowd.
Soon, they arrived at Shen Hong’s house. His home was a five-room brick-and-tile house. The oil lamps inside cast an orange glow through the papered windows, and the air was thick with the aroma of cooking meat and steaming rice.
“Ah, why does everyone come to my house for dinner at this hour? Go away, go away! You can’t just mooch off my food!” Liu Fenfang, Shen Hong’s wife, came out from the kitchen when she heard the noise. She spotted the dark crowd immediately and shouted.
In the village, houses were close together, and any good-smelling food would drift to the neighbors, so people always closed their doors while eating. Nobody would foolishly come over while others were having a meal, guests were either accommodated or ignored, but never inconvenienced.
However, Liu Fenfang’s words instantly offended the crowd.
“Shen Hong’s family, who’s craving your food? We’re here to see your daughter and check how badly she’s hurt, she needs two taels of silver for medical expenses!” one outspoken aunt immediately retorted.
“See my daughter?!” Liu Fenfang froze for a moment, surprised.
“Mother! My sister’s been beaten by Shen Ruo and is covered in injuries! I came to demand justice for her!” Shen Fugui stepped out from the crowd.
“You can’t just say that. The physician hasn’t examined her yet, how do we know if what you’re saying is true?” Shen Feng countered.
“Examine her injuries? That would mean exposing my daughter completely! No way!” Liu Fenfang reacted strongly.
“The village head and the clan elders have arrived!” someone shouted.
Shen Ruo turned his head to look not far away, and at just one glance, he froze instinctively.
In the misty moonlight, a few figures emerged slowly from the dark night, gradually taking shape. But Shen Ruo could only focus on one of them. That person stood perfectly straight, wearing a square scarf on his head and a long scholar’s robe, like [1]Ning Caichen (宁采臣) is a fictional scholar from the classic Chinese supernatural tale Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (聊斋志异) by Pu Songling. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1745381_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1745381_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });Ning Caichen from a drama. He walked slowly to stand before the crowd.
Yet he didn’t glance sideways once, never pausing his gaze on Shen Ruo for even a second.
That attitude, treating him as if he were invisible, felt so familiar…
Case solved. This was the male lead, Gu Yun, he hadn’t run away!
Shen Ruo looked away, his mind calm as still water.
Still, from a modern perspective, Gu Yun really was quite handsome, far more so than most male leads in TV dramas.
It made sense, though. Otherwise, the original self wouldn’t have thrown himself at him so recklessly.
Shen Feng looked at Shen Ruo nervously but relaxed when he saw no strange expression on his brother’s face.
“Why make the village head and the elders come for this? Oh, Fugui, go serve tea and water!” Liu Fenfang instantly changed her expression and called out with a smile.
In the village, the village head and the elders held considerable authority; anyone living there had to curry favor with them, or at least avoid making things awkward.
“Enough of the tea and water, forget that. Shen Hong’s family, have your daughter come out!”
Shen Ziying had originally been trying to sleep, but the ruckus outside made it impossible to close her eyes. Hearing the conversation outside, she cursed the greedy Shen Fugui in her heart. What a useless troublemaker!
Hearing the village head’s words, she knew she couldn’t hide any longer. She pinched herself several times, aggravating the places she had injured earlier, then, like a fragile willow swaying in the wind, pushed the door open and walked out.
She even used a peach-pink handkerchief to cover half her face.
“Ziying is out, and she can still walk. Doesn’t look like she’s seriously hurt at all,” an observant auntie remarked immediately.
As soon as Shen Ziying came out, she walked toward the village head, her eyes red and looking pitiable. Hearing the auntie’s comment, she accidentally twisted her foot and was about to fall toward Gu Yun, who was standing beside the village head.
“Ah!”
Shen Ruo recalled the story in the book, apparently, the male and female leads always “[2]“Fell in love upon a fall” means two characters develop romantic feelings because of an accidental physical stumble or fall, usually when one falls into the other’s arms. It describes a common … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1745381_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1745381_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });fell in love upon a fall.”
So now, Shen Ziying should fall into Gu Yun’s arms, the momentum causing them to spin, and finally land gracefully.
The male lead would cushion the female lead with his body, their lips meeting in a kiss…
“Brother Gu, why didn’t you catch me?” Shen Ziying’s coquettish voice whimpered. She sat on the ground with sharp pain, tears sliding down the corners of her eyes. The handkerchief covering half her face had dropped into the mud, revealing the bruised half of her face.
Gu Yun stepped back half a pace, his clear, crisp voice saying, “Men and women do not touch like that.”
In Shen Ruo’s mind, the words “[3]“The Ning Caichen of the mortal world” refers to a character in the real, human world who embodies the traits of Ning Caichen—a figure often portrayed as gentle, timid, bookish, and overly … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1745381_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1745381_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });The Ning Caichen of the mortal world” immediately appeared.
But… no kiss?
Shen Ruo was actually kind of looking forward to seeing a live “thud into the ground” moment.
“Those bruises look like she fell and hit the ground, otherwise, how could there be such large patches?” one of the village elders remarked.
“I just gave birth today, where would I have the strength to hit her? Although we didn’t get along growing up, I wouldn’t harm her,” Shen Ruo lowered his eyes and stepped forward. “But she cursed me to death, even prepared a coffin for me, and went as far as to slander me, saying I bullied her…”
Shen Ruo didn’t continue; the surrounding aunties had already started speaking up for him, which was far better than him listing everything point by point.
“Shen Ruo! I fainted because you came at me with a knife! And you still say you wouldn’t harm me?!” the rival’s eyes blazed red with anger, Shen Ziying cried, still glancing at Gu Yun.
“I was just trying to scare you. Do you really think I’d actually kill you?” Shen Ruo replied calmly.
“You worthless thing, what nonsense are you spouting? My Ziying got a fever from being so scared! What if it had harmed her?!” Liu Fenfang shouted immediately.
“You damn woman, what are you saying?!” Shen Feng couldn’t stand anyone insulting his brother and grabbed some firewood nearby.
“Enough noise! Everyone shut up!” the village head interjected, and everyone fell silent.
“You agreed that if Shen Ziying were truly beaten all over and injured, Shen Ruo would compensate two taels of silver for her medical expenses, right?”
Shen Fugui straightened his neck and said, “Yes! Even if he didn’t hit her, it was his scaring her that caused it. Didn’t you see my sister couldn’t even stand properly?”
The village head continued, “If Shen Ziying is not seriously injured, and after the physician examines her it’s proven that she fell on her own and wasn’t beaten by Shen Ruo, your family must compensate Shen Ruo four taels of silver, right?”
“I never made any such agreement with him!” Shen Ziying immediately exclaimed.
“So many people heard this, are you going to break your word?” Shen Ruo said coldly, ignoring Shen Ziying’s protest and staring straight at Shen Fugui.
Shen Fugui was now completely confused. Looking at Shen Ziying blankly, he said, “Sister, weren’t you in so much pain that you couldn’t even get up?”
Although Shen Fugui suspected that his sister’s injuries might not be as severe as she claimed, if she really couldn’t get out of bed, he wouldn’t have thought of going to Shen Ruo’s house to extort medical expenses.
Shen Ziying was furious! During the busy harvest, everyone had to help, and she had only exaggerated a bit to avoid work and rest her body, but now this man had said it in front of so many people!
“I don’t think we need to see the physician. Her voice is strong and clear; she doesn’t sound seriously injured,” Gu Yun said, straightening the sleeve that Shen Ziying had messed up.
“Who said that! Why hasn’t the physician arrived yet? I want to see the physician!” Shen Ziying shouted angrily.
“Originally, she looked so proper and composed, how come now she’s jumping around like her mother?”
“Ah, that’s all pretend. Earlier, Ziying still—”
Hearing the whispers around her, Shen Ziying’s eyes turned red with anger, and she almost couldn’t hold back from cursing loudly.
At that moment, brother Lang returned with a bullock cart carrying two people, and the physician carefully jumped off, carrying his medicine box and walked forward.
“Who’s sick and about to die? Take me to see them quickly!”
Author’s Note:
Ancient-style rumor mill: She’s injured. She’s covered in bruises. She can’t even get up. She’s nearly dead.
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