After he led the two children far away, Chen Lanfang got up and sat down beside Yan Feng'an, saying: "This husband of yours may look a bit simple and foolish, but he's really quite good. Since marrying into the family, he's put you first in everything and never shown any selfishness. Once you've recovered, you mustn't let him down."
With her son's illness improving day by day, Chen Lanfang was naturally happy, but she feared Yan Feng'an might still be as muddle-headed as before, which was why she felt she had to give him a few words of warning.
Yan Feng'an said: "Since I've already married him, I will take proper responsibility."
Having received his assurance, Chen Lanfang sighed with satisfaction. Then she heard Yan Feng'an say: "I've noticed that Xi-ge'er's clothes are old and thin. I beg you, Mother, to buy him a few new outfits. Once the court issues my student stipend, I'll repay you."
"We're all one family—what's this talk of repaying?" Chen Lanfang glanced toward Li Wan and He Jin. "Your sisters-in-law are already making him shoes. As for clothes, I don't have any spare cloth on hand, but one of these days I'll take him into town to have a look around."
Yan Feng'an nodded and said politely: "Then I'll trouble you, Mother."
Chen Lanfang hesitated, wanting to say more, but seeing his somewhat distant expression, she ultimately said nothing else.
Wen Xi led the two children toward the river, running into quite a few neighbors along the way. News of his marriage to Yan Feng'an had already spread throughout the village, and seeing him, some people couldn't help whispering among themselves. There were also the busybodies who, under the pretense of concern, tried to pry into the Yan family's affairs.
Wen Xi was not good with words. After obediently greeting people, he said little more, just keeping his head down as he led the two children toward the river.
There were many children and adults fishing and playing along the riverbank. Tiezhu and Tao'er ran into playmates from the village and went off playing on their own.
Worried that something might happen to the two children, Wen Xi didn't dare stray too far from them while catching fish, keeping his eyes on them at all times. Only when he saw that the two children were sensibly staying away from dangerous spots did he relax.
Fish and shrimp are nourishing foods. When Wen Liu had a craving, he often sent Wen Xi to the river to catch fish, and after so many trips, Wen Xi had worked out some techniques for catching them.
For slippery fish like crucian carp and common carp, grabbing the body or tail first made it easy for them to escape. Seizing the right moment to grab them by the head gave a much higher success rate.
There was also a kind of fish in the river with hard spines on its body. Wen Xi didn't know what it was called elsewhere, but the people of his village had named it the "Yellow Duck Call."
Compared to other fish, the Yellow Duck Call was more aggressive. Wen Xi had been pricked by its spines several times while trying to catch it, and that itchy, painful sensation still made him shudder at the memory—even just seeing one, he no longer dared to grab it.
In mid-autumn, the river water was pleasantly warm, not bone-chilling, and it was the season when fish were plentiful and crabs were fat.
Wen Xi focused intently, his movements quick and deft. Soon his fish basket held some small fish, shrimp, and little loaches. Besides these, he had also been lucky enough to catch a crucian carp weighing about two or three jin.
Back when he lived with the Wen family, Wen Xi had caught crucian carp before, and Li Qiaozhen had even gone out specially to buy a block of tofu to make crucian carp and tofu soup.
Although Wen Xi hadn't gotten a single bite of it, the delicious flavor of that fish soup had lingered in his heart ever since, one he could never forget.
Since marrying into the Yan family, no one had ever shortchanged him when it came to food. He wondered whether this time he might have the good fortune to taste it again.
Today's harvest had been plentiful. Wen Xi cradled the fish basket, faint ripples of joy at the corners of his mouth.
Just then, Tao'er, who had been playing in the distance, suddenly came running over, wiping her tears. "Uncle Xiaoxi, Brother Tiezhu got into a fight with someone! You have to go quick!"
Before the smile could even fully form on his face, Wen Xi's expression fell and he went pale. "What happened?"
After living under the same roof for over ten days, Wen Xi had come to understand the temperaments of the Yan family members. Tiezhu and Tao'er were both well-behaved, sensible children who would never bully anyone. If Tiezhu got into a fight, there had to be something behind it.
Through Tao'er's jumbled account, Wen Xi finally pieced together what had happened.
While playing hide-and-seek with the other children, Tiezhu had found an injured rabbit. Unable to keep the good news to himself, he had immediately shown the little rabbit to his playmates. But another child nearby took issue with it, insisting he had seen the rabbit first. Crying and shouting, he demanded Tiezhu hand it over. Tiezhu refused, and the two children began fighting.
Wiping her tears, Tao'er said aggrievedly, "Jinbao is lying. Gege saw the rabbit first!"
Wen Xi patted her head and comforted her. "Don't cry, Tao'er. Uncle will go with you and take a look."
Wen Xi figured they were just a bunch of kids—one adult should be able to handle it. But when he arrived, Zhao Jinbao's uncle, Zhao Shoutian, was there too.
This man was a bully with no scruples, and Wen Xi was quite afraid of him. But Tiezhu needed someone to back him up—if even an adult like Wen Xi cowered, who knew how upset the child would feel inside.
Wen Xi clenched his fists, took a deep breath to suppress his fear, and waved at Tiezhu. "Tiezhu, bring the rabbit. We're going home."
Though his voice trembled a little, at least his body didn't shake. Wen Xi kept telling himself not to be afraid—once they got home, everything would be fine.
"Mm." Tiezhu wiped his face and picked up the rabbit, ready to leave.
Zhao Shoutian, having been ignored, was most displeased. He barked, "Stop! Did I say you could leave? Let me tell you—the person can go, but the rabbit stays. My nephew saw it first."
"Nonsense! I saw it first!" Though young, Tiezhu wasn't one to be intimidated, and Zhao Shoutian's bluster didn't scare him in the slightest.
Losing face to a mere child, Zhao Shoutian grew even angrier. He raised his hand threateningly. "Looking for a beating, are you? Hand over the rabbit right now, or I'll thrash you!"
Tiezhu hid behind Wen Xi. Wen Xi himself was terrified, but he still shielded the boy. "Children don't understand these things. If you have something to say, say it in front of my parents-in-law."
Zhao Shoutian's contemptuous gaze swept over him, and he sneered, "Married only a few days and already so cloyingly attached. A shameless thing who stole his gege's marriage proposal—and you still have the nerve to show your face in public? If I were you, I'd have hanged myself with a rope long ago."
Wen Xi's eyes widened. When had he ever stolen his gege's marriage? Wasn't it Wen Liu himself who refused to marry?
Seeing this frail, innocent look of his, Zhao Shoutian's anger only burned hotter. He raged, "Putting on the wronged act every chance you get—you think I'll fall for that? You husband-defying ge'er, has your man not been enough for you, that you come out here specifically to seduce me?"
The filthy cursing made Wen Xi want to vomit. He wanted to talk back but feared the man might actually hit him, so he simply shut his mouth and took the two children's hands, walking home.
This sight only made Zhao Shoutian even more furious. It was one thing for Wen Liu to look down on him, but what was Wen Xi supposed to be, daring to look down on him too? Bullying the weak as the strong do, Zhao Shoutian snatched the rabbit from Tiezhu's hands and said, "If you want to leave, then leave, but don't even think about taking this rabbit."
"Give it back, give it back, give it back to me!"
Tiezhu reached out to grab it, but Zhao Shoutian held the rabbit high above his head, saying smugly, "Come and get it if you can."
Tiezhu couldn't reach it, and in his anger he seized Zhao Shoutian's other hand and bit down hard.
Wen Xi knew at once that trouble was coming. He understood Zhao Shoutian and knew the man had no bottom line—ge'er or child, it didn't matter; provoke him and you were sure to get hit.
Sure enough, the pain sent Zhao Shoutian into a rage, and he cursed loudly, "Damn it, you little brat, you've got some nerve! I'll slap you dead!"
Wen Xi had been watching his reaction the whole time. The moment he saw him raise his hand to strike, Wen Xi threw his arms around Tiezhu and took the slap in his place.
Zhao Shoutian had put his full strength into it. When the slap landed, Wen Xi's ears rang with a buzz, and half his face began to throb with pain.
He didn't dare imagine how serious it would have been if that slap had landed on a child like Tiezhu. Though the pain on his face was unbearable, Wen Xi actually felt relieved in his heart. Both children had been fine when they left with him—if anything had gone wrong, how could he ever face the Yan family?
"Stay out of my sight from now on." Zhao Shoutian felt no guilt whatsoever for having hit someone. After throwing down those harsh words, he left with the rabbit in his arms. Zhao Jinbao followed behind him, and after a few steps turned around to make a face at Tiezhu.
Tiezhu was so angry he jumped up and down, wailing, "I'm going home to tell my grandma!"
Hearing this, Zhao Shoutian felt a flicker of fear, but then he thought—the one who got hurt was Wen Xi, that wedding-luck-bringing thing. Judging by his clothes, he clearly wasn't valued, so the Yan family would surely never step up to defend him.
On the way home, Wen Xi, afraid of the neighbors gossiping behind his back, kept his sleeve over his red, swollen cheek.
He didn't dare make a sound, but the two little ones had no such reservations, crying loudly the whole way. Before they even reached the courtyard gate, they were shouting, "Grandma, Grandma, someone bullied us!"
Chen Lanfang, not yet realizing how serious the matter was, said with a smile to her two daughters-in-law, "They've probably just had a squabble with Ermao and the others again."
Only when the three entered the courtyard and she saw Wen Xi hiding his cheek did she realize something was wrong.
Li Wan was the first to react, rushing over to pull her son close and examining him from every angle. He Jin followed right behind, gathering Tao'er protectively into her arms. Both asked at once, "What happened? Who bullied you?"
Tiezhu pointed at Wen Xi and said, "Zhao Jinbao stole my rabbit, and his uncle slapped Uncle Xiaoxi!"
Without Wen Xi having to say a word, Tiezhu spilled out the whole story like pouring beans from a jar.
Though his account wasn't as clear and organized as an adult's would have been, everyone present understood what had happened.
The slap mark on Wen Xi's face was shocking to behold—one could only imagine how much it hurt.
"That damned dog of a man." Chen Lanfang was furious. If Zhao Shoutian had been standing in front of her at that moment, she would have stabbed several holes in him with her scissors.
Li Wan was soft-hearted to begin with, and since the slap had been taken for Tiezhu's sake, her eyes stung as she said bitterly, "That Zhao Shoutian is a pile of dog dung that stinks just to smell, and he still dares to bully our family. Mom, we can't let him off easily."
"That's right, or he'll think our family has no one to stand up for us." He Jin had a fiery temper, and in her heart she had already slapped Zhao Shoutian several hundred times.
Chen Lanfang's teeth ground together with a crackling sound, her wide-open eyes seeming about to spit fire: "That stinking good-for-nothing Zhao Shoutian—of all people to provoke, he dares provoke our family. In a bit, I'll show him what for."
In Wen Xi's eyes, his mother-in-law had always been a dignified woman, so seeing Chen Lanfang wear this man-eating expression now, he felt terrified inside, afraid she would indiscriminately scold him for stirring up trouble outside and take her anger out on him.
Noticing that Wen Xi was trembling, Chen Lanfang patted his arm and, suppressing her fury, comforted him: "No one has ever bullied someone from our Yan family like this. Go put some medicine on first. Once your father and your two brothers come back, we'll go to the Zhao family and demand an explanation."