It was a family of five, with three generations living under one roof.
The family's surname was Sun, and both the old man and the old woman were hale and hearty.
The one in charge of the household now was the old man's son, a woodcutter who had just returned home after chopping firewood.
His wife was inside the house and did not come out to greet the guests.
Hearing the child shout, the eldest brother of the Sun Family came out and welcomed Fang Shuwen and Zhou Qingmei inside.
Fang Shuwen introduced himself as a traveler who had missed his chance to find lodging. Seeing a household here, he had taken the liberty of calling and begged them to put him and his companion up for the night.
As he spoke, he took out some silver.
The eldest brother of the Sun Family had an honest, simple face. At the sight of the silver, he repeatedly refused it:
"When you're away from home, with the horse high and the stirrup short, there are bound to be times when things get difficult.
"You don't need to stand on ceremony, young brother.
"You and your wife can stay the night in our side room. There's no need for silver."
Without giving Fang Shuwen a chance to refuse, he turned and went inside:
"Mother of my child, we have honored guests. Go catch a chicken from the backyard and slaughter it so we can serve our guests properly."
"I know."
The woman's voice, however, was full of indifference.
Only after the eldest brother of the Sun Family urged her did she come out of the room.
Fang Shuwen looked up at her, and the corner of his eye twitched slightly.
It wasn't that the Sun Family's daughter-in-law was particularly beautiful, but that her face was crisscrossed with scars.
One of her eyes was intact, but the other was a deathly white. She was probably blind in it.
Her hands trembled slightly, and she couldn't hold things steady. It wasn't clear what injury she had suffered, but she dragged her right foot with her left as she walked. She was lame.
Seeing this, Fang Shuwen and Zhou Qingmei exchanged a glance, and each could see the surprise in the other's eyes.
The Su family's daughter-in-law was clumsy with her hands and feet. After she had struggled outside for quite a while, all they heard were the chicken's squawks and her cries of alarm.
Seeing this, the eldest brother of the Sun Family gave Fang Shuwen and Zhou Qingmei an embarrassed smile, then turned and went outside.
Fang Shuwen had sharp ears and keen eyes. He heard the eldest brother of the Sun Family, who had been pleasant and mild with them and looked so honest, begin to curse furiously as soon as he reached the backyard:
"You wretched woman, I gave you this little task, and you can't even do it right?
"Anyone who knew would know I sent you to kill a chicken. Anyone who didn't would think you were locked in a fight to the death with it.
"Useless! Tell me, what can you even do?
"With someone like you, only I would be kindhearted enough to take you in. Otherwise, you'd starve to death within three days of leaving!
"Speak... when you saw these people from outside, did you want to run away again?
"Did you!?"
By the end, he was no longer just cursing. It sounded as though he had struck her too.
But the Sun Family's daughter-in-law did not say a word the entire time.
Fang Shuwen's face darkened, and the last thing Brother Sun said seemed to have exposed some truth.
Normally, it wasn't proper for outsiders to meddle in another family's affairs.
Even so, he stood up and gave Zhou Qingmei a look, telling her to stay alert, then strode out of the room.
In the courtyard, the boy was beating his family's big yellow dog with a wooden stick.
When he saw Fang Shuwen come out, he threw down the stick and looked at him with sparkling eyes:
"Big brother, why did you come out?"
"No reason."
Fang Shuwen smiled and gave a casual answer, then headed straight for the backyard.
The child hurried after him, but his strides were shorter than Fang Shuwen's, and he had trouble keeping up. He could only call from behind:
"Big brother, wait for me! What are you going to the backyard for?"
Fang Shuwen reached the backyard in just a few strides. When he looked up, he saw the eldest brother of the Sun Family hurriedly pulling back his hands.
The Sun Family's daughter-in-law was clutching her throat and coughing repeatedly.
Clear finger marks were visible through the gaps between her fingers.
The eldest brother of the Sun Family hurriedly said:
"What brings our honored guest to the backyard? You could have just waited out front."
"Oh, I need to relieve myself... I thought there might be a latrine in the backyard."
As Fang Shuwen spoke, he looked around:
"There isn't one here either..."
"Hahaha, when you take a shit, don't look up, and every patch of ground is a privy.
"Where would we get a latrine around here? Just go outside and find a spot where there's nobody around."
The eldest brother of the Sun Family put on that honest, simple look again.
Fang Shuwen said:
"Oh, right, Brother Sun, I think the old man was calling you just now."
"Was he?"
The eldest brother of the Sun Family was skeptical, but he didn't dare delay and hurried to the front room.
Only the boy remained there.
"Sister-in-law, do you need any help?"
Fang Shuwen asked the Sun Family's daughter-in-law.
She glanced at Fang Shuwen with her one remaining eye:
"Don't you need to piss?"
"Suddenly, it's not so urgent."
"If it's not so urgent, you'd best hurry up and leave. Our family is poor. We don't have that much food for precious people like you."
Her voice was full of coldness.
The boy, whose eyes had been sparkling all along, suddenly shot his mother a fierce glare.
The Sun Family's daughter-in-law instinctively took a step back.
Fang Shuwen nodded:
"All right, if you don't need me, I'll go back and wait.
"Don't worry, sister-in-law. We'll pay silver for the chicken we eat. Brother Sun is a good man and won't accept it, so I'll quietly leave it behind. Once we're gone, remind him to look for it."
With that, he gave the boy's head a little nudge:
"Come on. I need to go again. Take me to the latrine."
"Oh, okay."
The boy nodded repeatedly and led Fang Shuwen out of the house.
By the time they came back, the chicken had already been slaughtered.
As Fang Shuwen and Zhou Qingmei walked in the main room, they could smell the fragrance.
They had spent so long dining in the wind and sleeping under the open sky. At first it hadn't mattered much, but as time went on, it had become rather hard to bear.
Now that they smelled this fragrance, they really found it a little hard to resist.
It was another half hour or more before the meal was finally set on the table.
Old Master Sun and the old woman both took their seats. Most of the food on the table consisted of wild greens and the like, but the most fragrant dish was the basin of chicken.
The Sun Family's daughter-in-law carried it in both hands and slammed it down hard on the table, sending broth splashing everywhere. It nearly splashed onto Fang Shuwen's hand.
The eldest brother of the Sun Family was surprisingly good-tempered now and apologized repeatedly on his wife's behalf.
His wife, however, couldn't quell her anger. Finally, she gritted her teeth:
"I'm going inside to lie down. I can't eat."
With that, she left.
The eldest brother of the Sun Family gave a bitter smile:
"It's a misfortune for our family to make such a spectacle before our honored guests. Come, come, let's eat. Don't mind her."
Fang Shuwen smiled and used his chopsticks to put a chicken leg in the boy's bowl.
The boy did not eat it immediately. Instead, he looked at his father, and the eldest brother of the Sun Family quickly said:
"Oh, you mustn't, you mustn't.
"Honored guest, please eat it yourself. He doesn't deserve it."
With that, he returned the chicken leg to Fang Shuwen's bowl, paying no heed to what Fang Shuwen said.
Fang Shuwen smiled at this, but Zhou Qingmei gently nudged his foot. Her voice came to his ear, as faint as a mosquito's hum:
"There's a drug."
Fang Shuwen merely nodded. Then, under Zhou Qingmei's astonished gaze, he picked up the chicken leg and took a bite:
"Mmm, delicious."