In the seventh year of Jinghe, Wen Xi and Yan Feng'an crossed paths by chance at Taoshugou during the Qingming Festival, and that same year, on the Dragon Boat Festival, the two encountered each other once again in the village.
This time, Wen Xi's situation was even more wretched than when Yan Feng'an had first come across him. Last time, he had only been scruffily gnawing on peach resin from a tree; this time, Li Qiaozhen had him by the arm, swinging a rattan cane, beating him until he tumbled and scrambled along the village road that everyone had to pass, howling all the way.
When someone asked what had happened, Li Qiaozhen yanked at the corner of Wen Xi's mouth and said he had greedily stolen a green bean cake that Wen Liu had brought back from town.
Green bean cakes were a summertime treat for the Dragon Boat Festival. The wealthy people in town would not only eat zongzi and salted duck eggs on that day, but would also have a piece of green bean cake to pray for health and good fortune. Wen Liu had been in school for two years—he hadn't learned much from his textbooks, but he had picked up all these pretentious, refined customs one after another. So when he came home for the festival holiday, he spent money on three green bean cakes to bring back.
Green bean cakes are very sweet, and eating a whole square each would be cloying, so to avoid waste, Li Qiaozhen cut one square into four small pieces. After the three of them each ate a piece, one piece remained on the plate.
Wen Xi knew his place in this household all too well, so naturally he wasn't foolish enough to believe that piece of cake had been left for him.
Knowing was one thing; what his heart wanted was another.
During the festival, while they all ate zongzi and savored pastries, Wen Xi could only watch with dry eyes, gulping down cold water whenever hunger struck. The water was flavorless—drinking it did nothing but bloat his belly. Dizzy and faint from hunger, with a piece of green bean cake sitting right there on the table, how could he not crave it?
Seizing a moment when no one was paying attention, he stuffed the cake into his mouth. Out of fear, he didn't savor it the way they did—he swallowed it whole, retaining only a vague memory of sweetness.
Eating it did not lessen his hunger one bit; instead, it brought disaster down upon him.
That green bean cake had been expensive—how could someone as lowly as he deserve to eat it? In the blink of an eye the pastry had been stolen and eaten, and Li Qiaozhen was furious, chasing him around the yard to beat him.
Everyone has a survival instinct. With no one in the house to intervene, Wen Xi feared she might beat him to death in her rage, and he had no choice but to run outside, praying in his heart that he would run into a kind-hearted neighbor who would save his life.
There were indeed plenty of neighbors in the village who couldn't bear to watch, but few were willing to step up and defend Wen Xi.
Li Qiaozhen's tongue was too vicious—for the sake of her family's affairs, getting themselves covered in trouble for nothing simply wasn't worth it. Besides, this kind of scene played out every few days; who had the time to mediate all day long?
With the surrounding neighbors unreliable, and with nowhere else to turn, Wen Xi once again thought of the person who had given him a steamed bun and taught him to write.
He knew where Carpenter Yan's house was, and he bolted toward the west, Li Qiaozhen chasing and cursing behind him. With mother and son making such a commotion, the Yan family naturally came out to see what was going on.
Li Qiaozhen's cane landed on Wen Xi again and again, raising welts of blood on his arms and legs. Yan Feng'an watched, heart pounding, then stepped forward, seized her wrist, and flung her back several steps. Standing in front of Wen Xi, he said furiously, "What gives you the right to beat him like this?!"
Li Qiaozhen staggered from his shove, and hearing his accusatory question, she steadied herself and planted her hands on her hips. "I'm his mother. What do you mean, what right do I have to hit him?"
Yan Feng'an said loudly, "So what if you're his mother? Beating someone however you like is simply wrong."
Li Qiaozhen snorted coldly. "He stole food, and as his mother I disciplined him—what's wrong with that? Who do you think you are, sticking your nose into other people's family business?"
At that time, Yan Feng'an had not yet passed the examinations to become a government student—just an ordinary scholar—so Li Qiaozhen had no reason to show him any respect. Seeing him standing stubbornly in front of Wen Xi, she sneered, "I think all that studying has made you stupid. I gave birth to him, I raised him—I can hit him or scold him whenever I please. What business is it of yours, an outsider? If you can't stand to watch, then take him away. Take him home to your house, and you can protect him however you like."
Chen Lanfang knew nothing decent would come out of that woman's mouth, and though she pitied Wen Xi, she didn't want her own son dragged into such trouble. She quickly said, "How ridiculous. Who wants to meddle in your family's dirty business? If you want to beat your child, drag him home and do it there. What's the meaning of making a scene at our doorstep? On a festival day, no less—what bad luck!"
The Yan family was well-off, and Chen Lanfang normally strutted around like a proud rooster. Li Qiaozhen had long been annoyed with her but had never found an excuse to fight her—now, at last, she had her chance.
Hearing Chen Lanfang call her bad luck, Li Qiaozhen retorted without courtesy, "Me, bad luck? You think your family is such a prize?" Knowing Chen Lanfang doted most on her younger son, she turned her fire on Yan Feng'an. "Your son usually buries himself in his books and never spares anyone a thought. So why is he standing up for our Xi ge'er today? Could it be he has some unspeakable intentions?"
She clicked her tongue twice and spat, "My Xi ge'er is barely grown, and you're already scheming like this? And you call yourself a scholar—shameless!"
Though the village women lacked Yan Feng'an's education, they were far better at quarreling. That single remark nearly knocked him over with rage, and his face flushed red as he said, "You're talking utter nonsense."
"Am I talking nonsense? You know the answer in your own heart. Luckily I saw through you today, or who knows what beastly things you might have done. You—"
Before Li Qiaozhen could finish, a basin of dirty water came hurtling down from above, splashing squarely over her and drenching her to the bone. Not only was she soaked through, but her head and face were covered in rotten vegetable leaves.
Standing on the steps, He Jin held the wooden basin and snorted, "Where did this stray dog come from, yapping everywhere? If you don't leave, next time I'll dump the manure on you."
He Jin had been a fiery little chili pepper since childhood. Having just married into the Yan family, he hadn't yet learned to hold his temper back. Hearing Li Qiaozhen's filthy insinuations, how could he possibly stand it?
Li Qiaozhen's sorry state set the crowd of onlookers roaring with laughter. Furious and humiliated, she could only vent by grabbing Wen Xi's ear. "It's all because of you, you little brat. Wait till we get home—I'll deal with you properly."
Wen Xi gasped from the pain. As he was dragged away, he tearfully said sorry to Yan Feng'an, who had stood in front of him.
He had come seeking help, but instead he had inexplicably stained Yan Feng'an's reputation and made him listen to so many vile words. If he'd known it would turn out like this, he might as well have just stayed home and let Li Qiaozhen beat him to death.
Yan Feng'an was kind-hearted by nature, and seeing Wen Xi like this only made him feel more pity. He knew that once Wen Xi returned home, he would surely be beaten again. He opened his mouth to say something, but felt he truly had no standing to do so.
He was a grown man—quarreling with Li Qiaozhen, that shrew, over Wen Xi, a young ge'er—no matter who was right or wrong, it would look bad if word got out.
This matter had weighed on Yan Feng'an's mind all along, which was why, at the Wen family's home today, he—normally so gentle and courteous—had spoken so sharply.
The past seemed still before his eyes. Yan Feng'an's smiling face seemed to overlap with that of the man who had once stood in front of him as a shield. Tears shimmered in Wen Xi's eyes as he looked down at the road beneath his feet and said in a muffled voice, "It's been so long, and you still remember?"
Yan Feng'an replied, "You were only twelve or thirteen then, and your mother used those words to block me. I had never been slandered like that before—of course I remembered it clearly."
Besides his own sense of grievance, there was also, of course, his pity for Wen Xi.
Yan Feng'an was too embarrassed to admit that after that incident, he had nightmares for several days straight. In his dreams, Wen Xi was covered in wounds, pitifully crawling at his feet begging him for help, yet no matter what he did, Wen Xi would always end up being dragged back home by Li Qiaozhen.
It left Yan Feng'an feeling distressed and helpless, and it had nearly become a weight on his heart—one that didn't fully lift until today, when he had openly and honorably taken Wen Xi away from the Wen family.
Hearing him bring this up, Wen Xi said, "My mother said those things on purpose. I know you're not that kind of person."
Yan Feng'an raised an eyebrow and asked, "You know? Then tell me, what kind of person am I?"
Wen Xi's thoughts churned a thousand times, but in the end he only said, "You're a good person."
Hearing him put it so tactfully, Yan Feng'an laughed. "I'm no fool—you won't fool me with that. I bet what you're really thinking is: this man is fickle, changing from one moment to the next. What good person? He's simply a lunatic."
With his thoughts laid bare by Yan Feng'an, Wen Xi's eyes reddened, and his cheeks burned as well.
He defended himself weakly, "I wasn't thinking that."
At least not at this moment. Yan Feng'an had not only stood up for him, but had also won back the ten copper coins he had painstakingly saved. Wen Xi truly felt he was a good person.
As for how Yan Feng'an had once joined Wen Liu in bullying him, Wen Xi didn't want to dwell on it anymore. Everything that had happened between the two of them, good and bad, was in the past. If he kept clinging to it, he would only make himself suffer. Nor did he want Yan Feng'an to keep dwelling on these things, so he affected magnanimity and said, "I know you've changed for the better."
Yan Feng'an was still smiling, but there was a touch more bitterness and helplessness in that smile. "Actually, I've never changed at all."
Wen Xi didn't understand what he meant, and Yan Feng'an didn't explain further, instead changing the subject. "Now that we've gotten the ten taels of silver back, Mother and Sister-in-law should be a little happier."
"Of course." Wen Xi had been moved to tears just getting his own ten copper coins back—let alone such a large sum as ten taels.
Yan Feng'an added, "That money was coaxed out of my mother, so it ought to be returned to her in full. Once I earn money through my own abilities in the future, I'll hand it all over to you to keep."
Wen Xi hadn't thought that far ahead. To him, simply having enough to eat was a tremendous blessing—he wouldn't even dare dream of keeping money.
Besides, Yan Feng'an was a scholar supported by his parents—what money could he possibly earn? It wasn't as if he had a trade like Wen Xi's two older brothers.
It seemed improper for both of them to be eating free meals at home—perhaps he, as the husband, ought to put in some effort too.
But as soon as this thought arose, Wen Xi felt somewhat deflated, because not only did he lack any skills, he had no education either. Even if he wanted to earn money, he couldn't find any way to do it.
With worry in his heart, Wen Xi returned home with Yan Feng'an. Upon entering the courtyard, Yan Feng'an handed the silver over to Chen Lanfang right in front of the two sisters-in-law.
Those ten taels of silver had been given to Yan Feng'an back when he tricked Chen Lanfang by claiming the academy needed to buy some expensive books. Who could have known he would give the money to Wen Liu?
Before she even had time to be angry about it, the money had been recovered. Chen Lanfang felt positively giddy. Though it wasn't quite a proper way to think, she truly felt as if a meat pie had fallen from the sky and hit her.
Li Wan and the others were also overjoyed. Their mother-in-law was generous by nature—as long as she had money in hand, she would never shortchange them. Every time the two of them visited their maternal home, Chen Lanfang would spend money on nice things for them to bring along, ensuring they could hold their heads high in front of their family and leaving their brothers and sisters-in-law no room for gossip.
Yan Feng'an took in everyone's expressions, then said, "This silver was borrowed from me by Wen Liu. Now that I've gotten it back, he and I have nothing more to do with each other. Although Xiaoxi is their family's child, he never received a shred of kindness from them growing up. Once this matter is settled, there's no need for our two families to keep in contact. From now on, we'll just treat each other as ordinary neighbors."
Yan Feng'an could more or less guess what his family was thinking. By completely falling out with Wen Liu this time, he was also giving them peace of mind.
Chen Lanfang had long been thoroughly disgusted with the Wen family, and hearing him say this, she nodded repeatedly.
Still, that was Wen Xi's maternal family after all. Afraid he might feel sad, Li Wan patted his shoulder and comforted him, "Parents like that are better off discarded. From now on, we're all your family."
Wen Xi didn't feel any sadness at all. Back when Wen Shishan and Li Qiaozhen forced him into a substitute marriage, he had already stopped regarding those two as his parents. Cutting ties now actually spared him one less headache.