TATSD Chapter 39

“Sick? He seemed fine before.”

“I can’t stop worrying about him.”

“Then go ahead. I’ll stay here.”

Liu Yimian felt extremely apologetic. A Qiu was his only friend in Changliu Town, so his concern was genuine, but he had to prioritize.

“If you’re going, you should bring a gift.” Ji Wei helped him prepare a jar of goat milk and a box of cookies, both packed for Liu Yimian to take.

“Just bring this.”

Ji Wei’s thoughtfulness warmed Liu Yimian’s heart. He quickly picked up the gifts and rushed to A Qiu’s house.

…

As soon as Mao Lintie arrived home, he called out for A Qiu.

But A Qiu didn’t come rushing out as usual. Mao Lintie remembered their recent argument; they hadn’t spoken in two days.

A Qiu was stubborn and wouldn’t be the first to apologize, even if it meant staying silent at home.

A Qiu, who was gentle on the outside but strong-willed within, had remained stubbornly silent.

Mao Lintie wanted to go inside to see A Qiu but couldn’t bring himself to do so. Instead, he poured some fish into the pond and took the other two buckets to the market.

Before long, Liu Yimian arrived at the door with the gifts.

“Is anyone home?” The Mao family’s door was ajar, left that way intentionally by Mao Lintie when he left.

Liu Yimian gently pushed the door open, called out again, and still received no response. Since the door was open, he decided to enter.

“Who’s there?” A Qiu, lying in bed, heard the noise and got up.

He knew it wasn’t Mao Lintie at this hour. They didn’t usually have guests, so when he asked who it was, he realized it was Liu Yimian.

A Qiu was overjoyed. Without even putting on his outer garment, he ran out of the bedroom and met Liu Yimian in the kitchen, taking his hand.

“Why did you come suddenly?”

“I heard from Brother Lintie that you were ill, so I came right away.” Liu Yimian put the things he had been carrying onto the table. “This is milk, and this is a box of cookies. Try them.”

“You didn’t need to bring all this.” A Qiu grumbled a bit, and Liu Yimian quickly urged him to put on a coat.

“You’ve always been healthy. Why are you sick this time? Have you seen a doctor?” Liu Yimian led A Qiu back to the room, took a coat off the rack, and put it on him, his face full of concern.

A Qiu looked noticeably haggard and unwell, and he seemed a bit downcast. Liu Yimian knew A Qiu was usually very tolerant, but when he couldn’t hold it in anymore, he would stew in his anger alone for a long time.

Seeing him like this, Liu Yimian feared he was still holding a grudge against Mao Lintie.

“Did you fight with Brother Lintie?”

A Qiu grunted in response.

“Why? Was it about the fish?”

“Not exactly.” Mao Heilin had made things unpleasant for him, and Mao Lintie had continued the unpleasantness at home. The fish was just an excuse; if there had been no fish, there would have been something else.

“It’s all my fault, causing a rift between you two… A Qiu, you can blame me.” Liu Yimian began to cry, which made A Qiu chuckle.

“Who’s comforting whom here? I’m not even crying, so why are you?” But after saying this, his smile faded again.

“The person from your family has changed, but who knows when he’ll truly change? Maybe I’ll never see that day.” A Qiu said, tears wetting Liu Yimian’s hand.

In truth, it wasn’t a big deal originally.

Mao Heilin had called Mao Lintie over, not only to see his newborn nephew but also to borrow some capital for a small business.

Mao Lintie was a very stingy person; the most generous thing he had ever done was pay off a debt and redeem his siblings. After living in peace for a few years, Mao Heilin, seeing how even Ji Wei’s small business was thriving, got the idea to start one himself.

But he lacked capital, so he thought of Mao Lintie.

The two brothers had a big argument and parted on bad terms. After returning home, Mao Lintie waited for the carp dish to be served, but it didn’t come. When he inquired, he learned that A Qiu had sent it away.

Although money was involved, it was done without his permission.

Mao Lintie lost his temper, slammed the table, slapped A Qiu, and said some harsh words.

Compared with Ji Wei, when he came home and saw Mao Lintie still unchanged, A Qiu felt disheartened and lost even the will to make a show of it. Plus, he had no appetite and hadn’t cooked for three meals.

After working hard for half a day and returning home to find an empty kitchen, Mao Lintie argued again.

With frustration building up and no appetite, A Qiu fainted within a few days.

Mao Lintie wanted to take him to see a doctor, but A Qiu refused and said not to worry about him. Mao Lintie, unable to save face, let it go and hasn’t spoken since.

A Qiu had been eating sporadically, losing weight, and looking more and more haggard.

After hearing this, Liu Yimian was somewhat incredulous.

“You used to teach me to endure, but why aren’t you enduring now?”

“I don’t know why, but recently I’ve been irritable and quick to anger. I can’t endure like before.”

“You’ve lost so much weight. Even if you’re angry, you should take care of yourself. If there’s anything you want to eat, I can make it for you.”

A Qiu stopped Liu Yimian from going.

“I don’t want anything. Sometimes I just have a bowl of sweet porridge. Maybe because I’ve avoided meat recently, even the fish I steamed yesterday tasted fishy.” A Qiu chuckled bitterly. “I don’t know when I became so finicky.”

In the Mao family, fish wasn’t eaten often.

Inside the Mao house, with fish and shrimp available, he found them fishy. He feared people would say he was ungrateful if he went outside. Only with Liu Yimian could he speak his mind.

“Then don’t force yourself. How about making a simple porridge with eggs, mushrooms, and pork? It’ll be easy to eat.”

“Okay, I’ll try that.”

“A Qiu, what will you do about Brother Lintie? Will things stay this way?” Liu Yimian was worried. In the past, he rarely dared to contradict Ji Wei, and it was always Ji Wei who got angry, and things would pass once he cooled down.

He seldom got angry; even if he did, he would just stew alone. After eating and drinking, he would sleep it off, and the next day, it would be gone.

Liu Yimian knew Mao Lintie’s nature and feared A Qiu would suffer.

“Take it one step at a time.” A Qiu sighed.

He knew being too stubborn wasn’t good, but he couldn’t let go of his pride. He preferred to stay in this state of stalemate.

He had lowered his head too many times; he is a man, and men have their tempers.

“Mianmian, I envy you.” A Qiu rarely cried. As the eldest son in his family, he had always had significant responsibilities.

From the day he understood his role, he knew his fate.

He didn’t often complain because complaining didn’t change anything.

He liked to strive because only by striving could he achieve better.

There was nothing wrong with that.

Even Mao Lintie, a widower, was the best choice among the men he could choose from.

After meeting Liu Yimian, he knew he had made the right choice.

Mao Lintie wasn’t perfect; he looked rather plain. But compared to someone like Ji Wei, who was unreliable, he was a rare find who was hardworking and dependable.

But now, Ji Wei had changed.

He had become considerate and gentle, hardworking and capable, and he was already handsome to begin with.

A Qiu suddenly began to doubt whether he had made the right choice.

“A Qiu Brother Lintie cares about you a lot. He’s the one who asked me to come.” Liu Yimian told A Qiu what had just happened. A Qiu’s eyes showed a brief flash of surprise but quickly returned to calm.

“Is that so? Well, that doesn’t change anything.” A Qiu remained calm.

Liu Yimian knew A Qiu was harboring resentment and didn’t try to offer further explanations. Instead, he decided to talk about something interesting. When he mentioned that the Ji family was making cookies, A Qiu, curious, asked a few more questions. Liu Yimian got up and brought the cookies from the table.

“Try these. If you like them, I’ll bring them for you whenever you want.”

A Qiu tasted a piece. He wasn’t particularly fond of sweets, so he found the flavor interesting but not particularly to his liking. Nevertheless, he expressed his appreciation and complimented the cookies.

“Brother Ji is impressive to come up with these things.”

“Indeed. Brother Ji says they came from a dream—” Liu Yimian suddenly remembered that Ji Wei had said this was a secret between the two of them.

“Why did you stop?”

“I can’t say.”

A Qiu acknowledged this with a long “Oh” and changed the topic.

“You must be short on help there. How about I come and help?”

“Why?” Liu Yimian was surprised.

**“I don’t want to see Mao Lintie.”

A Qiu rarely used full names, but he laughed after saying this. “Since we’re both angry, seeing each other daily might lead to more arguments. I don’t have anything else to do, so I might as well earn some money at your place. Over time, the anger might fade.”

“I can’t decide that. Let me ask Brother Ji first.”

“Okay, then let me know in a few days.”

After some more conversation, Liu Yimian saw that it was almost noon, so he bid farewell to A Qiu and hurried back to the Ji family.

He relayed A Qiu’s words to Ji Wei. After some thought, Ji Wei said, “We do need help, but he’s not like a man; he’s weak and lacks strength. He might not be able to handle heavy work. It’s hard to say. If we find someone suitable, you can let him know then.”

So the matter was put on hold.

The next day, Ji Wei finished preparing the batch of orders for the county school and went to find Wen Xuan.

He trusted Wen Xuan’s efficiency and rented an ox cart from Sister Lin Er to transport three large boxes of cookies. He sent Wen Xuan on the cart to the county school to sell the cookies.

As for Ji Wei, he did something very unusual and went out to sell pancakes.

“Ji Wei is here! Ji Wei is here!”

“Now there’s a good show to watch.”

“Yes, we’re not eating anyway, just watching. I’ll be happy no matter who falls.”

“It’d be best if both of them fall.”

As vendors watched and whispered among themselves, they saw Ji Wei push his cart to a vacant spot not far from the Bun Lady’s stall, set up his coal stove, and began to shout.

“Pancakes! Three coins each, delicious and crispy, genuine products! Come and take a look, don’t miss out!” He shouted, but only a few people came by.

Most people preferred the bun lady’s offerings, which, while not the best, were very cheap. Except for a few loyal customers who weren’t concerned about money, Ji Wei’s stall was relatively empty, with only a handful of people.

The Bun Lady, seeing Ji Wei’s misfortune and feeling superior, worked faster and with more enthusiasm.

“So you have your troubles too!” The Bun Lady sneered.

The next day, despite Liu Yimian’s advice, Ji Wei went out to sell pancakes as usual.

The location remained the same, and the business was still slow.

Because Ji Wei hadn’t set up his stall for several days, the Bun Lady had lost money and had already incurred Liu Qing’s displeasure.

Although the idea had come from Lin Qing, and Liu Qing wouldn’t blame him, he directed all the blame at the Bun Lady, scolding her repeatedly.

Had it not been for the Bun Lady’s insistence on setting up her stall, she might have faced a beating.

Feeling victorious after overshadowing Ji Wei, the Bun Lady called Liu Qing and others, exaggerated the situation, and finally held her head high in front of the three men.

Although the Bun Lady was the one who implemented the plan, it was a strategy agreed upon by all three. Consequently, Ji Wei’s prolonged absence and the daily loss of six to seven hundred coins, totaling several taels over a few days, made everyone anxious.

As soon as Ji Wei appeared, Liu Qing couldn’t sit still and showed up on West Street.