Chen Liejiu had been exceptionally busy lately.
Ever since Xu Huaixian proposed reforms to Manager Wu at the money house, the establishment underwent reorganization—transforming from its previously sluggish operations into a hive of activity.
Even Chen Liejiu found himself shouldering significant responsibilities, assigned numerous tasks that kept him shuttling between village and town until his legs nearly gave out.
But the earnings were substantial—this month's settlement alone brought in 1,200 wen (1.2 taels), equivalent to two or three months' income previously.
Acknowledging Xu Huaixian's role in this windfall, Chen Liejiu didn't pinch pennies. After collecting his pay, he headed straight to the pharmacy for another box of bird's nest—their stock at home was nearly depleted.
These days, he'd noticed Xu Huaixian's improved complexion, reduced nighttime coughing, and overall vitality—proof that the medicinal regimen worked and shouldn't be interrupted.
This time, however, he'd learned a trick. While the pharmacy assistant fetched his order, he negotiated: "How about throwing in some red dates and wolfberries? I'll be a regular customer—remember last month when I spent over thirty taels here?"
The assistant nodded—few in Mian County could drop thirty taels on medicine at once, let alone a distinctive ger like Chen Liejiu.
"Since you remember, give me some freebies," Chen Liejiu mimicked Xu Huaixian's bargaining style. "Or I might shop elsewhere next time."
Years of debt collection had honed his shameless persistence. He spun tales of his hardships and Xu Huaixian's suffering until the assistant relented, adding two bowls of red dates and one of wolfberries to his purchase.
"Actually works," Chen Liejiu murmured exiting the pharmacy, admiring his gratis acquisitions with a smirk. New spending skill unlocked.
Noticing Xu Huaixian's cramped handwriting filling paper front-and-back during recent study sessions, he applied the same tactic to purchase two stacks of paper—180 wen, discounted by 20.
With the remaining coins, he bought pork and marrow bones instead of saving them.
Entering his courtyard, he pondered dinner options—braised pork or bone broth? Last time, Xu Huaixian had simmered the bones to milky perfection, creating a soup more delectable than meat itself, endlessly enjoyable.
But his culinary contemplations shattered upon seeing Xiaomei's overturned incubation crate, shattered eggs, and egg-stained quilts. Inside, Xu Huaixian and Wang Wanwan were rolling eggs over Xiaomei's swollen cheeks as she winced in pain.
"What happened?" Chen Liejiu set down his parcels.
Before Xu Huaixian could explain, Xiaomei—seeing her pillar of support—rushed to cling to Chen Liejiu's legs, tearfully recounting: "Big Brother! Aunt Gui hit me!"
"Her Pillar broke my hatching eggs, so I bit him. Then she slapped me—hard!" Her tear-streaked face and swollen cheeks painted a pitiful picture.
Xu Huaixian raised an eyebrow—so that's why she didn't cry earlier—saving it for the main act.
Chen Liejiu's frown deepened as he wiped her tears and examined her injuries. "Don't cry. Big Brother will make this right."
"Make it right how? When?" Xiaomei wanted immediate vengeance. Stoking the flames, she added, "She called me a curse! And—" glancing at Xu Huaixian, "—she made Second Brother cough blood!"
Producing a blood-speckled handkerchief (pocketed from Xu Huaixian unnoticed), she wailed, "He hasn't coughed blood in ages! Look how much today!"
Xu Huaixian choked on nothing—his "blood" had been acting to scare off Aunt Gui. Now Xiaomei's dramatization made it irrevocably real.
Chen Liejiu examined the "evidence," then wordlessly grabbed the firewood cleaver by the door.
"—Don't be rash!" Xu Huaixian called after him, coughing abandoned mid-fit.
Chen Liejiu waved without turning. "I know my limits."
Aunt Gui had spent the afternoon anxiously awaiting repercussions after seeing Xu Huaixian's "bloody cough." By evening, with no commotion from the Chen household, she relaxed—must've been a bluff—resuming chores while grumbling about wasted worry.
As dusk fell, she sat shelling peas while her son played happily with mud—a scene of domestic tranquility.
Then Chen Liejiu arrived, cleaver glinting. "Busy, Aunt Gui?"
Her vegetables tumbled as she startled. "L-Liejiu! What brings you?"
"Nothing concerning you," Chen Liejiu assured, wiping his blade on her fence rag. "Just need a word with Pillar."
He beckoned the boy. "Come here, Pillar. Let's chat."
Aunt Gui's blood ran cold—chat with a cleaver? She snatched her son close. "Stay with Mama!"
Chen Liejiu tapped the cleaver against the fence. "Now Aunt Gui, refusing a simple talk? Remember—I'm the bully who doesn't play fair..."
The blade's thunk against wood might as well have struck her child's neck. Sobbing, she hugged Pillar tight. "Mercy! I was wrong!"
How could I forget? she berated herself. This wolf-slaying brute would skin us alive!
Chen Liejiu feigned innocence. "Wrong about what?"
"Everything!" She rattled off offenses while raining blows on Pillar. "Disobeying! Breaking eggs! Mocking others!"
Each strike carried genuine terror—better her discipline than Chen Liejiu's unrestrained violence.
Pillar's howls echoed through the neighborhood, drawing curious onlookers wondering why the usually doting mother was thrashing her son.
Chen Liejiu observed impassively, recalling Xiaomei's bruises and Xu Huaixian's bloodied handkerchief.
Parental failure invites societal correction. My way's kinder than what awaits him otherwise.
"Strange," he mused aloud. "I only came to ask how Xiaomei got hurt."
Aunt Gui, interpreting the hint, slapped Pillar's face until it matched Xiaomei's swelling. Through tears, she asked, "...Satisfied?"
"Who am I to judge parenting?" Chen Liejiu dodged responsibility. "But surely you know what made my husband cough blood?"
Aunt Gui's heart shattered. "My...my ill-mannered child provoked him. Please—take a chicken for his recovery!"
Selecting her prized laying hen—worth hundreds of coins—felt like severing a limb. But survival outweighed poultry.
Back home, Chen Liejiu tossed the fat hen into the yard. "Solved. Chicken stew tonight!"
Xu Huaixian and Xiaomei had only heard the neighboring uproar—Pillar's wails, clucking chaos—before Chen Liejiu returned victorious.
Xiaomei gaped at the plump chicken. "How...?"
"Negotiation skills." Chen Liejiu winked at Xu Huaixian—See? I learn from the best.
Xu Huaixian coughed into his (now infamous) handkerchief. This family's penchant for dramatics will be my death—real or feigned.