Chapter 14: Gentle, Beautiful, Graceful, Kind, and Mild-Mannered

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Li Yu said coldly, “Didn’t you call me your elder brother? Father is gone, and after all those years of schooling, do you still not understand that the eldest brother is as a father?”

The tavern keeper had no wish to offend the man who had placed first in the county examination. What if this Young Master Li happened to pass the provincial or metropolitan examinations and become an official?

Keeping someone’s younger brother working in his tavern—even as a bookkeeper—would be considered disgraceful.

If Young Master Li bore a grudge against him afterward, how would he continue doing business?

Besides, even without considering the prestige of being first in the county examination, he could hardly afford to offend Patrol Officer Li.

“Yes, yes, of course.” The tavern keeper understood the situation at once and immediately urged Shen Dan, “When your younger uncle came here, he only said that your family had no money to support your studies. That was why I agreed to let you work here.”

“Since you have the chance to study, you must continue. Hurry home with your elder brother.”

“Young Master Li, rest assured. I, Li Erbai, may not dare make promises about other matters, but I can say with certainty that I will never hire Young Master Shen again. I’ll also inform my acquaintances in the trade.”

After all, they were brothers, bound together by blood despite bearing different surnames. How could he still have the nerve to demand a penalty for breach of contract?

He hurriedly brought out the fifteen-year contract, tore it to pieces, and paid Shen Dan every penny of his wages. His attitude was so obsequious it was almost comical.

Li Yu let out a long breath of relief. Sister Ying had been right: being a scholar really was advantageous.

Being a merchant was far too frustrating!

In any case, he could not allow his younger brother to remain a laborer. If he had to work, he might as well become a shopkeeper.

After Li Yu dragged Shen Dan out of Spring Hall Tavern, Shen Dan still wore an expression of deep displeasure and refused to return to the Li residence with him.

“Brother, you truly shouldn’t interfere in my affairs. I should be the one to decide what happens to me.”

That day, when he had heard that his brother had placed first in the county examination, he had naturally felt happy and proud. Yet alongside those feelings was a quiet sense of loss.

From then on, his brother’s life and his own would have nothing to do with each other.

“If I don’t interfere, what are you going to do?” Li Yu said in a low voice. “I told you that, whether you pass or fail, you must at least sit for the examinations once. Why won’t you listen?”

Was finding work really so easy?

And he was only an apprentice at that. He would have to endure his master’s scolding while laboring like an ox or a horse. If there truly had been no other choice, that would have been one thing—but since there was another path, why choose this one?

“You bear the surname Li, and I bear the surname Shen.” Shen Dan pressed his lips together, then raised his head and looked stubbornly at his brother. “You stopped being my brother long ago.”

Given the temperament of their grandparents, who knew what kind of trouble they would cause once his brother became wealthy and honored? It was better to sever their ties as soon as possible.

The light from the shops along the street fell across the young man’s face. His cold, stubborn expression pierced Li Yu’s heart. Without the slightest hesitation, Li Yu raised his hand and struck him.

“Smack!”

The resounding slap stunned the passersby nearby. It also made the members of the Li family, who had been watching from the shadows, tremble. Madam Zhang could not help trying to step forward and stop him.

Li Gang hurriedly seized her arm. “San-niang, it’s perfectly natural for an elder brother to discipline his own younger brother. Don’t go up there and take his side.”

Li Lian felt fortunate. “Luckily, my brother didn’t find out that I pretended to be ill and skipped school last time. Otherwise, if that slap had landed on my face, how painful would it have been… Uh, Father?”

He had barely finished speaking when he was struck as well. Looking up, he saw the old master rolling up his sleeves.

“You little rascal! How dare you pretend to be ill…”

Normally, whenever his children were mischievous, Li Gang played the good-natured one. But whenever their studies were involved, he was always the first to reach for his belt.

Seeing what was about to happen, Li Lian turned and ran. Li Gang, determined to teach him a proper lesson, chased after him. Fearing that his little brother might suffer, Li Ying ran after them as well.

Madam Zhang hesitated and stayed where she was. Her husband would never beat their youngest son to death, after all—and at that moment, her second son’s affairs were more important.

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The blow had split the corner of Shen Dan’s mouth, and blood trickled down his chin. Then he heard his brother’s voice, cold as snow.

“Are you going to continue this conversation here, or are you coming with me?”

Afraid that someone acquainted with them might see his brother in a bad light, Shen Dan followed him despite his reluctance. Madam Zhang hurried after them too, keeping a respectful distance.

As he walked, Li Yu said, “I’m giving you two choices. Either return to the village and continue your studies, or come to the county town and study here. Choose one.”

In short, Shen Dan had to continue studying.

Shen Dan knew that his brother meant well, but his tone was hardly pleasant.

“Come to the county town to study? Anyone who didn’t know better would think the Li family’s money belonged to you…”

The instant the words left his mouth, his brother stopped and looked at him with displeasure.

Although Shen Dan felt a little frightened, he remained stubborn. “I’m not as shamelessly at ease as you are, Brother. I’d be embarrassed to spend the Li family’s money for nothing.”

It came back to the same point: he bore the surname Shen, not Li. Patrol Officer Li supporting his own son’s education was only natural, but supporting Shen Dan’s studies was not.

Li Yu stared at him in silence for a long while. Only after a considerable time had passed did he say, “Write an IOU to my father.”

When Shen Dan stared at him blankly, Li Yu continued, “If I enter officialdom successfully in the future, it would be humiliating for people to say that I have a brother who works as a laborer.”

“You must study, Second Brother. If spending the Li family’s money makes you uncomfortable, then write an IOU and repay it with interest in the future.”

“That is what it means to be a man of ambition and integrity. Using your future to make a show of pride is the most useless kind of stubbornness. If Father were still alive, he would give you two slaps himself.”

Shen Dan had wanted to study all along, and upon hearing this, he could not help wavering.

“But what if I can’t repay it?”

If he could not repay the money, how could his mother and brother hold their heads up in the Li family?

“Your brother will repay it for you.” Li Yu placed a hand on his younger brother’s shoulder and looked him in the eyes. “Your brother came first in the county examination. The two of us are blood brothers.”

No matter whether they bore the same surname, they were brothers whose blood was thicker than water.

If his brother remained down-and-out while he rose high above him, then even if he became a high-ranking official, people would still criticize him.

He had said this to persuade his brother to change his mind, but it was also the absolute truth.

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“Even if you’re only doing it for your brother’s reputation in the future, can’t you consider this a favor to me?”

Shen Dan knew that Li Yu was only saying this to persuade him to study, but when he thought it over carefully, the argument was not without merit.

Since his brother had managed to come first in the county examination, perhaps he might even pass the provincial and metropolitan examinations in the future.

In the end, Shen Dan agreed. He had no other choice, anyway.

With the tavern keeper at Spring Hall Tavern spreading the word, there was probably no one in the entire county who would dare take him on.

Who would dare hire the younger brother of the county examination’s first-place candidate against that candidate’s wishes?

As for seeking work elsewhere, with Patrol Officer Li having given the order, who would dare issue him a travel permit?

So he could only continue his studies. Even so, he wrote an IOU to Li Gang, steeling himself as he did so.

The interest was set at three percent per year. Others charged interest by the month, so this arrangement could be considered extremely generous.

Naturally, Li Gang did not need the interest. He was merely trying to preserve the child’s self-respect.

Meanwhile, Madam Zhang took Li Ying to the Shen family’s home and caused a tremendous commotion.

Li Ying also took the opportunity to add something to their water jar. According to Constable Shen, no one from the Shen family had been seen leaving the house for several days.

Li Ying remarked regretfully, “Country folk really are sturdy. Even that didn’t kill them. I remember the old woman next door was sent to the clinic after only two days of that and didn’t make it.”

Wouldn’t it have been wonderful if they had died? Then they could never cause trouble again.

Besides, villagers were reluctant to waste food. Diarrhea after eating spoiled food was common enough, and it was hardly unusual for an elderly person in poor health not to survive it.

Dig a pit, wrap the body in a straw mat, and that would be the end of it. There was no chance anyone would report it to the authorities.

Li Yu said, “…Sister Ying, thank you.”

His Sister Ying truly was gentle, beautiful, dignified, kind, and meek.

Li Ying waved her hand with hearty unconcern. “Oh, it was nothing. You’re my little brother, and your younger brother is my younger brother too. That makes him half a member of the Li family.”

If anyone dared make even one member of the Li family unhappy, she would make their entire family unhappy.

Li Yu was deeply moved. “Sister, you’re the best sister in the world.”

That fellow Wu Jingcheng had truly accumulated blessings through eight lifetimes to marry his sister.

Absolutely.