Chapter 16: You Can Really Remember All These Characters!?

When Young Master Yun woke up, the first thing he saw was Xin Niang looking at him with a more serious expression than usual.

He had been so exhausted from playing yesterday that when Xin Niang brought him home, she wiped his little hands and feet with a clean cloth. Yun was vaguely aware of it, but he was too sleepy and fell straight into a deep sleep without even having dinner.

He slept all the way until now.

Yun was quite clever.

At this moment, he immediately realized that his mother was upset about him sneaking off to play yesterday.

He promptly sat up in bed, his chubby little face serious as he gazed at Xin Niang. His dark, gleaming eyes showed a look that said, “Scold me if you want, I know I was wrong.” Seeing this, Xin Niang’s heart softened instantly.

“You, you…” Xin Niang couldn’t even voice her anger, so she gently patted his little head, letting the matter slide.

Besides, since Yun hadn’t eaten dinner yesterday, Xin Niang had prepared a baby meal for him, intending to feed him. But Yun was sleeping so soundly that he wouldn’t open his mouth.

Knowing he must be hungry now after going so long without food, Xin Niang felt too sympathetic to reprimand him further.

Cradling Yun, she stepped outside. At the doorway, Yun immediately spotted Gouzi.

He quickly signaled to the dog.

Gouzi scratched his head, shook it with a smile, and then followed behind Xin Niang and the maid.

Yun relaxed.

He was sure he and Young Master Yi were fine after yesterday’s incident; his only worry was whether Gouzi and Buhong were punished. That was unacceptable—Yun was a man of loyalty; if anyone was punished, it had to be together.

Upon entering the front hall, Yun’s eyes widened at the sight of Li Fu.

Ah, it had been several days since he’d seen Father at the breakfast table.

Rarely shy, Yun fidgeted a little in Xin Niang’s arms—he had managed to soothe his mother over yesterday’s trouble, but he wasn’t sure if Father would be as easy to appease.

Li Fu, seeing Yun wrapped up like a little red dumpling with only his face peeking out from beneath a tiny hat, thought he looked both festive and adorable.

“Come, let Father hold you,” Li Fu smiled at Xin Niang.

Over the past year, Xin Niang and Mrs. Bu had grown closer to Li Fu. What was once mere polite distance now had a certain warmth.

Mainly because Li Fu was genuinely devoted to raising the two children. Previously, both Mrs. Bu and Xin Niang had felt a barrier between them and Li Fu, more like between a superior and subordinates than husband and wife. But now, with joint parenting, Li Fu even shared intimate words at night, and that distance gradually faded.

At this, Xin Niang smiled sincerely and carefully handed Yun over.

“Oh, you’ve gained quite a bit of weight.”

Yun waved his little hands unhappily, then pointed earnestly at his clothes to emphasize, “It’s the clothes, it’s the clothes!”

Li Fu chuckled softly. He set aside his own meal, took Yun’s special bowl and spoon, and began feeding him little by little. Since Yun had been wrapped up so snugly, his short arms were inconvenient to use, so the adults fed him.

Just as Yun was finishing his meal, Mrs. Bu arrived carrying Young Master Yi.

But Yi’s eyes were red, as if he had just been crying. Upon seeing Yun, he whimpered plaintively, clearly wanting Yun to stand up for him.

Mrs. Bu chuckled, patted her son’s small head, and then began feeding him.

Li Fu returned Yun to Xin Niang and said with a smile, “When you finish, Yun and Yi will come with me to the study. They’ve fallen behind on their lessons these past few days and need to catch up.”

Yi didn’t understand, focusing only on eating, while Yun wore a sour expression. Unfortunately, Xin Niang only smiled, showing no sign of helping Yun avoid the study session.

While Yun and Yi were to study, Buhong and Gouzi hurried to the kitchen to eat.

In the kitchen, two children—one eight years old, the other six—rushed in like cannonballs. Aunt Guo and Aunt Pan, who cooked the meals, were already waiting.

The Chen household didn’t have many servants; most came to the kitchen to get their meals. Those who preferred to eat in their quarters did so, while others stayed in the kitchen.

The two children usually ate in the kitchen.

Today’s meal was wheat cakes—two large pieces each—served with the usual plate of pickled vegetables. Aunt Pan, seeing how eagerly the children ate, smiled and said, “Eat slowly, today I have something special for you.”

“What? What?” The two children immediately looked at Aunt Pan with excitement.

Being the cook, she often had special treats and sometimes secretly passed some to the children.

Aunt Guo laughed and lifted the lid off a bowl on the side, revealing two pieces of meat patties inside.

“Here, take these—one lamb meat patty each. These are good things. With the cold weather, we usually buy some lamb to stew soup for Master to warm his body. These are scraps chopped up, only these two pieces. Madam Xin said since you two are still growing and always around Young Masters Yun and Yi, you should eat well.”

Buhong had already caught the delicious aroma and couldn’t wait.

As for Gouzi, he was gulping down saliva frantically.

Lamb meat!

Gouzi remembered he had only eaten meat once before, when he was very young. One time, the Zhao family in his village slaughtered a large black dog that had been unruly.

That dog was enormous. Gouzi recalled how every autumn, if anyone secretly stored grain, that black dog could sniff it out and would then attack the hoarders, leaving them bleeding and crying for mercy. The tenants renting Zhao’s fields hated that dog deeply.

But for some reason, that black dog was eventually killed by the Zhao family. They skinned it, hung the meat in the yard, neatly divided.

At night, when passing by Zhao’s house, the scent of dog meat wafted out.

That night, Gouzi clearly remembered his older brother tossing restlessly in bed, then sneaking out and returning with a bruised face but carrying a dog leg.

He said he had climbed into Zhao’s yard, fallen, but still managed to steal a piece of meat.

That night, the whole family was up. By moonlight, his mother chopped the dog leg, stir-fried it, even sprinkling some hidden salt over it.

“Eat it all. Tomorrow, no one is allowed to mention this!”

Father, with red eyes, handed a piece of meat to Gouzi and fiercely warned the children.

Gouzi couldn’t hear what Father said but ate his portion greedily. That was his first time tasting meat—it was so delicious.

The fat and aroma exploded in his mouth. Gouzi nearly wanted to devour his own tongue. Even the bones, he bit as much as he could, smashing the rest with stones before swallowing.

That stolen piece was eaten clean, leaving no trace in their home. That night, for the first and only time, Gouzi did not hear his siblings crying; each savored the lingering meat flavor, loosening the grass ropes tied around their bellies, finally able to sleep well.

Since then, countless times, Gouzi had relived the memory of that night’s meat.

Until today.

This lamb patty was thick and well salted, its fragrance paired with the wheat cake made Gouzi feel this was the happiest moment of his life.

Because this lamb was given to him—not stolen, no need for caution—and most importantly, Aunt Guo said there would be more in the future. Following Young Master Yun, his good days lay ahead.

Aunt Guo sighed.

She saw Gouzi crying and knew exactly why.

Children from poor families are often treated as worthless. Many are sold off, sometimes for no grain at all, just to give their children a chance at life.

Gouzi and Buhong were lucky.

Young Masters Yun and Yi were both good-natured and would not mistreat them.

While Gouzi and Buhong eagerly enjoyed their meal, Yun and Yi had already arrived at the study.

Yun first glanced around. The study had been somewhat untidy after their play yesterday, but Li Fu had tidied it up, restoring its usual neatness.

Yi was carefree, swinging his arms and playing.

Li Fu had not come upstairs to read to the children today. Instead, he gave Yi a small wooden horse to play with for a while and pulled Yun close.

“Father, I was wrong,” Yun said immediately, assuming Li Fu knew he had been the ringleader yesterday, and bowed his head in apology.

“Knowing you were wrong is good. But I also know you understand the seriousness. You brought Yi here to play because it’s safer than the small courtyard, isn’t that right?”

Yun nodded repeatedly—yes, yes, Father understood him.

“Alright, this time I’ll let it go.” Li Fu smiled, holding Yun up to look at the desk.

On it lay a sheet of paper titled “Winter Advisory,” followed by a series of detailed rules.

Li Fu, as county magistrate, was quite capable. This year, Long County’s winter had arrived early and cold. He feared a severe cold snap might bring roof collapses under snow, starvation, or even a winter epidemic. So he had prepared this advisory early.

He planned to call all the township elders and officials under Long County’s jurisdiction soon, hand out the advisory, and have them oversee a safe winter in their villages.

However, yesterday, a copy of the “Medical Treatise” had been placed on top of the advisory.

This “Medical Treatise” was actually part of the “Li’s Travel Notes.” Although the author shared the surname Li with Li Fu, they were unrelated, and his true name was long lost.

When young, he loved to travel widely and wrote many “Li’s Travel Notes on Landscapes,” “Li’s Travel Notes on Anecdotes,” and “Li’s Travel Notes on Medical Cases,” among others.

These mostly recorded various experiences encountered during his travels—beautiful sceneries, local legends of fox spirits and wild creatures, and strange medical phenomena.

Most of his travel notes were lost after his death, with only an incomplete set of three volumes of the “Medical Cases” remaining. Li Fu, fond of reading and generous in acquiring books, had purchased them.

They had rested on the bookshelf for a long time, yet Yun had taken down this particular volume alone, circled certain cases, and placed it atop the nearly finished winter advisory. Li Fu thought it unlikely this was mere child’s play.

“Yun, tell me, did you circle these?”