Blinking, the New Year had arrived, but for the old and young men of Qinwei Alley, it was days spent lacking for nothing, yet this season meant a great deal of tiring social calls and obligations.

Not only did Chen Dasheng and his wife have to go busy themselves at the Yandu Prince’s Mansion, but even the several households remaining in Qinwei Alley couldn’t rest easy either. Having lived in Qingfeng Mansion for several years now, there were work relationships, bonds they’d formed, favors owed to them, favors they owed others, and finally marriage connections — every household had to pay their respects, with visits given and received.

The officials did get time off, but no one had ever heard of guards getting a holiday. If everyone scattered off, the Emperor himself would have to stand guard at the south gate with a blade.

So it was that from the first to the seventh day of the new year, Chen Dasheng and the others were extremely busy, each leaving the lady of the house to work like a beast of burden, until the tenth day of the first month, when they could finally catch their breath.

By the Emperor’s grace, they were allowed to return home to spend the tail end of the festival, and were to report back to their posts on the sixteenth.

That morning, Chen Dasheng got up and took the initiative to look after the two children himself. He called together his three older brothers, and together with Dingxiang, they went to gather at the Old Madam’s place.

Today everyone brought along the children old enough to be carried out into the wind, and with all the little ones mixed together, the whole way there was very lively.

The scale of it was about on par with butchering pigs and slaughtering sheep — lively to the point of being ear-splitting.

The moment this group entered the door, they saw the Old Madam on her heated platform bed playing dominoes with a few maids. She was still stingy as ever — unwilling to gamble real money even with her maids and old servant women, so behind closed doors the stakes were a bowl of fried beans, though they played just as intensely for it.

When the Old Madam saw Chen Dasheng and the others arrive, her eyes filled with tender affection, and she said, her whole body radiating joy: “Oh my, and here I thought I’d get to rest today. Well, look at this, can’t I have a moment’s peace? What are you all doing crowding in here to bother me? You — why haven’t you all rested? How many days have you all been busy now?”

The Old Madam’s voice wasn’t loud, and it was drowned out, broken up by the sound of children’s mischief filling the room.

Hearing that Gennu’er and the others had arrived, Lanting Ge’er came bursting excitedly from the side room. Xique, looking a bit flustered, tugged at her new padded jacket and skirt as she followed after him — a proper little lady, she didn’t dare run, and instead took small, careful steps into the room. When she saw her nieces, she smiled until her eyes curved into crescents, first bowing in greeting to her older brothers and sisters, and only then reaching out to scoop up Gennu’er.

She adored Gennu’er.

This was a case of one child seeking out another — Lanting himself wasn’t much older, but he’d always been endlessly patient and yielding with his nephews and nieces, a hundred times better in that regard than his father.

He’d even taken his monthly allowance and, together with Xique, wrapped up a good number of small red packets. Then, come New Year’s Day, he sat properly at the old family home and, with great solemnity, accepted the greetings of the younger generation, handing out New Year’s money to each of them.

The little uncle had been raised by A’Nai, and his character had been shaped far more by his sisters-in-law and older brothers than by anything else, having rarely been together with his father over the years. He hardly resembled Chen Sini’s son at all. If you asked who he took after — he took after Quanhou Street, behaving just like the young masters of the neighboring alleys.

Plump and generous, not one for overthinking things, innocent and lively.

When the two nephews saw their little uncle, they got excited too. Gennu’er wriggled free of Xique’s arms and hugged his little uncle’s leg, doing his best to curry favor — over the past ten days, their uncle had often put on shows for them, setting off firecrackers and small fireworks.

Seeing his uncle’s excitement, An’er bounced around like an excited little monkey, his mouth mimicking the sound of firecrackers, going “pa pa pa pa” over and over, his expression wide-eyed with wonder, gasping in astonishment with each pop.

Tsk, and here we thought he was supposed to be a little noble — so much for being a man of few words.

The adults all laughed together. Chen Dasheng called for the maids and old women to keep a close eye on the children, then generously handed the two boys over to their little uncle to lead them out to play in the courtyard.

Lanting Ge’er was delighted, leading the steady-footed Gennu along, frequently looking back to check on An’er, and slowing his pace to wait for Heiniu and the other girls.

All of this needed tending to — the young masters of a great clan couldn’t just look after themselves alone from a young age; they had to first learn to look after those around them, to be considerate of everyone.

Even so, he still wasn’t quite there yet.

Young masters and misses from other noble households had already begun learning proper etiquette and rules by this age. The Old Chen family had, with some effort, established a few rules of their own — well, things like not wasting food, studying diligently, and so on — but they didn’t restrict the children from playing.

They were all family’s own children after all, how could they not dote on them? Others aside, Third Brother Chen Dayong kept his eyes fixed on them the whole time, smiling so sweetly it was almost saccharine.

As they reached the door, he finally called out: “Watch them closely down there, don’t you dare let the young masters and misses hurt their hands — it’d be bad if they couldn’t hold a writing brush after the New Year.”

Lanting Ge’er’s cheerful voice carried back from outside the door: “Got it, Third Brother! I’ll keep my distance, and I’ll watch that they keep their distance too, and not let them get into mischief.”

Seeing how close and affectionate they were with each other, the Old Madam smiled and said to Chen Dasheng and the others: “He doesn’t take after his father one bit — such a righteous, kind-hearted child. Whatever nice little thing comes into his hands, he saves it for his nephews and nieces. He really has the manner of an elder about him.”

That was true. Whether it was Xique or Lanting, everyone had watched them grow up, and no one had ever really thought of these two children as belonging to that other branch — they were simply treated as children of the old family home.

The Fourth Branch was in quite a mess these days. Chen Sini didn’t even dare bring back the several children born to his little concubines afterward, since his mother was thoroughly disgusted by the whole business of taking concubines.

As it stood, the only one they’d ever seen was Cuiying, whom Qiao Shi occasionally brought along. This girl wasn’t very bold — every time she arrived at the gate of the old family home she’d shrink back timidly, and the moment she saw the Old Madam she’d start crying.

She cried so often that eventually Qiao Shi simply stopped bringing her.

The Old Madam had her own thoughts about the matter in her heart, and so she always spoke kindly of Xique and Lanting to the others. The brothers all knew exactly what she meant by it, and they’d smile and go along with it — after all, who had nothing better to do than spend their days bickering with children who’d just recently been out of split-crotch pants? It wasn’t worth the trouble.

The children in the courtyard laughed and giggled, and the adults inside laughed too, though everyone secretly harbored the same thought: it had been only a few years, and already the Old Chen family’s children were running wild all over the place.

The Old Madam watched for a good long while before finally looking up to ask Chen Dasheng and the others: “So you’ve all come today just to mooch a meal off me?”

Chen Dazhong said with a beaming smile: “A’Nai, it’ll take at least three meals. They’ve been worked half to death these past days — let’s give them a chance to relax and unwind today.”

Oh my, so her grandsons planned to keep her company for the whole day?

The Old Madam was overjoyed beyond words, rattling off a string of instructions — bring out the leftover lamb’s head meat from New Year’s Day, steam up the leftover steamed buns from the third day too, and don’t be stingy with those last few pieces of beef from the fifth day, cut it all up for the grandsons and granddaughters.

She doted so much on these grandchildren, and though the family now had some accumulated wealth, the Old Madam still wouldn’t make anything new until the leftovers were finished — she always found some way to make sure everyone ate it all up.

Fortunately, none of these children were picky eaters, and they didn’t think twice about it.

Once the Old Madam finished giving her instructions, she asked Chen Dasheng: “For the whole day today, why don’t we call over that lady storyteller your Aunt Lu hired before the New Year, and have her tell a few stories?”

Chen Dasheng sat cross-legged on the platform bed, grabbed a handful of beans, and said between bites: “Why call a lady storyteller? A’Nai, if you want to hear something interesting, your grandson has plenty of stories himself — all rare, curious happenings that took place in Yandu this year.”

The Old Madam was delighted to hear this and quickly urged Chen Dasheng to begin, but she failed to notice the strange looks exchanged between her grandsons and Dingxiang.

Chen Dasheng took a sip of tea, wiped his mouth, thought for a moment, and then said with a smile: “A’Nai, today I’ll tell you about a fool’s case that Shuntian Prefecture handled on the second day of the New Year.”

The Old Madam was astonished: “A fool’s case? Can a fool even commit a crime?”

Chen Dazhong shook his head with a laugh from the side: “It’s not quite like that. What they mean is there’s a family that could be called utter fools from top to bottom — calling them fools would practically be a compliment.”

The Old Madam loved curious stories more than anything, and she was hooked immediately. “Oh? So you all know about this too?”

Chen Dayong climbed onto the platform bed and leaned against the Old Madam’s shoulder: “Something this big, all of Yandu knew about it long ago. I’ve seen foolish before, but never foolish to this degree.”

Chen Dayi argued back: “Foolish? Ha, once you hear the whole chain of events, I’d say they’re not foolish at all.”

The Old Madam grew impatient: “Oh, just hurry up and tell it. Going on and on without ever getting to the point — you’re going to drive me mad.”

Worried the Old Madam would grow anxious, Chen Dasheng quickly took her hand and said: “Don’t you worry. Let me ask you first — do you know of a place called Ziye?”

The Old Madam thought for a moment, and as she recalled something, her face darkened. She said, somewhat stifled: “Of course I know it. Ziye — that’s not far from where our family suffered our misfortune. What, is this family from Ziye?”

Chen Dasheng nodded: “Yes, A’Nai, you’ve heard so many stories, the moment I mention it you already know. That’s right, this family is indeed from Ziye. Their surname is Lan — in the previous dynasty they were a household granted an imperial residence, a great family that produced countless scholars. Back when their ancestors were at their height, half the land in Ziye belonged to the Lan family…”

The Old Madam herself was the matriarch of a great household, and she was even the sworn godmother of a prince, yet she carried none of the airs of a noble household’s old matriarch. In her leisure time, she loved nothing more than hearing stories of great households, and to her mind, a family with three to five hundred mu of land already counted as “great.”

A few years back it had been even worse — she’d thought that having plain rice to eat every day, enough to fill your stomach, and a family with a few dozen mu of good farmland, that already counted as a great household.

She did some mental math — half of Ziye would be at least a thousand mu of land — and the Old Madam exclaimed in astonishment: “Goodness? That wealthy?”

Chen Dayi nodded with a smile: “Indeed. I know about this too — the roots of it go back to the year before last…”

Chen Dasheng, annoyed that his brother was straying too far off track, said with a laugh: “Second Brother, you’re getting ahead of things — you haven’t even gotten to the point yet.”

Of the four grandsons, you could tell from the fact that Chen Dasheng had once traded ten strings of cash for Qiqian’er just how partial the Old Madam was — with the youngest, Lanting, absent, she favored Chen Dasheng, all while believing herself to be perfectly fair.

The Old Madam waved a hand at Chen Dayi: “Never mind you, let our Choutou tell it…” Then something occurred to her, and her face suddenly darkened as she asked Chen Dasheng: “Surname Lan? The Lan family of Ziye? Aren’t they our family’s enemies?”

The Old Madam had grown more and more forgetful these past years, but of the handful of deep grudges she carried in this life, all of them were tied to that Lan family.

The year before last, they’d found the true culprit and offered sacrifices to the departed, and the Old Madam had felt the matter was finally settled, choosing to deliberately forget about that household.

But now that Chen Dasheng had brought it up, the Old Madam remembered again — how could she ever forget? That was the family that had ruined the entire Chen clan, selling off the men and boys of the household into indentured servitude.

Yet that family had had some good ancestor who’d left blessings for his descendants, so the Chen family, however justified, had never been able to take their revenge, and it left a lingering resentment in their hearts.

The Old Madam’s eyes lit up, though her tone was probing as she asked Chen Dasheng: “Could it be — that eldest young master from the Lan family’s main branch, the one called Lan-something? Has he — has he finally gotten his comeuppance? Has he fallen on hard times?”

Chen Dasheng said: “Yes, it’s exactly him who’s fallen on hard times! The clan heir of the Lan family, Lan Zili.”

Hearing this, the Old Madam let out a light laugh, reached out and idly scattered some dried fruit peels across the table, seemingly doodling something with them for a good while before she spoke: “This old woman of mine is a devout Buddhist, but hearing about the Lan family’s misfortune fills my heart with such satisfaction. Amitabha, Buddha forgive me, I can’t let go of this grudge — truly, it’s a sin.”

Then she added: “Come now, it’s the New Year, all good things happening — go on, tell your A’Nai in detail, how exactly did he fall on hard times?”

She glanced out the door, then up at the ceiling, and added: “Of course I wish everyone well, being a devout woman of faith, I believe in karma and cause and effect. But if he’s received his karmic retribution, well, there’s nothing this old woman can do about it! If he startled a horse while going out and fell to his death, or choked while eating, or suffocated — well, then that has nothing to do with this old woman anymore, does it? Buddha can attest, it won’t touch our family’s blessings — after all, I’ve given out porridge to the poor for so long.”

Chen Dasheng held back a laugh and finally told A’Nai the whole story in detail.

As it happened, that year Lan Zili had lost the two hundred thousand strings of cash that the whole clan had pooled together to support him, all squandered in Yandu. Down on his luck but still unwilling to accept defeat, and believing himself the most capable among them, in his desperation he decided to try his hand at Yandu.

In the end, word got out that this fellow had taken a certain Eunuch Qian — said to be a seal-keeper in the palace — as his sworn godfather, and from there he somehow managed to pull himself back up.

Hearing this, the Old Madam studied her grandsons carefully for a moment before interjecting with a laugh: “There sure are a lot of these sworn godfathers going around these days — he wanted one, and just like that, there was one available?”

Chen Dasheng nodded with a smile: “There was. And once he had this eunuch as his godfather, he treated him as if he were his own real father, supporting him and everything.”

The Old Madam grabbed a handful of beans to eat: “Oh? So he understood filial piety too? This Eunuch Qian — does your father know him?”

Chen Dasheng shook his head: “A total fraud. How would my father know him?”

The Old Madam’s face lit up like a flower, and she nodded with a sigh: “A fraud is good — a fraud deserves to be well taken care of, best to keep him properly enshrined and worshipped.”

Chen Dasheng coughed: “Ah — pretty much enshrined, yes. The man was truly filial — treated him better than his own real father ever was! Just to please this godfather, Lan Anjiang wrote back to the clan and had them scrape together another hundred thousand strings of cash to send to the capital, and even married off a widowed aunt who’d returned to her maiden family to this godfather as his wife.”

The Old Madam looked at Chen Dasheng in astonishment: “Wasn’t that ruining the poor woman’s life? Being a widow was already hard enough on her, and now she’s fallen into this pit too.”

Chen Dasheng, however, looked somewhat dazed as he said with a smile: “Hard? That Aunt Lan was quite the capable woman herself. She had a good head for managing a household, had actually read proper books, and once remarried, she kept having the clan send money and grain, harboring great ambitions to pull the whole clan into Yandu. In the end, she bought a grand estate on the east side of Yandu, furnished it properly, and became a thoroughly respectable lady of the house.”

Chen Dazhong chimed in: “This Aunt Lan spent money like water — they say she and her nephew together demanded several hundred thousand strings of cash from the old family back in Ziye.”

The Old Madam was stunned: “Se-several hundred thousand strings?”

All four brothers nodded together: “Yes! Several hundred thousand!”

The Old Madam gritted her teeth and asked: “And they just gave it to them?!”

Chen Dasheng spread his hands: “If there was hope of gain, they gave! Selling the pots and pans, mortgaging houses and selling land — all for the great fortune Eunuch Qian had promised. The entire Lan clan scraped together money and grain, one after another unable to resist swarming into Yandu… tsk, and it wasn’t long before the younger generation of the Lan family, in their filial devotion, found their godfather — and grand-godfather — another seven or eight little concubines. Quite the lively affair.”

The Old Madam blinked: “That — isn’t that just sinful?”

Chen Dasheng shook his head helplessly: “Sinful? They never thought of it that way. That Chief Steward Qian was quite the operator too — before long he’d arranged an entry-level position for Lan Zili in a department under the Ministry of Revenue, and after that the Lan family became even more devoted, and their reputation grew even more glorious.”

Chen Dasheng, quite pleased with himself at this point in the story, patted the table and let out a long, satisfied breath.

The servants brought out drinking snacks. Chen Dayong poured himself a cup and said with a laugh: “A’Nai, you have no idea — back then, that Lan family on the east side of Yandu held banquets and opera performances every single day. You didn’t even need to be someone of standing — you could just make up some identity on the spot and go eat and drink at their place, and they’d welcome you warmly and treat you with the utmost hospitality.”

Chen Dasheng raised his cup, clinked it with his brothers, downed it in one gulp, wiped his mouth and said with a laugh: “There was a stretch of time when our old camp wasn’t lighting the cooking fires, so a few of us brothers disguised ourselves, claimed to be from the Tan family of the Ministry of War, and walked right in through their gate. They sat us at the place of honor, gave us plenty to eat and drink, and wouldn’t let us leave empty-handed either — everyone got a little something stuffed into their hands on the way out, sometimes a few taels of silver, sometimes a jade token or something. If it weren’t for a training assignment out of town later on, we would’ve planned to eat at their place all winter.”

Chen Dayi laughed lightly: “I went and ate there too. Even the cheapest banquet was made by chefs from the famous restaurants in the capital — must’ve cost seven or eight strings of cash.”

The Old Madam turned the matter over and over in her mind, unable to believe such things could really happen in this world.

She asked: “So whatever you told them, they just believed it?”

Chen Dasheng laughed lightly: “Well, wasn’t there that Eunuch Qian? Every time we went, we’d just deliberately act familiar with him when we ran into him, casually name some department, and Chief Steward Qian himself would vouch for us, confirming we were young generals from the Tan family, and that it was purely out of respect for him that we’d come to visit.”

Chen Dayong downed another cup: “It wasn’t just us either. Yandu never lacked for shrewd operators — countless people who saw through the whole scheme still went to eat and drink for free. With such a good setup available, who’d want to expose it? Over time, the Lan family’s little banquets became famous throughout Yandu.

A’Nai, do you know? Every time I went, the people sitting around me were officials from the Six Ministries, and the Lan family would be beaming with joy, exchanging toasts with us, going on and on about how they had connections in this department, brothers in that department… heh, what Six Ministries — just a bunch of old scoundrels.”

“Ha—!” Chen Dayi pressed his lips together and smiled: “There were plenty of people we often saw squatting outside government offices, trying to work connections to skim off a little profit.”

The Old Madam asked: “Did no one ever expose it?”

The Chen brothers shook their heads together again. A strange flush rose on Chen Dasheng’s face as he said: “A’Nai, you always used to tell us that the most dangerous thing in this world is greed — once someone falls into that trap of greed, nothing anyone says will help. They deceive themselves first, before anyone else does.

That entire household had fallen under a spell — not only did they themselves firmly believe it, they even wrote letters back to Ziye, boasting to the local prominent families about their connections in Yandu.”

Dingxiang, who had been silent this whole time, spoke up quietly: “A’Nai, you have no idea. Later on, it — it just got out of hand! I don’t even know how it happened, but eventually everyone genuinely believed there really was a seal-keeping Eunuch Qian in the palace. Truly! If I hadn’t heard my brothers-in-law talk about it myself, I wouldn’t have believed such a thing could happen in this world!”

Chen Dingxiang gave a little shudder, and with a look of astonishment told the Old Madam: “There was this one time I went with Sister-in-law Tong to Yandu for a meal and to watch an opera, at the home of a Vice Minister of Rites surnamed Yu. While watching the opera, a woman sitting next to me, dressed quite respectably and carrying herself like a proper lady of a great household — my Sister-in-law Wanru asked her, ‘Which family are you from?’ And do you know how this lady answered her?”

Everyone looked at Dingxiang, who struck an elegant pose and said with great reserve: “‘I’m from the third branch of the Qian residence, over on Jinyu Lane…'”

Dingxiang paused after saying this and, drawing in a breath, told everyone: “My heart just clenched right then, and I thought — could it be that family? But my Sister-in-law Wanru immediately said, ‘Oh, I know, I know! You mean the palace’s Eunuch Qian’s family? Then you must be from Ziye — no wonder I didn’t recognize you…’ She said it just like that, and it scared me half to death right there.”

No one laughed after hearing this — everyone just felt something eerie about it.

Chen Dasheng sighed as he drank: “Yandu really isn’t that big, and you have to keep your eyes and ears open when you’re out and about among people — if you don’t think it through carefully, you’d never believe such incredible things could happen in this world! That Chief Steward was entirely made up, but with the Lan family throwing down several hundred thousand strings of cash, and the Six Ministries offices right there on the main street, with Shuntian Prefecture’s officers patrolling the streets every day, living such an extravagant life — the story spread and spread, until this fabricated Chief Steward actually did end up inside the palace.

Within a single year, they held six grand banquets — for his birthday, for taking concubines, for adopting two more godsons, and he even got promoted a rank within the palace, from a minor seal-keeper up to a proper sixth-rank seal-keeper…”

Chen Dazhong, quite convinced by now, picked up the wine jug and refilled his brothers’ cups, even allowing the Old Madam a cup as well.

After pouring, he sighed: “Now people call them fools, but who’s really the fool here? It’s not like our family ever had money to burn like water. Back when the Lan family was at its most prosperous, people would even go pay their respects at their door hoping for favors.

Of all the people coming to the capital from Ziye trying to make connections, the first household they’d visit was the Qian residence, bringing large sums of money with them. In the end, that Eunuch Qian himself didn’t dare accept any of it or agree to anything, but Lan Zili, relying on his name, wove together a whole network, twisted and roundabout as it was, and actually managed to secure good positions in the Ministry of Personnel for these people!”

Chen Dasheng laughed scornfully: “That was just taking advantage of outsiders who didn’t know the going rates. If they were truly being filial and honoring connections, every year the provinces surely reported plenty of money to the capital anyway — giving to one person is the same as giving to another. Legitimate figures who helped write letters and pull strings usually only charged around a thousand strings, and sometimes, if the recommendation was genuinely strong, they wouldn’t even dare accept money. But not the Lan family — they’d take any money offered. Ten thousand strings just for delivering an introduction, and for securing a proper entry-level position, they’d charge as much as fifty thousand strings.”

The Old Madam sucked in a cold breath, mentally piling up that fifty thousand strings in her head until her mind felt overwhelmed. Her tone turned sour as she asked: “If it was going so well for them, and they’d made their fortune like you say, how did it all fall apart on the second day of the New Year?”

From the courtyard came another burst of children’s laughter, along with the sound of firecrackers. Chen Dasheng glanced outside helplessly, pinched his nose, and downed another cup before saying: “You have no idea. In the end this whole thing got so out of hand that even I… couldn’t keep it contained anymore. The opera performances kept getting bigger and bigger, and eventually even people who knew it was all a scam didn’t dare expose it — they just kept going along with the madness, and the money kept pouring in, until finally that Chief Steward was about to take over my father’s old position… My father called me in and said, ‘Enough, stop playing around, it’s about time to wrap this up!'”

The Old Madam’s shoulders jerked: “Your father knew about it?”

Chen Dasheng spread his hands: “Ah, well, that’s how it was anyway. On New Year’s Day, Eunuch Qian was celebrating with his descendants, the whole family drunk out of their minds, and that very night, the more than two million strings of cash in the treasury all went…” Chen Dasheng pointed upward and sighed: “Well, anyway, it went to that place you’re not supposed to ask about.”

Everyone thought it over and shuddered in unison. The Old Madam shook her head like a rattle-drum: “Don’t ask, don’t ask, I’m just a muddled old woman, who knows when I’ll die, what do I know about such things? I can’t even leave the house. You — you just listen to your father…”

Still, unable to quite let it go, she said: “So that eldest young master of the Lan family went to Shuntian Prefecture to file a complaint? And then — nothing happened?”

Chen Dasheng laughed lightly, raising his cup to clink with his family’s: “That’s right, nothing happened. Shuntian Prefecture was closed for the holiday and told him to come back on the eighth. But the Lan family’s eldest young master couldn’t let it go, and didn’t dare let it go either — that very day he went home and prepared a pot of poisoned wine. He’s been dead for days now.”

The Old Madam finally let out a long, long sigh of relief: “Well then — that’s for the best! An debt has its debtor, a grudge has its bearer. Is the rest of the Lan family alright?”

Chen Dasheng shook his head: “Ah, they’re fine — they’re just as much victims in all this, at most they’ve lost the family fortune, and they’ll go back to their hometown and start over… this is what comes of not cultivating virtue.”

What Chen Dasheng didn’t say was that because of this whole farce, the entire Lan clan had been ruined, left owing over a million strings in outstanding debts, having promised countless benefits to friends and acquaintances who would now be left with neither the money nor anything to show for it. The Lan family was now just one step away from indentured servitude themselves.

It was just like what had happened to the Chen family back in the day — no one to rely on, no one to turn to, crying out to heaven and earth with no one answering…

Chen Dasheng raised his cup and clinked it with his brothers, then said with a laugh after drinking: “Some people have money in their hands, and it becomes nothing but a calamity in this world.”

Chen Dayong nodded: “Better to have no money — saves you the trouble of stirring up disaster and harming others, and at least your life is safe.”

Chen Dazhong laughed lightly: “What else can we do — our family’s got a devout Buddhist in it.”

And so, let mercy and compassion guide the way.