The Hu family house had long fallen into disrepair. Several dusty bamboo chairs and long benches now came in handy.

Everyone looked at the withered, shriveled old woman on the bamboo chair, thinking to themselves: Coming to this old Hu residence was the right decision.

The longest-lived old woman in the entire fishing village turned out to be Old Matriarch Ji’s closest childhood friend.

“Hu Yong, did she never marry?” Yan Sanhe asked.

Hu Yong shook his head. “This old hag had bad luck—married off, couldn’t bear children, and was sent back.”

Yan Sanhe asked, “Her natal family’s brothers and sisters-in-law accepted her?”

Hu Yong smiled crookedly. “Who dared not accept her? This old hag is formidable. Be careful—she keeps a knife on her.”

“Where’s her family?”

“She cursed them all to death, one by one.”

“Hu grand-nephew.”

The woman popped a soybean into her mouth, chewing it with loud crunches, her eyes narrowing to slits. “Be careful you’re next.”

“Listen, just listen to that!”

Hu Yong was about to continue when Yan Sanhe looked over coldly, and he quickly shut his mouth obediently.

Yan Sanhe moved the bamboo chair forward. “Old one, your teeth are so good—how’s your alcohol tolerance?”

The old woman squinted. “Half a jin of strong liquor is no problem, but the drinking snack must be pig’s head meat. Without pig’s head meat, I won’t drink.”

Yan Sanhe looked at Hu Yong. “Where can we buy it?”

Hu Yong quickly said, “Right at the village entrance.”

“I’ll go!”

Zhu Qing had already leaped away.

Yan Sanhe smiled faintly at the old woman. “Once the pig’s head meat is bought, old one, I’ll drink a few cups with you.”

“I don’t drink with little girls.”

The old woman pointed at Xie Zhifei, grinning to reveal several yellow teeth. “This young fellow is handsome—I’ll drink with him.”

Everyone’s eyes focused on Xie Zhifei.

Xie Zhifei didn’t get angry but smiled instead. “Old one, you have good taste.”

“I’ve lived seventy years—if I didn’t even have that much judgment… Get away!”

The old woman glared at Yan Sanhe with disgust, then beckoned to Xie Zhifei. “Young fellow, come sit quickly.”

Yan Sanhe stood up and calmly glanced at Xie Zhifei.

Xie Zhifei nodded at her and calmly sat on the bamboo chair. “Old matriarch, what’s your surname?”

“This is Hu Family Village—what do you think?”

“I’m asking your given name.”

“Properly speaking, a woman’s maiden name shouldn’t be told to just anyone.”

The old woman smacked her shriveled lips. “Since you’re handsome, I’ll only tell you—my name is Hu Zhen. When I was young, they all called me Sister Zhen.”

“Good name.”

Xie Zhifei praised, then asked, “Sister Zhen, do you know Hu Yong’s aunt—the one who married into the Ji family in the capital?”

That “Sister Zhen” almost made everyone want to vomit.

Withered and shriveled was one thing, wrinkles all over the face was another, dirty and disheveled clothes was acceptable, but the key was this old matriarch had lost all her eyebrows and hair.

Wait, no—there was still one tuft left on the back of her head, the last defiance of her entire scalp.

Only Yan Sanhe barely perceptibly curved her eyes.

Sister Zhen, sporting her last defiance, laughed until her whole body trembled. “Young fellow, what’s your name?”

Xie Zhifei answered with complete composure. “Surname Xie, given name Zhifei. You can call me Brother Fei!”

Sister Zhen flashed her yellow teeth. “Brother Fei.”

Pei Xiao turned his head: Ugh!

Just then, Zhu Qing returned hurriedly carrying things.

Once the liquor and meat were set out, Xie Zhifei filled Sister Zhen’s cup and placed a chopstick-full of meat in her bowl.

Sister Zhen directly grabbed a piece of meat with her hand and stuffed it in her mouth.

After chewing a few times, she swallowed it with a gulp.

Xie Zhifei thought to himself: Sister Zhen, even I’m worried you’ll choke.

After five pieces of meat and a bowl of liquor, Sister Zhen’s wrinkles seemed to reduce by two. “You’re asking about Hu Sanmei—has she gone to see the King of Hell?”

So Old Matriarch Ji’s maiden name was Hu Sanmei.

Xie Zhifei nodded. “Yes, she’s gone.”

Sister Zhen glanced coldly at Hu Yong. “I knew it. If she weren’t dead, no one from the capital would come.”

Yan Sanhe reached out and rested her hand on Xie Zhifei’s bamboo chair, her slender index finger poking forward, very lightly touching Xie Zhifei.

Xie Zhifei’s back tensed. After thinking for a moment, he asked, “Why? If she were alive, no one from the capital would come?”

Sister Zhen sneered coldly. “Before Sanmei left, she told me she would never return to Dongxing in this lifetime, nor let her children and grandchildren come back.”

“I know.”

Xie Zhifei said, “She was forced to go to the capital. She had a lover here.”

This transition was extremely natural!

Yan Sanhe couldn’t help but praise him inwardly.

“Who was her lover?” Xie Zhifei looked at Sister Zhen with a roguish smile.

Third Master’s smile was quite different from other men’s.

Other men’s smiles either lifted the corners of their mouths, appearing somewhat reserved, or they laughed heartily, appearing bold.

Third Master was different.

When Third Master truly smiled, his lips curved, his brows curved, his eyes curved.

That roguish manner made one feel the handsome man before them was smiling at you with genuine sincerity.

In this world, how many people could smile with genuine sincerity at an old woman rejected by her husband’s family and despised by her natal family?

Sister Zhen’s cloudy eyes seemed to open a crack, revealing some brightness.

“Her lover, tsk tsk tsk, was even more handsome than you.”

More handsome than me?

Xie Zhifei thought to himself: Stop joking.

Another poke came at his back, followed by Yan Sanhe’s very soft murmur in his ear: “Hu Sanmei’s looks also seem rather ordinary.”

Xie Zhifei’s heart stirred, and he picked up the thread. “Exactly—her skin wasn’t fair, her figure wasn’t graceful. How could her lover be so handsome?”

“That’s why we say she had good fortune!”

Sister Zhen belched.

“It was supposed to be me. If I hadn’t gotten a leg cramp, he would have met me first. What would Sanmei have had to do with it…”

Xie Zhifei couldn’t suppress his inner excitement. His head tilted, his peripheral vision glancing at Yan Sanhe: See that? I’ve drawn out her story.

Yan Sanhe blinked lightly: Well done!

The story was actually quite simple.

Sixty years ago, Hu Sanmei and Sister Zhen had just turned eight, following adults on boats every day through wind and rain.

One sweltering summer afternoon, the two little sisters secretly ran to play by the river.

Suddenly, a pitiful dog’s barking came from the middle of the river. Sister Zhen, who was good at swimming, said she would swim over to look, but after swimming just a few strokes, her leg cramped.

Hu Sanmei heard the dog barking so pitifully that after helping Sister Zhen to the shore to rest, she jumped into the Beicang River with a splash.

At that moment, on the other side of the Beicang River, someone else who had heard the dog’s barking was also desperately swimming toward the middle.

Reaching the center, two heads popped out of the water almost simultaneously, eyes meeting.

Before they could say a word, they saw the dog splash twice and sink.

Only then did they realize the dog was pregnant and about to give birth.

So one person frantically grabbed the dying mother dog, while the other took off their clothes and dove underwater to catch the puppies…

“That mother dog gave birth to four puppies in one breath. Only one survived. He named the survivor Heidan—Black Egg.

Sanmei would raise it for a few days, then row a boat to deliver it to him. He’d raise it for a few days, then row a boat to bring it back to Sanmei.”

Sister Zhen gulped down some liquor, her face suddenly surging with a fierce energy. “Tell me, what kind of fate is that?”

Xie Zhifei asked, “What kind of fate?”

Sister Zhen replied, “Dog-shit fate.”

“Sister Zhen.”

Xie Zhifei said gently, “You liked him in your heart too, didn’t you?”