Chapter 29 Sister Āshū

Chapter 29: Sister A Shu

"Wow, that smells amazing! A-jie, Brother A-Ye, can you smell it? Mom's pork bone broth is giving off such a rich aroma!" Lin Xiaopu snatched up the empty wooden basin and dashed off. "I'm heading back first to taste a spoonful for you!"

Lin Shu couldn't help but chuckle at her sister's eager, food-obsessed expression.

Zhou Ye, busy with his digging, heard the commotion and looked up. "You should head back to the courtyard too. I'll come once I finish this and supper's ready."

"But wouldn't you be bored? Let me stay and keep you company. Talking will make the work feel less tiring."

Zhou Ye opened his mouth, words on the tip of his tongue, then hesitated and changed his mind. "As you wish."

"Xiao Pu mentioned you rarely talk about fleeing the famine. May I ask about it? If not, that's perfectly fine."

Zhou Ye paused briefly in his shoveling, his voice devoid of emotion. "There's nothing I won't answer."

Hearing this, Lin Shu proceeded. "Was your family a prominent one? I mean, were there many people? Were all those who fled with you immediate family?"

He continued working without interruption, his reply flat. "Our family was quite large, similar in size to the village chief's household. I was the eldest grandson of the main branch. Before the famine, my grandparents and mother had already passed away. Then came the locust plague—grain prices in towns and counties skyrocketed to three hundred coppers per *dou*. To survive, we sold our ancestral fields for cheap grain, but it still wasn't enough to last until imperial relief arrived. Eventually, my father made the decision to lead the entire family out to escape starvation. Unlike Sweetwater Village, which is a mixed-surname village, ours was a clan-based settlement where everyone was related. When my father called, everyone agreed to follow."

His voice gradually slowed. "The journey was arduous. Several northern counties were devastated by locusts, so we could only move south and west. But the southwest is mountainous, with rough terrain—we had to traverse peaks and valleys. Since I had often hunted in the mountains before, I became the guide. Later..."

Lin Shu noticed he trailed off and didn't press further. She could guess the rest.

Human nature is complex. In peaceful times, everyone acts like family. But when hardship strikes, tensions inevitably rise, and grudges can form. Those who shy away from making decisions are often the first to criticize a leader's missteps, as if a different leader would magically make everything better.

Zhou Ye continued, "On the road, we encountered a pack of wild beasts. My father died protecting clansmen. My third aunt and a younger cousin also perished."

Lin Shu listened quietly, without interrupting. She hadn't asked, yet he told her everything. Perhaps these words had been locked inside him for years—he simply needed a listener.

But she had expected grief or guilt when he spoke of this. Instead, his expression remained eerily cold. "It shouldn't have been my father who died, but the clansman he protected. That man violated the rules I set, acted on his own, and attracted the beasts, leading to the deaths of my father, third aunt, and cousin. Later, I killed the animals, but the dead couldn't return."

"Those deep mountains three *li* away—I led the clan through them back then. The mountains could sustain us; even without farming all year, no one would starve. But everyone was too terrified to hide deep in the wilderness. I had no choice but to push forward, and eventually we reached Sweetwater Village. What happened after that, Auntie has probably already told you. You likely know the rest."

Curious, Lin Shu asked, "Why were you the only one left?"

Zhou Ye looked weary. "I was the only survivor from the main branch. My uncles resented and blamed me. My cousins feared me after witnessing my immense strength. And the other clansmen harbored various grievances. Given that, it was better for us to go our separate ways."

He still remembered that day vividly. Enraged by his father’s death, he’d torn the beast’s jaw apart bare-handed, splitting its skull. Blood and brains covered his face. His own family stared at him as if he were a bloodthirsty monster.

Lin Shu sensed a profound weariness in him, a world-weariness. No wonder the first time she saw Zhou Ye, he seemed indifferent to everything—as if life held little meaning. That wasn't a good sign.

The apocalypse had been so difficult, and she'd often gone hungry, yet she still believed living was good. Only by living could one see hope, taste delicious food, and enjoy beautiful scenery.

"Brother A-Ye, from now on, you're not alone. We are all your family."

Zhou Ye's shovel paused, and he looked up at her.

Lin Shu teased deliberately, "Why so shocked? Even if I don't count, haven't you already thought of Mom, Dad, and Xiao Pu as family? If you dare say 'no,' I'll tell Xiao Pu right away—she'll definitely cry in front of you."

Zhou Ye looked flustered. "That's not true. Don't talk nonsense."

"Then stop acting so world-weary—'Oh, I find this world so boring,' 'Just drift along, whatever happens, happens,' 'Always hungry, might as well just starve to death.' Okay?"

Zhou Ye: ...

Lin Shu couldn't help but be amused by his speechless expression.

"No problem in the world can't be solved by a good meal. Once you've tasted Mom's rich, fragrant dried bamboo shoot and pork bone soup today, you'll feel tomorrow is beautiful again." She sniffed the air. "Mmm~ it really does smell wonderful. Tonight, we'll have tender boiled meat and stir-fried chitlins. Just thinking about it makes me want an extra half bowl of rice."

"If it were the right season, these intestines would be perfect for making sausages. With just salt and rice wine mixed into the ground pork, stuffed into cleaned casings and sun-dried, those savory sausages would be incredibly tasty. For those who like bolder flavors, dry and crush spices like Sichuan peppercorns, Chinese prickly ash, fennel, and cinnamon, mix them in, then smoke them over cypress branches. *Hiss*, absolutely delicious."

In Sweetwater Village, every household would slaughter one or two pigs in the twelfth lunar month to make smoked bacon, which could last a year or two. But villagers were poor—they made little, and most was eaten by spring, rarely lasting till year-end.

While bacon was common, sausages hadn't been discovered yet. At the time, only the poor ate offal—the wealthy considered it unclean.

"If you can hunt a wild boar in the twelfth month, I'll make all kinds of cured meats—sausages, cured ribs, cured pork tongue—for you. I guarantee you'll eat your fill!"

Zhou Ye: ...

He didn't know about sausages, but he'd tasted bacon. Sliced or diced, stir-fried with vegetables, it was incredibly fragrant. But Auntie's yearly supply was barely enough to tease the palate. According to Lin Shu, sausages were even better?

Zhou Ye, who had just finished a large bowl of Guanyin Tofu, suddenly felt hungry again.

"Alright. I'll check the forest later. If I catch another wild boar, we won't sell it. We'll keep it all for ourselves."

Lin Shu chuckled softly. See? No problem a good meal couldn't solve. Now he seemed more alive.

Zhou Ye, usually a man of few words, seemed to open up slightly and began chatting with her willingly. "You're not what I expected."

"What do you mean 'you' and 'me'? I've called you 'Brother A-Ye' so many times. It's only fair you call me something nice too, right?"

Zhou Ye hesitated slightly. "...Like what?"

"For instance, 'A Shu dear.' Or simply 'A Shu'—but then don't count on me calling you 'brother.' I'll just stick with 'A Ye.'" Lin Shu tilted her chin up with a delicate hum.

Zhou Ye touched his chest lightly, said nothing, and returned to digging.

Seeing his silence, Lin Shu clenched her fists.

This dense blockhead!

If it weren't for his strength, his looks, and what Xiao Pu had said, she'd have walked away long ago.

"Say it now. Right now. I'm listening."

Zhou Ye: ...

Lin Shu waited. He stayed silent, only shoveling and digging. She was speechless.

Suddenly, she covered her eyes with her sleeve and pretended to sob. "Do you dislike me that much? Are you like those people in the capital who blame me for taking the Marquis's daughter's place? Everyone mocks me, saying a country bumpkin can't become a phoenix. But it's ridiculous—even in the countryside, I'm not welcome. And now, having seen a true noble lady like Sister Yao, how could you ever respect someone like me?"

"That's not true." Zhou Ye's thick brows furrowed. He dropped the shovel, stepped forward as if to approach, then stopped, standing awkwardly in the pit. "I don't dislike you. Don't think that. I'm just... not good with words."

He faltered, groping for words of solace before finally uttering, "A-Shu, I don't dislike you. You have such a gentle heart. When you first asked me for water, I knew at once you were good."

Lin Shu's fake sobbing paused.

Zhou Ye continued, "Noble people wouldn't even bother speaking to someone like me. You're different."

"What else?"

Zhou Ye: ...Wasn't that enough?

"You seem like a kind girl, less fussy than I thought. The Guanyin Tofu you made today was delicious. I really enjoyed it. Thank you."

Lin Shu lowered her sleeve. Her eyes sparkled, damp but tearless. Her full red lips curved slightly. "I'll take your words to heart."

Zhou Ye wasn't angry when he realized he'd been tricked. Instead, he sighed in relief.

It didn't matter that she'd fooled him—what mattered was he hadn't made her cry.