Chapter 8: Shen Dan

“The logic is sound enough. Mother was merely speaking casually. Ying’er has taken a liking to you, and mother thinks it’s quite fitting—the child has a refined and pleasant appearance.”

“Our parents at home practice medicine, healing and saving others. Surely, they must be kind-hearted and easy to get along with.”

Zhang Sanniang carefully folded the knitted woolen socks and placed them neatly by his feet.

“Though our home isn’t a place where one would freeze to death, when the cold sets in, it pierces to the bone. Your father said the county exams last five days, and it gets terribly cold inside. There’s no hot food to be had—only dry rations and cold water. You must dress warmly.”

Cold starts from the feet; if your feet are warm, your whole body will be warm.

Li Yu nodded, moved by her concern. “I understand, Mother.”

“Go to bed now,” Zhang Sanniang said, about to leave after seeing her son off to sleep. Hearing his voice again, she smiled and turned back.

“What is it?”

Li Yu spoke earnestly, “Once I pass the academy exam, I’ll find a way to bring my younger brother to the county. The three of us brothers will all stay close by you.”

Hearing this, Zhang Sanniang’s eyes glistened with tears, but she smiled warmly. “Your studies are the most important thing. Leave the rest to me. Now sleep.”

The matter of Erkui—no, Shen Dandan—had always been a lingering regret in the latter half of her life’s happiness.

Though he studied at the village school and was a scholar now, he was not close to her. When they met, he barely called her mother.

Fortunately, his relationship with the eldest son remained good, which was a small comfort.

Wu Jingcheng noticed that in recent days his good friend had been distant, indifferent to both idle chatter and discussions about the upcoming county exam.

His demeanor was always cool and detached.

One day, because Granny Chen had to return home and Mother took Sister Ying to visit an ill elder at her maternal home, the house was empty.

Li Yu took his younger brother to eat a bowl of wontons on the street, and Wu Jingcheng followed them.

“Ah, what have I done to offend you?” he asked, half-joking.

Whether as a schoolmate or as a future brother-in-law, he wanted to coax this stingy little guy.

Li Yu chuckled inwardly, crossing his arms and coldly remarking, “You’re a shameless scoundrel who uses the guise of scholarly pursuits to seduce a respectable young lady.”

No wonder…

No wonder whenever he came by and Sister Ying brought him something, this guy’s voice reading aloud would grow louder, and he often deliberately showed off his literary flair with rather affected mannerisms.

Turns out, he was like a peacock flaunting his feathers to attract a mate.

“Why put it so harshly?” Wu Jingcheng replied with an unblushing face. “Marriage between man and woman is natural. I don’t believe you won’t behave the same when you meet a girl you fancy.”

His father, Doctor Wu, had said that often those who seemed the most upright were, in fact, the wildest at heart.

Jingcheng felt Zixuan must be just such a person. Since they were old enough to take the county exam, their teacher had given them courtesy names for the sake of befriending fellow examinees more properly. Calling each other by childhood names in such formal settings would be unseemly.

Li Yu smiled wryly and said, “Impossible. Absolutely impossible. I would never be as shameless as Meng Zhenxian.”

As if a middle schooler experiencing first love would go to such lengths to attract attention with childish antics. Although, by age, Wu Jingcheng was indeed in middle school—he was just two months younger.

He said seriously, “When our families are joined, I’ll be your elder brother, and you’ll be my younger brother.”

Just the thought filled him with joy.

“Brother, Brother Wu.”

While they were joking, Li Yu saw Shen Dan approaching with a look of delight.

“What a coincidence.”

Dressed in the proper scholar’s robe, Shen Dan bore some resemblance to Li Yu. He carried a woven basket filled with eggs on his back.

Li Yu quickly rose to meet him. “Selling eggs in the county again? Have you eaten yet?”

Though the Shen family had treated his younger brother well, sparing him hard labor, they often sent him to the county to sell goods. If he couldn’t sell them, he was told to sell to the Li family—surely Zhang Sanniang would not refuse her own son.

But the boy was honest and had never refused.

Li Lian happily ran up and called out “Second Brother,” though they rarely saw him. They shared the same mother, after all.

But Shen Dan responded only with a faint “Hmm,” not warmly. Li Lian felt a twinge of disappointment but didn’t get angry and quietly returned to his wontons.

Mother and big brother had explained that Second Brother wasn’t unfriendly; he was just distant because they rarely saw each other.

Then Shen Dan smiled at his brother and said, “It’s not that. Grandpa and Grandma heard you’re taking the county exam and asked me to bring these for you. Eat two eggs a day without sparing yourself.”

Being family by blood, he was genuinely happy. “Brother, they care about you. When will you visit them again?”

Li Yu said nothing but wondered what game that family was playing.

After all these years, they had only sent gifts once; before, they would exploit his younger brother to extract more from their mother and him.

But with Wu Jingcheng, an outsider present, he couldn’t speak openly to his brother and simply asked the vendor for another bowl of wontons.

Seeing his brother hesitate, he said, “If you don’t want to eat, come with me to see Mother. She misses you very much.”

Shen Dan did not want to see their mother, so he didn’t refuse.

Li Yu sighed inwardly. He wished more for his brother to visit their mother.

But some things couldn’t be rushed; pushing too hard might backfire and push even a brother away.

Seeing Shen Dan sit, Li Lian offered his chopsticks, flattering, “Second Brother, I’ve wiped them for you.”

Shen Dan caught his brother’s gaze, pursed his lips, then took the chopsticks and said thanks.

Wu Jingcheng opened his mouth, intending to say something kind to Aunt Zhang and the young scholar, but feeling out of place, he fell silent, quietly paid the bill, and found an excuse to slip away.

After he left, Shen Dan said, “Brother, tell Mother to stop asking Inspector Li for money. I want to come to the county next month and find a job as a bookkeeper.”

The village schoolmates often joked he got into the academy by selling out his own mother.

“Why quit studying?” Li Yu grew anxious. “Did the village boys bully you, or did Grandma or Grandpa say something?”

He wanted to curse the old folks but changed his tone for his brother’s sake.

“No,” Shen Dan smiled after swallowing his last wonton and finishing the broth.

“I’m not cut out for studying. I’m not like you, Brother. I probably won’t succeed in the exams, so it’s better not to waste Inspector Li’s money.”

Grandpa and Grandma also said that the village might not produce a scholar in twenty years, and since his talents were average, it was better to find work sooner.

“If you stop studying, isn’t that wasting your chance?” Li Lian couldn’t understand. “Father says one should never give up, and many people study into their seventies and eighties.”

“Father donates five strings of cash yearly to the county school to cultivate more talented people for the empire.”

“Second Brother is only twelve this year. You should wait until you’re eighteen or nineteen before making other plans.”

Starting at age four, eight years of early rising and hard study—quitting before even entering the county exam was a great pity.

Hearing this, Shen Dan smiled bitterly. “That’s not the same.”

Inspector Li’s debt weighs too heavily on me, bending me so low I can’t straighten up. That’s why I don’t want to see Mother or step into Inspector Li’s household.

He often felt a faint jealousy toward this half-brother.

Lying on the village wooden bed lined with straw, Shen Dan imagined how their mother might hold this brother tenderly, soothing him to eat, lovingly watching him recite.

He had the love of his parents, the care of siblings.

But he was left facing a few mud huts, nagging grandparents with rigid minds, and schoolmates who mocked him.