Whatever neighboring town Li Wu had mentioned, there was no telling which one it was.

Not until the moon had climbed into the treetops did he and a lethargic Li Kun finally make their late, unhurried arrival.

Li Que had caught an entire bucket of river fish, and although Sui Rui had taken away the greater half of them, what remained was still a considerable number. He had prepared all the ingredients in advance: fish skewered on iron spits were arranged in neat rows on a large lotus leaf, and the various vegetables — washed, sorted, and cut — filled dish after dish of earthenware. The moment Li Wu returned, he directed Li Kun to go and dig up a flat stone slab from the ground — no more than two inches thick — haul it to the riverside, rinse it clean, and set it on the open-air grill not far from the bamboo hut.

The grill was built from a heap of irregularly shaped large stones. Once Li Kun had set the stone slab in place and level, Li Wu quickly lit the fire. In the river breeze, red-orange flames rose and danced and soon spilled out beyond the edge of the grill.

The four of them sat around the stone slab. Li Wu ladled a spoonful of lard he had rendered himself and drizzled it across the surface. Li Que placed a skewered fish in front of each person.

After Li Wu, it was Shen Zhuxi’s turn next — but her stomach was so full of roasted chicken it was practically packed up to her throat. She quickly waved her hands in decline. “I ate too much at noon. I’ll just have some grilled vegetables.”

Li Que did not press her. Li Wu, however, took issue with it again.

“Every day you eat like a small bird pecking at grain, and now you’re saying you ate too much? You should let Sui the Elder come teach you how to eat properly — she can put away an entire bucket of plain rice.”

Shen Zhuxi replied without enthusiasm, “Miss Sui works hard every day from morning to night. It’s entirely understandable that she has a hearty appetite.”

“…What are you defending her for? Was it also you who deliberately gave her my pig trotters?”

This scoundrel’s mind had wandered, in one improbable leap, all the way back to the pig trotters at noon.

Shen Zhuxi had no inclination to engage with him. Li Que, noticing her silence, cut in with a cheerful tone: “Miss Sui came by this afternoon. She didn’t bring the pig trotters, but she brought a roasted chicken to trade with us.”

“She was really that generous?” Li Wu looked thoroughly skeptical.

Li Que picked up a plate of roasted chicken from where the lotus leaves were spread across the ground and set it on the stone table.

“Miss Sui ate Elder Brother’s pig trotters, so perhaps she felt a little uneasy about it.” Li Que said.

“I don’t believe it — Sui the Elder would sooner see me dead than feel uneasy about anything. She’s really going to have a guilty conscience?” Li Wu prodded the chicken’s backside with a wooden chopstick, his expression thoroughly asking-for-trouble. “Did she put poison in it?”

Shen Zhuxi had intended to keep quiet, but Li Wu was determined to ask her directly: “Did Sui the Elder tell you where she picked this chicken up off the ground?”

“She did — she said it was leftover stock that didn’t sell.” Shen Zhuxi said, glossing over the details.

The words had barely left her lips when Li Wu broke off the big drumstick from the roasted chicken and dropped it into her bowl. The familiar smell of roasted chicken hit her in a wave, and the roasted chicken already in Shen Zhuxi’s stomach responded in kind, churning upward. She pressed her lips together firmly and worked hard to push down the roasted chicken that was threatening to reach her throat.

“What’s that expression on your face?” Li Wu raised an eyebrow at her strange look.

Shen Zhuxi picked up the drumstick with her chopsticks and transferred it back into Li Wu’s bowl. “I don’t want it — you eat it.”

Li Que said with a grin, “Sister-in-law is just too moved for words — Elder Brother, keep teasing her and she’ll have tears in her eyes.”

Shen Zhuxi really was on the verge of tears — but from the effort of holding things back.

Li Wu’s mouth curved upward. Rather than quitting while he was ahead, he said, “Hmph — it’s about time!”

She picked up her empty bowl and held it up as a barrier — the determination to refuse coming through loud and clear. Seeing this, Li Wu gave the big drumstick to Li Kun, who had been eyeing it hopefully, and gave the other leg to Li Que.

For himself, he once again tore off a long stretch of chicken neck.

By the time Li Wu had eaten halfway through his chicken neck, the vegetables grilling on the stone slab were ready. Li Wu scattered a handful of crushed spice fragments over them, and the stone slab immediately began to sizzle and hiss. Fragrant aromas wafted through the air between the grilling corn cobs and slices of squash, and every grilled vegetable on the slab glistened with oil under the moonlight.

Even with a stomach already stretched to its limit, the aroma was enough to keep Shen Zhuxi from setting down her chopsticks.

True, she only helped herself to vegetables — but the savory fish oil had been absorbed into them during grilling, and even the most ordinary corn cob was transformed into something quite extraordinary: every golden kernel carried with it a fragrance that practically filled the nose.

Li Wu and the others ate with unrestrained enthusiasm. The six grilled fish were gone in no time, and only half the roasted chicken remained.

Li Wu placed what was left of the roasted chicken on the stone slab, lining the bottom with a layer of wild mushrooms gathered from the mountain. Golden chicken fat dripped down onto the mushrooms below, and before long, an exceptionally rich and heady mushroom fragrance rose and drifted through the air.

Li Wu took a swig straight from the wine jug with both hands, let out a deeply satisfied sigh, and said, “Who knows how long this sort of celestial existence can last…”

Shen Zhuxi was wrestling with a corn cob and looked up immediately. “Why do you say that?”

Li Wu glanced at her and reached out to brush a corn kernel from the corner of her mouth.

“The military governors are one after another defying the imperial edicts. Officials at court are each pledging loyalty to their own chosen master. Right now, the words of two rival Emperors carry little real weight. If this goes on, sooner or later someone will be unable to hold back and make the first move — carving out territory to establish their own rule.”

Li Que opened up a soft white flatbread, and as he tucked pieces of grilled chicken inside it, he said in a thoughtful tone:

“The distinguished personage who was staying at the Golden Belt Pavilion has also left. I expect he felt that Jinzhou was no longer a safe place to stay.”

Li Wu did not reply, and the subject drifted away naturally.

The meal that evening went on for an unusually long time. Li Kun and Li Que, needing to return to their lodgings outside town, left the bamboo hut ahead of the others. As Li Wu cleared away what remained, Shen Zhuxi also pitched in to help tidy things up.

By the time she had finished washing up and lay down in bed, the moon was hanging high in the night sky, and from somewhere in the direction of the town in the distance came the faint, indistinct sound of a rooster crowing.

It was the first time in Shen Zhuxi’s life that she had ever felt this bloated. She tossed and turned in bed, unable to settle — the food in her stomach pressing down so heavily that sleep was completely out of the question.

“Can’t sleep because the bed is unfamiliar?” Li Wu turned on his side and looked at her where she lay closer to the wall.

Shen Zhuxi shook her head.

Although that was partly the reason too — this bed was so small! Li Wu could stretch out freely sleeping in it alone. But with her added, along with a feather duster, the space on the bed became instantly cramped.

“You ate too little — that’s why you can’t sleep.” Li Wu said with certainty.

“I can’t sleep because I ate too much.” Shen Zhuxi pushed back, unconvinced.

“With the little you ate, you can actually get bloated?” Li Wu raised an eyebrow, plainly not believing a word of it.

Shen Zhuxi could not be bothered to argue with him and continued to toss and turn.

After a long while, Li Wu suddenly said, “Were you holding back and not eating the roasted chicken because you were worried I wouldn’t have enough to eat?”

Shen Zhuxi was so stunned that she turned instinctively to stare at Li Wu and forgot entirely to respond.

“You don’t need to do that.” Li Wu said. “The pig trotters are forgotten — you don’t need to make it up to me with a roasted chicken.”

Shen Zhuxi: “……” What on earth was this person rambling about?

Although she had no idea how Li Wu had arrived at such a conclusion, the distraction served its purpose well enough — it shifted her attention away from her uncomfortably distended stomach, and before long, drowsiness began to creep over her.

Li Wu turned over beside her, the wooden bed letting out a creak. Shen Zhuxi, already drifting toward sleep, did not open her eyes.

Li Wu lay on his side, propping his head up with one hand, and watched silently as the woman beside him slept without the slightest wariness.

Was she this at ease beside anyone — or only beside him?

Li Wu hoped it was the latter.

This tearful little fool had no idea what her own heart was doing. She could see Li Kun’s feelings as plain as day, yet she was completely blind to the ones that concerned her. He had been keeping this fool cupped in his hands, warming her patiently — and at last a little warmth had begun to come through.

“I’m not in a hurry.”

He watched her sleeping face, and in his heart he said quietly:

“Take your time.”

……

The summer nights were always alive with sound.

Zhou Zhuang stepped through the gate into his home, treading on the clear, bright moonlight, amid a chorus of cicadas and frogs.

His mood was good. The money pouch at his waist held several silver ingots he had won back that day. The figure that emerged from the inner room instantly extinguished his good mood entirely.

“And you know how to come home?” Zhou Dongwen stood in the doorway with a sour expression.

“Father, I come home far more often than you do.” Zhou Zhuang cupped his hands in a perfunctory bow, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

“Where’s your mother? Why isn’t she home?” Zhou Dongwen demanded.

Zhou Zhuang didn’t even look at him. He sauntered into his own room with a languid, careless gait and threw himself onto the bed, sprawling out into a wide, comfortable stretch.

Zhou Dongwen followed him in. Seeing him like this, his expression turned even more unpleasant. “I’m speaking to you — did you not hear me?!”

“She went back to her parents’ house. Said she doesn’t want to live like a grass widow anymore, and she doesn’t want to look at her troublesome son either…”

“Nonsense!” Zhou Dongwen snapped sharply. “Your mother would never say something like that!”

“She didn’t say it.” Zhou Zhuang said with a lazy smirk. “She packed up her things and left without a word. Those were my guesses.”

“Look at yourself — what a disgrace you are!” Zhou Dongwen’s face went iron-grey as he came closer and yanked the man off the bed. “Your mother must have left because of something you did to upset her!”

Zhou Zhuang’s expression abruptly changed. He flung off Zhou Dongwen’s hand. “Don’t you dare blame this on me! If I’m a disgrace, I learned it from you! When the beam above is crooked, the ones below will be crooked too — with a father like you, what was I supposed to turn into—”

Before Zhou Zhuang could finish, his face received a slap.

Zhou Dongwen was seething. Zhou Zhuang, however, began to laugh.

“Father… looks like you haven’t been sparing yourself with the women at the brothel lately. That slap of yours — it’s gone soft, hasn’t it? Not nearly as strong as it used to be.”

Zhou Zhuang rose with a cold, vicious smile on his lips. Zhou Dongwen looked up at Zhou Zhuang — a full head taller than him — and his bluster faltered. He took an involuntary step back.

“Father, if you’ve got a grievance, go to Qingniu County and drag her back. Scold her however you like, beat her however you like—” Zhou Zhuang opened his hands with an expression of complete indifference. “What are you taking it out on me for?”

Zhou Zhuang said with a mocking grin, “I won’t just stand here and take a beating the way Mother does.”

“You ungrateful son — what a curse you are to this household—” Zhou Dongwen used the scolding to mask his own guilty conscience, clasped his hands behind his back, and turned to leave.

The smile faded completely from Zhou Zhuang’s face. Without bothering to close the door, he lay back down on the bed with a cold expression and spread himself out.

The courtyard was not large. The sound of Zhou Dongwen rummaging through boxes and cabinets in the main bedroom drifted in through the open door. Zhou Zhuang lay there with his eyes closed, seemingly indifferent to everything happening around him.

After a long while, Zhou Dongwen stepped back into his room.

“Where did you hide your mother’s dowry?!” Zhou Dongwen’s voice carried a distinct edge of anger.

“That’s a strange question to ask me — how would I know where my mother’s dowry is?” Zhou Zhuang said with his eyes still closed.

“Get up and talk to me properly!” Zhou Dongwen said in a sharp, raised voice.

Zhou Zhuang sat up. His expression was as cold as ice.

“Father, rather than spending your time losing your temper at me, you’d do better to go to Qingniu County and ask Mother yourself. Maybe she’s the one who took the dowry when she left?”

“How could your mother possibly take her dowry and walk out? It must have been you, you spendthrift — while she was gone visiting her parents, you secretly hid it away!” Zhou Dongwen raged, pointing directly at his nose. “Did you gamble it away again?!”

“At least I gambled it — better than handing it over to the women at a brothel, wouldn’t you say?” Zhou Zhuang replied.

“You—” Zhou Dongwen trembled with fury.

Zhou Zhuang closed his eyes with the unconcerned air of someone who has absolutely nothing to lose.

The room fell into silence — no voices, and no sound of retreating footsteps either. Perhaps having recognized that the stern father act was getting him nowhere, when Zhou Dongwen spoke again his tone had considerably softened, even carrying a faint note of pleading.

“I need that money for something important.”

“Oh?” Zhou Zhuang opened his eyes and looked at Zhou Dongwen with an expression that was somewhere between amusement and contempt. “Well, that’s unusual — what important matter does Father have to attend to? Tell me — your son will help you think it over.”

Zhou Dongwen hesitated for a moment, then said, “You may be getting a little brother soon. I need to buy Chun Niang out of the brothel…”

“This can’t be put off.” Zhou Zhuang sat up.

“Exactly,” Zhou Dongwen said immediately, “Chun Niang’s belly is getting bigger — it won’t be long before it can’t be hidden anymore. If I don’t buy her out soon, your little brother won’t be safe…”

“But I don’t have a single coin — I truly am willing but unable to help.” Zhou Zhuang spread his hands. “Father, a new addition to the family is a blessing. Why don’t you go to Mother? Let her give you the money.”

Zhou Dongwen did not believe him. He came and sat beside him, lowering himself humbly. “Zhuang’er, I’m begging you — take out your mother’s dowry, and we’ll split it between us. That’s fair enough, isn’t it? Otherwise, when your mother comes home, she certainly won’t let it go. If I say you gave it to me in a moment of emergency, then the whole thing can be settled… We are father and son, flesh and blood. The child in Chun Niang’s belly is your own blood brother — you wouldn’t just let them perish, would you?”

“Like I said — I don’t have any money. Mother has money. Your son has already told you—”

Zhou Zhuang’s expression shifted without warning. With the speed of thunder drowning out all sound, he grabbed the rope hanging at the side of the bed and pulled it taut — cinching it tightly around Zhou Dongwen’s neck.

“Go down below and ask Mother yourself!”

Not even a muffled grunt managed to escape. Zhou Dongwen’s face turned a furious crimson, his eyes bulging outward, his arms and legs thrashing wildly.

The room was utterly quiet, filled only with the sound of Zhou Zhuang’s heavy, ragged breathing and the desperate struggling of kicking feet.

The pure white moonlight crept silently across the floor. Outside, the chorus of frogs fell silent.

Only the cicadas continued to sing.