In the shabby kitchen of the Lin family in Qingshui Village, a fragrance that normally only appeared during the New Year was now filling the air.
The large five- or six-pound carp was expertly gutted and cleaned by Mother-in-law Wang.
There were no scallions, ginger, or garlic. She only cut a few pieces of shriveled radish and threw them into the chipped iron pot together with the fish bones.
They did not even dare to add a single drop of oil, yet the wild carp’s natural fat was enough to simmer into a pot of thick, milky-white fish soup.
The aroma drifted through the cracks in the door and even made the neighbor’s yellow dog scratch desperately at the wall.
“Grrrrr…”
At the stove, Second Sister-in-law Li was adding firewood when her stomach betrayed her with a long, loud rumble.
She hurriedly covered her stomach and lowered her head guiltily.
Looking at the tender white fish meat bubbling in the pot, Li could not help swallowing a large mouthful of saliva.
Just last night, she had complained behind the little sister-in-law’s back, resenting them for returning to the family to eat without contributing anything and worrying that they would drag down the child in her belly.
Yet this morning, that sickly brother-in-law had actually brought back three enormous fish from an ice hole!
Li was so ashamed that she wished she could crawl into a crack in the ground. No matter how badly she craved the fish, she felt she had no face to eat such precious food.
“Second daughter-in-law, the fire is about right. Take the wood out.”
Wang skimmed the foam from the surface of the soup with a large iron ladle and carefully filled a large bowl with the richest part of the broth.
Then she used chopsticks to pick out a large, tender piece of meat from the fish belly and placed it in the bowl.
“Mother, I’ll take it to Qingyue.”
Lu Yuan, who had been waiting by the kitchen door, immediately reached out and took the steaming coarse porcelain bowl.
Wang paused for a moment before smiling and nodding.
“Go ahead. Qingyue is awake and has been looking for you.”
Inside the main room, on the earthen kang, Lin Qingyue had already awakened. She was wearing the clean coarse-cloth clothes her mother had mended for her.
Hearing footsteps, she raised her head and happened to meet Lu Yuan’s smiling eyes.
“Husband!”
A trace of panic flashed through Lin Qingyue’s eyes, and she instinctively tried to lift the quilt and get out of bed.
Back at the Lu family home, whenever there was anything good to eat, it always went to the parents-in-law and younger brother first.
As a daughter-in-law, she was not even allowed a proper place at the table and could only eat whatever was left over.
Let alone having her husband bring meat to serve her. If her husband had done such a thing back then, his parents would have scolded him for a long time.
“Don’t move.”
Lu Yuan quickly walked over, pressed her shoulder with his free hand, and tucked her back under the worn quilt.
He sat down beside the kang but did not immediately hand her the bowl.
Instead, he picked up the chopsticks, lowered his head, and patiently searched through the thick soup.
Carp had many bones, especially the tiny Y-shaped soft bones.
Lu Yuan looked as focused as if he were conducting the most precise scientific experiment. He carefully picked every fine bone out of the fish meat.
“Husband…”
Lin Qingyue looked at his focused profile, and her nose suddenly stung.
“Don’t worry about me. You should eat first. You were freezing in the snow for so long. You need this fish soup to restore your strength.”
After removing the last bone, Lu Yuan finally scooped up a spoonful of milky-white soup. He blew gently on it to cool it and brought it directly to Lin Qingyue’s lips.
“I’m not hungry.” Lu Yuan looked at her gently. “Open your mouth.”
Lin Qingyue froze.
The rich, savory aroma of the fish filled her nose, but she felt that the look in her husband’s eyes was even warmer than the hot soup.
Her eyes reddened. She slightly parted her cracked lips and swallowed the spoonful of soup.
It was so delicious.
So delicious that tears began falling from her eyes.
“Why are you crying? Did the soup burn you?”
Lu Yuan panicked. He quickly put down the bowl and wiped away her tears with his rough thumb.
“No…”
Lin Qingyue shook her head violently and grabbed Lu Yuan’s wrist, her voice choked with emotion.
“Husband, I just feel… I feel as though I’m dreaming.”
“Back at the Lu family, even when I was pregnant and fainted while working in the fields, your parents would only scold me for pretending to be unconscious.”
“I thought I would have to endure that kind of life for the rest of my life.”
Lin Qingyue stared at Lu Yuan, her eyes filled with deep affection and dependence.
“But ever since you took me out of that house last night, I feel as though I’ve finally started living like a real person.”
Hearing his wife’s humble yet sincere confession, Lu Yuan’s heart shook violently.
He wrapped her cold little hand tightly in his palm, his voice solemn as though he were making a vow.
“Qingyue, I was weak and useless before. But from now on, you aren’t dreaming.”
“As long as I, Lu Yuan, have even one bowl of dry rice to eat, I will never let you or our child drink watery porridge. Open your mouth. Eat this piece of fish belly.”
Outside the door, Lin Sanniu was just about to call them to eat when he happened to see the entire scene through the half-open door.
The young boy had originally been full of resentment toward Lu Yuan, thinking of him as a burden who had dragged his sister down.
He sniffed and muttered quietly to Lin Daniu behind him, “Big Brother, at least this sour-faced scholar has some conscience. He hasn’t eaten our family’s food for nothing. He knows to take care of my sister first.”
Lin Daniu smiled honestly and patted his younger brother on the back of the head.
“After going through this ordeal, your brother-in-law really has become sensible. Come on, let’s go to the kitchen and get ready to eat.”
Not long afterward, Lu Yuan finished feeding his wife and carried the empty bowl into the kitchen.
On the broken square table, propped up with bricks where one leg was missing, sat a large basin of steaming braised carp.
Lin Dashan, Wang Shi, and the three Lin brothers were already gathered around the table.
Only Second Sister-in-law Li sat far away on a bench by the doorway, holding a coarse porcelain bowl. She kept her head lowered, staring at her toes and refusing to come closer to the table.
“Second daughter-in-law, come over and eat. Why are you hiding over there?” Wang Shi called.
Li lowered her head even further and spoke in a voice barely louder than a mosquito.
“Mother, I… I’m not hungry. I’ll just drink some porridge. Save the fish for my brother-in-law and my husband.”
How could she not be hungry?
The craving in her stomach was practically rebelling.
But she felt guilty.
She had only complained about them last night. How could she have the face to eat the fish they had caught today?
Lin Erniu did not understand the complicated thoughts in his wife’s heart.
“You woman, don’t you usually love fish? Hurry and come over!”
Just as the atmosphere was becoming awkward, Lu Yuan strode over.
He ignored Li’s hesitation and walked directly to the table, picking up the chopsticks.
Everyone fell silent, watching every move of the scholar.
Lu Yuan’s eyes were clear and calm. His chopsticks accurately reached into the large iron basin and picked out the two remaining fattest pieces of fish belly, the ones with the fewest fine bones.
He turned around and respectfully placed the two pieces of meat into the bowls of his father- and mother-in-law.
“Father, Mother. If you two had not shown mercy and taken Qingyue and me in, the two of us would already be dead.”
“You should have the first bite. I, your son-in-law, have fallen into hardship. Thank you both for not looking down on us.”
As Lu Yuan spoke, he stepped back and gave them a deep bow.
Lin Dashan was a simple farmer. He could not possibly accept such a grand gesture from a scholar and immediately became flustered, waving his hands repeatedly.
“No, no, no! You have academic honors and are a scholar. You use your brain. You should eat more!”
“Father, you’re joking. You and my brothers do hard physical labor in the fields. You are the ones who need to nourish your bodies.”
Then Lu Yuan picked up the ladle and personally filled large bowls of thick soup and fish meat for Eldest Brother Lin Daniu and Third Brother Lin Sanniu.
“Big Brother, Third Brother, you both went to the river with me today and froze out there. Drink this while it’s hot and warm yourselves.”
The two Lin brothers accepted their bowls with surprise, and their looks toward Lu Yuan became even warmer.
After distributing the food, there was still a fairly large piece of fish and a ladleful of soup left in the basin.
Lu Yuan picked up the bowl.
He did not keep it for himself.
Instead, he turned around and walked directly toward Second Sister-in-law Li, who was sitting by the door.
Li stared at the steaming bowl of fish and soup being offered to her.
“Brother-in-law, I really can’t eat, I…”
“Second Sister-in-law.”
Lu Yuan interrupted her. The smile on his face faded slightly, replaced by a solemn expression that inspired trust.
“Last night, when I got up to use the latrine, I happened to hear a few words between you and Second Brother while passing the kitchen.”
The moment he said this, the warm atmosphere in the room instantly became so quiet that a pin could have been heard dropping.
Lin Erniu’s expression changed dramatically. He immediately stood up and shielded his wife like a protective father protecting his young.
“Brother-in-law! Don’t blame her! Your second sister-in-law didn’t mean any harm. She…”
“Second Brother, you’ve misunderstood. Why would I blame her?”
Lu Yuan interrupted him again.
He stepped forward and firmly placed the bowl of fish soup into Li’s trembling hands.
“Second Sister-in-law has been married into the Lin family for two years, working tirelessly day and night. Now that she has finally conceived a child of the Lin family, this is precisely the time when everyone should cherish and protect her.”
“A mother becomes strong for her child. Second Sister-in-law was worried about making a living and afraid that the family would run out of food and her unborn child would starve. What is wrong with that?”
Lu Yuan let out a long sigh, his voice filled with self-reproach.
“The one at fault is me, Lu Yuan. As a grown man, not only did I fail to protect my wife and child, I even shamelessly came here seeking refuge, making the entire family worry and causing Second Sister-in-law to live in fear.”
With that, Lu Yuan took a step back and respectfully cupped his hands toward Li.
“Second Sister-in-law’s complaints were only human nature, and even more so the instinct of a mother.”
“But today, I, Lu Yuan, swear here that as long as I am alive, I will never eat a single meal from the Lin family for nothing!”
“I will never let Qingyue go hungry, and I will never let Second Sister-in-law or the child in her belly suffer any hardship!”
Silence.
Li held the heavy bowl of fish soup, completely stunned.
She had thought that Lu Yuan had deliberately exposed what she had said in order to humiliate her and make her parents-in-law punish her for being narrow-minded.
But she never expected that not only would he not blame her, he would understand her grievances and selfishness so completely.
He had even given her such enormous dignity in front of everyone.
A powerful surge of emotion rushed to her head.
“Slap!”
Li suddenly put down the bowl and slapped herself hard across the face.
“Ouch! What are you doing?”
Lin Erniu hurriedly grabbed her hand.
But Li shook him off, tears streaming down her face.
She stared at Lu Yuan, sobbing so hard that her shoulders trembled.
“Brother-in-law! Last night, I was blinded by greed and said such heartless, horrible things!”
“You didn’t blame me, and you even kept thinking about the child in my belly… I, Li Chunhua, am saying this today!”
Li roughly wiped away her tears, and a fierce loyalty unique to a poor village woman burst from her eyes.
“If anyone dares say a bad word about you or touches you or my little sister even once!”
“Even if I have to risk my life, I’ll chop them up with a kitchen knife and protect the two of you!”
Her words were forceful and completely sincere.
The ice around people’s hearts melted completely in that moment because of Lu Yuan’s few words and one bowl of fish soup.
Father-in-law Lin Dashan looked at his harmonious children and secretly wiped the corner of his eye, nodding with satisfaction.
Mother-in-law Wang Shi smiled through her tears and quickly tried to lighten the mood.
“Why are you crying over nothing? Hurry and eat! The fish soup will get cold!”
The family finally gathered around the table.
This fish soup, made without salt or oil, somehow tasted more satisfying than any feast they had ever shared.
After the meal, Lu Yuan put down his bowl and chopsticks and turned his attention to the two large carp remaining in the courtyard.
He had already made up his mind.
“Big Brother, these two large carp are rare wild fish. It would be a waste to keep them at home and eat them.”
Lu Yuan looked at Lin Daniu, a shrewd light flashing in his eyes.
“Later, let’s go to Yuanhe Town and sell these two fish for a good price.”
“We can exchange the money for fine white flour to prepare for Qingyue’s delivery. Second Sister-in-law is pregnant too. We should buy some large bones so she can make soup and nourish her body.”
As soon as they heard they could sell the fish for money, everyone in the Lin family became excited.
But Lin Erniu frowned.
As someone who often went to town, a trace of worry appeared on his face.
“Brother-in-law, selling them for money is a good idea. But in weather like this, I heard the restaurants in town are offering extremely low prices for fish.”
“And the market in Yuanhe Town is full of all kinds of people, including local thugs who collect protection fees. We’re outsiders from another village, dressed in rags, carrying such valuable fish to sell. What if we run into those bullies…”
Lin Erniu did not finish his sentence, but his meaning was obvious.
For poor people carrying valuable goods in this brutal ancient world, it was no different from a child walking through a busy marketplace carrying a gold brick.
Could the family really sell the fish without getting into trouble?