Zhao Feng didn’t continue speaking. She left the room and went to the kitchen to see if there was anything she could help with, looking for some work to do.
She wasn’t in a hurry. Her mother valued and trusted her eldest brother the most. Destroying her eldest brother’s future would be like extinguishing the hope of the entire family—her mother would fight to the death over it.
Back then, their grandmother had refused to let the three siblings continue school, complaining it was a waste of money. At that time, her eldest brother didn’t even have his scholarly title yet. Because of that, her father had thrown down his work and refused to do anything, and even her mother—someone with such a soft temperament—had packed up her things and threatened to split the family. Now that her eldest brother had earned his title and his future was clearly visible, there was no telling what her mother would do.
There had to be something shady about her father’s background. Perhaps this was their family’s chance to completely break free from that demon.
Aunt Qian came over carrying a small red clay stove and handed it to her. “Feng’er, didn’t you want a stove? I found one for you.”
“Great, thank you, Auntie.”
Zhao Feng took the stove and planned to first wash the wine set she’d brought back, then take care of her own things.
“I bought a piece of tofu today. I’ll make you some tofu today, and also some egg custard.”
Since they were in mourning, they had to eat vegetarian. Both aunties took good care of them, always trying to change up the meals.
“Thank you, Auntie. You make the best food.”
Zhao Feng’s words were sweet as honey, and she had Mrs. Qian beaming with joy.
Just as the two were chatting, Old Madam and Second Aunt arrived at the door.
“Grandmother, Second Aunt, have you come to bring us grain? I was just saying my Second Uncle wouldn’t shortchange us—those few small bags of grain he gave us won’t even last three months. How could my uncle be so ungrateful, right?”
Zhao Feng stepped forward to greet them, asking questions first while her eyes roamed around, checking what they might have brought.
Old Madam’s face darkened, and Second Aunt was also left speechless. Bring you grain? You’d be better off eating shit.
Old Madam glanced at Second Aunt, shot her a vicious glare, shoved her aside, and barked at Zhao Feng: “Did you go to town today to get your brother treated?”
“Yes, the doctor said my brother’s hand can recover and prescribed some medicine. Grandmother, we’re out of money. Could you lend me some? My brother’s hand can heal—he’s a man with a scholarly title, and he’s your grandson too.”
“Where did you get the money to buy medicine? Did your mother give it to you? That’s money from the communal accounts! And when the family split, your mother still had a gold hairpin she didn’t put in for division. Go tell her to hand it over.”
“Grandmother, are you trying to starve us to death? I remember that gold hairpin was given to my mother with Grandfather’s approval—Second Uncle was even there at the time. If you take all our money away, are you trying to starve us? Do you believe I’ll go to the county office and file a complaint against Second Uncle?”
Zhao Feng felt a surge of anger rise in her chest. She’d never seen such a venomous grandmother.
Old Madam’s eyes bulged, and she lunged forward viciously, reaching out and twisting Zhao Feng hard.
“What did you say? You’ve learned to file complaints now, you little wretch… You think just because the family’s split I can’t deal with you anymore?”
She raised her hand to strike again but was stopped by someone.
The hand gripping hers belonged to Fifth Grandpa.
Old Madam looked up and realized who it was. Her face stiffened. “Fifth Brother, what’s the meaning of this? Me disciplining my granddaughter is none of your business.”
Old Madam suddenly remembered that she was technically his sister-in-law. She pulled her hand back, smoothed her clothes, and put on a stern face.
Fifth Grandpa gave her a deep look, then raised his hand and—crack!—delivered a vicious slap across Second Aunt’s face.
“Ah! Fifth Uncle, why are you hitting me?”
Mrs. Ma was stunned. What does this have to do with me? Why are you hitting me?
Am I not wronged? Getting slapped out of nowhere—ouch! That hurts!
“You’re exactly who I should hit. You think I don’t know what kind of person you are? What—trying to wipe them out completely? Second Brother’s wife, you’d better watch out for retribution. Your eldest brother is watching you from above, and maybe he’ll come find you tonight.”
Fifth Grandpa’s expression was severe, his eyes carrying a fierce ruthlessness.
In his youth, Fifth Grandpa had been an excellent hunter—he knew his way around a fight.
Blood was already seeping from the corner of Second Aunt’s mouth, which showed how hard the slap had been. Zhao Feng let out a long breath. Serves you right! Why didn’t he just beat you to death?
“Fifth Brother, what do you mean by this? Are you trying to hit me?”
Old Madam jumped up, eyes wide as she spat back.
Fifth Grandpa said coldly, “I can’t hit you, but I can open the ancestral hall and have you and your son thrown out of Zhaojia Village. Fourth Brother’s wife, don’t test my limits. I’ve been tolerating you out of respect for Fourth Brother, but even a cornered rabbit will bite. Binzi is the only Xiucai in Zhaojia Village. If you dare come cause trouble again, don’t blame me for showing no mercy.”
Old Madam glared viciously at Fifth Grandpa, her belly full of anger with nowhere to vent it. She turned and slapped Second Aunt again. “Useless thing! Get home now!”
Zhao Feng watched and nearly couldn’t hold back her laughter. Well now—at least they’re symmetrical.
“You couldn’t get what you wanted yourself, what’s that got to do with me? Hit me again, you old hag, and see what happens!”
Mrs. Ma had reached her limit. She shoved Old Madam hard, sending her tumbling to the ground, and pointed at her nose, cursing furiously.
“You’ve gone mad! You vile woman!”
Old Madam scrambled up from the ground and lunged forward, claws outstretched, to scratch at Second Aunt. Mrs. Ma was hardly one to take a loss lying down—she grabbed the old woman’s hair without hesitation and fought back. The two of them tumbled into a brawl, clawing and dragging each other all the way home.
Fifth Grandpa shook his head. “When a father is unkind, the son is unfilial. Second Brother has schemed and calculated his whole life—one day he’ll scheme himself right into a corner.”
“Fifth Grandpa, my grandmother won’t let this go.”
Zhao Feng’s eyes brimmed with tears. She tilted her head back and drew a deep breath, and only after a long moment said, “My father died for nothing!”
Tears streamed down her cheeks. Father, can you see this? It was all for nothing!
She turned and saw Mrs. Xu standing on the porch, staring blankly at the retreating figures of Old Madam and Second Aunt, her eyes burning with deep-seated hatred.
“Yan-ge’s wife… don’t worry, I’m still here.”
Fifth Grandpa looked at the trembling Mrs. Xu and opened his mouth, unable to bear watching her suffer, trying to console her.
“Fifth Uncle, I think going our separate ways might be for the best. I don’t care if I suffer or get beaten, but I can’t let my children suffer with me. My husband repaid every debt of gratitude he owed—we don’t owe them anything anymore.”
Mrs. Xu covered her face and burst into wailing sobs.
Aunt Li and Aunt Qian let out long, heavy sighs. The good die young while the wicked live a thousand years—why wouldn’t Heaven open its eyes and look?
“Let me think about it. This is a big matter—I can’t decide it alone. The whole village has to agree.”
Fifth Grandpa sighed, his brow furrowed into a deep crease, and sat there smoking his dry pipe.
Zhao Feng wiped away her tears, pulled a pouch of tobacco leaves from her bundle, and handed it to Fifth Grandpa.
“When did you buy this?”
He glared at her—this little girl, wasting money.
“I bought it while you all were shopping. It’s a gift from your granddaughter. I earned the money myself.”
Zhao Feng smiled at him, tears still clinging to her eyelashes.
Fifth Grandpa turned his unlit pipe around, tapped it against the step, and held the bowl out to her.
Zhao Feng crouched down, packed the tobacco into the pipe, and lit it for him. “Try it—they say this is good tobacco. I saw you just holding the empty pipe and sucking air without lighting it, so I wanted to treat you. Our whole family lives here, and we’ve caused you no small amount of trouble. We’re truly grateful from the bottom of our hearts.”
She paused and wiped her tears. “Fifth Grandpa, there’s something suspicious about my father’s background—I can see that much. I’m not an ungrateful child, but I have to think about the future for my mother and my brothers.
If they’d come all the way back just to demand a single gold hairpin and make a scene over it… Fifth Grandpa, I’m telling you, my eldest brother will definitely pass the Juren exam. Do you believe me?”
She fought back the grief in her heart, but at the thought of her father, the tears came flooding again.
“I believe you.”
Fifth Grandpa drew on his pipe, his expression troubled and grave.
“Once he becomes a Juren, we’d pay less tax. Would my grandmother leave my brother alone? If he doesn’t comply, he’s unfilial; if he does, he violates the Laws of the Great Zhou. When it all comes out in the open, my brother’s future is finished.”
She paused before continuing. “Fifth Grandpa, you’ve seen what I can do. I have a way to make money for the whole village together. Would you like to hear it?”
Zhao Feng felt she couldn’t wait any longer. Second Uncle was too selfish—he was determined to squeeze every last drop of value out of them. Even after splitting the family, he wouldn’t let them go.
On the surface it seemed like Grandmother and Second Aunt were the ones causing trouble, but in reality, Second Uncle’s hand was behind all of it. With her father gone, the family listened to Second Uncle—without his say-so, the two of them wouldn’t dare act.
“Go on, I’m listening.”
Fifth Grandpa also thought she was sharp-witted. She’d gone out and come back with ten taels of silver—more than the whole family’s yearly expenses.
“Grandpa, I bought the brewing equipment so my Second Brother can brew liquor on his own. I plan to experiment with several new types of wine—the ones my father was always working on. It’s a pity he passed so suddenly, but most of it was nearly finished.”
Zhao Feng shuffled forward two steps and lowered her voice. “I plan to turn the five mu of wasteland on the back mountain into a brewery and have the whole village work together. One person’s strength is weak, but if the whole village works together, that’s a different story.
Once we brew the liquor, we can sell it to the wine shops in town. As long as we give them a cut of the profit and a share, we can sell our wine without even buying a shop.
When we make money, I’ll give a portion to the village. The surplus can go toward building a schoolhouse and hiring a teacher to educate the children. You know as well as I do—children who can read and do arithmetic find work in the outside world much more easily, and they earn more than those who can’t.”
“Work together… hmm!”
Fifth Grandpa gave Zhao Feng a long, searching look. This child was bold yet meticulous, with a quick mind. If the whole village worked together, everyone would be bound to one another. Second Brother wouldn’t be able to push them around anymore—that would be tantamount to going against the entire village.