Halfway home, Shen Zhuxi ran into Li Que, who had come to meet her.

“I’m glad Shen sister is alright. When Big Brother saw only Second Brother come back alone, he was furious,” Li Que said, glancing at Shen Zhuxi’s empty hands. “What happened to everything Shen sister bought?”

“I asked the shopkeepers to deliver everything to the house when they have time,” Shen Zhuxi said. “They all agreed.”

“That’s good.” Li Que grinned. “If Big Brother saw you come back empty-handed and flustered, he’d be even angrier.”

Shen Zhuxi walked with him back to the Li family courtyard. Li Que pushed the gate open ahead of her and waited at the entrance for her to go in. She thanked him and stepped through the wicker gate — and immediately spotted Li Kun kneeling beneath the osmanthus tree with both arms raised high above his head.

Li Kun heard the gate open but didn’t look at her, staring forlornly at the patch of sandy dirt before him.

The main hall’s door stood wide open. Li Wu sat on a long bench with his legs spread wide; two plump lotus-leaf parcels sat on the table beside a sealed jar of wine.

Shen Zhuxi walked into the main hall. She wanted to plead for Li Kun but didn’t know how to begin. Li Wu glanced at her and spoke first. “Did anything happen on the road?”

“Nothing.” Shen Zhuxi shook her head, and seized the moment. “Let him off.”

“It’s not only your matter.” Li Wu frowned. “I went to Sui’s Chicken Shop, and that wretched woman Sui Rui pointed at my nose and screamed at me. She even deliberately picked the smallest roast chicken for me. She’s claiming Li Kun stole her hairpin and demanding I pay her back a hundredfold.”

Li Wu’s anger surged as he spoke. He stood and walked to the doorway, addressing Li Kun who was kneeling beneath the tree. “What is wrong with you? Last time you stole someone’s purse, and now someone else’s hairpin — these are women’s personal belongings. If you actually like them that much, say the word and I’ll buy them for you, can’t I?”

Li Kun said nothing as he was scolded, only pressed his lips together harder, looking utterly aggrieved.

“Stop yelling at him…” Shen Zhuxi said softly. “Does anyone else know whether he’s stolen other things?”

“How would I know even if he had? Across this whole town, only that wretched Sui Rui would dare report him.”

Shen Zhuxi steered Li Wu back inside. “Stop yelling at him. Let me go talk to him.”

Once Li Wu had unwillingly settled back onto the bench, Shen Zhuxi returned to the courtyard. Li Que, who had been standing in front of Li Kun, took his cue and walked back toward Li Wu.

Shen Zhuxi stopped in front of Li Kun. “Did you really take Sui Rui’s hairpin?”

Li Kun neither denied nor confirmed it, standing with his head bowed in silence.

“Your big brother bought roast chicken. If you can’t calm his anger, you won’t get any roast chicken tonight.”

That worked better than anything else ever could. Li Kun’s head jerked up in alarm. “I want roast chicken…”

“Tell me the truth, and I’ll find a way to get you roast chicken. All right?”

Li Kun hesitated for a long moment, then murmured an almost inaudible “All right.”

“Did you take Sui Rui’s hairpin?”

He gave a listless nod. Shen Zhuxi furrowed her brows. “Why did you take someone else’s hairpin?”

“Because I wanted to.” He said flatly.

Shen Zhuxi crouched down in front of him and reasoned patiently. “Without someone’s permission, you can’t just take their things. You wouldn’t want me taking your things without asking, would you?”

Li Kun suddenly flared up, slamming his large fist into the ground. “I just wanted to!”

From inside the main hall, Li Wu bellowed: “Try hitting the ground one more time and see what happens!”

Li Kun deflated at once, shrinking his neck and going silent.

Shen Zhuxi had startled at the outburst, but Li Wu’s presence gave her the courage to continue. She stopped pushing Li Kun to explain himself and said instead, “In that case, let’s not bring up the past. Can you promise me that from now on, you won’t take anyone’s things without their permission?”

Silence.

“If you promise, I’ll tell your big brother that you’ve corrected your mistake, and tonight’s roast chicken will still have a portion for you.”

“…Diao’er has corrected it.” Li Kun muttered.

Shen Zhuxi smiled gently. “You’re Li Kun now. The bad habits of the Diao’er you used to be cannot be carried over.”

She reached out and tentatively patted his shoulder. Li Kun lifted his guileless eyes and glanced at her, offering no resistance.

Shen Zhuxi pressed on. “Now, take that hairpin back to Miss Sui and apologize to her. From what I’ve seen, Miss Sui speaks her mind — she seems like an open-hearted person. If you apologize sincerely, she won’t hold a grudge against you.”

“Big Brother won’t let me get up…” he mumbled.

“Once Big Brother knows you’re going to apologize, he’ll naturally let you get up,” Shen Zhuxi said. “Go on. I’ll be here waiting with your big brother, and the roast chicken will be waiting on the table too.”

Li Kun slowly got to his feet, and Shen Zhuxi stood as well. He glanced at Li Wu sitting stone-faced inside the main hall, then turned and headed out the gate.

After Shen Zhuxi returned to the main hall, Li Wu asked, “Where did he go?”

“He went to return the item to Miss Sui and apologize,” Shen Zhuxi said.

Li Wu’s expression eased slightly. He tore away the seal on the wine jar and tipped it up with one hand, pouring directly into his mouth. He drank long and deep, his throat bobbing with each swallow. When he finally set the jar down again, it was visibly lighter.

He had drunk a great deal, yet showed not the slightest trace of intoxication. Shen Zhuxi watched him, both astonished and a little wary.

Li Que was long accustomed to his extravagant drinking and said, “Big Brother, don’t let Second Brother trouble you. He’s always been unreliable — this is nothing more than a minor nuisance. No need to get angry over it.”

“I don’t mind when he causes trouble for me. What I fear is that he’ll cause trouble with people we can’t afford to offend.” Li Wu said with a stern expression. “Who knows how much longer we’ll be in Yutou Town. If he keeps this up once we’ve left — sooner or later there will come a day when I can no longer protect him.”

Li Que sat down at the table and said nothing in response.

Shen Zhuxi couldn’t help asking, “Why won’t you be staying in Yutou Town much longer?”

Li Wu glanced at her. “It’s nothing. Nothing certain.”

In truth, even though Shen Zhuxi had said nothing about the roast chicken, Li Wu had made no move to unwrap the lotus-leaf parcels — not until Li Kun came panting back through the door, at which point he made a show of untying the string on the parcel.

“Roast chicken… mine! I apologized… it’s mine… roast chicken… wait for me…”

Li Kun came stampeding in on his big feet, dropped into his seat, and immediately hugged the lotus-leaf parcel to his chest.

“Put it down!” Li Wu’s face darkened. Li Kun reluctantly released the roast chicken, looking as though he were about to cry.

“Go wash your hands,” Li Wu said.

Li Kun’s face lit up with delight, and he sprinted to the back courtyard — every bit like a child.

Shen Zhuxi went to wash her hands too, and Li Wu followed. The two of them cleaned their hands with soap beans, then she returned to the table and helped Li Que unwrap the parcel of steamed buns. As head of the household, Li Wu took on the important duty of carving the roast chicken.

Beneath the lotus leaf, the roast chicken gleamed with a vivid, appetizing color, its wings and claws tucked snugly against its sides in the shape of a gold ingot. The meat had been thoroughly cooked through and had already pulled away from the bone. Li Wu dismembered it with ease — the pale reddish crispy skin cracking at the joints, revealing tender, juice-filled meat beneath. The more he carved, the richer the fragrance that filled the room.

Li Kun’s eyes had long gone wide, and he swallowed repeatedly. Even the finicky Shen Zhuxi found her appetite stirred by the irresistible aroma.

When the whole chicken had been carved — wings from wings, legs from legs — they lay arranged in the porcelain basin. Li Wu picked up the largest drumstick. Li Kun’s gaze followed its arc — from mid-air, all the way into Shen Zhuxi’s bowl.

“…Thank you.” Shen Zhuxi was caught off guard.

The second drumstick, he placed in Li Kun’s bowl. Li Kun picked it up without a moment’s delay.

Both chicken wings went into Li Que’s bowl. Li Que said, “I don’t need two. Big Brother, have one.”

Li Wu didn’t look up. “If it’s yours to eat, then eat it.”

Last of all, Li Wu took a section of chicken neck for himself.

“Big Brother, come have a chicken wing.” Li Que raised his chopsticks toward his own bowl.

Li Wu shielded his own bowl with one hand, picked up the chicken neck in the other, and started gnawing on it bare-handed.

“I love chicken neck. It’s the best part.”

Shen Zhuxi picked up the drumstick in her bowl and gently bit into the meatiest part. The chicken was tender yet springy; the moment her teeth sank into the firm flesh, a rich, aromatic braising sauce seeped out from the meat.

“Delicious!”

Shen Zhuxi felt like some sheltered country girl who had never seen the world — she’d called the taro cakes delicious, she’d called the shredded bamboo shoots delicious, and now here she was calling the roast chicken delicious too. But truly, she could offer no other review. How could such an ordinary ingredient taste a hundred times better than anything the imperial kitchen’s finest chefs could produce?

Li Que sighed appreciatively beside her. “The Sui family’s way with chicken is truly something else.”

Li Wu wordlessly gestured for Li Que to pour wine into his bowl. Li Que poured one full bowl, which Li Wu drained in a single breath, then Li Que, anticipating this, refilled it a second time before setting down the jar.

Li Wu drank deeply and ate sparingly at the meat; Li Que occasionally joined him for a sip. Li Kun had the simplest approach of all — head down, eating without pause. Steamed buns vanished from beside his mouth one after another; when he was thirsty, he gulped down plain water, wholly indifferent to everything else.

Shen Zhuxi ate in small, careful bites, and before she realized it, had finished an entire drumstick. Li Wu used his chopsticks to lift a large piece of clean meat from the body of the chicken and placed it in Shen Zhuxi’s bowl.

“I really can’t eat anymore…” Shen Zhuxi startled.

“You haven’t even touched a bun yet, and you say you can’t eat more?” Li Wu said with displeasure. “Eat.”

Shen Zhuxi could only extend her chopsticks again toward the chicken in her bowl.

“What did you buy today?” Li Wu asked.

“A few everyday outfits, a jade-green hairpin, an incense burner for scenting the bedding… I also bought mulberries and loquats, which were left at the Jin Yin Lou shop — the proprietress said she’d send someone to deliver them tonight. And a few poetry collections. Oh, and… I also bought some literacy primers for you…”

Li Wu cut her off. “Did you buy wedding clothes and red candles?”

Shen Zhuxi’s heart gave a little jump. “…I forgot to buy red candles.”

“And the paper decorations?”

Shen Zhuxi stared at him blankly. “What paper decorations?”

“You’re getting married — shouldn’t you paste the happiness characters on the door? You…” Li Wu paused, then let out a sigh. “Never mind. I’ll bring them home tomorrow.”

Shen Zhuxi felt a little guilty. “How about I go back out early tomorrow morning?”

Li Wu spat out the chicken neck he’d gnawed completely clean. “You didn’t buy much of anything, did you.”

“Shen sister had quite a procession earlier — I was telling Big Brother this wedding was going to bankrupt him,” Li Que said with a laugh.

Li Wu sniffed dismissively. “It’s just one more person eating and living under the same roof. How much could it possibly cost?”

Li Que said, “Shen sister doesn’t eat much either, so naturally it won’t cost much.”

“And besides, I know every shop in Yutou County. Unless she manages to haul the entirety of the Jin Yu Lou back to this house, there’s no way—”

Before Li Wu could finish, a clamor of voices suddenly rose outside the wicker fence, all coming to a stop right at the Li family gate.

A loud voice rang out:

“Brother Li! Brother Li!”

Li Que was quick on his feet and jogged to the gate at once. He opened it — and his expression turned peculiar. He looked back at Li Wu without a word.

“What is it?”

Li Wu set down his gnawed-clean chicken neck, wiped his hands casually on a lotus leaf, and walked to the doorway.

Shen Zhuxi followed him out — leaving only Li Kun behind, still wholly absorbed in his roast chicken and steamed buns.

“Who is it…”

Li Wu lazily leaned his head out through the gate — and went still.

Dozens of people stood at his door, seven or eight ox-drawn carts lined up behind them. They all wore the expressions of people celebrating a great holiday, and announced in unison:

“Brother Li, we’ve brought your deliveries!”