Chapter Twelve: The Abandoned Parcel

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At the entrance to the village.

Beside four wooden handcarts loaded with bundles large and small, a crowd of men, women, and children stood or sat, their faces tinged with impatience.

Among them were Fu Zhihou’s maternal grandfather, eldest uncle, second uncle, eldest aunt, second aunt, four cousins, a cousin sister, and two cousin sisters.

“Why aren’t they here yet? We’ve been waiting so long. And mother, she insists on visiting the Fu family. Isn’t Fu Rui enough to bring shame upon our Tao family?”

The eldest aunt, carrying a bundle on her back, sat beneath the wooden shelter to escape the heat. Yet the thought of not entering the city sooner left her irritable.

“Exactly. Even Zijian and Ziheng refused to go over and take a look!”

Second aunt stood beside her, quietly echoing the sentiment, her gaze flickering towards the village before them. Thinking of the Fu family, she felt a sudden dislike.

“Father, grandmother was up before dawn, and yet insists I support her along the way. Her health seems just fine to me!”

The youngest of the two cousin sisters pouted, casting a resentful look at her father.

Second uncle frowned instantly at his daughter’s words. Second aunt quickly signaled her daughter to keep quiet. Seeing her child’s fearful expression and her husband’s restraint, she finally relaxed.

Among the four Tao brothers, whether those who lived away or the eldest who stayed at home, none could match her husband’s devotion. He always cared for the old lady, tending to her needs throughout their journey.

“They’re here! They’re here!”

Hearing the children’s excited cries, second aunt turned to look at the village. In the distance, a young man was supporting an elderly woman as they approached. At last, she breathed a sigh of relief.

After a moment, the youth and the old woman arrived before them.

“If you’d been any later, you might as well have stayed behind!”

The speaker was the grandfather, the only one seated beneath the shelter. His tone and expression betrayed clear impatience.

“It was just a moment!”

Grandmother frowned and sighed, helplessly looking at her husband.

“Zhihou pays respects to grandfather!”

Fu Zhihou raised his hand in greeting. Though his grandfather wore simple linen, his neat hair and long beard lent him a dignified air. Compared to his own grandfather, the difference was plain.

Yet to Fu Zhihou, no matter how tidy his grandfather’s attire, it could not compare to the warmth of his own grandfather’s constant concern.

“Hmph!”

Grandfather watched Fu Zhihou’s greeting, his gaze revealing unmistakable displeasure toward his grandson.

“Zhihou is greeting you, old man! You always preach manners, but when your grandson greets you, you act as if you haven’t seen him?”

Grandmother, unwilling to let the old man slight her grandson, immediately came to his defense. Her gaze swept over the others, especially the grandchildren.

Seeing her grandson greet them, and some pretending not to notice, her eyes flashed with anger.

“All of you, where have your manners gone? Did you lose them along the way?”

At her words, the cousins, rarely seeing their grandmother so angry, hurriedly returned Zhihou’s greeting.

Even the elderly grandfather, unused to his wife’s fury in decades, found himself suppressing his resistance. Thinking he would soon never have to see this detested grandson again, he nodded to Fu Zhihou.

“All right, Zhihou, go home! When you marry and have a grand estate, bring grandmother to live with you! Go on, don’t let your mother worry!”

Grandmother, seeing all but her eldest son treat Zhihou properly, turned away, her aged eyes full of reluctant affection as she gazed at her grandson.

“Grandmother, take care of yourself on the journey!”

Fu Zhihou nodded, hearing her urging to watch him leave. He knew his grandfather’s family disliked him, and that grandmother feared his staying would bring him sorrow. He nodded and turned to leave.

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After a few steps, he looked back at grandmother, watching as she raised her hand to wipe her eyes. Fu Zhihou’s throat tightened. This time, he said nothing; he only glanced at her several times before heading back toward the village.

“A merchant’s son, dreaming of a grand estate…”

The faint words sounded behind him, but Fu Zhihou seemed not to hear, and returned to the village.

Beside the wooden shelter.

Grandmother watched Fu Zhihou return, then turned to glare at her grandson.

“It’s true!”

Tao Ziheng, seeing grandmother so protective of Zhihou, looked aggrieved and defiant, as if determined to cling to his argument.

“Mother, give me the bundle!”

The eldest uncle glanced at his youngest son, then stepped forward to reach for his mother’s bundle.

Everyone looked at the bundle on the old lady’s shoulder. Unlike grandfather and eldest uncle, the other Tao siblings and even the stubborn Ziheng swallowed nervously.

“Bo’er! Your little sister worried we’d go hungry and specially prepared food for the journey. Her thoughtfulness…”

Before grandmother finished, eldest uncle interrupted.

“Mother came to visit, and I didn’t stop her. I understand mother, but I ask her to understand me. The Fu family’s food is not for the Tao family!”

As he spoke, he glared at the bundle, eyes full of anger.

That year, while talking with friends and scholars, he had mentioned his brother-in-law, only to hear someone suddenly speak of a merchant named Fu Rui, describing his appearance. Tao Bo could never forget how his friends and the scholars looked at him, puzzled.

“Bo’er!”

Grandmother clung tightly to the bundle, her gaze pleading as she looked at her eldest son.

As they struggled, grandfather spoke, urging grandmother to let go.

Grandmother’s face was full of sorrow as she looked at her husband and eldest son, and seeing even her second son silent, she knew that even if she held on, they would not eat, nor would they let their grandchildren eat.

Even for herself, they would give her Tao family food, never letting her eat what her daughter had prepared.

Watching her son forcibly take the bundle and throw it aside, grandmother felt only pain. To her, it was not the food she grieved for.

It was that her husband and sons refused to acknowledge her daughter Tao.

“Mother, Fu Rui is a merchant. Did he consider our Tao family? Did he and little sister think of our family’s reputation? Do not blame Bo’er!”

Tao Bo spoke softly to his mother’s disappointed face, then urged everyone onward.

Hearing him, the two women and three girls each shouldered a small bundle and slowly rose. The four boys and second uncle went to the carts, pushing the loaded wheelbarrows.

Grandmother sighed for a long time, turned back for one last look at the village, and then, forlorn, walked away.

Moments later.

Fu Zhihou, who had hidden behind a small garden at the village entrance, finally emerged.

Beside the shelter, Fu Zhihou watched that figure, always looking back yet slowly receding in the distance. He knelt, his head bowed to the earth.

“Grandmother, this is not a dream! Zhihou has found you at last!”

He gazed at the distant figure, lingering at the foot of the mountain, reluctant to leave. Fu Zhihou’s nose tingled, his eyes reddening.

This time, I will not break my promise!

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This time, I will not be deceived again!

This time, no matter where in the world, I will bring grandmother home!

After a while.

He watched as the figure was joined by others, then led away, finally disappearing at the mountain’s base. Fu Zhihou knelt on the ground, long before he rose.

Only when he heard footsteps did he wipe his tears. Turning, he was surprised to see his teacher, Liu Zhiyuan.

“Teacher!”

Fu Zhihou hurriedly saluted Liu Zhiyuan.

Liu Zhiyuan came to stand beside him, gazing toward the foot of the distant mountain. He looked at Fu Zhihou, whose eyes were red and shining with tears, and could not help but smile.

“Why do the villagers say you’re a fool?”

Liu Zhiyuan rarely smiled.

Having spent some time in the village, even without mingling with the locals, he had heard that he had taken on a foolish apprentice.

Seeing his apprentice unsure how to explain, Liu Zhiyuan smiled and shook his head, then looked again toward the mountain’s base.

“There is no mountain of gold in the fields, as far as I can see! But here…”

He murmured, almost inaudibly, as if to say something but stopped. Instead, he asked Fu Zhihou if he still wished to study today.

Seeing Fu Zhihou nod, Liu Zhiyuan told him to pick up the discarded bundle.

“Teacher, why are you here? I didn’t see you just now.”

Fu Zhihou steadied himself, picked up the bundle, and asked curiously.

“You only had eyes for that old lady. What else could you see?”

Liu Zhiyuan replied, taking a small bamboo tube from his waist. As Fu Zhihou approached with the bundle, he saw it was filled with insects. Glancing at the rice fields outside the village, Fu Zhihou realized his teacher had been out catching bugs.

“Take the bundle home. Today, I will teach you how to make ants play chess! How to use the method I taught you to influence another’s ants!”

Liu Zhiyuan spoke.

Looking at Fu Zhihou, Liu Zhiyuan felt a pang of regret. Time, after all, was too short.

He finished and prepared to go to the riverside and wait for Fu Zhihou.

“Teacher, I won’t take it back. If mother sees it, she’ll be heartbroken.”

Fu Zhihou, grateful that his teacher had caught bugs for him, looked at the bundle in his hands and remembered his mother squatting and crying in the garden earlier, feeling a pain he could not express.

Liu Zhiyuan, having turned to leave, heard Fu Zhihou’s words and looked at him, holding the bundle.

At last, Liu Zhiyuan understood why the old family servant had fiercely protected the boy, and why the old lady had cherished him so deeply.

Watching the youth gaze at the bundle with sorrow in his eyes, Liu Zhiyuan felt a strange anger rise in his chest as he recalled how those people had acted.

Silently, he stepped forward, took a millet cake from the bundle.

“Then give it to me. I’m still hungry!”

Liu Zhiyuan said bluntly. The look in his eyes as he gazed at the youth was stripped of all former pride.