The morning sunlight streamed through the wooden lattice windows covered with torn paper, casting a warm glow over the earthen bed in the Lin family’s main room.
The room was cozy and warm.
Yesterday, Lin Daniu and his third brother, Lin Sanniu, had not only kept the heated brick bed blazing hot, but had also stayed up late sealing all the cracks in the walls with mud to keep the cold wind out.
In the outer kitchen, the enticing aroma of meat was bubbling away.
Lu Yuan still had forty copper coins left from the money he had earned selling fish. He hadn’t kept a single coin for himself and had handed all of it to his mother-in-law, Wang.
In her entire life, Wang had never seen a son-in-law hand over all his money to his mother-in-law. She was so touched that she kept wiping away her tears.
Early that morning, she sent Erniu to the meat stall in town to buy a large section of cheap but highly nourishing pork marrow bones.
She combined them with the Chinese cabbage stored in the Lin family’s small cellar and some brown rice, simmering everything into a large pot of cabbage and bone broth.
Today was the third day since the twins were born.
According to ancient custom, this was called the “Third-Day Bath,” an important ceremony meant to wash away the baby’s “fetal toxins” and pray for the children to live long and healthy lives.
Although the Lin family was desperately poor, Wang absolutely refused to let her two precious grandchildren be treated poorly.
She took out the family’s last two eggs and dug up several pieces of dried mugwort from a corner of the courtyard.
When boiling water was poured over the mugwort, the entire room was filled with its pleasant fragrance.
“Mother, let me wash them.”
Lu Yuan rolled up the sleeves of his worn-out long robe, tested the temperature of the water in the wooden basin, and without hesitation took the cloth towel from Second Sister-in-law Li.
“How can we let you do that?” Wang was startled and hurriedly tried to stop him.
“Since ancient times, how could a grown man bathe a newborn baby? What if you become contaminated by the impurity?”
Lu Yuan simply smiled and didn’t care in the slightest.
“Mother, I’m their father. What impurity could possibly be greater than that of one’s own flesh and blood?”
“Besides, these hands of mine are used to holding a writing brush. I’m sure I’ll wash them more carefully than Second Brother and the others.”
At these words, Second Sister-in-law Li, who had initially been somewhat hesitant, immediately covered her mouth and laughed.
Lin Qingyue was weakly leaning against the worn quilt at the head of the heated bed, a blue floral headscarf wrapped around her head to protect her from the cold.
She watched the tall, handsome man beside the bed clumsily but extremely carefully support their son’s tiny head.
“Husband, be gentle. Don’t accidentally hurt his arm,” Lin Qingyue couldn’t help reminding him softly.
“Nonsense. My hands are gentler than if I were handling tofu.”
Lu Yuan didn’t even look up. He was completely focused on using warm water to clean the reddish folds of the tiny baby’s skin.
Back in the modern era, he had never even broken a test tube. Yet now, while handling his own flesh and blood, his palms were actually covered in sweat.
After washing the older brother, he changed the water and washed the little sister.
The two little ones didn’t cry when the warm water touched them. Instead, they seemed comfortable, blowing tiny bubbles and humming softly with their eyes closed.
Lu Yuan’s heart practically melted.
That strange feeling of being connected by blood made him finally feel rooted in this unfamiliar era.
After the bath, Wang took the two boiled eggs and gently rolled them over the children’s foreheads and cheeks.
As she did so, she murmured, “Roll away the disasters, roll away the misfortune, no illness, no calamity, live to be a hundred!”
After the entire Third-Day Bath ceremony was completed, the whole family gathered around the warm brick bed.
His father-in-law, Lin Dashan, rubbed his rough hands together and looked eagerly at Lu Yuan.
“Son-in-law, you’re one of the few scholars around these ten villages. The names of these two little treasures should be decided by you.”
Everyone’s eyes immediately turned toward Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan looked at the two exquisitely delicate little faces wrapped in their swaddling clothes, and a solemn expression flashed through his deep eyes.
He didn’t search through obscure ancient books, nor did he try to use any elaborate or flowery words.
“After surviving a great disaster, there will surely be blessings.”
Lu Yuan stretched out a finger and gently touched his son’s cheek.
His voice was deep and warm.
“This boy was born prematurely and almost didn’t survive. I don’t ask that he become rich or powerful in the future. I only hope that his vitality will be as tenacious as wild grass, growing endlessly and never giving up.”
“Let the boy be called ‘Changsheng.’ Lu Changsheng.”
Lin Dashan slapped his thigh excitedly.
“Changsheng! Good! That’s a strong name. Even the King of Hell won’t be able to take him away!”
Lu Yuan then looked at his slightly smaller daughter.
His gaze immediately softened, as gentle as spring water.
“As for this little girl, she doesn’t need to compete or struggle out in the world.”
“Her mother and I only wish for her to live a peaceful and safe life, year after year, without ever suffering from displacement or hardship.”
“Let the girl be called ‘An’an.’ Lu An’an.”
Changsheng. An’an.
The two names were simple and down-to-earth, filled with a father’s deepest and most sincere hopes for his children.
Leaning against the heated bed, Lin Qingyue’s lips curved into a happy smile.
Her husband truly treasured the three of them in the deepest part of his heart.
“Changsheng, An’an! Oh, my precious grandchildren! Those are such lovely names!” Wang was so happy that she couldn’t stop smiling.
“Come, come! Let’s eat! Today, our Lin family has two reasons to celebrate!”
Lin Daniu walked in carrying a large chipped porcelain basin.
Inside, the thick, milky-white bone broth was bubbling, while the golden cabbage soaked in rich oil released an incredibly tempting aroma.
There were no outsiders in the family, so no one cared about the rules of not talking while eating or sleeping.
Everyone chatted back and forth as they ate the steaming bone broth, enjoying what was perhaps the most peaceful and heartwarming meal they had ever had in their lives.
……
Meanwhile.
Twenty li away, in Lu Family Village, it was practically a living hell.
“Ow… It hurts so much… Mother! Is my leg broken?”
Inside the Lu family’s main room, Lu Qiang lay on the bed like a lump of mud, screaming in agony.
Yesterday, he had been pinned to the ground and beaten mercilessly by Lin Dashan and his sons at the Lin family home. One of his ribs was broken, the bridge of his nose had been knocked crooked, and his entire face was swollen like a purple steamed bun.
Zhao stood beside the bed, her heart aching as she watched her precious son suffer like this.
Yesterday, she had swallowed her pride and gone to the village entrance to find a barefoot doctor. Just setting his bones and buying several packets of cheap bruising medicine had cost her a full hundred copper coins!
That was her hard-earned funeral money!
“My son, just endure it. The doctor said you’ll be able to get out of bed after ten days or half a month…” Zhao wiped away her tears as she comforted him.
Just then, the gate of the Lu family’s courtyard was kicked open with a loud bang!
“Lu Dagui! Old Madam Zhao! Get your asses out here!”
An extremely arrogant roar exploded across the courtyard.
Zhao was startled and hurriedly lifted the curtain and rushed outside.
There stood four burly men with fierce expressions, each holding a wooden club as thick as a wrist.
The two local ruffians who had accompanied Lu Qiang to the Lin family yesterday were hiding behind the four men, their faces swollen and bruised.
Those two men were local thugs, and their families were just as unreasonable.
They had gone with Lu Qiang yesterday to extort money but had failed and instead gotten beaten badly. Naturally, they wanted to vent their anger on the Lu family!
“You… What do you want?”
Lu Dagui emerged from the woodshed holding a chopping knife, putting on a brave face despite his obvious fear.
“What do we want? Money!”
The leader spat a mouthful of saliva onto the ground and smashed the Lu family’s broken water jar with his club.
With a loud crash, the water jar shattered into pieces, and icy water spread across the ground.
“My brother was beaten because he went with your son to collect money. Now he can’t even get out of bed!”
The burly man pointed threateningly at Lu Dagui’s nose.
“Pay up! One tael of silver for medical expenses! If you can’t produce the money today, I’ll smash this shack of yours and break one of your legs!”
One tael of silver?!
That was a full thousand copper coins!
When Zhao heard that amount, she shrieked like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
“One tael of silver?! Why don’t you just rob us! We don’t have any! No money! If you want something, take my life!”
Zhao simply threw herself onto the snowy ground and began rolling around, making a scene.
“There is no justice! They’re trying to kill us! Everyone, come and look! These bandits are trying to rob us!”
In the countryside of ancient times, there was never any shortage of people eager to watch a spectacle.
Before long, the area outside the Lu family’s courtyard was surrounded by villagers pointing and whispering.
“Tsk, tsk. The Lu family really has terrible luck. They just drove their eldest son out, and now their younger son has gotten into trouble with these troublemakers.”
“Serves them right! Who told them to have no conscience?”
Hearing the villagers’ comments outside the wall, Lu Dagui, who valued his reputation more than his life, turned pale and then red.
He, Lu Dagui, had at least managed to raise a family that produced a scholar with the status of a Tongsheng. When had he ever suffered such humiliation at the hands of street thugs?
“Enough! Stop screaming! Aren’t you ashamed enough already?”
Lu Dagui suddenly roared, his eyes bloodshot.
He rushed inside, rummaged through everything, and found the broken clay jar Zhao had hidden underneath the bed.
“Husband! You can’t touch that! That’s the money we’ve saved for Qiang’er to travel to the county for next year’s examination!”
Zhao crawled over desperately, trying to snatch it away.
“Get out of the way! If we don’t give them money today, they’ll really tear our house apart!”
Lu Dagui kicked Zhao aside, reached into the clay jar, and pulled out a piece of silver no bigger than a fingernail, along with several hundred copper coins. His hand trembled with pain at having to part with it.
Grinding his back teeth, he threw the money into the burly man’s arms.
“Get out! Take the money and get out of my Lu family!”
After receiving the money and weighing it in their hands, the men finally gave satisfied sneers and swaggered away.
The courtyard fell into deathly silence.
Only the howling of the cold wind passing through the broken water jar could be heard.
Zhao slumped down in the snow amid the wreckage. Looking at the empty money jar, she seemed completely devastated.
Lu Xiaocui also hid inside the house, stomping her feet angrily and repeatedly complaining that the family didn’t even have enough money to buy her a hair tie.
“Mother… It hurts… I want revenge…”
Lu Qiang’s weak wail came from inside the room once again.
Zhao’s entire body trembled.
She remembered the gossip circulating around the village yesterday.
People said that Lu Yuan hadn’t frozen to death. Instead, he was eating well and living comfortably at the Lin family home!
Why?!
Why could that sickly weakling, that bastard she had kept under her thumb for more than a decade, still have the audacity to have someone break her precious son’s bones?!
A deeply venomous red gradually appeared in Zhao’s eyes.
She suddenly slapped her thigh, grinding her back teeth together in fury.
“No! I absolutely won’t swallow this humiliation, even if it costs me my life!”
She didn’t dare go to the Lin family and confront them directly anymore.
Because from what her son had told her, those Lin family farmers truly fought as if they didn’t care whether they lived or died.
But if she couldn’t beat them openly, she didn’t believe that, as an elder, she couldn’t find a way to destroy that bookish scholar!