Chapter 2: Silver

Exerting every ounce of his strength, Zhao Mengcheng finally managed to move his second son onto the bed.

As soon as he reached out and touched the boy, his heart sank. The child’s forehead was burning hot, a clear sign that he was seriously ill.

Both the eldest son and the youngest daughter were frantic with worry, their faces clouded with grief and anxiety.

“Dad, what’s wrong with Second Brother? Is he sick?” the little girl asked, her face full of terror.

The eldest son began to blame himself. “It’s all my fault. I didn’t even notice that Second Brother was sick.”

“Quick, go get a cold cloth,” Zhao Mengcheng said, interrupting his eldest son’s self-reproach.

After unbuttoning the boy’s collar, Zhao Mengcheng realized that his second son was even more emaciated than he had thought. He was nothing but skin and bones. It was only because of the lingering baby fat on his face and the clothes he wore that he had appeared slightly better off than his older brother.

Despite being wiped down with the cold cloth, the boy’s condition did not improve. Instead, he began to shake violently with chills.

Ever since their mother passed away, the original owner of this body had been bedridden. The second son had likely been feeling unwell for a long time but had endured it in silence until he finally collapsed.

Zhao Mengcheng furrowed his brows. “Go get the doctor.”

Zhao Dawa took off running immediately. The third child was already terrified and could do nothing but stand by the bed, tears streaming down her face.

Zhao Mengcheng forced himself to stay focused. Though his own body was weak and trembling, he still had to comfort the children. “Don’t cry. Your second brother will be fine.”

“Grandpa Liu, please hurry! My brother is very sick!”

Zhao Dawa’s urgent voice drifted in from outside, and soon he pulled an elderly man into the room.

Zhao Mengcheng searched his memory and remembered that this was the village doctor¹ of Qingshan Village, who usually treated minor ailments like headaches and fevers.

Doctor Liu didn’t waste words. He stepped forward and immediately took the boy’s pulse, his brow furrowing a moment later. “This child is seriously ill.”

He glanced at Zhao Mengcheng, who was still recovering from his own illness and looked sallow and weak, then at the weeping youngest daughter and the anxious Zhao Dawa. He sighed inwardly.

“I can only prescribe a dose of medicine for now. A high fever like this is very dangerous for a child. If it doesn’t break by tomorrow morning, you had better take him to the city. If he burns for too long, I’m afraid it will damage his brain.”

Zhao Mengcheng nodded. “Thank you for the trouble, Uncle Liu. About the fee for the medicine…”

“We’re all fellow villagers, and I gathered these herbs myself so they aren’t worth much. Let the child take them first. You can pay me when it’s more convenient for your family,” Doctor Liu said, being a soft-hearted man.

Zhao Mengcheng put away his copper coins and etched this kindness into his heart.

Before long, Zhao Dawa brought over the brewed medicine. However, when the spoon was brought to the boy’s lips, he clenched his teeth tightly and refused to open his mouth.

“Give it to me.”

Zhao Mengcheng took the bowl, propped the child up, pried open his jaw, and poured the medicine in.

The method was crude but effective. The child was still able to swallow, and although some spilled out, most of the medicine went down.

“Dad, will Second Brother be okay?”

Zhao Dawa was terrified. Their mother was gone, their father was sick, and he couldn’t bear to think about what would happen if something happened to his brother as well.

“He will be fine,” Zhao Mengcheng promised, though it was all he could do.

But the second son’s condition did not improve as they had hoped. Instead, it grew increasingly severe.

Doctor Liu was summoned again by Zhao Dawa. This time, as soon as he touched the boy, he exclaimed, “He’s burning up! You must get him to the city immediately.”

He added, “Go to Deji Tang in the county seat. There is a Doctor Lu there who specializes in treating childhood fevers. They say a few silver needles from him can break any fever.”

Zhao Mengcheng gritted his teeth. “We’re going to the city right now.”

Doctor Liu remembered something and offered a troubled reminder. “Just be aware that Deji Tang is very expensive and they don’t offer credit. You’ll need to bring at least three taels of silver.”

Zhao Dawa’s face went pale instantly. Their family only had fifty copper coins left, which was what remained from treating Zhao Mengcheng earlier that day. Everything else had been spent.

Cold sweat poured down his face. They had already sold their land; what did they have left to pay for his brother’s treatment?

Zhao Mengcheng clearly realized this as well. Searching the original owner’s memories, he found that the family’s savings were long gone and they were buried in debt. Where were they going to find three taels of silver?

On the bed, the child let out a faint, kitten-like whimper, looking fragile and pitiful, as if he might slip away at any moment.

Zhao Mengcheng suddenly thought of something and reached out to his eldest son. “We’re going to find my older brother.”

The father and son supported each other as they walked out. Doctor Liu watched them and shook his head, thinking that given Zhao Wencheng’s stingy and harsh nature, there was no way he would give them money to save his nephew.

But looking at the child on the bed and then at the sobbing little girl, he gritted his teeth and followed them.

“Dad, will Uncle really lend us the money?” Zhao Dawa clearly knew what kind of person his uncle was.

Zhao Mengcheng said coldly, “He’ll do it whether he wants to or not.”

The father and son soon arrived at the entrance to Zhao Wencheng’s house. It was a house made of brick and tile², a clear sign that they lived a comfortable life.

“Big Brother, open the door! It’s Mengcheng.” Zhao Mengcheng pounded on the door, but there was no movement inside.

Coldness filled Zhao Mengcheng’s eyes. “Dawa, can you cry?”

Zhao Dawa froze.

Zhao Mengcheng stroked the boy’s cheek. “If you can’t, just wail. The louder the better.”

Realizing something, the child pinched himself hard and burst into a loud sob.

The piercing sound cut through the night, waking almost all the neighbors. One by one, they poked their heads out to see what was happening.

Zhao Mengcheng’s weak and pale appearance was his best weapon at the moment. “Big Brother, my A-Mao³ has a persistent high fever. Doctor Liu said if he doesn’t get better, he’ll die. We need to go to Deji Tang to see a doctor. Please, I beg you, open the door. Big Brother, I’ve never asked you for anything in my life. We’re brothers, and A-Mao is your own nephew. Are you really going to stand by and watch him die?”

Being from the same village, everyone knew the relationship between the Zhao brothers. At this moment, they began to voice their indignation.

“Zhao Laoda is truly heartless. That’s his own flesh and blood brother.”

“Back then, he was capable of kicking his unmarried brother out of the house. There’s nothing he won’t do.”

“So cruel. I never expected him to be this kind of person.”

Amidst the murmurs, Zhao Wencheng could no longer play dead. He had no choice but to open the door with a bitter expression.

Compared to his educated, refined, and elegant younger brother, Zhao Wencheng was refined in name only. He looked like a simple, honest farmer.

Unfortunately, his personality was anything but honest. After opening the door, he kept his eyelids lowered. “Second Brother, it’s not that I’m heartless and won’t help you, but the family really has no money left.”

Zhao Dasao⁴ raised her voice even louder. “What a coincidence. A few days ago, something happened at my parents’ house, and they borrowed all our money. We can’t find a single copper coin in the whole house right now. There’s really nothing we can do.”

The couple played off each other. “Second Brother, you should quickly think of another way. Why don’t you ask the fellow villagers for a loan?”

The villagers who had been speaking up for Zhao Mengcheng suddenly went silent.

Everyone knew Zhao Mengcheng was already drowning in debt. If he kept borrowing, would he ever be able to pay it back? No one’s money blew in with the wind.

Zhao Mengcheng watched the couple’s performance with cold eyes. “Big Brother, do you really have no money?”

“Really, not even a single copper,” Zhao Wencheng said, clapping his hands together.

Zhao Mengcheng sneered inwardly. “Big Brother, you might fool others with those words, but you can’t fool me.”

“The rest of you probably don’t know how heartless my dear brother is. Taking advantage of the fact that I’ve been delirious with illness these past few days, he tricked my son into selling our fertile land. Three whole mu of land, sold for a mere three taels of silver.”

“Big Brother, for the sake of our deceased parents, I’ll only ask you one thing: where did the rest of the money from the land sale go?”

At these words, the villagers erupted in an uproar.

“Land in our village should be worth at least two taels an mu!”

“Even poor soil costs one tael. The second Zhao brother’s fertile land was sold for that price?”

“Zhao Laoda’s heart is truly black.”

Zhao Wencheng’s face darkened.

He clearly hadn’t expected his younger brother, who had always been the most concerned with saving face and hadn’t even complained when he was kicked out with nothing, to actually tear off the mask and confront him in front of everyone.

“That’s not true! Your land was sold in a hurry, so that’s all it fetched. I was kind enough to help you sell it, and this is the thanks I get? You’re biting the hand that feeds you!” Zhao Wencheng shouted with a stern face.

He even glared at Zhao Dawa and scolded him, “Dawa, you sold the land yourself today. Now that your father is awake, you father and son are going to go back on your word? That sale was registered with the government with a red deed⁵!”

“If I hadn’t called for the town doctor and bought medicine for you, you wouldn’t even be standing here making a scene.”

Zhao Dawa was stunned.

“Don’t listen. Keep crying,” Zhao Mengcheng whispered.

Zhao Dawa was very obedient. He didn’t say a word and just cried, his sobs growing louder and louder.

Doctor Liu caught up at that moment. Seeing the situation, he cursed, “Zhao Laoda, don’t go too far. Your brother isn’t even dead yet, and you’re already preying on his estate. No matter how you look at it, three taels for three mu of fertile land is far too little.”

“He’s right. Hurry up and give them the rest of the money.”

“The child is waiting for life-saving treatment.”

“And you call yourself an uncle. You’re so heartless, aren’t you afraid of divine retribution?”

Zhao Dasao cursed with a grim face, “The price is written right there in black and white, and Dawa pressed his own thumbprint. We didn’t force him. We’re brothers who cut ties ages ago, yet now we’re expected to pay out of our own pockets to subsidize them? There’s no such logic in this world!”

“What black and white? I haven’t seen it, and I don’t acknowledge it,” Zhao Mengcheng interrupted her.

“The red deed was naturally given to the buyer. If you don’t believe it, go ask at the yamen⁶ and see if they even give you the time of day.”

With a child at home waiting to be saved, Zhao Mengcheng had no time to waste.

He kept his eyes fixed on Zhao Wencheng. “Brother, if anything happens to A-Mao today, I won’t let you off even if I have to become a ghost. I’ll report you to the authorities and sue you for conspiring to swindle your own nephew’s money.”

Zhao Dasao felt a surge of panic and instinctively looked toward her husband.

Zhao Wencheng was also extremely flustered, but he remained stubborn. “Fine, go ahead and sue me then. A righteous man fears no shadows⁷.”

Zhao Mengcheng continued, “If I can’t win in the county, I’ll go to Fengzhou. If I can’t win in Fengzhou, I’ll go to the capital. I’ll spend the rest of my life wearing you down. I just wonder if you can afford to play that game, Brother.”

The surrounding villagers gasped. Taking a matter to the authorities was something that ordinary folk like them usually avoided at all costs.

Everyone knew that once you entered the magistrate’s office, you wouldn’t come out without losing a layer of skin⁸. Those who had felt sorry for Zhao Mengcheng just a moment ago now thought he had gone mad. It seemed he was prepared to die, so long as he dragged Zhao Laoda’s entire family to hell with him.

Zhao Wencheng was clearly rattled, especially by the bone-chilling gaze his younger brother directed at him. It inspired an inexplicable sense of dread.

He really would do it, Zhao Wencheng thought.

“Husband, he wouldn’t actually go to the authorities, would he?” Zhao Dasao asked, her heart racing with anxiety.

The couple knew full well that the land deed stated a price of two and a half taels of silver per mu. Relying on the fact that the children were illiterate, they had pocketed one and a half taels for themselves. If the matter reached the magistrate, they wouldn’t be able to hide it.

“I’m not asking for much. We’ll value the land at two taels per mu. Give me another three taels of silver, and we’ll call it even,” Zhao Mengcheng said.

Zhao Wencheng grit his teeth. “You’re just doing this to extort me! Fine, I’ll give it to you, but from this day forward, all ties between us are severed. I have no brother as cold-hearted as you. However, three taels is too much. I’ll give you one tael out of my own pocket, and that’s it.”

“Three taels. Not a copper less,” Zhao Mengcheng insisted.

Before Zhao Wencheng could haggle further, he added, “Our parents sent me to school. Although I didn’t make much of myself, I still know a few people. If I swallow my pride and go to them, I’m sure they’ll help for the sake of our old school ties.”

It was a blatant threat.

Zhao Wencheng ground his teeth in fury, but in the end, he pulled out the money with a stony expression.

“Count it carefully. Don’t you ever call me ‘Brother’ again. I can’t afford to have a brother like you.”

Zhao Mengcheng counted the coins and then announced loudly, “I ask everyone here to bear witness. From this day on, I, Zhao Mengcheng, sever all ties with Zhao Wencheng. Whether it be weddings, funerals, or any other family matter, we shall have nothing more to do with each other.”

Having said his piece, he pocketed the silver and left, supported by his eldest son.

But before they could even reach the house, they saw his third child running out in tears, crying out, “Dad! Second Brother’s eyes are rolling back in his head!”

Translator’s Notes