You have to understand, this person usually kept all the good things for himself. Even when he came home on break from the academy, he never thought about the family's difficulties, and would always find ways to squeeze a bit of money out of his brothers and sisters-in-law. Yet today, of all days, he had actually taken the initiative to buy cloth for the family—how novel.
Though there was some puzzlement in their hearts, no one was tactless enough to show it.
Li Wan hugged the cloth, her eyes curving. "This time Third Brother really spent too much on us."
Yan Feng'an smiled faintly. "Just a small token. I hope my sisters-in-law won't look down on it."
He Jin said cheerfully, "Getting a bolt of cloth for free, we're overjoyed—who would look down on it? Oh, by the way, Xiao Xi, that young ge'er from the Shen family came by looking for you just now. I told him you'd gone to town, and to come back this afternoon or tomorrow."
"Oh, all right."
Yan Feng'an asked curiously, "Who's this ge'er from the Shen family? A friend of yours?"
He spent most of his time studying at the academy in town, so aside from the older elders, he didn't really know any of the ge'er younger than himself.
Wen Xi thought over his dealings with Shen Yun and answered, "A friend."
The ten copper coins he had saved up at home before—that money had been secretly earned by Shen Yun helping him sell mountain goods.
Yan Feng'an said, "It's good to have a friend. When you're free in the future, you can go find him and play together."
Playing together was something quite unfamiliar to Wen Xi. Though he and Shen Yun had some friendship, the two of them had never really played together properly. Their few encounters had all been while picking wild fruit or digging wild vegetables in the mountains—only then could Wen Xi get away from his family's watchful eyes and exchange a few words with him.
He wondered what Shen Yun had come to see him about this time.
While Wen Xi and the others were putting away the cloth, Yan Feng'an followed Chen Lanfang back to her room and handed over the money left from selling the old clothes.
"Take this money to help with household expenses."
His three sons had not divided the household, and the family's money was all managed by Chen Lanfang, so she did not refuse. "Then I'll accept it, Mother will."
After a moment's thought, she set aside a bit of the silver. "And this, you keep for yourself."
Yan Feng'an hesitated. "But Brother and Sister-in-law…"
Seeing him constantly mindful of his brothers and sisters-in-law, Chen Lanfang felt comforted. "Every time your father and the others come back from work with money they've earned, I set aside a portion for Jin ge'er and Wan niang. You are all my children—Mother would never shortchange any of you."
If it weren't so, given how Yan Feng'an used to spend money in the past, the two daughters-in-law, saints though they might be, would have fought with her over it.
Hearing this, Yan Feng'an kept a little of the silver. When he returned to the room, he saw that Wen Xi had changed back into that pair of old shoes. Though the holes had been patched with cloth, they were still an eyesore.
"You have new shoes now—why keep wearing those?"
Wen Xi's cheeks flushed slightly, and he said in a small voice, "I'm used to them."
The truth was, this was the first time he had ever owned shoes of his own, and he treasured them, reluctant to ruin them. Thinking the old pair could still be worn a while longer, he had changed out of the new ones.
Yan Feng'an said disdainfully, "These shoes are old and tattered—they don't suit you at all. Wear the new ones."
Wen Xi rarely defied him, and seeing that he disliked the old shoes, he obediently changed them.
Yan Feng'an brought the hand he'd been holding behind his back out in front of Wen Xi, as if presenting a treasure. "Look—our silver."
Wen Xi's gaze followed his movement to his palm, carefully scanning the bits of silver there.
"The money from selling the old clothes, after setting aside what was needed for buying fabric, came to five taels extra. I gave part of it to Mother, and this portion is for us to keep. If you ever want to buy something later, you won't have to ask her for money."
Seeing Wen Xi standing there stunned without a word, Yan Feng'an pushed the silver pieces toward him again. "Come on, take it."
Wen Xi's lips opened and closed for a while before he finally said, "Why are you giving me the money?"
"Before you ask that, you should first go ask my father why he hands his money over to my mother, ask my eldest brother why he hands his over to my sister-in-law, and ask my second brother why he hands his over to Jin. That's just the tradition in our family—you know that, right?"
Yan Feng'an rattled off a whole string of words, a bit convoluted, but Wen Xi still understood.
Hesitantly, he took it from Yan Feng'an's hand and said, "I'll put the money in the drawer of your desk. If you want to use it, just take it yourself."
He had also put the red envelopes his father-in-law and mother-in-law had given him in there. In the Yan household, he had food and clothing, and when he was sick, his mother-in-law would call a doctor for him. Wen Xi felt he had no need to spend money, and besides, he wouldn't dare spend it freely on his own.
Country folk held their money tightly. Take his own parents, for example—on the surface, his mother ran the household, but in reality all the money was clutched in his father's hands. Even spending a single copper coin required his approval.
Sometimes, when Li Qiaozhen spent a little too much, Wen Shishan would give her the cold shoulder.
Yan Feng'an had handed the money over to him of his own accord, and Wen Xi was happy about it. It was just that the unease and distance in his heart weighed too heavily—so heavily that for a while yet, he wouldn't be able to find his proper place.
With so many people in the family, making new clothes was a big undertaking. Fortunately, Chen Lanfang and the others were all skilled hands, so it really wasn't as much of a headache once they got started.
The clothes Wen Xi had brought with him were few and ill-fitting, so everyone unanimously decided to make his first.
While taking his measurements, Wen Xi stood stiff and motionless. He Jin laughed and said, "It's not torture—why are you so tense?"
Wen Xi smiled sheepishly. Watching He Jin skillfully draw the pattern outlines on the fabric after finishing the measurements, he said with both envy and admiration, "You're really amazing."
"There's nothing amazing about it—it just comes with practice. Don't let how smooth I look fool you; my sewing skills are actually pretty average. Compared to Mother and my eldest sister-in-law, I'm nowhere close."
Hearing this, Chen Lanfang said with a smile, "Your sewing is indeed a bit worse than ours, but when it comes to embroidery patterns, no one in our family can match you."
Li Wan also admitted she couldn't compare: "Jin ge'er's mother was an embroidery mistress famous in several villages. He grew up steeped in it—how would I dare compete with him?"
He Jin just smiled and offered no words of modesty, which showed his skill truly was exceptional.
Before girls and ge'er married, their mothers at home would usually teach them a bit of sewing and embroidery, but how much they learned depended on their talent.
Wen Xi hadn't been so lucky. In the Wen household, he had only endless chores—Li Qiaozhen had never taught him a single skill.
Chen Lanfang knew what kind of life he had led in the Wen household, so she didn't deliberately ask whether he knew how. She only said, "We bought a lot of fabric this time, Xiaoxi, so you'd better learn well from Wan Niang and the others."
Wen Xi nodded. If his sisters-in-law were willing to teach him, he would certainly study earnestly.
In the afternoon, Shen Yun came to the Yan household again.
Like Wen Xi, he was a shy, simple ge'er without much scheming. When Chen Lanfang invited him inside to sit, he only shook his head and stood shyly at the courtyard gate for a while.
Happy to see his friend Wen Xi, and with Chen Lanfang's permission, he carried two small stools over and sat with Shen Yun beneath the osmanthus tree outside the courtyard.
"I heard all about what happened with the Zhao family. How are you? Is your injury any better?" Shen Yun asked, looking over Wen Xi's face.
Wen Xi turned his head, showing him the side of his face that had been struck. "My family applied ointment for me. It's fine."
Seeing that no marks had been left behind, Shen Yun relaxed. "I wanted to come see you sooner, but family matters held me up these past few days."
In all the days since Wen Xi had married into the Yan family, Shen Yun had never once come to visit him. Besides family matters, it was mostly because he worried that showing up suddenly might displease the Yan family and make Wen Xi's situation even harder. Only after hearing from the neighbors about how the Yan family had stood up for Wen Xi did he finally have a reason to visit.
Wen Xi shook his head to show he didn't mind.
Shen Yun tilted his chin toward the courtyard. "Are the Yans treating you well? Everyone outside says Scholar Yan has recovered. How does he treat you? Does he bully you?"
"He's very good to me. No bullying." Wen Xi answered honestly. The Yan family treated him very, very well—his life now was free and comfortable.
As for Yan Feng'an, his attitude toward Wen Xi was fairly gentle. Though he occasionally teased him a little, it was nothing like the suppression and humiliation of before. He even came to Wen Xi's rescue when the family teased him, and had handed the money over for him to keep—it seemed he genuinely intended to build a life with him.
"That's good." Shen Yun actually had more he wanted to ask, but afraid of touching the wound in Wen Xi's heart, he didn't dare say much. So he forced a lighthearted tone. "If he ever dares bully you again, tell me, and I'll definitely help you…"
Hearing him trail off, Wen Xi glanced at him curiously. Shen Yun hugged his arm and whispered, "I'll definitely help you secretly curse him."
Wen Xi pressed his lips together into a smile. Seeing that Wen Xi's face no longer looked as haggard as before, Shen Yun figured his relationship with Scholar Yan must be decent. Thinking of what had happened at home these past few days, he said, "Actually, there's something else I came to tell you."
"What is it?" Wen Xi asked softly, his gaze resting quietly on him.
Shen Yun's cheeks flushed, his words coming in fits and starts. "Auntie Liu from the village arranged a marriage for me… The man's family is from neighboring Fengping Village… They came to my house yesterday, and I stole a couple of glances at him… In looks and learning he's no match for Scholar Yan, but he's more solidly built—he looks strong. My brother said if I like him, he'll make the decision and settle the match."
Shen Yun's father had died early, leaving only a sick widowed mother and an older brother who made his living as a traveling peddler. All family matters were decided by his brother.
"Do you like him?"
A trace of confusion appeared in Shen Yun's eyes. "I don't know. But I figure that with him, I won't go hungry. Do you think I should agree?"
For a ge'er from a farming family, expectations weren't high. As long as the man they married had a good temper and was hardworking, there was nothing much to be picky about—whether you liked him or not didn't really matter.
Wen Xi thought it over seriously. "Your brother loves you dearly. If you're not satisfied, you can keep looking."
For ge'er like them, once married, they were entrusting their very lives to another family. One careless misstep, and their whole life would be ruined.
Shen Yun's older brother wouldn't sell him off for money, so Wen Xi felt he could take his time and pick someone he actually liked.
"Fine, then I'll keep looking." Truthfully, Shen Yun wasn't that eager to marry yet anyway, so hearing Wen Xi say this, he set the thought aside for now. He fished a handful of watermelon seeds from his pocket and said, "Enough about that—have some seeds. My brother brought these back from the prefecture city for me. They're so fragrant. I brought them specially for you to try."
The worries of the young come fast and fade fast too. Shen Yun and Wen Xi sat arm against arm, huddled together like little animals, leisurely cracking melon seeds.
Birds chirped in the branches, and the faded osmanthus tree still held a faint lingering fragrance. The cool breeze brushed Wen Xi's face and stirred his hair, filling him body and soul with a comfort he had never known before.
From now on, whenever he went out to play with Shen Yun, he would no longer have to worry about his parents appearing out of nowhere, accusing him of slacking off and beating him for it.
In the courtyard, Chen Lanfang was cutting cloth with her two daughters-in-law. Lowering her voice, she asked, "He's been in our family for a while now. What do you think of him?"
"If you're asking me, I'll definitely say he's good. A few days ago, if he hadn't protected Tiezhu, who knows how much my boy would have suffered." Li Wan had kept that incident in her heart, and naturally held great fondness for Wen Xi.
He Jin was even more direct: "He seems timid, but when something happens, he really steps up. Last time at the Zhao family's, I was afraid he'd hold us back, but turns out he's quite capable too. And he's always polite when talking to me and our sister-in-law—not like that Wen Liu with his airs and troublemaking. I think he'll do."
Chen Lanfang smiled and nodded, speaking her heart to her two daughters-in-law: "I won't hide it from you—before, I actually didn't much like his timid, cowering nature. I always felt he wasn't the same kind of people as us. But that day, when I saw Liu Jinhua strike me, his legs were still shaking, yet he didn't forget to step forward and grab that old woman's hair to help me. My heart softened right then and there. I just felt that this child belongs in our family."
Hearing this, Li Wan recalled the scene that day and said, "I also think he's a good match for our family. Look—since he arrived, not only has Third Brother recovered, but his temper has grown gentler too."
Third Brother used to be a good kid, but ever since he passed the xiucai examination, he'd become somewhat arrogant.
Before marrying into the family, Li Wan had known that her husband would be supporting his brother's studies. If Yan Feng'an could succeed, it would not only bring honor to the family, but they too would bask in the glory. She and He Jin hadn't had much complaint about providing Yan Feng'an with good food and drink while he studied. The only thing that rankled was his attitude toward the family—he showed not a shred of gratitude, always assuming that the whole household would depend on him someday, so no matter how well they treated him, it was only what he deserved.
She and He Jin said nothing aloud, but deep down, their hearts had grown cold.
And that Wen Liu was no easy character either. Once he married in, the household would surely be thrown into chaos. Li Wan and He Jin had even secretly discussed that once Yan Feng'an and Wen Liu were wed, they would tell their husbands to split the household—they absolutely refused to live under the same roof as those two.
But now the one marrying in had changed from Wen Liu to Wen Xi, and Third Brother, through that ordeal, had learned his lesson. So the two of them let go of the idea of splitting the family.
Children from respectable families all want to live a good life—kind in-laws, a loving husband. Unless it's absolutely necessary, who would want to tear this family apart?
These words struck right at Chen Lanfang's heart. Everyone in the family had seen the change in Yan Feng'an. Though attributing all the credit to Wen Xi was a bit of a stretch, everything in life comes down to fate. Wen Xi had arrived, her son's illness had improved, and the atmosphere at home had grown more harmonious—all of which proved he was destined for the Yan family.
"He's young and delicate in temperament. You two should look out for him more when you're out and about."
He Jin said, "Don't worry, Mother. He's married into our family now—surely no one would dare bully him?"
Chen Lanfang was delighted that both daughters-in-law were so fond of Wen Xi, thinking to herself that their family could finally live on in peace and happiness.