Free Web NovelChapter 17: Chapter 10: Family Ruin (Part 2)
She knew: it was for her brother.
In the past, when Fang Baicao was in charge, whenever the family had something tasty to eat, the order was: Fang Baicao, Fang Rui, Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family, then Fang Ling.
This wasn’t entirely out of a preference for sons.
Fang Baicao, as head of the household, did the most and heaviest work. Fang Rui was one of only two men in the family, a sickly weakling with an Innately weak constitution who needed nourishing food to recover. Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family was an adult and also had to work. So naturally, the girl, Fang Ling, could only be last in line.
She was already used to it.
Sure enough, Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family said, "This is for your brother. He has to work. Only on a full stomach will he have the strength to provide for this family. To be honest, our lives are already quite good. At least we’re still guaranteed three meals a day. I’ve seen most of our neighbors have already started skipping lunch to save grain."
"Mom, I know. I won’t eat it." Fang Ling kept her head down, slurping her congee. SLURP SLURP. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed her saliva along with the congee, forcing herself not to look at the boiled egg.
"Mom!"
Fang Rui shook his head, exasperated.
Last night, he had clearly said one boiled egg per person so the whole family could get some extra nutrition. Yet now, he was the only one who had one.
Fang Rui understood his mother’s thinking. Eggs were a precious commodity, and she wanted him to eat as many as possible to properly nurture him, the ’pillar of the Fang Family.’
From that perspective, his mother’s actions weren’t really wrong.
He couldn’t bring himself to complain about such well-intentioned-if-unilateral kindness... He could, however, take the initiative to share this special treatment.
"Ling’Er, I don’t like egg yolks. Here." Fang Rui peeled the egg and gave the yolk to Fang Ling.
"Brother Rui,"
Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family’s expression hardened. She should have been angry, but seeing this heartwarming display of sibling affection, she couldn’t bring herself to be upset. She could only shake her head in resignation. "Go on, just spoil her!"
"Mom, you have some too. We’ll split it," Fang Rui said with a smile.
"I don’t like egg whites. You eat it!"
Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family quickly covered her bowl with her hand, turning away.
But Fang Rui pushed the egg white right to her lips. "Mom, eat it. Are you going to make me just hold it here?"
Resigned, Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family said, "Alright, I’ll just have a small piece."
After eating a small piece, she absolutely refused to have any more.
Fang Rui could only take it back and eat it himself. Then, he cradled his own large bowl and went back to slurping his congee. SLURP SLURP.
Ever since he reached Entry Grade, his appetite had increased dramatically, so he had switched to using the large bowl that formerly belonged to Fang Baicao. After his breakthrough to Eighth Grade last night, even this big bowl of congee was barely enough to satisfy him.
Nearby,
Fang Ling took tiny bites of the egg yolk, treasuring it.
She watched her mother and brother bicker, completely baffled. ’Why doesn’t my brother like the yolk when it’s so delicious? The egg white is tasty too, so why doesn’t Mom want to eat it?’
’So strange.’
TAP!
Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family looked at the oblivious Fang Ling and tapped her on the head with her chopsticks in mild annoyance. "You are not to go outside and tell anyone about us eating eggs..."
"Oh."
Fang Ling nodded seriously.
In this regard, she was completely trustworthy—well-behaved, obedient, and able to keep a secret.
...
The rain last night had only lasted for a short while before stopping, failing to provide even the slightest relief from the drought as Fang Rui had hoped. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
The chaos in Changshan County continued unabated.
There was still no news from the soldiers sent to suppress the bandits. Despite the Government Office’s restrictions, prices in the city, especially for grain, kept rising. The common people of the county, squeezed by the dual exploitation of the Government Office and the gangs, found their lives growing more difficult by the day...
Yet all of this was kept outside the walls of Caozhi Hall.
Life for the Fang Family remained peaceful. Their quality of life had hardly dropped since Fang Baicao’s time—in such disastrous years, simply maintaining the status quo was no small feat. Compared to their neighbors, the Fang Family was quite content.
Secretly, Fang Rui continued to sell finished medicines at the Black Market. He went once every other day—a frequency he’d determined through trial and error to be the optimal solution. It saved him on market entry and stall fees, while ensuring he didn’t end up with more packets of medicine than he could sell in a single trip.
Fang Rui used most of the money he earned from selling medicine to buy grain, occasionally using some to improve their family meals.
The peaceful days passed by slowly, and in a flash, half a month was gone.
On this day, it was once again time for the Tiger Gang to collect its dues.
...
Today, Lord Hu came to Willow Alley dressed in a black tunic and trousers that exposed his powerful, corded muscles. Two lackeys followed in his wake.
"Well? Anything unusual about that kid from the Fang Family?" Lord Hu asked abruptly.
Ever since Fang Rui had paid the protection money so promptly last month, the ever-suspicious Lord Hu had had him marked.
Men like Lord Hu, who came up from the streets and had extensive dealings with all walks of life, were extremely sharp. The slightest hint of anything unusual was enough to set off their alarm bells.
And when faced with such situations, his motto had always been: ’Better to kill an innocent man than let a guilty one slip by.’
And that was why he now had men watching the Fang Family.
This wasn’t to say Fang Rui had been careless. The reality was, if he had tried to argue or haggle back then, he would have been made into an example and beaten mercilessly.
In short, in this world, people at the bottom were always in the wrong. No matter what they did, they had no leg to stand on. Their only choice was to pick the least bad option from a terrible hand. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
"Don’t you worry, Lord Hu," said one of the lackeys. "We’ve been keeping a close eye on them. Nothing unusual. If I had to say something, it’s that they’re even more docile and well-behaved than when Doctor Fang was still around."
And it was true.
For the past month, aside from Fang Rui’s nightly trips to the Black Market, the Fang Family had been the very model of docility. Even on the rare occasions they managed to improve their meals, they did so furtively, keeping it deeply hidden.
"It seems Old Fang really did leave to join the army, and the Fang Family has lost its confidence."
Lord Hu let out a sudden sigh. "Such a pity. That Mrs. Fang... she used to be quite something. Now..."
