The sun was setting. The villagers in the fields all began walking home one after another. Elder Pei was chatting with the uncles from the same village, while Pei Si carried a hoe on one shoulder and held the lunch basket that Madam Pei Li had brought at noon in his other hand, walking forward with his head down.

“How is your family’s Xiao Wu doing? I heard his monthly wages aren’t small.”

“Just so-so.” Elder Pei waved his hand. “That useless thing.”

“Oh, your Xiao Wu can read and write and even keep accounts, and you still call him useless?” Someone laughed. “I heard from the third aunt’s grandson at the village entrance that Xiao Wu often ranked first when he was studying. If you had supported him for another two years, you might have supported him to become a scholar!”

“Ha, supporting a scholar would cost how much silver? You’re trying to work our eldest brother to death!” Someone laughed.

Elder Pei said, “As long as he doesn’t have to scratch a living from the soil.”

“Speaking of which, your family’s fourth son has been clever since childhood. I see that not many children can compare to him. If you had sent him to study too, he could have passed the imperial examination to become the top scholar!”

“That’s just small cleverness.” Elder Pei glanced at Pei Si walking ahead with his head down, as if he wanted to say something, then sighed again.

Pei Si just pretended he couldn’t hear.

The group walked to the village entrance and heard crying and wailing sounds ahead.

“Elder, it sounds like it’s from your house?” someone said.

Elder Pei’s face changed, and he quickened his pace. Pei Si also hurried to follow.

After turning the corner, the crying became clearer. From a distance, they could see several burly men dressed as tavern enforcers blocking the entrance to his house. Madam Pei Li’s wailing cries reached everyone’s ears.

“…Our family’s Xiao Wu would never do such sneaky thieving! You—how could you break my son’s legs!”

Elder Pei pushed through those burly men, and Pei Si hurried to follow. They saw Pei Wu lying barely alive on the threshold at the courtyard gate, his legs and clothes covered in blood. His face pale as he looked at everyone, his eyes bloodshot, he said hoarsely, “Father, Mother, Fourth Brother, I really didn’t steal the tavern’s silver.”

“You say you didn’t steal, so you didn’t steal?” One of the tavern enforcers sneered. “This is catching someone red-handed. Our young master caught him in the act. Even if we went to the county office, there would be witnesses and evidence. If it weren’t for the shopkeeper’s kind heart, you would have been in prison long ago!”

He pulled out a contract paper from his sleeve and casually threw it on the ground. “The silver you stole plus compensation for not completing your apprenticeship years adds up to a total of six hundred seventy-eight taels. If you can’t pay it back before New Year, go squat in prison! Let’s go!”

Madam Pei Li was so frightened she didn’t dare cry anymore, staring at the contract paper with a pale face. Elder Pei was knocked back by several enforcers. The onlookers talked among themselves, but none dared step forward to speak. Pei Si walked forward two steps, reached down to pick up the contract paper from the ground, and tucked it into his sleeve.

“Father, Mother, let’s bring Xiao Wu inside first.”

After speaking, he crouched down and carried Pei Wu on his back.

The courtyard gate closed, shutting out the villagers’ discussions outside.

After entering the house, Elder Pei finally came to his senses, looking at Pei Wu with angry and incredulous eyes. “You stole their silver?”

“I didn’t!” Pei Wu said stubbornly. “Father, you and Mother always taught us to be upright people. If I had stolen their silver, may I be struck by lightning and die a horrible death!”

Madam Pei Li looked at Pei Wu’s legs and shed tears, frantically searching for silver in the house. “What time is it and you’re still talking nonsense! Quickly go get a doctor!”

“I’ll go.” Pei Si took the silver and ran out the door without looking back.

****

After the summoned doctor examined Pei Wu’s condition, his brow furrowed tightly. Elder Pei and Madam Pei Li watched him nervously. “Doctor, it’s not serious, is it? Can he—can he still stand up?”

The doctor carried his medicine box out of the side room and said to Elder Pei and Madam Pei Li, “Whether he can stand up is secondary. This has been delayed too long, and the wounds have festered. I’ll prescribe a few doses of medicine to try… we’ll see if he can make it through tonight.”

Pei Li Shi immediately felt darkness before her eyes and collapsed onto Elder Pei.

Pei Si was in the room taking care of Pei Wu.

Pei Wu grabbed his hand and said hoarsely, “Brother, I really didn’t steal anything… It was the young master who framed me. The owner protected his son, afraid this matter would spread and ruin his son’s reputation. I really didn’t steal!”

“Fourth Brother, don’t you believe me?” Pei Wu asked.

Pei Si nodded. “You’re not that kind of person.”

Pei Wu was only a year younger than him. His originally dark complexion had been nurtured to become much paler these past few months, but it was still much darker than Pei Si’s cold white skin tone. His features took after Elder Pei, somewhat sharp and rough. His expression was stubborn and indignant, but he was still a fourteen or fifteen-year-old child after all. While gritting his teeth, he also shed tears in front of Pei Si.

Pei Si reached out to wipe his tears. “Don’t think about this anymore. Rest well.”

Pei Wu was probably holding on with that anger in his heart. His lips had no color at all. He said somewhat regretfully, “I originally… wanted to save money and bring you, Father, and Mother to the county. Brother, you’re so smart, it’s really a pity not to study. Father is just stubborn. I—”

“Enough, close your eyes and mouth.” Pei Si said sternly.

Pei Wu reluctantly closed his mouth. After a while, he couldn’t help but speak again, his expression melancholy. “Fourth Brother, did Mother inquire about the third daughter of the Li family in the neighboring village for you? When will you get married?”

“Nonsense.” Pei Si frowned. “Who told you that?”

“Never mind who told me. I know about your affairs in the village.” Pei Wu said. “I heard you even saved an immortal, and he stayed at our house for over three months? If I hadn’t been too busy to come back, I definitely would have—”

Before he finished speaking, he saw Pei Si’s face look somewhat unpleasant.

“What’s wrong, Brother?” Pei Wu noticed his expression wasn’t right and decisively closed his mouth, frowning. “Did that person bully you!?”

As he spoke, he tried to sit up from the bed, but Pei Si pressed down on his shoulder with one hand. He heard Pei Si say coldly, “No one bullied me. If you speak again, I’ll throw you out.”

Pei Wu immediately closed his mouth. Before long, he heavily closed his eyes, cold sweat pouring out all over his body.

“Xiao Wu? Xiao Wu?” Pei Si called him somewhat uneasily, and heard Madam Pei Li suppressed crying from outside.

He lifted the curtain and went out, seeing Elder Pei kneeling before the doctor. “Doctor, please, you must save my son! We’re willing to pay any amount!”

Pei Si pocketed all the broken silver and copper coins in the house and followed the doctor to get medicine.

“Tonight, boil three doses. Divide one dose into three bowls, one bowl every half hour, and pour it down his throat…” the doctor instructed him. “If he makes it through tomorrow morning, come get three more doses.”

Pei Si gripped the medicine tightly with one hand and clutched the remaining three copper coins with the other, nodding.

After a whole night of bustle, Madam Pei Li fainted from crying three times, Elder Pei anxiously kowtowed in the courtyard, and Pei Si fed medicine all night long. The unconscious Pei Wu finally opened his eyes groggily.

“Brother…” Pei Wu moved his lips.

Pei Si hurried forward to listen.

“My mouth is bitter.” Pei Wu frowned. “Last night… I dreamed someone was choking my neck and forcing poison down my throat, but when I saw it was you… I drank it all.”

Seeing that he could still joke around, Pei Si immediately felt relieved, but was pushed to the back by the anxious Madam Pei Li.

Elder Pei handed him a heavy bag of silver and said hoarsely, “This is what that immortal….left for you. Your mother and I originally planned to keep it for your wedding, but your brother—”

Pei Si looked down at the bag of silver in a daze.

“For the sake of your mother and me raising you for sixteen years, Father begs you… save your brother.” The always domineering and decisive Elder Pei actually began begging him.

Pei Si couldn’t describe what he felt in his heart. He gripped the bag tightly. “Father, I’ve always considered Xiao Wu as my real brother.”

Elder Pei seemed to age ten years overnight, turning his head away and coughing hard.

Pei Si got another month’s worth of medicine. He stood at the courtyard gate, putting the money pouch embroidered with nine-leaf lotus into his sleeve.

However, when he pushed open the door, he saw a courtyard full of chaos. Pei Wu, who had finally gained some color, was lying indignantly on the threshold, blood seeping through his clothes again.

Pei Si hurried forward to help him up. “What happened?”

“People from the tavern came to demand money.” Pei Wu gritted his teeth. “Father injured one of them, and those people insisted on taking him to see the officials! Mother went with the village chief to chase after them.”

Pei Si carried him into the inner room and helped change the medicine on his legs. “I’ll go to the county to see.”

But Pei Wu grabbed his arm and asked with red eyes, “Fourth Brother, tell me the truth. Are my legs ruined?”

Pei Si paused. “Don’t think wildly. The doctor said if you take your medicine well, you’ll be able to stand up.”

“You’re the same as Father and Mother! All lying to me!” Pei Wu said angrily. “The bones are all rotten, how can I still stand up!?”

Pei Si turned his back to him, his whole body frozen in place.

“It’s all because of me that our family became like this! Why do you still let me live!” Pei Wu broke down. “I should just die and be done with it!”

Slap!

Without thinking, Pei Si slapped him and said sternly, “Can’t you have some backbone? It’s just legs! I’ll support you from now on!”

Pei Wu stared at him blankly for a long time, his voice taking on a crying tone. “I know our family has no money left. Brother, I’ll go admit that I stole it! I’ll go squat in prison! I was greedy for the owner’s silver, I was possessed! Let them release Father, I’ll exchange myself for Father…”

Pei Si pressed his hand on his shoulder. “Xiao Wu, we walk upright and sit straight. You just need to recover well and not worry Father and Mother. Leave this matter to me. I will definitely bring Father back safely.”

Pei Wu hugged his waist, crying with both grievance and anger.

“With Brother here, don’t be afraid of anything.”

****

The pawnshop owner looked at the jade in his hand with amazement. After a long while, he pretended to casually place the jade pendant carefully on the counter. “Little brother, this jade of yours is good jade, but it’s missing a corner here. Although it’s been repaired, the technique is obviously insufficient, which actually devalues this jade. How about this—I’ll give you one hundred taels. Deal or no deal?”

Pei Si looked down at the beautiful nine-leaf lotus carved on the jade pendant. The gap in the upper right corner had been carefully repaired by him, but there was still no way to restore it to its original condition.

He raised his head and said neither humbly nor arrogantly, “This jade material is rare even in the capital. I’ve been to three pawnshops, and the lowest offer was six hundred taels. If you don’t know goods, forget it.”

He picked up the jade pendant and turned to leave.

“Hey—wait!” The owner gritted his teeth. “This gap is really a major flaw. Three hundred taels, no more!”

Pei Si didn’t stop walking.

“Five hundred taels! Really! Five hundred taels! I’ll give you a living pawn! Otherwise, just go!” The owner stuck his head out the window and shouted.

Pei Si stopped his steps and looked calmly at the jade pendant in his hand.

He sighed with both relief and sadness.