Chapter 156

The gentle words that should have been soothing instead made Jiang Sheng's tears flow even more fiercely.

The little girl clutched Third Brother's collar tightly, sobbing as she spoke, "San Guo, I thought you were ignoring me. You wouldn't talk to me, you jerk..."

"Yes, yes, Third Brother is a jerk. I scared little Jiang Sheng." Fang Heng was extremely patient, clumsily using his sleeves to wipe away her tears.

When the crying finally stopped, Fang Heng heaved a long sigh of relief and raised his head, only to meet three more pairs of reproachful eyes.

He swallowed nervously and struggled to explain, "I was thinking about something just now, that's all."

"When Third Brother thinks, he doesn't move at all, just like a stone statue," Wen Zhiyun said resentfully. "He must be a reincarnated stone spirit."

"I think it's because he doesn't consider us his true family. Whenever he has something on his mind, he just broods by himself," said Chang Yan, never one to be outdone when it came to sarcasm.

Sweat beaded on Fang Heng's brow.

When he saw Xu Mo, he prayed desperately in his heart. Eldest brother is a decent man. He wouldn't join the younger brothers in this, would he?

But to his dismay, Eldest Brother Xu smiled slightly and said, "I've been earnestly advising him for so long, yet it seems two drops of Jiang Sheng's tears matter more to Third Brother than all of us brothers combined. It appears we don't rank very high in Third Brother's heart after all."

He would have been better off saying nothing.

Fang Heng regretted deeply in his heart. If he had known, he would have frightened off these white-toothed wolves a bit longer. He would rather have pretended to be a stone statue than face three pairs of bared fangs.

"Alright, alright."

In the end, it was the gentle and kind Fourth Young Master Wen who smoothed things over. "It's almost noon. Auntie Zhang must have finished cooking. We should head back for lunch."

Fang Heng immediately nodded in agreement. "Yes, yes, let's go back and eat."

Only then did the group get into the carriage.

On the way back from the western suburbs of Anshui Prefecture to Zanhua Courtyard, they happened to encounter the dusty figures of Zheng Ruqian and his servants returning from their travels. Judging by the time, it had been a full twenty-seven or twenty-eight days since they left. Who knows where they had been, but their originally tidy clothes were now tattered, their neat topknots disheveled, the soles of their shoes worn through with two holes each. One might believe they were refugees fleeing from famine.

Seeing Jiang One, Zheng Ruqian's eyes lit up. He spurred his carriage straight towards them and called out, "Where did you all go? Where's Little Three? Where are the others?"

Wang Xiaosong explained from the back, "We returned to Zanhua Courtyard. Auntie Zhang said you were taken away by some young lady of the Wang family. Young Master was worried, so he rushed out to look for you without even changing his clothes."

That's brotherhood.

That's family.

Second Brother had just returned home, covered in dust and dirt, but rushed out again without even a drink of water because he was worried. Eldest Brother and Fourth and Fifth Brothers clearly cared, yet still scolded to distract him. The strongest of them all didn't shed a tear even when beaten, yet had sobbed bitterly for his sake.

With family like this, how could he be defeated? He should be fully armored, utterly indomitable.

Fang Heng fought back his reddening eyes and leaned out of the carriage, affecting an air of ease. "Second Brother, I'm fine. Nothing happened."

Only then did Zheng Ruqian finally relax.

Jiang Sheng also popped her head out and tattled, "That's right, just now Third Brother scared us to death."

Zheng Ruqian's expression became serious again. He slanted a glare at Fang Heng, his entire face saying: I'll settle accounts with you later.

The group hurried back to Zanhua Courtyard.

Auntie Zhang had already prepared hot water and fresh clothes. Overjoyed to finally see Zheng Ruqian, she herded him into the house, "Hurry and take a bath, change your clothes, then come out. I have new shoes for you too, all bought by Jiang Sheng."

Wang Xiaozhu also urged sternly, "Go get washed up properly."

She had earned some money working as a medical assistant and carefully counted, she had even more savings than Wang Xiaosong. So she was unusually generous that New Year and bought clothes, shoes, and pouches for both Wang Xiaosong and herself.

The newly laundered clothes were still warm from the sun and fragrant with soap. The quality was so soft that Wang Xiaosong couldn't stop fondling them. Finally he took a deep breath and clutched them to his chest. "Mother, little sister is buying me clothes now too."

Relying on each other had never been one side relying on the other, but rather mutual support, walking hand in hand, striving together.

The two refugees finally regained their cleanliness and tidiness.

Auntie Zhang also brought out steaming hot dishes and placed them on the biggest table in Zanhua Courtyard, calling everyone to come eat.

Nothing was better than a hot meal on a cold winter's day.

The previously sulky brothers and sister all swarmed over when they heard her shout, no longer bickering or giving each other the cold shoulder or rolling their eyes. They each found their seats and hugged their bowls of hot soup, like hungry piglets crying "Give me a spoonful, me too, me too!"

Auntie Zhang smiled, her eyes disappearing into slits, gradually recapturing the feeling of feeding pigs back in the Ten Li Inn Village.

After three rounds of eating...

Zheng Ruqian finally recovered and heaved a long sigh. "It's really not a human life out there, so cold and hungry, still needing to hurry on the road, needing to get back before the 30th. I was afraid I wouldn't make it back, little Jiang Sheng would cry her eyes out."

Jiang Sheng pouted. "I wouldn't have cried."

When she had clearly just cried earlier.

"But traveling so far did have its benefits. I finally left Anshui Prefecture. The world really is huge. Outside of Anshui Prefecture there are many more prefectures, their climates are different from ours, the vegetables they grow are different, even the flavors of their cuisines are different." Zheng Ruqian gesticulated wildly, spittle flying. "Going south from Anshui Prefecture is Anyang County, and further south is Danyang Prefecture. The people there actually eat sweet food, their dishes are numbingly sweet, I nearly ate myself to death..."

"But their duck was really delicious," Wang Xiaosong chimed in.

Zheng Ruqian glared back at him. "You're stealing my lines."

Wang Xiaosong shrank back, not daring to make another peep. After all, the other was the young master.

"Danyang Prefecture has a specialty duck. It's roasted on a stove with fruitwood until the skin is crispy and the meat tender, then dipped in a sweet glaze. The taste is indescribable." Zheng Ruqian proudly took out two packets wrapped in oil paper from his bundle. "On my way back I had them specially package two, though of course not as delicious as freshly cooked, but heated up it should still taste good."

After all, it was food from thousands of li away, so everyone looked on curiously.

"Did Second Brother only get to Danyang Prefecture before turning back?" Jiang Sheng asked.

Zheng Ruqian waved expansively. "Of course not, from here to Danyang Prefecture is only seven or eight days. This trip took me a full fifteen days."

"That's right, Young Master went to Yuhang Prefecture," Wang Xiaosong opened his mouth again.

This time Zheng Ruqian's eyes really did look like knives.

Even Wang Xiaozhu glared over.

Wang Xiaosong lowered his head like a quail, resolving to seal his mouth shut.

"Where is Yuhang Prefecture?" Jiang Sheng, who had never traveled further than Anshui Prefecture, asked curiously.

"Yuhang is south of Danyang. I heard if you travel further south, you can see the ocean. Unfortunately there wasn't enough time, otherwise I would have definitely brought back some seafood." Zheng Ruqian was still chattering away.

The outside world really was vast. To the south were Danyang and Yuhang, to the north Langya and Jiaodong, to the east Xinan and Beiqiao, to the west Hanzhong and Fengjing.

There were endless landscapes and unfamiliar faces to see, so why shut himself away in Anshui Prefecture, bringing endless storms to his brothers and sister?

Fang Heng's expression was anxious. He opened and closed his mouth several times before finally summoning his courage. "I'm planning on leaving this place."